Between Towers and Silver
—Ms. Diana, do not let anyone in and delay the document deliveries until tomorrow. Have the adventurers I attended to already left? —Levanon pressed an ivory button on his desk.
—Who? The kids who were here? —Diana asked, totally disinterested, filling in circles in a word game magazine.
—Yes, Ms. Diana, those… Tomorrow I will have them replace it with one that is at least pleasant to look at. —Levanon stopped pressing the communicator mid-sentence while he straightened his shirt collar.
—Yes, sir, but your men are here. Should I let them in? —Diana asked. Her disinterest and monotonous tone frustrated Levanon.
—Yes, Diana, I warned you to let them in yesterday, remember? Just at 5:43 yesterday afternoon. Diana, tomorrow after the academy tasks, I expect employees, let them in. —Following a line delicately written in black ink in his notebook, he immediately performed a transcription of the exchange he had with Ms. Diana.
—Mr. Levanon, a pleasure. —Three men in formal suits passed through the enormous fine wood door. Diana peered in curiously, but smiling, the last one to enter closed the door.
—Very well, we will get straight to the point. Here are the files of the adventurers who are under your “care.” —The second man took a portfolio and extended it to the desk.
—Very well, very well… what do we have here? Red Squadron, composed of… mhmhmh, yes, not this one. Glistening Swords, pfft, what a name, not this one. Golden Throne… composed of Shigure and… aaa, this is the one who died… Then, this one, Rondalla Wolves is… Yes, Rax and his troop of dead weight… Finally… Here!! Legio Trium, subdivision one. —Levanon threw all the other files into the fire and sat down on his warm leather sofa.
—Hey… —The youngest of the three men in suits seemed to raise his voice in disagreement, but the oldest stopped him and said through gritted teeth:
—He will pay us anyway, behave, son. —Ok. —Regaining his composure, the youngster put his hands behind his back and stood tall.
—What were you saying? —Levanon asked, raising a glass of Rebril and drinking calmly.
—Nothing, sir, we are waiting. The boy… just fixing his suit. —Scolding the young man with his gaze, the older man returned his vision to Levanon.
Levanon crossed his legs and leafed through the report the men brought him.
—Ithil… Mond… He is from Ilentia… adopted in a marginal colony, began his career in… Thar-Vali. Oh? What made you leave there, boy? You had a good career, you would be a stupid soldier, but not poor… Mmm, he switched to Nher-Vhael-Arhym, studied with a guy named Khan… oh look, embezzlement? No, worse yet. Oh, how cute! He has little kids in school, three, and they aren’t his? Ha, ha, ha, we can use that later, for now let’s continue.
Leaving his glass aside, he took a piece of cheese and pressed it with two freshly baked, still steaming rolls.
—Mina Reebs… She is from Ilentia… too, but from a good family… well, a normal family… competitions… certifications… graduated with honors… You can’t be that clean… YES! Here, unnecessary violence, anger issues; there are two accusations against her in Ilentia for uncontrolled violence… from here she goes to Vhael-Dragon!! And… that’s it, a sister? Hum, how boring.
—Inola Chaske, mhmhmh… last survivor of the Chaske family… suspicious, but I don’t see that we could use that.
—Leonidas Carmine… witness protection? Seriously? He killed someone. —Levanon looked at the men; they only shrugged.
—The boy is protected by someone well-connected in the academies, the same for little Inola, and not to mention Jacob Mahogany; they are curious people. —The oldest of the three uniformed men replied to Levanon calmly.
—Very well, Jacob Mahogany, that boy is from an important family, what is he doing among such failures? Aa, of course, they found nothing. Does he carry bodyguards at least? —Levanon asked, disappointed.
—No, sir, he goes alone with his group; apparently he served as a private investigator for the Commerce Islands transit office for a while.
—Yes, of course, surely they monitor him from afar and he doesn’t even notice. —Levanon gave a soft tap with his extended hand to the document.
—Magaska Weiss… Dechnol… is from the Solar Lance clan, is there a reward for her capture in the Commerce Collar Islands?
—Very well!! I will see what I can do with this… the kids in Thar-Vali won’t be happy… I’ve heard they have short tempers. —Levanon took his whale-bone pen loaded with black ink, signed three checks, and placed his ring seal on them.
—Take them… you from Sake and Flower are good at gathering information, I don’t think anyone else could have brought me this; well done, we are finished for the moment. —Levanon lit a cigar, pulling three times, and gave himself a moment to enjoy the strong taste of the tobacco leaves, to finally dismiss the three mercenaries with his hand.
—A pleasure. —With a bow, the men withdrew.
