“…Well this is awkward…” a sip of the cold, bitter alcohol followed the statement as the man placed the glass down, looking to his conversation partner.

“It’s only awkward if you make it awkward.” The woman replied, nursing a glass of her own as she sent the man a glance.

The Bartender, looking at the two, simply sighed, shaking his head knowing that these two always acted the same when they met…

“…right… um, weren’t you supposed to be running around in southern Africa?” the man asked, getting a smirk from his drinking partner.

“Oh, looking to get rid of me that quickly eh? Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving soon, and then you can go back to sitting in front of that statue all day.” The woman crossed her legs, drawing the eyes of the man to her smooth legs, partially hidden by the midnight black dress he almost always found her wearing… his eyes looked away shortly afterwards, despite knowing he was caught looking already.

It was common for Sages to wear armour, and a Sage who didn’t typically possessed a Clad based on armour, much like this woman did…

The man was similar, his own outfit the robes of a priest, only because he refused to be appointed as something like a bishop or higher on anything other than merit…

Despite his fame as a Sage, as a man of the cloth, he had much to learn in his opinion.

“It’s not just sitting in front of a statue, I’m praying. Besides, don’t you have a few accounting books to go over or something?” The man in white complained.

Much like he had his faith in religion, the woman he spoke to had faith in money… ironic, considering the power they both possessed.

Strong as they may be, strength was not something they had faith in. One of their close friends was proof that strength was fleeting and not eternal, nothing was.

“I’ve sorted them out before coming here. Sometimes things are so bad even big numbers can’t make me happy…” the woman frowned, taking another sip of her alcohol, and the man in white robes narrowed his eyes, knowing that the time for idle chatter was over.

“What have you found out?” the man asked, finishing his own glass before handing it to the Bartender, who just nodded and walked away, out of earshot… if the Bartender was a normal human.

“I found very little… my research topic isn’t exactly something that has constant updates, but what I have found out points a bad picture.” The woman sighed as she set down the glass, knowing she had to stop drinking despite wanting to continue.

“The Fae are moving again, and I’ve had three separate Dungeon’s opening in Africa that I had to go clear out. One is essentially a natural disaster for the country it’s in, three in a row a month apart? There’s something wrong.” The woman punctuated her words with a snap of the fingers, a dark fog hovering over her hand, a map coming out of it.

The map was old, judging by the inclusion of Japan, and the lack of a few other new alterations, but it sufficed for what the woman had to show.

“The Dungeons appeared here, here, and here. One was in Cape Town, South Africa, near the old castle they have there. Another appeared in Mozambique, on Tofo beach, and then finally one in Ethiopia. See the pattern?” the woman asked rhetorically, knowing that the man she was speaking to was no idiot.

“They’re appearing in a pattern heading towards the North, heading for Europe or Asia? Notably they are staying out of Fae populated areas… unless the Fae simply have not decided to let us know about the Dungeons appearing around them.” The man said, running a hand through his shining white hair.

Dungeons were abnormalities even for Sages, old ruins which could seemingly appear anywhere in the world, all denoted by the runic writing around their entrances, writing which could only be read by Sages and Fae.

Dungeons were odd existences, the man in white considered, he, like the woman in black, had destroyed more than one, and the ‘laws’ of Dungeons were always weird.

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A Dungeon was a test, a dangerous one that could and usually would lead to death, but those who conquered Dungeons were rewarded.

It could be a weapon, armour, sometimes even a technique which only those who defeated the Dungeon would be able to use.

Dungeons were difficult, but fair. That was the best the man in white could describe them.

There was one added notion to Dungeons though. At the entrance of a Dungeon, Sages would be able to tell what type of reward would be given, and what ‘rules’ had to be followed to earn the reward.

The problem, for the man and the woman, was that Dungeons actually had limits on how strong a Sage could be to earn the reward of a Dungeon.

Using these limits, the ‘Stars’ were created, as this was the measurement system the Dungeons used.

A five Star Sage could complete a four Star Dungeon, but would be ineligible for the reward.

