The morning after the festival, the city was quiet.
The joy of the celebration was gone, replaced by a heavy silence. Nimrod’s terrifying appearance left a grim hangover that settled over the entire population.
Seven recruits stood in Gabriel’s office, a vast, circular room at the top of the Library. The 360 degree view of the endless sky did little to calm the nervous energy in the air.
They stood in a neat line, grimoires held ready as instructed.
With them were their new leaders. Killian, Miguel, Ruby, and Freya.
Killian’s usual messy appearance was gone, replaced by a grim focus.
Ruby’s bubbly energy was toned down, her expression serious.
Miguel’s confident bearing was a steadying presence.
And Freya, her intense, red eyed gaze as sharp as ever.
Gabriel sat behind his massive, obsidian desk. His expression was a mask of calm, almost sad authority.
Looking at the seven young mages before him, at their tired but determined faces, a faint, proud smile touched his lips.
“The events of last night were… unforeseen,” he began, his voice steady. “You were all tested, not just in your skill, but in your courage. And you did not falter.”
“On behalf of the entire Council, I am proud to announce that you have all passed your final aptitude test.”
A quiet sigh of relief washed over the recruits.
“Based on your exceptional performances in both the application and combat trials, the Council has unanimously decided that all of you have earned a place within the Combat Branch.”
He paused, a flicker of surprise in his golden eyes.
“No objections?…”
“It is a rare thing for an entire class to show such an unwavering inclination for the front lines. Usually, at this point, there are a few who express a desire for a less… perilous role. Are there any objections?”
“No sir,” Keyona said.
Her voice was sharp, speaking for all of them.
“After what we saw last night… there is nowhere else we would rather be.” Nico replies.
The others nodded in silent agreement. Their fear had become a hard resolve.
“Good,” Gabriel said, his smile now genuine. “Today you will receive the tools of your new station.”
He gestured to seven simple wooden boxes on a nearby table. Inside each, resting on black velvet, was a folded uniform and a simple, golden signet ring, with a five leaf flower emblem on it.
“Your uniforms are woven with a protective enchantment. The fabric is lined with a complex defensive spell that will stop most conventional piercing attacks. It is not invincibility, but it may one day be the difference between life and death.”
He picked up a ring.
“Your Lotus Rings.”
“Each one has been forged with a sample of your own DNA. It is bound to you, and to you alone. No one else can use it.”
He explained their basic functions. How to use the “Open” spell to access the Library from any door. How to store and summon their grimoires.
“The ring is now an extension of your will. Treat it with the respect it deserves.”
One by one, they stepped forward to receive their boxes.
Carter took his, feeling the warm, smooth wood beneath his fingertips.
Opening it, he slips the Lotus Ring onto his finger.
A perfect fit. The cool, heavy weight is a comforting presence.
The other recruits do the same, accepting the final symbol of their new lives.
“Now,” Gabriel says, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Let’s see you try it.”
A wave of excited, almost childish energy ripples through them.
Yulian goes first.
“TIBERIUS. SEAL!”
He booms.
His heavy mace dissolves into a shower of earthy, brown light, absorbed into his ring.
A second later, he roars…
“TIBERIUS. SUMMON!”
The mace rematerializes in his hand with a satisfying thud.
The others follow.
The room fills with the soft hum of magic as books, swords, scythes, and glaives vanish and reappear.
Each recruit’s face is a mixture of wonder and a new understanding of the power they now command.
Carter tests his ring, too. The angry, whispering ghosts of Atlas and Archer dissolve into light, then return to his hands with a quiet, comforting weight.
Once they finish, a more serious atmosphere returns to the office.
Gabriel stands, hands clasped behind his back, his expression decisive.
“Now that you are official members of the Library,” he begins, his voice echoing in the silent room, “it is time for you to be assigned to your teams.”
“The events of last night have made it clear that we can no longer afford to be a purely reactive force.”
“We must take the fight to the Order.”
“To that end, we are forming two newly specialized combat teams, to be led by some of our most experienced and capable field agents.”
He gestures to Killian, who stands with his arms crossed, a grim look on his face.
“Killian Faust has, after a great deal of… persuasion, agreed to return to a leadership role.”
“He will be the Team Leader of Squad One.”
“His second in command will be Ruby Sato.”
Ruby, standing focused, breaks into a wide grin. She gives Killian a playful nudge with her elbow.
Gabriel then gestures to Miguel.
“Miguel, one of our most decorated Team Leaders, will be taking charge of Squad Two.”
He turns to the quiet, intense woman beside him.
“His second in command will be Freya Valhallor.”
The recruits look at Freya. At her short black hair, her piercing red eyes, and her slender frame.
She seems a world away from the larger than life Berserker they met on the training field.
“Valhallor?” Paige asks, her brow furrowed with curiosity.
“Any relation to Gendric Valhallor?”
A faint smile touches Freya’s lips.
