[Unknown Location, One Week Later (July 2022)]
In an unmarked warehouse somewhere on the outskirts of the city sat three individuals.
On the outside of the building, it appeared to be nothing more than your typical storage space. However, on the inside, the interior was outfitted with quite a few luxury items. Items such as high-end furniture, some brand-new computers, televisions, as well as a fully stocked bar.
In the center of the building was a trio consisting of two women and one man. All of whom were sitting around a large metallic table with a myriad of papers and electronics scattered across the surface.
First, there was a woman with fair skin and long, strawberry-blonde hair complemented by a pair of blue-grey eyes. She was dressed in a simple pink skirt and white blouse covered up by an expensive-looking brown cardigan. She appeared to be in her early twenties.
Next was a young man, a few years younger than the first, with pale skin, blue eyes, and jet-black hair buzzed close to the scalp. He, too, was wearing simple attire. A pair of blue jeans and a red T-shirt, along with a black leather jacket. His face was expressionless, but the aura around him was intense.
Finally, there was a familiar-looking brunette. One with light brown hair and brown-colored eyes.
"I'd like to thank you all for attending this little meeting of ours." A distorted voice hidden behind a single monitor at the head of the table stated in a calm tone. "It's been a while since I've spoken to the three of you. How have things been going so far?"
"Operations have been proceeding as expected, Boss." The blue-eyed woman said with a smile. "The revenue from our merchandise sales has increased by roughly twenty-five percent over the last two months. However, I do predict that we might have some issues soon due to the DPA increasing their efforts across the board."
"We did predict as much." The voice of the "Boss" said in a satisfied tone. "It's good to see that you're still yielding results, Hannah."
"Thank you."
"Aaron?"
The raven-haired man nodded before he spoke. His voice was firm and flat. "I was able to secure the merchandise that you asked me to from the prison. I had to spend more than I initially planned to make sure that the guard would keep her mouth shut. However, once we're done here, I'll be heading out to do away with her and retrieve the cash. I already have some of my men on standby."
"Be sure to make it look like it was an accident. I know that you prefer to be more thorough, but we can't have anyone asking too many questions."
"Understood."
"And you, Mikayla?"
The brunette let out a sigh before responding. "My little scheme didn't work out the way that I wanted it to. The cryptids that we planted in my shop didn't do as much damage as I thought they would. So I won't be able to collect as much of the insurance money as I hoped. If they managed to actually do more damage to the place while I was gone, we would've had an extra ten grand to put towards our funds."
"I still don't see why you needed to go about that plan of yours in such a roundabout way. Or why you even had to use those keegan rats in the first place? They're pretty weak after all." The woman now identified as Hannah spoke up. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just burn the place down? Isn't that what those old-school mobsters used to do all the time?"
"My shop's wedged in between two other stores. If those were damaged, then it would've taken longer to get the money. Not to mention the giant hassle it would've been for me. Remember that I'm the one who manages all of our money. I don't have a lot of free time to deal with things that don't make us cash."
"Good point."
"In any case, I'm glad to see that there have been no major issues." The voice behind the monitor stated. "You three have been doing an excellent job so far in building up your network and resources. My colleagues will no doubt be impressed with this. If we continue on the current path for another six months or so, then Hannah will be able to become my official lieutenant before the end of the year."
The well-dressed blonde smiled. This is exactly what she wanted to hear. "I look forward to living up to your expectations, Boss. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to become a branch head like you have in the near future."
"All in due time, sweetie. For now, just focus on keeping your head above water."
"I understand that this whole ordeal is supposed to be some sort of test for my sister..." Aaron looked at the screen. "But is it such a good idea for us to be operating this close to the city? Couldn't we have done all this back home?"
"There's a lot of money that passes through this area every year. Both legal and illegal. Until I recruited the three of you, I didn't have enough reliable manpower to extend my net this far out. Especially when you consider my current position. However, now that I have you, I'm able to separate myself enough to make sure that our operations stay secret."
That explanation seemed to satisfy the young man. Not that he was ever one to argue in the first place.
"Besides!" Mikayla interjected. "We're making way more cash out here than we did back in California! We never have to worry about finding our next meal like we did back home!"
