Ring!
The silent atmosphere of the lab was broken by the sound of ringing.
Kane picked up the phone and looked at the number.
Seeing Lucifer's name, he picked up the call.
"Yes?"
As he heard the words from the other person on the call, he started smiling wryly.
"Ah, I suppose I really did forget to tell you about this—my mistake. It would be best if you unlocked the gun again. You should triple tap the trigger. It locks automatically if it's not used for five hours straight."
"I know, I know. You don't have to repeat it. I know that I should've told you before. But there was just so much to talk about that this small detail slipped past. I thought I already told you about it," Kane commented, apologizing.
"No, there's nothing else that I forgot. Rest assured."
The call got disconnected, and Kane put his phone down, breathing a sigh of relief.
...
Lucifer finally got his answer as to why the gun wasn't working. He tapped the trigger three times in quick succession to unlock it again.
Without delay, he pulled the trigger.
As soon as he pulled the trigger, a bullet left the gun. The bullet wasn't an ordinary bullet though. It did have the shape of an ordinary bullet, but it was shining brightly with blue light for some reason.
The bullet hit the ground, blowing up—a powerful barrier formed around the bullet, covering everything in its embrace.
"A barrier?" Lucifer muttered, confused. "Is this the use of this bullet? It creates a barrier? For what? To protect us from attacks?"
From what he believed, this was the only use of the barrier.
"It should be to use when we're surrounded by enemies or to protect us from attacks."
"If that's the case, it better be a good barrier."
To test the strength of the barrier, he created a weak lightning bolt and fired it towards the barrier.
As soon as the lightning bolt struck the barrier, the barrier shattered like glass.
"It can't even resist a weak attack? How will it protect us? Am I missing something?"
Just as Lucifer was wondering what he was missing, a pop-up window opened in his classes.
[Kane is calling you. Do you want to pick it up?]
The window was followed by a mechanical voice from the glasses.
"Yeah." Lucifer nodded.
"Did you test the bullet?" Kane said on the other end as the call was connected.
"I did. And it's pretty useless, I must say. That protection barrier can't even resist my weakest attack," Lucifer said, shaking his head in disappointment. "I doubt it can't protect me even a little."
"Protection Barrier? That's not a protection barrier."
"It's not to be used as a Defensive Barrier?"
"Not at all."
"What is its use then?"
"It's not a protection barrier. Instead, it's an entrapment barrier. The outside layer of this barrier is defenseless, but the inside layer is very powerful," Kane explained.
"That's why it can't resist an attack from outside. But if you were inside it, it would be able to resist even your strongest of attacks for a short period of time at least," he continued.
"So it's to trap the enemies?" Lucifer asked, frowning.
"That's right," Kane replied. "It's to trap the enemies for a short period of time, to remove them from the battle temporarily while you focus on the others."
"The barrier dome is only three meters wide, so you can't trap too many enemies, but it's good for powerful enemies at least," he added.
"What's the use? The dome would break even if a moderately powerful attack landed on it. The people inside can be freed easily," Lucifer pointed out the biggest flaw.
"I know. That's the flaw in the dome, but we're working on it too. If we're successful, the outside layer would be as strong as the inside. In the meantime, you'll have to make do with it," Kane replied.
"In any case, only I know that the outer layer is weak. How would the enemies know? They'll attack from inside and realize that it's strong."
"As for the ones who are outside, they would never attack the barrier seeing that. I think it will work," he added.
"Maybe. You're right about one thing. It's better than nothing. Something that can stop the powerful enemies for a short time would be really useful." Lucifer agreed. "I'll need to test it more."
"Exactly. Now you can be safer on your trip. I wish you the best of luck for the trip to the Divine Empire. If you need any help or have any ideas, don't forget to ask me," Kane said before disconnecting the call.
[Call Disconnected]
Another semi-transparent screen opened before Lucifer in the corner of his view. It closed on its own within a second.
Lucifer kept the gun back in his pocket before sitting on the ground.
"First stone is here. The second is in the Divine Empire, which I should soon be getting. The third is with the Warlock Council."
"Finding the missing ones will be a real challenge though. I hope the Warlock Council would have some clues," he muttered, sitting in silence while gazing at the moon.
....
There existed a faraway island where a prestigious Variant Academy existed, known as the Academy for Gifted Variants.
It was a highly reputed Academy where a lot of high profile students lived and studied, but at the moment, there weren't any students here.
The entire academy was temporarily closed while all the students were sent home.
Even the teachers were told to leave until the academy returned to work.
Inside the massive academy, only one person existed at the moment.
In the darkness of the night, the person was sitting on the roof of one of the Academy buildings, looking at the moon as well.
The person looked like a young kid who was barely twelve years old. His hair was similar to Lucifer's as they were also silver in color, but they weren't as long as Lucifer's hair.
Even though he looked like a young boy, he was actually a lot older. It was just that he looked young.
He was also one of the strongest Warlocks of this Island Nation. He was the Dean of Variant Academy, known as Xaen.
He was a Warlock who could use space to teleport anywhere he wanted. He was also a person who could use space as his personal storage box.
Xaen was looking at the sky as he laid on the roof of the academy.
He soon raised his right hand, which had a small crystal orb.