It was a calm and quiet night. The skies far above the forest glint faintly as she looked upward, but she quickly turned to face forward again.

She was trudging along sluggishly, her body was heavier than usual and she was unsteady on her feet. Walking wobbly and from time to time having to lean and rest on trees to catch her breath. There was nobody around to help her this far out in the forest, after all, she went and investigated a missing person's whereabouts too deeply.

That same day after Commander Blue from the Intelligence and Communications Bureau found out that one of their agents operating in Auburn was compromised and then went missing, she took it as a declaration of war to the Empire's Intelligence Gathering strength. After offering her assistance to the Enforcer team dispatched on another mission, she investigated the disappearance of her agent. Unknowingly to her though, this was just the start of the string of mission persons in a few weeks time.

She followed the leads as best she could. The leads themselves were difficult to decipher much less come by. Eventually the end of her thread led her to an isolated house far out of Auburn.

"This is where those bastards are hiding." She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. The abducted persons included someone under her charge so she felt a bit of a personal grudge against the kidnappers. She prided herself on being personally selected by her direct superior, the Director of Intelligence and Communications for her current position right now. She would not shame her by failing this mission.

"But some things don't add up." She muttered. It was nagging feeling to her all throughout her investigation. After lining up all the clues back in Auburn about the terrorists and the mysterious assassin, along with the abrupt departure of the Enforcer Team she was supposed to be supporting, there are still huge gaps regarding the true culprits.

There were no definitive information about them except from the scant few letters she was able to receive from Viola Tessanya before she followed her own thread of clues. The mysterious assassin was a female in silhouette and wielded a katana. She wore a distinct mask that resembled an animal. If that report message was to be believed then it would mean the woman's skills are more than the people in the whole Enforcer team individually, maybe even combined. But the discrepancy is that the assassin didn't push hard to kill them which means they had a different goal.

She shook her head. There was no time to think about such things. She had to focus on the present and confront the mastermind, which can possibly be the mysterious woman or someone else entirely. She steeled her resolve and moved to find a good vantage point to observe the house and find any openings.

The Intelligence and Communications Bureau is special in that they are also responsible for scouting talented and to an extent, ambitious light magic users after being trained up by the Imperial Government. Then, they taught this light mages the other techniques that light magic users don't typically have access to: Light Manipulation. After successful training of these hidden light magic techniques, they are then incorporated into the INC Bureau and deployed as field agents under the three different commanders. However, due to the possible dangers of these posts, all members get new identities. If someone was to check the Bureau's records, they are all posted as normal administrative officers.

Commander Blue was one of those commanders. She was the daughter of a noble branch family and was the eldest daughter. She grew up hearing stories of the influential women in the Empire's history and worked harder for her independence, ultimately leading her to her current post now. As such, she feels a strong responsibility for those mages deployed under her supervision.

After scouting around the house's perimeters, she deemed it to be nothing but an ordinary wooden house out in the forest. It was suspicious but it could be just as plausible that it was a secret hideout or some sort. She readied her artifact which was vastly different from the common mass-produced artifacts for general mages, the Intelligence Field Operatives had state of the art artifacts that are only open to nobles and military usage.

Holding it in her right hand, it didn't look that much different from a normal wand, but the capabilities it has is where it shines. It had faster mana channeling speed, can act as a mana battery, and can register the owner's mana signature so they can always be able to recall it if it ever gets misplaced.

I've identified the best infiltration point. She thought to herself as she stopped in front of one of the windows that were opened.

Crouching underneath it, she casted a spell called Refraction which creates a palm-sized transparent mirror that one can manipulate in a limited distance within the user. It floated upwards and gave her a peak inside the interior. Even though it was night, she was a veteran in these kinds of infiltration missions. Using the limited sources of light to illuminate the area where one needs to secure before entering.

After deciding that it was clear and deserted, she brought herself up and entered through the window, cloaking herself with Reflection to appear transparent. There wasn't any light magic, that she knew of, that would suppress sound so most field operatives where geared up with sound suppressing equipment and uniforms.

The room she entered in appeared to be the living room with a low table and some couches, there was even a fireplace or something similar to it. She proceeded to explore the interior slowly and cautiously, listening to any slight disturbance in the surroundings. Eventually, she was able to explore all the rooms inside the house. It was the adjacent kitchen which also connected to the backyard, the connecting bedroom in the other end, and a small storage room which was empty except for a few ingredients that seemed to be just enough for a single individual living here.

