Chapter 5: The meeting

29th June 2095

For the first time in years, Tyggstral had heavy rain over the summer. Despite this, life carried on as usual, with inhabitants going about their daily duties and students preparing for the Ether test, which was to take place in two days.

Roy had died one week beforehand, and today was his funeral. In the St memorial cemetery, there was a group of individuals dressed in black, each with an umbrella to keep out the rain.

"We are gathered here to say farewell to Roy Uther and to commit him into the hands of our holy ancestors. The holy scrolls state that rain during the brightest time of the year is a sign indicating to us that a dark future lies ahead of us, however, might it be a coincidence that it rains today, I assure you it is not. We dedicate Roy Lancaster's remains to the quiet of the cemetery in the name of our holy forefathers. He is claimed to have had a brief but serene life, leaving behind a large number of family members and friends. With this prayer, we wish that our ancestors in the world beyond the earth welcome Roy as one of them and allow him to continue his joyous journey in the afterlife,"

"With this final prayer, we wish you farewell, Roy Uther, and although your body is no longer with us, your spirit will live on in our hearts forever,"

Carrying the priest's last prayer, Roy's parents, a brown-haired short middle-aged lady sobbing in the arms of a tall middle-aged husband who resembled Roy, approached the headstone with what appeared to be a photo of him as a youngster.

"Why did it have to be him.." the mother sobbed while the father could only look at the headstone with a pitiful expression.

Caleb and his family were among the mourners, having come to express their condolences to the parents.

Following the parents' placement of the portrait on the tombstone, each of the mourners placed a flower on the gravestone to honour the departed.

Caleb and his family had also placed flowers on the cemetery and stood in front of it for a few moments.

Most of the visitors departed after approximately 15 minutes to go to the prayer building for the funeral donations, but Caleb remained in front of the gravestone, staring at it without emotion.

His new physical look, short hair, and dark red eyes made him stand out. He was attractive, and the clothing that had before appeared to be too big for him now suited him well.

"Caleb," Lizz had explained everything about what happened to Caleb, and ever since, he had never admitted it, but she had realised he felt guilty for his death.

"The funeral contributions are nearly over, we have to get going,"

Caleb took a deep sigh and put his hands in his pockets before walking away from the headstone.

"Hey Caleb," Lizz moved into Caleb's way to get his attention.

"You can talk to me if you want, there is no need of being so cold?"

With an emotionless face, Caleb answered without looking at Lizz:

"It's not that I don't want to show any emotions, for some reason, it's just hard for me to show any..."

*

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*

The largest structure in the capital's business centre, which stood towering amid others, was a 90-story edifice owned by the Magus academy.

The academy is undoubtedly the most well-known and distinguished institution in the world. The academy was where Magi were developed into what they are now.

Students from the two kingdoms assemble in a metropolis called Velris City for a 4-year academic instruction.

The city lay on the border between the two kingdoms, and students spent the next 4 years of their training there before joining a guild in either nation.

However, in order to be accepted into the Magus academy, you must be positive and have a decent Ether test result.

Once admitted, the first years will take a test a year later with the goal of weeding out the weaker students and maintaining the stronger ones.

That day, the magus academy summoned all of its most prominent figures to the commercial area for an important conference.

An enormous round table with at least ten seats occupied by persons dressed in black suits sat in a chamber inside the building.

Large screen projections filled the walls on each side of the room. The entry door suddenly opened, revealing two black-suited persons, one of whom was a man with short brown hair, goggle-shaped spectacles, and a black face mask that obscured all of his facial characteristics.

The second person was a turquoise-haired woman with light blue eyes and a joyous expression on her face. Both of the individuals were wearing black business suits which were the suits Magi wore during their working hours.

Right behind them as they entered the room was a scrawny elderly man in a brown cotton robe with a long beard and no hair. His heavy wrinkles obscured his eyes, giving the impression that he was a dead amid the living.

With the assistance of the two magi who were closely following him, the old man moved slowly to a sumptuous high seat. After that, the old man took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"Greetings everyone... I apologise for my lateness, I had what we might call a digestive emergency. Well then, let us not waste time and start the meeting already, Alexa, what is the topic of the meeting,"

The turquoise-haired woman then approached one of the displays, which immediately turned on.

"The topic of the meeting, and something that must be addressed immediately, the dark demon has been freed," There was a slight commotion after the information was given.

"That's impossible, who would be reckless enough to free the dark demon!"

"If that's the case, then it's already been one week since he has been freed, do you realise how dangerous the situation is right now!"

"Rest reassured," Alexa replied still having a smile on her face:

"The demon is sealed inside the body of an individual who is currently supervised by expert S-ranked magus Lizz Mont. According to her reports, it seemed like the artefact which sealed the dark demon was broken,"

"How in the world could a V-ranked sealing artefact be broken so randomly?"

"I told you we should have taken the artefacts from the government!"

The debate about how they could have prevented this predicament became increasingly heated.

"Quiet down, the woman hasn't finished," The old man suddenly ordered, and everyone in the room stopped talking immediately.

Alexa still smiling happily proceeded to continue her explanation:

"To address one of your queries, the magus academy and government agreements indicate unequivocally that one organisation is not permitted to take found possession of another; hence, the artefacts remain their property, and we cannot tell them what to do with them.

Concerning the V-ranked artefact, it appeared that the person who presently houses the dark demon within him also had the legendary elixir rings."

A hushed exchange ensued between the gentlemen, who were astonished to learn that the elixir rings were in the custody of a commoner.

