Maverick observed the two men closely, not just with his eyes, but through his Magical-Sense. When he seheir emotions had bee unstable enough, he began the real interrogation.

  The sound that filled the room was distorted, heavy—unnatural. It didn't sound human at all.

  "Name!"

  The two men instinctively turheir heads toward the voice. The figure before them seemed to have grown taller, more imposing. Their minds, overwhelmed by fear, barely registered the words.

  "NAME!"

  The voied, louder now, filling the space with a heavy presence.

  "B-b-b... Benjamin... my lord..." the younger man stammered, his voice trembling with fear.

  The older man, hearing the younger's response, found his own voice. "Samuel... my lord. S-s-Samuel Sameer..."

  With Legilimency active, Maverick firmed the truth from their thoughts. He probed deeper, delving further into their minds to uncover more about their identities.

  Samuel, aian local, was a wizard in his fifties, a man who had reached his limit—uo grow any stronger and g signifit talent. With er-paying job opportunities and limited options, he took the easiest way out, joining the mysterious group of traffickers, lured by the promise of money.

  Then there was Benjamin, the younger of the two. Ali had been right. Benjamin was indeed a mutant, though not a particurly powerful one—just slightly strohan an average human at his peak, with the unique ability to detect other mutants within close proximity.

  He was a cruel and greedy young man, barely in his thirties. He used his unique ability to track other mutants for traffickers, showing no remorse for the suffering he caused. Uhe magical unity, which had its own governand ws in each try, the mutants were scattered and disanized, left to fend for themselves. As a result, the disappearance of any random muta unnoticed, causing no immediate rea or .

  Though Maverick was not one of them, he came from a world where racism—against anyone, for any reason—was a cept deeply loathed and instinctively rejected. Every cell in his body recoiled at the idea of exploiting others for profit.

  This alone was enough for Maverick to decide that Benjamin should disappear, not to mentioher crimes—murder, rape, and more—that he had itted. The situation he was in now made him relive the horrific things he'd done, and Maverick had a clear, unwavering image of the kind of creature he truly was.

  Samuel and Benjamin watched in growing horror as the shadowy figure's eyes glowed with an ominous red light, log onto theirs. The iy of the gaze felt suffog, as though it could pierce straight through them. The air seemed to grow thicker, the fpping of wings louder, each beat eg like a tdown.Before delivering a merciless beating to the two filth, Maverieeded to find something that could lead him to the people behind them. The answers were hidden in their minds, and he would extract them no matter the cost.

  "Tell me," he began, his tone deliberate, "are you involved with the missing children? The Half-bloods... the vees, werewolves... mutants?"

  Samuel flinched, his gaze dropping to the ground as if he could escape the weight of the figure's eyes. His jaw trembled, sweat dripping down his forehead, but he remained silent. His lips pressed tightly together, betraying the fear that ed within him.

  Beside him, Benjamin's resolve crumbled uhe pressure. "W-we're just scouts!" he blurted out, his voice shaking. "We grab targets, that's it! We don't know anything..."

  Maverick took a slow step forward, the illusion around him ging ominously. Shadows rippled across his fiving the impression that he was growing rger, darker, more menag. His voice, low and cutting, broke the heavy silence.

  "Who were the ones behierday's attempt to kidnap the Half-blood Vees?" The voice was calm yet razor-sharp, slig through the oppressive rhythm of fpping wings.

  Benjamin's breath hitched, his words tumbling out in a trembling stammer. "J-just... random meraries, my lord... I swear, we'll never do it again... please, just let us go."

  Maverick's crimson gaze remaieady, unblinking, slig through the feeble excuse as if peeling back their very souls.

  "You," the figure said, with the voice cold as ice as it raised a hand to point at Samuel. "Who do you ao?" The demand came cold, leaving no room for evasion.

  Benjamin's eyes flicked toward Samuel, silently pleading for him to speak, to cooperate. But the older ma his gaze fixed on the ground, refusing to look back. Instead, his hands ched into fists, the s around his wrists rattling in the suffog silence. His lips trembled as he finally forced out words, his voice hoarse and barely audible.

