CHAPTER 101: SHOCKING NEWS!

Sage Maximus was never going to give in. All the elders had realized this fact. So since he wasn’t, it was better to look for means to benefit from his adamance instead.

"There will be a penalty for floundering the will of the Elders, Maximus." One of the older elders spoke, drawing nods of assent from the others. "You can’t be allowed to go unpunished for abusing your power on this matter. You even look ready to wreak chaos if any elder decides to pursue this matter to the end. So to pacify everyone, you’ll have to forfeit your seat among us temporarily..." The old man said with a feigned remorse.

"Crestwood... you’re booting me off my seat here?" Sage Maximus asked with genuine surprise. Even the other elders, friend and foe alike, were surprised too. The old Crestwood had reached really far with his verdict, but he held on to it, maybe out of wanting to see how far Sage Maximus was willing to go for the boy, or just for his personal gain. That was still unknown.

The elders that were usually in opposition to Sage Maximus immediately pounced on the opportunity, using this moment to trim the Sage’s power down a few notches. His absence in their following meetings would prove very beneficial to them as he wouldn’t be there to influence any decisions that may be made.

One could practically tell from their eager faces that the period of Sage Maximus’ absence would be used to the fullest to push forward policies that he would’ve opposed.

The scrawny old woman who had just suffered humiliation at the hands of Sage Maximus had a very pleased smile on her face that she had trouble containing at the moment.

"Heh," Sage Maximus scoffed but didn’t try to plead his case whatsoever. "I accept," he said, standing up from his seat with poise.

His response caused the eye of the old Crestwood to twitch slightly in surprise before he schooled his expression. He now knew for sure that Sage Maximus was doing this for a personal goal, but what that goal was... he didn’t know.

"Maximus!" Petyr was not having it. He stood up, trying to persuade the Sage and the other elders to pass another lighter punishment. He knew how much of a support the Sage was to aiding his smooth tenure in office as the Overseer so far. Facing the rest of the elders and their policies alone would prove a herculean task for him.

Sage Maximus simply smiled at Petyr and nodded. "It’s alright boy. I need the break anyway... else I actually might attack someone here one of these days."

"How long? Two years?" Sage Maximus turned to Crestwood and asked jokingly.

The Old Crestwood shrugged. "You might as well spend the whole time with your ward since you’re willing to go so far. We’ll ask for you when the convergence draws near."

A small smile broke out on Sage Maximus’ face before he shook his head. He caught the wide grin that was now plastered on the scrawny old lady’s face and snorted. "Well, I’ll be seeing you all in two years," he laughed as the air around his body distorted and warped like a fabric before his body crumpled into a point and he disappeared from sight, teleporting out of the hall.

The sage reappeared inside his estate, walking up to the main, large door of the building that sat on the property. It was a stately building with imperial-looking architecture. It sat on a wide well-trimmed land with rows of flowers that lined the pathways that led to the doors and all the way behind the house.

One point to note was that there were no platforms within sight when one looked around. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any feature that could be made out in the distance except for a semi-transparent white fog. The estate as a whole looked to either be in a separate space, or at the very least, shielded from normal view.

The sage entered the house with an unmoved look on his face like everything had gone according to his expectations. He went directly for the training room where Zephyr presently was, and entered.

Zephyr was busy experimenting with spells and trying out different things. He had succeeded in forming a floating spear made of ice and was admiring his work when Sage Maximus entered.

Zephyr didn’t seem to notice a thing though. The sage had masked his presence yet again and simply stood watching for a few moments, now doubly sure of his decision to support the boy.

He turned and walked out the open door with a determined gaze. "The wheel has been set in motion... now it’s time to watch and see what happens..." he muttered softly.

Zephyr looked up from the floating water spell that he’d turned to ice between his hands to stare at the open door of the room. Just now, he had a weird feeling like he was being watched. He felt it just for a small moment before the feeling went.

...Did he imagine it?

.

.

In a small room somewhere unknown, a small orb that was previously dark and dusty began to glow brightly abruptly, flashing repeatedly.

It continued like that for more than an hour before the young man that was tasked to watch the orb startled awake from his sleep. He had dozed off on duty, but he didn’t feel any fear from doing it. It wasn’t like the orb would suddenly—

The young man’s eyes widened in disbelief. He slapped himself, doubting what he was seeing for a moment, still wondering whether he was still asleep or if this was real life.

The sharp sting from the slap made him realize this was no dream. The orb that hadn’t flashed once in his three years of duty here was flashing now. And he had forgotten every protocol that was supposed to follow after.

"Okay!—Okay...! Uhhh..." he stood up clumsily, scattering all that was on the table where he had been resting his head as he rushed for the orb that sat in its encasement on a special pedestal.

He quickly opened the case to get a better view, muttering the usual steps he was supposed to take as he tried to jog his memory. He watched the pattern of the light flashes, their intensity, and the interval taken between each flash, jotting down something with a shaky hand on a piece of paper. He finished his jotting and waited a moment again to watch the whole pattern as the flashes repeated, cross checking with what he had written down. As soon as he confirmed it was correct, he rushed directly for the single small shelf that was at the corner of the room, running his hand quickly over various book titles in search of a particular book.

Manual for— No!

Low priority protocols— No!

Mana Pulse Code— YES!!

He pulled the book from the shelf quickly, opening the pages as he rushed to the table, placing it right next to what he had jotted down and deciphering the jumble of dots and dashes he had written.

By the time he finished and pieced together the whole message, he was left slack-jawed and forgot to breathe for a moment.

This was vital news!

"Priority level 0!" The young man muttered shakily. This couldn’t be passed on via the usual communication channels.

No.

He needed to pass this on by himself!! Right now he was a very important individual because of this information. He quickly scanned the room for the pre-prepared supplies that he never thought he’d ever have a cause to use. His journey was going to be long. He was going all the way across the continent to the capital. To tell them of the shocking information.

To tell them that a Pathfinder roamed the world again...