"Our Magus on the ground has also reported that the individual has obtained some of the demon's characteristics, most notably the ability to control dark power. The presenter has likewise lost some of his emotions and is unable to well express himself. This also comes with a significant quantity of Ether that the host unlocked, however, it appears that cursed ether remains in him as well, and the amount is unknown.

Now, the question that must be addressed during this meeting, and on which Master Zong has already voted, is whether we should execute the host or teach him to fight for us."

To express his displeasure, one of the men in suits rose up and smashed his palms on the table. He scowled and moved his gaze to Master Zong, the elderly man on the high seat.

"Master Zong, with all due respect, this is complete madness, risking to let someone with such a dangerous thing inside him is too risky! We must eliminate him without any second thought before things get out of hand!"

Everyone at the table nodded or whispered words of agreement in response to what the man stated.

They were all too afraid of the implications if things went wrong or if they failed to properly teach him. What if, at the end of the day, they train him to the highest degree and his evil side takes complete control of him?

"Very well, before we make the votes, however, there is one last topic we must go through..."

Suddenly, the maps of both nations, Song and Ethris, appeared on the walls. The two countries were linked by a vast piece of land. There were various red spots on the map, some larger and shinier than others.

"This is the yearly report on the rise in demon activity, the bigger dots are the parts where demon activity is prevalent, and the shinier dots are the places where the stronger demons are detected.

As you can see, the number of powerful demons appearing this year has increased, and most significantly, these strong demons have become wiser and smarter. For example, a few days after the dark demon's seal was broken, a demon that had previously not been in our records learned about the existence of the artefact and what was contained inside it. Not only that, but it sought to seize the dark demon's power, but our Magus on the field was able to stop him in time.

This is hardly unexpected, given that an increased number of intelligent demons have appeared in the last year, each with a distinct aim. As a result, we came to the conclusion that the demons may be operating as a group similar to ours. If they have realised that the only way to win is to work together, and if there are demons out there who are aware of the demon celestials, it is only a matter of time until a massive war breaks out between the magus and the demons.

When the demons are ready for this conflict, they will almost certainly have all of the components they need to succeed, which is why we must begin preparing and raising the quality of training in the magus academy."

Following Alexa's words, the men fell silent. A demon organisation sounded terrifying to them. It was difficult to keep up with strong demons that had just one purpose, to murder everything around them, but if they had to battle demons who had a set objective and worked in groups with other strong demons, one thing was certain: the demons would have a better chance of winning right now.

"How are you sure that the demons have created an organisation, maybe it is just a coincidence..." One of the men said trying to convince himself this is just a stupid hypothesis.

"Even If we are mistaken and the demons have not formed an organisation, statistics suggest that they are becoming smarter, and if these statistics continue to rise, they will ultimately form one. Furthermore, if the demon species was able to function as an entire army with a lord as their leader thousands of years ago, there is no reason to rule out a potential demon organisation now.

Unfortunately, there is little we can do right now but prepare, and collect more information to confirm this possibility. Even if this global war does not occur within our lifetime, we must prepare so that the next generation is ready for the next struggle, which is why we must do everything we can right now, even if it means training the dark demon's host.

Either we could eliminate him, or we could teach him and his generation to become the strongest and have a better chance of winning.

It is now up to you, gentlemen, to make a choice that might have a significant influence on humanity's prospects of surviving. I advise you to make a prudent option."

As she finished her statement and grinned at the audience, Alexa increased the pressure on them and ultimately got them to reconsider their first choice.

After hearing what they had, the men gathered around the table were rendered speechless. However, even the longest conflicts have an end, and it may appear that the conclusion of this war may be sooner than many imagined. In actuality, the majority of those there and the majority of the public expected this struggle between demons and Magi to endure forever.

The idea that they might have to survive a big conflict between demons and Magi terrified many of the local males, and what frightened them most was falling prey to the demons. The individuals in the room and the magi they had created thus far served as the impenetrable brick wall that kept the demons from eradicating human civilization, but was that enough to do so?

Perhaps something, someone who would be regarded as the strongest of all, was what they need. They could require a commander who could better organise their wall's defence. Perhaps it was important to take the chance of training the evil demon's host in order to protect mankind.

"Well, you know what they say, drastic times call for drastic measures..." one of the people mumbled

"Well then, now, I guess we can now get to votes," Alexa said with a smile as if she didn't announce the scariest possible future they could face.

"Now," Master Zong took over:

"Votes for the boy to be killed, lift your hands"

Once Master Zong had ordered the ones to lift their hand, there was a moment of silence where no one moved or even lifted their hand.

"Well then... votes to keep him alive,"

All ten individuals sitting around the table had all of a sudden risen their hands, each with an expression of displeasure. They had not voted to keep the host alive because they wanted to, but rather because they had to put mankind above themselves.

"I really hope you are wrong about this, S-ranked Magus Alexa..."

"Even if it were to be wrong, he would still be useful to the Magus academy, as a lab rat to learn more about the celestial demon's power and source of energy, or as a Magus overall,"

The man with the glasses and mask covering his face had spoken for the first time in the discussion with a deep, and somewhat exhausted voice.

"V-ranked Magus Ace Peyron, you can't possibly be looking forward to this madness!"

"I am not looking forward to anything, I am just carrying out the rules, plus it is too soon to start talking badly of the project before it even started, all I know is that," Ace then paused to let out a big yawn,

"for now, all we must do... is train the boy,"