Chapter 34:

“Now that everyone is finally here, allow me to continue with my report,” A man of about thirty years said as he motioned for Alcaster to sit down.

Finding his seat at the end of the table, Alcaster felt his nerves tighten all the more. Within this room sat some of the most influential people working under The General, and though the man himself made no appearance today, he could see the next best thing sitting at the head.

Brohm, the general’s right-hand man and a magician of the ninth grade.

All around the table, various high-profile people sat around leisurely.

The amount of Origin accumulated in this room suffocated Alcaster, without a shadow of a doubt he was heavily overshadowed. Nonetheless, he composed himself and listened intently to the report.

Various topics were discussed, most of which did not concern Alcaster. He did not care about the fact that the artifacts sent over from Mach were of lesser quality than what was accustomed. He cared even less about the recent movements of the druids, and the celebrations being held in Stark.

‘Finally,’ It seemed like his turn was approaching.

“As for the continent of Elemente, movements of a suspicious nature drove us to keep a closer eye on it. On the whole; the north, west, and the Lands of the water palace seem to be at relative peace. The same cannot be said however for the lands of fire and wind. The two seem to have found another reason for a fight. This time the trigger was an annulment made by a family, called Marks, closely tied to the Wind Palace. A daughter of the Marks’ family chose to abandon her home after being wedded to a young man from another family related to the palace. However, things took a turn for the worse when it became known that the family was originally from the Land of the Fire Palace, specifically its capital. Since then, the fire palace has sent multiple messages condemning the seemingly deep-rooted racis-”

“Bullshit!” A man wid a lithe body angrily shouted before slamming the table. “The lands under our Wind Palace accept all races and creeds. This event is nothing more than a pointless attempt for the fire palace to alleviate their boredom.”

“Pardon for the intrusion, but I adamantly object to that statement,” Came a retort from a woman sitting opposite the wind palace’s ambassador. Alcastar could feel her uncomfortably hot Origin swirling about the room. This was the Fire palace’s ambassador, an eighth rank magician closing in on the ninth.

“This conflict arose from the earnest wish of equal rights from the people of the lands of fire. We simply wish to be treated as peers by our closest ally.” She said calmly. Her composed tone contrasted greatly against her maniacally raging origin. To Alcaster, this woman seemed like a monster barely able to keep up appearances despite her true and overwhelming desire to go on a bloody rampage. It was as if her temper was held back by a thin thread, and should that thread snap…

“Enough with the act Jordan!” The Wind ambassador said angrily. “All of us in attendance know of your true nature, so don’t you dare get on your high horse. The matter of the fact is that the savages in charge of the fire palace felt their fists grow itchy, and thus their solution was to incite conflict with us.”

Alcastar saw the woman’s brow twitch and a smile that was not really a smile appeared on her face. “Savages huh? This coming from the ambassador who claimed that their palace was truly a just place. Is that all we are to you? Savages?” Her calm tone clashed against the sharpness of her eyes.

“I never said anything of your people. It is their leaders I am condemning, chief among them being your fathe-”

Before the ambassador could continue, he felt a sudden surge of white-hot Origin assault him. Looking upwards, he saw the avatar of a fearsome dragon appear behind Jordan. Despite being made entirely out of fire, each and every scale was so detailed in its appearance that one would be forgiven to assume the thing was actually alive.

“Ohh my did I trigger a nerve?” Despite the looming threat, the wind palace’s ambassador did not back down. “Truly like father like daughter. So quick to anger.”

Saying that the man no longer spoke and merely let the silence linger.

In contrast to the wind ambassador's calm appearance, Jordan looked positively livid, her pale face and clenched fists portrayed how close to the edge she truly was.

“That’s enough,” Brohm spoke with finality.

A sudden wave of Origin eclipsing that of Jordan’s flooded the room. The majestic dragon was put out almost immediately and Jordan’s face grew paler.

Alcaster winced at the pressure. It felt as if his core was shaking.

“Continue with the report.” The general’s right-hand man spoke once more. Uncaring of the reactions provided by those attending the meeting.

