CHAPTER 23: A Strange Encounter

His first thought was to run straight home, since it was a deserted street and calling for help would be useless, 

Increasing his pace out of fear, Klea was just about to run away when he suddenly saw two strangers appear in front of him, and block his way, 

"Magic" was the only thing that echoed in his mind seeing them materialize in front of him, wearing big black hoods good enough to cover their entire face, 

"Who are…" Klea began instantly sobering up the moment, as adrenaline pumped through his veins the moment he noticed that his life could be in danger, only to be interrupted by one of them who stepped forward by a single step before speaking in a harsh tone, 

"Shut up and listen!" Loud enough for Klea to instantly do as he said, 

"We can make you a good magician, good enough for you to become a master or even a grandmaster, but in exchange, we'll need you to do small favours for us while we help you," he said without bordering to hide the sneer and arrogance in his voice, 

"We will help you while you help us," said the softer voice of the other hooded person who was obviously a female and who was acting the role of the good cop to perfection, stepping forward and stretching her hands out to show that they had nothing to hide, 

"What kind of favours?" Klea asked directing his question to the hooded lady, not throwing a single look at her partner who he already had an instant dislike for,

"Getting and giving information whenever we require it but mostly we'll simply leave you alone," she patiently explained with her head bent making sure that her face couldn't be seen, regardless of how close she got to Klea, 

"Like a spy," Klea loudly concluded, 

"More like an informant and in exchange you'll awake great and rare magical elements," She again spoke, showing him the benefits of the proposal they were offering,

"I'm guessing your way is not going to be through normal and mundane means right? Will my life be in danger?" Klea curiously asked since he couldn't deny that the offer was almost too good to pass up, 

Watching for a reply, a single second of hesitation was enough for Klea's eyebrows to jump up in surprise, 

"The process is…," the hooded woman began only for Klea to immediately interrupt her, 

"I refuse your offer and I don't need your help. I'll do it on my own," he said riding on the coattails of his friend's confidence in him as he fled without looking back, not waiting for a reply, still worried about the possibility of an attack.

The two hooded man and woman simply stood still as they watched their target run away without feeling the need to chase after him, 

"Trisha, you shouldn't have hesitated," the man with the harsh voice said as he turned around away from Klea's house to look at the opposite street which was their next destination, 

"What was I supposed to do, Ahmati? Lie to him. We were ordered to tell him the truth no matter what. You and I know that we can't defy master's orders, no matter what," Trisha said, defending herself as she lowered the hood over her face after making sure that she couldn't sense a single soul apart from her partner, 

"You should have sugar-coated it," Ahmati responded with his usual air of arrogance surrounding him not in the mood to exchange too many words with Trisha since he knew how easily she could dive into an argument with anyone, 

"Well thank you for the notice, genius. What the hell did you think I was trying to do? I needed a second to think and obviously he's not as dumb and completely clueless as I thought he would be," Trisha said going as far as to crack a smile the moment she recalled go handsome she found him to be, 

Right before looking at her partner, who continued to coldly stare at her, as he tried to figure out why she was suddenly smiling, 

"I like you more," was the only answer Ahmati git after throwing a questionable stare at his partner, 

"So...number 48 is next right after that then we only have two more people to try and recruit," Trisha said snapping her fingers, as a black list suddenly appeared in her hands with different names written in different colours, 

"Are we just going to let him go like that? He's part of elite ones and if we have any hope of beating Valor and Mira at this mission and gaining the Lord's favour then we have to make sure to recruit everyone on the list," Ahmati asked with surprise knowing fully well that one thing he liked his partner for was her hatred for losing,

"You know that's not going to happen. For him, I already have a special plan engraved in my head," tapping her head as she spoke, while looking at Ahmati as she did, 

"...and you are going to need to carry it out," turning away after speaking, before slipping her hood back over her head, humming a tune as they walked on their way to meet their next target, 

Ahmati merely followed her as he sighed in his mind already feeling a little sad for the guy they just left, knowing fully well that Trisha's plans were always related to blood and gore and he was usually the unlucky person that had to carry it out.