[ System Activation Started... ]

[ Initiating Avalon Assistance Program... ]

[ Analyzing Spaceship Status...

Aether Force : 3% [ Red ]

GH Drive - System : 92% [ Green ]

Shield Nucleus Energy : 100% [ Green ]

Hadron Beam Energy : 100% [ Green ]

Armour Phase : 67% [ Yellow ]

Internal Assembly : 91% [ Green ]

Over-Trace Protection : 19% [ Red ]

[ All Systems - Green ]

[ Loading User Interface... ]

[ Loading System Backup... ]

[ Avalon Starting Up... 3... 2... ]

[ Welcome Back Captain! ]

Wallace stared at the widescreen in front of the pilot seat that has booted up. The blue light coming from it lighten up the small space he was in. Before the system booted up, there wasn't light within the ship at all. It was due to Wallace's improved vision that he was able to view the dark surroundings as if it was normal.

He didn't notice this at first as he was focused on observing the whole place. Only until his eyes adjusted to the light did he notice his new ability.

"Is it a perk for merging with the Cube?"

Wallace could only wryly smile at this.

He checked the familiar panoramic screen and noticed that something is 'loading' at the corner of the widescreen so he asked questions to the A.I. to clarify.

"What's still missing? Can we still fly this ship?"

[ Negative. The ship doesn't have enough Aether. ]

"Is there any way we can sort that out?"

[ Assistive Ten-fold Scan Activated. No Aether being detected within 19 AU. Unable to find an option to refill the Aether. ]

Wallace was disappointed upon hearing that there's no source of Aether within that vast distance. It was unfortunate but he was impressed that his spaceship could still scan that far, to scan 19 astronomical units was not an easy task since he was fully aware of how the ever-present mana on this planet could affect most communication methods.

'Well, it's not like I could collect an Aether outside this planet.' Wallace helplessly thought about his current situation.

He had already checked the situation outside the ship and saw that they were enclosed by a spherical glass in the same place where he landed the ship. But the rocks and trees nearby were already removed and aside from the few patches of grass on the ground, he saw a familiar figure outside. It was him, a figure wearing a bio-armor clutching its chest. The figure no longer possessed his other weapons but the dagger attached to the armor itself was still intact.

There's also one thing that he noticed, it seems that a part of bio-armor was removed somewhere around the figure's head.

"Are they trying to see if there's a person inside it?" Wallace pondered. Honestly, he was also curious and wanted to see the body. But at the very least, he was glad that the bio-armor was tough as the Z-Company seems to be troubled on removing the armor. He doesn't want some high-level magician to study that body.

Two decades had passed and they weren't even capable of removing a part where a person's skin, or probably bone, would show. The removed part was still too shallow, which he found weird. The strength of high-level magicians here could not be taken lightly. The spaceship's Hadron beam might even be blocked by Grade A defensive Mana Artifact wielded by an Adept Mage. The bio-armor, although very tough, it wasn't to the point where it could defend against a Hadron Beam.

It means that something is protecting the figure that was why they can't move it elsewhere and take apart the armor. Wallace would investigate this later once he had found a safe place for himself and the spaceship. After all, this spaceship was his only way out of this planet for his future exploration unless there is another spaceship he could use. Its importance is higher than his bio armor outside.

Of course, Wallace would like to take it with him in his ship but unfortunately, there were four high-level magicians suspected to be an Adept closely guarding their position outside.

He can't just go out there, open the hatch of his spaceship, pick up the bio-armor, and return to the spaceship unscathed. The four would stop him at all costs.

There was also this other person he had to keep in check, the magician whom he'd encountered and even had to use his Fervor Timepiece to surprise him and have a chance for his escape. He was not included on the four but Wallace felt that the guy was sitting on top of the dome itself overlooking the whole area.

"Haaa~"

Wallace sighed at this. He was trying to find his escape route but the spaceship exhausted its Aether, with 3% remaining it wouldn't be enough for his escape and due to the system's policy, the ship wouldn't fly if Aether was less than 5%.

