CHAPTER 10: Black Magic.

The Viper Queen sat on her throne with two guards beside her and a maiden Wolf-monkey massaging her feet with another, standing with a bowl in her hand. Queen Zuki picked her fangs and the maid drew the bowl closer, which the queen then spat in it. She had called for Yuze Fang, her right-hand man to discuss matters.

"Your Ladyship" Master Yuze bowed before her, holding an orchid flower in his hand.

"Yes, Chief Minister, I sent for you." Queen Zuki kicked off the Wolf-monkey massaging her foot and then sat erect on the thrown.

"At your service, my Queen" He nodded slightly.

"I need you to give the statistics of workers present in our new project. It occurred to me that the Wolf-monkeys have been indolent and slothful" Queen Zuki sighed, shaking her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Pardon me your Ladyship. I'd be more conscientious" Master Yuze bowed.

"Give me the Statistics of the workers now". She demanded.

"My Queen, We have 2,235 Wolf-monkeys building the basilica. 1605 able-bodied males, 499 matured females and 131 young adults. The Viper guards overseeing the work---"

"What is this you are telling me?" Queen Zuki interrupted. "The last time we spoke on this issue, we had 500 matured females building the basilica. What happened to that woman? Did she die?" she asked.

"I wish it was death your Highness. She was heavily pregnant so I gave her a maternity leave. I couldn't stand the fact that she was slowing down the others in the queue. Pardon me, my queen" Master Yuze bowed.

"Haha! haha! So each time a Wolf-monkey falls sick or has a bun in the oven, you give them some time off?" she laughed sarcastically.

"B-but but your Highness---"

"Silence! Ssssss..." She yelled, hissing aggressively.

"I need you to put them to work! work! work! No breaks. Do you understand? Request for that imbecile to resume labor immediately. However, I'm not impressed with the statistics of the young adults. Recruit more workers and employ more Viper guards to supervise the area. We need to enlarge our coast. Mating season is near." The queen spoke in jurisdiction.

"Y-yes my Queen" Master Yuze bowed, squeezing the orchid in his hand.

"Enjoy this privilege while you still can because the boss will be bulldozed" he said in his thought.

"Again, I want to talk about the matters of food supply. Have you been feeding those Wolf-monkeys more than enough? I want you to make an appeal to the Royal Kitchen to cut down their meals. Those imbeciles are becoming sluggish day by day" she added.

"Yes your Ladyship. I will do my best to serve you better" he bowed to the queen.

"Hmph! Is there anyone competent around here? Gee... I wonder when the Basilica would be finalized before the gigantic tower is installed to execute my tremendous plan" She hooked her head, massaging her temples.

A palace guard entered the Chamber and bowed before the Queen "Your Highness, Prince Liang is here to see you".

"Send him in" The queen said.

She clasped her hand in excitement "Finally, something to brighten my day" she thought, exhibiting a radiant smile.

The palace guard bowed again and dismissed the Chamber.

Prince Liang walked inside and bowed to the queen "Your Highness, I greet you." Then he turned to Master Yuze and nodded slightly, acknowledging his presence.

"Welcome home son, I didn't expect you to be back so soon." her eyes sparkled as her lips slightly quirked up.

"Thank you Mother" The Viper Prince nodded.

"It was a new experience on earth. Humans come in varieties, from their skin color to their body structure." said Prince Liang.

"Really? Tell me more. Do they look hideous?" Queen Zuki asked curiously, leaning forward.

"Yes, a little bit." he held up a pinched finger. "What I enjoyed mostly on earth was their food. To be frank with you, it tastes better than what we have here in Marinda."

He turned to Master Yuze "Uncle, they are not as dangerous as you said, but they have devilish thoughts though. The world of Humans would be a disaster if they could hear the thought of mankind" he added.

"Haha-haha cut to the chase my boy haha hehe" Master Yuze forced a laugh, then gulped anxiously.

"I met the girl, Mae Li. At first I thought the stone chose a powerless person when I saw how a human trampled upon her. Make Li is two-faced. She's a sly beast. She knows when to act but pretends to be weak in front of the humans. Sheesh!" he felt irksome.

"Hmm, hit the nail on the head my boy. Did you get your hands on the stone?" Master Yuze asked curiously, with his index finger spasming as he held unto the orchid flower in his hand.

He was sweating in his sleeve, heart racing as anxiety grew.

"I can hear your heart galloping like a free horse? Are you tensed, brother?" The queen asked suspiciously.

"Haha, I should be worried if Prince Liang failed to get the assignment done. Are you not anxious my Queen?" Master Yuze responded with intrigued eyebrow.

The queen narrowed her eyes as she gazed at him, then leaned back on her thrown.

"I couldn't get my hands on it, Mother. More so, my eyes did not behold the Amethyst stone. I searched everywhere for it but I have no clue where the girl hid it. Forgive me Mother" Prince Liang bowed with one knee touching the ground.

"It is only day 1 of your mission, son. You have to return to Earth before dawn. We need the Amethyst before the Basilica is complete. With the Amethyst placed on the high tower of the basilica, we will absorb all energy in the universe and become so powerful muahahaha haa" The queen rose from her throne, letting out a baleful laugh.

"I hope we get our hands on the Amethyst soon to execute the plan" Master Yuze thought.

"Yes brother, we will" the Queen laughed again.

Yuze's eyes dilated in confusion. Then he opened his palm to see the moist orchid flower. The spell to block out the Vipers from hearing his thought had withered. Only water or moisture breaks the spell. The orchid flower had absorbed moisture in his sweaty palm.

He held the flower firmly, bowed to the queen and hurriedly excited the Chamber to his secret lab where he cooks potions and practices black magic in the dark.

Although black magic was frowned upon, hence highly prohibited, shhhh... this was his dirty little secret.

