Modern Age Online

They sat facing each other in silence for several minutes. Charlie was still staring hard at Kaleb, trying to bore through his head with his gaze. Kaleb coughed as he rubbed his chin and stared back at the younger Sorcerer. Charlie smiled smugly as Kaleb rubbed the spot where he got punched. Kaleb grinned back.

“So… how are the folks?” Kaleb asked.

Charlie’s eyes got wide before he jumped up angrily. “You should have never -”

Another portal opened in the room, cutting Charlie’s tirade off and Diana Torero stepped through. She had changed out of her armor and was now wearing a plain blouse and jeans. Her hair looked damp so Kaleb assumed she had showered before coming back here. She froze as she stared between the fuming Charlie and the smirking Kaleb.

The restaurant owner shook her head as she moved to sit next to Charlie. Charlie rushed over to a nearby cart full of drinks asking hurriedly.

“Did you wish for refreshments, my lady?”

“What I wished for, Charles, was for you to not assault our guest.” Diana said as she leaned back on the sofa rubbed her temples with a hand.

Charlie walked back to the sofa and bowed toward his boss. “I apologize, my lady. I momentarily lost my temper. It will not happen again.”

“See it doesn’t.” Diana said sharply but not unkindly. “We will be working closely with the Professor if he agrees to my offer.”

Kaleb could almost hear Charlie’s spine stiffen as the young man froze. Kaleb smirked again as the young butler/bodyguard digested those words. He didn’t know if he wanted to deal with Diana Torero, but seeing Charlie’s reaction was priceless. Diana turned back to Kaleb as she ran a hand through her long hair and sighed.

“As you have seen, Edward Derana is now dead. Soon a third party will buy his quaint establishment then I will buy that third party. So in the end the Ifrit corpse will be mine.”

Kaleb shook his head. “All save for the materials promised me. The Council has assured me they will hold the Blue Goblin to that.”

“Yes, you will get your materials. But, I think this incident displays your ignorance when dealing with all things magical.” Diana said, a small smile on her lips.

Kaleb sighed as Charlie covered an obvious laugh. Diana gave her manservant a look before she continued.

“Really, Professor, 1500 credits for such a rare creature. That can barely be called a pittance. But, it wasn’t your fault. No, Derana was a slippery and conniving bastard. There’s no question he took advantage.” Diana said.

Kaleb twisted his head curiously. “But you won’t?”

Charlie stiffened again as Diana narrowed her eyes. “That is a good point. You don’t trust me and to be honest I don’t like you. You are boorish and far too casual with those that are very clearly your superiors.”

“And you are a spoiled princess with too much power and superiority complex.” Kaleb cut in smiling wide.

Diana stared hard at Kaleb as Charlie’s hands curled into fists. Kaleb was mentally preparing himself for a fight when Diana suddenly smiled. She waved at hand Charlie, creating another portal behind her manservant. Without turning her gaze from Kaleb she said.

“Charles, can you go get a towel for my hair?”

Charlie looked ready to argue before Diana swiveled her gaze toward him. Kaleb could hear the young man swallow loudly. “Yes, my lady.”

Charlie disappeared into the fiery portal as Diana grinned wide at Kaleb again. Kaleb maintained his stare at the female restaurant owner. After what felt like minutes Diana leaned back and sighed loudly. He saw her body relax as all the energy seemed to leave her body.

“Look.” She began. “All I am asking is that you enter into an agreement with me.”

“What kind of agreement.”

“Just that if you come across anything magical, you bring it to me. If I can use it, then I will buy it from you at market price. If I can not use it then, for a small percentage of the sell price, I will find you a buyer.” Diana explained.

Kaleb mulled over the offer. He had already been cheated out of millions and honestly he didn’t know if he could trust the young elitist to keep her word. But, she could really simplify this whole mess. Really, it was what he wanted to do with Derana before Kaleb discovered that the man was an asshole.

“What assurances do I have that you will keep your word?”

Diana smiled wide as one of her hands drew a magical rune in the air. When she finished a tan scroll fell out of the circular rune. The magic dissipated as Diana unrolled the scroll on the coffee table between them. Kaleb reached for the piece of parchment and read through its contents.

It was a contract stating what Diana had already offered. Except it declared that she would get 10% off any sales she facilitated. Kaleb stared over the parchment at the Sorcerer as she looked into her still open portal for her manservant. Going back to reading he saw that it was all standard but, strangely, several other people signed it at the bottom.

“Who are these people here?” Kaleb asked nodding at the bottom of the page.

Diana turned her attention back to Kaleb, rolling her eyes. “I should have guessed that you have never seen a Magical Contract. That is a magically binding agreement witnessed by the Magical Council. Once signed, If either of us break that agreement then the Council will make our lives a living hell.”

Kaleb looked back down at the signature. Sure enough Araella’s name was on the document too. If Diana was lying, then she risked enraging a shit load of magical people. Kaleb read through the document several times before he finally set it back on the coffee table. Diana stared between him and the document, a question in her eyes.

Kaleb shook his head. “10% is too much. The HLO is already taking 10% for me.”

Diana smiled wide obviously at home negotiating. “I am the one doing all the work to find buyers. Don’t for a second think I don’t know how the HLO pays their Supers. They should take 10% off the total reward from their little missions. Anything you gain after the fact, is free money.”