  "Orders e through... intermediaries. Just names and locations," Samuel admitted, his voice shaky. "We pay dark wizards desperate for money and give them the targets." He swallowed hard, his eyes flickering toward Maverick for the briefest moment before darting away. "There's a witch. She calls herself Ruby..."

  As Samuel spoke, Maverick delved into the older man's mind, sifting through every fragment of information that could lead to the true masterminds behind the ses.

  For now, ohing was certain: these two were merely middlemen, slightly higher up the dder but still just intermediaries. They, too, passed on o other desperate souls willing to carry out the dirty work.

  her Samuel nor the mutant Benjamin possessed any real strength, and even the mysterious witch Ruby failed to impress. Samuel was merely a magus, and Ruby, though a strus, was still just that—a magus.

  The dark figure's gaze sharpened, its crimson eyes log onto Samuel. "What else? How do you tact her?"

  Maverieeded to find this witch who supposedly held some influen the group. If anyone could lead him to the boss, it would be her.

  Samuel shook his head weakly, his entire body trembling. "I don't know. I swear I don't know!" His voice cracked, and he looked down at the ground. "We only hear from her when there's a job. If we fail or talk..." He stopped, his breathing growing shallow as fear overtook him.

  "She'll kill us," Samuel finally whispered, his voice breaking. "Or worse... they will."

  Maverick leaned closer, his glowing eyes log onto Samuel's. His voice dropped, low and cold. "Who are they?"

  Samuel froze, his lips twitg as if struggling to form words. He opened his mouth but hesitated, his fear of the unknown forces behind him matg the terror of the figure in front of him.

  "I—I 't..." Samuel stammered, his voice trembling. "There... There's a Marquis behind them... Please... you don't knoerful he is..."

  "And what rank," the figure asked slowly, its voice as cold as ice, "do you suppose I am?"

  Before either man could respond, a suffog pressure spread outward, emanating from the shadowy figure and enveloping the ttives. It felt like the weight of a mountain pressing down on them, a tsunami of raw energy hammering against their very spirits. Their trembling bodies bent forward uhe crushing force, their heads smming onto the cold, unyielding ground.

  "K-King...?" Samuel mao choke out through gritted teeth, his eyes wide with shod disbelief. In all his years, he had never entered an Arch-Magus, those seven beings whose sheer presence was said that could paralyze magus like himself with nothing more than a gnce.

  Although he had never experiehe domineering presence of an Arch-Magus before, his subscious told him this was it—the crushiion of utter insignifice, like a worm crushed beh the weight of a t mountain. The overwhelming force pressed down on him so pletely that he could barely stay scious.

  Benjamin, his so-called partner, colpsed the moment Maverick released his dominant spirit. Maverick had extracted everything he needed from the mutant's mind, and he felt no sympathy as he crushed the man's spirit.

  Meanwhile, outside the room, Maverick's two acquaintances were feeling the effects of his momentum, struggling to keep their posure.

  "Fuck!... You said the boss was a Great-Magus..." Aisha panted, sweat dripping down her brow. Her hand gripped the sofa tightly as she fought to remain upright.

  Beside her, Ali looked equally strained, his breaths shallow and uneven. He forced himself to speak, the words ing out in strained gasps. "I... I never asked. I saw him using Magical-Energy Manipution, so..." He gasped for air, his body trembling. "I assumed he was..."

  Let's rewind time a little to clear up the fusion of why and how our protagonist ended up here.

  It had been one year and two months since Maverick began his travels, starting from Australia, just as pnned. He spent a few weeks there, learning magid studying their magical culture. When he felt he had absorbed enough, he moved on to the try.

  He traveled to India, where he learned valuable magical knowledge, especially in healing, along with rare spells and rituals that granted unique abilities. He also studied India's unique alchemy and potions, pig up skills that helped him progress the two talents quickly.

  After India, Maverick traveled north—first to Pakistan, then Indonesia, the Philippines, and finally a. He spent about two weeks in each try, but in a, he discovered a treasure trove of magical knowledge. The try's magical world offered unique bat magic that plemented his Magical-Energy-Manipution and provided deep insights into alchemy, particurly runes and warding.

