Chapter Eleven[XI]: Training, That's the Plan (II)

Xenos Waters sits beside Mr. Balanius and Felix on a large couch in front of an older-looking woman in a crisp black suit, golden-rimmed rectangle glasses resting on her nose and her grey-brown hair in a neat bun on the top of her head. Overall, Xenos thinks she looks more like an important business woman than an Illusionist.

She takes a sip from a teacup filled with steaming coffee, elegantly placing the cup back onto its small plate with a quiet click. "So, is this the boy I need to transform?" She asks, cold grey eyes staring at Xenos' scaled face and making him fidget with the mask in his hand.

"Yes, ma'am," Mr. Balanius says respectfully. "I'm willing to pay extra for secrecy."

She scoffs, taking another sip. "Any respectable service provider will keep their mouths shut about their clients if they want more business."

Mr. Balanius smiles. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate your willingness to see us despite the short notice."

"You were just lucky one of my clients cancelled today, don't think I will do this again," she warns, placing down the now empty teacup and plate on the table. She stands up, straightening out the minimal wrinkles in her suit. "Follow me, boy." She proceeds to walk towards the door behind her armchair, steps quick and heels clacking sharply.

Xenos scrambles out of his seat, basically jogging to reach her right before she opens the door, revealing a small room covered with mirrors on every single surface except the floor and single hospital bed in the centre. He steps inside and the Illusionist closes the door, locking it with a single click.

"Alright," she points at Xenos, "strip down to your boxers."

"W-What?" Xenos asks, feeling his face flush as he takes a step back.

She sighs, tapping her foot against the floor. "How am I supposed to create an illusion of you if I don't know what you look like. Now," she snaps her fingers, "hurry up."

Xenos hesitates for a moment but does so, tossing his armour, mask, and clothes onto the hospital bed. The Illusionist begins to pace around him, looking at him up and down along with his reflection in the mirror. She pokes and prods at certain spots of his back, chest, and legs, making Xenos wince each time.

After what feels like an eternity, she steps back, glancing at all the mirrors one last time before closing her eyes. She lifts up her hands and begins to gracefully move them around in a seemingly random way, snapping at random times until grey mist begins to come out from the palms of her hands, very similar to Mr. Balanius' golden smoke.

He watches the mist swirl around him until that's all he can see, shivering and closing his eyes as the mist begins to seep into his skin. When the sensation stops, Xenos opens his eyes and glances at his left hand, disappointed to see that it's still covered in scales. "Did it work?" Xenos asks, looking up at the Illusionist.

She scoffs at the question. "Of course it worked, do you think I'm an amateur?"

Xenos quickly shakes his head. "No, ma'am."

"Good." She nods. "You won't be able to see the illusion, neither will Uzaire or that other boy, but it is there. You will need to see me once a month to strengthen it, otherwise, it will fail. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then get dressed." She turns on her heel and walks over to the door, unlocking it before stepping outside and closing the door behind her. Xenos stares at the door for a moment before putting on his clothes, armour, and mask, considering an illusion will do nothing to dull his scales. Once he's done dressing up, he opens the door and sees Mr. Balanius shaking hands with the Illusionist.

Mr. Balanius turns to Xenos. "Come now, we still have to get you two some familiars." Xenos trots over to him and Felix, following them out after thanking the Illusionist. As they step onto the street, Xenos once again sees a lacertus walking with people in black leathers, except this time one of them as a quiver on their back along with a bow.

"Who are those people?" Xenos asks, looking up at Mr. Balanius and gesturing to the people in leathers.

Mr. Balanius looks at the people. "They are called Tenebrous Riders, they ride the lacertus and hunt for mana beasts during the night. All of them are skilled in archery, and most of them have a bloodline either relating to wind or darkness."

"Doesn't tenebrous mean dark or shadowy?" Felix asks, bewildering both Xenos and Mr. Balanius.

"Yes, actually. I'm quite surprised you knew that," Mr. Balanius says.

Felix shrugs. "My English teacher loved to teach us words that most people didn't know about."

"Well, those words are going to come in handy here. Do either of you know Latin?"

They both shake their heads. "Well, I'd suggest learning it. People over here love to use Latin words to name things, for example, Magna Salices means Large Willow, while lacertus is a mashup of the Latin words for 'lizard' and 'cat'."

"Okay, we'll keep that in mind. Also, what exactly is a lacertus?" Xenos asks, watching as that shiny lizard-like tail disappears behind a building.

"A lacertus is, as you know, a black panther-like beast with a lizard tail and feathered wings. The adults of the species are obsidian-tier, which basically means that they're average when taking into account all of their physical and magic abilities. They're nocturnal and can be found in the Acri Ventus Mountain Range, which is to the east of the Ploratus Lowlands, the region we're in currently. They can use minor wind-based magic and are able to see in the dark."

"They are also very agile and are highly resistant to wind magic," Felix chimes in.

Xenos blinks. "That counts as average?"

Mr. Balanius shrugs. "For this world yes, for yours, it could probably wipe out multiple towns singlehandedly."

Xenos shivers. "What tier was the dhabeho?"

"Also obsidian," Mr. Balanius says, even Felix looks interested in this information. Seems he doesn't know every beast. "They have very high offensive and defensive abilities due to their scales, they are also very stealthy, which is common for creatures from the Inanis Nebula Chasm region, and they can see mana trails." Xenos is just now able to truly comprehend the danger he and Felix were in. "However, they have no mana to speak of and aren't that fast."

"What's the difference between a creature and a beast?" Felix asks, making Xenos realize that Mr. Balanius had used different terms for the lacertus and the dhabeho. He had been more focused on how terrifying the dhabeho truly are.

Mr. Balanius smiles. "Surprised you noticed that. A beast is a natural creation, just like humans, and they have mana cores. Creatures, however, don't have mana cores and," his smile falls, " they're man-made."

"Someone made those things? Why?" Xenos blurts out, appalled.

Mr. Balanius is quiet for a moment. "I'm afraid I'm not allowed to say just yet, if you manage to pass then I will. Just be aware that creatures are only in the Inanis Nebula Chasm, in that region, there are only around ten to twelve species of beasts remaining."

Silence falls, making Xenos and Felix turn to look at each other with wariness and confusion. They walk like that for a few more minutes, each of them stuck in their own thoughts. Xenos can't begin to imagine what destruction an obsidian-tier beast could bring onto his world, much less a beast of a higher tier.

He can only be grateful that the creature that attacked him and Felix was only an obsidian-tier, if it had been higher, well. . . he's sure he would either be kidnapped or dead right now. Xenos snorts suddenly. Well, he's technically kidnapped right now and will more than likely be dead in three months, all he's doing is prolonging the inevitable.

"We're here," Mr. Balanius says, making Xenos blink his thoughts away and look up at the barn about a hundred meters in front of him. It's large and painted an earthy brown, the triangle roof light grey in colour. There are barrels and crates stacked neatly right of the door, and lots of weeping trees surrounding it from the sides and back.

He can see a group of young-looking lacertus playing around in the front, along with other young beasts doing their things in the front and back yard of the barn. The older beasts are laying under the shade of the weeping trees, sleeping or watching the young beasts play. Some of the beasts have the features of animals he knows, but each of them are different in one way or another.

There's a sudden, loud eagle-like screech from above them.