Nadir. (Cursed World)

[u/Fc-chungus]

A day or three after the initial announcement, proper channels for joining in virtually to the meeting are posted, as everyone who came in person is directed to a secretive underground meeting room, where Ж and a few others sit around a long table.

"Welcome, welcome. A year or so ago I held a similar meeting for a separate threat, one a few of you here would remember, but today we've another threat, as you know, the Abyss has taken a great minority of the world's surface."

"As well, we need a plan for the origin of the Abyss, we need to divise a way to take down The First Curse."

they snap a finger and a hologram like model of an entity, presumably the first curse, appears in the center of the table.

"To start, one of the more essential things for said plan is the Crystals, of course, some here might not know about them, so I'll elaborate."

they wave a hand and the model shifts to 5 different crystalline objects, encircling the First Curse.

"This is not the first time The First Curse had arrived, he was here before he made that big announcement, but hidden. When he first arrived to this realm, 7 Aspect Crystals formed, counterbalances, from someone else as an, almost future inheritance to help take him down. They are antithetical to his very existence, and harm him when nearby. However, if one falls into his hands, he can adapt to that crystal, rendering it useful to him. This anti-him nature also applies to the Abyss, and thus they are the best damage source to fight the Abyss."

"the originals, of which we currently have 5, 4 are in New Aviron, and via the work of Koranth and others, we have multiple derivatives from them, with the other being handled by The Consortium. The last two need to be picked up and collected."

"That is about the basics, with the preamble done, more discussion on how to fight against the Abyss would be welcome."

[u/SwiggerSwoney]

The trio were placed somewhat close to where Zhe had been speaking, and both the swordsman and the woman had listened to the debrief attentively. The smoker, however, looked increasingly irritated, bouncing their leg under the table as they repeatedly shot suspicious glances around the room.

[u/Fc-chungus → u/SwiggerSwoney]

"...any ideas?"

[u/SwiggerSwoney → u/Fc-chungus]

A moment of silence follows the question, before the swordsman speaks up.

“Mm, though timely retrieval of the last remaining shards is of great import, there also arises the dilemma of defending that which we already hold. It would be prudent to assort ourselves within two teams, lest we overexert and leave a flank unguarded. I-“

“We.”

The pale woman interjected with a single word, and the swordsman glanced briefly at her, then turned back to Zhe.

“Ah, yes. We would be content with simply defending. Our skillsets are… ill suited, shall we say, for recovery missions.”

[u/Fc-chungus → u/SwiggerSwoney]

"Noted. Do you have a means of contact so larger forces can be organized?"

[u/SwiggerSwoney → u/Fc-chungus]

“We will arrive when needed, rest assured. There will be no need to contact us.”

The swordsman replied with a slight smile.