"My lord!!?", Ruby speaks knocking on Den's study assuming he had already woken up.

Den opens his eyes quickly and leans up , as he rubs his eyes and recalls that he had slept on his study table earlier that night.

Ruby knocks again as Den informs her to come in his study.
"I'm sorry my lord , i thought you had woken up !", Ruby apologises as Den quickly interrupts her ," it's alright. I needed to be woken up".

Getting up from his old chair and stretching his arms under the tight formal , he asks ," I have some work to do Ruby..! You saved me a lot of hours".

Ruby stands discreetly as Den looks out the window , out in the slightly foggy and the morning sun beaming on the city's tower in the far south past the dense forest.

"Umm.. my lord..", Ruby stutters trying to request as Den grabbing his tall black hat glances at her and arranging his sheets of paper.

"Hmm?", Den hums as he struggles to sequence his business sheets.

"Before we leave , i wanted to know if you could give me some insight of your plans", Ruby asks as she looks down on the floor and squeezes her hands on the back.

"Ah here it is !", Den finds a sheet of weird drawings and replies ," whatever you want to know , you can ask Aurther . You will hear only what you need to know!", Den replies leaving his sheets and tidy himself asking ", is breakfast ready!?".

"Yes my lord !the others are also having it", Ruby replies with a tint of dissatisfaction as she opens the door and follows Den out.

"Well i ought to join them", Den replies walking out the door as Ruby follows his lead towards the stairs.

",My lord!", Aurther and the others gets up from the seat as Den intervenes their action with his arms.

Sitting down on the chair on the end , a couple of maids joins by his side to assist him with his table wares.

"I've found a perfect hideout in Fordam , west of Rosendale , to those of you who don't know it , " Den speaks and the others listens him looking at the table , as only Pika is found keeping a keen eye on Den . As a maid places a plate of meat and beans in front of Den , who then grabs a fork and chomps it.

"Why won't you come!?", Pika questions standing as Aurther silences him , " do not interrupt when Lord Den is speaking!"

Ugo standing near the wall on the corner in his real form with an untidy dress, pale white skin and an average build , stares at them , as Aeron quietly stares at his half eaten plate on the side end of the table opposite to Pika.

"Child , i have more important matters at hand here . I have to keep track of all of you , take care of the Elites , keep my reputation as a Lord which is a great advantage for us , make sure the Elites and Devours don't see through us .... and there is a Falcon rank quests for the continuous murders of Elite soldiers in Rosendale! , "

Hearing the later information they all gasps as only Aurther keeps a same pose. Aeron gets up and speaks , " my lord! , that a risky move for everyone , we know that the adventurers with a falcon rank are the second most powerful Aest users from the League of Adventurers!".

"That is why I'm sending all of you to Fordam. After reaching your destination , you will be given quests by underworld sponsors , revolutionaries , vengeful lords and alike but do not worry , for their quests will be only of the extermination of the Elites and their related sources.," Den explains taking a breath and gulps a red wine .

"Why are we doing quests for ?my lord , can't we just kill the Elites", Pika questions again as Aeron nods to Pika's question agreeing to it.

'I am sorry ... to all of you!", Den apologises as he places his arms on the table and holds his hand , continuing as the clueless wonders ," since I won't be able to help you with mass resources and power , i am limited by my own magic. "

Pika and Aeron listens keenly so does Ruby as Den continues ," in order to conjure strong spells, like the simple teleportation door , much energy is required , and for the dark mages , much blood and sacrifices is needed. And therefore , since my killings has attracted enemies to our doors , i will only continue to do so with cautious and in secret."

They stare at Den as Den speaks ," But.... that doesn't mean I'm not a strong conjurer , i only need sacrifices to perform the abilities of other Aest users. You haven't seen a piece of my own yet..!", Den tries to assures his position , as the others gulps feeling a dark aura on the room.

"And i will not hesitate to kill those who defy... !", Den informs getting up and walks away from his table and continues ," Death is certain if you're not strong enough. But if all of you are in trouble and at your end.... i wish you luck!".

"What about my training , ? My lord! So as Pika's!!", Aeron asks as Den smiles facing towards them and replies ," Aurther will take care of you both ... he has lived long enough to know what to do!".

"Yes my lord !", Aurther confirms as Aeron and Pika is left speechless.

"What is your name girl..!?", Den asks to a stuttering maid , with a black hair , brown eyes and a fair skin.

"I do not have a name my lord..", the young girl replies nervously as Den stares at her clueless as she adds ," i was born to an unknown mother and was sold off as a slave along with the rest , to Mr and Mrs Cooper by my owners , just a couple months before their death ,my lord."

"Hmm.. ", Den wonders as the other feels sad for her . Pika and Aeron discuss about their plans with Ugo in the corner of the bright room filled with morning sun as Ruby and Aurther waits for Den's leave.

" but I'm sometimes being called as Kite , My lord ", the young maid adds looking down the floor.

"I had no knowledge of presence of any old servants of Mr and Mrs cooper ," Ruby replies approaching and adds ," after their death they all left for their homes , my lord".

Pika comes up to Den and interrupts speaking softly ," My lord , i apologise for asking but did you kill them , the Coopers?".

Den turning back towards Pika as the young maid steps back , Den replies smiling ," no , i didn't. I used to be their personal secret guard. They were killed on their journey to the Land of Sorrow during business , b some Devour assassins."

Pika surprised by the information , wonders as Den comes up to his ear and whispers ,"I would've anyway..".
Stuttered by it Den wishes the members farewell as he orders Kite to his study .

As the magical door appears in the end of the library room, Aurther speaks ," This is it guys... our mission starts from here. No looking back."
Aeron holds Ruby's hands following Aurther's lead into a dark teleportation abyss. Pika notices them and smiles as he follows them with Ugo.
"I'm gonna miss the mansion, and Lord Den," Ruby murmurs softly as they disappear into the abyss and the magical door disappears revealing a small discolored mage sign ,the circular with an inverted triangle inside the circle , its teleportation magic wears out as it slowly vanishes as dusts in the old rusty room of knowledge.

"Don't be scared Kite , you'll be fine", Den tries to calms the nervous and scared maid , as he lay her in the circular mage table down the underground caveroom lighted with torches, entering through the teleportation door from his study room.

"Please my lord... I'm sorry .. please don't kill me ," the maid weeps frightened as Den smiling , assures her ," Don't you worry Kite , i am not gonna kill you... i am simply.. " Den takes out a knife as he holds down her head and continues ," making you stronger."

Those were the last words she hears as the knife slices through her neck , and her teary eyes falls asleep and her conscious starts to fade.