“He is my dad,” she says. Her voice is a low, quiet murmur, the opposite of Gendric’s booming roar.
A wave of shock ripples through the recruits.
“No way!” Yulian blurts out, his eyes wide. “That guy is your dad?”
“His personality must have skipped a generation,” Keyona mutters under her breath, earning a sharp, warning glare from Freya that instantly silences her.
Gabriel clears his throat, a quiet, commanding sound that pulls their attention back to him.
“The teams will be organized as follows,” he announces, his voice leaving no room for argument.
“Nico Reyes, Amy Soo-young, and Keyona Baker.”
“You will be assigned to Squad Two, under the command of Miguel and Freya.”
The three of them exchanged a look of excitement and nervous anticipation.
“Carter Cross, Paige Hellen, and Yulian Volkov,” Gabriel continued, his gaze on the other three. “You will be assigned to Squad One, under the command of Killian and Ruby.”
A sense of relief washed over Carter.
He was with his friends.
With the man who saved him.
“And finally,” Gabriel said, his gaze turning to the last, silent figure in the line. “Akira Kendo. You will also be joining Squad One.”
Akira’s head snapped up, his stoic mask cracking for a second. He didn’t look angry or irritated, just deeply sad.
“Sir,” he began, his voice tight, “my request…”
“I am aware of your request, Akira,” Gabriel said, his voice gentle but firm.
“And under normal circumstances, I would grant it. But circumstances are no longer normal.”
“Killian’s team will need your skill. Your power.”
“And,” he added, his golden eyes meeting Akira’s, “I believe you will need them as well.”
Akira said nothing.
Bowing his head, a look of quiet, bitter disappointment on his face.
The other recruits exchanged confused glances, wondering what request he could have made that would be denied.
Gabriel looked at the faces of the newly formed teams.
At their excitement, disappointment, and quiet resolve. He sensed the fear from the night before, the unspoken questions hanging in the air.
“I know that the events of the festival have… shaken you,” he said, his voice a low murmur. “You have seen the nature of our enemy. You have felt his power.”
“The choice I gave you in the classroom still stands.”
“If you wish to return to a normal life, to have your memory of this place, your training, and of this war, wiped clean… you may still do so.”
“No one will judge you for it.”
He paused, his golden eyes sweeping over each of their faces, giving them one final chance to walk away.
The room was silent for a long heavy moment.
But no one moved.
No one spoke.
Their fear was a real thing, but their resolve, forged in the fires of their own personal hells, was stronger.
“Good,” Gabriel said, a single, proud word that seemed to fill the room.
“Sir,” Carter said, his voice clear and steady.
“Last night… Nimrod. He aimed for us. The new recruits.”
“Why? Why are we a target?”
Gabriel’s expression became grave.
He looked not at Carter, but at Killian, a sad understanding in his eyes.
He sighed, a long, weary sound that seemed to carry the weight of centuries.
“He was not aiming for you, Carter,” Gabriel said, his voice a quiet, heavy revelation.
“He was aiming for Killian.”
A wave of shock rippled through the recruits.
They all turned to look at Killian. At his messy, unassuming form.
Him?
The target of the most powerful mage in existence?
“Why?” Paige asked, her voice a hushed whisper.
Gabriel looked at Killian, a silent question in his eyes.
Killian gave a single, small shake of his head.
“Killian was present when The Unity was cast, twenty six years ago,” Gabriel explained..
“He was one of the few agents we had on the ground infilitrate the Order, and was not immediately caught in the spell’s psychic wave.”
“He… confronted Nimrod.”
He paused, the weight of the unspoken history heavy in the room.
“And he managed to injure him.”
The words hit Carter like a physical blow.
His mind flashed back, a mess of fragmented memories and half-understood whispers.
He remembered the awe in the voices of the council members on his first day.
“Killian Faust! Whoa, I’ve never met him. He’s a legend…”
He remembered Ruby in the infirmary, her eyes wide with a respect she rarely showed.
“It’s not an official title or anything, but he’s basically a legend around here.”
It all made sense now.
Staring at the quiet, unassuming man who had pulled him from the wreckage of his life.
The “special” status.
The way he gets away with everything.
The reason everyone, from the newest recruit to the Director himself, treats him with a kind of fearful respect.
He wasn’t just a survivor.
He wasn’t just a rescuer.
He’s the man who faced a god…
and made him bleed…
“How?” Nico asked, his voice full of pure awe. “How did you do it?”
“That’s enough,” Killian said, his voice a harsh growl that cut through the silence.
His face was a pale drawn mask, his eyes dark with the ghosts of a trauma he had clearly never recovered from.
“I’m not talking about this. Not now.”
“Another time, perhaps,” Gabriel said, his voice gentle.
He turned his attention back to the recruits, his expression now one of professional focus.
“While I have you all here, I will give you your first missions.”
Gabriel walked over to a large, holographic map of the world that shimmered to life in the center of the room. He gestured to a glowing, red dot in Southeast Asia.
