Chapter 9 - Serpents

A few days later…

In an unknown underground location, a group of innate sorcerers gathered within a dimly lit room. Ten seats encircled a marble table that solemnly glistened with night's radiance. Amongst the ten seats, only five were currently occupied. Apart from the five seated individuals, young men and women with hardened faces guarded the edges of the room. Obviously, this sacred duty was only ceremonial and meant to smoothen the so-called "guards" into higher roles in the organization.

If Raven were here, his eyes would widen in shock, possibly even getting a heart attack, because of the amount of secrets this hidden group harboured. For starters, the sheer aura radiating from each of the five was extremely suffocating. It easily dwarfed Raven's babylike aura. It was as though the difference between Raven's aura and the five's was as incomprehensible as the divide between heaven and earth. 

Despite all their efforts, the young guards failed to control their terrified expressions and beads of sweat cascaded down their faces. They knew adequately of the five innate sorcerers in the room. Their legends were closer to the sun than mortals. Five legendary innate sorcerers. Five mythical "meisters".

Amongst the seated meisters, a solidly built man with grey hair cackled as he glanced at the young guards, "My god. Guys, I don't think I'm that terrifying. You know what, we are all kinda cute, aren't we? I mean, except for the old fart. He's straight-up ugly. Sheesh, now we know why he ain't married! I bet he can't even tie down a gorilla even if he wants to. Hahaha."

His name was Meister Que, famously known as Q amongst his friend group. He was a man with a loud uncontrollable mouth. 

"You got that right, Q. I blame our terrible reputation on his horrific appearance." Meister Ivy agreed wholeheartedly. With smooth tan skin, brown eyes, and luscious red lips, she was the epitome of beauty. She donned a bald hairstyle that revealed the venomous serpent tattoos that coiled around her neck. 

"You've been getting disrespectful lately! Q, I dare you to say that again!" a raging voice reverberated throughout the room. Immediately, a vile aura flared out, dropping immense pressure on Que. 

Que's body creaked beneath the pressure but he wryly smiled. "Old man, did I say something wrong?"

"Damn right, you did!" the voice raged once more.

If Raven was here, he would be shocked again as the voice belonged to someone he knew. It was the famous annoying old man, Kase. Unlike his Kase's regular haggardly appearance, his current bearing was sharper than a blade and his eyes shone with indiscernible wisdom and glory. His aura bore into Que, and even though they were both meisters, Que cowered almost instantly. Que knew the hard truth only privy to few. Some legends were simply more terrifying than others.

This was the serpent's den, home to the serpent gang–ruler of a domain in the underworld. Their name alone carried more weight in the underworld than most aristocratic family names. And Kase was the leader of the serpents!

'I wonder how that little brat is doing. It's been three days since his preternatural awakening. There should be progress, right? He is a genius after all.' Kase's lips formed a tight smile. He looked forward to knowing Raven's arcane sigil and techniques. 

'Focus, idiot.' he scolded himself. 'I can worry about the brat later.' 

Que looked around with pitiful eyes. "Guys, back me up here."

"Ugly is ugly. There is no other way to address it," Ivy nodded calmly. Her harrowing years of tribulation had made her fearless.

The seventh oldest amongst them, Meister Zella sighed, "There is some basis to his words."

"Even you, Zella?!" Kase felt betrayed. Zella was always gentle and nice with her words. Was his appearance really that otherworldly?

"Ignore them, sir. Your bearing is as peerless as ever!" A dutiful voice sounded, belonging to the last meister–Zavis.

"Tch!" Que hissed. "As expected from Kase's number one fan. We all know you stroke his balls at night."

Zavis' expression brightened and he softly clapped his hand. "It would be my honour."

"Tch, weirdo."

Zavis was truly a weird one. He was known as Kase's devout right-hand man because of his strict devotion to the old man. However, this was understandable as, when he was young, his parents discovered a scaly tail growing underneath him. They soon realized he was a mutant and tried to kill him. It was Kase who rescued him from imminent death, and ever since then, Zavis has tried to pay him back with endless devotion.

"Don't mind–" Kase abruptly coughed, staining his sleeves with blood.

Everyone mellowed at the sight of his blood. Kase's coughs have been happening sporadically recently.

"Stop giving me that look." Kase smiled and wiped the smidge of blood on his lips. "Why are we here again other than to envy my perfect looks?"

Zavis spoke to the young guards who then went around distributing documents to the five meisters. "I was the one who activated the beacon. However, it seems only five of us were able to make it in time. Please, take a look at what's in front of you."

"Missing reports? How does that concern us?" Que frowned.

Zavis sighed. "Just take a look at the analysis—date, location, methods, police reports…"

Kase raised his brows as he noticed something weird. "An average of ten missing people per day. Mostly children, but, sometimes, adults. An abrupt vanishing. Nothing left behind. No mention of any reason for living. No signs of struggle…"

As Kase dived deeper into the documents, his frown deepened and he silently gazed at Zavis. 

"Oh no!" muttered Zella. "My niece is amongst the missing. She was supposed to be at my place three days ago, but when she didn't arrive, I thought there were delays. What the hell is this, Zavis?!"

"Perhaps a serial killer?" guessed Que

Ivy added. "It could be a kidnapper. Notice how there are barely any signs pointing to the suspected death of the missing."

"What the hell is this, Zavis?" Zella repeated as her voice heightened. A plethora of emotions swirled in her eyes.

Kase remained silent as his eyes locked on Zavis, waiting for an explanation.

"I don't know. I suspect it might be mystical in nature which is why I brought it to our attention. It's very hard to detect such suspicious activities in the slums. The police don't care to investigate. We need to stop this. This is our territory!"

"I don't understand…how does this—"

Zavis felt the growing pain in Zella's voice. He couldn't offer her an explanation but he was determined to find one.

He looked at Kase, who was deep in thought, "Can we consider this an attack, sir?"

Que slammed his fist on the marble table. "It damn well is. Zavis, you know what to do!"

The others agreed with him. They didn't need Kase to make the decision this time. 

Que's eyes shone with a sharp gleam. Since this matter directly concerned Zella, whoever or whatever was responsible for it would pay with their blood. This was the way of the serpents!