The morning air is crisp, the darkened streets envelope unease around the subdivision lit by faint streetlights.
'No.' Skinn glances at a rusty mailbox dangling from the wall of an abandoned building, shirt drenched in sweat from running.
'Not this.'
'No.'
'All good here.'
Skinn's sneakers cast rhythmic sounds on the cracked pavement, with every step concealing his vigilance on even the smallest evidence of magic.
"Well, there is no evidence of magic here." Boss stands still like a sentinel atop a 12-storey hotel, sniping Skinn from afar with a pair of trusty binoculars.
He attentively scans for any inconsistencies he can find around Skinn's position. Boss does this while constantly raising Skinn's metabolism to the max threshold; Skinn's bones are fortified, regeneration is elevated, and mind hyperfocused.
'Seems like we are the only mages in this huge chunk of an area, then.' Boss thought. 'Even our public graveyard doesn't have any dead mages in there, and we cannot mine anything.'
Boss knew what the other huge clans do. They either kidnap mages and kill them in a designated area, or conquer enemy clans and execute them in a mining place to create artificial dungeons and mana crystal veins. This is the reason why mages, after all that has happened in history, still goes on with killing each other.
'This area is fairly abandoned. We may be able to concentrate this place with magic.' Boss added to his thoughts.
Simply casting all out in a small area can eventually birth mana crystals, and Boss have pictured that idea.
Boss stretched his body backwards, shifting his focused gaze towards the cement floor. "Hmmm... We can also place dead mages there. A dungeon would be a great source of materials for us."
Boss smirked. However, his pompous expression was quickly replaced by desolation.
"Jaz probably won't like the idea. I'll let it go for now."
Then the sun cast the first shadows of the morning. Boss stopped boosting Skinn and went down the hotel through the emergency stairs.
"I guess that's all there is in this area for now." Skinn reaches out to his pocket and took out his phone. 'Wow, that kid Boss is actually something else.' Skinn thought to himself. 'I haven't felt exhaustion ever since he did the boost thingy on me.
He then recalled what Boss warned him about:
"Your body and mind may be significantly boosted through my magic, boosted regeneration and all; however, don't lose a part of you. Only Jaz might be able to restore your lost limbs, but mine only works with an intact mind and body."
Skinn stopped running for a moment.
"I better not forget what it feels like to be tired. Okay! Time to get ready for work." He told himself. He took a final glance around, then proceeded to jog out of the abandoned area.
John
John is a worker at daylight; his hands are filled with deadlines and spreadsheets. At night, he is a student, desk filled with take-home projects and research papers. Normal people would get tired of this schedule. John himself has had lamented his life choices from time to time throughout his college years, but he never once thought to stop his grind.
However, John have entered yet another stage of his life. Not only is he a 'responsible' 21-year old now, but he is also a mage. A laughingly weak one at that, compared to others.
Skinn
Skinn is basically a well-known and charismatic socialite version of John, but without magic. He fills his hands with events, trainings, and talks. He is the face both in the company he works at and college he studies in.
Lately, his gym brothers have not seen him in the gym. Some who attempted to visit him, however, have seen drastic transformation in his figure. Everything was buffed perfectly – from limbs to trapezoidal muscles, he was perfect. His wit competes with his physique – he does not fall short in terms of brains. His eyes glow with compassion, and his posture emits unmatched confidence. For ladies, he is a dream come true. For his brothers, he is a monstrous gent who no one dares to mess with.
Skinn is basically a demigod figure to them. But his favorite loitering place is in John's apartment.
Jaz
She is a language student in the same university as John and Skinn. However, she turns into an incantation master at night. Lately, she has been figuring out the limits of her newly acquired spatial reversal spell that only has a limit of a couple of minutes of reversal, and the items to be reversed should be within the casting range. A splattered body part should be collected into a spot to allow complete spatial reversal of the body.
She progresses and invests in the knowledge that she is a very unpredictable mage, able to cast a diverse set of skills. On top of her new spatial magic, she can create fire from nothing, cast strong light magic, and water manipulation. She can also create air scaffoldings, manipulate sound waves, and many more. Despite her short stature and nerdy looks, she is actually kind of athletic for her figure which resulted from her need to protect Boss and herself.
