Isabelle, The Strongest Mage

The Protocol

Isabelle dodged the first strike by moving away but the man in front of her was too fast. His long blonde hair sparkled the purest gold as he swung the weapon in hand again. Isabelle wasn't lucky this time.

A flick of her hair was chopped off cleanly by the sharp strike of the sword. Isabelle could only be glad this wasn't her neck.

The man's Hanfu blew in the air as he raised his leg and aimed a hard kick at her stomach.

Isabelle was caught entirely off guard as she hadn't expected the leg to come out of nowhere. She flew backward and her head hit a knot sticking out of the trunk. Isabelle's vision darkened at the edges at the sharp pain that came from the backside of her head. She could only rollover as the man twisted his sword and thrust it towards her.

Crack!

Isabelle's eyes widened as the force of the sword sent a deep cut through the trunk almost tearing it from the middle. She grabbed the sword that was stuck in a tree behind her.

He sneered at her as they both closed, and the blonde man cut at Isabelle. Isabelle parried, but the man simply mutated the cut into a thrust. He swung at Isabelle relentlessly, driving her back, never letting her gain her balance.

Isabelle parried desperately and tried to counter, but the blonde man pressed without yielding, never giving up the initiative.

Isabelle's tip finally slipped past the man's guard, and he jerked his head back, barely turning a head-cleaving hew into a gash across his face. In shock and pain, he stumbled and fell down the edge of the cliff Isabelle didn't even know they were so close to.

She gasped with wide eyes as she could barely make out a dark figure falling down a dark void. She stood with shaky legs and ran away, the pouch and sword both clenched tightly.

She ran before someone else fought her for the teal green pouch in her hand.

500 meters ago the air shimmered goldenly. A cavity of swirling black and white appeared as a portal.

'An Exit,' Isabelle cheered. She ran forward and jumped headfirst into the cavity.

Her entire body felt weightless before she ended up being in the same dark room where she started. The door behind her opened and the light started to fill the eerie empty place. The pouch and sword in her hand turned to mist and Isabelle went outside.

On her right was a flushed and just as dirty Ethan. He had a small bleeding gash on his bicep. However, Ethan seemed more than content to just be alive to worry about the wound.

Suddenly she felt a sharp sting and there was a small hollow triangle etched on her wrist. This just made Isabelle even angrier.

The Test.

She stalked at the pair who seemed to be conversing over a paper. Isabelle was going to throw a punch but a large hand wrapped around her wrist pulling it down. Ethan shook his head in disagreement when he saw killing intent in her eyes and Isabelle sneered.

'Fine then, I'll 'talk',' Isabelle mentally thought.

Anybody who knew Isabelle knew the talk was usually more damaging than the physical harm she could. Isabelle was ruthless when she shamed or scolded a person. She used everything damaging against them to the point where their souls almost departed to heaven. However, she was at a disadvantage seeing she knew nothing about them.

'Well, it never stopped anyone from screaming their throats dry,' she snarked in her head.

"What the hell is wrong with both of you?" Isabelle spat and her tone was venomous. Ethan, who hadn't expected such venom from her was shocked at it.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

Isabelle let out an indignant noise as she glared at him. "We could have been permanently damaged," she shrieked, "We could have DIED!"

Mark went expressionless and adopted a formal tone, "the test is to see if you can save the world by your missions. If you fail them the only option for us would have been to eliminate you."

"We cannot have a couple of humans disclosing about the organization just because they are salty they failed," he completed as he picked up lint from his coat sleeve.

Seeing his careless answer Isabelle was raging, "How dare you?!" She growled lowly in her throat, "Just who do you think you are? Huh? How dare you play god and decide whether they should live or not!?"

"It is the protocol," he answered in a monotonous voice.

"Fuck your protocol!" she seethed in white-hot anger, "You are saving the world but you dare take lives so carelessly?! Who the hell gave you the right?! If you can't care about them then you simply are a monster!"

Mark's grey eyes overtook a cold steel glint, "Do you know how many galaxies have been destroyed?" he asked rhetorically, "Countless. We can not even count the galaxies let alone the living who seized to exist. Those 'few' people who we should leave alone to roam might get the entire organization destroyed. Then what?"

"Of course for your naive little mind thinks everything is black and white but we are all in a surging mass of grey. If a few deaths can save billions of people is it not worth it?" he demanded.

'What? If means justify the end then it's all fine and dandy?' she mentally jeered.

"There are plenty of ways to silence people," she argued.

"Not as effective though," Ethan grumbled from behind. He knew what they both meant and they both were right. However, what works the best and is the most effective will be chosen. Isabelle wanted to save people but what if one of them escaped and blurted out? They will be on their path to death including countless other people.

Isabelle was struck dumb at the statement. She wanted to scream more but what was the point for three out of four agreed? No matter how angry she was, even she could see when she was fighting a losing battle.

"You both should leave. We will call you when we have a mission for you," Void whispered from the side. His hair was still colored murky brown with worry when Isabelle and Mark had started fighting.

Ethan nodded while Isabelle snorted. They were getting rid of her so she won't say more. Well, she didn't care enough about it.

"Teleport me to my bathroom so I can wash all this grunge off me," she said before turning to smoke again.

When both of them vanished Mark and Void breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where the hell did the elf and swordsman come from?" Mark asked, pulling at his hair. The test had gone entirely wrong. Originally it was only to find portals to other scenarios but this time it was ...something else. The test had changed for them into something far too dangerous.

Void only shook his head. He didn't know.

~'~

Author's Thoughts

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