The guardians glared at the three from across the massive chamber. Jinx's CPI scanner flickered to life in her eye as numbers appeared over each creature.
218,000 CPI
224,000 CPI
219,000 CPI
221,000 CPI
She smirked.
"Light work…"
The creatures snarled in unison as if they heard her dissing them. Their glowing blue eyes brightened as the ice protruding from their backs began to glow with the same light. One after another, each guardian rose onto its four hind legs, raising the front of their massive bodies into the air, then slammed down.
Their front appendages crashed against the dark-blue floor and a wall of ice erupted from beneath them.
Hundreds of sharp spikes raced across the chamber toward the three, shredding the frozen floor apart as it closed the distance between them.
Sylas stood calmly with his hand still resting on Atlas's hilt.
Before the wall could make it halfway across the room, a deep red essence with long bright-orange streaks twisted through it like rivers of magma erupted from behind him and Jinx.
Rorik leaped over them, his massive body soaring several meters through the air before landing a short distance ahead of the group.
He raised one foot then slammed it into the floor.
The ground beneath and front of him exploded upward like a volcano had awakened deep inside the mountain. Molten cracks tore through the dark-blue stone as a violent wave of red and orange essence collided with the wall of ice.
The ice shattered and melted almost instantly.
Several guardians standing behind it were eviscerated before they could react. Their bodies disappeared inside the eruption while the remaining creatures were launched high into the air.
Before any of them reached the apex of their ascent, Jinx raised her cybernetic arm.
The metal fingers folded inward as plates shifted and rotated along her forearm before her entire hand transformed into a wide cannon.
Dark-orange essence erupted around her body.
"J-Boom special coming right up!"
Ten glowing yellow spheres blasted from the cannon.
They streaked through the chamber and surrounded the airborne guardians.
Jinx's smirk widened into a full fledged smile.
"BOOOOM!" She screamed out with passion.
The spheres exploded.
Each blast split into dozens of smaller glowing balls that surrounded the creatures before exploding again, creating a small firework show.
Smoke and flames rolled across the ceiling as charred pieces of the guardians fell toward the ground. Before their bodies could hit the floor, each one began breaking apart into clouds of golden particles. The clouds floated upward before fading into the darkness above.
Back aboard the Starlight, Kaito stared at the footage with his mouth slightly open. His CPI scanner flickered in his eye.
Jinx: 1,300,000 CPI
Rorik: 1,950,000 CPI
"Holy shit…" He breathed out.
"I didn't know Jinx and Rorik were that strong. That must be their true strength when they aren't suppressing their essence. It's way higher than what I saw when I first met them."
His eyes remained locked on their numbers.
"And to think they're both B-rank like me and Finn…"
Finn stared beside him with his green eyes nearly as wide.
"No kidding. I didn't even know there were B-ranked travelers that strong."
Kaeline stood behind the two boys with her arms crossed.
"Each Star Traveler rank usually falls within a certain range of CPI. There are extremely rare outliers, but most follow the same general scale." She explained.
Kaito and Finn looked back toward her.
"The ranges also closely match the ranks of cosmic wells and the potential strength of the head guardians residing within them."
She lifted one finger.
"D-rank and below usually possess forty-five thousand CPI or less."
A second finger rose.
"C-rank ranges from forty-five thousand to five hundred and fifty thousand."
She raised a third.
"B-rank, which includes the two of you, Jinx, Rorik, and Elysia, is the most populated rank among licensed star travelers above D rank."
Finn tilted his head.
"Why is that?"
"Because most never advance beyond it." Kaeline replied.
"The jump from B-rank to A-rank is incredibly difficult. It also provides most of the benefits that travelers seek when earning their license. Higher-paying missions. Access to restricted star systems. Larger bounties. The ability to purchase more advanced ships and weapons."
Her golden eyes moved between the boys.
"For most, there is little reason to risk their lives advancing further."
Kaito looked over to her.
"So what's the range for B rank?"
She paused.
"...Five hundred and fifty thousand to four million CPI."
Both of them froze.
"Four… million?" Finn stuttered.
Kaeline nodded.
"Oddly enough, the range for B-ranked cosmic wells is almost identically wide. Their head guardians generally fall between five hundred and fifty thousand and three million five hundred thousand CPI."
