Daniel was having a bad day. Or a bad night. To be fair, he’d been having a bad everything.

He’d been interim captain for about a week and he’d already lost contact with HQ, lost a buck load of Olympian armor, lost most of his team under his command, and was practically out in the middle of nowhere. He doubted there was anyone he knew who’d experienced any beginning phase of leadership like this.

At least I didn’t have an Olympian armor fall in the wrong hands, he thought.

It was very little consolation.

He let out a deep sigh, sitting on one of two beds in the motel room.

With no power, the room was completely dark from the moment he’d stepped in. the windows had torn curtains, that barely covered them, and on one side was a door that led to what was most likely the bathroom.

The room was almost unnavigable with the darkness. But that was already resolved.

Scratching his head in thought with the back of his thumb, he cast his gaze back down to the only source of light that now illuminated the room softly.

At the center of the room was a wide blue holographic projection of a map. It was large and it was wide. It gave enough light to see only the immediate things around him.

Standing on different sides of the map was what was left of a team of sixteen men who had left VHF headquarters in search of a mana surge.

Three others.

Just the four of us.

Thinking of the numbers was appalling. Normally, he wasn’t one to let such things hold him down. He picked problems and let them go. His way of life was that of the devil’s advocate. Picking holes to be clogged in existing problems was how he lived since joining the VHF.

Whenever he had a problem, he filed it away, advocated for all the errors, provided possible alternate solutions and gave it to the next guy to handle. It didn’t show much in the way of responsibility, but it was who he was. He played support not leader.

It was good for his health, but physically and mentally. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do the same now. He was the leader the solutions were meant to be thrown to. He was the one to answer to those at the top when they got back to HQ.

If we get back to HQ.

“Are we just going to stare at the map?” Jennifer asked. She’d dragged the only table in the room and was sitting on it. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be sleeping, but this seems important.”

Daniel nodded. It was important.

He looked up at Kid.

“Show me,” he said.

Kid nodded. Then he placed his hand above the map and pulled them apart, zooming in on a single green dot on the map.

“As you all already know,” he said. “We’ve got no eyes in the sky so there’s no detail to the map. We’ve got roads and basic topographies, but nothing substantial. For instance, here.” He pointed at a spot on the map. “This is supposed to be a hill of some sort, but we don’t know specifically. It could be a simple road or a small hill or a mountain.”

“This close to civilization?” Ronda shook her head. “I doubt it. It’s most likely a road. Very unlikely to find a mountain out in a place like this.”

Daniel looked at her. “And a place like this is where?”

“Well, it’s,” Ronda gestured over the map, zoomed out, then paused. “Shit.”

“Shit is right,” Daniel agreed. “We’ve lost too many features of the map. Some places aren’t labelled. At least HQ is labeled clearly, so we can find our way if we navigate properly.”

He leaned forward and moved the map all the way to another part of the map. Zoomed out, he didn’t have to scroll far. The moment he got to where he was looking for, the headquarters was labeled very clearly.

It was something the VHF had done. In the core design of their electronic maps, the headquarters was always clearly labeled.

Some people had argued that it was counter-intuitive given that anyone who got their hands on the map could find a way to their headquarters for an attack. But that was secret society thinking. There was nobody alive and living in the civilized parts of the world that didn’t know where the VHF headquarter was.

It was like wondering where the headquarters of big companies were.

“So,” Jennifer said, “if we don’t have labeled roads and a proper map, doesn’t that mean we don’t have a straight path to HQ?”

“Yes,” Daniel confirmed. “It means we’ll have to take enough round about routes to get back home.”

Ronda tapped her jaw in thought, then zoomed the map in again.

“And without our eyes in the sky, we can’t even tell where the enemy is,” she mused. “For all we know, they could be right outside. No red dots mean we’re stuck on an ambush at any point in time.”

Daniel nodded.

Ronda ran a hand through her hair. The action was rough and frustrated.

“It’s a shitty way to keep moving,” she muttered. “It’s inefficient.”

Daniel looked at his team around him. Each of them was in agreement. They also looked very bothered by it.

We’ve depended on technology too much, he noted. Now that we don’t have it, we’re not anywhere near our best, tactically.

“I don’t think it’s that bad, though,” Jennifer said.

Kid looked at her. “You have nothing against an ambush?” he asked. “You must be very confident.”

“It’s not about confident.” She gestured at the window. “Look around. We’re in the middle of nowhere. I get that we’re attribute mages and don’t really have much in the way of strength, but we have the training we need to survive.”

“You say it like we’re soldiers stuck in the mountain,” Ronda said.

“Not necessarily.” Jennifer shifted on her table for comfort. “What I’m saying is, what’s the worst a place like this can throw at us? We just left a town a few days ago and all we got were a bunch of Awakened with guns.”

