Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on a wooden door.
No answer came.
Creak.
The door opened slowly, and an immaculately dressed person stepped in. It was a man with white hair, but it was a bit difficult to discern his age. Even though he had white hair, which obviously came from old age, there were no wrinkles on his face. If one only looked at his face, one might believe that he was rather young.
However, appearances often deceive people.
If someone heard of this person's age, they wouldn't be able to believe whoever told them.
The man looked around the room with professional eyes.
It was an arena designed for people who wanted to spar with each other but didn't wish to be disturbed by others.
Despite the arena looking only a few meters wide and can only fit a desk and a couple of chairs plus bookshelves, reality is quite different from how everyone look at it without stepping inside.
The moment the man stepped inside of it, he could feel space, time and even gravity going chaotic in his surroundings, but he didn't bother with such details since this isn't something new or foreign to him.
The man's eyes looked at the back of the room, several kilometers in front of him.
A man with silver hair who looked to be in his early thirties could be seen sitting on a black stone that fitted his size.
With each passing second, the black stone released a white mist that quickly enveloped the man, which was quickly inhaled by him, making him appear to be quite refreshed. One could easily notice that the black stone wasn't a bit ordinary.
The man only wore black pants; his upper body was bare.
Whatever anyone would expect a bone fide warrior to look like, it was exactly that.
The man's body was bulky and chiseled; his skin was also tanned quite a bit.
It was obvious from the looks of it that he was someone who loved to train outside without wearing any shirt.
The man at the door slightly shook his head and walked over, a look of worry visible in his eyes as he made his way to the man on top of the black stone.
Surprisingly, the several kilometers between him and the silver-haired man that would take a considerable amount of time for a normal human to cross were quickly breached after a few steps.
If anyone were to see the man's movements right now, they would think that he suddenly teleported in front of the silver-haired man, while in reality, he only took several steps to reach him, not using any form of technique or force on his legs, just casually walking.
" Oh, you are here, Oliver." The man who was just sitting cross-legged on the black stone said after he noticed that someone appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
He was an old man with gentle facial features, and everyone that saw him would believe him to be a nice grandpa.
" Don't start with your nonsense Michael. Utter already why you called me over." The man impatiently said as he looked at the fake smile the old man in front of him wore, a hint of disgust even visible on his face; he wasn't even trying to hide it.
" Oh, c'mon, why are you acting so cold with your colleague that you spent almost your whole life competing against." Michael shook his head, acting like his heart just got broken. But the moment he glanced at Oliver and saw the glare he was giving him, he quickly gave up on taunting him more than this.
" Okay, okay. Well, Peace was trying to call you in the past day, but you were out of reach. Hence, he told me to inform you the moment I feel your presence," He then casually handed him a crystal that dimly shone with white light." Go ahead and finish your business with him; make it quick since I don't like for my time to be wasted like this. Ahahaha!"
Oliver's mind nearly shattered as he heard the disgusting laughter of his colleague.
His colleague, that always displayed a fake smile on the outside was now laughing at him with disdain, which was something he had only seen in scenarios he didn't even wanna recall.
At this moment, Oliver's mind was going wild.
He was feeling so many emotions at once with such intensity that he almost stopped being a human being.
It was like he was transforming into a bundle of volatile emotions!
Reality and his entire life were crashing down around him.
He!
Him!
How could!
Fuck!
Die!
Hate!
Hate!
Die!
FUCKING DIE!
All the Mana around Oliver gathered as he lost all rationality.
He would Kill him!
He deserved to die!
It was his fault!
DIE!
DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!
HE WOULD DIE!
DIIIIIEEEE!
And then, he froze.
His unstable and volatile mind completely froze, and he completely stopped moving.
Michael continued to laugh, but Oliver couldn't hear him anymore.
His mind was fully occupied by something else.
Very slowly, Oliver looked at the Communication Crystal Michael handed to him.
He recognized that Aura.