The mages who have encountered Jaz once have high regards on her unpredictability, and she is confronted even by strong mages with moderate caution.
For some unknown reason, she always have funds in her bank account. She smirks everytime she withdraws money from her account. Sometimes, she would get stuck in the new coffee shop for hours, burning her newly-withdrawn money into nothing. No one except her knows where she gets her secret riches.
Karl
His morning eyes open around fancy bedsheets and glistening-white pillows. His room resembles that of a mix of a fancy modern-day apartment with a clear one-way glass showing a good part of the neighborhood; white, porcelain tiles combined with deep purple, medieval curtains and carefully crafted end tables, and high-quality wooden king-sized bed.His maids would then ask permission to enter Karl's room to deliver his breakfast crafted by their personal cook. After breakfast, he turns on his laptop; company emails flood his notifications tab, and statistics tables automatically, he assists his father as a reporter for their branding company.
His afternoon, previously dominated by desks filled with business books and self-growth books, is now half-occupied with magic-related books as well. He practices magic inside his room; muffled crystalline chimes fill the surrounding area outside his room.
His parents aren't ignorant about his mage blood; his mother was once a formidable battle mage, a thread master of the north and one of the frontliners against the final struggle for mage independence. She, however, has given up her magic a long time ago to live peacefully with Karl's father, but supports Karl in two conditions–he should not let anyone know about his magic, and he should not cast any magic anywhere else except against other mages given that he is in danger of impending death. Karl does not necessarily follow his mother's request, but he acknowledges his mother's wisdom as a fellow mage.
Despite his arrogant nature, he maintains a major following in his social media. He is consistent in keeping followers updated about their branding business. As a result, her mother have insisted that any parts of her name be kept hidden from any of these platforms to keep herself completely hidden.
At night, Karl would sometimes go to their empty basement to train his magic skills. Crystalline chimes echo throughout the basement and leak out of the carpeted stairs by the stockroom hidden by a curtain beside the kitchen. Due to the amount of mana dispersed in the area, they are on the verge of creating an artificial dungeon. However, they do not want any traces of mana from their house. This is to prevent any dungeons and random mage attacks. A contraption, made out of a metallic stand–resembling that of a platinum trophy with engravings–and its characteristic dark, translucent magical gem pulsating a black light that cast shadows upon its surroundings while reverberating a faint, pitched hum, is secured at the attic of the house. This, in turn, absorbs all of the dispersed mana around.
Karl has inherited a good life.
Boss
A piece of mystery. A cunning and calculating mind inside a kid's body. He wears a black hoodie and a determined smile. He vanishes from time to time, sometimes even for days. He usually scours the earth for mana crystals and scans all abandoned buildings in search of mana-related anomalies. Despite being so mysterious, Jaz trusts him. She respects his decisive mind.
There is not a single clue about his reasons for doing what he does. One possible key to knowing Boss is through Jaz alone.
One can only guess the life of the child named Boss, and why he is called that.
...
*A week later, 3 days after the summer break*
...
John, sipping his cup of coffee while sitting on the sofa, turns on the TV to add noise to his morning. The news anchor's voice is immediately heard:
"...a building in Indorussi with no culprits. Specialists are currently inspecting the area for possible leads to the bombings; however, they have not found any concrete evidence pointing towards any possible suspects I qyet. Authorities have reassured the public that they will not stop pursuing–"
'Bombings.' John thought to himself. 'Would it be possible that the culprits are actually mages?'
Then his phone rang.
John received a message from Jaz according to the lock screen notification. He opened his phone and checked it.
"...4:00 PM, cafe. We have a major mission." From Jaz.
John then watched the time. He then took the remote control and turned off everything.
"Time for work." John said to himself. He then got up to fix himself for work.
Lately, he hasn't been seeing Skinn on the way to work.
'Probably because of his training.'
...
Hours passed, and it felt like boredom. Same usual stuff. But John knew these are all necessary. Spreadsheets, incentives and tokens, piles of paperworks.
He eventually carved through them all.
John took out his phone.
"Jaz"
Her name is apparently in the important people's list. After all, Jaz is the only one he can communicate with normally regarding mages.
Then he remembered fragments of his memory on Kinru and Hush.
'Where might they be?' John thought to himself. 'Also, where the heck did Karl come from?'
