Elan, now unofficial leader and representative of the Heroes, Riko and a few of the most powerful heroes were following a knight throught one of the wide corridors of the Imperial Palace.

The knight's name was Antony Nartes, capitain of the 12th and last division of the Templars, and he was responsible for their training. The Heroes had a great opinion of him, he was a good teacher who took his job seriously and the Heroes were thriving under his teachings.

"The place i am bringing you to is called the 'Imperial Door'."

They had all been selected as they were the first to manage to learn proper mana manipulation, and as he was guiding them, the knight was explaining them why.

"The Empire is so large that it can take up to a few month for someone at the edge of it to join the capital. It became a problem in administering such a large country. Magic offer us the solution of teleporting important peoples or documents to the capital or other key points of the Empire, but such complex magic can only be used by Rank 9 Mages and they were at most between 5 to 10 in the Empire. It would be a waste of some of the most powerful men in the world.

After years of research, they created a whole new field of magic called 'Formations', and with it, they built what we call the 'Gate Network', connecting the biggest cities of the Empire with the capital and the Imperial Palace at it's center. The Gates can be use to teleport anybody from a Gate to another anywhere in the Empire. Obviously, there is 2 Gates in the capital, the public one is in the 'Low city' while there is a private one directly in the Imperial Palace. The private one is called the Imperial Door and it is one of the very few private Gate, it mean the one trying to teleport to the Gate need a key that can take various forms. The Imperial Door Key take the form of a locket and they have another function : If injected with enougth mana, you can teleport to the Imperial Door from anywhere on the continent."

They ended up reaching a vast, circular hall. Numerous guards in heavy plate armors where standing at strategics locations around the room.

This Gate wasn't just important because it was in the middle of the Imperial Palace, presenting a potential threat to everyone inside it, it was also the center of the 'Gates Network' and if destroyed, would make the whole system unusable.

Their guide turned back toward them and kept explaining them.

"You are the most promising Heroes, so the Emperor decided to grant you the privilege of carrying Imperial Door Keys. But Keys aren't stored, they need to be manufactured everytime His Highness grant one to someone. As you are the ones with the most mana, you will be the firsts one to be granted this honor." smiled Antony.

While he was finishing his monologue, the magic formation started to light up.

A man dressed like an official and who was monitoring the formation raised his head.

"It's an emergency activation and the one using the Imperial Door Keys isn't its legitimate holder."

The armored guards instantly lowered their spears and got into position, ready for combat, while Antony Nartes stepped between the formation and the Heroes, hand on his sword.

The formation activated and instead of a man, a corpse fell on the ground.

In his right hand was a locket similar to the one shown by Antony. He was wearing clothes hidding his identity and out of the back of his head came out a dark stake.

The stake was leaking a strange black mist.

"Don't get close, it's black magic." screamed the official.

Moving at incredible speed Nicolas dashed toward the body and decapitated it, throwing the head in the airs.

The head blew up. If it was still attached to the body, it would have destroyed the body and all evidences left.

Sheating his sword, he pointed at the body.

"Bring back the body, search it and identify it."

Two guards came closer and dragged the body throught one of the exits.

Their guide got back to them and apologised.

"I'm sorry. I will have to bring you back to your quarters. We can't stay here as the investigation is going to start."

"Wasn't it supposed to help us stay alive ? " joked Riko.

Elan stared at her for her inappropriate comment.

"He was really unlucky : even if the transfer take a few instants on our end, when you activate it, it is almost instantanious. While the formation get ready to receive you, your body should be floating in emptyness. That's why it's considered a life saving item." answered Antony, unfazed.

"The ability to jump to safety from almost anywhere would represent a tremendous anyway." argued Elan.

Riko wasn't dumb or unsensible to those advantages. She was just teasing Antony, who she seemed unable to trust.

The grouped turned around, going back to their quarters. They would continue the presentation after the investigation of the Imperial Bureau, agroup they had already met.

Antony entered a small office, filled to the brim with papers and documents. Behind a small desk, a man was sitting, looking through the report on the mysterious body. The man was the Director of the Imperial Bureau and he got straight to business.

"The body belonged to Tomas Nifzer. I believe you already met him as he was working for your elder brother who is now missing, presumed dead as the Key used belonged to him."

"Wait ..." stagered Antony. He first thought he was called for interrogation as a witness.

The man started briefing Antony on their recent finding.

"You have an high enough security rating to get more informations.

We have lost all contact with Ern's team, but he was investigating the 'Church of Hell' and it's recents activity. They were in Arnes investigating the recent assault on the governor's mansion. On the body were various documents, one of them was the confession of an ex-member of the Cult. The content of the confession must first be read by the Emperor and i'm afraid i can't tell you more for now."

The man apathetically pushed a document and a small box toward him.

"Those were the belongings that your brother left behind in case he was dead or missing."

Antony sat down on the only chair in this side of the desk.

His elder brother had started training him, and even if the young and talented Antony ended up quickly needing a better trainer for his potential, the two brothers were really close.

They weren't part of the high nobility, they came from a small noble house of reputable knights and both of them ended up surpassing their elders and ancestors, shaping the 'Nartes' name into a powerful one. The younger brother, more talented, joined the prestigious Templars, while the elder, who also wished to serve the Empire, joined the Imperial Bureau as an operative.

They were both aware that they could die almost any time, especially the elder.

But as time passed, they got strongers, they became successful and his elder brother even ended up married to a member of the High Nobility. He recently had a son, and the possibility of death both slowly and blissfully drifted away from their minds. It was a brutal reminder.

"We have already sent a team and they will arrive tomorrow. You will be kept updated on your brother whereabouts." finished the Director.

He simply and emotionlessly waited for Antony to get his bearings back.

After a few seconds, the knight got up and leaved the room with his head down.

Even if a sliver of hope was still remaining, it was extremely slim.

It was said intuition was linked to magic, and Antony knew deep inside himself, that his brother was already dead.