Given the power of the two Sages sitting in this bar, the vast majority of Dungeons would give them no reward.

But Dungeons also had to be completed, for if a Dungeon was not completed within a certain time period after appearing, it would explode, creating a Mystic Zone where Mystic Beasts of equivalent ‘level’ to the Dungeon would appear…

There was an occasion in China where a Dungeon appeared but no one knew of its existence until a seven Star Mystic Beast attacked a nearby village.

It’s for this reason that the moment a Dungeon appears, a Sage of suitable strength is to enter and destroy it… but a Sage of the ‘recommended’ amount of Stars has a high chance of dying in said Dungeon.

The amount of people who conquered a Dungeon at the recommended level could be counted on a short list.

Obviously the two in the bar were counted on that list.

“You are right, we wouldn’t know if the Fae had Dungeons popping up near them… we don’t exactly have open communications with them.” The woman complained and the man nodded in agreement.

After the Fae Wars were ended due to a single battle, in which a ten Star Mystic Beast interrupted their battle due to disturbing it and both sides of the fight suffered heavy casualties before it was defeated.

After that, the ‘two’ races agreed to stay away from each other, as if they fought each other, they’d both be weakened to the point where the Mystic Beasts would kill them both off.

“But they are moving? Perhaps that’s in response to Dungeon appearances, we do know that the Fae view the Dungeons as proving grounds for their heroes.” The man in white offered and the woman shook her head.

“True, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here, and I would know, I’m the best stealth specialist out of our group. There were communications between the tribes about some Holy Maiden… I can only assume that someone has appeared that can ‘unite’ the tribes or something.” The woman offered and the man sighed.

“We can’t understand them so easily I guess… Well, in response to that, I guess I can talk to you about what’s been happening with the four Academies. It appears that the Special-Class students for all four Academies are all a bit unique this year.” The man in white offered, getting a raised eyebrow from the woman.

“The S-Class is comprised of those versatile, but crippled Sage’s right?” the woman did not mince words, as evidenced by the wince on the man’s face.

“That’s a bit rude isn’t it? I mean sure, we haven’t yet seen a two Element Sage capable of reaching ten Stars, but who knows, it might happen… it must happen.” The man trailed off at the end, well aware of the necessity of another ten Star Sage.

At this point only ten were ‘known’ by humanity at large. Of course, there were more.

Not much more, but there were more than ten, less than thirty.

The problem was that only ten were willing to work together for humanity, and these ten became known as the ten Kings, the rest of the ten Star Sages moving only for their own reasons.

“Ten Star Sages are essentially living WMD’s… the problem is that all of humanities enemies possess more than we can use in a fight.” The man added, and the woman agreed.

The Fae races had at least sixteen, and who knew how many ten Star Mystic Beasts existed.

And then there was this new being causing Dungeons to appear…

“We need the S-Class to be ready, maybe not now, but… we need new Kings. Five of the S-Class Students in particular would be excellent additions… four of them possess the Element of Essence, and another one possesses the Element of Time, the latter being Donovan’s protégé.” The man in white offered as the woman finally finished her alcohol.

“Four Essence Sages, all appearing at once in the same year? And let me guess, they’re each in a different one of the training centres. That sounds like an odd coincidence, doesn’t it?” the woman offered with a smirk, getting an awkward chuckle from the man in white.

“For once, it really was a coincidence, no strings pulled on my part. The only one who pulled anything was Donovan, who made sure that the Time Sage stayed at Elem.” The man in white added as he and the woman in black stood at the same time, tipping the Bartender generously as they walked away.

“I wonder how those kids would feel knowing that century old men and women were dictating how their lives would go the moment they appeared?” the woman asked as the man frowned, not wanting to be reminded of his mistakes.

“They’d hate us… but I’d rather they hate us and live, than adore us and die. Good bye Clara.” The man greeted with a wave as he turned to walk away.

“Good bye Elior.” The woman turned away from her friend.

With a flash of Light, and a sudden surge of Darkness, the two were gone.

The meeting between the Kings of Light and Darkness was over…

A mere footnote in the long story of Sages.