"Incident at the Church of Scarlet Parry?"
Trace looked at the man in front of him questioningly. As far as his memory could register, he had never heard of any churches, let alone something as specific as 'The Church of Scarlet Parry'. Trace rubbed the back of his head and gave a wry laugh.
Dawn of Sorcerers, sometimes called The Era of Lightness, descended over 1000 years ago. The population of Sorcerers had been on a rise ever since. Every time Trace went out, he observed a ring or two on the fingers of people, indicating they were Sorcerers, also pointing out their Level! But today was the first time someone with three rings appear this close to him.
The man with three rings had long messy hair, and beard hair were lightly covering his face. He raised his hand and ran them through his hair to pull them towards the back. The surroundings were bustling quietly and on one of the tables; the man was sitting in font of Trace.
If someone told Trace that the person sitting in front of him was a Level 3 Sorcerer, he would not have believed. The number of rings on a person's hand determined their level. Although, at times people wore more rings to disguise the fact, but right now the three rings in front of him were a real deal.
The man seemed to be waiting patiently for Trace's answers. He pulled up his folded sleeves that had started to run down again. Although the incident occurred four years ago; it was not until a few months ago that he found a lead. Right now, he was not expecting an answer but trying to size up the kid in front of him.
"How old are you?", he changed the question.
"Are you asking that again?" Trace was truly at a loss for words.
Trace believed that every Level 3 Sorcerers was a divine being. All Level 3 Sorcerers were in control of the Federation. This was not a forceful controll, only after joining the Federation could people hope to get to Level 3. Sorcerers under the Federation got ample resources and lived lavish lives. There was definitely something wrong with the person in front of him.
"Where do you live?", the man, changed his question again.
It was not that the man forgot earlier, heck, he did not even have to ask the questions to know their answers. They had already delivered a report on Trace to him. If the matter wasn't so complicated, he would already have taken Trace into custody.
Today the man had confronted Trace and brought him into this cafe. The eatables ordered were already finished; the drink was over, more than an hour had passed but no valuable information was received.
"Let's go to that shady fortune teller's place", the man got up and left the cafe.
Trace's eyebrows twitched. This man clearly knew where he lived. The shady fortune teller was what the neighborhood called his master. As far as he could remember, he was always in master's care. Thus, he did not like when people called his master 'shady'. Master is awesome, Trace consoled himself.
"Wait, do I have to pay for all this?"
Trace wanted to cry, but no tears came out. How could a Level 3 Sorcerers be so shameless, he complained in his heart. Level 3 Sorcerers were like celebrities. Trace did not wish to offend the powerful stranger, thus could not refuse the invitation for a chat. But now it seemed more like that this shameless stranger wanted a free meal.
Just as Trace walked outside the cafe, he saw the man caressing a small bird. The bird had distinctive characteristics, sharp eyes and a red mohawk on its head, along with the white body and blue wings. A carrier bird, Trace immediately recognized it because of a small shackle around the legs of the bird.
"Are you the main character of that case?", the man whispered as the bird flew away.
"Do you know Vince Swirls' daughter?", the man turned towards Trace.
Again, the man did not need to know the answer. But he asked anyway, hoping to get some extra information from Trace's facial expression. Just now he received information on a different case happening in the city, from the bird.
Trace did not know how to reply. It was complicated. Before he could answer, the man started walking. Seeing that the direction was not towards his master's place, Trace was a bit annoyed but followed anyway, since he was worried.
Trace tried to catch up, but the distance between the man and him did not lessen. At the next corner, the man completely disappeared. A sense of worry and urgency engulfed Trace. He dashed with full speed towards the Swirls' Shop.
...
"Interesting, is he not the main character of that case but someone who turned into a hybrid Sorcerer because of it"?
The man wondered as he observed Trace. Every case had a main character. This was what he learned in his career. As long as the main character is cornered, lies will disappear and truth will come to light.
A month-long report on Trace said that in the mornings, Trace would go for jogging around the block and would not break a sweat. It seemed like he had been following the same route for quite some time. The short distance with low speed was not enough to judge Trace's physical limits.
The first week of the report was a monotonous daily life. But after a week, it said that Trace got involved with the Swirls' household. Another case that was related to his department sprouted in this city. It was related to the Swirls' family but was under someone else's supervision. Even Sorcerers had to work methodically, since most of them worked under the Federation.
