As the moon rises against the dark night, the doors of the auction hall open and magicians walk into the hall, waiting for the long-awaited auction to begin. As Sky walked in, she noticed that there were nobles among the magicians. She guessed that they were there for the other items offered in the auction.

Making her way to the upper floors of the auction hall, she was instantly rewarded with a better view from the top. As she watched the auction began, nobles started bidding for items such as jewelleries and antiques. Boredom settles over her and she wishes the Black Magician would appear soon before she dies of boredom.

In the past, there were similar gems bestowed to her on her birthdays from other empires. But she never liked them. They were superficial gifts, without an ounce of sincerity in them. Objects that are meant to show off her status as the imperial princess of Ruon.

She sighed and looked around for the Black Magician but he wasn't in sight. However, she saw Ren from Opion, standing beside a man in a hooded jacket on the upper floors. Sky squinted her eyes to check if the man was the Black Magician but she could not see him clearly because of the hood. Suddenly, the auctioner's voice resounded throughout the hall as assistants wheeled in a cart covered with a veil.

"Now, ladies and gentleman! It's time for tonight's main event. What you all have been waiting for... The magic crystal of the highest class, infused with the great magician, Shajarno's power! Behold! Shajarn's Heart!" As he pulled off the veil on the cart, the magicians below gasped upon the sight of the topaz magic crystal.

Sky agreed that the stone was indeed gorgeous and she could feel the intensity of the waves of mana even from the upper floor. She looked back at Ren and saw the man going behind the curtain. Sky blinked as the next second, she saw the man walking out from behind the curtains and there he was, the Black Magician.

He must have awakened behind the curtains. And wow... He actually grows taller after awakening. That's interesting.

As soon as the Shajarn's Heart was displayed, there was a commotion in the auction hall as there were two magicians trying to steal the Shajarn's heart. They injured the guards in the process and almost managed to attain the priceless treasure. However, they never expected the presence of two magicians from the association, Van and Shicmuon.

Van grabbed one of the magician's hands as he reached for the Shajarn's Heart and a large cracking resounded. The man's scream rang out across the auction hall. It was evident that his hand. No... His entire arm was broken by Van in an instant. That was the difference in their powers. Upon Van's appearance, the crowd started to murmur.

"That's the association right?"

"There is only one magician in the association with beast ears and a dog's tail... What was the name again?"

".... AH! I remember now! It's the association's loyal dog. Lanoste's dog!"

Van hated anyone calling him a dog despite his features, especially Lanoste's dog. He immediately flipped out at the crowd. "I'M NOT A DOG! WHICH BASTARD CALLED ME A DOG! HUH?!"

No one dared to answer but taking that chance, the second perpetrator tried to kill Van except that his weapon was deflected off Van's head. *CLANK* Van rubbed his head and turned to look at him with a deadly look in his eyes. "That hurt, you know..."

As Rood watches Van crushing the two perpetrators who never held a chance, his heart begins to panic. He remembered that he saw Van in the Gahelpha forest. He remembered he saw Van... with Shicmuon. Uh oh...

After Van placed the Shajarn's heart back into its glass case, he cleared his throat and looked at the crowd calmly. "Now now, everyone. Please listen! I'm pretty sure everyone is excited about the highest class magic crystal but please remain calm until the end of the auction. If everyone does anything stupid like the guys lying on the floor behind me or try to touch the magic crystal... You really won't have a good time with me!"

But what happened next was out of Van's expectation as the next second, the sound of shattering glass was heard because Shicmuon had shattered the glass box that held the crystal. He took Shajarn's heart, ignoring Van, who was shouting at him, trying to get him to put it down.

Sky sweatdropped as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her. It was completely out of control. She looked at Shicmuon closely and recognized him as the man who attacked the Black Magician in the Gahelpha forest.

Shicmuon jumped to the top of the largest statue and waved the Shajarn's Heart in the air. "Oi! Blackie! This is your target right?! If you want it! Come and get it! If you don't..... This." He pointed at the Shajarn's heart as he smirked darkly. "I will eat it."

Rood, on the other hand, couldn't care less about his threats. That's not even my target... Eat it! Just fucking eat it!

"Rood, we should probably leave." Ren spoke as she was worried that the incident in Gahelpha forest would repeat itself again. Rood sighed and shook his head.

"No. I can't go back just because of a flea like him." Yes, Rood thought of Shicmuon as an annoying red flea.

As Shicmuon was sitting on the statue looking around, he was getting restless that the Black Magician was not coming out. "... Why aren't you coming out, Blackie? Are we playing hide and seek now?" He looked towards the Shajarn's heart in his hand and raised an eyebrow. Isn't this stupid rock what the Blackie is after?

"SHIC! Get down this instant, you idiot!"

Shicmuon looked down at Van and shooed him. "You can go back home now, old man. You're in my way."

"HEY! You little piece of shit! Do you want me to kill yo-" Before Van could finish his sentence, a woman with long blue hair and icy eyes cut through the statue Shicmuon was sitting on, in half. Sky let out a squeal of happiness as she saw someone she highly admired in front of her. The woman is Tessiana Rowell. The bodyguard of Princess Yutiarien and a professor of Helios. In Ruon, Sky had heard of Tessiana's achievements as the only female royal guard in the Kansiol Empire. She had greatly admired Tessiana since then.

Shicmuon quickly jumped to the ground, tossing aside the Shajarn's heart and grabbed Tessiana's throat. "You're in my fucking way. Get lost, woman."

Instead of listening to Shicmuon's words, Tessiana drew out her sword and attacked him. She was swift and fast with her movements but before her sword could hit him, he easily grabbed her sword without much effort. With a blast of his crimson mana, he sent her away. Tessiana crashed into the wall and grunted as he grabbed her by her hair and lifted her up. "Seriously... Why... Come out like an idiot. And piss me off? ... I'll make you regret that decision for the rest of your life."

Before Shicmuon could settle her with a final blast, Tessiana spoke out. "Tessiana. Awaken." A bright blue light shone out and Shicmuon immediately pulled his hand away from her as frost started to build on his hand. He glared at her silently as her body and clothes turned a frosty light blue in colour, just like her ice mana.

"This.... Annoying woman.... Don't think that anything would change just because you awakened" With that, another intense fight clashed between Tessiana and Shicmuon.

Initially, Shicmuon was on the losing side as Tessiana had a sword and her ice mana had awakened. But as the fight progressed, Tessiana lost the upper hand due to Shicmuon's powerful explosive mana. She crashed into the wall and coughed out blood. Cradling her broken arm, she glared up at him. She doesn't stand a chance against him.

Shicmuon was both annoyed and disappointed that she could not hold a better fight against him. In his memories, only the Black Magician is formidable enough to be his opponent and he desired to kill him with his own hands. He raised his arm, preparing for the final blast at Tessiana. "Just die, trash."

Right when he released a large explosive magic at her, a shadow jumped down from the upper floor, in between Tessiana and Shicmuon.

"My name is Lotus! AWAKEN!"

- Please vote and comment, thank you!!!!!!!^^