"I certainly don't miss those days." Hannah agreed.
"Oh yeah! There's something that I wanted to bring up to you guys. It's definitely the kind of thing that's right up your alley, too!"
"Oh?" The apparent leader of the trio leaned forward. "Do tell."
"Get this, the DPA has a new agent in the city. A guy around our age with a unique magic type."
"What kind is it?" The lone male arched an eyebrow. "Is it something useful?"
"From what I've seen, I'd say so. You know how 'plant magic' users usually can only create flowers, crops, and stuff like that? Well, this guy can create trees!"
"Seriously?" Hannah looked genuinely surprised. "I've never actually seen that before."
"And they're strong too! After those guys left my shop, I tried to cut some of it with my magic, and my bones didn't even make a dent."
"Well, isn't that something?"
Aaron looked at the monitor. "Do you know something about this, Boss?"
"I did hear from one of my associates that the Charlotte station has gotten a couple of new rookies recently. One who's a talented 'beast magic' user and this 'tree magic' boy that Mikayla is talking about. Apparently, the Watanabe girl has also taken him under her wing. But not much else I'm afraid."
Mikayla smiled as the gears began turning in her head. "Think of how much money some sleazy old hag would pay to get her hands on that! And he's a male. If we managed to capture him, we could sell off his goods in volume for a high price!"
"You said he's a DPA agent, though, right?" Aaron asked. "It would be difficult to get our hands on him without any trouble."
"It's definitely something worth looking into, though." Hannah added. "Don't you agree, Boss?"
The "Boss" was silent for a moment before they replied. "Normally, I would have no trouble with you three capturing this kind of individual as soon as you could. But do remember that he is partnered up with a sorcerer from a major family. A particularly troublesome one at that. On top of that, he's working in the same building as one of the most dangerous men alive. One that even I wouldn't go up against without some significant preparations. If he were to go missing, Zoe Chandler and Jean-Jacques Mubele would no doubt do all that they could to track him down. Especially one with such unorthodox magic like him."
"Good point."
"Put that on the back burner for now. But try and dig up some more information on him if you can. I have other duties for you three that require your immediate attention. All of which have been sent to you via our usual channel. Once those are complete, you can revisit this at your discretion."
"Understood."
"Now then, our next meeting will be a few weeks from today. Hannah, I expect you to continue on your current path. I understand how difficult this little trial of yours is, especially when you consider the deplorable nature of what you're doing. But as your patron, I need to see results. I want to bring you into the fold as soon as possible. Once we've completed this phase of our operation, our true plan begins."
"You can count on me, Boss. I won't disappoint you!" The blonde said with confidence.
"We'll make sure that little-miss-good-girl here gets the job done! You can count on us!" Mikayla said with a cheery tone.
"Agreed." Aaron nodded.
"Good." The "Boss" replied. "My friends in Iznana are keeping an eye on your progress. As am I. I look forward to the day when we can officially bring you into our ranks. All of you. Now then, I must be going. Until next time."
"We hope that you have a wonderful day."
The monitor screen then went black. Leaving the trio to finish up whatever they were doing before and getting rid of whatever they needed to. Once they were done, all three stood up and made their way to the door. All the while, Hannah had a devious smile plastered all over her face.
"Now then, it's time for the three of us to get back to work." The leader of the group said with confidence. Ready to execute her newest order.
-(o)-
[DPA Station Nine]
"Hey, Freddy! You mind if I ask you a question?" Cyrus asked the 'dark magic' user as he typed away on his laptop.
"Sure, what's up?"
"What's Iznana?"
The senior of the two agents set his phone down as a pensive look grew on his face. This wasn't exactly an easy topic to explain.
"To put it simply, it's a crime syndicate of sorcerers."
"Seriously?" Cyrus quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah." The 'dark magic' user nodded. "Not a lot is known about them since the group is so secretive. But from what we do know, they started somewhere in western Africa in the early nineties. They primarily deal with drugs, illegal weapons, and human trafficking. And they have some serious political power across the continent. Especially in the Central African Federation."
