Aldous

Ike's face changed when these words came out. "Forgive her Mia, she did not mean it. Right Ivetta?" He had not expected Ivetta to act this way. He knew the enmity between her and Mia, but he did not think she would say such a thing.

Mia got caught in an awkward position. "I'm sure she did not mean it," What else could she say?

Their enmity began when Mia was still in her old squad. At the time there were two options to pick from. One was Ivetta, and the other was Belin who was in Ike's squad.

Ike planned to pick Ivetta, however, because of Mia's constant complaining Ike changed his decision and chose Belin. The news that Ike changed his decision somehow came into Ivetta's ears and from there the enmity between them started.

Ivetta crossed her arms as she spoke, "Why are you trying to help her Ike? She was the one who left this squad so she could be the leader of her own squad."

"What is it to you? You are being very rude," Emilia was the one who spoke. She did not like Ivetta. This is not a proper behavior. Emilia knew about the enmity between them, but she did not know Ivetta hated Mia this much.

"You don't talk Emilia. You are always behind Mia. I guess it is because she can be easily manipulated," Ivetta spoke with her arms crossed behind her back. Also, with a smirk on her face.

"You!" Emilia's voice rose.

"ENOUGH. Stop this nonsense bickering and behave. Ivetta come with me right now! And Mia I'm sorry for what happened. I will make sure it does not happen again," After saying this Ike left with Ivetta and the two others.

Emilia fell onto her chair, but could not remain calm. "I have never met someone so rude in my life."

Mia kept her hand on Emilia's shoulder. "Leave it, Emilia, there is no use in going down to her level."

They all went back into their seats after this conversation. Five minutes later all the squads had assembled.

Zek walked into the room. He dressed in his usual buttoned black long sleeve dress. Many had thought he did this to cover up his lost arm. The fact is, even before he lost his arm this is how he used to dress. Mia could only sign at such a tragic fate of losing one's own arm.

Zek walked to the center and spoke in a deep voice. "There are four squads assembled here. Each will survey the four sides of the city. Do not fear. Even though it's named as a 'city' the fact of the matter is it is more like a massive village with houses made of wood and tents than a city made with bricks and cement."

Finally, it became time for the mission. Leo wanted to test out his new skills. The clone with a dagger and Frenzy. Leo still believed he would lose if he were to meet the masked bandit, but if he had more time, then he could kill him.

Will he be there? Wondered Leo. That could be a possibility. He and his companions were bandits. If this Xavier or anyone else had money, they could hire them. As bandits, they would not care if the person who hired them were a magic user or a normal human as long as they get paid.

Leo's squad was to station themselves towards the north of the city. There was a cliff there from which they could watch the city.

Before they left Zek gave each squad a special object. It was circular and transparent. He said high-level Light Magic was infused into them. This means that if a person were to look through it, they could have a zoomed vision.

---

Xavier sat on an old wooden chair. They had brought a new chair after the old one broke, but this chair looked worse than the one that broke. He remained seated as the room lacked any other chairs. In fact, the room had no windows. The only thing it had was a door while. Webs and mold covered the walls. The white paint of the walls had gone away.

In front of Xavier stood a boy. The boy looked fifteen years old. He had a well-built body. His build was better than those of his peers.

"Aldous, my child with this there is no one in this city close to your age can challenge you," Xavier's mouth opened. His voice came out much gentler than when he spoke to the prince.

Aldous bowed his head. "It is because of you I could achieve such a task."

Xavier folded his arms. "You know who Mia is right?"

"Yes, father," Aldous replied. He knew who she was. She was the daughter of Gerard Claw the head of The Shadow Claw organization. It had always been weird to Aldous that Gerard would have such a weird name. Why was it like the name of the organization? Aldous was sure Gerard had not created the organization. He had no time to look into the matter as he always had his hands full.

"From the report we received her squad will be stationed at the north. Apart from her, there are three other, however, she is the only one among them who can pose a challenge to you. The others are only at Normal Rank Level 1."

"I will do as you wish father," Aldous replied. What Xavier said was true. Those of the Normal Rank are not a match to him anymore. Sure, they could use their elemental powers, but what good would that do? He had suffered to attain such powers. They cut open his hands and inserted the runes inside them. This meant the moment he touches someone who can use magic their Crystal would stop working.

It would not last for long like the runes did when they were placed on the ground. As long as he could get close to someone and touch anywhere on their body. The runes would send a signal which would prevent their Crystal from sending out the particular element.

This was their ultimate weapon. The weapon with which he and his father would take revenge. Revenge for his mother!

"I want you to defeat them. I will still send three others including one magic user with you, but they will not interfere until you become defeated. You would not disappoint me right, Aldous?" Xavier said as he stood up and walked towards his son.

"I would not dare," How could he not defeat them? If he failed, then his father would punish him. Also, he could not fail. He could not fail for his mother. For her, he would defeat anyone his father asked him to!