“And guns can still kill us,” Ronda pointed out. “We aren’t some Bishop rank mage that can take a few shots without going down.”

“Well Daniel can. But that’s not the point I’m making. What I’m saying is that we’re safe enough.”

“I guess we’ve all decided to ignore the real threat we’re facing,” Kid said.

Jennifer turned to him. “The Knight rank? I think that as long as we don’t get on Zed’s bad side we’ll be on the Knight’s good side.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Kid shook his head. “Not that. Zed’s a good guy so, by extension, we won’t have to worry about Festus. I’m talking about the anti-mages. They’ve weaponized a mage with a mana pulse perk on a large scale.”

Daniel frowned at that. It had been on his mind for a while.

Mages with mana pulse were few but not completely rare. The VHF had mages with the ability. It was a unique skill not available to all mages. It was like people who could bend their fingers backward until it touched the back of their hand. It wasn’t something that could be taught easily.

You could either do it or not.

But there wasn’t a mage that could display it on the scale the anti-mages had displayed it a few days ago.

“They weren’t supposed to be able to take out an entire ship,” he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

“Yet they did,” Ronda said. She moved away from the map, navigating through the dark room with soft blue glow of the hologram. “The good news is that it looks like they have only one mage that can do it.”

“The bad news,” Kid took over, “is that it’s either a mage or a device. And we aren’t sure which one it is.”

Daniel agreed. He’d seen the mage and the device used. If he was being honest, he really hoped the mage was the source of the mana pulse, not the device.

“Well, I think it’s safe to assume we’ve already lost them,” Jennifer said.

Daniel turned to her. “Why do you say so?”

“You really think they’ve been following us for the past few days? That’s highly unlikely.”

“Unlikely but not impossible.”

“Why?”

“The same reason they went out of their way to shoot down a VHF spaceship,” Kid said. “They hate us.”

“And they think we have the mana surge.”

The ambient mana in the air vibrated slightly. It was like a small ripple, small enough for them to notice.

Each of them turned, facing each possible entry into the room, moving with honed instincts. There was nobody in the room who didn’t know what a low level detection rune being used felt like.

“Anyone get where it came from?” Daniel asked in a quiet whisper, reaching for the small disc that created the map and turning it off.

It dropped them into the darkness.

“No,” Ronda replied. “But whoever it is must be new to this. No one uses detection runes that simple unless they are trying to draw someone’s attention.”

She was right. Even the Olympians learned a more complex form of the rune. It allowed for a more stealth based form of detection. But nobody used it since they had drones and other devices for it.

The thought made Daniel question if there was anyone currently in the room who still remembered how to cast a detection rune. It was like graduating form school. You knew the things you learnt, but if you didn’t use them enough times they faded into non-existence.

“Kid, take the window,” Daniel instructed. “Ronda, assist him. Jennifer you’re on me.”

He moved slowly towards the door, picking one of the guns they’d taken from the previous town from where it had been left on one of the beds.

They were low on ammunitions so the weapon was only to serve as a precaution. Besides, whoever was out there was guaranteed to be weak. The strong didn’t use such runes.

But they have the element of surprise. They know where we are and we have no idea where ther—

Another ripple went through the ambient mana. This one felt stronger somehow, lacking control.

Daniel looked at Jennifer and saw worry on her face. It hadn’t been there when they’d felt the first ripple.

Daniel cocked his rifle. It seemed there would be another fight. Whoever was out there clearly knew they were in here. His prayer was that it was some random mage, not any of the anti-mages.

Can’t be the anti-mage, right? he thought.

If they were the ones, they would’ve hit them with mana pulse by now. Right?

A frown creased his lips. He didn’t like not knowing. And in the darkness, they were sitting ducks. But if they could get to the Knight rank, then they could stand a chance.

Festus had survived the mana pulse blast, so that was something.

“Kid,” he whispered, loud enough to be heard.

Kid didn’t take his eyes off the window. “I’m listening, Boss.”

“Got any light magic?” Daniel asked. “Any kind of rune will work at this point.”

“Fire rune?” Ronda asked.

Daniel shook his head. “Too heavy.”

“What if she can make a spark?” Jennifer asked. “Just a small spark.”

Daniel thought about it. Maybe a blast of fire would actually work. Considering they didn’t know where their enemies were.

“On second thoughts,” he told Ronda. “That fire rune will be good. Got anything strong?”

Ronda shrugged. “I actually don’t know any fire rune, boss.”

Daniel had some strong words for that but before he could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

He signaled for silence and aimed his gun at the door.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s Chris.”

Jennifer looked at Daniel and he nodded.

She reached for the door knob and turned it. When the door opened, a single head popped in.

“Hi,” Oliver said. “We’ve checked out here and there’s no one. We’re headed for Zed’s room. You guys wanna come? Safety in numbers… I guess.”

