CHAPTER 14: THE HEADQUARTERS Of The New Era
"Listen to me closely," Luke Blight said, his voice dropping so low it was almost lost to the wind. He gripped his companion's shoulder with a firm, warning hand. "Be careful. You should never, under any circumstances, get involved with that woman. She is a maniac, a wild card who views orders as mere suggestions. Even those under her command... they aren't exactly 'sane.' She hand-picked every one of them as a condition for accepting the captaincy. She didn't want soldiers; she wanted a pack of wolves."
The younger investigator looked back at the retreating figure of Captain Selene. "But if she's that dangerous, why let her move freely?"
"Because we have no choice," Luke sighed, flicking the ash from his cigarette. "We didn't even have much to do today because her team arrived. They handled in minutes what would have taken us hours. Even the Higher Council avoids her when they can. Do you know what they call her in the classified records?"
"No," his companion whispered.
"The Strongest Sorcerer of Our Time," Luke replied. The words felt heavy, hanging in the air like a threat. "She isn't just a captain. She is a natural disaster in a human skin. But that's enough idle chatter. We have reports to file and a train to clear. Let's get back to work."
Inside the armored transport, the Curse User sat in the dark, his body trembling. He wasn't thinking about his capture or the prison that awaited him. He was thinking about the woman's left eye.
"That woman..." he croaked, sweat pouring down his face in buckets. "Who is she? Those eyes... she has the same eyes as that person."
SORCERER ASSOCIATION HEADQUARTERS
While the cleanup continued at the border, the boy who had collapsed after the grueling battle against the transformed monster finally stirred.
Dawn Elorin opened his eyes to a ceiling that was too white and a room that smelled too much like disinfectant. He groaned, the dull ache in his stomach from the backlash still pulsing faintly. He sat up slowly, the starched sheets of the hospital bed crinkling beneath him.
"Where am I...?" Dawn muttered, rubbing his temples.
The last thing he remembered was the train floor rushing up to meet him and the weight of his sword case slipping from his fingers. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, testing his balance. Finding his footing, he walked over to the large, floor-to-ceiling window and pulled back the heavy curtains.
The sight that met him was breathtaking.
He wasn't in a small town hospital. He was in the heart of a fortress. Massive stone buildings with gothic spires rose toward the sky, interconnected by bridges that seemed to defy gravity. On the walls of every structure, the Sorcerer Association's flag a golden eye surrounded by a silver crown snapped in the wind.
Below him, the courtyard was a sea of activity. He saw fully-fledged Sorcerers in long, sweeping dusters moving with purpose, and hundreds of cadets young men and women his own age gathered in training groups. Some were practicing Jinx Manipulation, while others were studying ancient scrolls under the shade of massive, glowing trees.
"Well... it looks like I actually made it," Dawn said, his reflection in the glass looking tired but determined. "Even after collapsing like a fool. This is it. The Headquarters."
As Dawn looked out at the bustling citadel, he couldn't help but think about the history that had led to this moment.
In the ancient texts, they were called many things: Spirits, Gods, Divinity, Deities.
They were mystical beings of unfathomable power that once roamed the Earth and co-existed with humanity in a fragile peace. But then, the Calamity occurred a sudden, cataclysmic event that rewrote the laws of nature. In that Great War of the Heavens, the divine beings were destroyed, and their physical forms vanished from the world forever.
However, they did not die quietly. As they fell, their essence shattered and rained down upon the world, embedding itself into the very souls of humanity. For centuries, this power lay dormant, a hidden ember waiting for a spark.
Then, the awakening began.
People started manifesting abilities that had not been seen since the dawn of time. At first, it was chaos. Humans didn't understand the fire they now held in their hands. They called it many names: Magic, Witchcraft, Hexes, Curses. But as the centuries passed and order was established, a single term was chosen to encompass it all: Sorcery.
The ones who were able to wield these leftover fragments of the Divine the chosen few who could shape the world with their will were dubbed Sorcerers. They were the inheritors of a dead world, tasked with protecting the new one from the darkness that remained.
THE INFIRMARY HALLS
Back in the present, the peaceful silence of the medical wing was shattered by the sound of a heated argument.
Dario Cale, his chest and arms wrapped in thick bandages, was being discharged from the hospital wing. He looked frustrated, his pride clearly more wounded than his body. He was trying to find his way to the registration desk when a familiar, mocking voice called out from across the hall.
"Heh... well, if it isn't Dario Cale. The 'great prodigy' who got his ass handed to him by a common hijacker."
Dario froze. He turned slowly to see a boy with striking blue hair leaning against a pillar, a smug grin plastered on his face. He was dressed in high-end cadet gear, looking pristine and untouched.
"What did you just say?" Dario growled, his fists clenching so hard the bandages started to strain. "Say it again, you shitty bastard. I dare you."
"I said you're a joke, Dario," the blue-haired boy laughed, pushing off the pillar. "You went on one transport mission and ended up in a hospital bed before the exams even started. How are you going to protect anyone if you can't even protect yourself?"
"I'll kill you!" Dario roared, his Jinx energy flickering around his knuckles.
Dawn, watching from the doorway of his room, leaned against the frame. He watched then argue.