In a room low lit, three men were surrounding a table. They were staring with eyes wide on a thin red needle. Everyone was standing close to the table to get a clear view of the red needle. Was this really the object that would help them track the mysterious Sorcerers that kidnapped Vince Swirls?
"I am telling you, it is a magic talisman", Master slammed his hand on the table.
The needle bounced along with the little tablet saying- 'Greatest Magician of The Century'. Trace and Khufu Azami followed the needle closely as it landed on the same spot. What could this tiny needle do?
"A type-Zade treasure that is probably embedded with information of some sort".
Master waved his hand in the air this time, hoping to attract attention but Trace and Khufu couldn't take eyes off the needle. After a while Trace carefully picked up the needle, pressing its shaft between his index finger and thumb. Lifting it up in the air, the needle shined in an eerie blood light.
Seeing that the needle was getting farther from vision, Khufu stepped forward and extended his hand hoping to get a chance to hold the needle shaped talisman. He was a Level 1 Sentinel and had touched a magic treasure before but not a talisman.
Without thinking much about it, he tried to hold the needle from its corners. Just as his fingers pressed on the two edges of, he felt a sharp pain and pulled his hand wave. He screamed in a low voice waving his hand around to nullify the pain.
"You twerp!"
Master was taken aback on seeing the stupid action of Khufu. He then leaned forward on the table to check if the needle was safe in Trace's hand. But unfortunately, Trace's fingers were holding air. He then looked over to Khufu who was blowing air on his finger. No signs of the needle, Master fell down on his chair.
He looked towards Trace and sighed. Trace's emotions went through a complete shift just now. Living with him Trace had not experienced any hardships and was never blocked because of a failure.
"Trace, at these moments you should not close your mind. Instead, you should search for the answer. This matter is not even worth giving a second. Just take out a talisman and do a quick search of the room".
Trace listened carefully and nodded. It might take time to find the small needle but with the help of talisman it could be made easy. He took out a small box from his pocket, it looked more like a pack of cards.
The box had blue swirling patterns on its black body. This was a special-order, custom-made talisman holder made by Vince Swirls and his wife. Trace always kept it on him. But since he never used it he had almost forgotten about it.
Khufu looked over to the box and wanted to touch it, but he felt someone glaring at him. He stood up straight in an upright post giving the impression that nothing in this world could move him.
Trace took out a card talisman from the box and placed it on the crimson carpet. The carpet was like a red meadow under the dim light. He placed his hand on the talisman and channeled his mana into a it.
Khufu on the other hand, gave in the temptation of moving his eyes to look at the shady fortune teller. He wanted to peek at what Trace was doing but under the watchful gaze… Can he really see me with hair covering his eyes? He thought for a moment but did not wish to try his luck.
Slowly, a map of the room was forming in Trace's mind. Every object could be distinctly seen in different color inside his mind. Faint residue of the letter that was opened earlier were also detected by him, but he did not see any needle.
When Master looked at Trace's expression, he got up and closed in on Khufu. If the needle was not in the room, then it could only mean one thing. Master swiftly knocked down Khufu.
"Trace, search his body", Master directed.
When Trace opened his eyes, he saw his master holding the arms of Khufu who was pressed down with his stomach on the ground. If the needle was not in the room, then there were only two other possibilities.
"What are you doing", Khufu was scared at this point.
"Stay still and it won't hurt", Master said to Khufu after giving a signal to Trace.
Trace came closer and put it hand on Khufu's head. He could not direct mana inside his own body, but Master told him that it was not impossible to direct mana outside the body. Slowly, Trace's mana channeled into Khufu's body.
The mana travelled through Khufu's veins leaving him paralyzed. When Trace's mana reached Khufu's fingers from the inside, he could detect the presence of a thin stand of foreign substance. The examination was successful, and he withdrew his mana from Khufu's body.
Khufu gasped for air when all foreign mana was retracted from his body. A sense of fear enveloped him, and he closed his eyes to calm his breathing. He had never heard of a Level 2 Sorcerer capable of making mana flow into a foreign living body.
