Right after the press-con,
Dani stormed into his office, the sound of his footsteps echoing across the marble floor. He went straight to his desk, trimming his plants, calming him down, as it was his favorite activity whenever he was pressured.
He picked up his phone, looking for people to redirect his stress;
"Hey, Sean…"
The door burst open.
Anton, Rank 9 of Cebu City, stumbled in. "Dani…"
Before the name could even finish leaving his lips, Dani flicked two fingers. The plant he'd been watering suddenly came alive and the vines shot forward, piercing into Anton's left leg with a brutal crack.
Dani smiled with content as he found someone to vent his stress.
"Did you knock?" Dani's voice was cold, sharp. "And did you just call me by my name, knowing our positions are vastly different?"
Anton trembled, clutching his bleeding leg. "I-I'm sorry, Honorable Dani but I have a question…"
Dani's brow twitched. Another flick. Another vine lashed out and this time pierced Anton's right leg. The man screamed, the sound bouncing off the walls like a dying animal.
"What exactly should I do?" Anton cried out in pain. "I just wanted to ask a simple question…"
Dani's eyes narrowed, his aura darkening. The air itself felt heavier but content and happy.
"How should I know?" he smirked. "Your very existence pisses me off. Ever since!"
He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried more weight than a shout.
"Careful next time you offend me, Anton. It'll be your head."
Anton froze mind blank and his heart pounded. He didn't know what to say, or even how to breathe. All he knew was that Dani was a man made of storms, strong, volatile, and ready to break without warning.
Every word, every breath around him felt like walking on eggshells. One wrong step… and you'd be gone.
In the middle of his confusion, Dani finally spoke.
"Who let you in? Was it my assistant?"
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Disobedience."
Miles away, his assistant who was sleeping peacefully at home suddenly... the vine around her neck tightened, pulsing faintly with light. Her hands shot up, waving… looking for something to latch onto. The living choker did exactly what it was meant to do.
It was the same curse that had once silenced Jane, Rank 6 of Cebu City.
Anton's eyes widened in horror. "He isn't human…"
Dani caught the whisper. His tone dropped, cold and low.
"Speak."
"I-I came here willingly… without your assistant's knowledge," Anton stuttered.
"I know." Dani replied
"Then… why?"
Dani exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable.
"Simple. She's not in the office. And she knows I don't like people walking in without an appointment."
Anton clenched his fists. "It's the weekend! Why wou…"
Before he could finish, vines laced with thorns shot out, piercing his cheeks from side to side. Blood trickled down as his words turned into muffled gasps.
"I don't remember letting you speak a second time," Dani said, his voice now dripping with malice. "And besides… she's not in the office during weekends, while I'm here… her employer. Tsk, tsk. If she filed for overtime, she'd still be alive."
Anton froze, disbelief flooding his face.
He couldn't process what he'd just heard. Whether on or off the battlefield, Dani was always the same cold, sinister, and terrifyingly calm.
A battle mage who weighed human life like dust on his palm.
Dani asked, "Why did you come here?"
Anton froze. He couldn't even look him in the eye. Seconds passed too long.
Dani's gaze sharpened, and the vines around him began to stir again.
Before they could strike, Anton panicked. "I… I want to be part of the expedition!"
Dani stared at him for a moment, then burst into laughter… dark and echoing.
"You? Of all people, making demands?"
Suddenly, the air grew heavy. Anton felt a sharp rise in mana pressure, his heart pounding as multiple powerful signatures entered the room. The door opened one after another each step followed by a surge of energy strong enough to shake his core.
He looked around and froze.
The top battle mages and magic knights of Cebu City and every one of them stood in one place.
"These problematic mages… all under one clan?" he thought, trembling.
"And Dani… being their leader? What kind of expedition will this be?"
Dani flicked his hand. The vines piercing Anton's body slowly retracted, slithering back into the floor with a hiss.
One of the mages, a tall woman with glowing palms, stepped forward. "Would you like me to heal you?"
Anton immediately shook his head. He knew her reputation and her healing always came with a price.
Dani chuckled. "Why don't you heal yourself, Anton? Show us your healing magic. Maybe I'll consider letting you join the expedition."
Anton gritted his teeth and began chanting. A soft light enveloped his wounds, closing them slowly but pain erupted through his nerves, sharper than before.
Dani smirked. "You can heal wounds, yes. But you can't remove the thorns I planted between them."
Anton gasped as the pain intensified. Dani leaned forward, laughing softly.
"So in short, your magic is useless if I'm your opponent."
He stood up, gesturing to the mages around him. "Look around you, Anton. These mages were handpicked by me. We may be a new clan… but I guarantee you;"
His eyes glowed with mana.
"We're already the strongest in all of Visayas."
Dani leaned back, a crooked smile forming on his lips.
"Each and every mage here in this room survived against me. Of course, I eventually won, without much effort, really. But they earned their spot."
He turned his gaze toward Anton, eyes glinting like sharpened glass.
"The fact that you're requesting to join our expedition despite not even lasting a minute against me… that's not courage, Anton. That's disrespectful to their hard work."
A low chuckle came from the side.
Miguel, a fighter mage ranked fourth in Cebu City, known for his sixth sense, crossed his arms. "I've got a feeling he wants to join just so he can expose you, Dani… maybe even go live secretly."
Dani's smirk vanished. His tone dropped, calm but laced with menace.
"Oh? Is that right?"
Anton froze. His mind went blank. How did he know? His breath quickened as cold sweat ran down his cheek. He opened his mouth to deny it.
"N-no, I…"
Before he could finish, a whip cracked through the air.
Joshua, Rank 5, had lashed it across Anton's face, smirking.
"I like your hair," he said casually.
Anton winced in pain, holding back a scream.
Then the door creaked open.
Sean entered, slightly late, his tone serious. "Enough. We have bigger issues to deal with. Stop playing."
Dani sighed and raised his hand. "Fine." He then removed the thorns and tendrils coiled around Anton where a soft green glow enveloped. His wounds sealed instantly.
Anton's eyes widened in disbelief. "Y-you can heal too…?"
Dani didn't answer. He simply turned away, his presence heavy and unyielding.
Anton looked around the room, trembling as realization sank in.
Every mage here radiated power and all of them followed Dani.
From the moment they assembled, it was clear.
A new Platinum Clan had emerged and one born from chaos, power, and fear.