Inside the small Tower of the Sages, Omar had just woken up in his bed. If Rafael were here, he would be cursing his friend again... Lying in the same bed were two girls. They weren't just any two random girls, they were Katya and Karyne, the sisters who joined the Order of Sages and who only had an affinity for water. Katya also woke up when Omar woke up. She sat on the edge of the bed and stood there for a long time.
Seeing this, Omar slowly got up and untangled himself from his younger sister Karyne, who was still sleeping peacefully. He then approached Katya from behind and hugged her, asking if she was okay.
"It's about my talent... I gave up a lot of things to learn magic. After 10 years, both Karyne and I have the worst results in the entire Order. If it weren't for the resources you gave me, she and I wouldn't even have mastered our first spell."
"Hey, don't worry about the resources, I'll keep giving them to you, that's my share anyway, and right now, you're the most precious people to me."
"It's just... I feel like crap sometimes, like I'm wasting my time..."
"Sniff"
Katya, are you? Please don't cry, tell me what you want to do, you know I'll be here for you... Don't worry so much about time, it shouldn't take more than 20 years for me to become a true Bloodmage. Rafael is already very close to the breakthrough in his telomere research, after that, what will time mean to us? We'll live forever, 10 years for 1 spell? Who cares? You have your whole life, besides, our souls have limits to the amount of spells, so there's no rush, okay? There, there…"
After her words, he hugged her tightly while patting her back. They stayed like that until she calmed down and stopped crying. She then got up and got dressed, saying that she still had tasks to do. Omar decided to give her some space. He got dressed, too, and left the room, leaving Karyne still sleeping in his bed.
As he left his room, Omar saw a robust, young Valyrian man wearing high-quality, shiny armor with the Velaryon family symbol. He began to accompany Omar on his walk, always observing the surroundings while acting as his faithful knight. He appeared to be even younger than Omar himself and greeted him:
"Good morning, my Lord. Is everything alright? I saw that Madame Katya didn't have a very good face when she left just now…"
Looking at the man who now appeared to be even younger than him, Omar smiled and couldn't help but admire the effect of the immortality fruit that Rafael had received not long ago. Since all the main members of the Order were still very young, they let Omar deliver the fruit to their knight, who was quite old, to test its effects. The result was that the young Arthur by his side.
"Good morning, Arthur. She just needs time, and she will be fine," Omar replied to the loyal knight of the Velaryon house.
"Have you had breakfast?"
"My lord, it's almost lunchtime. I'll have lunch while you have your breakfast. How about it?" Arthur asked, smiling.
Since it was indeed lunchtime, Omar went to the dining hall to have breakfast, showing that he had the same old habit of waking up very late. He barely had time to start eating when Vitarys came towards him holding a paper. Raising an eyebrow at Vitarys, while chewing his pancake, he awaited his words.
"Omar, Rafael said that the Masters of Pentos have arrived, the Order meeting will be tonight, and we will discuss everything that is planned for 1 month from now. He asked you to help the blacksmith transport everything to the meeting room and make sure the demonstration is working properly. I also have my tasks, so I'll go. Have a good lunch, I mean, a good breakfast."
Being the same as before, Vitarys was direct with his words and without saying anything else or waiting for Omar to finish chewing, he turned his back and left.
After Vitarys left, Omar was thoughtful. Being close to Rafael, he knew what was coming next month and also his duties in this matter. However, Katya's emotional situation earlier today made him worried. If he were to distance himself from her at this moment, he could not know what could happen to her. Without reaching a solution, he decided to focus on the now and left to make the arrangements that Rafael had asked him to.
Little did Omar know that very soon he would no longer have a choice in the matter…
***
Beast Garden - Top Floor
Inside the meeting room in the Master of Beasts' laboratory. Several people were seated at a table. Besides the Master of the tower, there was his wife, Plague Master, his disciple Genesis, Madam Zirya's loyal lackey Old Daran, and a familiar face to many but nameless. He was one of the members who had been expelled from the Beast Tower 10 years ago and later joined the Order of Sages during their recruitment. He was now the only one standing inside a black circle filled with runes.
The Master of Beasts, seeing that everyone was ready, started the meeting and waved to the man inside the circle as he spoke: "Mauro, this is the same circle as last time. You can make your report without worrying about the blood contract you signed with the Order of Sages." When the man received the green light, he began:
"Something big is about to happen within the Order. All I know is that it will happen in 1 month, but only the founding Sages know about it. Furthermore, Rafael, who had left Asshai by boat, mysteriously appeared this morning without the ship having returned. Some speculate that the person who left while pretending to be him may be the faceless man who belongs to the Order, but no one among the disciples knows why this is happening, nor what his objective is in this type of deception. The most recent news is from this morning. After Rafael resurfaced, he received two important people at the Port and treated them with immense respect. All the disciples know is that a meeting of the founding members is about to take place."
After the spy finished his report, Madame Zirya was the first to speak:
"It certainly has something to do with the arrival of Iahssa the Soul Eater and the auction."
The Master of Beasts retorted:
"It shouldn't be just that, many Masters will participate in the attack on Iahssa and the auction, there's no reason to keep so many secrets if it's something so simple... Genesis, buy any information about these two people who arrived today. As for you, Mauro, keep an eye out until the auction ends. If Rafael is planning something big, there will be apprentices participating; at that time, we'll know what it is. You can leave now."
As soon as the Master of Beasts finished speaking, Mauro put on his mask and left the room. When everyone was silent, it was Old Daran's turn to speak:
"May I move then? I have already confirmed that those two are the least talented in the Order of Sages. Even if something goes wrong in the experiment, there shouldn't be much of a problem."
The Master of Beasts nodded his permission to Old Daran, but also reminded him:
"We will only protect you if you succeed in becoming a Master, make sure everything is done with consent, and with the proper blood contracts. You may go as well."
"Of course, Master of the Tower, I will not disappoint you. With your permission, Madam." After bowing deeply to Madam Zirya, Old Daran left the meeting room.
The only ones left were the couple and the senior discipler, Genesis.
"Master, how should we take care of little Liu?"
"We can start right now, we just need to create a very logical situation for him and his parents to disappear."
He then looked at his wife and said, "Dear, start the assassination plan. Do it using one of those disposable lackeys. The distraction needs to be great. If everything goes well, they will be too busy to keep up with everything about to happen."
Madame Zirya waved a coded message, and Genesis left the room, heading towards the place where little Liu lived with his parents…
In Little Liu's quarters, he was meditating in a sitting position. Even though he was now 21 years old and a tall, robust man, he was still called little by everyone… What he didn't know was that a terrible danger was slowly approaching him…
****
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