The S-class Mage Of The Phoenix

"Tch, Master's not back yet?" Leo asked, ignoring every other member of the guild and focused his attention solely on Yui.

"No, he's attending the regular meetings, he won't be back for a day or two." She answered.

"I see." He muttered as he turned around to pick a quest, all the S-ranked quests and above were situated in the hallways upstairs. The upstairs hallway was a place only S-class mages and above could access.

"Hey Leo! Fight me!" Haru exclaimed, his irrational behavior made everyone to slam their faces with their palm. He was basically looking for a death wish.

"Huh? Why would I engage in battle with a shrimp like you? Know your place Haru, or I'll make you know." He said with a deep voice.

"New guy." Leo said as he addressed Renji. "If you glare at me again, I'll kill you." He added with a threatening voice.

"So he can even sense my gaze? He's much stronger than I originally anticipated." He thought as Leo disappeared the same way he appeared with a quest in hand.

"Who was that?" He couldn't help but ask, it was plausible to identify people far superior to you in everyway.

"Leo Akabane, he's a former Magic Knight but he was ejected after some conspiracies that arose against him cost him his position. Now he's one of us." Yui answered with a smile, the members of the Dancing Phoenix wasn't at all how people described them to be, they were passionate, caring and most of all, family and they were all mostly powerful.

Yui brought out a long rectangular stamp with the guild's mark carved at the bottom of the stamp. "Where do you want your mark?" She asked.

"Here." Renji replied pointing at the side of his right upper shoulder. Infusing her magic into the stamp, Yui pressed it against the side of his shoulder. As she removed it, a red mark of a Phoenix's head appeared on his shoulder.

"Congratulations, I officially welcome you into the Dancing Phoenix guild." She said warmly with a smile on her face and departed towards the second floor.

"Who is she, really." Renji questioned Hinata as he approached the counter, he needed answers for what he couldn't explain. "Yui?" She chuckled.

"I guess you'll find she isn't what she portrays to be, but it's just who she is. She is also the Sage of the Phoenix." She added.

"The Sage of the Phoenix?"

"I'm surprised you don't know about this but, there are five hierarchy of magic ranks in Fiol and even across the whole world. First is the most basic one, mages just like us. The gap between mages and the remaining hierarchy is too great that most are rare to come across, the next after mages are S-class mages, the next after that are the Magic Knights like Leo. The next gap between the Magic knights and the next rank is also great, the Sages." She explained.

"Wait, are you saying Yui is stronger than Leo?" He couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, far stronger than he'll ever be. That's why she's the only one he respects asides the master." She replied.

"So what's the final rank?"

"The rank of the Wizard King, only one who has transcended the hierarchy of all ranks and attained a level of magic unparalleled can obtain this rank. There is only one wizard king in existence currently." She said as she was finally done explaining.

"Whoa." Renji uttered.

"Enough of that though." She said as she walked over to the quest board ready to face her current problems. "Let's go on another quest." She requested.

They scrolled through the quest board and she came across a particular quest that had an interesting pay of 20,000 Rei. Rei is the currency utilized in their kingdom, it was like a coin only a bit bigger in size and silver in color. "The Nile treasure quest, a D-rank quest, requesting mages skilled enough to find and recover the lost Nile treasure. Sounds interesting, let's do it!" She exclaimed.

It did sound interesting but completing the quest meant splitting the pay into two and given it was just a D-rank quest, that meant 20,000 Rei was a rather small amount and it wouldn't cover her rent.

With this knowledge, he searched through the request board for a quest with a more higher reward. "The protection quest, an A-rank quest, requesting elite mages or if possible S-class mages to act as bodyguards. Reward for successful completion, 500,000 Rei. This is it." He said.

"H-huh!? An A-rank quest that even requests S-class mages!? Absolutely not." She refused.

"Oh come on." Haru said from behind the two startling them. "It'll be fun!" He added.

"Oh hell no, what makes you think we can complete a quest that demands S-class mages?" She asked.

"Don't doubt your abilities Hinata." Renji said.

"Yeah, how are you ever going to get stronger if you don't aim higher? Let's do it!" Haru exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"B-but." She stuttered, still hesitating to agree.

"Your rent is due tomorrow isn't it? A mere 20,000 Rei won't be enough to fend to your needs and pay your rent at the same time." Renji said with a serious tone behind his voice.

She blushed slightly, realizing he was only doing this for her sake. After a few moments of consideration, she agreed. "Alright, let's do it." She gave in.

"Alright! A semi S-class quest, here we go squad!" Haru exclaimed with excitement, visibly thrilled at what challenges they were to face from here on.

"Alright then." Hinata took the quest off the request board and submitted it at the counter where Yui stamped it, giving official approval to take on the quest. "Be careful out there you three." She wished them the best of luck as they left the guild.

"This is will be your first official quest since joining the guild Renji, it'd be a shame if I outshine you so don't fall back!" Haru declared with determination.

"Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing, Haru Shin!" Swiftly, both of them raced forward leaving Hinata behind.

"Seriously, boys." She sighed softly before smiling and running right behind them.