Every person operating under this organization recognized that Aura.
Right in front of him, Michael stopped laughing and just smirked in disdain.
And then, Oliver very slowly accepted the call from his Communication Crystal.
"How can I help you, Sir?" he asked with a quiet voice.
Luckily, he didn't need to wait for long.
"Hey, Oliver. Nice to talk to you! How are you?" said a friendly voice coming from the Communication Crystal.
Oliver gulped once. '"Not very well, sir."
"Oh? Are you having trouble? Do you need some help?" the friendly voice asked.
Oliver laughed bitterly. "Sir, I don't feel very well because I think I know why you are calling."
"We can talk about that after this. So, there are no problems at home or with your meditation? Everything outside of work is okay?" the person asked with a concerned voice.
"Everything's alright, sir," Oliver said.
"Good, good," the voice said. "Hey, listen, I've been hearing a couple of things, and I want to hear your side of the events. Could you tell me, from your point of view, why didn't you locate the True Dragon yet?"
Oliver gulped another time. "Of course, sir."
Then, Oliver recited everything he had experienced.
"Good, good," the friendly voice said. "Now, I don't need to tell you that what you've delivered wasn't the greatest performance of your career, right? Do you realize full well what the existence of a True Dragon means? And the consequences of such a beast left without any surveillance"
"No, sir," Oliver said quietly.
"You should know that, as one of the rulers of the world, we represent a certain prestige. I know that this entire mission and True Dragon thing is quite complicated, but we can't be left behind and give the other forces the opportunity to go above us. Do you get what I mean?" the voice asked.
Oliver wanted to protest and say that the item they gave him to locate the True Dragon isn't properly working, and he couldn't find a trace of him inside their whole territory.
And yet, he couldn't protest.
Even though the voice seemed quite friendly and professional, everyone knew the truth.
The person behind that voice didn't even know the concept of true empathy and respect.
He was simply talking in such a polite and friendly manner because this was the best way to get others to follow his orders.
He had no problem handing out compliments and having a bit of small talk if it helped him in keeping everything under his control.
No one had ever seen this person be unfriendly and disrespectful.
No one knew how they were when they were mad.
Because no one that made them mad was still alive.
No one had ever seen them fight or kill anyone, but everyone knew whom they had killed.
They had killed many people, but no one had ever seen them do the deed.
In the end, Oliver didn't protest.
"Yes, I know my mistake, sir," he said.
"That's good to hear," Peace's friendly voice came from the Communication Crystal. "I know that you've done a lot for the organization, which is also why I trusted you with leading the mission this time. I know that you are not someone that easily cracks under pressure, and I know that you are not being lazy."
"But the other organizations are placing heavy pressure on us since we still didn't locate the True Dragon even after a whole day, and the recent couple of hours have been troublesome, Oliver. You know that, right?" Peace asked.
"Yes, I understand, sir," Oliver said.
"Hey, listen, I really don't like this any more than you, but I think it would be better for everyone involved that you leave the mission to one of our colleagues, okay? Ah, and don't worry, the True Dragon will be found, and we will fully take advantage of his body full of resources before the others."
Oliver's heart rate increased. A dark feeling of doom appeared in his heart.
" Hey, Oliver, let me speak to Michael; I need to inform him about the details of the mission and how to proceed from now on." Peace said with a gentle tone.
Oliver looked at Michael, who was caressing his neck. Deep rage filled his heart, but he was helpless and just gave the communication crystal back to him.
" I feel sad that this will be the last time we meet Oliver. But hey, at least don't forget to close the door behind you when you leave my room, okay? Ahahaha!" Michael burst out with laughter as soon as he finished speaking.
But the moment he took hold of the communication crystal, a serious expression adorned his face, and he fully concentrated on Peace's words.
Michale knew the severity of this mission and that the True Dragon had to be found, or the resources it provided will go to others instead of them. Thus, he got deadly serious and didn't miss any word.