Chapter 181
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Tonight was not certainly a good night for Artos.
Not only did his latest experiment fail, he was even punished from that failure by making him manage a shipment transport!
For Artos, whose pride lies on the fact that he was an enlightened academic, being forced to manage an airship was something that stung him deeply!
"Tsk, I just wanted to see if I can make a 100-layered Symbol Matrix on a piece of paper. Do they really need to punish me when the paper exploded at the 10th layer?" Artos angrily mumbled to himself as he leaned back on his chair.
"They could have just asked me to pay for the damages! That is the rule in the lab! But no, my supervisors decided that it will be better if I just join the laborers here in this effing airship! Learn to be humble my ass! They just want me out of the labs so that they won't be bothered by me anymore! F**king geezers…" Artos said these words angrily as he shook his head. "What a waste of my time!"
If Artos could use his power to leave this airship, then he could have done so already.
But he can't, as he has to follow the directives given to him right now.
Artos is a Symbolist, so he had no choice but to follow the instructions given to him.
Being this obedient might sound absurd, but following protocols and directives was something that should be done so that each Symbolist can be considered mentally fit to use their abilities.
If a Symbolist does not follow a directive, then that will constitute an instant punishment.
"…" Artos personally knew what happens to those who don't follow the directives, so had no choice left but to join the airship.
"Hmph, I could have been using all this free time to read some good academic papers... Instead, I have to supervise this useless ship! Bah!" Artos could not contain his anger anymore, as he kicked one of the guards standing beside him.
"Thud." To his disappointment, his kick did nothing to his guard, who only gave Artos a blank stare.
"Effing Body Symbolists..." Artos muttered to himself as he let out a sigh. "Why do you always have to be this tough? You make this shipment so boring!"
For Artos, the existence of Body Symbolists was something that he found to be extremely undesirable.
After all Body Symbolists were just crazy people!
Originally, Symbolists write their Symbols on the medium around them.
Air, fluids, papers, wood, metal, as long as it was within the Symbolist's presence, they can use their power there.
However, there were some crazy Symbolists who place their Symbols on their bodies!
That was extremely outrageous for Artos, as the human body was not just suited to be inscripted with Symbols!
Symbols were the manifestation of a Symbolist's knowledge and imagination.
Something like the human body, which has a life on its own, will usually reject the presence of these Symbols.
That observation could be said to be true from the results of Symbolists aspiring to be Body Symbolists.
Out of the many Symbolists who put Symbols on their bodies, only few survives, and by that time, their minds and bodies were already warped beyond recognition.
Even if their body somehow accepted the Symbols, their bodies has to change in order to accommodate these Symbols.
One such example of that were Artos' two bodyguards, who were both Body Symbolists.
Their skins were cracked and hardened beyond recognition, their heads were misshapen and their limbs were long and spindly, giving them a hideous appearance that only the Devourers could beat.
Even he was with these guards for a year already, Artos still felt some shivers as he looked at the appearance of his guards.
But even if he disdains the existence of the Body Symbolists, Artos could still appreciate the power and efficiency of the Body Symbolists.
A Symbolist's focus was their mind and knowledge, as their power comes from there.
With their focus only on their minds, the body of a normal Symbolist was just comparable to a normal human.
The Body Symbolists on the other hand, had no such limitation.
With their body marked with Symbols, a Body Symbolist's body was considerably tougher compared to a normal Symbolist.
With this kind of trait, most of the Body Symbolists were hired to protect Symbolists of high position.
Of course some Symbolic Artifacts can help protect a normal Symbolist from harm, but the presence of a Body Symbolist can give better protection to a normal Symbolist.
Oh, and their tough bodies also mean that they can take some beating without any harm, which Artos had been doing for the past 6 hours already.
"Tsk…" As Artos continued kicking his two bodyguards, he let out another sigh as he remembered the second reason for his bad mood today.
