The group seemed to buy what he was saying. Of course it was easier to believe that the room had some faults which led to the ruckus, rather than Danny being some super powerful beginner. Danny was more than happy to feed them a more palatable narrative. He realised he might have to talk to Retta and get her onside. His explanation would make no sense if she didn’t play along.
Much to Danny’s displeasure, the group didn’t get up from the table after getting their answers. Instead, they continue to pester him, this time about what happened with the cube. No one else had yet to get the cube to switch to the second phase, everyone was still trying to properly connect with their mana pools. They pestered Danny for how he did it and he could only reply with an honest shrug.
He had no clue how he had done it, so he had nothing to tell them. The group entered into a thrilling discussion about their own theories and how they felt doing the exercise. So thrilling that Danny wanted to slam his head against the table. Thankfully Jack came into the room and rescued Danny. The two of them went over to a corner.
“Hey mate, is everything alright after yesterday?”
“Yeah Jack, just a misunderstanding between me and some of the people who work here,” Danny wasn’t going to feed a false narrative to the man, Danny actually liked him.
“Anything to be concerned about?”
Danny thought on it for a second, remembering something the muscular wizard had said. “Nah, should be fine. Combat Mage seems to be a thing, somehow different from a wizard. Something to keep in mind.”
“Combat mage ay? Wonder who they’re fighting.”
More people began to roll in as 10 got closer. Linh came straight over to Danny and Jack in the corner. Linh looked pretty grumpy. “What’s up, Linh?”
“Healing magic is a load of shite,” she scowled.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” the scowl deepened. “Bunch of rules, bunch bureaucracy, bunch of shite. You know we’re not supposed to just heal people? It has to be approved by a group of other healers first? I’m not having it.”
“What happens if you just heal people?” Jack asked.
“Oh they don’t like that,” Linh rolled her eyes. “It’s actually a crime, or something. You’ll get locked up for,” she cleared her throat, “Unlawful and improper use of a regulated magical practice, stinks ay.”
“That does sound pretty off, if you can heal people, why not just heal people?” It was another part of this whole deal that was just not sitting right with Danny.
“Well, we saw what they did to Jesus after he went about healing people willy nilly,” Jack said with a shrug, earning a laugh from the duo.
Retta came into the room at 10, inviting everyone back into the smaller room for more education. This time they were talking about the state of the world right now. It was pretty dry content, but Danny did his best to pay attention. The True Wizard Consortium had reached out to governments around the world a few months ago, to prepare them to reveal magic to the public. It was a pretty smooth process, many important people were already keyed into the magical world, which didn’t surprise Danny much.
“Why now?” The obvious question was asked.
Retta paused. Her expression was gloomy and she appeared to be weighing something up. She eventually sighed. “Oh whatever, its not like it will matter for much longer. You all saw the first press conference, yes?” Everyone in the room nodded. Henrietta’s change in demeanour caught everyone’s attention.
“Well, that’s not entirely true. Of course, there have been factions of the Consortium that have wanted an integrated world for a long time, but we’ve always been the vast minority. If it weren’t for what’s coming, magic likely never would have made it to the public's eyes.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“What’s coming?” Someone couldn’t help but ask.
Henrietta sighed again. “This is highly classified information, not even many members of the Consortium know this, but I don't think it will matter for much longer. Of course, you will have worked out that there are factions other than the Consortium out there, but they have been thoroughly oppressed by us for centuries now.”
The room hung on her every word. Danny felt like he was finally getting some real answers for what was going on.
“Some of these factions practice occult magic, consorting with demons.”
The information didn’t shock Danny as much as he might have expected. Hell, I’ve seen zombies, what’s a couple of demons?
“These various small factions began to consolidate in recent decades, working on a project we only discovered too late. They have been working on building bridges between our realm and the demonic realm, allowing for their creatures to cross into our world.”
“Now, that sounds bad.” The highroller said, leaning forward in his chair.
“It is bad, very bad. Demonic summonings were a very rare occurrence, even at their peak. This is a problem on another level. If these bridges were only small, it might have been manageable, but they’re not. The occult factions have been growing across the globe like tumours. The internet has allowed their heretical knowledge to spread without containment, allowing 10 groups to appear for every one removed.”
“What does this mean for us?” Fullerton asked.
Henrietta leaned her small body against the lectern. “We believe that demonic invasions are going to become an increasingly large problem, so much so that it would be impossible to hide. Sir Riveria Forbes made the executive order to begin preparing the world to combat these invaders, and that brings us here today.
“Each of you, with either your extraordinary talent or deep social and community ties,” Henrietta gestured around the room. “Will likely be called upon to rally the people of Madley, and the greater South Eastern Territory, against the coming invaders.”
“Why?” Danny asked. “Could you not have done it yourself?”
“That’s a difficult question to answer properly, Danny. The short answer is no, we could not have. At least, most cities would not have. Madley has a uniquely high amount of combat-capable wizards, due to its global importance.”
“Because of the prison?” De Waal chimed in.
“Yes, because of the prison. Madley Prison holds the world’s most dangerous wizards, warlocks, witches, and any other category of the magically inclined. Many people are very inclined for these people to stay imprisoned, justly or not.”
“Wait, so why can’t people know this? This seems like it’s pretty important,” the young athletic brat asked.
“Well Melissa, what do you think would happen if everyone in the world suddenly learned that not only is magic real, but so are demons, and these demons are going to be invading our planet in the near future?” Henrietta returned a question with patience not many others in the room would have had.
“Uhh, they’d freak out.” Melissa’s reply earned more than a few scoffs from the older members of the room.
“Yes, they’d freak out. That is why only some heads of state and military leaders are being made aware, the information will disseminate slowly over the next few months.
“Wait, why did you tell us then?” Melissa asked, this time nobody scoffed, everyone was curious.
Henrietta sighed for the nth time that morning. “Because I really don’t think it matters anymore. You will have found out sooner or later anyway, sooner than most given your significance. Perhaps it will even help you be a bit more prepared for however this plays out,” she said with a shrug.
Silence hung heavy in the room for a while. Danny simply leaned back in his chair and decided to not think about it at all. It had been far too many earth-shaking revelations for one week. He was done worrying about it for the time being. “So, what magic are we doing today?” He asked.
“Well, we can break for lunch a little early. After lunch Linh and DeMercy, you will be training with Samanera again. Danny, you will come to the practice room with me. The rest of you will be in the hall practising with the cubes.”
Danny strode out of the room and decided to skip on the free food. He was just going to accept that he wasn’t hungry anymore. Magic. He decided that going for a walk was a good idea. Linh chased after him and soon the two of them were walking around the block, Linh nursing a cigarette.
“Pretty heavy stuff, hey?” Linh commented.
“Yeah, seems that way.”
“Are you alright? You seem different to yesterday.” Linh asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Danny felt his voice wobble and refused to look over at Linh.
Linh didn’t say anything for a little while, just dragging on her smoke. She eventually spoke up. “Been a lot to wrap our heads around, ain’t it?”
Danny couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s putting it pretty lightly, hey.”