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"I have worked so hard for years being her personal advisor. Arghh!" He cleared the empty bottles of potions standing on the table, grunting furiously.

The bottles landed on the floor, followed by cracked sounds and created a mess in the area.

"I have worked really really hard only to be called Chief Minister? Arghh!" He detached a scale and spared an ancient antique hanging on the wall.

Breathing heavily, he rested his palm on the table, looking side to side like a predator that wants to devour its prey.

Master Yuze tapped his foot briskly on the ground and then picked up a container of white power and black chalk in his hand.

He walked to a shiny mirror hanging on the wall, then with his right hand he wrote 'SUMMON CHEN ZHAO NOW' on the mirror. He recited a few incantations and blew the white powder on the mirror.

Chen was resting in his apartment when the magical gold ring on his finger began to beep. He got alerted and hurriedly went to the city library, opening a portal with a magic spell that transported him to Marinda.

His ring kept beeping, leading him to the secret lab where Master Yuze waited impatiently for his arrival.

Master Yuze was already preparing a charm to add to the fresh orchid flower resting on the table.

Chen entered the secret lab, amazed. "So this is where my Master mix potions for my medicine" he thought, sniffing in the soothing air. The scent of orchids planted everywhere calmed his nerves.

He looked around admiring the old antiques hung on the wall. He got curious about the contents in the labeled potion bottles that stood on an old wooden table, occupied with cobwebs.

"Hmm... It seems Master does a lot of reading and research" Chen thought to himself when he glimpsed at the old dusty books heaped on the wooden table. He shrieked when he saw Wolf-monkey fur used as a rug.

"Greetings Master, you summoned" he gulped.

It was his first time entering the secret lab of his master. He wondered why his master had summoned him here today. With the expression on Yuze's face, he knew he was in trouble.

"You should know why I called you here. I need updates on the Amethyst. What did you find?" Master Yuze asked, grinding black pepper in a small mortar.

"I did not get to the girl---"

Master Yuze dropped the pestle and turned to Chen. His eyes grew dark with the corner of his nose twitching.

"B-but I found something that would interest you Master" Chen quivered with his head bowed.

"Spill the beans already" Master Yuze responded, adding spider egg sacs into the mortar.

"Well.. Um..." Chen paused to think "Should I tell him what I saw?".

"Tell me what?" Master Yuze asked with an eyebrow raised. He picked up a rosemary oil and added two drops to the mortar, pounding the mixture to its finest form.

Chen stuttered "Well.. Um.... I.."

Master Yuze fiercely stretched out his arm, chanting inaudible spells as he clutched his palm, twisting it in the air.

Chen held his neck, choking. His eyes were popping out with his veins pronounced. He struggled to breath as his air flow was cut short.

His eyes glanced at his side to see a shadow strangling his neck.

"Please... P... ease..." He begged for mercy, pleading for Master Yuze to release his grip.

His limbs became weak and his vision blurred gradually. Master Yuze twisted his fist more and his arm shadow pressed harder on Chen's throat.

"The girl.. The girl.. Ahem! Ahem! The girl has visions, Mas.. Master.. Ahem! Coff!" he struggled to speak, beating on his chest.

Master Yuze released his grip and Chen fell to the ground coughing non-stop as he rubbed his hand on his neck.

"What? She can see vision? How concrete is this information?" Master Yuze twitched his face, running his hand through his elongated fang.

"S-She has a sketch of the past, present... Including the future. Coff! Coff! She knows about the Basilica, the incomplete project going on that you want to use to absorb all energy in the universe. Forgive me my lord" He crept to Master Yuze's feet and bowed his head.

Master Yuze drew back his foot and walked to the wooden table to continue his work.

"Pass the oregano leaves." he said, stretching out his hand.

Chen's eyes moved steadily, scanning through the table. He got confused and picked up the herbs one by one searching for the oregano leaves when his elbow slightly touched an unlabelled potion bottle and the bottle staggered with a mighty fall.

His fast senses quickly pulled him to catch the bottle before it could land on the ground.

"Phew!" Chen sighed in relief.

"Don't touch anything. I only asked you to pass me the oregano leave!" Master Yuze scolded, snatching the potion from Chen, and then pressed a knock on his head.

His eyes gleamed as he looked deeply to see the small particles floating in the potion "This is very special... When the time is here, I will use this masterpiece to conquer the universe." He pressed his lips on the bottle and let out an evil laugh.

Chen joined in to laugh. Then he stopped and turned to Chen "Clean up this place immediately." pointing at the broken bottles he had smashed on the ground earlier.

"It is left with the dragon scale to complete the 'block-thought' potion. Sigh, I got lucky this time". Master Yuze said to himself, with his hands clasped behind him.

He left to an inner room, cold and dark with insects crawling in the passage. He held up his index finger and snapped his thumb with his middle finger, chanting a magic spell. Soon, a flame lit on his index finger.

He descended the passage stairs, going 20ft underground.

Chen was curious about the doings of his Master. He put down the broom in his hand and followed behind, sneaking quietly.

"What is this creepy place? What is Master Yuze up to?" he thought.

Master Yuze halted as his ears became sensitive to Chen's thoughts. "Hmph!" he continued walking down the staircases, exhibiting a sly smirk.

Chen kept on following until Master Yuze arrived at a stop.

"Abama.. Alinesa!" He chanted, stretching out his palms as his pupils shrunk.

Thunderbolts sparked and dissolved in the atmosphere. The place lit with flames, revealing a wounded creature held captive. Its hands and neck were bound in magical chains, visible but untouchable.

"Hello, old friend" Master Yuze smirked.

Chen's eyes broadened as he flashed back to the sketch in Mae Li's book. He gasped with both hands covering his mouth.