"F**king Red Moon…." Artos muttered to himself as he looked up, seeing the feared Moon releasing its red light onto the darkness. "If you did not appear, I could have been back to my lab already! But because of you, I have to take some detours! F**k!"
***********
When the Red Moon appeared minutes earlier, Artos and everyone in the ship naturally panicked, and the first thing that Artos decided to do was to change the ship's destination and head to the nearest Symbol Tower.
But before Artos could give this command to the ship captain, he received a long-distance message, which came from the Grand Symbolist himself.
Because it was the strongest Symbolist in the world who gave the message, Artos had no choice but to receive it.
To deny it was to deny the Grand Symbolist, and Artos was not that crazy to do that.
[[[To all the Symbolists out in the field tonight. The Red Moon, codenamed Claret has appeared. With the previous happenings from the first three moons, it is highly likely that a Fourth Faction is about to rise tonight. However, I, as the Grand Symbolist, had deemed it extremely dangerous to let another faction rise. The world already reached its balance with the Three Factions, and the appearance of a fourth faction will destroy this balance.]]]
"…"
[[[Hence I command you all! Look for the members of the fourth faction, capture them, and make them loyal servants of the Symbolists! Capture as many as you want! Your success will mean the success of the Symbolists! ]]]
"What the f***…."
[[[η γνώση είναι δύναμη!(Knowledge is Power!)]]]
"η γνώση είναι δύναμη…" Artos muttered unenthusiastically as the message of the Grand Symbolist came to an end. "Do we really need to look for them now? I want to go home already!"
"Sir Artos, you heard the commandment of the Grand Symbolist." Ted, one of the guards that Artos was kicking earlier, said as he stared at him. "As your guards, we won't let you go back unless we catch members of the fourth faction."
"…" Artos resisted the urge to shout at Ted, as he knew that doing so will be just a blatant act of disrespect against the Grand Symbolist's commandment.
"Hmph, of course I know about that." Artos replied angrily as he crossed his arms. He then looked at the captain of this ship, who was a Symbolist like him.
Unlike Artos, who was one of the heads of a Polis(City State), the ship captain was just one of their normal residents.
There's no way for the captain to refuse Artos' order, and he naturally took advantage of that.
"Use your full speed on this ship! As for the other Symbolists, use your power to detect any abnormalities on the ground below!" Artos said as he began to bark commands on the ship crew. "Make sure that you do your job well, or else, you could be sent to the containment camps!"
These words of Artos seemed to have done its magic, as all the crews of the ship started to move, with panic evident on their faces.
***************
"In order for me to get a member of the fourth faction, I have to go to a populated area." Artos muttered to himself as he leaned back on his chair. "Going to a Polis won't do right now. I'm sure other Symbolists have already secured themselves there… So in that case, I just have to go to a city with non-powered people… I'm sure only few Symbolists will place their attention there."
"You! Where is the nearest non-powered city from here?" Artos barked at the ship captain, who seemed to be doing his best to keep the ship on its optimum state.
"There is a merchant city, around 3 leagues from here, Sir Artos." The ship captain replied as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It will take us 3 minutes to arrive there at our current state."
"Good. Now, plot your destination on that place. The faster that we get there, the better it will be for all of us." Artos dismissively said as he tilted his head.
"Understood, Sir Artos." Artos did not show any indication that he heard this reply, as he started to let out a bored yawn.
"This is so boring…"
However, this sentiment of his changed when one of the ship's crew members suddenly let out an excited shout.
"Sir Artos, I detected an anomaly, around 100 paces on our left side! It came from the top of a barren mountain!"
"Good! Let's head there right now!" Artos shouted as he pointed his finger at the ship captain. "What are you doing? Go there!"
"Yes Sir Artos!" The poor ship captain was unable to even let out a whimper as he forced the ship to decelerate and detour.
As the ship let out some groaning sounds, Artos let out an excited smile as he prepared his stele. The stele glowed brightly inside the ship, displaying that enthusiasm that Artos was feeling right now.
