"Congratulations you two. You have done well," a long white-bearded sorcerer said, congratulating the two as they sat across him. The old man was the number one sorcerer in Nortvard and the master of its continent's guild, the Blancan Veir.
"Thank you, guild master," saluted the newly awarded sorcerers - Gaia and Trys.
"It may seem sudden but I need you two for another mission," the guild master said, "I hope you understand. Being a highly ranked mage means more responsibilities. Contrary to what many out there might think."
Trys adjusted on his seat, staying his gaze on the man. "What mission?" he asked.
The guild master took out a strange looking cube. This object was carved completely from stone and had four precious stones that glowed on four of its sides, serving as some sort of eyes.
"What's this?" Trys asked, pointing at the cube.
"This box was recovered from the site where Kaiser was defeated. Apparently it came with a secret message he wanted to send to his people before he was captured. Its content is still very much unknown to us."
"We should open it then," suggested Gaia, who had stayed silent for sometime.
Trys leaned towards Gaia. "If we could, I think we might have opened it already," he whispered to his fiancée.
The master chuckled having heard what Trys said. "We tried that but this is a special one. Seems it can only be opened with a certain type of magicked key. That is why I called you two here today," he said, turning the box around as though looking for a lock.
The guild master got up from his seat and walked around it, his hands behind him. Gaia and Trys observed the cube within this time. Its patterns looked very strange and mundane and it gave off a terrible amount of magical aura.
"I need you two to take this to the Capital. Gather a team of your choosing and head out. Every necessary item would be handed to you."
"Yes sir!" the two of them chorused.
Trys took the box and they started to walk towards the door.
"Listen," the guild master said, halting them with his word as they turned their heads towards him.
"This is a very important mission. I cannot stress how important it is but one thing is certain...you must not fail."
"Yes sir!" they chorused again, this time, with more enthusiasm.
-
Trys and Gaia set out at noon with their own special force of sorcerers, each one on his horse. A squad of roughly twenty sorcerers, other than themselves, that were skilled in their own rights.
"We need to decipher whatever is contained within that box. We need to, if we are going to take them down," the guild master thought, slamming his hand on a wall while watching Trys and Gaia's team set off on their journey to the capital.
The team of sorcerers picked up pace with clopping sound from the horses' shod hoofs increasing as they reached a forest. They had been riding for hours now and were still nowhere near their destination since the capital was many days away unless one decided to tour by sea, which was a much more dangerous route than land for the Nortvardians.
"The night is nigh. It is getting darker," Trys said, "We should camp here, get some rest and continue tomorrow."
Coming down from their horses, they unpacked their foods and clothes for laying. Gaia set up the campfire and some of the sorcerers prepared the night's meal which they had packed with them.
"I'll take the first watch. I and Gaia," Trys said.
"I hope it's just the watch you two take, huh," one of them teased.
A few of their companions giggled at what their other member said that it made Gaia's face flushed and she turned away. She understood why they laughed, whispering that hint at their intimacy to Trys who rebuked them immediately.
It was soon midnight, and many of them had slept except the two who were on watch.
"Still in the habit of eating late, huh, Trys?" Gaia's voice came in from behind while she walked towards her lover.
"Yikes! I'm made. But it's just a snack," Trys argued in his defence, still taking a bit of the roasted fish and tossing into his mouth.
Gaia took out her coat to reduce what she had on. "The night is quite hot."
"Yeah. But you should get some sleep. You look tired and you've stayed up with me for a while now," Trys suggested, "I can handle the rest."
"No. I'm fine," she replied, taking a seat beside the man and resting on his shoulder.
While they talked, the leaves of the trees of the forest shook and created a sound like something passed through them. Drawing their attention, the two spread out immediately in different directions.
"What was that?" Trys thought as he moved speedily through the forest in pursuit of their target.
Gaia and Trys came upon the creature from different directions and surrounded it. To their disappointment, it was merely a squirrel.
"Tch!" Trys exclaimed, disappointed. He'd been fired up for nothing.
"Better than what we had in mind. Hahaha!" Gaia said, laughing. Both laughed and returned back to the camp.
-
Three days later...
They had journeyed for over three days now and were arriving the mountainous region of Gasha.
"We've arrived Gasha. Beware and stay alert," Trys commanded, "We might encounter a few magical beasts on our way. One more thing..."
Gasha was one of the few places in the world that majorly harboured magical beasts in their numbers. Different species of beasts have lived in the mountainous region for hundreds of years. Asides the fact that Gasha was home to different magical beasts, it was also a sacred place given its history. A holy land that is devoid of sacrileges. There was a saying of old among the locals that once dwelt in these mountains that the souls that desecrates the land of Gasha shall have their souls cursed forever.
"...do not slay any magical beasts, no matter what," Trys ordered with a stern voice. "I repeat, no matter what."
Trys and Gaia's unit rode slowly through the mountains of Gasha, observing its terrain. Suddenly, they heard a creeping sound from above then and the moment they all looked up, a gust of wind blew over their faces with a flying beast moving past them before they could see it.
"W-What was that?" one of them asked. Another member was quick to unsheathe his blade when Trys intervened.
"Restrain yourselves. Don't draw your weapons. They will only see us as hostile and that, we do not want,"
Many of the beasts observed these humans from the few tall trees that existed within these mountains. Some they could see completely, some they could only see their eyes.
"They are close," muttered a voice.
Trys' group were not the only humans in Gasha.
"Use it now," ordered another to the one that spoke earlier.
He performed a series of hand gestures before projecting his fingers, patterned into a triangle forward.
"Mist Magic: Zero Sight," the unknown mage whispered.
With the activation of this spell, the atmosphere slowly started to change as Trys and his group journeyed deeper. It became foggy and they could not see their path clearly.
"Fog?" one of Trys' men muttered.
The fog started off slowly and gradually thickened as time passed.
"Stay close!" Gaia exclaimed, "Don't lose each other!"
"Could it be...?" Trys was about to ask.
"I think so too" Gaia interrupted, "The fog feels strange. I think we're being followed"
"Everyone! Stay alert!" Trys yelled. His voice echoing through the mountains.
They were beginning to lose sight of each other within the foggy environs of Gasha. Vision was now completely obscured and these sorcerers had to rely on other senses to make their way.
"Aaaahh!" yelled one of their members, as blood gushed from his throat.
A strange object flew to and fro within the mist, cutting through whatever solid structure it hit. Trys and Gaia heard shouts of anguish from different points within the fog.
"Stay low! Stay low!" Trys ordered at the top of his voice.
Trys spread out his hands, having gathered enough Aer. The fog was so much that Trys was not be able to disperse it at a go with his wind magic, but he was relentless.
"This is no ordinary fog," he thought.
From his belly Trys built up enough Aer to cast his magic, he blew out a massive gust into the surrounding that immediately dispersed the fog and returned clarity to the environ of Gasha.
"Oh? They have a powerful sorcerer in their ranks as well," muttered a giggling voice.
"I see. This is about to get interesting" the voice breathed and grinned as he stared at Trys from far.