In a high-rise office building located in the heart of Heiss city...
"Assign more magic enforcers to the east. The plant monsters have been encroaching on the Horkii rain forest territory. We cannot afford to lose more land those filthy beasts!" the voice of a middle aged man said in a commanding tone.
"Understood, chief," the person on the other end of the line replied.
The mayor - Mr Wills, sighed and hung up the phone. "Another day, another meeting," he grumbled to himself, shuffling through the stack of papers on his desk. It was always the same - an endless stream of problems to solve, and never enough time to do it all. Sometimes he wondered if it was even worth it. He massaged his temples, trying to ward off the headache that was starting to form.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Who's there?" the mayor called out, but no one responded. Instead, a dark, billowing smoke began to seep into the room, clouding his vision. He stood up from his chair, a look of alarm on his face. With a wave of his hand, he gathered his magical energy to conjure three ice spears right in front of him, poised for release.
"Who are you?" the mayor demanded, but there was no response, only more smoke filling the room. He started to feel lightheaded, his vision growing fuzzy and dark. Suddenly, everything went black.
The mayor's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself back in his chair, just as before. His head was throbbing, and he tried to rub it, but he realized that he couldn't move his arms or legs. He was completely paralyzed.
"Greetings, Mayor Wills," a soft, feminine voice spoke as the black smoke dissipated. Turning his head to where the voice had come from, the mayor saw a slender woman in a sleek black suit, carrying a matching briefcase. She sported a pair of dark sunglasses, giving off an air of tranquility but also a hint of mystery.
"Who... are you?" the mayor asked, straining to form the words. The pain in his head was becoming intense, and he could barely focus on anything else.
"Oh, you wanna know who I am?" the woman replied, her voice sounding as smooth and soothing as silk. "You can call me Vixen."
"Vixen?" the mayor repeated, his voice trembling. The name sent a chill down his spine, and he felt an instinctive sense of unease. Everyone in Kreete knew the name Vixen. It was whispered in the dark, used to frighten naughty children into behaving. It was said that she lurked in the shadows, that she could reach through the night and snatch away those who misbehaved.
In reality, the Vixen was one of the notorious blood masters of the Black Fraggers, a ruthless and secretive group of magical terrorists. They had a reputation for being ruthless and deadly, and the Vixen was rumored to be their most fearsome member. She was known throughout Kreete as one of the most feared wizards, infamous for her involvement in all manner of nefarious activities. Her actions had led to the death of countless wizards and ordinary folk, and she was widely considered to be a ruthless and dangerous individual. Wherever she went, security was locked down and heightened to the highest possible level. The Vixen was like an international terrorist, known and feared far and wide. She was a boogeyman for the magical world, her very name enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the most hardened wizards.
"What do you want?" Mr Wills asked, trembling as he felt the power radiating from the mysterious woman. He couldn't detect her aura, but he could feel the immense strength she possessed. The way she had bypassed his highly-trained security who were at least 5th rank mystic wizards and frozen him in place, despite his status as a 6th rank legendary ice wizard, made it clear that she was a force to be reckoned with. He suspected that she was at the very pinnacle of the legendary realm, one step away from becoming a formidable wizard. She was one heck of a powerhouse, one who could stand toe to toe with someone like Manhawk.
"What I want is very simple," the woman said, her voice low and sultry. She let out a dramatic, melodramatic laugh, sounding almost like a pantomime villain. "I want two boys - one named Robert Manuel, and the other called Oliver Swells."
"Wait just a moment," the mayor said, his voice trembling slightly. "You're talking about Robert and Oliver, the boys that Manhawk reported to have the ancestor souls of earth and ice within them. Ma'am, to be honest, I'm not in a position to give them to you. In fact, I don't even know how I would go about doing that. Please, is there anything else you'd like? I'll do my best to accommodate your request." He gave her a pleading look.
"You're the first person who's ever thought I was joking when I make a demand," the woman said with a dangerous glint in her eye. She tapped her finger on the table, and the shadow beneath her began to shift and morph, taking on a life of its own. The shadow solidified, taking the form of a woman in dark glasses, who was wielding a shadowy axe. The shadow began to move toward the mayor, and he could feel a chill in the air.
"Choose between the boys and your life - and the life of the entire city of Axille," the woman said, her voice deadly calm. "You should understand why I'm hesitant to hack off your jaw bone. You have until the end of the year to make a decision, Mayor." Her shadow clone dissipated into dark magic energy.
"Choose wisely," she said, her voice fading away as she turned into black smoke and vanished into the shadows. The room was silent, and the mayor was left alone in his office, feeling more terrified than he'd ever been in his life.
Slowly, he tried to move his arm, and to his surprise, he was able to do so.
"Damn, what do I do now?" Mr Wills thought to himself, "I should definitely inform Manhawk about this, he would know what to do." Mr Wills understood the gravity of the Vixen's words - the boys or Axille. Essentially, it meant that if he didn't hand over the boys, the entire Axille would suffer for it. He wasn't ready to face the Black Fraggers only half a year after his election. He had to report to a superior.
___
The week flew by, and Robert spent every evening behind the laboratory, practicing his magic and meditating to strengthen his spells. After getting Miss Greene's permission in the afternoons following the tests, he went to Heiss Magic School where he learned new spells. By Thursday, he and Oliver had both reached the second rank of the common realm.
