Chapter 24: Agenda

"Again," Mage Park Han Fu muttered. Together with the Handlers, they have been checking the Transmit Cube they have gathered. Only a handful of the Stone was left after the explosion occurred. "Show me the third stone," he ordered.

On the table was eight Transmit Cube randomly aligned. This was his third stone to check. Inside the stones were a magical holographic view of the event at the swamp, he saw the Lord attacking the participants. The participants were Tony and Xi, and Coco in a cat form. Every stone were different angles. The first stone shows the rear view of the Lord, the second was a side view, and the third was his front view, and so on.

The door opened and Sir Edwin let himself in. The Handlers who were watching bowed and left. "What are you doing with those stones?" He asked Mage Park.

"Nothing, just checking"

"Checking what?"

"There's something wrong with how the Lord exploded. I don't get it. Why'd he want to kill himself."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Sir Edwin retorted, the two were back at the conference room of the town hall. "Lord's lost control of their awakened powers, especially this one," pointing at the Lord appearing on the holographic view inside the stone. "Sometimes, their body can't handle too much power, that's why they exploded."

"I know."

"You know then what are you doing here?"

"It's just...seems too odd, have you checked the site where it happened? Have you noticed the Magic Residues?" Mage Park knitted his brows. His finger was tapping the table.

"Yes, of course." Sir Edwin paused for a second, the morning light found it's way inside the room, "there's no Magic Residue," he answered.

"Exactly!" Mage Park Cried, "I've been to different places, with the help of my license I've hunted different Monsters, read bestiaries, experimented on both monsters and humans, and you knew what I've learned?"

"What?"

"Ancient Lord, Elder Dragons, and Jinns are the only monsters I knew that do not create a Residue when a spell was conjured," with deep thoughts, the mage was now curious more than ever.

"Pfft, Ancient Lord," Sir Edwin scoffed, "Elder Dragon and Jinn?" He smirked. "Are you sure it's not Baby Dragon? Cause I knew a bunch of Baby Dragons," he looked Mage Park with a pity. "You're reading too much book Mage."

"Well, I guess so, cause if I'm right," slowly he put the eight Transmit Cube to a bag, stood, and hid it inside a piece of furniture locked with magical arrays. "Cause if I'm right, that Lord you killed will be the first Lord to use Magic with Pure Mana."

"Pure Mana! Hah!" Sir Edwin laughed hysterically, "it's been a thousand years since the last Maker appeared, and he's the only known being to have Pure Mana," he said. "And that's just according to some random books found in the Royal Library."

"Well enough with this, so tell me, why'd you helped the kid?"

From laughing, Sir Edwin's face sterned. "The Butterfly, the kid has the Butterfly. Othor is here, on this island."

"My, my, no wonder the kid could battle the Lord. So he was, after all, Othor's apprentice." The Mage walked toward McGreedy's chair, "that McGreedy, having a luxurious life on this island, ahh, this chair so soft. Anyway, the kid was actually a Hollow."

"What?!" Surprised, Sir Edwin looked to where the Mage was, "but, how? Wait, if he's a Hollow, then he doesn't have the Mark."

"Yes, and if he doesn't have the Mark, how can you kill Othor?" Mage Park started to tap the table once again. "Cause you know, you need to extract the Mark then kill him."

"You said it yourself, the kid was Othor's apprentice."

"Nyaha, you sly beast!" Mage Park laughed hysterically. "No wonder the Organization sent you to do the job instead of the Tailor. You're full of motivation!"

"If I'm a sly beast, then what do you call Othor?" The Knight walked past a set of furniture then seated back to the center table. The morning light cast a beam on the table. "Tell them to bring some tea."

"Ahh, of course, tea. With all that hatred, tea is what you exactly need right now," the Mage raised his finger then pointed at the stone resting on McGreedy's table. "Ah, hello, hello, I'm not McGreedy, I'm the Royal Mage and Gold Level Hunter Park Han Fu. I need tea. Make it two." His thirty-year-old voice was suppressed like that of a kid wanting to have candy.

"What about the Cat?"

"What about the Cat?" The Mage copied Sir Edwin's flat voice.

"It's a rare Elemental Cat and a Mythical one," he said, "don't you want it?"

"Even if it's Mythical, it's Grade was still low, but he can transform so it might come in handy," he paused then added, "but, I've seen better back at the Capital, so the cat might be good for display."

