Chapter 26: The Calm Before (2)
Sally lay there in front of everyone, convulsing in pain. The Master Mages examined her as the rest watched with concerned faces, except for Zane.
"What if it's an after effect or something?" Zane proposed. "Didn't you say she fell in a couple of your traps during round two?" He asked Lisa.
"Huh? Oh, she did a few times…" Lisa responded before turning back to Lisa.
"If that's the case, maybe her getting all worked up triggered it." Sighing, Cynthia picked up Sally, who was beginning to convulse less. "I'll take her to the infirmary. See you around."
She leaped off into the distance with Sally, leaving everyone to decide what to do next.
"What did you do to her?" Firenze quickly whispered to Zane, who put his hands up.
"Calm down, it really is just an after effect of the spells she got hit by earlier." A small smile crept on Zane's lips. "I just amplified it."
Firenze looked at him warily before nodding, going back over to George so that the two could leave.
"Zane, are you alright?" With only Mage Squad 6 remaining, Vincent wanted to check on Zane.
"Yeah, she was saying a whole lot of stuff. You okay?" Lanius also shared his concerns.
Zane stepped back and waved his hands, a big smile taking over his face. "Guys, guys, I'm fine, but thanks for asking." He quickly turned to Vincent. "So, master, how about taking us out to celebrate for winning? Maybe a restaurant or something?"
Lanius and Lisa turned to Vincent expectantly, while Zane just smiled. Vincent looked at them before sighing with a smile. "Alright. Meet me at the academy gates by 3pm."
"Yes!" Lanius cheered as Vincent disappeared. "First, we win a mission, and now we get food!"
Mage Squad 6 happily chatted as they walked back to the main buildings of the academy, excited for the mission they would undertake in the future.
Later that afternoon, they were back in The Capital, in one of those restaurants where they cooked the food themselves. Vincent had a frown as he watched Lanius devour his 7th plate of beef, worried for his wallet.
"At least I get a high pay from being a Master Mage." He mumbled to himself.
Zane leaned forward and pushed his plate to the side as a small pink crack appeared in the air, a tentacle shooting out to take the food off his plate before disappearing.
"Excuse me, I'm going to refill our meat." Grabbing his plate, Zane excused himself past Vincent before he walked over to the line of people getting food by the buffet-style counter.
As Zane joined the line, he felt someone bump into him from behind.
"I'm sorry - oh, hey Zane."
Turning around, Zane looked up to see the familiar face of Sydney, the girl that had taught him Mana Dust during the entrance exam. Her black hair was in a ponytail as usual as she smiled at him.
"Oh, hey Sydney. What are you doing here?" Zane smiled back. Sydney was probably one of if not the only person he actually liked, since she never treated him differently because of his parents.
"My master won a couple hundred magins from a small lottery, so she decided to treat us. I'm part of Mage Squad 10, by the way. What about you?"
(A/N: Magins is the currency used in the Magine Kingdom. It's paper bills and coins.)
"Oh, I'm with Mage Squad 6. We beat Mage Squad 2 in a game of capture the flag, so my master is taking us out to celebrate."
As the line moved, the two continued to chat. Zane learned about her squadmates and her master, who was quite eccentric and addicted to gambling. In turn, Zane told her about his own squadmates and master, not forgetting to act super happy about his squad.
"Well, it sounds like you're having a good time here." The two wrapped up their conversation as they refilled their plates. She smiled at him. "Nice talking to you. See you around, Zane."
"See you, Sydney."
Zane returned to his table, Lanius lighting up at the sight of more food. The squad of young Mages and master chatted as they continued to eat, focused on enjoying their celebration.
"Just so you guys know, I'll be training you hard. I'm going to make sure all of you are ready before I send you on a mission. Luckily there aren't any available ones right now."
"Booo." Lisa rolled her eyes while Zane smiled politely. Lanius gave a salute while his mouth was full of beef.
"I'm ready for it!" He tried to say, but only coughed up some meat on the table to everyone's disgust.
"Eugh!"
******
Somewhere in the Magine Kingdom, in the dead of night, two hooded figures stood on a hill overlooking a village. Their cloaks were black with a blood red trim, blending into the darkness of the night. The two were far from their home in The Capital, but that wasn't their concern at the moment.
"Are you ready?" One of the figures stepped into the moonlight, revealing himself to be Benjamin.
The other one nodded, a purple strand of hair peeking out of the hood. "How many are there?" Lilac asked.
"Less than 30. Don't worry, with those grimoires we found in the ruins, this hideout will be a piece of cake." Benjamin smiled at the thought of presenting the treasure they previously found to Zane upon his next visit. "This is just a side branch of the Children of Namek, like we once were."
With no more words to be said, the two jumped off the hill, Benjamin vanishing in a puff of smoke while Lilac landed on the ground. A few cultists were shocked at her sudden appearance, pulling out various weapons from their green robes.
A purple spellbook floated behind Lilac as she mumbled a spell.
"Fragrant Death."
A purple mist began to spill out from her cloak, covering the area in a matter of seconds. The cultists were only able to smell the scent of perfume before they grabbed their necks, blood coming out of their mouths as they collapsed. With the immediate cultists dead, Lilac explored the village to take care of anyone outside the buildings.
Inside the largest building, a cultist was standing guard in a hallway, his shadow being cast on the wall behind him. Unknown to him, a man began to emerge from his shadow, placing a hand over the guard's mouth and slitting his throat with a dagger.
Benjamin stepped out of the shadow and dropped the dead guard, which was the last of the cultists indoors. By now he was certain that Lilac had finished outdoors.
"Last thing left to do before looting them and getting out of here."
Benjamin walked into a large room, where plenty of dead cultists lay around a table. He stabbed the nearest corpse and dipped his hand in the body's blood before smearing it on the wall.
"This should get our name out there more."
After Benjamin finished writing on the wall, he left the meeting room to explore the village. What was left in the room was a bunch of mutilated corpses, with a large message written on the wall in blood.
BLOOD OF SYNE.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Noel_Attano
Noel_Attano Sorry for no chapters the past days, have had a lot of tests this week. Updates will be steady again hopefully by the time the weekend comes.
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