"Wow."
"From what I've heard, they used to be a lot bigger, especially here in America. But the DPA and the Mexican Sorcerer Association pretty much drove them out of the continent in the early 2010s. Nowadays, they still have a big presence in Africa and most of Europe. But, they've been focusing most of their time on expanding into Asia. More specifically, in Japan and South Korea."
"That's crazy." The 'tree magic' user replied. Cyrus would be lying if he said he didn't find this topic fascinating. The idea of a global network of criminal sorcerers wasn't all that surprising to him. Actually, it only reinforced his curiosity about how sorcerers have been able to keep their existence a secret for so long.
"Why do you ask?"
"I've seen their name pop up a few times while doing a bit of research. I guess I was just curious."
"Understandable." Freddy nodded. "Y'know...I heard that Deputy Chief Mubele has a pretty major beef with Iznana. He even killed one of their leaders not too long ago."
"Mubele?" Cyrus repeated the name. "He's Chief Chandler's second in command, right? Ayako mentioned him a few times, but I haven't met him yet."
"Word on the street is that he's away doing some super secret job for the DPA Commissioner and the President. Not all that surprising, he is one of the highest-ranked sorcerers in the world."
Okay, now that definitely got the 'tree magic' user curious. "We have rankings?"
"Yeah!" Freddy waved his hand in front of his face. Honestly, he was surprised that Cyrus hadn't heard about the global rankings yet. "Although it pretty much boils down to a popularity contest, a committee in London gets together twice a year and announces who they believe to be the cream of the crop. They take into account things like strength, magical power, feats, influence, and all that jazz. It's basically just a way for countries to brag about having the highest-rated sorcerers on the planet under their umbrellas."
"And Deputy Chief Mubele is one of these guys?"
"Sure is! He's ranked third right now, but that's been debated heavily over the last couple of years."
"So if he's the third highest, who's the first?"
"A guy in Brazil named Emmerson da Costa. He's been the undisputed number one for six years in a row. The guy has 'nuclear magic'. He's practically a walking global disaster."
"That's kinda scary to think about." Cyrus muttered just loud enough for his friend to hear him.
Freddy nodded in agreement. "I feel you."
"Do we have anyone else that's highly ranked?"
"We do actually! Elaine MacNamara is sitting at number nine, last time I checked."
Cyrus' eyes widen after hearing the name. Mainly because he wasn't expecting to hear that. Almost everyone alive knew who Elaine MacNamara, a.k.a Skye, was. She was a world-famous singer and actress. You couldn't go a week without seeing at least a few posts about her on social media. Actually, Cyrus has a couple of her albums on his phone. He had no clue that one of the most famous people alive was a sorcerer.
Freddy couldn't help but laugh. "I'm surprised you didn't already know. Elaine MacNamara's the daughter of the current DPA Commissioner. I'm pretty sure that's how she got the gig to sing the national anthem at the last presidential inauguration, or at last year's Super Bowl. Oh, get this! Her brother and sister actually live here in Charlotte. And Chief Chandler is married to one of her friends."
"I guess that I still have a lot to learn when it comes to sorcerer society." The 'tree magic' user mused. He was still finding out new things pretty much every day. It was already enough of a trial to learn about magic and cryptids without overloading his brain. All the secret society stuff was just the icing on the cake.
"Don't worry, you seem to be doing a good job at keeping up so far."
"Well, if you say so..." Cyrus then closed his laptop and got up from his seat. Taking a moment to stretch out his limbs before heading towards the door. "Alright, it's almost time for my training to start. Sorry for bothering you. I'll see you later."
"Hey, drop by anytime you like! I'm pretty much stuck down here all day anyway. I appreciate having another body in here to help pass the time." The 'dark magic' user said with a wink.
"I'll try to remember that."
And with that, Cyrus quickly made his exit. Making the quick trip down to the second floor to get started on his afternoon practice session.
-(o)-
After changing into his workout clothes, Cyrus found himself standing next to Ayako inside one of the underground facility's many training areas. Since there were no cryptids that needed to be hunted down at the moment, now was the time for the 'tree magic' user to do some more training.
