After taking his seat, an old man began to manifest on one of the empty chairs. His eyes were glowing slightly yellow in the darkness, and the aura he radiated could even force Master Brian onto his knees.
'That geezer is flexing his strength like always.' Master Brian thought as a pearl of sweat began rolling down his forehead. 'Liv, if today's meeting ends badly, I will personally discipline you after I'm back home.'
The old man calmly stared at Brian for half a minute before breaking the silence. After loudly cracking his finger, he muttered, "For those of you who see me for the first time, I'm the second head of the Ryder family. Anyway, with this, let's start talking about why we are here."
The old man paused for a second, and a smile formed on his face. "Brian, could you please enlighten us on what has happened in your district?"
A sense of shame overwhelmed Brian as he felt everyone's gaze shifting from the second in command to him. "One of my trusted personnel used a war token to threaten some peasants in what seems like an investigation mission.…."
"Was it Liv~?" asked a feminine voice amused by the news.
Brian nodded in embarrassment.
Only now did the other mages realize that a woman enveloped in pure darkness sat beside the second in command.
A chuckle escaped her mouth, and she commented, "It seems like Liv hasn't really grown up since the last time I met her. But don't worry, Brian. Most of us already guessed that it was a false alarm."
Brian sighed in relief as the lady continued talking. "Maybe you should send her to this place for some proper training and, of course, for some disciplinary punishment.~"
With a forced and stiff smile, Brian answered. "Milady. As you may be aware, Liv, one of my first pupils, appears to be content with her current situation and powers. If I'm frank, she is a slacker with no grand ambitions nor desires to grow stronger. She is living the life she chose, and as her master, I have to reject your offer since I don't want to dictate her life. Sending her here would be a waste of money and resources."
"I see…That's quite unfortunate, Brian. Maybe you shouldn't have spoiled Liv that much," sighed the lady. "She had quite a promising future. But who am I to blame. Talent alone won't lead you to success."
After her speech, the gorilla finally spoke. "Master Brian. Liv is probably not the only promising candidate you got under your wing, so who else would you recommend instead of Liv? We know that you are one of the more progressive Master mages among our ranks, but you shouldn't be hoarding talents and letting them go to waste in your place."
The octopus on the gorilla's shoulder began wiggling its head in agreement, and the gorilla gently petted it.
"Mister Harambe, I have quite a few good seedlings that would benefit from staying here. One of them even has a darkness talent. She would profit the most if I could send her here," Master Brian replied as his gaze remained on the octopus sitting on the gorilla's shoulder.
"That would be perfect," stated the second family head. "However, what about the new one you got? It came to my ears that a newbie under your wings accidentally killed the head seer of your local city. A newbie shouldn't be able to achieve that without having a terrifying future."
"It seems like you've got ears everywhere, and I cannot hide anything from you," Brian sighed before leaning against his chair. Only then did he tell the group of hungry Master mages about his newest servant.
Upon finding out that Brian got lucky and caught a space mage, the mages sitting there immediately began hushing to each other.
Annoyed by the noise, the old man hit his fist against the table to get everyone's attention. "So a space mage?" he commented while gently stroking his chin. "That's perfect. I will take a trip to your place by myself after I'm done with my stuff."
Master Brian only gulped and immediately realized that he fucked up since Luz was still lacking in many areas. 'I've screwed big times. I should have never let Luz progress on his own. My original plan was to teach him myself after Luz became more familiar with his new home, but I ended up neglecting it.'
Nonetheless, Brian kept his cool. "Milord, please notify me in advance so I can arrange a welcome for you."
"Don't worry, I will," the old man commented with a smile that didn't even last for a second. "You should also force anyone who knows about Luz's talent to sign a nondisclosure soul contract. I don't want the information to spread any further than necessary."
"Don't worry, Milord. Don't worry," Master Brian replied, and the mages changed the subject before discussing something else for hours.
After staying for another day at the mansion and reconnecting with the people he knew, Master Brian exhausted all of his social energy and finally left his old home.
"Kids can sometimes be quite tiresome," he sighed as he walked home. Unfortunally for Brian, in the city he was currently in, even Master mages weren't allowed to simply fly or teleport, which forced him to walk on foot.
But as he slowly walked through a dessert, two creatures suddenly jumped out of his shadows.
"What the fuck is going on!?" he cussed in shock as he swung his hand, ready to kill them with a single strike.
"Wait, it is us, Master Brian," shouted a familiar voice, and Brian's hand stopped a few centimeters/inches away from their face, sending the sand behind them flying.
"I told you it was a bad idea, sis. We should have never followed your plan," cursed a teenage boy whose hair and eyes were both pitch black. But the one with whom he was arguing with a girl immediately cut him short. "Stop lying. It was your idea from the beginning."
"No, it was not!!"
"…"
Master Brian was overwhelmed by the pair of teenage twins whose skin paleness would even put vampires to shame. As for their bodies, both of them had well-defined muscles that mainly remained hidden under their sleek black body armor.
"Andrea and Andrew…" Brian sighed, and the twins shifted their attention to him before replying in unison, "Yes, Master Brian?"
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE!? AND HOW DID YOU TWO ESCAPE MY SENSES!?" Master Brian shouted, infuriated, before lecturing the duo.