Voyage of Mysteries

Chapter Two: Deductions

Chapter Two: Deductions

Tenth floor, Unit 005

Arcane Safety Department, MythVille

Ding!

The elevator opened, Walter and two Arcane Guards walking out of it. These were the same Arcane Guards who had experienced the battle with Castor.

They were now at Unit 005, their team's base. Their team which was known as the Evil Annihilation was a team of only ten Arcane Guards. It was a team well-known for its pragmatism in dealing with missions to it.

Unit 005 was very large and spacious, decorated with different kinds of furnitures. There were five settees in the middle of the room and a table standing between them.

At the far end of the room was a wooden desk and table propped against the wall. This was were Wilfred, the leader of the team usually sat.

But now, except for the three Arcane Guards who had returned from their mission, Unit 005 was empty. The other five members were off duty and were probably with their families. Wilfred, the team leader no doubt went to the office of the Arcane Safety head to submit the team's reports and collect missions. He usually did this everyday and every member of the team were familiar with it.

Walter quickly collapsed into one of the settees, the softness of the furniture almost swallowing him. He was so weak and dejected right now.

The other Arcane Guards said nothing and sat on a settee, dropping their wands on the wooden table lying between the five settees.

"Walter," one of the Arcane Guards called. He had black curly hair, brown eyes and full lips. He was a beautiful man and looked more of a poet than an Arcane Guard. He was David Brooks, a well-renowned poet who had given up his profession and joined the Arcane Guards. Even though he had resigned from his work, he still retained the looks of a poet—beautiful and calm.

Walter who seemed to be lost in thoughts was immediately jolted awake. He looked at David without saying anything. He was still thinking about Mac who had been killed by Castor.

"Do not kill yourself because of this," David said. "Things like this happen oftentimes."

But not to my friends, Walter lampooned inwardly. He felt Mac's death came too quick and suddenly. How could his best friend have died in the hands of Castor!

The more he thought about the incident, the more his heart became heavy. And the more his heart became heavy, the more he was determined to kill Castor.

Ding!

The elevator opened an a young man in his late 20s walked out of it. He was short and fat with a protruding belly which sagged down his starchy shirt. His eyes were small, almost vanishing into his eye sockets. But then his mouth was beautiful, pink and full—the only beautiful thing with him.

On the man's right shoulder were three stars—an Array three. This was none other than Wilfred, the team leader.

The three Arcane Guards immediately stood up and saluted him and then sat back into their settees.

Wilfred tersely acknowledged their salutation and soon walked towards a settee, sitting on it. He sized up the faced of all the team members and then asked, "Where's Mac?"

As the team leader, he knew everything about his subordinates and could smell uncanniness in them. He guessed the reason Mac was not with them but still decided to hear it from them.

"Mac's dead," it was Donald who took the initiative to answer for the other two. He was a young man in his middle 20s and had green eyes which were the only thing unique about him. He had not even made any record in the team.

Wilfred's face contorted into a frown and then he asked, "How did he die? Wasn't Castor an Array one, Pupil?"

"So we all thought," Donald said. "But then his attacks were so powerful. He's even suspected to be an Array two."

"Hehe!" Wilfred forced a laughter. "An Array two kills another Array two, Thaumaturge and escapes under the noses of the other three Arcane two..."

Are you trying to blame us for Mac's death and Castor's escape? Walter couldn't help but frown slightly. How would it be their fault?

Even the other two had similar reactions with Walter. They couldn't be blamed for Mac's death and Castor's escape, right?

Seeing the looks on his subordinates' faces, Wilfred couldn't help but smile wryly. He actually knew what they were thinking. They actually thought he was blaming them when he was not.

"I'm not blaming you," Wilfred said. "I'm trying to deduce something from the whole event."

Pheeew...the others heaved a sigh of relief. At least they weren't being blamed for the things that happened.

"Castor was able to weave through all your attacks and escape," Wilfred continued. "Everyone knows the rules. An Array two equals another Array two, it's normal. But easily beating four Array two? That's unlike the norm, except he has powerful mystical items which is unlikely the case."

Walter nodded. What the team leader said was true. Something was uncanny about the whole situation.

"Also he was able to infiltrate the Hand Of Arcane without being sensed by other higher Array sorcerers. This makes the situation even more awry," Wilfred said and then turned to Walter, "You were the one who fought with him and could have deduced something. Did he say anything?"

"Yes," Walter said. "But I can't remember."

At that moment when Castor had somehow used the Confusion spell at him, he was dying and couldn't hear a thing Castor had said. He was actually between life and death.

"But he did use the Confusion spell," Walter continued. "Do you know what that spell is?"

"Confusion spell?" Wilfred frowned. Why hadn't he heard of it before. "I've never seen such spells in all the three schools of White Form magic."

The others were well conversant with the forms of magic and their schools. They didn't need Wilfred to explain what schools were under the White Form magic.