Kaito slowly turned back toward the projection.
On the footage, Sylas, Jinx, and Rorik approached the massive doors at the far end of the chamber.
Sylas stopped in front of the two doors. Clear essence flowed around both of his hands as he placed one against each of them and pushed it open. The enormous doors groaned as they moved apart. He opened them just wide enough for the three of them to walk through.
The footage darkened for a moment before Viro's vision adjusted.
As it did and the crew were able to see, Kaito's eyes widened.
Beyond the doors was another chamber, far larger than the one they were just in. A wide circular platform made of pale-blue stone sat at its center, surrounded by a deep opening that disappeared into complete darkness. Several narrow bridges of ice connected the platform to the edges of the room. Rows of massive pillars surrounded it, each carved with unknown symbols and images of unfamiliar creatures. Frozen chains thicker than Rorik's body hung from the ceiling, disappearing into the dark pit below. The ceiling itself was so far above that it wasn't visible whatsoever.
At the opposite end of the platform stood another set of doors, though these were completely sealed beneath thick layers of ice.
Kaito leaned closer to the projection as his eyes scanned across the enormous chamber.
"Woah… It really does look like a boss arena from a game."
Finn nodded quickly beside him.
"It really does… but wait. Where's the cosmic well?"
Elara stood across the table with her arms folded.
"The well itself, along with the aetherium crystals inside it, won't appear until the head guardian is defeated."
Kaito looked toward her.
"Really? Why?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Most researchers believe it is a natural defense mechanism created by the well itself. It remains hidden until its protector is defeated. That relationship is how those creatures became known as cosmic well guardians."
She looked back toward the projection as the others listened quietly.
"The more potent the well, the stronger the creatures and head guardian protecting it will be."
She paused and her red eyes narrowed slightly as she continued watching the footage.
"But that defense mechanism is what concerns me."
"What do you mean?" Kaito asked, somewhat confused.
"If everything Sylas said was accurate and you all encountered a guardian that had separated from its well and traveled far beyond its intended location…"
Her expression hardened.
"Then we and everyone in the known universe have a major problem."
The room fell quiet.
She looked across the table toward Kaito.
"If someone manages to locate a cosmic well, but its head guardian is missing, the well will never reveal itself. No matter how long they search, they won't be able to access its resources."
Kaito's eyes shifted back toward the footage.
"No aetherium crystals…" He muttered.
Elara nodded.
"No fuel for starships. No resources for hyperdrives, warp drives, or countless other forms of technology used."
Her gaze moved across everyone around the table.
"If this is happening to cosmic wells throughout the known universe, our way of life will change forever. Entire worlds and civilizations rely on those resources to survive. Some worlds and moons are only habitable because of the technology made from it. If that supply suddenly ceases to exist…"
The realization slowly settled over the entire room. Only Kaeline remained still, her golden eyes fixed on the footage as if the possibility had already crossed her mind long before Elara spoke it aloud.
"That is why I wanted to stop here. I needed to see for myself if the head guardian was still where it belonged. Because if it isn't…"
Her eyes moved toward Aqua. Aqua nervously met her gaze as the fins on the sides of her head twitched.
"The known universe itself may actually be in danger."
Everyone's attention returned to the holoprojection as a deep growl played through the footage. The sound was low at first, but quickly grew loud enough to make the frozen chains hanging from the ceiling tremble.
Something moved in the darkness on the far side of the circular platform.
Two large blue eyes opened right before a second pair of smaller eyes beneath them. A ginormous creature slowly raised itself from the frozen floor. Its claws the size of an adult elf's arm dug into the pale-blue stone as it stood on two thick hind legs, towering more than thirty meters above Sylas and the others.
Its body was covered in layers of jagged ice that resembled armor. Massive spikes protruded from the top of its head and continued down its back in several uneven rows. The largest were near its shoulders before gradually growing smaller toward the tip of its long tail. Dark-blue muscle and skin could be seen between the thick plates of ice covering its chest, stomach, arms, and legs.
Cold mist poured from between rows of jagged teeth.
The creature adjusted its body to face the three and the entire room shook.
Kaito's CPI scanner flickered in his eye.
Head Guardian: 1,050,000 CPI
His brows lifted slightly.