"So what's on the agenda?" Cyrus turned toward his partner.
"We're pretty much keeping it simple today." The woman replied. "The two of us are going to have a little sparring session."
"I'm sorry?" Cyrus' eyebrows raised. Sure, he was expecting something like this to happen sooner or later. But he hadn't foreseen it happening this early.
"That's right!" Ayako began explaining. "Some say that experience is the best teacher. And there's no better way to gain experience than a good old-fashioned fight."
"Is this really such a good idea?"
"What, are you scared or something?"
Yes, Cyrus was indeed scared. Actually, he was slightly terrified. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't feel as apprehensive about this entire situation. After all, he was bigger and physically stronger than the woman standing in front of him. However, these were far from normal circumstances.
For starters, Ayako had way more experience than him regarding magic. Years worth of it. On top of that, he had seen the woman in action enough to know that when it came down to their skills as sorcerers, he was hopelessly outmatched. Add to that the fact that she had more mana than him, and this was basically a recipe for disaster as far as he was concerned.
However, the woman did have a point. Cyrus did need to gain experience when it came to actually fighting another sorcerer. Especially since he was now fully aware of the fact that he might end up as a target for some nefarious group that might try and kidnap him for his magic. Although the chances were still slim, there was still a chance that the 'tree magic' user could end up in a situation like that. So it was better to be prepared in case that happened.
On top of that, despite whatever excuse he might have been able to come up with, Cyrus had a feeling that he wasn't going to get out of fighting his partner. No matter how much he didn't feel like it. So he was going to have to do this no matter what.
"Well..." The young man sighed. "No time like the present, right?"
"That's the spirit!" Ayako smiled at the boy.
A minute later, after making the necessary preparations, the two sorcerers stood at opposite ends of the training area.
"So..." Cyrus held his hand up. "What are the rules?"
"The usual stuff. No hitting below the belt, no blows to the back of the head, no eye-gauging, and definitely no biting. As far as magic goes, nothing too destructive. Chief Chandler will have both of our asses if we mess this place up too much."
"Got it."
And just like that, the two got into their respective fighting stances. All while Cyrus quickly going over his plan of attack.
He had the obvious advantage in size (seeing as he stood a solid five inches over her) and strength (for obvious reasons). But that probably wasn't going to help him much anyway. The 'tree magic' user also took note of the weird stance that his opponent took. Ayako's feet were squared, but her left hand was extended out with her palm facing forward and her right hand was unusually close to her face. The young man wasn't familiar with this fighting style, but he assumed that it must've been something special due to her magic type.
"Ready?" Ayako asked Cyrus, only to receive an affirmative nod in response. "Good. Go!"
Before Cyrus even had a chance to think, Ayako shot forward with a level of inhuman speed that could only be the result of a body enhancement technique. Barreling towards him with the obvious intent to do harm. The teen quickly got himself in order just in time to avoid a punch to the gut, but doing so knocked him completely off balance. Unfortunately for him, though, his superior wasn't going to give him enough time to recover.
Without so much as a word, Ayako spun her body around and delivered a roundhouse kick to Cyrus' sternum, sending the man flying in the opposite direction. If it wasn't for the man's newly enhanced sorcerer body, that certainly would've broken a rib. However, despite getting the wind knocked out of him, Cyrus was able to recover. Quickly getting back on his feet and getting into his stance.
'It looks like this is going to be a defensive fight for me.' The 'tree magic' user thought.
Once again, Ayako wasted no time in attacking her prey, lunging forward with her enhanced speed and immediately closing the distance between the two. Once she was in his face, the 'water magic' user began a barrage of well-executed punches. All of which forced Cyrus to duck and dodge between each one to avoid getting hit.
With the momentum on her side, Ayako decided to turn up the intensity. The woman once again lunged forward on her lead foot and went straight for a right jab to the chest. But before making contact, Cyrus managed to sidestep her to his right and swatted her hand away before attempting a right uppercut. Unfortunately, this left him wide open. So Ayako took advantage of this by countering and hitting the back of his trailing leg with her shin, knocking him onto a knee. But just as quickly as he fell to the ground, Cyrus shot out his left leg spun back up to a standing position behind her, and attempted to force his right hand under her arm.