There were actually three forms of magic with schools under them. The White Form magic had the Wizardry, Thaumaturgy, and Theurgy Schools under it while the Black Form magic had the Occultism, Witchcraft, and Dark Arts Schools under it. The Science Form magic was a kind of magic which dealt with science. It only had two schools and they were Astrology and Alchemy.

White Form magic being a pure magic was practiced by members of the Hands Of Arcane. The Science Form magic was also owned by this organization.

Black Form magic was a form of magic which had being corrupted by evil forces. Users of this magic would be usually corrupt themselves and usually used it for dark purposes. The Hall Of Corruption and other evil organizations practiced the Black Form magic.

When Wilfred said he hadn't seen that kind of spell in the White Form schools, they immediately knew what he was talking about. It actually meant Castor was apparently a Black Form magic sorcerer.

"But we don't still know how he was able to suppress the evil aura in him and infiltrate the organization under the noses of high Array sorcerers," Walter sighed. It was indeed a mystery for him—a mystery which he couldn't understand until it was dug into.

Sorcerers of Black Form magic usually possessed evil auras which could even be sensed from afar. For Castor to have infiltrated the Hands Of Arcane without being noticed was very mysterious.

"Hmmm...For now I think Castor should be a sorcerer under the Occultism School," Wilfred said. "And he should be an Array two at most—an Array two, Enchanter."

The other Arcane Guards who didn't know about the names of Arrays could only nod in agreement. Although they didn't know the Array names of the Black Form magic schools, they actually knew what each Array would signify.

Array one and Array two sorcerers were collectively known as Mouth Spelling. They could only cast spells by chanting them and using magical wands.

"Array two, Enchanter," Walter muttered, scratching the back of his head. Castor was definitely mysterious.

"So, can you tell me how Mac died?" Wilfred asked. He wanted to know every detail from them so as to write them in his report.

"He seemed to be corrupted by an unknown force and exploded before our eyes before we intervened," Donald said. "The bits of flesh which were left of him immediately disintegrated after touching the ground, vanishing into thin air. We felt an evil aura in the air."

Wilfred's expression turned solemn. He was only an Array three. This was something meant for high Array sorcerers.

"Okay, I'll write out a report and submit it to the Arcane Safety Department head," Wilfred said. "Then we'll wait for the results. No doubt, the mission would be again issued to us to capture Castor."

The others except Walter couldn't help but cringe. They had seen how Castor killed Mac and were afraid of facing the same kind of death.

Walter who only had the thought of revenge in his mind couldn't help but feel relieved when he heard that. He wanted to take up the mission and kill Castor himself even though it meant dying! That was the spirit of a true Arcane Guard.

"Wouldn't that be too dangerous?" David asked. "Array two Arcane Guards against an Array two, Enchanter? Against someone we have no knowledge about?"

"I agree with what David is saying," Donald added. "This would be a suicide mission."

Seriously? Walter resisted the urge to grin at them. One of their teammates was murdered by a sorcerer from the Occultism School and all they could do was to cower and hide their heads? Shouldn't they be burning with the desire of revenge?

He wanted to say what he was thinking but kept quiet. He didn't want to start an argument when they were trying to resolve a mystery.

"Hehe!" Wilfred laughed. "Do you think Hands Of Arcane is stupid? Do you take us to be a body of weaklings?

"If the organization is tasking you with a dangerous mission, you'd no doubt be provided with mystical items which would help you eliminate those dangers. There are several powerful mystical items around."

"It'd be dangerous though," Donald muttered. He didn't want to go on such a dangerous mission no matter what.

Wilfred sighed and stood up from the settee, "I'm going to write a report now. It'd be submitted to the Arcane Safety Department head."

Sigh...Walter sighed inwardly, this would no doubt be one of the toughest case for me.

Wilfred then walked towards his desk which was clustered with papers. He sat down on the chair beside it and then called, "Walter."

"Yes?" Walter replied, looking at the team leader with weak eyes.

"You'd need to go to Unit 006," Wilfred said. "That's the only team with Arcane Guards from the Astrology School."

Walter nodded, understanding what Wilfred meant. The Arcane Guards from Unit 006 were all from the Astrology School. They were adept at divination and could even extract memories from people's minds—even lost memories.

Taking his wand, he walked towards the elevator. Then he halted halfway. Something just entered into his mind.

"Team leader?" Walter called, his back facing the others.

Wilfred who was already scribbling something in a paper looked up, raising his eyebrows. He didn't know what Walter wanted to say.

"When you're submitting the report to the Head," Walter said. "Please make a request for the mission to be given to Unit 005."

"Uh?" Wilfred was momentarily at loss. He had being with his subordinates for some time now and knew the behaviour of all of them—at least some of their behaviour. Walter was the most ill-tempered among all of them and was known for heading straight into danger with a boldness that baffled even all the Arcane Guards of the Arcane Safety Department. He actually knew Walter was into seeking revenge.

"I'd see to it," he finally replied with a lump in his throat.

Ding!

He watched the elevator open as Walter walked into it. Then it closed.

"I'll see to it," Wilfred repeated, staring at empty space. Then he continued scribbling.