"This doesn't seem right. Why would there be just one person here? And it's even empty at night.". She vocalized her thoughts more since there wasn't any other soul in the house. Piecing together all the evidences she was able to find this isolated house, and after scrounging the interior, she was left with a dead end. She shook her head to rid of her frustration. "Where did they vanish off to?"

"I am both here nor there." a cold voice said amused.

Alarmed, Blue turned around to face the source of the voice and she was shocked. There, just before the kitchen was a man leaning on the threshold. She can't make out any distinguishing trait due to the lack of light but the more important matter was that she was still cloaked and that she didn't even hear him make a noise. She gambled on her camouflage but when the man spoke again, she felt cold sweat on her neck.

"It's no use spy. We already know you're here. Save me the trouble of prolonging this." He sounded uninterested in drawing out but he also said she knew she was there. There was an opening though, the mysterious man didn't explicitly say where she was so she decided to creep slowly towards the open window she entered through, and make a hasty retreat.

The silence that enveloped the room, along with the cold tension that was in the air, made her feel more tensed than usual as she was making her way towards the window.

He groaned, "This is why I don't like these games of cat and mouse." He let out a sigh and peeled himself away from the threshold. "Last chance little mouse."

She felt conflicted. Was it a bluff or does he really know where she was exactly? There wasn't enough information on who the man is and concluded that a direct confrontation might be what the man was really after. As an intelligence field operative, she was a capable fighter but no means someone who leaned on actual combat.

"Time's up!" He erupted with a huge mana around him that made Blue suddenly stop and look at him, astonished at the levels of mana he was manipulating.

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"Don't say I didn't warn you!" He suddenly lunged right at where she was. Luckily, Blue was able to roll to the side but she hit the wall which interrupted her camouflage that allowed her to become visible again like normal.

"Nice reactions." He said as he stood up and readied his fists again, "Now that I know your mana, there's no where to run." He was a bit more visible now that the moonlight from the window shined on him, illuminating his neat and tidy ebony suit, along with a contrasting snow white gloves. But what made her shocked was what was on the man's face, a mask with only tiny slits on the eyes, eerily glowing yellow amidst the darkness.

Blue summoned all of her strength to leap out and escape the house. She crouched to a rolling position and landed on the ground, smoothly transitioning to a standing position. She gave a passing glance behind her and saw the man staring out menacingly, with his hands outstretched chuckling to himself. The scene was as mysterious as it was creepy so she decided to not pay it much mind and ran through the dark forest as fast as she could.

Since it was dark out and the only sound she could hear was her trampling the fallen leaves and undergrowth that were scattered around the forest paths. After she ran for around ten minutes or so, she had stopped and whipped behind her to check if she was being pursued. With nothing visually pursuing her, she was able to let her catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Who was that? What was his objective? Why was he here? What was up with his get-up? There were many questions swirling around her mind that she didn't notice the very individual was creeping up behind her.

Last thing she felt was a cold hand pressing on her shoulders, "Pests should be eliminated". and she blacked out.

Trapped in the empty void, she couldn't feel any part of her body, or see anything around her. Try as she might, there was no use. She was literally adrift in this void. It was both frightening yet serene. There was no need for any urgency but at the same time, there was also no need to think much or to feel much however, there was this nagging feeling deep inside her to do anything, something, because plainly it didn't feel right. That sinking feeling only confirmed itself once she felt she was pulling pulled away.

Groggily, she awoke to yet another dark room but with an unfamiliar ceiling. She tried to get up but found that she was restrained. When Blue took a look, she was bounded on a table facing up, with her ankles and wrists chained. Try as she might to rattle and wrestle free, she felt that her mana was being drained if she trained to cast anything. She gave up and stared at the ceiling, recalling what had happened prior.

The mysterious masked man with his eerie glint found her but she was able to escape, however a blunder of her part she was ambushed and taken custody. Now she imagined she was now a prisoner of this mysterious man or worse, a different party altogether.

"Good. Good. You're awake now." A young voice said.

Alarmed, Blue turned to look towards the voice and found a young man with a doctor's coat on slowly ambling towards her.

"Now, now don't be so alarmed. I'm a doctor, your life won't be in danger." He said calmly and stopped in front of her.

"Who are you?" Blue asked cautiously. She still had her fists clenched even though it wouldn't serve her any use.

The doctor had his hand behind his back, "Who am I? Well..." he chuckled as if he was amused, "For now someone called Doctor Firanza."