"Anyways." John then thought out loud. He clicked Jaz's message inbox and typed something.
"Might be late. 5:00 PM is my out." John answered.
A few minutes later, Jaz replied. "Okay."
...
John just got out of his office. Skinn, leaning by the wall beside the door of the facility while carrying his effortless posture radiating confidence and physique, was waiting for him outside.
"Hey, John! Jaz told me we will have a meeting. Care if we went together?" Skinn invited John with a brilliant smile.
"Let's go." John answered.
When they reached the cafe, Karl, Boss, and Jaz were already talking with each other in a table secluded from other people.
Karl suddenly stood up. "Why is this man here?"
He was talking about Skinn.
Boss replied, "We got human allies too who are part of the clan I am going to introduce you to. However, we're not joining their clan. We're only assisting in the investigation."
Karl then looked at Skinn with slight disgust. He then took his fruit shake and slurped it down to half the glass.
"What investigation?" Skinn sitted beside Boss at the area farthest away from Karl.
"About the Indorussi bombings. We highly suspect these are made by the same group of mages that kill other mages to create a dungeon." Jazz filled.
"And?" John itched with curiosity.
"We'll be there Saturday to Monday. Three days." Jaz answered.
"I'm good with it but I still have to bring my laptop." Karl emphasized.
"*Sigh* Yes you can bring it. Just make sure to focus on the investigation once we are deployed." Boss replied.
"What do you mean 'deployed'?" Skinn leaned back. "Also, what is with the clan you just mentioned?"
"We have affiliation with that clan. Actually, Boss and I were a former member of the Cordis clan that is now currently dissolved in the Spartacus clan. We are going to investigate outside on Saturday night, then inside the building on Sunday night." Jaz filled them up.
John leaned back. He seems reluctant.
"I have work on Monday. Sunday evening is not a yes for me." John told Boss.
"Me neither, Boss." Skinn added.
Karl then stood in fury, "A day absent in work should not be a big deal to you. Can't you see that we are on an important mission? And you lowly...wha...–"
Karl's head bumped on the table. He fell into what seems like a sudden sleep.
"Uh–is this your doing, Boss?" John asked Boss, faking smile.
"Hoooookay! So both of you are going home on Sunday evening? Skinn will only be very helpful with the initial investigation, so you both can go home afterwards. Is that good?" Jaz enthusiastically said.
"Uhm-hm." John replied with a nod. Skinn nodded with John.
"It will be a great experience for you two." Boss added.
Then Jaz declared instructions, "Pack your things by Friday, and Saturday morning is our ride to Indorussi. Is that clear?"
"Yes!" Skinn said.
"I would like to meet these other mages." John said to Boss.
After the meeting, they discussed minor things like food, lodging, etc.
Saturday morning came. Everything was still dark. Boss and Skinn did not do their usual routines. Karl, John, and Skinn all arrived at the train station roughly the same time.
Karl is full of baggages, like he is going for a trip to a foreign country.
They saw Jaz sitting at a bench with a man standing beside her. Boss is playing with what looks like a keychain, leaning against a nearby soda vending machine while waiting for a train to Indorussi. There were no people around.
The black-hooded man beside Jaz gives off some scary vibes, his hood resembling that of what Boss wears all the time, wearing a killer gaze and a crazy smile. He stands tall, a feet taller than Jaz, and his green eyes pierce through the heart and reverberates violence.
"Still, Boss is upset, huh." The hooded man said, mixing his gritty, delinquent voice with ironic sincerity.
"Yes, Roof!" Jaz whispered to the man, seemingly annoyed. "I told you not to say it to him. You knew he hated his guts?"
Jaz looked back.
"Hello! Oh sorry. I would like to introduce to you. He is Roof, an S-mage." Jaz announced to everyone.
The mage is emanating no aura at all.
Karl dropped his bags to the ground. He then mockingly said, "Another weak mage? Why do you have so many weak mages here, Jaz? Don't tell me–"
Then the hooded mage is suddenly holding Karl's shoulder. His feet is high above the ground, and his hood breathed air as he drops his feet silently on the floor.
"Brother, you don't know me." The mage said, creepily smiling with a cold voice.
Woah.
Skinn and John were frozen.
What?