He was scared out of his brains and would have screamed for help on top of his lungs. But when Trace's mana flew inside his body. He could also feel everything clearly and even felt the needle inside his finger. The needle seemed to have completely become a part of his veins.
And this was not all. When he was subconsciously following Trace's mana something unexpected happened inside his body. At that time, he was not sure, but after Trace withdrew from his body, the surety came as a surprise.
At second sequence-Sentinel of Level 1, the user was able to channel mana from his ring into his body. But to reach the third sequence-Reaper of Level 1, this process was required an to go on without stopping. Right now, Khufu could feel that mana from his ring was continuously channeling inside his own body without his command!
"Keep this a secret".
Khufu heard Master when he woke up. He immediately nodded and sat properly. Probably out of rage he would have reported it to his superiors but not anymore. This incident pushed him from Level 1 - Sentinel to Level 1 Reaper! He looked around to find Trace, but no one expect the Master was in the room.
...
Meanwhile, at the Police Headquarters of Koyoko city. Everyone was talking about the collaboration with the Sovereign Jurisdiction Department (SJD). In the questioning hall, Deus Garcia was smiling while flipping reports in front of a Level 2 Sorcerer.
"This department has some capable individuals", Deus said.
The Level 2 Sorcerer in front of him was the one who was originally supposed to collect the messenger talisman- the needle, but was replaced by Trace. He was tied to a blackjade table with cuffs made of the same material. Even now he did not believe that he would be locked up for long.
But the person in front made him wary. There was something off about this Inspector, he thought. Gazing again, the answer was clear, it were the eyes! Also, the black and red uniform was something he had ever seen. But he vaguely remembered hearing about such uniforms.
"Inspectors here made you answer every question," Deus shook his head in admiration.
Today morning, Deus had sent a report to the inspectors of this department with questions they were supposed to ask. And looking at the injured Level 2 Sorcerer in front of him he knew exactly what ways they used to get the answers. He took out a scroll from his pocket and placed it on the table.
"Mr. Tomie, I will ask you one question which you will answer. The answer does not matter but it must for you to answer. You will be released after this", Deus said.
He then opened the scroll, which was obviously a magic talisman. Under the gaze of the Level 2 Sorcerer, Deus also opened the report. His finger slid over every question on the report then stopped and tapped on one. With his left hand, he pressed on the scroll and inserted mana in it.
"Where did you last saw Vince Swirls? Answer me after putting your hand on this scroll".
Mr. Tomi's face turned ugly. Despite having knowledge of many different types of talismans he could not tell what the use of the scroll in front of him was. He calmed his breathing and slowed down the beating of his heart by circulating mana inside his body.
"As I said before. I have only seen him at his shop", he said after placing his hand on the scroll.
Deus smiled lightly as words began to form on the scroll. This talisman was given to him by Destthine. At first, he did not believe the use of the scroll but after factoring in why Destthine was always broke, he realized the truth.
"There's always a more expensive talisman than the most expensive talisman", he pulled the scroll before Mr. Tomi could make out the words on the scroll.
"Can I leave now?", Mr. Tomi said suppressing the anxiety in his chest.
"Leave?" Deus looked at the scroll and smiled.
"Of course, I am a man of my word", he added after a moment of silence.
...
Mr. Tomi wiped the sweat on his forehead as he made his way through the alleys less travelled. From the moment he saw the looks on Deus Garcia' face. A weird feeling gripped him. Those eyes made his heart shudder. It was probably like…
Screeching wind drilled into his ears as his body twisted and, turned dashing though the inky alleyways. He looked back again and again as he ran. It was unclear what were the effects of the scroll. But weren't those eyes like that from the moment he saw them? It was almost like…
Uneasiness washed over his body followed by a gust of weakness. Today was the first time he felt tired after two rings formed around his finger. The destination was close, just around the corner was the Noxhim Hotel, he would be safe there.
Turning around the corner, he saw a black shadow. Suddenly, he felt like all strength evaporate from his body. It was those eyes again. Two ghastly eyes were sticking out on top of the black and red shadow. It was like…
Those eyes were looking at a dead man.