Adam controlled his body expertly, making Kenny tremble in fright.
He looked around the room, trying to find an escape. But when he saw the dozen robed figures standing with their backs to the wall, he visibly paled.
The boy slowly rose to his feet, his legs still trembling.
"W-who are you people?" he said in a shaky voice. "Let go!"
Suddenly, one of the two mysterious robed figures standing behind the altar called out to him.
"Kenny."
The boy’s pupils constricted. "Who are you? How do you know my na?!"
Before the man could even reply, Kenny turned around and bolted in the direction where the gap in the circle was the loosest.
The man sighed. Then, turned to the person next to him and gestured.
Lebu couldn’t help but shake his head as he let out a light chuckle. He turned to the youth and asked in slight amusent, "Didn’t you want a job?"
The mont Kenny heard that voice, he froze. He turned around and looked in Lebu’s direction, wide-eyed. "You... you’re—"
Lebu cut him off. "This is it," he said with a shrug. "Consider this your job interview."
Several emotions flashed across Kenny’s face, visible for all to see. He looked around at all the robed individuals in the room one more ti. Then his gaze finally settled on Lebu once again.
"Co on, now." Lebu gestured with his head. "We don’t have all day."
Kenny nervously gulped. He inhaled deeply, then returned to his original spot and anxiously stood before the altar.
The man standing beside Lebu spoke once again, his voice deep and gruff, "Kenny, tell us about your family. Tell us about your village in the Sea of Green."
Kenny couldn’t help but frown, his fingers fidgeting. "What do you an?"
"Do you have difficulty understanding the human tongue, boy?" The man scolded.
Kenny gulped. He cast an uneasy glance towards Lebu, who gave him a nod of encouragent.
The boy took a deep breath, then began to explain his fabricated backstory.
Adam had put a lot of effort into not only setting up the fake small settlent inside the Sea of Green, but also shapeshifting into various villagers — n, won, elderly, and even teenagers — and conducting trade with human settlents outside the edge of the vast forest.
He knew that once he was recruited into the Brotherhood, he would be thoroughly vetted, his background scoured for anything even remotely suspicious. That was why he had gone to such great lengths.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the Sea of Green had no human settlents. It did, and they mostly consisted of primitive tribes of hunters and gatherers.
The best of lies always had so truth to them.
The robed figure nodded. What Kenny said matched the background checks the organization had conducted on him.
"What about this Magus who gave you the Potion of Hope?" he asked, his voice solemn.
"What do you an?" Kenny tilted his head.
The man’s lips twithched and he couldn’t help but reprimand, "Stop starting every sentence with ’what do you an’!"
"S-sorry." Kenny shrank back.
"Tell us more about this elderly Magus you ntioned, Kenny," Lebu said in a gentle voice.
"Uhm..." The boy seemingly recalled the past.
"Well, he was very injured, on the verge of death, actually, when my father found him. My parents then nursed him back to health. Once he recovered, he concocted the potion and offered it to , saying I was of the right age to consu it. It was his way of saying thanks, I suppose."
"The recipe for the Potion of Hope is strongly guarded," Lebu began.
"It has the ability to awaken the latent mana within one’s body and allow the person to step on the arcane path. For soone to not only know its recipe but also concoct it, they’d have to be a skilled Herbalist belonging to an influential faction. Kenny, can you sketch that person for us?"
The boy couldn’t help but frown. "You... what are you going to do with that man? He... he was nice to and my parents."
"Rest assured," Lebu said gently. "We only wish to identify him and see if it’s soone we know."
Lies, Adam sneered.
Kenny hesitated. "You... you promise not to hurt him?"
"Of course." Lebu nodded with a smile.
"A-alright." Kenny nodded. He was then given a parchnt and a quill, and it didn’t take him long to sketch the face of the elderly Magus.
The person in the sketch was none other than...
Magus Nilrem.
Have fun finding him, Adam thought to himself in amusent.
After that, Lebu and the other robed figure asked him in-depth questions about his initiation mission. Finally, after almost fifteen mintues the interview had co to an end.
"Well then, Kenny, are you ready for the initiation ritual?" Lebu asked with a smile.
Kenny gulped nervously. "Y-yes, but... what is this ritual? What do I need to do?"
"You have to swear an oath," said the Agent as he waved his hand.
The next mont, an ancient to appeared on the altar.
"Place your hand on this book and repeat after ," Lebu added.
Kenny gulped and did as told. Lebu, too, placed his hand on the book. Following that, the runes on the mysterious stone altar glowed with a dim light.
Adam thought to himself in nostalgia:
Here we go again...
Lebu spoke in a solemn voice, "I will guard the knowledge of the past and seek the truth with unwavering dedication."
Kenny repeated those words.
Lebu continued, "I will shield those who cannot defend themselves."
Kenny repeated the words again.
Slowly, their voices overlapped with one another, and they magically sounded like a singular voice.
"I will act with integrity, honesty, and honor in all endeavors.
"I will embrace the harmony between light and shadow, knowledge and secrecy.
"I will strive for excellence in both body and mind.
"I will support and respect my fellow brothers, fostering unity and loyalty.
"I will protect the secrets of the Brotherhood, revealing them to only those worthy.
"I will confront darkness and evil wherever it rises."
Kenny repeated the final statent with grim determination in his heart, recalling the faces of all those who lost their lives in the Battle of Ravenfell.
A wave of mana surged from the altar, washing over Kenny.
After the initiation ritual was completed, the light on the runes inscribed on the altar faded away.
Lebu stepped forward and gently patted the boy’s shoulders.
"Always rember, Kenny," he began, his voice dignified.
"We are the lord guardians of the realms. In twilight, we find truth. In shadows, we seek wisdom."
"Lord guardians of the realms..." Kenny murmured, his heart choked with emotions.
Genuine emotions.
A long ti ago, he had assud that the word ’realms’ referred to the many continents of Tron.
But now... he knew the truth.
It did not an the continents of this world.
No.
It referred to the countless worlds of the Magus Universe.
This was the Twilight Brotherhood.
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