“The world must never know the existence of magic” – this was one of the rules that the “Tower” had strictly uphold for millennia – and any magus that breaks this rule would be hunted by the Tower’s enforcers to the ends of the world.
I, Joseph, am one of such enforcers and is currently chasing after a “rule breaker” – a magus that had attempted to do just that.
The rule breaker in question was a notorious magus-cum-hacker from a radical faction the goes by the codename “Revealer” – a fitting name for one who wished to expose the existence of magic to the world.
As a hacker, the Revealer fully took advantage of modern technology and the internet for his goal of exposing the existence of magic. He had hacked important institutions’ websites, forums, etc. in an attempt to spread rumors and impart some magical knowledge to the visitors of aforementioned websites.
But with the internet being as it was, very few took him seriously. Most netizens even considered him a troll, as one would expect, deigned to banned, ignore, and report him altogether. Nonetheless, his persistence was not without success as he was able to net himself some diehard believer and fans.
Obviously, this did not sit well with the Tower, and in response, had sent enforcers to apprehend the rule breaker; me, being one of them.
But as one would expect, finding a certain person in a sea of people was no easy endeavor. Even with the help of a “seer” – an extremely rare magus with the ability to glimpse into the future – pinpointing a person’s exact location was a Herculean task. This was especially difficult as the rule breaker was not known to show himself in public but instead chooses to employ the internet for his schemes.
Fortunately, the Tower is powerful and the enforcers persistent. And with the help of influential figures from the secular world, the rule breaker was finally found, after months of searching, hiding in a certain country in Southeast Asia.
One might wonder why the Tower, an organization known to strictly uphold its rules, would decide work with people from the secular world. The answer to that question lay in a certain word in the rule itself – “The world must never know the existence of magic”
The keyword is “world.”
That was to say as long as the general public was not made aware that magic existed, a few people knowing the secret would not ruffle the Tower’s feathers.
One could argue that the Tower was just playing semantics with the rule in question but even those undying monsters that run the organization did not plan to totally close off themselves from the secular world. As such they, from time to time, would allow some leeway.
That being said, if these people decided to betray the Tower and made things public, they would be appropriately and quickly dealt with. After all, the Tower was not known to take kindly to those that dare betray their trust.
Back to the issue at hand, the rule breaker was not one to be easily apprehended. Although his chance of escaping was close to nil, the villain still chooses not to give up.
Zipping above the ground, the Revealer uses the skyscrapers as cover in an attempt to lose me. The high rise buildings definitely made the chase more difficult than it should be but not enough to deter an enforcer trained to adapt in all kind of terrains.
Still, I got to admit that the Revealer is an impressive magus. Despite not being a magus of the Tower, he was able to access high level spell such as flight. And although he was being pursued, his demeanor while trying to escape was surprisingly calm.
“Who is this guy?” I thought to myself as I chased.
“He’s obviously no amateur…”
Based on my personal experience; a rule breaker that was being pursued by an enforcer would not be as calm as the Revealer. Instead, they would desperately try to lose their pursuer with all they have. And yet far from being desperate, the Revealer was not even flustered!
“Interesting!”
Seeing the Revealer remained calm despite being pursued, my competitive spirit was aroused. Feeding more mana into my magic circuit, my speed increased by about twenty percent.
As if sensing what I did, the Revealer did the same and matched my flight speed. We dogged each other on the sky, shooting magic at each other, trying to bring down the other party.
If an observer could see our fight they will no doubt be in awe. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you asked, it was already passed midnight, and as such, our magic duel was not witnessed by anyone.
A bit of shame really for such a display of magic is an extremely rare sight.
But even if there’s someone still awake at this hour, he or she would not notice anything as the veil of darkness would no doubt make spotting us very difficult. Not to mention that we’re both flying at almost the speed of sound. Moreover, unlike magic in popular media, true magic do not employ any special effect and are almost invisible to most people with the exception of the spiritually gifted ones.
“Hey, you should just surrender,” I said to the Revealer through telepathy.
“As a magus you should understand that you stood no chance against an enforcer.”
Despite how my words might have sounded to other people, I’m not merely blowing hot airs. It was common knowledge amongst arcane practitioners that only the most elite of magus would be chosen as an enforcer by the tower. As such, against an enforcer, your run-of-the-mill magus stood no chance in magic combat.
The best way to win against an enforcer is not to fight an enforcer to begin with. For that reason, most magi would run away the moment they saw an enforcer coming their way.
Seeing the rule breaker ignoring my kind intention, I could only shake my head in disappointment. Since the Revealer wanted to do it the hard way, I could only comply.
“Since that’s how you wished to play, I’ll stop acting nice,” I said while taking an object from my breast pocket.
It was a marble – no a magic tool that looked like a marble.
The moment I took out the marble-like magic tool, it created a distortion in space that spreads almost instantly swallowing the two of us.
“Distorted Sanctuary, you indeed came prepare,” said the Revealer in spite after seeing his distorted surroundings.
Distorted Sanctuary; a spell that traps everyone within half a kilometer radius inside a magically-induced distortion in space for fifteen minutes. The spell is one of my aces in a hole, and used mainly to force an opponent into a magical duel.
Despite the word “sanctuary” being present in the spell’s name, target would not feel safe being inside it at all. On the contrary, they would be restricted for a period of time and forced to face off against their opponent in combat.