—And now with more privacy, let’s see. —Levanon took off his black gala jacket, removed his boots, closed the door, went to an oil painting of a man in armor, and pressed one of the corners.
—TSSHHHH…. The painting let out a small whistle, revealing behind it a computerized Arkeorelics kit. A color screen started the device, the colors and sounds hummed songs of data and numbers.
—Legio Trium… the name sounds familiar…. —The sound of the keyboard clicks filled the room; twinkling lights accompanied Levanon.
—Of course!! The three greats: Coleopterus, Shalona Tash, Samael Telantes, the wolf, the viper, and the raven!… but why are they related? Mmm, we will have to investigate more; in the meantime, I know which mission is their size, Instructor Samael just left us something for this, thank you very much, Instructor… Ha, ha, ha, ha, I am tremendous.
—Aksha-Khur!! To get there, you have to go on foot through Velez-Valar!! It’s quite far from Rondalla or Vhael-Dragon, we will take days to arrive. —Mina complained aloud while the kids read their next assignment.
—Ah, I know kids, I’m sorry, I promised Samael we would take his mission, but I didn’t think it would take us all the way there. Hahahahaha. —Ithil, letting out a nervous laugh, gave the details of the assignment to the kids.
—But I find it strange, this mission is scheduled for within half a month and has the seal of the Zelatores office; this is curiously convenient. —Inola observed Ithil back, waiting for a reaction from him.
—Ha, ha, yes, I’m sorry, Samael left the mission on hold for us, we were supposed to go to Aksha-Khur instead of Nivoria, the Nivoria mission was an emergency. —Ithil replied, shrugging his shoulders.
—Mina!! Remind Ithil that if we want, we can refuse a mission. —Inola, half-angry, turned to Mina.
—Well, Inola is right, Ithil, by right we have the option to refuse the mission if we consider it dangerous or risky; however, I don’t see a reason why we should, I trust Samael even if the mission was assigned by the Zelatores offices. —Mina replied, reading the assignment scroll.
—Magaska also doubts those guys, but we should go with caution. Magaska wants to go see the immortal forest and Varneth too!! —Magaska clenched her fist on her chest as if she were holding Varneth’s hand; her emotion was palpable.
—Leonidas will accompany you, so it will be even safer. —Giving Inola a pat, she finally sighed.
—Eeeeehhh, very well, we will go, but… can’t we use that vehicle, Jacob? The Guisarme? —Jacob crossed his arms in a sign of denial.
—Impossible, in the race back we destroyed the levitators, I asked Nana for some, but they are custom-made; they will take a few days to make and others to arrive. Hmm, I suggest we get going, given how missions have been lately, I’m sure it won’t be that simple.
—I understand, but if I see that Levanon again I swear I will punch him in the face, did you hear me, Ithil? I won’t let what he did to you slide. —Ithil, laughing, gave Inola a tap on the shoulder; he responded with the same reaction, a big smile full of light filled his face.
—Very well, then for the moment I’ll give you time off, kids, you can do and rest as you please for the rest of the week, which is only two more days. We will leave Monday first thing in the morning, I’ll see you at the Continental. Oh, by the way, Jacob, do you have our new weapons? I feel like we will use them soon. —Ithil was storing several documents in a scroll holder; Jacob gave a thumbs up.
—Of course, I’ll give them to you at the Multicontinental! I won’t let you down. —Jacob, excited, fled the place to continue with the weapon preparations.
—Magaska will go have tea in the commercial district!! There is a new mint and lemon flavor. —Taking two hops, Magaska went out through a window, going down between cornices and roofs.
—Yes, of course, the door wasn’t an option. —Ithil watched as Magaska moved away and was lost among the houses.
—Haha, it’s been a world of discoveries since we returned from Brodovia, Ithil. Magaska seems a little more cheerful, although I don’t know how that spirit of Varneth thing works, it’s a mystery to me. I’m going to rest at the team house, Ithil, see you later. —Mina took her backpack and fur jacket with white hair on the collar, playing with some keys, and headed to the private house that Thar-Abbys gave to adventurer groups.
—Hahah, brother Ithil, I’m going to go see the famous Thar-Abbys gym. —Leonidas, excited, took his two hand shields and put them in his linen backpack.
—Sure, Leo, I’ll see you later. And you, Inola, where are you going? —Ithil, with his fur backpack in hand, headed to the door. Inola quickly put away his last items and ran to catch up with him.
—I don’t know, I think I’ll go to the commercial district, I need to buy more seals, Jacob taught me how to use some and I want to try them. —Inola hopped in the hall trying to reach Ithil without saying much, Inola was overextending his steps trying to catch up with him.