"The Aether should still be more than 50% before I went outside and died, so something consumed it. Aether is a type of energy that wouldn't just disappear. Without GH Drive to utilize the Aether, no other engine should be capable of using the Aether. This is weird, I have a lot of questions but no one could answer me... Hah! Perhaps..." Wallace was thinking too much and forgot that he could still ask Avalon. He took a deep breath and started with a question that he had been curious about for a long time.

"What's the purpose of your existence?"

[ The Spaceship X23A6 A Corvette-Class based on Horun Empire's standard was made to harness the Sacred Relic. ]

"Hmm... What's this Sacred Relic?" Wallace asked again but he already had an idea about the answer.

The image of a luminous cube appeared on the widescreen.

'Just like what I thought... The Pathfinder calls it Cube of Paradox and the A.I. calls it Sacred Relic'

"Avalon, are you aware of the capabilities of this relic?"

[ Not fully aware but there are 18 of them listed from the discoveries made by several specialists. The limitation of the Relic hasn't fully explored yet. ]

'I see, so the information probably came from my mother's research group. Heh, too bad they were not even aware of the real name of the relic. The A.I.'s information regarding the cube was definitely from the researcher's hard work.'

"Ok then, tell me what's Over-Trace Protection?"

[ It is a portion of energy that came from the Sacred Relic that was being used to protect the ship from any infiltration or damage ]

"Oh? Does it also protect the bio-armor outside?"

[ Yes, but it was not controlled by this Artificial Intelligence. ]

'Great... So it was probably the Cube who controlled it to protect that body.'

Wallace asked a bit more but there's no information about the cube's relation on this planet at all, at least he learned that the Cube had consumed the remaining Aether of this ship. He asked for its details but couldn't process it on his head right now, he could only set aside his curiosity until he escaped here.

His Amplified Assault Armor had long since been removed and he was only on his casual clothes so he took them out again and wore the armor that was now compressed to fit in his suitcase. He opened his palm and touched the armor. After waiting for 3 seconds, the armor recognized his identity and shuddered slightly before spreading to Wallace's body starting from his right hand that touched the armor.

Wallace calmly waited for the armor to fully cover himself. He then picked up his other equipment especially a pocket watch amongst them.

He held it in his right hand as he readied to go outside. He was confident at the moment since he learned about what could 19% of Over-Trace do for them.

As he was about to move out. An explosion was heard and an earthquake shook the whole place.

***

"Ho~ Intruders? You have some guts." Chalice was standing in front of the two members of the Lucent Force. Of course, they've hidden their faces to avoid being recognized.

Chalice was about to engage in battle with the two intruders but an explosion on the east side of the dome was heard. The dome trembled for a bit before a part of it rumbled and got destroyed.

"Diversion? Hmph!" Chalice left four Adepts inside the dome. He was confident that they would at least be capable of defending the place until he finished off these two magicians.

"Haaah!" A shout was heard coming from Owl when he noticed that Chalice was just looking at the east. A burst of blue fire came from his palm as it slithered through Chalice's defense.

Eagle didn't stay idle as he took out his sword and slashed it into Chalice's body.

The combination of the attack would normally weaken the defense of the magician but Chalice wasn't normal. His Mana Shell's structure was something different. After the two attacks landed, Chalice released his Mana Pressure. Owl jumps back to try to avoid the pressure but it was futile.

"Tsk. So it was really like this. Just delay him as much as we can." Owl noticed that their attack was incapable of even scratching their opponent's defense so he quickly decided to distance themselves and delay the fight as much as possible.

"Understood."

On the east side of the dome, the three members of Lucent Force assigned to cause diversion was trying to escape the pursuit of multiple Battle Mage-level guards. But they were prepared for this as before they used a mana artifact to destroy the part of the dome, they already created an escape route for their survival.

"Should we send one?" One of the four Adepts guarding the spaceship said.

"Chalice told us to stay and guard this place no matter what." Another one with an old man's voice said as he closed his eyes and felt the surroundings.

"Chalice said that he was sure that the armored being was inside this ancient technology. If that escaped here, it would be Chalice himself that would deal with us." The third Adept said as she calmly assessed the situation.

"That's right. Anyway, he was only facing two Adept Mage at the intermediate level." The same old man's voice was heard again as he felt the Mana fluctuation outside.

As the four were guarding the area where the spaceship landed, one sneaky figure was observing and listening to their conversation.