Chapter 64: Zeth and Zaydra

Zeth: (Narrating) Following our meeting with my mother, Harmona, we ended up spending four months training. It also gave us time to finish up any remaining business as this may be the last time we get to see family and friends for a while. During these four months, Sasha, Emily, Joe, and Kurt had birthdays with Sasha and Emily now being 18, Joe being 19, and Kurt being 23. But now it’s time to get to work. After training, we went to RAG to check our magic power. I’m a mid E-Rank. Emily is a low E-Rank. And the other three are a high F-Rank. It’s now November, Year 118. We had received intel from one of my mother’s angels that Clora, the angel that left me with my step-parents, has gone missing in some shallow woods. We are on a mission to find her.

*The heroes are walking through shallow woods*

Joe: I hope nothing bad has happened to Clora.

Zeth: We know nothing about what we are getting into so stay on guard.

*Zeth notices someone at the last moment as that person is engaging him and he blocks the punch just in time but is then kicked, knocking him back*

*The attacker is Zeth’s sister, Zaydra*

Zaydra: Hello, brother.

Zeth: So you are my sister, Zaydra. Why did you attack me!?

Zaydra: To see how up to snuff you are in combat. Look, you’re my little brother so I care about you a lot. I don’t want you to be ill-prepared for fighting demons and then die. You may not be able to tell, but your death would leave our mother with depression. She was already hurt enough for having to leave you in someone else’s care for all this time. She may be a goddess, but she still has emotions.

Zeth: (Thinking) She is right, I could tell when I was hugging our mother.

Zeth: Fine, how about a quick sparring match.

Zaydra: Okay, but I won’t be using much of my power because, otherwise, I would turn you into dust with just one hit.

*They charge at each other and then they begin trying to punch and kick each other. Zaydra has no trouble blocking all of Zeth’s attacks while also having no trouble landing her attacks. It’s clear that Zaydra is winning*

*Zaydra wins and then they stop*

Zaydra: For how inexperienced you are, you are pretty good, but don’t feel bad about losing to me. I’m 536 years old after all. I have had plenty of time to improve my skills.

Zeth: I guess I forgot you are that old since you look young.

Zaydra: Well, once you get your divine powers back and get to be my age, you will get used to it.

*The heroes laugh*

Zeth: So what magic rank are you?

Zaydra: Oh Zeth, that’s a silly question. The magic ranks are a mortal creation and don’t really mean anything. You can’t really quantify someone’s strength.

Sasha: But we had our magic scanned and everything.

Zaydra: You did but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean anything. Those scans measure your magic strength at a base level and that’s it. It doesn’t take into account the strengths and weaknesses of your magic and it also does not take into account how far you can push your power. They don’t take into account strategies one can come up with for their magic either. Finally, some magics are just straight-up a bad match-up for other magics. Thinking you will win a battle just because you are a higher magic rank is a good way to get yourself killed.

Zeth: Give an example of one of these match-ups that would be bad for a certain type of magic.

Zaydra: Okay, let’s say you had someone that used Plant Magic. Now let’s say that the Plant Magic user goes up against someone that uses Lava Magic. Those plants are going to have a tough time not getting burnt to a crisp from the lava. The one with Plant Magic can be very strong, but they can be taken down by someone not as strong if they are in a bad match-up.

Zeth: I get what you are saying.

Zaydra: For us divine beings, we don’t have any sort of magic ranks. Our strength is looked at based on our accomplishments in battle. So while there are obviously divine beings that are much stronger than others, we don’t have any sort of quantifying system to say that. Some do like to make lists of who they believe to be the strongest though. In other words, once you get your permanent divine power back, you will never even give any thought to that magic rank system ever again. It is annoying how the use of the mortal rank system has even spread to the underworlds too.

Joe: Underworlds?

Zaydra: They are other dimensions connected to Earth. It’s not something you need to think too much about right now. 

Zeth: So why are you here anyway?

Zaydra: I’m on the trail of Korobu. He is one of the Dark Goddess’s most powerful weapons.

Zeth: The bastard who infected me with darkness?

Zaydra: Yes. I felt his power in an area nearby a while ago.

Zeth: Do you think there is any connection between him and Clora’s disappearance?

Zaydra: I doubt it. He would gain nothing from doing so and probably would have just killed her on the spot. This is an abduction. I leave finding Clora to you and your friends. I must hunt down Korobu. Good luck.

*Zaydra quickly leaves*

Sasha: She seems like she would be a big help finding Clora.

Zeth: She is right though. Taking down Korobu is a priority. Finding Clora is something we can handle. Let’s go.

Narrator: After an encounter with Zaydra, the heroes continue their search for Clora. What will they find?

Chapter 64 END

To be Continued in Chapter 65: Mansion of Horrors