"χρόνο για να πάρετε κάποιο σκλάβος!(Time to get a slave!)"
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Tonight was not certainly a good night for Artos.
Not only did his latest experiment fail, he was even punished from that failure by making him manage a shipment transport!
For Artos, whose pride lies on the fact that he was an enlightened academic, being forced to manage an airship was something that stung him deeply!
"Tsk, I just wanted to see if I can make a 100-layered Symbol Matrix on a piece of paper. Do they really need to punish me when the paper exploded at the 10th layer?" Artos angrily mumbled to himself as he leaned back on his chair.
"They could have just asked me to pay for the damages! That is the rule in the lab! But no, my supervisors decided that it will be better if I just join the laborers here in this effing airship! Learn to be humble my ass! They just want me out of the labs so that they won't be bothered by me anymore! F**king geezers…" Artos said these words angrily as he shook his head. "What a waste of my time!"
If Artos could use his power to leave this airship, then he could have done so already.
But he can't, as he has to follow the directives given to him right now.
Artos is a Symbolist, so he had no choice but to follow the instructions given to him.
Being this obedient might sound absurd, but following protocols and directives was something that should be done so that each Symbolist can be considered mentally fit to use their abilities.
If a Symbolist does not follow a directive, then that will constitute an instant punishment.
"…" Artos personally knew what happens to those who don't follow the directives, so had no choice left but to join the airship.
"Hmph, I could have been using all this free time to read some good academic papers... Instead, I have to supervise this useless ship! Bah!" Artos could not contain his anger anymore, as he kicked one of the guards standing beside him.
"Thud." To his disappointment, his kick did nothing to his guard, who only gave Artos a blank stare.
"Effing Body Symbolists..." Artos muttered to himself as he let out a sigh. "Why do you always have to be this tough? You make this shipment so boring!"
For Artos, the existence of Body Symbolists was something that he found to be extremely undesirable.
After all Body Symbolists were just crazy people!
Originally, Symbolists write their Symbols on the medium around them.
Air, fluids, papers, wood, metal, as long as it was within the Symbolist's presence, they can use their power there.
However, there were some crazy Symbolists who place their Symbols on their bodies!
That was extremely outrageous for Artos, as the human body was not just suited to be inscripted with Symbols!
Symbols were the manifestation of a Symbolist's knowledge and imagination.
Something like the human body, which has a life on its own, will usually reject the presence of these Symbols.
That observation could be said to be true from the results of Symbolists aspiring to be Body Symbolists.
Out of the many Symbolists who put Symbols on their bodies, only few survives, and by that time, their minds and bodies were already warped beyond recognition.
Even if their body somehow accepted the Symbols, their bodies has to change in order to accommodate these Symbols.
One such example of that were Artos' two bodyguards, who were both Body Symbolists.
Their skins were cracked and hardened beyond recognition, their heads were misshapen and their limbs were long and spindly, giving them a hideous appearance that only the Devourers could beat.
Even he was with these guards for a year already, Artos still felt some shivers as he looked at the appearance of his guards.
But even if he disdains the existence of the Body Symbolists, Artos could still appreciate the power and efficiency of the Body Symbolists.
A Symbolist's focus was their mind and knowledge, as their power comes from there.
With their focus only on their minds, the body of a normal Symbolist was just comparable to a normal human.
The Body Symbolists on the other hand, had no such limitation.
With their body marked with Symbols, a Body Symbolist's body was considerably tougher compared to a normal Symbolist.
With this kind of trait, most of the Body Symbolists were hired to protect Symbolists of high position.
Of course some Symbolic Artifacts can help protect a normal Symbolist from harm, but the presence of a Body Symbolist can give better protection to a normal Symbolist.
Oh, and their tough bodies also mean that they can take some beating without any harm, which Artos had been doing for the past 6 hours already.