Ayako managed to swim through the attempted hold by dropping her torso down while simultaneously reaching for his extended hand in hopes of being able to throw him. However, the green-eyed youth was able to use that momentum to his advantage by flowing with the move and landing on both feet before quickly getting back into his stance and facing her.
"Not bad." Ayako smirked before adopting her stance once again. Feeling more than a bit impressed by what just happened. "You've had martial arts training before."
"Only for a few months." The boy replied, thinking back to when he was around fourteen years old and had signed up for a boxing class just to have something to do over the summer.
"Well then...if that's the case, let's see what you do about this!"
Ayako held her hand above her head and used her magic to form a basketball-sized mass of water in the air above her. Cyrus had seen the woman use her magic enough times to know what was about to happen next. So, the 'tree magic' user responded by reaching into his pouch and pulling a seed out of it.
"Aqua Streamer!" The woman said with confidence as several streams of highly pressurized water shot out of the ball. Whipping around the entire training area in all directions.
Needless to say, Cyrus quickly found himself overwhelmed. Doing everything that he could to dodge the attack while trying to focus on casting his own spell. His opponent obviously wasn't going to give him enough time to properly use his magic, so all he could do was rely on his physical strength to help him get through this.
With that in mind, Cyrus decided to activate his body reinforcement. Briefly feeling the surge of power within his muscles before launching himself forward after dropping his seed on the ground. After all, the best way to end this was to take the woman down directly. However, Ayako seemed ready for this and swiftly changed the direction of her attack, forcing all of the streams of water to converge onto one point. Cyrus somehow managed to notice this in time and swiftly changed directions to avoid getting hit. Narrowly managing to avoid getting blasted by the spout of magically enhanced water. However, the teen wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Just before Cyrus could reengage his assault, he was bombarded from behind by another stream of water. One powerful enough to completely knock the wind out of him. Then, before he could even blink, he was once again drenched by another wave of water that came from directly above him. With a current strong enough to completely immobilize him.
It was clear to Cyrus that he had no chance of changing the tide of this fight without potentially drowning, so the 'tree magic' user did the only thing that he could at that moment. "Alright, I give up!"
"Good choice!" Ayako smiled as she deactivated her spell. Giving Cyrus a chance to relax and recover himself.
The now-soaking-wet teen let out a sigh before standing up while taking note of how sore his back was after getting hit by such a large amount of pressurized water. The teen then looked up only to notice the massive ball of water roughly the size of a car floating directly over his head.
"When did you even cast that?" The teen looked at his partner with confusion written all over his face.
"Right after the first one." The woman replied while pointing up. "That first attack was to distract you while I made this one. But to be honest, I was certain that you would've noticed it."
"Too bad I didn't."
"I'll say." She continued. "Your basics are pretty good as far as fighting goes. But you get tunnel vision if this little spar of ours is anything to go by. I was half expecting you to fire off a mana burst at me just to make me lose concentration and break the spell."
The teen nodded in agreement before speaking. "It also doesn't help that your magic is just way faster than mine."
"Yeah, you're right about that. Your magic may be dangerous as all hell, but it's useless if you can't touch anyone with it."
"Yeah..." Cyrus couldn't do anything but agree.
According to his research so far, 'plant magic' was typically the slowest out of all of the magic types. Except for 'earth magic', other sorcerers had attributes that could be used at a moment's notice without any extra steps. In a straight-up fight, he would almost always be at a disadvantage. So he needed to find a way to either have something prepared ahead of time that would help him, or stop his opponent from using their magic long enough for him to use his. This was something that he was going to need to think about as soon as he got the chance.
"But, I still say you did pretty good. We just need to focus on your basic skills a bit more and have you gain some more fighting experience. You might be book-smart, but your combat senses are rather dull. But that's not something that can't be fixed."
"I'm just glad that the likelihood of me fighting other sorcerers is already pretty low." The teen joked.
"That is true. And it's not like you'll cross paths with any Inquisitors anytime soon since they barely operate in this part of the country."