She was puzzled because as far she knew Doctor Firanza was an accomplished doctor in the medical sciences for his contributions to human medicine and ailment in regards to the motor and mental state of humans. "But aren't you posted by the Empire on the southern cities?" It was an Imperial posting after all so desertion of post is quite an offense.

He nodded, "Yes, you are correct. The current Empress has given me an official order of being posted there but that doesn't mean I can't leave for a few days."

"A few days?!" She shouted, "It'll take around a month for a round trip from Auburn to the closest southern city?! You are deserting your post!"

Doctor Firanza shook his head, "No matter, the particulars doesn't concern you. I am here to do my job after all." He glanced towards the doorway where he emerged, "Help me assistant three-zero-four."

The person who entered was a familiar face for Blue, which shook her to the core because after all, she was the missing operative she was looking for. "Why is she here?!" She hissed at Firanza.

"She is my newest assistant of course!" He said as a matter-of-fact. "Now prepare the tools on the table and inform him that I shall be done within the hour."

The girl followed his instructions with simple nods and gestures, there was no exchange of words.

"Now be a good patient and stay still for me? I don't want to resort to violence just to pin you down." He cautioned her with an expressionless face, and his hands holding peculiar objects not commonly used in the medical field.

Blue gritted her teeth, "Just what are you planning to do with me." She continued rattling the locks as she continued to struggle.

A cheerful chuckle echoed from deeper within, causing them both to pause and look in the same doorway.

"I trust you will cover my tracks?" The voice was familiar to Blue. When the man stepped forward to light, she tried jump immediately but the chains on her ankles and wrists were too strong for her to overcome alone.

Doctor Firanza coolly faced him and said in a low voice, "Interrupting my post will hinder the plans. Surely everyone knows at least that much yes?" He was asking as if in confirmation.

The masked man nodded, "Yes, I understand, the orders came from them anyway so you're barking up the wrong tree here."

Firanza sighed, "Very well." He turned his attention back to Blue, "Well then, let us shall."

He hovered the objects atop her head and she felt him channeling mana into them. Afterwards she felt intense pain around her head.

"AGH!" She thrashed about as the pain assaulted her but she was no match for her locks.

"Now, now, you don't want me to use a sedative." He reprimanded her. "Just bear with the pain for a while."

She woke up with a frenzy, her mind was a disorganized mess. There was resistance to her wrists and ankles as she tried lift herself up from lying down. But unexpectedly, she was able to pry them off from the table. Her eyes widened as she looked down at her hands, with the cuffs still on them.

"What the-?" In a rush, her mind was assaulted by dozens of memories flooding her memory. She clutched her head as she groaned in agony. "Right." She sighed, "I was kidnapped, but where am I?".

She looked around her, the dimly-lit room with little to no furniture on display. It seemed to be a frugal room with just a few tables and chairs haphazardly scattered. Hopping off from the table she was restrained, she looked around for any signs of life. "I wonder what happened. Where are they now?".

Taking a deep breath, Blue decided to cloak herself again and exit out of the room. The hallway stretched on endlessly on her left and right, in a monotone color and lack of any decorations except for some sort of material that acts as a light spread out in intervals. It wasn't visible on what was on the other end of the hallway but she only thought about it for a minute and decided to follow her instinct and head right.

The hallway continued onwards, with no visible changes and was unchanging. It felt being trapped in a maze or in a dream but she continued walking onwards cautiously. Eventually, she saw a plain black door at the end of the hallway. She was on guard due to the suspicious nature of a single door being at the end of a long hallway void of any particular decorations.

She crept on it and examined the door's exteriors. It looked like a normal door made out of a hard material typically found in most military installations. At a distance it looked plain but when she looked at it closely, there was an intricate engraving on the door from top to bottom. There was also a peculiar change in how the engravings looked in the center, it was going around the symbol on it. Whether it was too simple or too vague, Blue couldn't figure it out. The symbol was a round shape with some sort of cover around it. The door also seemed to be unlocked and had no traps of any kind but still, as an intelligence operative this whole series of events were raising a lot of concerns but with how limited her options are, she needed to find a way to get out or at the very least, collect information about her whereabouts.

Taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve, Blue pushed the door forward. Immediately, she felt an immense vacuum pulling her in to the darkness. With a frantic yell, she was pulled into the dark and the door shout itself and slowly submerged into the floor where it stood, leaving only a dead end.