"Tsk…" As Artos continued kicking his two bodyguards, he let out another sigh as he remembered the second reason for his bad mood today.
"F**king Red Moon…." Artos muttered to himself as he looked up, seeing the feared Moon releasing its red light onto the darkness. "If you did not appear, I could have been back to my lab already! But because of you, I have to take some detours! F**k!"
***********
When the Red Moon appeared minutes earlier, Artos and everyone in the ship naturally panicked, and the first thing that Artos decided to do was to change the ship's destination and head to the nearest Symbol Tower.
But before Artos could give this command to the ship captain, he received a long-distance message, which came from the Grand Symbolist himself.
Because it was the strongest Symbolist in the world who gave the message, Artos had no choice but to receive it.
To deny it was to deny the Grand Symbolist, and Artos was not that crazy to do that.
[[[To all the Symbolists out in the field tonight. The Red Moon, codenamed Claret has appeared. With the previous happenings from the first three moons, it is highly likely that a Fourth Faction is about to rise tonight. However, I, as the Grand Symbolist, had deemed it extremely dangerous to let another faction rise. The world already reached its balance with the Three Factions, and the appearance of a fourth faction will destroy this balance.]]]
"…"
[[[Hence I command you all! Look for the members of the fourth faction, capture them, and make them loyal servants of the Symbolists! Capture as many as you want! Your success will mean the success of the Symbolists! ]]]
"What the f***…."
[[[η γνώση είναι δύναμη!(Knowledge is Power!)]]]
"η γνώση είναι δύναμη…" Artos muttered unenthusiastically as the message of the Grand Symbolist came to an end. "Do we really need to look for them now? I want to go home already!"
"Sir Artos, you heard the commandment of the Grand Symbolist." Ted, one of the guards that Artos was kicking earlier, said as he stared at him. "As your guards, we won't let you go back unless we catch members of the fourth faction."
"…" Artos resisted the urge to shout at Ted, as he knew that doing so will be just a blatant act of disrespect against the Grand Symbolist's commandment.
"Hmph, of course I know about that." Artos replied angrily as he crossed his arms. He then looked at the captain of this ship, who was a Symbolist like him.
Unlike Artos, who was one of the heads of a Polis(City State), the ship captain was just one of their normal residents.
There's no way for the captain to refuse Artos' order, and he naturally took advantage of that.
"Use your full speed on this ship! As for the other Symbolists, use your power to detect any abnormalities on the ground below!" Artos said as he began to bark commands on the ship crew. "Make sure that you do your job well, or else, you could be sent to the containment camps!"
These words of Artos seemed to have done its magic, as all the crews of the ship started to move, with panic evident on their faces.
***************
"In order for me to get a member of the fourth faction, I have to go to a populated area." Artos muttered to himself as he leaned back on his chair. "Going to a Polis won't do right now. I'm sure other Symbolists have already secured themselves there… So in that case, I just have to go to a city with non-powered people… I'm sure only few Symbolists will place their attention there."
"You! Where is the nearest non-powered city from here?" Artos barked at the ship captain, who seemed to be doing his best to keep the ship on its optimum state.
"There is a merchant city, around 3 leagues from here, Sir Artos." The ship captain replied as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It will take us 3 minutes to arrive there at our current state."
"Good. Now, plot your destination on that place. The faster that we get there, the better it will be for all of us." Artos dismissively said as he tilted his head.
"Understood, Sir Artos." Artos did not show any indication that he heard this reply, as he started to let out a bored yawn.
"This is so boring…"
However, this sentiment of his changed when one of the ship's crew members suddenly let out an excited shout.
"Sir Artos, I detected an anomaly, around 100 paces on our left side! It came from the top of a barren mountain!"
"Good! Let's head there right now!" Artos shouted as he pointed his finger at the ship captain. "What are you doing? Go there!"
"Yes Sir Artos!" The poor ship captain was unable to even let out a whimper as he forced the ship to decelerate and detour.
