I woke up on some stone bed, I guess.

  My wounds were healed.

  I was inside a hut, actually. It was weak and fragile.

  Bandages were still wrapped around my body.

  What happened? Ah, I remember now.

  Mala… she was taken away.

  I couldn't stop that guy.

  I exited the hut to see Grimori and Kel talking. Their wounds were almost recovered too.

  It must be Lila. She is the best healer from Apprentice Class A Grade, our colleague.

  She is the smartest in the team. I wonder why she wasn't made the captain. We don't even have a captain.

  She can heal wounds by forcing cells to divide at a rapid but controlled pace.

  Though there are limits — it's an aerobic process and more.

  But let's skip that.

  What's more important is saving Mala. She might be an idiot, but she's our idiot.

  Grimori and Kel glanced towards me in relief.

  I learned that I had been sleeping for the past three days, and they were planning my last rites with heavy hearts.

  Thank God I woke up in time.

  Lila joined us too.

  She had just gone to collect some water for us.

  [Grimori]: They have taken Mala with them. I hope they won't hurt her.

  [Kel]: The chances are low. If they really wanted to eliminate us, that guy could have killed us easily.

  [Pratik]: This feels hard to accept, but it's true.

  I said bitterly.

  Even Lila spoke.

  [Lila]: What are we going to do? Facing him with our current powers won't be a good idea.

  [Kel]: I agree.

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  [Grimori]: Yes, I agree too.

  [Kel]: He used a Range Shiftling on us. He knows about sorcery stuff. Also, I don't think he has multiple Range Shiftlings, so taking him down won't be impossible… at least.

  [Grimori]: Wait, you mean there can be a wielder with multiple Range Shiftlings? Don't Range Shiftlings serve the same purpose of increasing the range of their original techniques?

  [Kel]: I don't know much about it.

  Yeah, we are Apprentice Class A Graders. Range Shiftlings are advanced techniques known by higher-ranked sorcerers.

  [Pratik]: You're not entirely wrong, Grimori. However, Range Shiftling isn't limited to increasing range. From what I know, it can be a technique itself too. A sorcerer can manifest the details of certain techniques into a Range Shiftling, making it unique. Also, many techniques are only useful in long-range attacks, so Range Shiftling is mostly integrated with a core technique to create a complete technique.

  Also, a Range Shiftling creates at least one blind spot — mostly the center, where the user stands — so that the effect of the technique won't work on the user himself. The center is assumed to be the user, so the user remains in that blind spot forever… or at least for as long as he wants.

  Listening to me, Grimori, Kel, and Lila looked surprised.

  More like shocked.

  [Kel]: How do you know so much about Range Shiftling?

  [Pratik]: My mentor told me.

  [Grimori]: Mentor? You never mentioned him before.

  Oops. I forgot to mention him in front of them.

  [Kel]: Is he some elite sorcerer?

  [Pratik]: Well, he told me to keep his identity as confidential as I can so it won't cause disturbance among Apprentice Class. However, I can say that all of you know him.

  [Grimori]: Has he taught you Range Shiftling?

  [Pratik]: Obviously not. It's something you must learn through your own instincts in the first phase. That's called Raw Range Shiftling. Once you learn that, only then can the real teaching begin.

  [Lila]: Returning to our matter, what shall we do now?

  [Kel]: You're right. We came here on a mission, but we can't lose our ally. To someone, an ally is his greatest asset.

  Yes. Even if she wasn't our ally, she's still a human, right?

  [Pratik]: I have a proposal. I will train harder and harder until I become able to activate my Range Shiftling, while you guys can talk it out with Gem Society about the war. I don't think the war can be prevented. In that case, you guys will share the information about Kankaar Society that I pass to you.

  [Kel]: Are you planning to infiltrate Kankaar Society alone?

  [Pratik]: Stealth work should be done alone.

  I said with a determined smirk.

  My teammates smirked too.

  [Kel]: He never learns.

  [Grimori]: That's absurd… but that's what makes you cool.

  [Lila]: We will surely help you however you want.

  With that, we ended our discussion and parted ways.

  I don't need to tell them how to help Gem Society. They'll figure it out themselves. They're smarter than me.

  I was finally alone.

  I clapped my hands and let out a sigh.

  This cools my head.

  *

  Earth,

  Dendadarlands,

  Immortalus Society Authority Members were gathered in an isolated hall.

  It was isolated from the dimension itself.

  There were 20 Immortalus Society Authority members, with Haimono being the leader.

  This faction is almost as old as the society itself.

  It manages mission alerting and other administrative matters — or at least, it used to.

  After Krishna became Immortalus Society Leader in 1990, he changed many things and laws.

  This hurt the power of the Immortalus Society Authority members a lot.

  Their influence was reduced significantly.

  They see Krishna as their most dangerous foe.

  Immortalus Society Authority is corrupted to the very core.

  They take bribes from aliens — mostly monsters — to target other species, innocent or not, it doesn't matter.

  After choosing a target, they frame it as a mission and pass it to sorcerers to eliminate the "threat."

  Many times, they alert dangerous missions to weaker teams at the request of their clients, who then crush the sorcerers and enjoy every bit of it.

  Immortalus Society Authority members don't care about their own sorcerers.

  They are mere tools to be used.

  However, everything changed after Krishna became leader.

  Since their influence was greatly reduced, they even lost their rights to alert missions to sorcerers.

  They consider Immortalus Society Leader Krishna as their biggest threat.

  Just recently, a monster made contact with the Immortalus Society Authority members and gave them an opportunity.

  The monster was Tai.

  Tai gave them many ancient artifacts, rare gems, and other valuables, and asked for a favor — a favor to ensure that Gem Society loses the upcoming war.

  Immortalus Society Authority agreed. The deal was locked.

  Authority leaked information regarding the leaders of various other societies to Tai, and Tai orchestrated many monster attacks on those leaders individually — just to gather information regarding their techniques.

  Authority also sent Pratik and his team to Dragon Empire.

  Their team was the best team, and moreover, Pratik was someone they wanted eliminated themselves.

  Authority only gave their opinion to send Pratik and his team on this mission, while Arun accepted it. According to Arun, this mission would be a turning point for the team.

  However…

  Authority leaked all information regarding Pratik and his team to Tai — even the energy signal patterns they emit.

  Wedgermio is one of the pawns of Kae.

  Kae got all this information shared with Germio, the leader of Kankaar Society, through Tai.

  As Kae predicted, this mission was given to Wedgermio.

  Kae secretly told everything about Pratik's team to Wedgermio — and even the way to trap them.

  This is how the whole event unfolded.

  Back to the present,

  all Authority members were sitting in the isolated hall, and in front of them stood Tai.

  The pawn of Kae.