The Calm Before (4)

"You know, we've only been Mages for around half a month or so…" Lisa said, her face twitching as water sprayed on her face. "So WHY ARE WE ON THE EDGE OF A WATERFALL!?"

Currently, Lisa and Lanius were sitting side by side in cross-legged positions, except they were sitting on nothing but the air as the water strongly flowed beneath them and off the cliff. If either one of them stopped floating, they would fall onto the jagged rocks on the front side of the waterfall.

"You two are already at the level of Proficient Mages due to your talent, and I need to make sure you are as ready as possible for the mission our squad will undertake." Vincent said as he waved his hand, making multiple wisps of light float in the air in front of the waterfall, constantly moving around. "Now hit the targets with no spell wider than a Mana Bullet."

"Why is our training being this rushed, master?" Lanius questioned as he started firing needles of mana at the moving wisps, Lisa grumbling as she did the same.

"If we took our time, what would be the point of the reward? Might as well train you all at the same pace as the rest." 

"Then why isn't he here with us?" Lisa grunted, looking to the side as Vincent followed her gaze.

They looked to see a small pond with fewer, slower wisps floating in the air, circling Zane who was also floating in a cross-legged position with a smile on his face, casually taking his time in firing at the targets.

"Unlike you two, Zane isn't as talented. He's still a Novice Mage, and so when we go on missions you two will have to be strong enough to protect him while he supports you." 

Lanius nodded in agreement while the grumpy Lisa turned away, deciding to talk to her friend instead of their master any longer.

"You know, I'm getting real sick of Mr. Nice over there." 

"Who? Zane?"

"Yeah. I thought it was just a phase or something, but it's been half a month, and he's always just smiling and laughing. It's not even strong laughter or anything, he just seems so…" 

"Polite?" Lanius guessed.

"Fake." Lisa sent one last look at their squadmate before focusing on the training at hand.

Meanwhile, the hot topic himself was talking to his usual companions as he leisurely fired at the targets. Vincent had said this training was to get them used to splitting their attention, since they were aiming and keeping themselves afloat at the same time, but it did nothing for Zane.

<8U@@.!Imf)*!, >

'Nah, I think Vincent beats Leo with high difficulty.'

<Jp;^^&Hmm"J#$ks?? >

'Leo versus Cynthia? I'll have to give it to Leo.'

[I have returned.]

Gunther spoke to the two as he entered Zane's shadow, stopping his debate with the otherworldly entity.

'Hey, Gunther, how was today's session? You two have been going, what, two weeks now?'

[The man, Benjamin, is beginning to have a greater grasp on manipulating shadows.] There was a touch of pride in the Deathrider's heavy voice. [Weeks ago, he could merely travel through them, but soon he will be able to control them.]

'That's good. I hope my other heads can grow as fast soon. I suppose there's Lilac, who's been making steady progress in poison magic, but the other two are still on normal Dark Magic…'

<*(Wee$%^^2mf-! > 

'You wanna become a tutor, Cthulhu? Hmm, maybe soon, if Harry or Sarah can find what they specialize in.'

[Your master is tense today.]

'Yeah, he's been really rushing our training to prep us for the upcoming mission, whatever it is.' 

[I believe he is also suspicious of my lack of appearances lately.]

'Well, we can't have you just show up and fight him all the time, that's repetitive and boring. Let him sweat a little.'

Zane fired a Mana Bullet, accidentally hitting and popping one of the wisps. 

"Damn, I just made progress."

They continued their training for a couple more weeks, eventually upgrading from floating above bodies of water to having to run across the tips of thin, wobbly poles stuck into the ground while defending against attacks from above.

Of course, while Lisa and Lanius were about 10 meters or so in the air, Zane was training on thick wooden posts around a quarter of the size theirs was. Lanius and Lisa were growing at an amazing rate, being able to split their attention and cast their spells faster, while Zane showed steady, satisfactory progress.

As for the Blood of Syne, things were going great. Benjamin had finally learned to control shadows, and had reached the level of an Advanced Mage, with Lilac growing close to that rank as well. Harry and Sarah were still Novice Mages, but were making up for it with combat experience as they went out to attack smaller outposts throughout the kingdom belonging to the military and the Children of Namek alike. 

They had also been able to recruit more members simply by promising food and shelter to the average beggar, since Zane had decided to leave them his food-making chest once he discovered the cafeteria. They even got the street urchins to act as information gatherers as no one would really pay attention to the average child on the street.

Overall, things were going alright.

******

"Look, I just want to have a chat with your boss, I'm pretty sure he knew my father a long time ago."

Inside a town somewhere in the Magine Kingdom, a man in iron plated armor and multiple swords strapped to his body was pleading to two guards that stood in front of a gate, a large mansion behind it. 

"Please, I've come a long way from the East, and it's really important to my family that I talk to him."

As Takeda clasped his hands together and begged, the guard in front of him scoffed. "Let me guess, the boss owes you money? Or is he your long lost daddy or something?"

Takeda frowned. "What, no, my mother-"

"Ohh, is she from the whorehouse? Is that it?" The guard laughed as anger filled Takeda's eyes. "You're what, 20? 21? You'll have to specify which one she is, the boss used to take us boys out a lot back then, hell, I might be the dad you're looking for - Hrk!"

The guard stopped talking as he coughed out blood, looking down to see a kaiken buried in his chest, Takeda holding the handle. He slowly breathed out in anger as he used his other hand to reach behind him and grip the handle of a katana, unsheathing it.

"Samurai style it is, then." Takeda removed his kaiken from the first guard's chest as he swung the katana at the second, ripping his chest open. "Shinu!" 

The two guards dead, Takeda wiped the blood from his cheek as he pushed the gate open, ready to "talk" to the boss.

(A/N: A kaiken is a japanese dagger, while "Shinu" means "die" in japanese, according to google. And if it isn't obvious by now, Takeda is a samurai.)