Somewhere in a remote abandoned building, there was an uncomfortable stillness. Almost as though it was dead. Though that was how the inhabitants wanted one to feel like when gazing at the building, for it would keep the normal, mundane people away. Inside, the place was filled to the brim with people that had on distinct robes and by the way they were walking, it seemed like they were keeping guard of something.
Deeper within the abandoned building sat 4 individuals with similar clothing to the others outside. One of the guys smiled,
"I'm glad you four could come to this little meeting of ours," they said with an easy tone.
Another one crossed their arms and seemed annoyed, "Don't bother with the pleasantries, just get on with it. It had better be good since this call was so sudden."
Another robbed man chided the annoyed one, "Come now, is that how you speak to one of your brothers, Gaiser? I'm more than happy to lend you my assistance, Tibalt."
The annoyed figure, now named Gaiser, scoffed at the scolding, "Yes yes, we know how much of a simp you are for him, Dain. You don't need to remind us."
Tibalt raised his hand in an effort to calm them down "Alright you 2. I thank you for your words Dain, but I can't fault Gaiser for being this way. It was a last minute decision. So to quickly summarize what I called you all here for, we're going to start the plan a little bit earlier and ahead of schedule. It seems we've already been found out by one of those pesky magicians from the Grau."
Although the men were hooded, one could somewhat tell the emotions going through their head, especially with Gaiser, who bared his teeth as he growled in irritation,
"Dammit, I told you we'd be found out, Tibalt! You just had to let the rookie handle the job of transporting important artifacts," Gaiser said with aggression and irritation.
Dain's mouth showed a frown as well, but this was more so careful concern rather than annoyance.
Tibalt sighed "Yes, I should've listened to you Gaiser. Here I thought that he was trustworthy and competent enough to handle such a task, but alas, I was wrong," he said as he shook his head disappointedly. "But worry not my friends, the fool has been taken care of, and we still are a few steps ahead of those people, if we move quickly, we'll still have enough time to relocate."
Dain spoke up with concern, "What about the artifacts he was transporting?"
Gaiser sighed with annoyance, "We had to blow them up in order to cover our tracks, otherwise we'd have been already caught."
Dain questioned, "Where is the person responsible for the artifacts?"
"Dead," said Tibalt with a cold tone.
Gaiser chuckled with a smirk while Dain shook his head and sighed, "Ashame, and to think he looked promising otherwise."
"I didn't. From the moment he tried to join, I could tell that he wasn't all that he said he was, but since it was you who said otherwise, Tibalt, I was willing to give him a chance to prove me wrong. Look how well that went, you fricking delusional, useless, wannabe prick! He deserved whatever fate he got coming to him," Gaiser said with no small hint of anger and a smile on his face.
Dain then asked another question, "So what will we do now?"
"We are still going to continue with our original plan of siding with Hexennacht and eventually ending Grau once and for all. We'll become our own organization soon," said Tibalt with confidence.
"But how are we going to do that? We lost part of what we were going to offer them thanks to that rookie," questioned Gaiser.
Tibalt smiled, "Haven't you heard the saying? 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They'll agree to join us and lend aid if we openly state our position against Grau."
Dain nodded in thought, "I suppose that makes sense."
Gaiser also nodded slightly, agreeing with both Tibalt and Dain.
Then all of a sudden, the fourth robbed figure, who had been silent until now, speaks up, "In summary, we're looking forward to a pact with Hexennacht in order to overthrow the organization of Grazauberer and become our own faction?"
Gaiser responds with a frown "Yeah. What, were you not listening to our conversation?"
The hooded figure shook his head "I heard everything, but I do want to make sure that everyone is prepared for the battles to come, especially with the rising stars of that organization. You are aware of the Ice Princess and the Youthful Hermit, correct?"
At the mention of those names, the room got tense "Yes. Those 2 are not to be trifled with. If we see them at any point, it would be wise to run. We cannot afford any more setbacks," Tibalt said with a stern tone while looking at Gaiser.
The latter, in response, scoffed, "Why are you looking at me?"
Dain chimes in, "Because you're one of the people most likely to start an unnecessary fight."
Gaiser growls, "Hey, I'm not a dumbass ok? I love fighting as much as the next person, but I'm not so far gone that I'd try to willingly pick a fight with those 2 unless I was confidently sure of my victory."
The 4th figure spoke up once more, "Is that what you truly believe?"
Gaiser, getting more irritated from the lack of faith, slams his hands on the table and leans over to the other man, "Yes, you bastard! You got a problem with that, huh?!"
Dain held out his hand towards the aggressive man, "Easy, Gaiser, we're just trying to confirm."
The unidentified man then spoke once more, "Interesting, but disappointing."
Gaiser, getting more annoyed shouted, "What'd you say, you f**ker?!"
Dain looked towards the other man in disappointment, "Why do you keep provoking him?"
"And what do you mean by 'Disappointing'," Tibalt chimed in.
The hooded figure spoke again as he rose from his chair, "When I say disappointing, I meant it as a way of saying, you're predictable. In fact, all 3 of you are."
At that, the room became tense once more, this time, even Tibalt and Dain looked like they're going to fight, but before they could,
"Whaaagh?!"
This was the sound Gaiser made as he was wrapped up in a glowing pink, thread-like substance.
Not being able to keep himself balanced, he fell to the floor, "What the hell is this," he shouted.
Tibalt and Dain immediately got up as well, but weren't fast enough to dodge the threads, which proceeded to wrap them up as well and caused them to fall, "Hgh!" "Argh!"
Gaiser shouted in anger and frustration, "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
The robbed figure then removed his hood, shocking all 3 of the bound men, "You?! But how," screamed Dain.
Tibalt responded too, "How did you end up finding us, Youthful Hermit?!"
Indeed, the face revealed is none other than Sargon Imran Daedalus, famed as one of the most influential magicians within the organization of Grauzauberer, rival to the Ice Princess herself. Sargon chuckled,
"Wouldn't you like to know."
He then snapped his fingers, which then caused the 3 men to go to sleep. Sargon then created a magic circle within his hand and pressed it up against his ear,
"Team 6, the targets have been apprehended and incapacitated, you are free to engage."
In the next moment, the building shook violently as explosions wrecked the place. The now identified rogue magicians were either knocked down by the force, or were caught in the blast itself. A group of other Magicians were then seen dropping like flies, weapons out and ready,
"On the ground, now! Move or resist and we'll use lethal force," a powerful and stern voice rang out.
Everyone decided keeping their lives was more important than keeping their freedom, so they surrendered and raised their hands. In the next second, multiple magic ropes were thrown which bound either one and a few, or an entire group together.
"Round them up," said the stern man.
The rest of the team then went on to swiftly gather the surrendered magicians and then used a teleportation spell to cast themselves out of the building. A moment later, a door opened above, and out flew Sargon with the 3 men still wrapped in the pink thread.
"Here you are, Mister Alnis. Tibalt, Gaiser, and Dain all accounted for."
The man, now named Alnis, thanked Sargon, "Thanks, kid. As expected of the Youthful Hermit, your plan went off without a hitch."
Sargon waved his hand and shook his head while smiling, "Oh enough with the flattery, you."
Alnis chuckled, "I mean it though. Anyway, I'll take them off your hands. In the meantime, Mr and Ms. Daedalus wants to talk with you when you get a chance."
Sargon nodded, "Very well, thank you for the info. Let us return."
As he said this, they're both enveloped in light as a magic circle teleports them out of the building.