Loch Ness was a relatively still body of water. It was not plagued by the roaring waves, and noisy nature that was common with large oceans. It was relatively peaceful. In fact, the entire surrounding environment was peaceful. The light from the crescent moon was more than enough to illuminate a radius of six to ten feet around him.
And yet, that did not stop his adversary from creeping up on him with bone chilling deadly stealth.
If he had been told five minutes ago that he would meet his end here, he would not have believed it. There were no signs. The poor guy never saw it coming. And even if he did, there was nothing he could have done to stop what was to come. From the very moment he appeared here, his fate had been sealed. That was just how terrifyingly inevitable his enemy was.
There was a flash from a blade, that was immiediately followed by the sound of a deep slash as the dagger came in contact with his thick neck, forcing his flesh open in a deep gash. He tried to call out, but it was pointless. Only the sound of his gurgling on his own blood came out. His throat had been neatly sliced open, robbing him off his ability to scream or call for help.
It was not like anyone would have come to his rescue anyway. It was midnight, and there was not a single soul in sight. There was only him, and the shadowless form of the grim reaper standing behind his soon to be corpse.
Thick red blood gushed out in steady streams. And as he dropped to his knees, he clutched his own neck with both hands in futile attempt to stop the bleeding, but even he knew it was pointless. It was a lethal wound, and it had been delivered with a deadly precision. It only took a few moments, before his heart finally stopped beating.
However, just before he shuffled off his mortal coil, he was afforded some kind of solace.
Before he was able to catch a glimpse of his assailant, he did not realize just how curious he had been about their identity. But at the last moment, he was able to make out (only briefly) the faint outline of his killer. Just one feature stood out- a fiery mane of red hair that stood out like a dash of red in a black and white movie. The long red hair was particularly vibrant against the crescent moon.
As life gradually left his body, he realized that he had not paid much attention in his lifetime. Truly, red was not just the color of danger, it was the color of death.
The woman with the long red hair stood over his lifeless corpse for a minute, just to confirm that her target was really dead.
In the twinkle of an eye, she was gone. She dashed off at an inhuman speed and melted away in the horizon, leaving the muggled corpse behind her. There was no need to stash the evidence. That was way below her pay grade. There were people for that.
Meanwhile, several thousand miles away from all the nastiness, back on campus grounds, Eliana and Scarlett were having the time of their lives.
Thanks to Alex, the trajectory of their lives had taken a completely different turn. Within the space of just a few months, they had witnessed a miraculous healing, literally been to hell and back, thwarted a seemingly omnipresent organization, and now, here they were, surrounded by like minds, and training in an elite organization under the tutelage of none other than Stephen himself.
Contrary to what the students thought, Stephen was not a bad dude. Not at all.
He was a great teacher, but he was not exactly an endearing person. The tall slim thirty year old was not a sociable person at all. In fact, some of the students (spearheaded by Eliana) had nicknamed him 'Grimace' behind his back. It was apt, and right on because that was just his default look. Even now, on the training grounds, he stood outside the ring, actively glowering at the bunch of boys and girls who happened to be his newest students.
While it might have seemed that way to an outsider, it was not the whole truth.
Stephen prided himself on being a great teacher. And took his job very seriously. At that moment, he was basically thinking about the latest addition to his class, and how proud he was of them. The two sisters were naturals! For a bunch of people who had lived like muggles all their lives, they were proving to be genuises with each passing day. Especially the B-rank one- Scarlett.
Like a resplendent star, she had taken over the constellation, and was actively shining brighter than all the others.
One would have expected the A-rank Eliana to be on top form, seeing that she ranked higher on the spectrum. But it was not so. Scarlett had not just surpassed her sister, she was well on her way to becoming the valedictorian of the class! Her progress was not bad at all. Scarlett was truly in her element.
However, Stephen (and not even Scarett herself) knew the real reason why she was on top form. They only saw her outstanding performance in training, but they did not see the rampant sex she had been having with Alex.
At late nights, and in the early hours of each and every morning, she would sneak into Alex's bed, and they would both make love with the fervency of a cheating husband and an insatiable mistress. He never pulled out. Not even for once. Scarlett never allowed him.
Day after day, Alex continued to pump her full with his godly essence. Scarlett herself was totally oblivious to its effects, but this did not in any way hinder it from reflecting in every area of her life. She was becoming more beautiful, her ass had grown bigger from the steady pounding, and her overrall performance in training was exceptionally stellar.
Stephen saw it, everyone saw it. She was in her element.
Like a coach of a football team, Stephen blew hard on his whistle, calling the attention of everyone. They all stopped their physical fitness training, and turned towards their tutor, eager not to hear what new stunt he was about to come up with for them.
"Miss Scarlett!!" he barked. "Step forward!"
Brimming with confidence, she took three steps forward.
Without a smile on his face, he snapped at her; "Give me thirty push ups for not making any mistakes today!!"
She smiled and yelled back energetically; "YESSIR!!!"
While Scarlett submerged herself fully in her role as a stellar student, Alex and his new partner Zooey were getting ready to move out on their first mission together.
Both of them were both A-ranked mages. They were the creme of the crop. And yet, top management had deemed it fit to stick them with a D-level mission. Much like human mages, all missions were ranked by their difficulties. When compared the top tier missions, a D-level task was all but insignificant, especially when juxtaposed with their current rankings. Alex wondered why both of them had been handed a lowly mission like this.
As they pulled out of campus and exited the matrix in a very unflattering vehicle, he picked Zooey's brain;
"Are we really not going to address the elephant in the room?"
Zooey was driving, and he was riding shotgun. She glanced at him briefly before returning her eyes to the road;
"What are you talking about?"
"Really? You don't find it interesting that an A-team like us had been handed a dead bit mission of this level?"
"Okay mister smart ass, let's get a couple of things straightened. First off, I am the one that makes this team an A-team. You're just a sidekick. Secondly, even though you think you're some kind of star, you keep forgetting that you're just a newbie..."
"Oh, so that's what this is? Some 'training-wheels-mission' for the newbie?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing when it's not. I know that you want to get to the big stuff, but you need to learn that time and patience are the two qualities you can't skip on your way to greatness. That is one of life's most endearing lessons for us human beings..."