“Y-yes!” The man giving the report issued a short cough before continuing. “Moving on. In regards to the investigation done by one of our magicians, William, in the land of wind’s city Phentar. Shortly after arriving at the destination called the silent tomb, all communications ceased and the tracking spell implanted on him gave out. The same goes for the escorts provided by the wind palace.” The man gave the wind palace’s ambassador a short signal.

The ambassador nodded before continuing in his stead “Two magicians from the wind palace were involved. A core refinement magician named Triste Mend and a promising core formation apprentice named Amy Mend. Miss Amy was an apprentice of the Mend family and was adopted after showing great talent, while Miss Triste was an established member of the family’s main branch. Both are important to the wind palace, and retrieving them is a must. Thus during this time's operation, a high-ranking member of the Mend family will be joining.”

“Allow me to continue with the specifics regarding the operation,” The man giving the report said. “Like last time, the goal of this operation will be the investigation of the place known as Silent Tomb located within the forests of Phentar…”

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Alcaster paid close attention to the man’s words, he knew his turn was coming up.

“For this operation, our newest member Alcasatar Rose shall be sent in as party leader.”

All eyes turned towards Alcaster.

Despite his unsteady nerves, he tried his best to show off a calm smile. He even went as far as to puff out his chest slightly.

The wind ambassador’s eyes narrowed as a dangerous glint flashed by.

“Mr. Brohm, what is the meaning of this?” He asked.

“Explain,” Brohm replied.

“It seems to me like the general is not taking this matter seriously. The loss of Miss Mend and little Amy is a heavy one; the same can no doubt be said about your operative. So I ask, why are we sending someone who just broke through the eighth grade as a party leader? This matter is far too serious to be a first timer’s cherry popper.” His tone turned faintly aggressive at the last couple of words.

Brohm looked at the ambassador coolly before taking a deep breath.

“Report the results of the shadow spell.” His cool voice resounded.

Immediately, everyone's attention was grabbed. Most had heard of the shadow spell before. A powerful casting employed by all the generals of Verlau. The spell was cast upon an operative before they left for a big mission and it allowed the supervising team to monitor the operative’s movements. Furthermore, when the operative was willing, the spell also allowed the supervising team to see through the operative’s eyes and hear through his ears. From then on, recording the information was as easy as pie.

The reporter nodded and began to chant a spell. Moments later a screen made out of origin appeared mid-air.

On the screen, the operative, named William, was speaking to what seemed like a phantom.

Through a series of questions, it became known that the phantom was ancient in age, but more than that, it seemed like the phantom had ties to the resistance.

The spell ended when the phantom waved his hand.

“As you can probably infer, the spell was abruptly cut off. This means that the ghost was able to seemingly affect the Origin of its surroundings. Thus the ghost was likely a Core Perfection Magician once, otherwise known as the tenth grade. It is clear then that any magician below the ninth origin grade would be almost useless combat wise. Normally this would not be a problem, however, due to all ninth and tenth-grade operatives being tied up with other missions, the general was left with no choice other than to rely on other means.” Brohm paused before continuing: “Mrs. Winchester, you may now enter.”

The door opened and a beautiful woman wearing a black veil entered the room. Though her face was obscured, it was clear from the way she carried herself that she was extremely attractive.

“Good day fellow magicians,” She said before curtsying.

“Mrs. Winchester is a high-ranking practitioner of Death magic. She has provided us with assistance on multiple occasions and is in charge of aiding us with the purging of unwanted spirits.” Brohm said mildly as he nodded towards her.

Winchester sat down.

Realization dawned upon the wind ambassador’s face. “I see, so Mrs. Winchester will be the main fighting force. Even so Brohm, I’m sure you are aware that won’t be enough. The mere fact that William no longer appeared after the confrontation makes it clear that something else had happened. Something so severe it ended a seasoned ninth-grade magician’s life. So sending a newly broken-through child is absurd.”

Anger finally overtook Alcaster as he stood in a haste. “You dare!” His billowing origin began to coalesce around him and he prepared to strike.