“We have been monitoring a series of strange events in a red light district in Bangkok, Thailand,” he began, his voice all business.
“Several of our undercover agents, as well as a number of magical creatures who had found sanctuary there, have gone missing in the last few weeks.”
“The disappearances are clean, precise, and bear all the hallmarks of an Order of Babel operation.”
“We believe they are collecting magical creatures for some purpose. Torture? Testing?”
“Your mission is to find the missing Library members, and it possible, determine for what purpose they were taken.”
“Squad One,” he said, his gaze landing on Killian’s newly formed team, “you will investigate. Find our people. Discover what the Order is planning. And neutralize the threat.”
He then gestured to another glowing red dot, this one over the glittering city of Macau.
“A similar situation is unfolding there.”
“Magical creatures, primarily those with luck or probability altering abilities, have been vanishing from the casinos and high stakes games where they had made their homes.”
“We believe the Order is gathering assets here as well, for a specific purpose.”
“Squad Two,” he said, turning to Miguel’s team, “you will be sent to Macau.”
“Your mission is the same: find our people, discover the Order’s plan.”
“And for both teams. Do not engage, avoid confrontation. Report back when you have found new information.”
“This is your first mission together, I would not want to lose any of you so soon.”
Miguel stepped forward with a confident grin on his face.
“Consider it done Director,” he said, his voice a smooth baritone.
“My team will be ready.”
Gabriel nodded and turned from the map to face them all, his expression a mask of solemn, fatherly authority.
“You have the rest of the day to prepare and relax. Enjoy yourselves.”
“For many of you, this will be your first time returning to the world outside since you arrived.”
“Take the time to see your families.”
He looked at them, a final, gentle warning in his golden eyes.
“The letters you have been writing to them over the past seven months have all been delivered.”
“Explaining your long absence as a… specialized training program for an international relief organization.”
“They will be happy to see you.”
“But remember. Never use magic. And never under any circumstances, are you to take off your Lotus Ring.”
“The moment you do, your language will not be translated, and the Safeguard will trigger.”
“Is that understood?”
A chorus of “Yes, sir,” echoed through the room.
“Good,” Gabriel said.
He gestured to a small chest on his desk. He opened it, revealing stacks of neatly bound envelopes.
He handed one to each of the recruits, and to the team leaders and their assistants.
“Consider this a signing bonus for becoming official members of the Library. Your salary will be deposited into a secure, untraceable account at the beginning of every month.”
Curious, Carter opened his envelope.
Inside was a thick stack of American hundred-dollar bills.
He quickly thumbed through the stack, disbelieving.
$50,000 US dollars…
It was more money than he made in an entire year as an EMT.
He stared at the bills in his hand, a look of shock on his face. It was more money than he had ever held in his life.
“Holy shit,” Nico whispered from beside him, his own eyes wide as he stared at his massive stack of cash.
“Is this… is this for real?”
Yulian let out a booming, incredulous laugh, fanning a thick wad of Russian rubles like a deck of cards.
“In my old life,” he said, his voice a mixture of awe and dark, bitter humor.
“I would have had to break many bones for this much money. Now… they just give it to us.”
“Get used to it,” Miguel said with a casual smirk, tucking his own envelope into his jacket pocket without looking at it.
“The Library has… extensive financial resources. What it lacks are a good supply of mages.”
“We take care of our own.”
“Your only job now is to stay alive long enough to spend it.” Gabriel replies.
“You are dismissed,” Gabriel said.
The group left his office, their minds buzzing with the weight of their new reality: their new teams, their new missions, and the unbelievable amount of money now in their pockets.
They walked in silence for a few moments, the gravity of the day settling over them.
They were no longer just recruits.
They were soldiers, assets, funded and armed for a war that raged for millennia.
They reached the main lobby, the vast, open space a familiar crossroads now.
This was where their paths would diverge for the first time, not just as students, but as members of different squads.
Destined for different battles in different corners of the world.
Carter turned to the others.
The thought of returning to his old world, of seeing the faces of the people he left behind, was a strange, almost painful mixture of hope and dread.
“I’m going to go home,” he said, the words feeling strange. “See my parents.”
“My friends.”
“Same here,” the others murmur in agreement, their own plans for the day starting to form.
“Be ready,” Akira says, his voice a low, confident growl.
His earlier disappointment is gone, replaced by a fierce fire.
Carter gives a last look as he heads to test out his ring.
Heading towards his quarters to change into his new uniform and prepare for the journey home.
He reaches the door to his room, his hand on the handle, ready to cast the “Open” spell back to his city of California.
Then a cheerful voice calls out from behind him.
“Hey.”
He turns.
Ruby is standing there, a small, almost shy smile on her face.
“I’m not doing anything today,” she says, her usual bubbly energy toned down by a quiet sincerity.
“And I’ve never been to California…”
“Mind if I tag along?”
The unexpected offer sparks a warmth inside him.
“Sure, lets go.”