—Very well, brother Inola, I can give you a lift there, I have to go see a friend on the outskirts. —Ithil climbed onto a Geotechnia motorcycle, putting on gloves and a helmet, pedaling hard, activating the levitators that hummed with a purple color.
—Ha, ha, sure, brother Ithil, with pleasure. —Inola climbed behind Ithil, putting on the extra helmet that was on the bike, and leaving through a parking garage ramp, they both headed to the commercial district.
Tools scattered around the place, the powerful breath of the forge blowing through the room of that workshop lent by the academy, Lizva efficiently used the bellows to feed the already powerful flames where Jacob tempered the metal.
—Ready, Lizva, a little stronger, if the metal drops from orange-red we’ll have a problem!! —Bang, bang, the hammer shaped the semi-liquid drop of metal that was in front of him. Suddenly Jacob looked out the window, the rutile quartz served as a shield against the elements; a vehicle leaving the academy caught his attention.
—Oh look, Lizva, a Febir model 3 slider, humm, I think Ithil has one the same, he just bought it after Nivoria, his face was a sea of joy, he, he, although I made some modifications to it, it still has a civil-type pink levitator. Oh? A!, hahaha, was that Ithil and I think Inola is going with him? —Jacob, excited, chatted with Lizva about the vehicles just before seeing how the slider came out at full speed from a ramp in the central tower.
—Le… leeevi…ta..tor? —Lizva pronounced with a perfect and soft voice.
—Yes, the levitators are one of the incredible things we discovered with Geotechnia; they are mainly quartz formations imbued with a rosette stone to generate floatation… He? Li.. Lizva, did you speak? —Suddenly and without noticing it, Jacob answered as always, before realizing what was happening in front of him.
—J…JAaaaaCOB. —Lizva took her black hair in front, clenching her eyes, and giving her best effort, she was finally able to say Jacob’s name.
—Lizva, come on, you can do it…!! —Jacob joined both hands in front of Lizva, encouraging her to continue.
—Jacob!! —Lizva, cheerful, turned to look at him.
—YESS!!!! —Jacob took all his tools and gear.
—The kids have to see this!! Come on, Lizva!! Maybe you can chat with Varneth too.
—YES!! —Lizva, just as excited, could finally manifest her words. Both were walking through the streets and halls of Thar-Abbys cheerfully.
—That! —Jacob asked about objects and Lizva said the name: —Win… window. —How about this!! —Lizva ran after him just as cheerfully: —Dog. —And this? —Cat!! —How about this? —Jacob pointed at a boy who was passing by: —Strange man.
—What? —The boy had no idea what Jacob was talking about, so avoiding problems, he withdrew without asking more.
—There is so much I want to talk to you about, Lizva!! —Jacob smiled cheerfully while they headed to the team house.
—And… me too. —Lizva, with a soft and smooth voice, replied embarrassed to Jacob.
—Jacob? —Lizva stopped for a moment, finding herself alone, she looked back, looking for Jacob.
—Lizva… you, you aren’t like they told me, but… haa, I’m shaking… Lizva. —Jacob looked at her bewildered; several hours with her, the moments when she was there when she didn’t talk, against now that she had a response to every word he said, suddenly Lizva was something else.
—And now that you can speak suddenly, it’s intimidating… I’m sorry. —Jacob took a step back; he could almost hear Nana in his mind, the words of that day at the door of his parents’ workshop followed him always, every day…
—Jacob?, why… are you afraid of me? —Almost a plea, Lizva extended her hand which emitted a white flash that tried to reach Jacob; he stepped back a step.
—No… I don’t know… —Jacob held his own hand and extended Lizva’s; barely containing the fear, Jacob clung to the kind memories he lived with that spirit.
—It’s me… Lizva would never hurt you. —She reached for Jacob’s hand gently but firmly, which shook a little in fear at the contact, but Lizva’s firm grip gave him confidence again.
—Yes, there is nothing ruinous, nor bad in you, aaaaaafuuuuu. —Exhaling an enormous mouthful of air, Jacob focused and, breathing deeply, calmed his mind; the feeling was still there, but it was more controllable. Letting himself be amazed again by the interaction with Lizva, they returned home.
—MINAAA… I WAS LIZVA’S FIRST TIME!!!! —Jacob entered violently through the main door excited; Lizva was behind, Jacob’s words made her explode in red from embarrassment.
—PFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTT —Mina spit out the coffee she was drinking and ran in front of Jacob; giving him a blow, she left him dry on the spot.