The small town of Nogreni. Alix's second home that she left behind to return to Pesinwok.
The roads were unpaved dirt paths that connected every part of the small town. New and old. Most of the people staying in the town had been here for their entire lives with few new residents ever coming. Nogreni didn't get many tourists coming to sightsee or adventurers stopping by for a moments rest.
It was a rather uninteresting destination.
That is why when a very unique looking stranger entered the town, many of the residents' attention was immediately grabbed. They did not approach the man, merely admiring him from a distance.
He walked through the town eyeing every nook and cranny. This shocked the residents as they had never witnessed anyone analyzing their town that intently. This man, however, seemed deeply interested in every part of the town. After a bit of inspection the man met eyes with the forcefully retired fisherman and walked over to the man.
"Hey there, stranger. What brings you to this little town of ours?" The fisherman asked with interest.
"I'm here looking for a certain person. I was informed that they resided here so, here I have come. By the way, might I just say that this town of yours is quite quaint."
"Oh, really? Th-thanks, I guess? So, who're you looking for?" The fisherman's cheeks reddened slightly as he did not expect the stranger to compliment the town.
"Hmm, speaking their name could create quite the problem for me in the future so I'd rather not say. I am able to ask you for directions if you are able to give them?" The fisherman smiled proudly and slammed his fist to his chest.
"I've been staying in this town for the last thirty-five years! There's nowhere in this town that I couldn't lead you! Just give me the location name and I'll take you there!" The friendly strange man smiled with his eyes as the bottom of his face was covered by a mask made with some sort of thick leather.
"Then could you please point me in the direction of the Undine School of Mages?"
...
Ahh, the Undine School of Mages. The school that was once the learning place of both Alix Deminal and Eric Holland. It had been two weeks since they left and the school had changed...not at all. Clearly they were not the main contributors to the schools atmosphere.
Within the open dirt field of the school stood a pair of students facing each other. It was Duel Simulation day for their class and they were getting ready for battle. However, the participants energies were completely different.
One of the duelists was Nemona Destiny and she was terrified.
She didn't have any talent worth taking note of. Neither was she from a noble family that held some sort of high standing within the town. She had merely grown up in Nogreni and went to the only school that the town had.
'So why do I have to fight him?' Nemona questioned her last name{Destiny) as she hesitatingly studied her opponent. The boy was sickly, thin, and overall looked to be weak, though his demeanor told a different story.
He stood tall, looking unbothered by the fact that he was in a duel. His gaze was instead focused on a thin white and black rat that he had sitting on his shoulder. This boy was Nemona's opponent and she didn't understand how things ended up like this.
"Alright, are you two ready?" The teacher serving as overseer glanced between the two combatants.
"I am ready to begin at any moment but, there seems to be something wrong with my opponent?" Nemona flinched as the boy she was facing called her out. The teacher turned to Nemona with a raised brow.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes! I-I-I'm fine! Just sort of nervous to be in a duel! Hehehe!" Nemona chuckled nervously. The overseer nodded to the girl then raised her arm.
"Then the battle will now begin!" The woman swung her arm down hard to signal the starting of the match. However, even after the match started Nemona stayed just staring at her opponent and shivering. She even saw the little rat jump off of his shoulder and run away.
The boy she was facing tilted his head to the side with a perplexed expression on his face. "What is wrong?" He took one step forward making Nemona instinctively take a step back. The boy frowned.
"Are you afraid of me?" The boy took another step forward and Nemona backed away again. Understanding dawned on the boy's face. "You are afraid of me, aren't you?"
"N-n-n-no-I mean- I gu-g-guess?" Nemona stuttered over her words as she continued slowly retreating.
"I understand. Fear is something that we all feel. It is what makes us different from divine beings. Even I have something I fear." Murmurs arose from the crowd of students watching the fight.
"What is this? Why are they just talking?"
"Why is she so scared of this weak looking kid? He isn't anything special?"
"Well actually, he did used to go around following that girl that beat Harrison and Angelica. So she could be afraid of her, not him?"
"Didn't she leave though? What's there to be afraid of now?"
Nemona could hear the confusion in the crowd but paid it no mind. 'They're just ignorant! They don't know what I saw that day! They don't know what this monster is really capable of!' Nemona swallowed hard.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that she was approaching the wall. Her breathing became erratic as the thought that she had nowhere to run polluted her mind. She would have to face this freak in combat.
"Don't worry, Nemona." The girl felt her core shake as the boy calmly attempted to comfort her even though there was not a single hint of warmth on his face. A twisted smile slowly rose in his cheeks as he held both of his hands out to the side revealing a pair of sorcery catalysts attached to his palms.
"I'll end this quickly so that you don't have to be afraid anymore." Nemona's eyes shot wide.
"No...WAIT!!" She screamed as he poured his Lis into the catalysts. The spells activated making the catalysts burn away. The crowd, the overseer, and Nemona herself watched as a pair of searing, red chains slowly fell from the boy's palms. The chains clanked as they hit the ground which was confusing as they were formed with mana, not metal. There was also this constant sizzle in the air that the crowd realized was also coming from the searing chains.
