Schemes Around Them

By the time the intense flare of scorching light had faded, all that remained was a charred, smoldering ruin – the beast's brain having been flash-fried into a thick, viscous sludge within its fractured cranium.

The battlefield had fallen into an eerie, unsettling silence, the acrid stench of scorched flesh and cauterized blood hanging heavy in the air like a suffocating miasma. 

Arianna took a long, measured look at the grisly scene laid out before them – her gaze lingering on the twisted, eviscerated form of the mage whose broken body had been so ruthlessly skewered upon the boar's savage tusks.

A flash of dawning comprehension seemed to glisten in her eyes as she turned to face Gladius, their gazes meeting and locking in an unspoken exchange laden with weighty implications and hardened resolves.

A brilliant smile blossomed across Arianna's lips, her tone tinged with genuine amazement as she murmured, "So you not only managed to sense a scouting mage trying to monitor our combat prowess, but you also deduced that killing the final beast with my mana-fueled attack would make those following our movements far less suspicious of us, correct?"

Gladius blinked, feeling a slight sense of surprise ripple through him once more at just how quickly Arianna's mind seemed to operate – dissecting situations and motives with an almost eerily precise clarity. Though, he supposed, he really shouldn't have expected anything less from this woman whose head constantly seemed to be immersed in a whirlwind of profound thoughts and contemplations.

A pleased smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he met Arianna's inquisitive gaze with a solemn nod of affirmation. "Correct, indeed. The ones who initially followed us into the mission guild were the same individuals who met up with those arrogant EmberForge mages who tried to provoke us with their pathetic displays of intimidation. They were clearly brewing up some sort of scheme or plan, though it seems that even for mages who tout themselves as noble and righteous, they can't help but resort to more devious and underhanded tactics when their egos are bruised."

"It's quite ironic, isn't it?" Arianna let out a merry chuckle that seemed to dance through the air like the gentle tinkling of wind chimes. "I've witnessed this sort of hypocrisy play out far too many times to count. So many mages claim to be the guiding light that leads society forward, the beacons of hope and enlightenment for all... and yet, their actions often delve into realms of cruelty that border on being more demonic than the malevolent spirits they profess to stand against."

Gladius couldn't help but share in her amusement, a low rumble of laughter escaping his lips as he considered the weight of her words. 

In truth, neither he nor Arianna were truly casting judgment on these mages and their propensity for underhanded scheming – it wasn't as if either of them fancied themselves as particularly upstanding or 'good' people by society's standards.

No, the source of their shared mirth stemmed more from the sheer amusement they derived from witnessing the blatant hypocrisy on display – the way these self-professed pillars of righteousness so quickly abandoned their lofty principles and delved their hands into the same mud and filth as those they so readily condemned. 

It was a phenomenon that Gladius had observed time and again throughout his many lifetimes, and it never ceased to strike him as an endlessly amusing – if somewhat tragic – facet of the human condition.

But for now, he allowed his gaze to drift over toward the twisted, eviscerated form of the mage whose broken body had been so ruthlessly skewered upon the boar's savage tusks. 

After a moment's contemplation, he turned back to Arianna and said, "Alright, I have an idea on how we should go about baiting our pursuers out into an ambush of our own making. But on that note, before we begin laying the groundwork, I have to ask – is this entire situation and pursuit the doing of the Arcane Nexus once again? I'm assuming that the ones who were actively following us through the city are also members or operatives of that same organization."

Arianna let out a weary sigh, nodding her head in grim affirmation as she replied, "I am nearly one hundred percent certain that it's them behind this renewed effort to apprehend me, yes. I suppose it's possible that it could be the machinations of one of the other powerful organizations operating within the city, or even a random group of mage bounty hunters acting of their own accord. But I heavily doubt either of those scenarios."

Her brow furrowed as she continued, her tone taking on a more somber inflection. "The Arcane Nexus has the most comprehensive information and data pertaining to me, my abilities, and my history – intel that is made available only to the most talented disciples within the organization, as well as the senior mages who oversee their development and training. Thankfully, this knowledge is strictly guarded and not accessible to average mages or members of other factions, no matter how influential they might be."

A rueful smile ghosted across Arianna's lips as she concluded, "But because of the scope of information they possess regarding my specific circumstances, the Arcane Nexus is undoubtedly the most confident in their ability to successfully capture and subdue me through brute force if necessary. Their arrogance and sense of superiority won't allow for any other possibility in their minds."

"I see..." Gladius murmured, his expression hardening ever so slightly as the implications of her words sank in. "This Starforge individual you mentioned, the one who seems to be spearheading these efforts – he must wield a considerable degree of influence and sway over the others to be able to mobilize them into hounding you so relentlessly like this."

As his words hung in the air, Arianna fell silent, her eyes taking on a distant, contemplative look as her mind raced through a dizzying array of thoughts and calculations at lightning speeds. 

Gladius found the sight oddly endearing – the way Arianna's brow would furrow ever so slightly, her lips pursing into an adorable moue of concentration as she mentally dissected every facet of a situation from multiple angles.

In that moment, her eyes seemed to glisten with a newfound spark of realization, and a brilliant smile blossomed across her features as she met Gladius's questioning gaze head-on.

"You're absolutely right..." she began, her words tumbling forth in an eager rush of excitement and anticipation. "Starforge is indeed a mage of immense talent and prestige – a true genius who managed to surpass the limits of the Nascent realm and ascend to the next major stage of cultivation, Origin Attunement, by the mere age of twenty-five years old. He currently stands as an Origin Apprentice, wielding command over a higher form of mystical energy known as Origin Mana."

As she spoke those words, Arianna's eager smile faltered ever so slightly, a fleeting look of concern flashing across her delicate features – a reaction that did not go unnoticed by Gladius's keenly observant gaze. But just as quickly as that moment of doubt had surfaced, Arianna seemed to forcefully quash it, her expression hardening with a renewed sense of conviction and determination.

She was riding high on the intoxicating rush of growth and evolution she had experienced in Gladius's presence, bolstered by the profound insights and expanded consciousness his world-attuned state had granted her. She would not allow herself to be swayed or deterred by creeping tendrils of uncertainty, not when the path to even greater heights of power and enlightenment lay stretched out before them like an irresistible siren's call.

And so, Arianna pressed on, her smile regaining its eager, almost feverish intensity as she continued, "And because of the raw potency and mystical density of Origin Mana, Starforge can wield far more powerful and advanced Magical Arts than what we've encountered thus far. Spells and techniques that would utterly eclipse anything a mere Nascent mage could hope to conjure."

Gladius's brow furrowed slightly as he followed the line of Arianna's logic, a nagging question surfacing in the back of his mind. Before he could give voice to his query, however, Arianna seemed to anticipate his unspoken thoughts, quickly segueing into an explanation of her own.

"I suppose you're wondering just how I managed to get myself so deeply embroiled in an altercation with such an esteemed and talented mage like Starforge in the first place," she remarked, a wry smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "From what you've gathered about the mindsets and attitudes of most high-ranking mystics, they wouldn't normally even deign to so much as glance in the direction of those they deem to be beneath their lofty stations, would they?"

"Correct," Gladius confirmed with a solemn nod, his interest piqued by the promise of finally unraveling the full story behind Arianna's precarious circumstances. "That was one of the first impressions I gleaned about the prevalent mentalities and social structures governing the mage societies of this world. The truly powerful and influential seem to view anyone outside their rarefied circles as little more than insignificant gnats, unworthy of their time or consideration unless said 'lesser beings' somehow manage to become convenient thorns in their sides."