The wind ambassador overcame his momentary surprise and erupted with equal momentum. It had to be known that any ambassador had to be a veteran of the eighth rank before being assigned. So to him, Alcaster truly was a child.

Unlike the previous encounter, Brohm did nothing to stop this. He merely watched.

Like a conductor, Alcaster spread his hands out and separated his fingers. The origin around him continued to gather at a shocking pace.

The wind ambassador scoffed and began chanting the words to a spell. In mere seconds he had finished, but before he could complete the spell a massive wave of origin assailed him. “Damned free-formed bastard!” He yelled before calling out his spell. “{Scattered Winds}” The old man suddenly disappeared from his location, his body seemingly disappearing into the winds.

Alcaster calmly stopped his attack after seeing this. Suddenly he waved his hand to the side and he sent a wall of origin forward, blocking a sharp blade of wind.

Seeing his attack fail, the ambassador did not panic and merely continued his casting. Despite his heated assault, he was calm as ice on the inside. He began weighing the pros and cons of this fight; but now that it had reached this point, he knew he couldn’t back down. He looked towards Brohm and saw him calmly watching, this infuriated him.

‘What, am I not a threat? Are you that confident this rookie can stop me?’ His eyes turned sharp.

One reason for the ambassador’s confidence was the fact that his element was wind. An element that prioritized speed above all else, making it a decent match against free-form magic which required no chant at all. Furthermore, it seemed like his core was further developed meaning he could gather origin at a faster rate.

‘Alright, let’s play around a little…’ He thought before quietly muttering. “{Wind Blade}”

…………………………………………

Alcaster blocked another attack as he scanned the area for the ambassador's presence. His calm smile reflected the complete confidence he had in his ability to win. This fight could have proved too much if he were still in the seventh grade, but now?

He scoffed at the notion as he calmly kept blocking.

Occasionally he caught glimpses of the man in the corner of his eye. It seemed like the ambassador only reappeared right before firing a wind slash. He had to admit he found this combination of spells interesting. It took some skill to multicast, but the ambassador did so with ease; granted wind blade was a relatively simple spell that all wind magicians used. In a sense, it was similar to a warrior’s straight jab: Fast, precise, and decently powerful. This attack paired with the ambassador’s advanced movement technique was a match made in heaven. It was eerie seeing the old man suddenly appear only to send a quick attack before disappearing again.

‘Unfortunately…’

“That won’t be enough!” He said before raising both his hands up. The origin he had been accumulating suddenly gathered all at once and the air grew thick and viscous.

The ambassador felt as if he was plunged into the depths of an ocean which led to him slowing down. ‘Shit!’ He thought before quickly casting another spell.

“Got you~,” Alcastar said as he pointed towards the wind magician and a small yet dense mass of origin shot its way towards the latter. Had Cort seen this attack he would have undoubtedly been surprised as it was as fast, if not much faster than his bullets.

“{Soothing Tempest}!” The ambassador retorted as a large mass of whirling winds the size of a small shield appeared before him. The origin bullet clashed against it, yet unexpectedly it was met not with a sturdy surface but rather a cushion of sorts. The origin kept digging inward before coming to a slow stop, a distance away from its target.

‘Hoh, that’s a neat trick.’ Alcastar thought as he watched this. Behind him, numerous other bullets formed before shooting forward.

However, despite their great numbers, each and every one of them disappeared into the whirling cushion of winds like stones dropped into the ocean.

The ambassador ignored this as he continued to furiously cast. The soothing tempest was a powerful spell, but it had no offensive capabilities so he had to conjure up a sword to match his shield and a simple wind blade would not suffice.

‘Kuh! You brat!’ He thought angrily as he took a step back.

Where he once stood a bullet suddenly crashed down, digging into the floor.

‘That’s it!’ The ambassador thought as he dispersed the scattered winds spell. Almost immediately his movements slowed to a crawl under the constant pressure of concentrated Origin. But he was satisfied as he now had enough energy to complete his spell.

“{Piercing Hurricane}!”

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