It was Thursday morning, and the atmosphere was charged with a sense of excitement and anticipation. For the junior students, this was the day they got to go home to their parents, and the air was filled with the sounds of children's laughter and the joyful farewells of parents and their young ones. But for the senior students, although they were to return to their homes, it was a day tinged with bittersweet nostalgia, as they looked at the younger students with a mix of fondness and wistfulness, thinking back to when they, too, had been so young and eager, before the rigors of growing up and the responsibilities of adulthood had begun to weigh upon them. They knew that before long, these younger students would no longer need their parents to come and pick them up after school, but would instead be venturing out into the world on their own, just as the seniors had done.
Robert stood in the corridor, watching as families gathered at the gate to greet their children. A smile spread across his face as he watched the joyful reunions, parents hugging their kids and kids running to their parents' open arms. It filled him with happiness to think that he would soon be seeing his own mother and sister. Just the thought of it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. Dora had already left with her wealthy father, the head of the Franco family, who picked her up in a luxurious car, while Vanessa was at a meeting with the science teachers in the laboratory.
"Hey, are we leaving yet?" Oliver called out as he walked toward Robert with his backpack bouncing on his back, filled with who knows what.
"Hold on a minute, I'm just savoring this moment," Robert replied, a playful smile on his face. But before he could finish his sentence, Oliver had formed a tiny ice needle and gently poked Robert's butt with it.
"Ouch!" Robert exclaimed, rubbing his backside as though it really hurt, even though Poison's healing power had neutralized the pain.
"Let's go!"
___
The streets of Axille were mostly empty, but there were still a few stragglers about. Robert and Oliver decided to walk home together, discussing their plans for the magic beast hunting expedition in hushed tones. The town was eerily quiet, and the silence seemed to amplify their every word.
"So, we'll head into Horkii rain forest by 9am and capture any magic beasts we come across," Oliver said, "then we'll bring them back and the old men would guide us on how to establish a master-servant contract with the creature, easy."
"Old men?" Robert asked, feigning confusion. "I don't see any old men around here. Are you sure you're not imagining things?"
"The old men are inside us, silly!" Oliver said, breaking into a grin and they both laughed.
"You know, I'm truly grateful that Solomon decided to merge with me," Oliver began. "I mean, without him, I'm not sure I would be alive. That same night, I froze my foster dad after he killed my foster mum, I didn't know where else to go, and most of the villagers were looking for me. I wandered through the village, secretly searching for a suitable doorstep to sleep on, but guess what?"
"You slept in a sewer?" Robert answered with a smirk, causing Oliver to frown.
"No, I slept in a castle," Oliver corrected him, his eyes sparkling. "An ice castle, made by Solomon just for me! I have no idea how he did it, but the cold didn't bother me at all. In fact, I slept better than any king could have dreamed of that night. The bed was made of the fluffiest snow you could imagine."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Robert asked, a teasing smile playing on his lips. "Are you trying to make me jealous of your ancestor soul?"
"No, silly. I'm trying to explain to you that I don't have a family and I live in an ice castle far, far away from human civilization... wait, do you smell something burning?" Oliver asked. They both immediately became alert upon noticing the smell of something burning.
"Look out!" Robert yelled, pointing to the sky. Oliver looked up just in time to see a blonde freak in a jet pack hurtling towards them. It seemed like the person was trying to stop the jet pack, but it kept flying straight towards them.
"Snow bed!"
"Dirt pile!"
Quickly, Robert and Oliver cast spells, creating a soft bed of snow and a pile of dirt to cushion the fall of the boy on the jet pack. But because Oliver had cast his spell first, the pile of dirt was on top of the snow bed, instead of beneath it.
The flying boy slammed into the pile of dirt, causing a cloud of dust to explode around him. Slowly, he got to his feet and glared at Robert.
"You could have let the ice guy cast his spell," Zack said, brushing the dirt off his clothes with a scowl.
"Zack! what are you doing here? How did you find me?" Robert asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"With this," Zack said, pulling a device the size of a grain of corn from behind Robert's ear.
"Why did you..."
"Shhh, don't ask questions you don't wanna know the answer to," Zack said, "I'm here to tell you that I'm joining you guys on your magic beast hunt!" he whispered excitedly.
"How do you know he's a wizard?" Robert asked.
"Well, this magic device not only sends me your location but also transmits audio information," Zack explained. "From what I've been hearing, Oliver, or as you call him, has the ice ancestor soul, and who was that girl yelling at you..." Robert interrupted him before he could continue talking about Dora and the rest.
"This is Oliver, no need for introductions, I'm sure," Robert said, gesturing to Oliver. Then, turning to Zack, he added, "And this is Zack, the thorn in my side that I've been telling you about. He's a magic technologist." The two boys shook hands, their eyes sizing each other up.
"Sorry for dropping in like that - the off button on this device got stuck, but I've made some pretty cool stuff, like this jet pack," Zack said, proudly gesturing to the contraption on his back. "And that's not all! I've also been working on some inventions to help me fight." Zack said as they continued to walk.
"I got permission from the school to go home and obtain my magic beast, just like all the other kids in the magic class," Zack explained. "They let me leave without even confirming if I had magic, so now I can't go back home or else my uncle will kill me. So I need to ask you guys - can I stay with one of you?" He looked at Robert and Oliver expectantly.
"Stay at Robert's house," Oliver said immediately.
"Zack, how would you like to live in an ice castle?" Robert suggested grinning mischievously. But before Zack could respond an unfamiliar voice suddenly yelled from the end of the street.
"Hey jerks!"
Turning around, they saw a boy riding on the back of a magnificent young Blue Moon Tiger. The magic beast had a sleek silver coat, and its eyes glowed like sapphires. Its tail swished from side to side, and its gaze was focused on the three boys in front of it.