Trapped and with nowhere to run, the Revealer was left with no choice but to stop and face me, He could, of course, try to run around the distorted space and attempt to dodge me till the spell’s effect wore off but that would be useless as a skilled enough magus could traverse such a small distance in almost an instant.
Both of us are aware of this fact which is why he stopped escaping.
“Why insist on going against the tower?” I asked after coming face to face with the Revealer.
“You should know better that your actions won’t make much of a splash in the grand scheme of things.”
Triggered by my words, the Revealer finally showed a dent in his calm façade and showed anger.
“And whose fault is that?!” He berated while pointing his right index finger at me.
“If not for you dogs of the tower getting in our way, the world would have already know the existence of magic!”
“Of course the tower will not allow yours and your ilk’s scheme; it’s against the rule, after all.” I replied after shrugging my shoulders.
“Besides, humanity has done well without magic for countless years now. So why disrupt the status quo?”
“Status quo?!” Losing his patience, the Revealer quickly brandished his wand and released spears made of ice at me.
“You dare call the stagnation of magic status quo?!”
Although the Revealer attacked without warning, I wasn’t caught off-guard, and was able to resolve the spell without much issue – rendering it useless
“The same reaction every fricking time! Why do all rule breakers react the same way every time I mention that phrase? Do they really hate the phrase ‘status quo’ that much?”
I have worked as an enforcer for a decade now and had encountered and fought my shares of rule breakers. At first most of them would show a façade of calmness but the moment I utter the aforementioned phrase, they’ll lose it.
Well, I can somehow understand why they reacted in such a way. After all, rule breakers are pretty much rebels that goes against the established rules. For them, the status quo is no different from stagnation.
“…And what’s wrong with maintaining the status quo? You want the rest of humanity learn magic? Do you think humans are not destroying the world fast enough and want to add magic to their arsenal so that they could destroy it faster?” I mockingly replied as I send a fire spell his way.
“Who said humanity would destroy the world if they learn magic?! If properly taught and administered, magic could become a boon for this world!” The revealer countered after stopping the fire spell with a magic ward.
“Are you daft? Have you not learned your history or something? Did you forget what happened when humanity learned how to split the atom? Yeah, they were very eager to use it and bombed two cities!”
The two of us exchanged spells after spells. At first glance it seemed like we’re evenly matched but as the fight carry on, it became much obvious who have the advantage – me.
Not that surprising really considering that as an enforcer, I was trained by the best magi the tower has to offer. So a magus that dabbles with modern technology cannot hope to beat me in combat.
That said I was still caught unprepared when my opponent reveal something that only an enforcer should have – a magic tool that could disrupt the magic circuit of a magus.
In short, I almost lost the fight because of that unexpected move from the Revealer.
Fortunately, years of experience in facing against different sort of opponent have prepared me for the unexpected. Sacrificing two magic tools of my own, I was able to nullify the aforementioned magic tool’s effect and capture my target.
“It’s over. Still, I have to admit that you almost got me there,” I praised as I look down at the Revealer that was bound like a mummy by a bandage-like magic tool.
“That said, where did you get that magic tool? Only an enforcer should have access to that thing.”
Hearing my question, the Revealer smirked condescendingly at me before speaking, “What, feeling alarmed? Let me tell you, we rule breakers have people supporting our cause even at the most unexpected of places. As for whom those supporters are, do you really expect me to tell you?”
The implications of those words set off an alarm bell inside my head but didn’t show it on my face. Instead I stared down at the Revealer as if I was looking at a retard.
“Do you really think you have a say in the matter? Once you the inquisitor got their hands on you, you’ll cough out everything you knew whether you want to or not.”
Hearing the word, inquisitor, the Revealer could not help but involuntarily tremble – knowing full well what those guys are capable of. Despite the apprehension that I could see in his eyes, the Revealer revealed nothing.
“It seemed that we have traitors in our midst.” I taught to myself.
“I should inform the Tower as soon as possible. As to what they’re going to do with the information, I’ll leave it to them. I’m just a grunt, after all.”
Although feeling concerned, I’m aware that dealing with traitors was outside of my jurisdiction. Instead of needlessly worrying about it, I’ll let the Tower deal with the issue.
Of course, I’m not done with the Revealer yet. Since he dare look at me condescendingly, I won’t let him off that easily. I might not do anything physical to him but I can still taunt him, right?
“By the way, you’re codename is cringe as hell,” I started with a smirk on my lips.
“What the hell is up with Revealer? Can’t you think of a better codename befitting your status? You’re an adult for crying out loud, and not a middle schooler!”
The Revealer stared at me with bulging eyes when I taunt his codename before using the bandage-like magic tool to cover his mouth before he could say anything. Unable to counter my words, or voice out his complains, the Revealer could only look at me with frustration. As for telepathy, the bandage-like magic tool also took care of it.
Seeing the Revealer’s frustrated look, I finally felt satisfied.
I’m being petty?
Indeed I am, but so what? What can he do in his current state? Stare me to death?
Ignoring the Revealer’s groaning, I cancelled the Distortion Sanctuary and complained, “I’m tired. I think I need a vacation. It’s been so long…”
After that, I fly off into the horizon with the Revealer “following” me behind.