"That should be the head guardian… right?"
"It appears so." Elara replied.
Her shoulders lowered slightly and she let out a small breath.
"That's good to see. Perhaps what happened during the exams isn't affecting every cosmic well… Or at least not yet."
She pressed one finger against the smooth surface of the table.
"That is the head guardian. Once you defeat it, the well and the aetherium crystals should reveal themselves."
Inside the chamber, dark-orange essence flared around Jinx as her cybernetic arm transformed into a cannon again. Rorik stepped beside her as deep-red essence erupted around his massive body.
The two were itching to make a move, but they stopped.
Sylas calmly walked past them.
Jinx blinked.
"Uh… pretty boy? You good?"
He didn't stop.
Rorik's grin faded slightly.
"Yo… you planning to take that thing alone?"
Sylas continued across one of the narrow ice bridges without answering either one of them as if the thirty-meter creature standing before him was no different than any other opponent.
The head guardian lowered its body and roared. The walls shook violently as pieces of ice broke from the far ceiling and pillars, falling into the darkness surrounding the platform.
Even the crew aboard the starlight felt the quake of its roar as the ship trembled slightly.
Sylas remained unfazed the entire time. He stopped near the center of the platform and stared up at the creature.
"I understand your anger." He said calmly.
The guardian growled in response, cold mist pouring from its mouth.
Sylas reached over his shoulder and detached Atlas from his back. He lowered the golden sword beside him.
"We are all born with a duty. A purpose given to us before we are old enough to understand what it truly means."
The guardian's snarl deepened.
"For some, that duty becomes a blessing. Something they can hold onto when everything else has been taken from them."
Dark-green essence began flowing around his body.
"For others…"
His red eyes lowered slightly.
"It becomes a chain."
The wind around him began to move. Small pieces of ice lifted from the platform and slowly circled his feet.
"A chain that binds them to a kingdom. A family. A promise."
His boots left the ground and he began to levitate, slowly rising into the air as the dark-green essence around him grew thicker. Long currents of wind curled around his body.
The head guardian followed him with its glowing eyes.
"Yet no matter how heavy that duty becomes… No matter how much pain it brings or how many obstacles stand in our path…"
His grip tightened around Atlas's hilt.
"We continue forward because abandoning it would mean abandoning the very thing that gives our lives meaning."
He continued rising until he hovered at the same height as the guardian's head.
For a short moment, the two stared into one another's eyes.
"You and I aren't so different from one another." He said quietly.
The dark-green essence surrounding him burned brighter.
"We both wish to protect the very thing that gives us purpose."
He raised Atlas with both hands and pointed the golden blade toward the guardian's head.
The creature's glowing blue eyes brightened. Every shard of ice covering its body began to glow alongside them. Energy gathered inside its open mouth, forming a sphere of bright light-blue essence.
Ice rapidly spread across the nearby pillars and platform as the sphere grew larger.
Jinx raised her cannon aiming at the guardian.
"Sylas! You gotta move!"
Rorik stepped forward to help, but stopped when a violent wall of wind pushed against him. They were too late.
The guardian fired.
A massive beam of light-blue essence tore across the platform toward Sylas, freezing everything around it as it passed.
Yet, his expression didn't change. Dark green essence erupted around him and Atlas before he calmly uttered a single word.
"Resonance."
A cylinder of dark-green wind and essence erupted from the tip of the blade. It was more than twice the size of the guardian's head and its attack.
For less than a second, the two powers collided, before the green cylinder swallowed the beam almost instantly the moment after.
It tore through the room before it consumed the guardian's upper body and blasting through the wall behind it. The attack ripped out of the mountain, taking a large section of frozen rock with it before shooting into the open sky and dissipating.
Cold air poured through the massive hole left behind, carrying snow and ice into the once dark room. Light from outside stretched across the platform and revealed the conclusion of the battle.
The guardian's entire upper half was gone, only its lower body remained standing.
The remains cracked apart before crumbling into a large cloud of golden particles. They floated toward the opening in the wall, glowing brightly as they disappeared one by one.
Sylas remained in the air, his once short blonde hair was now long and flowing in the cold wind. His dark green essence slowly faded as he watched what was left of the guardian fade away with a conflicted look on his face.
"You fought well…"