The Apathetic Mage Loves Cats

Chapter 9: Meeting

The trip to the ground was quick. We all piled into two carriages, the class in one carriage while Romand and I were in another. On an ironic twist of fate (but honestly just because Romand didn't get along with others and I was the only one who could tolerate him) I was placed in a carriage with Romand so that no one else had to deal with him. Neither of us uttered a word on the way to the castle, and we touched down before hopping out. We didn't even have time to idle and gawk at the castle, (I never did that in the first place, probably because I've been here so many times) before we quickly made our way inside.

As we walked through the grand halls of the castle towards a meeting room, the students couldn't stop themselves from staring in awe at the inside. They noticed the intricate details of the gold decorating the walls and the paintings of the rulers past all had them slack-jawed. The expensive vases sitting on in the corners of the hallways and the massive chandeliers hanging from the ceilings were all too much for them to handle.

As we were heading towards the meeting room, I happened to pass by a window, and slightly caught my reflection in it, finally getting a look at my appearance after not even taking note of it for many weeks.

My hair used to be a long and greasy mess, that pooled around my ears pathetically and was filled with knots and tangles due to not being able to wash or brush it while on the street. Because of a recent haircut, it was now a fluffy light grey mess atop my head; it barely went past my ears and it now revealed that I had blue undertones throughout my hair. Additionally, over the years, my eyes had changed colors. Before, they were a dull pink/lilac. However, they now had a slight shine to them, which, according to Romand, meant that I was finally finding my place amongst the magic around me. Whatever that means.

Standing behind Romand, I notice that his ears on his head twitched, moving backward then forwards rapidly as he came to stand before a door. Before anything could happen, the doors swung open, and I could hear a "Ro!" coming from behind them. Because I was directly behind Romand, and I knew whose voice was coming from the door, I sidestepped to the right just as soon as Romand sidestepped to the left. However, because the students and teacher behind us had no clue what was happening, a mass of blond hair collided with Daena and Gwyn who were following me, sending them almost tumbling to the ground but Lathom and Janes caught them instead, causing everyone to stabilize.

Genene, or Nene as she prefers, quickly stood upright and turned around to glare at Romand and I with a frown. "How could you not catch me, Ro?" She asked. Nene was only slightly smaller than Romand and I with a large mass of blond hair that cascaded down and rested at her hips. Today, she wore it in a high ponytail, but it still was long enough to rest around the middle of her back. Her mage's characteristics were long and thick claws, something that she liked to show off by painting different colors or decorating with different designs. She was also in the typical outfit that all mages were supposed to wear on missions. It was an all-black outfit with a black button-up long-sleeved shirt tucked into black pants which were then tucked into a pair of black combat boots. The only change was the white two-layered ankle-length cloak, trimmed with gold and fastened at the neck with a button that had the kingdom's emblem engraved on it.

The kingdom's emblem when placed on smaller objects like buttons was only a crown. It represented all the kingdoms but was created by the Ekalen Kingdom. The full scale of the emblem is a male, who is sitting on a throne poised and proper. He is wearing a robe and a sword lay across his lap, showing his status because no one else during that time could afford swords. To either side of him, he had lions, each with a paw resting on his armrests. But what stood out the most was the magnificent crown that lay on his head, taller than typical ones, probably to indicate status and power. However, to me, the sheer size of it looked simply too inconvenient. Luckily, the newest kings didn't want to keep the same tradition of having such a large crown.

Moreover, the only difference in battle outfits', was that a few of them had a purple band that was worn on the left forearm of newbies, to ensure the differences between those who were new to missions and those who had already done a lot of missions. It was just so that Romand knew that those who were wearing the armbands were paired with someone more experienced and that they would get jobs that were less dangerous, such as crowd control or patrolling the grounds rather than protecting important individuals, like the King. Looking at the mages, it looked like including us students, there were only about 8 other individuals wearing these armbands.

I looked inside the room to see around 30 mages standing in a grand hall, used for holding meetings scheduled for multiple people. Having this many mages on the ground at once was only reserved for special occasions. Typically, because mages are low in number and highly sought after, it was more common to have no more than five mages per mission. However, because this was for the Prince, Romand wanted as many protectors as he could find, so he only kept the bare minimum people on the island, enough to keep business steadily flowing and to ensure that there was adequate protection in case there was something that happened while everyone was away.

"And Al, is this the thanks I get for cutting your hair?" I heard from my left side. I briefly turned to look at Nene. It was true that a few weeks ago I asked Nene to trim my hair, but that didn't mean I owed her anything. So, instead of answering, I just made my way into the room, Romand following behind me; both of us ignoring Nene's cries for attention. Out of everyone in this room, Nene was only a few steps below Romand in strength, so she was promoted to his 2nd in command, which was why she was allowed to get away with this nagging. But of course, she wasn't the only one who Romand placed a lot of trust in.

"The knights should be here in a few minutes to confirm our coordination for the ceremony, Archmage Romand." I heard from in front of me. Looking directly ahead, I was met with three other familiar faces standing behind a table. The one who spoke was Lucyna, or Lucy if you were brave. She was a pretty and petite woman, standing at chest height of Romand and me. She had straight brown hair that rested right around her chest and side-swept bangs. Her mage's characteristic was a thick green reptilian tail, that swung lightly on the ground as we walked up.

To her left was Drac, a male slightly taller than me but certainly built much bigger. He had his black hair shaved close to his skull and hazel green eyes accompanied by a bright white smile that would lure in anyone who looked at him. On top of his great smile, he had a great personality that caused anyone to instantly feel at ease around him. The almost neon green devil horns stood out against his dark skin as he turned to give me a salute and wink.

The last person stood at the end, seemingly very bored about the situation. His name was Akan, and he had long crimson red hair that paired well with his red slit eyes. He was around my height but could easily overpower me despite his small frame. His snake tongue flicked out and brushed his lips in quick succession as Romand stood in front of the crowd.

These three were also a part of the strongest people on the island despite Romand, which inevitably lead them to be the leaders of the people and make sure that they stayed in line. They also knew who I was and what I could do, which somehow made them my babysitters.

"Alright, let's get started."

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Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I was gone for so long, I promise I'm still writing! I'm actually so excited to give you guys more content. I, unfortunately, got caught up in school work, and not that I'm on the last stretch, I think I can manage to finally start publishing again!

As always, I'm so happy that you have decided to read my story and I hope you enjoy! Please let me know how you feel about it and any suggestions that you have! Stay safe!