"Inquisitors?" Cyrus quirked an eyebrow at his partner.
It was only then that Ayako realized that she never mentioned the issue of Inquisitors before up until now. The woman wanted to slap herself for forgetting to tell her partner about something so important. Especially with how dangerous the group was.
"Yeah...Inquisitors."
"Who are they?"
The woman took a moment to think about her words. This wasn't exactly a simple topic to explain. "Well...let's see.... The short version is that Inquisitors are a group of religious zealots who hunt down sorcerers."
Cyrus was taken aback by what he just heard. "You can't be serious?"
"I am, unfortunately." She continued. "Their history is a bit murky, and we don't have a lot of information about them. But here's what I do know! They're an unofficial organization sponsored by the Catholic Church that's been operating since the late eighties. Simply put, they're a group of fanatics who believe that sorcerers are unholy creatures tainted by the power of the devil. And that our existence is an affront to God...or some other nonsense like that. Officially, they don't exist, and the church denies that they are even real. But their group is made up of highly trained normal humans who specialize in taking people like us down."
In Cyrus's opinion, it was starting to seem like this whole sorcerer thing was more trouble than it was worth. First, he had to worry about human traffickers kidnapping him for his magic. But now he also had to live with the knowledge of a group of psychos were out there hunting down sorcerers for some sick sense of religious devotion. If he weren't so already committed to learning more about sorcerer society and magic, he would've started having serious doubts about the line of work that he was in.
"Hold on!" The teen then said. "I thought that the existence of sorcerers was still a secret. One that every government in the world actively maintains. How do they even know that we exist?"
"From what I've read, a sorcerer tried to assassinate the Pope back in the day. And after that, some of his minions created the group to start tracking us down."
"And how big is this group?"
"A couple of thousand members, I think. But they're spread out all over the planet and don't show up very often. The last I even heard about them was a couple of years ago. Someone from the Murphy family killed a bunch of them that were hiding out in Utah and they basically went dark after that."
"How are they able to kill sorcerers, though? We have magic."
"They have some pretty advanced tech that allows them to go toe-to-toe with us. But I don't exactly know what it is. On top of that, their members pump themselves full of drugs that make them as physically strong as us. From what I hear, the stuff is basically super steroids."
"That's crazy...."
"Just chalk it up to one more thing to be aware of when you're out and about. Like I said, they're really not around anymore, at least in this part of the world. These days, they're mainly in South America and Europe. They tried to expand into Africa about twenty years ago, but Iznana basically slaughtered them, and they never went back."
"Alright, if you say so." Cyrus acquiesced. Not really wanting to think about this kind of thing right now.
The two partners eventually decided that they had done enough training for one morning and that it was time to actually get to work. They had a pretty busy schedule for the day, so neither of them wanted to waste too much energy just in case they ran into a cryptid that proved to be troublesome. So, the duo quickly cleaned everything up and got ready to head out. The two of them looking forward to another exciting day to keep them entertained.
-(o)-
Info Card:
Sorcerers are ranked on an eight-level scale ranging from F (lowest) to S(+) (highest). All sorcerers fall into one of these categories regardless of magical attribute. This grading system also applies, though somewhat differently, to cryptids. While both sorcerers and cryptids are ranked similarly, the criteria vary, particularly when distinguishing between cryptids that possess a magical attribute and those that do not.
Although the current ranking system was first created in Japan in the early 1960s, it became the global standard in 1970 during the first Global Magical Conference, which sought to solidify the international rules and regulations regarding sorcerers, the use of magic, and approved sorcerer occupations. The only exception to this is the People's Republic of China, which uses the seven-star system in place of letter grades.
As of 1980, all UN nations are required to keep a register of all known sorcerers within their borders.
S(+) - 31+
S - 26-30
A - 21-25
B - 16-20
C - 11-15
D - 6-10
E - 1-5
F - N/A (Normal humans without magical aptitude, or humans with magical aptitude that have yet to awaken.)
*Some sorcerers may have their ranking listed with a "+" symbol written next to it. This symbol designates sorcerers/cryptids who possess or display abnormalities that standard ranking conventions cannot properly assess.