Chapter 3: Knoah

"You underestimated us," the man emphasized in a voice full of authority. Who would've thought that we belong on the same guild?

He held both of my wrists and forced me to sit on a chair. I was surprised when I saw three men looking at me, except for Knoah who's behind, probably guarding me not to make a move.

I have no choice but to follow him, it's the best choice I have. Especially when I'm cornered like this.

I sense a huge magical aura coming from the other people in the room. Are they the Elites? Fck, this is troublesome if they are.

They stared at me intently like I'm a visible person. I'm sure the invisibility potion is working, I can't even see my own limbs. There should be 3 mins more before the visibility time. Don't tell me, they're also the same as Knoah who isn't affected by Zoe's inventions?

Well, who is this Zoe anyway?

"Knoah! You should've let her get a piece of paper, at least. You ruined the fun," the one with the fiery hair, same as Amber downstairs, groaned. Knoah's the name of the person who killed Henry? The name sounds angelic and innocent to me, the opposite of the one who has it.

A sudden lowing of temperature happened that gave me chills down to my spine. The fire in his hair went out.

"Stop copying Amber's hair, it doesn't suit you, Raver," the one in the middle said. He has this icy aura, probably the one responsible for the sudden chill. He caught my eyes staring at him and I immediately averted my eyes.

Then my eyes were locked in another man again, he isn't like the others, he doesn't give off a scary vibe. Then a sudden red flicker from his eyes happened and I've noticed the invisibility potion wore off.

That eye magic is famous around here, it can nullify any kind of magic as long as you stare directly into your prey's eyes, and of course, your magic should be stronger than your prey. According to the rumors, the clan who has this is Reichardt's.

"Your magic is probably better than your brother's," Raver praised the one who has the eye magic. I've heard his name is Raver, according to the one with the icy aura.

"I only sense faint magic from you yet you tried to go on an S-class mission, not to mention you're new. You have quite the guts," Knoah, who's guarding me went in front of my face and held my chin up high. I didn't really show a glint of emotion.

"Didn't I warn you not to use Zoe's invention in front of me?" Knoah lectured and while facing him, I've noticed a sudden change in his hair. The other strands are turning yellow.

A loud bang in the door made our attention change. Someone barged into the room, it's the woman with the dark blue hair. I remembered her, the one who tapped my shoulders earlier.

"Amanda's missing—" she immediately stopped when she saw what state I'm in. Her jaw dropped when she had a clue on what's happening.

I'm still a newbie yet I already broke a rule. My profile must've been stained by now, and everyone should feel distant towards me. It's a disgrace for someone new in a guild to just break rules like that.

She came running towards me but Ice stopped her. A sudden change of her form happened, she became a liquid herself and went below the chair I'm in. In just a blink, we were already out of the room. It was like she teleported us two using her magic. It is really kind of satisfying seeing other people do their own tricks. I've been living my life being secluded from others when I was still a kid. It's not a surprise for me to feel excited like this.

"Did you broke a rule?" I nodded as if I got caught stealing which is almost the same as I did. She shook both of my shoulders while I fell into deep thought.

Remembering the mission I saw earlier, the information about the last survivor being leaked. It's not a surprise since everyone needs us—me. They're already desperate in finding a Gardner. Unfortunately, they need to compete with each other off after actually meeting me.

"You should've broken the rules when Knoah's not around. He's scary in terms of giving punishment," she lectured me. "The name's Aqua, by the way."

I was about to open my mouth to say a reply when Aqua's body suddenly froze, completely turned into an ice statue. Even though I'm not the one who turned into an ice statue, I was frozen for a moment. Is Aqua dead?

The man with the icy aura was standing while his body was leaning on the wall, "She's not dead but she must face the consequences of breaking rules. Knoah, you're up to it."

They are monsters! Their magics are unbelievable!

...----------------...

I thought they will lock me up in a prison somewhere but they took me in a library instead. I'm facing Knoah who's busy reading a book in front of me. Is this the punishment they are referring to? It's kind of boring to be one.

I tried to open my mouth earlier but he shut me up. This silence between us is becoming uncomfortable and awkward, I want to break it.

We just sat there quietly until I've heard him talk, "Choose, a or b?"

"What exactly are those?" I confusedly asked. Who would let someone choose without knowing exactly what are those? This weirdo in front of me does.

"Just choose," he answered, still facing the book.  I sighed and choose the letter 'b' without knowing the meaning behind it. It's kinda suspicious.

He showed me the book he's reading. There's a sentence he's pointing out, "Fist choice given is for death and second is for fear." Is he telling me that if I chose letter A, which I think indicates the first choice given, death will be my punishment?

I'm sure if I haven't met him or knew his magic, I would have laughed. Anyway, I chose the letter 'B', according to it, it's about fears. Is he going to threaten my life? What a joke.

"Fear, huh? You're new here so I'll let you choose, woman. Knowing a secret you hide or I'll replay your fearful past?"

Fearful past? What does he have to replay it? I can understand that he can deduct something from me knowing a secret but literally replaying my past? His power is electricity and it's obvious from the time we first met and how the patterns in his hairs looks, how can he use something like that to dig into it?

"Looks like you're in your confused state. Have you heard about the Feren Eye?" He used his fingertips to move the hair covering his eyes making me see, two dark blue eyes. But the other one suddenly changed it's color to violet. According to my knowledge, its also an eye magic, same as the Reichardt's but Feren Eye is used to let the caster show the fear of whoever sees it eye to eye.

But as far as I remember, he has already an electricity magic. Doesn't a mage must only have one magic ability to wield? Is he a hybrid? According to what I've learned, when two mages mate, their offspring, whether it's a boy or a girl, must only inherit one ability from them. It's either whose genes are the strongest.

Anyway, I should choose. I stared at the ceiling for a while to think of my decision thoroughly. He's not bluffing when he said about the Feren Eye, and the name itself is too dangerous to try. Also, if he replays my fearful past, I know he'll know more than a secret from me.

"Knowing a secret I hide." Finally, I was able to decide. I think this is the best way so the only left I need to do is to wait for his reply. I thought I was safe until,

"Looks like I'm about to tell you that you value 10 million..." I froze on my seat and started gripping the chair's arm, as hard as I could. My heart is starting to beat fast and sweats are running down from my forehead. There's no way that the secret he knew about—

"You're the last Gardner alive."

...****************...

I just want to share to you guys a masterpiece made by a friend of mine. An illustration of Knoah, one of my babies >.<

(Amanda's illustration is quite undecided so, it might take a while to release the official one.)

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