Kaleb nodded as he tried another approach. “Come on, Diana. I am a poor scientist I have to pay for the upkeep of a lab, you know.”

Diana shook her head incredulously. “Ha! Fine, 8% is as low as I’ll go and you better thank whatever Gods you believe in that I am so charitable.”

Kaleb could tell from the tone of her voice that it would be best not to push it things further. She was right: it was free money. Besides, he had other things he wanted to go over before he signed.

“Second point,” Kaleb began.

Diana sat up as her eyes narrowed. “There’s more?”

Kaleb put up a finger. “Just one more after this. But I want the materials from anything you buy from me. Nothing a restaurant can use, just the skin, nails, bones, and things like that.”

Diana put her hand to her chin as she thought it over. Eventually she nodded. “That is fair, if I have no use for it, then it is yours. What is the third point?”

Kaleb took a deep breath before he asked as serious as he could. “Teach me Magic.”

Diana’s eyes bulged in surprise and she coughed as she seemed to swallow wrong. Covering her mouth with her hand she stared at Kaleb before exploding in laughter.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… you… HAHAHA… me… HEHEHEHEH… want….” Diana couldn’t complete a sentence as she was almost rolling on the couch. She clutched her sides in pain and continued to roar in peals of laughter.

Kaleb sat back in his chair and just watched the Sorcerer laugh. She went on for a while when Charlie came back and worriedly approached her. Upon seeing him she seemed to find her second wind, exploding again into raucous laughter. She tapped Charlie’s arm still laughing, pointing to Kaleb and then herself.

“He…. I…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” she tried to say.

Charlie looked worriedly at his charge before realization seemed to cross his face. He whirled at Kaleb drawing a whip from around his waist. He stomped toward Kaleb, whip bursting into flame.

“You insolent cur. How dare you proposition my lady! To think you would ever be good enough to ARGH-”

Diana’s magic cut him off as something lifted him from the ground and flung him into the wall behind Diana’s couch. She was wiping tears from her eyes with one hand while the other maintained the spell that held Charlie.

“Charles, please refrain from making such assumptions.” She said still breathing hard.

Kaleb breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t think he could move fast enough if he and Charlie came to blows. There was a thud as Diana released her spell and Charlie hit the floor. He quickly gathered himself and stood, moving to kneel at his lady’s side.

“But my lady you said…” He began.

Diana placed a hand gently on Charlie’s cheek patting him gently. “He wants me to teach him Magic, you idiot.” Her final pat hit a little harder than the others, almost upgrading to a full on slap.

Charlies caught himself as he almost fell from the blow. He stood quickly then looked over at Kaleb who was sitting straight in his chair, prepared for another round of laughter. Charlie just looked quizzical though.

“Do you even have the Gift of Magic?” He asked.

Kaleb shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Diana chuckled softly as she said. “Even if you did, people pay millions to learn the Magical arts from the Torero Family.”

“How about you give me an overview then? How I would train myself and things like that.” Kaleb said.

Diana gave a half-nod. “Maybe, but first we need to see if you have the Gift.” she stood and moved around to Kaleb’s chair.

Kaleb stiffened as her cold hands gripped either side of his head. She twisted his head this way and that before she finally tilted his head up and stared into his eyes. Kaleb felt like something was seeping into his body as he stared back at Diana. The feeling disappeared as she took her hands away and went back to her couch. Her demeanor seemed to have shifted after doing whatever she had done.

“Well?” Kaleb asked.

Diana nodded as she seemed to be deep in thought. Charlie stared at his charge and asked worriedly.

“My lady?”

Diana seemed to come back to herself as she looked at her manservant. “Ah, yes. You seem to have some small ability. But, your Mana channels are closed. We would have to open them for you to have access to Mana.”

Kaleb nodded. “Ok then, can we do that?”

“It will hurt like nothing you’ve ever felt before.” Diana said seriously.

“I had my ribs crushed by a Rage Demon earlier this evening. I think I can take it.” Kaleb laughed.

Diana nodded as Charlie gasped in surprise. “That would explain you injuries.” Diana said. “But those will only make it worse.”

Charlie glanced between Diana and Kaleb still stunned at the mention of a Rage Demon. Kaleb slid forward in his seat and gave her a questioning look.

“Will you do it?”

Diana bobbed her head from side to side in indecision before she stood from the couch and waved him over. “You will want to lie down. It can be a fairly dizzying experience.”

Kaleb nodded as he got up from his chair and moved to lie down on the couch. Once he was laying flat on his back Diana knelt alongside him and placed a hand on his chest and forehead. Diana stayed motionless as Kaleb stared up at the ceiling. He was about to ask what they wanted him to do when a searing pain erupted from all over his body.

He thrashed and screamed as Diana maintain contact and Charlie watched on. He felt like his veins were on fire and he saw little explosions detonating in beams of light behind his closed eyes. His chest pulsed in pain as his heart felt like it was exploding with each breath. He was sure he had broken his ribs again and now they were all dancing a tune on his lungs. The pain was never ending as it raced up and down his body. For the second time that night Kaleb felt himself sink down into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

*Mana Unlocked*

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