Behind him Chris and Ash stood with their attentions on the places outside. In Chris’ hand was a tongue of fire. It cast a soft light that was bright enough to see with.

“Where’s Shanine?” Jennifer asked.

“We left her behind with Eitri,” Oliver answered.

“That’s strange,” Ronda mused, joining them at the door. “I thought she was sharing the room with Ash.”

Another door opened. Oliver turned his head to it. So did Daniel. They found Zed staring at them through an open door.

“Why are we whispering?” he asked in a whisper that was too loud.

Daniel stepped out of the room but left the door open.

“Did you not feel that?” he asked.

“Feel what?”

“Someone used a detection rune,” Oliver answered. “Twice. And judging by the difference in mana signatures, I’m betting we’ve got two people on our hands.”

“You got your axe in that room or did you leave it in the car?” Chris asked Zed. “Because we could use all the violence we can get.”

“Or we could settle this amicably,” Ronda suggested from the door. “Everything doesn’t have to be blood shed. It’s not like they’ve attacked yet.”

Chris snorted. “So you would rather be caught on the back foot? Play defense?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying that—”

“Guys,” Zed interrupted. “I think we’re good. The detection rune thing was just me and Festus. He was showing me a thing or two.”

Chris lowered the hand holding up the fire.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she said, annoyed. “Why the hell would you do that? Don’t you know how tense everyone is?”

“I would apologize to you,” Zed said. “But we both know I don’t want to. So I’ll apologize to Ash. I’m really sorry it put you on edge, Ollie.”

Oliver blanked. “Uhh… Apology accepted? I guess?”

“I thought I was the one getting the apology?” Ash asked.

Zed shrugged. “Last minute changes and all that. I subbed Ollie in for you. Anyway, we’re all good. No bad guys coming to get us… Yet. So we can all catch a good night’s sleep.”

“That really wasn’t nice, Zed,” Ronda said with a sigh. “You should learn to be more sensitive about these things.”

Then she walked back into the room.

Zed looked at everyone still standing outside. Daniel noted how his eyes moved. While Chris’ flame still cast a soft light that was now dying, for some reason he had a feeling Zed didn’t need it.

Another attribute, maybe, he thought. Night vision?

Most attribute mages had only one attribute. Some had two. Three was so rare the VHF might employ you even if you aren’t compatible with the Olympian armor. So how many does he have?

He knew of Zed’s overpowered regeneration that had allowed him barrel into a group of people with guns and come out alive and healing even at his current rank. He knew of the attribute that kept him always balanced, though he hadn’t really seen anything to show how it worked.

If he was right about the night vision, that would make it three attributes. Three attributes were a lot.

Then there was the crafting attribute. Jennifer suspected that it was a spell, but everyone knew attribute mages couldn’t use spells, only runes. And the man rarely if not never chanted.

There was also the side effect of the attribute that reduced its success rate. The VHF had a few mages who had some variable of crafting ability or the other. Daniel hadn’t seen them use it the way Zed used his, though. Unlike Zed, they needed to gather ingredients and items needed for the crafting.

Sometimes they provided poor results. Sometimes they produced amazing results. But there was always a result.

With Zed, so far he hadn’t seen any results.

So that makes four attributes. The more Daniel found out about Zed, the less he liked.

Every man deserved their secrets, but he didn’t like just how much secrets he kept on unraveling with Zed.

A mage with possibly four attributes, one of which was an insane regenerating attribute and a dysfunctional crafting attribute was more than impressive, and very questionable.

It was hard to believe that such a mage had avoided VHF attention for five whole years. And there was the question of his acclaimed loss of memory.

Daniel let the thoughts die. Now was not the time to be figuring Zed out. The mage had already agreed to follow them all the way to headquarters.

But Daniel was no fool. He was not naïve. Currently, he warred between his place as a human and his loyalty to the VHF.

As a human it was his place to let Zed know a few things if he was going to be joining up with the VHF. One of which was the fact that he should probably keep some of his attributes a secret. The VHF was as much good as it was bad.

There were always rumors of the things they did to get the advancements they had.

Then there was his loyalty as an Olympian. The desire to stand in support of the VHF achieving great heights regardless of what they had to do to achieve it.

He looked at Zed with his childish smirk and obvious enjoyment of the current conversation.

Regardless of who had to suffer.

“Alright,” he announced. “Pack it up. Let’s try to catch some sleep and see what we can do when the sun is up.”

“About that,” Zed said as everyone turned to go back to their rooms. “There might be a few more… disturbances. And,” he raised a cautionary finger as Chris turned to complain. “If anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with Festus.”

He gave another smirk then vanished back into his room.

“Have I said how much I hate him?” Chris muttered.

“All the time,” Ash answered.