Nemona had no interest in performing a deep dive on what made the chains act like real chains as her opponent quickly charged at her. Dirt kicked up as he surged forward. A loud, metallic ring resounded through the air as the chains dragged on the ground behind him.
Nemona, in a panic, lifted her hands in front of her and started to gather mana. She needed to cast something to defend herself!
"Ston-"
"Too little, too late I'm afraid!" The boy announced as he flicked the chains into the air and slammed them down at Nemona. The girl closed her eyes ready for pain to fill her mind.
*Chink!*
Nemona heard the sound of metal bouncing of off something. She opened her eyes and saw that the chains had come nowhere close to harming her due to the protective barrier that they use for duels. Her barrier that was now in critical condition from her opponent's attack.
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Nemona felt her fear slowly disappearing as she now remembered that she was in no real danger. She turned back to her opponent with newfou-
"As I said..." The boy was now in the air above Nemona. Already launching his next attack.
"Too little, too late!" The boy's chains swung down fast and shattered Nemona's barrier, rendering her the loser of this duel. The overseer shook her head in disappointment.
"The winner of this duel is Cas Plavoc!" The crowd all groaned and sighed when they heard the result.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"She lost because she misinterpreted his creepiness as meaning he was strong!"
"Man if it were me, I would have obliterated that little freak!"
Nemona heard the crowd's criticisms and frowned. 'What do they know? They didn't see how he treated that kid in class! They'd have been just as afraid as I was just now if they had!'
"Nemona."
Nemona felt a chill run down her spine as Cas was suddenly standing over her. She met his dead, unchanging eyes waiting for him to say whatever he wanted to say. After standing in silence for what felt like an eternity Cas finally opened his mouth.
"It was an interesting match. I hope you and I can have another soon." Cas bowed slightly then turned on his heels and slowly walked away from Nemona toward the exit of the duel field.
The teacher noticed this and went to call out to Cas but then stopped. 'I don't honestly care where that boy goes.' The teacher turned to the rest of the class and started to announce the next fight. Nemona was getting berated by her friends in the stands about how she didn't even put up a fight against Cas.
In the hallway, Cas was reunited with his rat friend that his mistress had named, Oris. This little rat was one that Cas connected with more than the others due to their similar standing among their peers. Cas lifted Oris back onto his shoulder and the little rat nuzzled into Cas's cheek.
"Were you worried about me, friend?" Cas asked the rat and he nodded in confirmation. Oris looked at Cas with eyes glistening with tears.
It was as though he was saying, "Why wouldn't I be terrified?! You were in a fight! You're the crazy one for not being afraid at all!" He nodded in agreement.
"I understand the sentiment, but I assure you that I knew I was going to be perfectly fine." Oris covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head back and forth.
"I'm glad that you have that confidence but, it doesn't make me any less scared for your safety!" Cas assumed Oris was saying. He couldn't really understand what any of the rats were saying, unlike his mistress. Though, he had learned to read their expressions and actions over the past months of being around them with Alix.
Then when she left the rats under his care two weeks ago, Cas felt even more reason to try his best to comprehend them. 'I will not let you down, my mistress.' Cas walked through the halls of the school and arrived in front of his usual hangout space.
That space being Winston Inengway's old office where he and his mistress used to always spend their time. You see, before leaving, Winston managed to talk the principle into not giving anyone else his office so that Cas had a quiet place to get away from his "family situation" as they called it.
The school principle saw no reason to deny it as it wasn't like there were any teachers that really needed an office anyway. Meaning Cas still had fully access to Winston's office.
Though, in comparison to two weeks ago the place was rather barren as Winston was very adamant on taking his mess of books with him. Cas went to unlock the door with his key when he noticed that the door was askew slightly. His eyes narrowed.
"Oris, go check for any intruders." Oris nodded and slipped through the slight crack. Cas waited outside of the room with a spell readied in his hand. After a few seconds, Oris came back out.
"Did you see anyone?" Oris shook his head. Cas nodded but his eyes were still filled with skepticism. He slowly opened the door.
Once he was able to fully see into the room he too confirmed that there didn't seem to be anyone present in the room but Cas couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
"Igni Cantena: Unshakled."
Cas evoked the name of his spell in silence. From the catalyst, a wave of unlinked chains started clambering into the room. Sliding and sizzling across the floor. By the time that the catalyst was gone the entire floor of the room was covered in the unlinked links making it seem like the floor was made of lava.
"Yowch!!" A voice squealed from within the room. Cas then heard the sound of the desk slightly creaking as though someone had jumped atop of it. "You truly are a cautious lad, aren't you?"
"Who's there?" Cas called out while holding another catalyst in his hand.
"Alright alright. You've already caught me, it's only fair that I reveal myself to you." The voice announced. Within seconds Cas witnessed something slowly appearing atop the desk.
It was a man. An olive skinned, slim, strangely dressed man that was crouching on the desk within the room to get away from the burning links on the ground. The man, that no longer had on his earlier mask, smiled warmly at the confused Cas.
"I've been looking for you, Cas Plavoc. Why don't we have a chat?"