  By the sixth month of his journey, Maverick found himself in Russia, one of the few pces where an Arch-Magus resided—someone who could possibly rival his teacher.

  By now, his Magical-Energy had increased by 300 units, going past 1200. Even more importantly, he now had nearly 4000 points saved up and ready to be ied.

  Instead of seeking new knowledge in Russia, Maverick chose to fly north to a desote, remote area where he couldn't sense any intelligent life. His flight was made in plete secrecy, using his suit's camoufge mode and his own magic suppression to ehere was no ce of dete. And yes, he flew—no broomstivolved. The moment the new year arrived, Maverick replicated the Extraordinary-Characteristic of his overpowered broomstick, gaining the ability to fly and maneuver in the air at speeds far faster than sound. It was all thanks to the system's miracle, and he didn't bother questioning the principles behind it.

  Far to the north, after days of careful scouting, Maverick chose a secluded spot in the mountains as the location for his breakthrough. Unlike his previous rank-up to Magus, he khat a physical phenomenon would occur during this transition, which is why he had picked such a remote spot.

  He ied nearly 1900 points into his magical energy, pushing his total to 3000—just the "bottleneck" that most Magus would reach before breaking through to the rank of Great-Magus.

  The intense magical fluctuations from his breakthrough affected every living creature within a half-kilometer radius. Unfortunately, the few por animals that lived nearby were not spared—most fell unscious, and some even died from the overwhelming energy.

  As for Maverick himself, the process ainful beyond what he had experienced during his rise to Magus. The agony sted for nearly half a day, but o was over, he felt pletely rejuvenated, as if reborn.

  His appearance remained unged, but the feeling within him was exhirating. He felt a preater than he had ever known, making him briefly eaihought of challenging his teacher. However, he quickly dismissed the foolish notion. Maveriew that, even at his new rank, he was no match for the Arch-Magus.

  His magical energy grew from 3000 to over 4000, abs ambient magic during his breakthrough.

  But it wasn't just the increase in magical energy that had ged. Maverick had gained new abilities, just as he had suspected. The system now dispyed two alents: Space Affinity, a power his teacher had used, and Dominant Spirit, a skill he had only heard of from Edward, though he had no real uanding of it.

  Both talents were marked as beginner proficy, which was no surprise. At this level, he cked the knowledge and experieo use them effectively.

  Maveriderstood that these talents could typically only be properly used after advang to the rank of Arch-Magus. This was the usual, much like how Magical-Energy Manipution and Magical-Sealents unlocked at the Magus rank—could only be effectively utilized by Great-Magus her.

  Without a sed thought, he spent 220 points to push both talents to advanced proficy, then new memories and instincts seamlessly merged into his mind, granting him mastery and years of experien the two skills.

  A few days ter, after adjusting to his breakthrough and new abilities, he followed the same routine as in other tries, expl the wizarding unity and gaining new knowledge. In two weeks, he pleted everything he needed and moved on, travelioward the Middle East. He started in Saudi Arabia, then moved on to Morocco, where he first met his Middle Eastern fidant.

  Ali was not just a wizard but also a werewolf. Maverick was never oo judge anyone—wizard, creature, or otherwise—based on first impressions. This wasn't his first enter with werewolves, and he quickly noticed something unusual about Ali. Uher werewolves, who often carried an air of malid dark emotions, Ali seemed different. There was no trace of the usual hostility lingering around him.

  Curious, Maverick decided to keep an eye on Ali. He followed the man for two weeks, his as and even peeking into his surface thoughts. The more Maverick watched, the more he liked what he saw, leading him to iigate Ali's past.

  What he discovered left him deeply impressed. Ali's behavior showed discipline and strong morals. He had accepted the hardships life gave him without bitterness or despair.

  —————————

  Author's Note:

  Just a quick update — up to Chapter 77 is already avaible on P AT r30n!

  PAT r30n [.] / RyanFic