Near the brink of dawn, guards gathered in Phoenix’s trading district. They saw assassins chasing after terrified merchants, so they cut them down and apprehended the survivors.

Resistance was futile. There was a mage in every squad with an observation crystal running on autopilot.

While they were rounding up the assassins, Madam Isabella was questioning their chief. His face was burned off, but fortunately, he could still whisper.

“Who do you work for? Why did you cause such violence?”

The man remained silent even when the director landed right in front of him. He seemed more concerned with whimpering on all fours while grabbing his face.

“Foolish child, you will not get any pity from me. I’ve seen the bodies on my way here.”

The chief suddenly lunged at Madam Isabella, only to hit something invisible and burst into flames.

“Please!” he rolled on the ground while trying to scream. “I’ll tell’ya everything. We’re just robbers from the country-side. The lion promised us money if we helped’im out. Please, I have a family. He said we’d just be the distraction, we didn’t know…”

“The Distraction?” asked the director.

“Again!?” Michael blurted.

[Some Time Earlier]

Throughout the night, while Natalie, Michael, and Tommy were fighting the assassins, several other incidents had occurred, one after the other.

In the middle of the night, someone challenged a group of second year brawlers to a fight and killed every last one of them. Half an hour later, someone else cut a house in half along with Phoenix academy’s alchemy teacher who was sleeping inside it. At the same time, a third killer took out the academy’s top ranking 3rd year swordsman with a tiny pebble shot through his window.

At one in the morning, Casius Mendoza got into an argument with a beastman at a bar near the city gates. After lots of drinks and some back and forth, the giant and the lion left the bar at 01:30, left the city at 01:35, and were never seen again.

Finally, there was an orphanage in Phoenix city. Placed in the north east, opposite to the Vistacia district, it was a place where many warriors’ children ended up after their parents perished while protecting the empire. Because of this, the establishment was supported by the entire city, with even the Vistacia family pitching in and hiring tutors to give these children a chance.

There were 63 orphans and 10 nuns resting inside this building. At some point during the night, someone had entered, and slowly, brutally, and methodically, butchered every last one of them.

The stench of blood spread throughout the entire city. Fortunately, the archery class was released from their supplementary lesson only after these events had transpired.

After saying goodbye to Luca and his team, a tired Finn met up with Annie and Reina at the academy’s library. They too were done reading for the night, and since their dorms were in similar directions, they decided to walk back together.

“Don’t you have guards waiting for you, pipsqueak?”

“How do you know!?” Reina looked shocked. “My disguise was perfect… And, why would I need guards? I’m a mage, not some puny archer. Plus, I have Annie to help me; we don’t need you.”

The pink haired girl rambled all the way to the academy’s gates.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

‘Why did I think of guards and not servants or her team?’ wondered Finn. ‘Being stuck in a warzone must’ve gotten to me. Or was it the assassin? I’m getting paranoid. I even brought my bow.’

The dark streets gave him an ominous feeling. Even the buildings seemed crooked as if they were trying to stifle him.

“Why do you keep that bow in your hand?” asked Reina. “Are you scared of the dark? Do you want me to protect you?”

Reina stepped forward, trying to turn and get in his face, when Annie grabbed her by the nape of her neck. She abruptly stopped walking, and with one hand, she lifted the little girl off the ground.

“What’s wrong?” asked Finn. His hand clenched on the bow.

“I’m not sure.” While Reina complained, Annie took an orange crystal out of her pocket and extended her hand as if presenting it to someone. “What do you want? Stay where you are, or I will not hold back.”

In response, a chuckle echoed in the night. It bounced from building to building resounding through the tiny street as if it was coming from everywhere at once.

Finn shot an arrow towards the entrance of one of the houses. The arrow stopped mid-flight and then got crushed into nothingness.

“You reek of blood,” Finn frowned.

“Who’s there? Who’s who? Who…”

Annie pulled Reina behind her and turned towards the enemy. He was a clean shaven, short beastman in his early twenties, dressed in well fitting brown pants and a fancy, purple shirt. He sported fox ears and a dog’s fluffy tail, large, round glasses, a cheeky grin, and his hands were in his pockets.

“Interesting.” The man canceled his magic and became visible to all. “I’m guessing you’re a mage, little lady, but how did your green haired friend know where I was? Hell, why would a first year student carry around an observation crystal?”

He pulled his hands out of his pockets revealing 20 blue-crystal rings, two on each of his fingers. “You two are unusual, I like that. Join us and we’ll…”

“Buzz off, creep!” Reina shouted in a quivering voice. “If you lay one finger on my Annie, I’ll…”

The beastman extended a finger and a bolt of lightning shot towards the girl. Annie waved her hand, forming an invisible shield.

The man’s eyes became wide and his smile became wider. “They don’t teach that until the second semester. Who are you, girly?”

Finn sent an arrow straight for his head. The man clapped his hands, opened them, and upon release, a shield of electricity appeared in-between, catching the arrow and destroying it.

Finn then fired ten more arrows in rapid succession, and he even pulled his bow in such a way that two curved and struck from an angle. The man scrambled to block or dodge them, and after barely dealing with the first three, he let out a cry and kicked the ground with one of his fancy, purple boots.

Suddenly, a wave of light spread on the street, forming a circle around him. The arrows which entered this circle froze mid-flight, broke into two halves which smashed into each other and were soon crushed into nothing.

The man twisted his boot, spread his fingers, and tiny distortions appeared inside the circle. They weren’t tornadoes or flames or soil. It was like space itself was caving in on itself, and when one of them touched the ground, the cobblestone instantly cracked.

“Aren’t you all trigger happy; you remind me of someone. My name is Nunac, and I have a proposition. Lay down your weapons, get rid of the witness, and come with me.

If it’s gold and power you want, you won’t find them at the academies. Join me, and I’ll put in a word to the beast.”

“Who’s this beast for you to make such an offer?” asked Finn.

“You’ll know when the time is right.”

“How much gold are we talking about?”

“More than you can imagine.”

“Really?” Finn smirked.

Reina grabbed his arm. “You’re not actually considering this, are you?”

The boy patted her head and nodded towards Annie. “Of course not.”

Suddenly, Annie clenched her fist, the ground shook, and countless stone spikes burst out just short of Nunac’s circle. They pierced through the mage’s array, tanked the distortions and headed straight for his neck. With no other choice, the man clapped his hands, released a wave of thunderbolts to clear the way and jumped backwards to safety.

“You’re gonna regret this.” After throwing away his shattered glasses, he retreated inside the two story house from which he came.

“Shall we go in?” asked Finn.

“You’re out of arrows,” said Annie.

“I’ll manage.” He pulled out some knives.

“We should call the city guards,” said Reina. “Or get my guards from my apartment, or tell the academy, call teacher Bella, anything but this!”

A gentle palm fell on her head. The pink haired girl looked up and saw Annie smile gently like a goddess.

“I’ve never seen such magic. Reina, don’t you want to learn how it works?”