Seeds of Chaos: Chapter 42 (Reunion Part 1)

 Chapter 42

Cassandra’s tower was located at the outskirt of Monty village which was about 30 kilometers away from Turok city. Despite the distance, the citizens and officials of Turok city officially recognized the tower as part of their city.

The reasons for this were three folds. Firstly, the Cassandra’s tower was the only mage tower in the region. Secondly, Sorcerer Cassandra was a very powerful magician and a source of pride for the people of the region. Thirdly, before the construction of her tower, Cassandra lived, studied, and even worked at Turok city.

The Sorcerer Cassandra originally wanted to construct her tower at the outskirt of the city but changed her mind due to some conflicts with several of the city officials fifteen years ago. She then chooses the outskirt of Monty village due to its beautiful surroundings and bountiful natural resources.

Due to the size of the tower, the construction took five years to complete and used up a lot of her budget. And during that time, the sorcerer only recruited one female disciple. And it was only three years ago did she look for other talented children to be her disciple.

“Three years huh… For three years, I didn’t saw my best friend. Honestly, I’ve already lost all hope of ever seeing her again,” Rennel lamented with faint smile on her face.

“But fate played a trick on us. I’ve meet teacher while Pina was taken as the disciple of a sorcerer. And yet… despite my excitement, and my desire to see her again, my feet just won’t move.”

Hearing his student’s lamentation, Chaos rolled his eyes. He flicks a paw which sends a wind flying towards the girl’s forehead.

“Ouch! Teacher,” the girl looked at her teacher with resentment while touching her sore forehead with both hands, “why’d you do that?” She complained.

“Stop being a drama queen and go to the tower already!” Chaos yelled. “You keep mentioning about wanting to see your friend again so why the sudden cold feet? He questioned.

“Uhh… Fine, I’ll do it!”

Rennel ball one of her hands into a fist while looking at the tower with determination. But as she was about to step forward, she stopped and looked at Chaos pleadingly, “teacher, you won’t leave my side, right?” She asked.

A vein appeared on Chaos’ forehead, “get your butt to the tower already before I kicked it for you!” He yelled furiously.

“Yikes! I’m on it!”

The girl knew that her teacher would exactly what he’d threatened to do and quickly run towards the gate of the huge and tall stone tower.

Rennel looked around and saw a bell which should be to notify the gatekeeper that someone was outside the gate.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The bell clanged loudly after Rennel hits it three times with a small hammer. She waited for a little while but no one answered. Tilting her head in confusion, she picked up the hammer again wanting to give it another try. But before she could hit the bell again with the hammer, someone opened and peeked through the peephole on the gate.

“Who are you? And do you need something?” Someone on the other side of the gate asked. It was the voice of a girl.

 Rennel put down the hammer and looked at the gap only to see the brown eyes of the person in the other side of the gate. Not that the girl was any better as she’s still wearing her black hooded cloak.

“Hello, my name is Rennel, and I’m looking for someone,” the girl started by introducing her name before revealing the purpose of her visit. “It’s a friend of mine. Her name is Pina and she should be a staying here,” she added.

 “Your friend? Pina? Do you have proof that you’re her friend?” The girl asked for proof. One could hear the apparent surprise in her voice.

Rennel’s heart skipped a beat after hearing the girl’s question. Although she heard from Lucas that Pina was bought by the Sorcerer Cassandra, she was actually unsure of the information’s veracity. But judging by the words of the girl in the other side of the gate; Pina was indeed in the tower.

“My name… Please tell her my name,” Rennel quickly replied. “If she was the person I was looking for, then she’ll know who I am if you tell her that Rennel was looking for her.”

The girl on the other side of the door stayed quiet for a long time before replying, “all right I’ll tell her. Please wait for a while.”

Rennel could hear the girl walking away from the gate. Since she wasn’t invited to enter she could only wait patiently outside.

“Why didn’t you show her your magician emblem?” Chaos suddenly appeared and asked in a tired voice.

“Eh? Ah!? I completely forgot about that!”

Chaos palmed (paw) his face, and looked at the girl as if she was an idiot.

“What happened to you? You’re usually very smart for some reason you’ve turned into an idiot once we set foot on the region?” Chaos asked with derision.

“Ugh… I might have been too nervous that I couldn’t think straight, “Rennel answered while looking in the ground with embarrassment.

“What am I supposed to do with you? You’re already like this despite not meeting your friend yet.” Chaos shook his head before looking at the girl, “how are you going to act once you’re actually in front of her? Are you just going to stare at her like an idiot?” He asked.

Sigh… Rennel couldn’t answer her teacher’s question and could only breathe out a heavy sigh after being scolding.

****

Rennel waited silently in front of the gate for about fifteen minutes before someone came to open the gate from the inside.

A black-haired girl with green eyes wearing a black magician robe stepped out of the gate but to Rennel’s disappointment, it wasn’t Pina.

“Are you Rennel?” The black-haired girl asked in calm voice.

The black-haired girl was pretty but not as overwhelmingly beautiful as Rennel. Still she had a face that would make people, specifically men to take a second look at her.

“That’s right, I’m Rennel. And you are?”

“My apologies… I’m Miranda, my master’s, Sorcerer Cassandra’s first disciple.

She’s the first disciple?

Rennel suddenly recalled the information on Sorcerer Cassandra’s first female disciple. It was said that the sorcerer’s first disciple was a commoner with great talent for magic. When she applied to be Sorcerer Cassandra’s first disciple, the other talented children, most from noble or wealthy background looked down and berated her.

But as if to prove that background alone was not enough to become the sorcerer’s disciple, the girl crushed all of his rivals in all aspect – both academic and magic – successfully becoming the sorcerer’s Cassandra’s first disciple.

