Age of Beast Tamers and Exorcists
Chapter 77: Luca’s Demand.

Chapter 77: Luca’s Demand.

The hard way was to go for the cheat. The other wasn’t easy either, but there is really a difference.

Zmey opened his eyes, a grey wall greeting his face. He grunted in a low tune when he got to his feet. He paced closer to the window, pushing it wide open.

A gentle to no breeze swept across his face. He noticed straight away that the air had neutralised the incense scent from earlier.

As he placed his palms on the window frame, he bent his back and stared at the big silver moon.

He sighed. "Greatness requires hardship. The hard way..."

The next morning, Zmey appeared right before a wooden door. Other rooms stood beside the one he was in front of. As a matter of fact, some more stood opposite it.

The surroundings were so silent that someone paging through the paper made the sound clear to the ears.

Zmey said to himself, holding his throat firmly, "Let’s do this."

He adjusted the collars of his black jacket, his boots blending with both the jacket and the trousers.

Then he knocked. He did again, and then again... until he heard a voice asking him to come inside. That was almost immediately.

He entered, standing just inches from the door which he had nuzzled to a close. He straightened his back, correcting his posture. He knew he wasn’t someone whom meeting someone would have pressured. But maybe that was until he joined an Elite team.

Anyways, he needed his confidence back. He would need it now.

"Good morning, Captain Xero," he said, then bowed. He raised himself up the next second.

Luca’s pen raised from the page he wrote on. He then returned the pen to a larger case that contained many more of them. Zmey wondered if he was writing an important report. Or maybe he was being ignored.

Luca then raised his sight to Zmey. He asked, "Don’t you have a training session to attend?"

"Yes, I do, Captain," Zmey responded. "But I have something very important to discuss with you. It’s more like a deal."

Luca raised his brows. "Say it, then."

"Yes," he said that, bowing at the end. He didn’t only have to be authentic with his request but also to be respectful while he did it. He began, "I would like you to assign me to a team of Warlords!"

Zmey maintained firm eye contact with him. Luca held it for as long as well. He didn’t say anything to what the recruit demanded. But it seemed more as though he was concerned about who would get unnerved and look away.

No one did anything after a few seconds.

Luca then asked Zmey, still staring at him, "Do you have an idea of how strong the warlords are?"

"I can’t make a precise assumption. But for one, I know they have honed their skills in strength, resilience, and strategies. They can encounter evil creatures when on patrol in the city, after all."

Luca nodded. "Excellent," he acknowledged. "Recruit Zmey Ashbane, what can you offer to the team if you have a strong determination to join one?"

Zmey smiled with such a faint expression that only he could notice it. ’That’s the captain! I like people as intelligent as he is...’

Then he said without delay, "I know my mage class not only makes me deserving of a warlord’s title. But I have all it takes ready to raise my level. They say Abnormal Mages can’t be predicted..."

Right then, he noticed Luca shifting his stare away. In the next second, he saw him striding towards him, arms crossed behind his back.

’I shouldn’t stop talking! I must convince him...’

Zmey continued right away, "... There are moments when the body of an Abnormal Mage shifts towards a particular level in order to favour the possessor..."

"Such as raising the mage body of a possessor in order to gain from a cycle..." Luca cut in, taking deliberate steps. He nodded. Then gestured towards Zmey, "Continue."

Zmey smiled.

"The shift is temporary. But I have found a way to make use of it! I could use it to ascend faster in ranks, even if it doesn’t mean making the mage body it once shifted to permanent."

Luca raised his brows, then held his stare on Zmey. ’Taking advantage of the power of uncertainty? Tch...’

Zmey could hear Silvan’s voice in his ears at that moment. After he had told him his choice - the hard way - Silvan had urged him to join the Warlord Unit on the Elite Team. His statement afterwards was:

"To get the cheat, you must be in so many struggles and challenges. But you must not die. Survive against challenges and be ready to make a breakthrough. And there’s no other way around it than the hot battlefield."

Luca’s sudden movement jolted him back to his senses. But instead of staying before him, he moved to his side. For the first time, Zmey saw the man’s face twisting into a smile. But in the end, it was a smirk. A tight one at that.

"To think there’s a fool like me who overestimates their potential... How absurd," Luca scoffed.

’What?’ Zmey wondered in his mind, his brows creasing. But Luca exited the door the moment he glanced to his side.

He turned immediately and stomped out of the door.

Luca had already turned leftwards, moving down the walkway. Zmey said out loud, "Captain Luca! If you could just allow me to explain things really well..."

Luca stopped at that moment. He then said, "Did I tell you I wasn’t listening?"

Zmey gaped both in astonishment and curiosity.

Luca glanced over his shoulder, looking at Zmey. He ordered, "Follow me."

Luca and Zmey rode horses out of the gate of the castle. Zmey was getting an inkling of their destination, looking at the path they were taking.

In the end, they actually stopped. It was at the ivy-woven exit of Glorious Wilds. He glanced left at Luca in wonder.

Luca said, "There actually was a fool who thought they could tamper with the Inheritance Cycle like you..."

Zmey raised his brows.

"... I would like to hear how you would be able to do so after you get out of this bloodbath of a forest."

Zmey wanted to make a protest. Despite the tightening he felt in his chest, he knew this was a test. A test through impossibility to explain the impossible!

"... A pack of Flame Tigers is enough to end your amateur life. Now, think of hundreds of packs after no one else but you," Luca explained to heighten the pressure. Then he glanced at Zmey, "Do you still want to do it? Joining a Warlord Team is more important than your life?"