Chapter 3: Darkseal

Trace quickly vanished into the catacomb like streets without looking at his pursuer. His slim and nimble body felt like a natural and could obey his agile mind. This time the runes on the bracelet turned into a face again. This time it was that of a bee.

The bee was made up of the same pitch-black runes. This time the face was constantly alternating, sometimes real and sometimes an illusion. Darkseal did not see it since the bracelet was covered with Trace's sleeves. Neither did he notice the eyes that leaked a black aura, since Trace did not look back.

The effect of the treasure sank in Trace's mind and body. This time it stimulated his muscles and thoughts to have an experience of ultra-instincts. The reaction time of his muscles dramatically lessened and his body followed his every thought. He zoomed through the streets like a monkey after getting hang of this feeling. Naturally, his speed increased and soon he disappeared from Darkseal' view.

Darkseal stopped as soon as Trace's aura crossed the range of his scouting spell. What an unfortunate day he thought as he tried to stop his crazy grin with one hand. If Trace crossed the Retention Line, it would be a total loss. If the sisters reported him, the Yuushine Executioners would begin searching for him. Time was of the essence now. He quickly found a spot to sit and began meditating. The priority for Sorcerers was always mana.

A Sorcerer would receive fame an respect among commoners but one could only imagine the horrors of being a Sorcerer. Sorceres were considered as cruel magic practitioners. Although, acquantiantces were referred to as Magicians, everyone had the word Sorcerer in heart. It was a dog-eat-dog world of Sorcerers, magic and power was everything.

The first ring was the beginning. Level 1 Sorcerer's were the most common but they were considered hundred times better than people with no magic. Reasoning to this was simple, a Level 1 Sorcerer could do as much as hundred times the work in the same given time.

Every five years Yuushine family picked kids with potential and used evil ways to awaken magic powers. Training or a stimulus could help one's magic aura to condense into a ring. These rings were like mana pools. Every person had a different aura thus their mana pools were different.

Darkseal's first ring did not form after the cruel Yuushine training camp. Years ago, among the group of children that failed, he was the only one smiling after long harsh training camp. When the trainers saw the longing of home in Darkseal's heart, his family was beaten up in front of him to act as a stimulus. Seeing Darkseal in tears after his ring was formed, the trainers all laughed and continued to mock the magicless family. Darkseal was not a part of the family anymore, he was recruited into the Yuushine Family.

One of the trainers grabbed Darkseal's face and said, "Smile boy. You are a Magician now. Smile! And rise out of everything that shackles you".

Holdinberg and Yuushine Family had a firm grip on Darkseal's fate, he could only serve the family. All this time, he was waiting for a chance to bite away his fate. Today was not the first time of his traitorous actions brining him trouble. But definitely today's actions would be the last.

One time Darkseal blackmailed one of the important Yuushine family member to get a famous Yuushine Search spells. That time he was meticlous enough to get out alive with a little help but this time the situation was different. Burning the mark of a family was considered one of the greatest offense. Although. he only burnt it to steel his resolve the aftermath was the same.

Darkseal's was a peak level 2 Sorcerer but his mana pool had not changed for the last ten years. Perhaps, today was the last chance he would ever get before his mind gives in to fate. It was very clear that the treasure was extremely valuable. Even though the sisters were idiots, the duo search spell they knew was not. It was the number 1 Yuushine legacy spell and could only be used by twins carrying the Yuushine blood. Furthermore, the sisters hid information about the treasure very well because they did not wish for their elder brother's faction to get into the mix.

When Darkseal thought about him being the only member of the Yuushine sister's faction, he sighed and his expression turned solemn. He was ostracized in the Yuushine family and so were the sisters. Perhaps, this was the reason the sisters helped him when the blackmailing case was slipping out of his hands. That time he traded his loyalty to join the sister's faction and Yuushine Search spell, which he got from blackmailing, for his life.

Darkseal bit his finger and began drawing complex symbols on the ground with blood. Was his spell going to save his life again? As the magic rune in reached its completion, it looked more like a microscope with complex patterns. After completing the rune, he took out a small bottle filled with something similar to golden sand. After emptying few of such bottles over the magic rune he felt complicated towards the Yuushine sisters. These bottles were given to him by the sisters so that even as an outsider he could activate the Yuushine search spell.

The rune turned from red to yellow, then to gold. Without delay Darskeal took out the bun he got from Trace and put it between the runes. Now that his self rule of never going below 30 percent mana was already broken, he went all out. The rune formed a small vortex and sucked mana crazily. Slowly a third dimensional map was forming. Soon it turned into a complete map of Central Holdinberg. Two distinct dots were visible on it. One of the dots was stationary, probably the bun maker. The other dot was moving as a constant rate.

Darkseal grinned, if would not be long before the dot would reach the North Retention Line.