Looking at her, the girl could indeed see that the black-haired girl possessed an incredible amount of mana. What’s more, her control of her mana surpasses even that of other magician like Natasha. Of course nothing needs to be said for Rennel’s control over her mana as it was really bad – at least in comparison to the black-haired girl, Miranda.

“Miss Miranda was it? Is, is Pina not around?” Rennel asked in a tense voice. Since the first disciple, Miranda came out instead of her friend Pina; the girl could not help but be worried.

Miranda stared at the girl for a few seconds before smiling, “no, she’s inside the tower. It’s just that she couldn’t be disturbed for now as she’s performing a magic experiment with master. That’s why I came out instead of her,” she explained.

The worry on Rennel’s face was swept away after knowing that her friend was currently on the tower. But she grew tense again after hearing the black-haired girl’s next words.

“I’m sorry to ask you of this but are you really Pina’s friend?” The black haired girl, Miranda asked with a serious expression.

Rennel tilted her head at the black-haired girl and asked, “Didn’t the girl who answered the gate earlier tell you my name?”

“She did. And you’re name did match the name of Pina’s friend,” Miranda confirmed. But… it’s also not the first time that someone pretending to be Pina’s friends and relatives came looking for her. Of course those people were sent to the authorities after confirming that they’re indeed fakes,” she explained.

“People were pretending to be Pina’s friends and relatives?” Rennel asked, wide-eyed and shock.

Miranda let out a giggle after seeing the girl looking confuse and shock after hearing that some people actually dare to pretend to be Pina’s friends and relatives.

“It’s not as uncommon as you think. Sorcerer Cassandra is a very famous figure so to become her disciple was to share that fame. So of course some would like to take advantage of that. This was especially true if one stemmed from a humble background, just like Pina and myself.

Renne nodded her head in agreement. She understood the logic behind the black-haired girl’s words. It’s natural for people who desired power, wealth, and fame to do everything they could to get what they wanted – even if it means pretending to be someone else.

And judging by Miranda’s words, she too had experienced those things.

“What do you want to know?” Knowing the reason behind Miranda’s doubts, Rennel was more than willing to cooperate with her in order to remove said doubts and confirm her identity.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Miranda bowed slightly. “I just need to ask some questions.”

“Understood. Please ask away.”

Miranda nodded and asked a few things that only Rennel and those who hail from the same village as Pina and her would know. For example: The name of their village, the name of Pina’s parents, some secrets between Pina and her, and so on.

After confirming everything that needed to be confirmed, Miranda was finally satisfied. “That should be enough. I have confirmed your identity,” the black-haired girl declared with a smile. “Again, thank you for you cooperation,”

“Please think nothing of it. It’s something that I should do,” replied Rennel while smiling.

“Right… If it’s okay with you, could you lower your hood? I just want to see what you looks like,” Miranda asked all of the sudden.

“Oh! Right! Sorry about that.” Recalling that she’s been conversing with Miranda without lowering her hood, Rennel felt awkward and quickly pull down her hood.

“Silver hair… Yes, it is as Pina had said,” Miranda nodded. “Still, to think that you’re that pretty – Pina couldn’t compare at all to you in term of looks!” She joked.

The black-haired girl’s reaction made Rennel blush in embarrassment. Fortunately, Miranda didn’t dwell on the topic for too long and quickly lead her inside the tower.

****

Rennel found herself in a well-furnished room within the tower with a hot cup of tea in her hand. She appraised the room with her eyes and found that it was well designed and cozy.

“What do you think of this room? Is it to your liking?” Miranda asked after a while.

“Yes. It looks very clean and nice,” Rennel answered. “Is this where you entertain guests?” She asked.

“That’s correct. This is the room where disciples and lived-in servants entertain guests and visitors. There is also a room for very important guests like envoys and officials but only master could use it.”

“I see…” Rennel nodded in understanding and took a sip from her cup.

After that short exchange, MIrand and Rennel found themselves with nothing to talk about which leads to an awkward silence. It’s fortunate that Miranda still had some doubts in her mind about Rennel that needed clarification.

“Pardon me for asking… but are you a magician, Miss Rennel?” She asked after putting down her cup.

“Hm? Ah, yes. I should be a magician…?” Rennel answered while looking a little awkward.

“Why is your answer a question?” Miranda gave the girl a strange look.

Rennel could only give the black-haired girl as awkward laugh as a reply. If she was to be honest, Rennel wasn’t really sure if she’s a magician or a warrior. Her skill with the spear was outstanding but she seemed to have talent with magic as well.

Moreover, she possessed mana reserves, that in her master, Elder Zelma’s words, not inferior to that of an arch-mage. Personally though, she prefers to use her spear, Jade Thorn in battle instead of spells.

“Um… I’m actually an official magician but I only knew very few spells,” Rennel reached inside her cloak and pull out her magician badge, and passed it to Miranda for a look.

Miranda accepted the badge and examined it. The badge was without a doubt real, and looked similar to other badges wore by official magicians. Turned the badge around and read what was written on the back and her eyes almost popped out in shock – the badge has the mark of the Council of Elders!

The mark could only mean one thing – the holder of the badge was a disciple of one of the elders from the Council of Elders. After calming her heart, Miranda turned towards Rennel and returned the badge. But after knowing the silver-haired girl’s other identity, Miranda could no longer threat her so casually.

“Miss Rennel, is your master an elder?” Miranda knew that her question was redundant as the badge was proof enough. But as careful as she was, she had to make sure that she’s not just jumping to conclusion.

Hearing Miranda’s question, Rennel nodded her head, and opened her mouth to explain. But before she could say anything, someone knocked on the door.

****

To be continued

Previous Chapters: https://read.cash/@beastion