"You can have it after I killed them both." Sir Edwin's face shows nothing. But his eyes were filled with hatred.

"My, my, now we're talking." Mage Park leaned and clasped his hands, "you know, I've killed people for fun, but I don't hate anybody. But you, you're full of hatred. No wonder you're here. A Royal Knight, Diamond Level Hunter, and a Spy for the Organization." He muttered. "You're the perfect person for this job!"

"I didn't travel ninety moons just to fail, I'm here to do a job. Perfectly. And nothing will stop me. For twenty years, I've been tracking him. That twenty years, I've become a Royal Knight, a Hunter, and joined the Organization. Just for this moment. For twenty fu*king years." A man of hatred emitted a faint dark-orange aura that was full of killing intent. The room that was filled with sunlight, dimmed. "So, do your job, and I'll do mine." He stared the Mage right into his soul.

The Mage muttered a spell, that only him knew the real meaning behind those words. After a moment, orange and dark aura fought inside the room. "Edwin Tulor Godefroy," then the dark aura enveloped the Knight, he's silver armor turned dark as the Mage muttered his incantations.

Then a necklace floated, dispelling all the dark aura coming from the Mage. "Trinket of Protection," he said, "I'm not a fool, even if you know my real name, your curse is useless." He scoffed, "you Dark Mages."

"My, my, I'm just teasing you." Ending his curse, the dark aura sipped in back to his body. "My job, yes, my job. It's almost complete, three, no two days the G..." A knock reverberated throughout the room.

A lady wearing full armor gripped the door wide open. Her chestnut hair was tied for elegance. None could discern her figure because of her armor hugging her entire body. Two swords were left hanging on her waist. But the plates she was carrying was against her figure. On the plate were two cups of black tea.

"Commander," she leaned forward, gazed at the Mage, then back to the Knight, "your tea is here."

"Allaina, what are you doing?" Sir Edwin asked.

"Commander," putting the cups of tea to each gentleman. "I'm sorry, I'm just curious, there is a kid on the infirmary," her monotonous voice satisfied the room, "and healers are giving full attention on him, why?"

"He's a participant for the Selection, I'll tell you everything later." Said the Knight without looking at Allaina.

"But, Commander."

"Later Allaina."

"Yes, Commander," leaning to the Knight, she left without giving a gesture to the Mage.

"Why bring her here?" The mage asked, sipping a cup of black tea. "Ahh, such a pity, this island's black tea is actually delicious."

"It wasn't my idea, it was the Queen's." Sipping a cup of tea he added. "She said this travel was good for Allaina."

"Ah Royalty, of course," this time it was the Mage who stood and stared outside through the window. "They're so naive."

"Shut up, the Organization needs them." He said. "What about the Gate?"

"Ah yes, the Gate was almost complete. Two days utmost."

"So what do you think will appear?" Curious, the Knight asked.

"Nobody knew. I'm thinking another Lord, maybe Elder Dragon, or worse an Ancient, but one thing is for sure. It's an abomination." His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"So how will you do it?"

"Gates were supposed to appear three more years. But the Organization made it possible to appear ahead of time. As to how, I don't know, my task was to only place the arrays." The Mage explained.

"Can you read the Array?"

"No, I can't, it's my first time seeing a complicated set of Array." He added while sipping a cup of tea, "whoever made it was a mad genius." Moments later, envy filled the Mage's eyes. "Anyway! What about the Selection?"

After the accident at the swamp, the Handlers cleared what was left after the battle. Moreover, because of their courage, Ned, Toni, and Xi were qualified to pass the Selection and was admitted to Griffith Academy. Since the Selection was about to find a recruit brave enough to face different circumstances, the three passed.

"Instead of twenty, add an additional spot for the three. But continue the Selection. Especially the Tournament. We needed more recruit to present to the Kingdom," Ser Edwin ordered.

"As you wish my Lord," the Mage leaned and bowed. Trying to balance the cup of tea. Lips arched high, a smile could be seen on his face.

A faint blue light dimmed on the table. It was the Transmit Cube used for the Selection. "What now!" The Mage cried, lifting his fingers, he injected a Mana in the stone. "Speak!"

On the other side was a Healer, on a full Mage's robe.

"My Lord, the kid is awake."