Dark Magus Returns

The smal round device that had been input by Himmy lit up, and he had to pull it out before the doors would slide open. Not every member of Alter got one of these devices; it was practically a key to the base of the Alter group. However, members were able to enter along with their squad leader or if it was known beforehand. There were also several cameras that were hidden on the giant mushroom-looking building, allowing them to see what was outside.

Both of them stepped into the metal rectangular room that was in front of them. Himmy's heavy footsteps echoed slightly as they headed on inside. Then the door closed as soon as the two entered.

What the two of them were currently in was an elevator, and it even had buttons of the many floors on the side. In total, there were eight floors that went up, and there were eight floors that went down below the current floor they were on, which counted as 0.

"Oh, they changed the color of the bottom three floors," Charlotte noticed, as there was a slight purple glow around the buttons compared to the light blue buttons above it.

Using the same key to open the elevator door, Himmy then pressed it again against the number 3, and soon the elevator was on the move.

"Are they trying to highlight the forbidden floors or something?" Himmy commented and somewhat chuckled at the purple design.

The floors above were where those in Alter would report. They would file reports, meet up with fellow Alter members, and also discuss issues with higher-ranking officials. At the base of Alter, there were those known as the Programmers.

Not because they had knowledge in high tech or made anything with their minds, but because they were individuals in charge of the whole program at Alter. They would coordinate and inform all of the squads across the continent on what to do, what the best use of their time was, and if there was a need for more than one squad on a task.

These programmers were on various floors, but they lived at the Alter base and were based on the seventh floor. Their role was considered quite important in the grand scheme of things and allowed everything to work like clockwork. The programmers were free to go to any floor, including that of floor 8, but only when they were summoned to. This was because they worked with almost all departments in the building, which they needed to.

Even the 6th department, known as the Deleters. These were a group of powerful Otherworlders, some would say even the strongest Alter had, and their main goal and purpose were to get rid of evidence and traces of otherworlders existing, and they would use any means necessary.

The other floors had others that belonged to Alter as well, but the main floors that Himmy and Charlotte knew about were the first three. The first floor was a simple gathering area. Those belonging to Alter could rest here and prepare for their journey. There was a number of supplies for them to take with them. It was also an area for those to talk to each other. After all, Alter felt that it would be better for agents working for them to know each other. It would allow them to work on goals together even more than before.

On the second floor, there were several training rooms. These rooms allowed people to fight against each other, test out their skills, or learn what was best. After all, working in the field they were in, in the world they were in, they all knew they were bound to get in scuffles here and there.

As for all of the floors below that of floor Zero, where they had entered from, those were the storage rooms. Each floor represented the rank of items available. If they got permission, they were able to take items sometimes for use, especially those from floors -1 to -5. However, the floors below that, no one was allowed to use the items that were placed there. They were the items that were mythical and above. The restricted floors had the colored buttons that Charlotte had noticed before, and they were protected by those known as the Encrypters. A mysterious group of people.

Himmy had gotten off, and the door opened, landing on the third floor. They were hit with a wave of noise of people talking all over almost immediately. There was a lot of chatter along with people dressed in all sorts of clothing. Most of them were dressed in thin clothes like those of the normal people in Pagnar, while there were others that had more fashionable taste.

On this floor alone, at the moment, there were around three hundred or so people, and that wasn't all of the agents Alter had. There would be those on the other floors and those that were still outside working.

Heading forward, there were mostly large round tables where squads were sending in their reports. They would talk into a digital interface that was in front of them. It would record their report, and then they would have to wait until they were called to the front. Here they would queue up and speak to one of the Programmers and be informed about what they were to do next.

This wasn't always what happened, based on the information the programmers would constantly receive on the go. They would sometimes ask another agent that was currently out to go and report to the person in the field. n/-1n

This time, the two of them had been called back. Himmy spoke into the device around the table, saying everything he could about the deaths that they had discovered and everything else that had been going on. They then stood around waiting until eventually they had been called over by a programmer.

Stepping up, they were met with a metal desk that had a built-in screen on the bottom, facing towards the programmer. As for the programmers themselves, they looked human, mostly, but they wore a strange gold mask on their face, with a simple P marked on them. There weren't even any slits on the mask for eyes or a mouth and nose.

"Your report states that you still have found no lead on the deaths that are occurring. There has also been no link as to why these are happening," the programmer said as he moved his hands around all across the floor. "This is still quite an important matter to us, but none of the other agents have found anything either. There is one good thing; the rates of death seem to have slowed down recently.

"In the meantime, I don't want you to completely disregard this mission, but I will give you another task. You will stay in the Dark Faction so you can continue to investigate the last task."

There were ten programmers seated behind their desks, each giving out missions. Some small, looking for basic items, and others larger. In order to keep up their funds, they also ran services for the other Clans and governors. It was what they needed to do to stay afloat and how the name Alter had spread through the area.

As information was getting passed all over, of news of what was to come, things were coming in, and the reports would get sent up. At the higher floors where programmers were allowed to be, there were three head programmers who would pass on the information to the leader of Alter.

On the eighth floor, a large clock was heard clicking as the head programmer entered a dark room. One could hear the sway of the giant clock hand as it cut through the air at the back of the room.

"Sir, there has been some urgent information I thought you would like to know about, that has occurred in the Light Faction," the head programmer stated. "We have news that one of the Eld

ers of the Dawnblade Clan, they had been defeated in a battle against the Demonic Faction."

The head programmer continued to stare ahead in the darkness looking at the giant hand swinging. He could only see once in a while a flicker of a person that stood there.

"The report states that one of the people responsible for his death calls himself the Dark Magus."

Suddenly, as soon as the name had been said, the giant ticking hand had stopped. And it had done so mid-swing up to the side.

"The Dark Magus… someone used a name like that? That's impossible. I was told that he had died. Bring me all the details; I need to confirm this for myself. Otherwise, it looks like I'll need to head back to Alterian."