As the ship let out some groaning sounds, Artos let out an excited smile as he prepared his stele. The stele glowed brightly inside the ship, displaying that enthusiasm that Artos was feeling right now.
"χρόνο για να πάρετε κάποιο σκλάβος!(Time to get a slave!)"
Tonight was not certainly a good night for Artos.Not only did his latest experiment fail, he was even punished from that failure by making him manage a shipment transport!For Artos, whose pride lies on the fact that he was an enlightened academic, being forced to manage an airship was something that stung him deeply!"Tsk, I just wanted to see if I can make a 100-layered Symbol Matrix on a piece of paper. Do they really need to punish me when the paper exploded at the 10th layer?" Artos angrily mumbled to himself as he leaned back on his chair."They could have just asked me to pay for the damages! That is the rule in the lab! But no, my supervisors decided that it will be better if I just join the laborers here in this effing airship! Learn to be humble my ass! They just want me out of the labs so that they won't be bothered by me anymore! F**king geezers" Artos said these words angrily as he shook his head. "What a waste of my time!"If Artos could use his power to leave this airship, then he could have done so already.But he can't, as he has to follow the directives given to him right now.Artos is a Symbolist, so he had no choice but to follow the instructions given to him.Being this obedient might sound absurd, but following protocols and directives was something that should be done so that each Symbolist can be considered mentally fit to use their abilities.If a Symbolist does not follow a directive, then that will constitute an instant punishment."" Artos personally knew what happens to those who don't follow the directives, so had no choice left but to join the airship."Hmph, I could have been using all this free time to read some good academic papers... Instead, I have to supervise this useless ship! Bah!" Artos could not contain his anger anymore, as he kicked one of the guards standing beside him."Thud." To his disappointment, his kick did nothing to his guard, who only gave Artos a blank stare."Effing Body Symbolists..." Artos muttered to himself as he let out a sigh. "Why do you always have to be this tough? You make this shipment so boring!"For Artos, the existence of Body Symbolists was something that he found to be extremely undesirable.After all Body Symbolists were just crazy people!Originally, Symbolists write their Symbols on the medium around them.Air, fluids, papers, wood, metal, as long as it was within the Symbolist's presence, they can use their power there.However, there were some crazy Symbolists who place their Symbols on their bodies!That was extremely outrageous for Artos, as the human body was not just suited to be inscripted with Symbols!Symbols were the manifestation of a Symbolist's knowledge and imagination.Something like the human body, which has a life on its own, will usually reject the presence of these Symbols.That observation could be said to be true from the results of Symbolists aspiring to be Body Symbolists.Out of the many Symbolists who put Symbols on their bodies, only few survives, and by that time, their minds and bodies were already warped beyond recognition.Even if their body somehow accepted the Symbols, their bodies has to change in order to accommodate these Symbols.One such example of that were Artos' two bodyguards, who were both Body Symbolists.Their skins were cracked and hardened beyond recognition, their heads were misshapen and their limbs were long and spindly, giving them a hideous appearance that only the Devourers could beat.Even he was with these guards for a year already, Artos still felt some shivers as he looked at the appearance of his guards.But even if he disdains the existence of the Body Symbolists, Artos could still appreciate the power and efficiency of the Body Symbolists.A Symbolist's focus was their mind and knowledge, as their power comes from there.With their focus only on their minds, the body of a normal Symbolist was just comparable to a normal human.The Body Symbolists on the other hand, had no such limitation.With their body marked with Symbols, a Body Symbolist's body was considerably tougher compared to a normal Symbolist.With this kind of trait, most of the Body Symbolists were hired to protect Symbolists of high position.Of course some Symbolic Artifacts can help protect a normal Symbolist from harm, but the presence of a Body Symbolist can give better protection to a normal Symbolist.Oh, and their tough bodies also mean that they can take some beating without any harm, which Artos had been doing for the past 6 hours already."Tsk" As Artos continued kicking his two bodyguards, he let out another sigh as he remembered the second reason for his bad mood today."F**king Red Moon." Artos muttered to himself as he looked up, seeing the feared Moon releasing its red light onto the darkness. "If you did not appear, I could have been back to my lab already! But because of you, I have to take some detours! F**k!"