"Now Yvonne, I'll tell you some history about how the Adventurer's camp came to be, and why you're highly sought after.
Why do you think the supernatural community is widely a secret? Why didn't you ever hear of a magical attack all these years of your life until now?"
"Well…cus the supernaturals are too small compared to us normies?" Yvonne looked perplexed at the question. Master Gabi laughed softly. He looked up into the clouds and realized the sun was already setting. A warm breeze swept across the place.
"The night might be a little warm. Hmm, you're not wrong, but are still not correct!"
Yvonne hummed at the man's response. She wasn't expecting to get the answer anyway.
"You see, the supernatural community have a sort of governing body, one that puts us in check, and makes sure we don't destroy the normal of the humans. This government is called the council. They work in secret with some of the world's most powerful government, and has its headquarters in Denmark. This 'council' also cleans up the mess made by magicals, just like the mess that happened in your school. I expect they'll get back to us before we embark on the Adventurer's camp, your family must be dead worried. The council should infact be trying to clear up the situation now. We have inside men in a lot of places, and Zenith city's PD is one of them. By the way, do you know we're halfway across the world from your home?"
Yvonne had been staring at the old man with a bland face that was yet filled with shock. She had heard too much and her head which was already saturated with chemistry from school seemed like it would start throbbing from all these information.
"Wait what?"
"Yaah. It'll probably take some time for you to adjust. But I will tell you now. You may not be seeing any of your family for some time."
"That's bullshit!"
Yvonne had jumped to her feet in a second. Master Gabi simply looked forward, unfazed.
"Look, I…I…"
She didn't know what to say. Her situation was lingering at the back of her mind like a thorn.
"What do I do?"
Master Gabi sighed.
"If there's one way to help yourself, it's to quickly come to terms with what you are properly, a mirage. What I mean? That things won't be the same again. You have to accept that, master your abilities and always have the courage and confidence to use it whenever necessary. And not lose your head, always try to be good. Great power like yours usually engulf the wielders. Yes, I know this is all though, I know it feels like we kidnapped you. But believe me when I say it's best you're away from your family for now for their safety atleast. Not cus you'll harm them, but cus others will to get to you. Atleast now they don't have to look for you with them, at the very least. Even you will agree that we saved you once from big trouble already."
"Well that was because Moirai was being a simp! All these trouble for me wouldn't have been necessary!"
"I agree, and all I can say is I'm very sorry. Moirai seems to have issues with the girls here despite his nature. I think that's rubbed on his judgement. But he's a very good team mate to have."
"Hmm! Well then, you were on with the council?"
"Ya."
It had already turned dark, but Yvonne was determined to hear the rest of the story before going anywhere else. She sat down again beside master Gabi, much calmer.
"Back to the council. They've existed for as long as I can tell, very long before I was born. They consist of magicals; humans and supernaturals. The humans there act as a balance between both worlds.
Enough on that for now. About the Adventurer's camp, it's a sort of, well, adventure, expedition. The sole purpose is to retrieve a key, a half-key, as they call it."
"Half-key?"
"Yes. This key is said to posses ancient power highly sought after in the magical world. It's said to grant a certain control of time, amongst other powers."
"Time? You mean like what I do?" Yvonne asked.
"Hmm, not quite. You see, with the power of the half-key, you could wipe off an event from history, like say, the birth of a person."
Yvonne's eyes lit in pure astonishment as she removed her hands from supporting her chin.
"Th-that's great…no, too much power, that's beyond normal!"
"Hmnm, agreed. And it's why it's highly sought after, and why your powers would be viewed as highly important. You see, everyone who knows of your existence seems to think you'll be very compatible to use such power, if they could just control you. Such powerful objects, such as this so called half key, work best with more compatible wielders. Who better than you for the half key?"
"Wow, so I'm like a precious jewel!" Yvonne felt weirdly ecstatic, to the amusement of Gabi.
"Well, there you go. But don't feel too happy about it, the fennel's attack should have already shown those people won't have your best interest at heart. I'd even say you shouldn't trust us, but we're all you've really got now. The council would care less, they themselves are after the key. It's the purpose of the Adventurer's camp afterall."
"So, how does this camp thing work anyways? How do we retrieve the key?" Yvonne asked.
"Well, think of it as a game. After receiving markings from the council for the camp, we're teleported into a magical domain. This domain is a mythical town without people but with monsters called Garbeasts. The half key is sealed away in the center. We're to retrieve it, and we're just one of six groups made of twenty squad members permitted by the council. It really is more complicated than that."
"So the bottom line is to enter some game, fight monsters along with defending against other players to get a reward we give to the top brasses? How disappointing. What's the point then?"
Gabi chuckled.
"Winning the tournament gives you a share of the key's powers. I didn't tell you all of its powers. You can bring back a dead person with it. The key originally belonged to the council but got sealed in another dimension during a war some centuries ago. That key is power, Yvonne, and people have various plans for it. Think of it as a wish granting grail."
Yvonne sighed, lost in thoughts of possibilities.
"Well, that's deep. And there's already competition for it huh. I seem to get a bad feeling about the integrity of our opponents."
"You should rightly, you're considered foe to a non squad mate and a hindrance to his very dear wish. The council can only share the key's power with so much people apart from them, about twenty five. It's why they only allow twenty per squad."
"Has the tournament ever happened before?" Yvonne asked.
"Many times when the portal to the domain was open."
"So why hasn't the key been retrieved yet?"
"No squad in its near five hundred years history has ever succeeded in doing so, Yvonne."