Every Level in the path of Sorcerers had three sequences – Truce, Sentinel and Reaper. At the second sequence of Level 1, the mana stored in ring could travel inside the body, nourishing it. But the kid's body was unbelievably weak for a Sorcerer. The man saw Trace panting and stop midway to catch a breath.
"Can't you make mana flow inside your body?", the man appeared beside Trace.
To be honest, it surprised the man to know Trace's age. Level 2 at the age of 17 was a rare feat. Only 1% of the population could achieve this. This also led him to believe that was the main character or at least related to the main character of the Scarlet Parry incident.
However, to his disappointment, Trace's foundation was lacking. Heck, it was the first time he heard a person reached Level 2 without making mana flow inside their body. According to the report, Trace did not go to school and only had contact with two people.
A locally known Fortune Teller was Trace's master. Maybe the master was the main character? This case was quite complicated and top secret. It was on the red list for over four years, with no progress. A hybrid Sorcerer that skipped Sequences? Only that eerie incident could produce something like that, the man pondered.
"Unfortunately, I cannot do that yet", Trace answered in a low voice.
A Level 2 Sorcerer that cannot make mana flow inside his body. What a joke! The man thought of his youth when he was stuck at sequence one-Truce of Level 1. No one expected him to reach Level 2. But at the end, he made mana flow inside his body and broke through sequence two-Sentinel of Level 1 then slowly made it to Level 2. Ultimately reaching Level 3. Right now the man did not know whether to sympathize with Trace. The situation was the same, but miles apart.
...
Trace and the man reached the Swirls' shop. Swirls' were a locally known talisman makers. Talisman were like mini magical treasures. However, unlike the traditional treasure, most of the talisman could only be used once. The Swirls' shop was not the biggest in the city, nor it was much popular.
Right now, the glass window at the front was shut and in large letter 'CLOSED' was written all over the board that covered the glass. The door was also shut and not a sound could be heard from the inside. The establishment had a house attached to it towards the back, but the gates to it were also closed.
This house had two floors and the was area was fairly big for this neighborhood. There was also a garden in the back. The man signaled Trace by slightly lifting his head. But Trace did not understand what it means. They both stood there waiting for each other's next move.
"Smoke them out", the man said signally again.
Trace thought about it for a while and concluded that he must have heard the word 'smoke' wrong. So, he turned around towards the house. He clenched his fists and collected confidence. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to carry out the simple order of the Level 3 Sorcerer.
"Miss Swirls", he called out at the top of his lungs.
Trace looked towards the man, hoping to see a bit of approval. It looked like the man was smiling. Unexpectedly, the man patted on Trace's shoulder and looked towards the shop.
Trace called out again, this time with more confidence since he was doing the right thing. By now, a few people had stated to pay attention to what was happening. The reason why Swirls closed down was also unknown. It was afternoon and few people were on the streets, but the people present were looking towards the young man who was calling out for the Swirl's' daughter.
"He is so bold", one of the young men in the crowd pointed the obvious.
"Do you think he knows Eimi Swirls? That can't be right? She rarely leaves the shop. What sort of stunt is this?".
Along with the neighbors, who were curious about the sudden closed down. There were some young men who were discussing about the daughter of the shop owner. Not many people had seen her, but she was rumored to be a beauty. None of them were expecting an answer.
"What do you want?", a voice came out from the house.
The discussion quietened down. Every attentively waited for what the next word might be. Everyone turned towards Trace, who called out again when there was no further response.
"Weren't you supposed to come at night? Don't tell me you lost the house key!"
The window on the second floor was snapped open. The girl on the window had furrowed brows with creases along her eyes. But still her face could be described as beautiful, creme face topped with stunningly nice hair. But soon the girl's face turned red when her eyes crimson eyes saw the bystander on the other side of the road.
More furiously that it was opened, the window was shut closed. Everyone was looking at Trace and trying to speculate who this person might be. Trace looked like an average young man, dark grey hair, average build. If comparing Sorcerers, he would surely fall on the thinner side of the spectrum. Many young men felt their heart shudder. The beauty of their dreams was already taken?
"Trace, you, you-brat!!", the girl's voice resounded from inside the house, and it dried down the commotion.