***********When the Red Moon appeared minutes earlier, Artos and everyone in the ship naturally panicked, and the first thing that Artos decided to do was to change the ship's destination and head to the nearest Symbol Tower.But before Artos could give this command to the ship captain, he received a long-distance message, which came from the Grand Symbolist himself.Because it was the strongest Symbolist in the world who gave the message, Artos had no choice but to receive it.To deny it was to deny the Grand Symbolist, and Artos was not that crazy to do that.To all the Symbolists out in the field tonight. The Red Moon, codenamed Claret has appeared. With the previous happenings from the first three moons, it is highly likely that a Fourth Faction is about to rise tonight. However, I, as the Grand Symbolist, had deemed it extremely dangerous to let another faction rise. The world already reached its balance with the Three Factions, and the appearance of a fourth faction will destroy this balance.""Hence I command you all! Look for the members of the fourth faction, capture them, and make them loyal servants of the Symbolists! Capture as many as you want! Your success will mean the success of the Symbolists! "What the f***." !Knowledge is Power!" " Artos muttered unenthusiastically as the message of the Grand Symbolist came to an end. "Do we really need to look for them now? I want to go home already!""Sir Artos, you heard the commandment of the Grand Symbolist." Ted, one of the guards that Artos was kicking earlier, said as he stared at him. "As your guards, we won't let you go back unless we catch members of the fourth faction.""" Artos resisted the urge to shout at Ted, as he knew that doing so will be just a blatant act of disrespect against the Grand Symbolist's commandment."Hmph, of course I know about that." Artos replied angrily as he crossed his arms. He then looked at the captain of this ship, who was a Symbolist like him.Unlike Artos, who was one of the heads of a PolisCity State, the ship captain was just one of their normal residents.There's no way for the captain to refuse Artos' order, and he naturally took advantage of that."Use your full speed on this ship! As for the other Symbolists, use your power to detect any abnormalities on the ground below!" Artos said as he began to bark commands on the ship crew. "Make sure that you do your job well, or else, you could be sent to the containment camps!"These words of Artos seemed to have done its magic, as all the crews of the ship started to move, with panic evident on their faces.***************"In order for me to get a member of the fourth faction, I have to go to a populated area." Artos muttered to himself as he leaned back on his chair. "Going to a Polis won't do right now. I'm sure other Symbolists have already secured themselves there So in that case, I just have to go to a city with non-powered people I'm sure only few Symbolists will place their attention there.""You! Where is the nearest non-powered city from here?" Artos barked at the ship captain, who seemed to be doing his best to keep the ship on its optimum state."There is a merchant city, around 3 leagues from here, Sir Artos." The ship captain replied as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It will take us 3 minutes to arrive there at our current state.""Good. Now, plot your destination on that place. The faster that we get there, the better it will be for all of us." Artos dismissively said as he tilted his head."Understood, Sir Artos." Artos did not show any indication that he heard this reply, as he started to let out a bored yawn."This is so boring"However, this sentiment of his changed when one of the ship's crew members suddenly let out an excited shout."Sir Artos, I detected an anomaly, around 100 paces on our left side! It came from the top of a barren mountain!""Good! Let's head there right now!" Artos shouted as he pointed his finger at the ship captain. "What are you doing? Go there!""Yes Sir Artos!" The poor ship captain was unable to even let out a whimper as he forced the ship to decelerate and detour.As the ship let out some groaning sounds, Artos let out an excited smile as he prepared his stele. The stele glowed brightly inside the ship, displaying that enthusiasm that Artos was feeling right now." !Time to get a slave!"
