Free Web NovelChapter 75: Chapter 75: First mission
"Well then. Let us begin."
Charles shifted in his seat and placed a stack of documents on the table, sweeping his eyes toward Craig.
Craig opened the folder and laid the contents out for everyone to see.
"Yesterday my team and I were investigating the source of the artificial anchor constructed from fingers.
The trail led us to an abandoned building , it was a former rental property. We were ambushed upon entry by three Wraiths and one Shade, all operating at Second Oath level.
They appeared to have been stationed there as guards." He paused. "None of them were conventionally armed. They relied entirely on their Haunted abilities."
Gareth looked up from the documents toward Craig. "That must have been difficult. Three Wraiths against a Revenant , that must have been exhausting. Good to see you’re still in one piece."
Craig nodded and continued. "We also recovered the ritual site inside the building. It had been interfered with before we arrived but it’s salvageable. We should be able to investigate the source properly once it’s restored. That will take a few days."
"Any casualties?" Lyro asked.
"Our Shade and our recently advanced Wraith both sustained injuries. The Shade will need time to recover. The Wraith took considerable drain on top of physical damage , it’s more serious."
"Where exactly was this ?" Lyro asked.
Craig slid the document across the table toward him. "An alley at the edge of Marco Street."
Percy’s brows drew together.
He remembered it clearly. The wave of sensation that had hit him outside the shoe store. Multiple presences, more than five, pulling hard in that direction.
"So it was them."
He looked at the document without reaching for it.
"If my luck had been any worse I could have walked straight into that."
He understood perhaps only half of what Craig had reported in detail. But the shape of it was clear enough.
"So why was I called into this meeting? Am I finally getting an actual mission?"
Craig turned the page and laid a map flat on the table, pointing across several marked areas. "These are the locations where unknown activity has been confirmed or reported."
Gareth leaned over it. "That’s quite a lot. How much manpower was deployed across all of these?"
Craig shook his head. "We found three ourselves. The rest came from reports we requested from the church. It appears the churches noticed something earlier than we did and had already begun their own quiet investigation. We were too focused on the inhuman activity , we didn’t have the manpower to catch it ourselves."
Gareth nodded slowly. freēwebnovel.com
Lyro leaned forward. "So what exactly do you need from us?"
Charles spoke this time. "You will be moving across the district looking for unusual activity. Report anything that gives even a hint of suspicion. We cannot afford to let this continue." He paused.
"They appear to have completed more than half of whatever they are working toward. We don’t know the end goal yet but it cannot be anything good."
Lyro glanced toward Percy. Craig continued.
"Mr. Valemont , you and Mr Lyro will be investigating the district together , and use your ability to identify areas of interest. That was the original plan." He looked between them. "Lyro, you’ll be paired with Mr. Gareth.
While i will be with Mr Valemont."
Percy’s brows had been drawing together for the last several minutes. He finally spoke.
"I’d like to add something."
"Go ahead," Craig gestured.
Percy relayed the incident at the shoe store. The girl. Dana not being able to see her and the digust towards the direction of it .
Craig stroked his chin when he finished.
"That sounds like an Echo."
"An Echo?"
Craig glanced around the table. No objections. He continued.
"An Echo is a rare occurrence. It’s a soul that hasn’t crossed from the active plane into the passive plane , and was held in place by an unresolved grudge or bound by a spirit." He tapped the table lightly.
"Based on what you’ve described it leans toward the latter. An Echo formed purely from grudges isn’t strong enough to maintain a visible form during daylight hours, nor does it last long. The fact that it appeared physically before you as an ordinary person suggests a particularly strong spirit is involved."
He paused.
"As for why you could see it and your sister couldn’t is due to , why a normal person cannot perceive any form of soul or spirit regardless of effort.
What they experience instead is discomfort, unease, or unexplained aversion toward the soul’s presence. It’s one soul in its natural state rejecting another that has deviated from its natural course.
" He looked at Percy. "We Haunted don’t experience that reaction. Our own souls have already been altered from their natural state , so the rejection doesn’t occur."
Lyro turned to Charles. "When do we start?"
"Now."
That was the only answer he got.
Percy found himself paired with Craig and Lyro with Gareth. All four of them filed out of the office together and down toward a room Percy had never been through before.
The preparation room.
He stepped inside and took it in. Shelves and racks lined the walls, ammunition arranged in neat rows alongside objects he couldn’t immediately identify the vials, metal casings, wrapped bundles of something that hummed faintly if he looked at them too long. A man stood in the centre of the room, arms folded, saying nothing.
Lyro walked past the man without acknowledgement and moved straight to the ammunition rack. He pulled out a handful of bullets and slotted them into his holder rather casual.
Percy watched. "Aren’t you going to take more?"
Lyro smirked. He went hazy at the edges with the familiar shimmer Percy had come to associate with an Oath being called.
A pen lifted from the table beside him, rising slowly until it hovered flat above his open palm.
Then he flicked his wrist.
The pen shot across the room and buried itself into the target board at the far wall. The board cracked.
The pen was gone and shattered on impact , but the damage left behind looked exactly like a bullet wound, clean and deep.
Percy stared at it for a moment.
"That is incredibly cool."
He looked down at his own hands.
" I hope i could also do something like that"
