[Washington, D.C.]
"What do you mean, Cyrus Moore was kidnapped?!" Thomas Blair almost shouted after hearing the information that he was just told.
"It's just as I said." Alyssa Blair replied with a calm expression on her face. "Here, I even have the news articles right here."
The blonde 'rose magic' user then handed her uncle a tablet with the news articles about Cyrus's kidnapping already on the screen. The moment Thomas had the device in his hands, he immediately began reading over its contents before a shocked expression appeared on his face. The current Secretary of Agriculture was rarely ever thrown off by anything, but even this forced him to take a metaphorical step back.
"He was kidnapped by Iznana? Are you serious?" The 'sunflower magic' user then said in surprise.
"Yes, unfortunately…." Alyssa nodded.
"Damn."
Thomas Blair was certainly no idiot when it came to situations like this. He had been around the block far too many times for that to be the case. He knew good and well that if Iznana was involved in this fiasco, it could only mean that they must've been after the 'tree magic' user's DNA. This was exactly the kind of degenerate nonsense that the group was famous for. Which meant that they more than likely already had plenty of it in storage, just waiting to be sold off to the highest bidder.
He was a bit curious as to why the young man was still alive, though. Usually, Iznana killed anyone who had unique magic types after they had gotten what they wanted to keep the prices high. But that didn't appear to be the case this time around.
"But on the bright side, he's back now." Alyssa then said with a casual flip of her blonde hair. "He was only gone for about three weeks. And from what Elizabeth told me, he's in pretty good condition. A bit banged up, but nothing too serious."
"And where is he now?"
"From what I was told, Cyrus is currently doing his rehab with Elaine MacNamara and Quintin Vuur at her mansion. He's supposed to be there for the rest of the month, assuming everything goes well."
Thomas Blair couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Of course, Commissioner MacNamara would have his daughter do something like that. I doubt he'd let such a valuable asset out of his sight if he could help it."
"Can't argue with you there." The woman replied. "So…what do you want to do?"
The man took a second to mull over his options before coming to a decision. "Let's put a hold on our plans for now. I don't want to make any moves on the boy while he's under Elaine's care. It's not too much of a problem, though. I have another plan for how we can get to him."
Now that certainly piqued Alyssa's interest. "Oh? Do tell!"
"Word around town is that Zoe Chandler is looking to get her youngsters some extra training in the near future. The Conleys are already making a play to get that girl with the dragon-type cryptid, and I want to do the same for Moore. I plan on contacting her about it soon."
"Makes sense."
"In the meantime, we're going to keep our eyes out for whenever Moore's sperm hits the market, assuming that there isn't already a buyer for it. Although I hate those Iznana lunatics with a passion, I'm willing to bend my morals a bit to get our hands on it."
Alyssa wasn't exactly a fan of something like that. After all, she hated Iznana and how much they made sorcerers look bad across the planet. But unfortunately for her, it wasn't her place to voice her opinions on the matter, especially in front of the man who was effectively in charge of their entire family. Hell, the only person in the Blair family who could safely contradict her uncle without any backlash was her father.
That being said, the 'rose magic' user wasn't entirely opposed to it either. She was the one who was planning to get pregnant after all, even if her uncle was opposed to it. So the idea of using whatever methods to get her hands on her target's DNA as soon as possible was fine with her. Granted, she was still going to be making her move on Cyrus as soon as she got the chance. And in the grand scheme of things, the young man's sudden kidnapping wasn't going to be a major problem for her.
"It's a solid plan, albeit a bit risky." The blonde woman then said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." Thomas replied with a slight grin.
"Agreed."
"Anyways, thanks for letting me know. We can't let an opportunity like this slip away from us."
"Whatever you say, uncle."
With that, the two Blair family sorcerers went back to their work. It was still pretty early in the day, and they had a lot to do until it was time to head home. Although working in the nation's capital was fun, the amount of work they had to deal with was a total headache at times.
'What a damn mess.' Was the last thing Alyssa said to herself before opening up her laptop and resuming her daily duties.
-(o)-
[A Few Days Later]
"So, like we said before, overdrive is the pinnacle of power that sorcerers can achieve. One that can be, and often is, a total game changer when it comes to fighting." Quintin Vurr began to explain.
"Yeah, I remember that much." Cyrus replied with a slight nod.
At the moment, the two sorcerers, along with Elaine, were standing in the middle of an open field on the northern side of the mansion's property at the foot of one of the nearby mountains. After a few more days of hard training and diligent studying, it was finally time for Cyrus to begin what was sure to be the toughest and most critical part of his training. Something that the young 'tree magic' user had been looking forward to for some time now.
"Overdrive basically allows you to maximize the mana within your mana core to a level that you wouldn't normally be capable of. For a limited period of time, you'll be able to operate at around one tenth of your usual output."
"This also applies to whatever spells you can use, too." Elaine then interjected. This was the first time that the woman had been present for one of the morning training sessions. Usually around this time, she was busy dealing with other career-related matters that needed her attention. "Any spell that you cast will only take around a tenth of the mana it could before."
"Unless you're someone like the Boss." Quintin then laughed while pointing his thumb at Elaine. "S-ranks can work at around five percent after a bit of training."
"On top of that, once you do obtain your overdrive, you'll awaken a new spell that you can only use while it's active. Think of them like your bankai, or your ultimate move. Skills that push the limits on what your magical attribute is capable of."
"Really?" Cyrus said with wide eyes. This was definitely something that sounded interesting. "What do you mean?"
Quintin was quick to explain what they were talking about. "Take the Boss as an example. She's already one of the few 'wind magic' users on the planet who can create vacuums using her magic. But when she's using overdrive, she can use that neat little trick of hers to create an area of effect spell that covers an entire football field."
Elaine was the next to speak. "There are three categories of overdrive skills. Domain, enhancement, and metamorphic. Domain type overdrive skills allow the user to create an area of effect spell unique to their overdrive. It acts kinda like a field spell in all of those card games that kids love to play."
"The next." Quintin then said. "Are enhancement types, which is the kind that I have. Enchantment-type overdrive skills allow the user to use their magical attribute to augment their bodies in various ways. Like for me, I can coat my body in a cloak of fire."
"Alright." Cyrus nodded in understanding while trying to imagine what something like that would look like.
"And finally, are the metamorphic types." Elaine continued. "Those are pretty much exclusive to 'beast magic' users. With them, the user can temporarily bond with their cryptid of choice to transform their bodies for a short period of time. The closest thing that I can relate it to is lycanthropy. It's pretty much the same thing, albeit a lot cooler."
"You're right. It is a total game changer." Cyrus then said.
"And that game changer is going to be how you deal with Hannah and her little crew."
Even more so than before, Cyrus was genuinely curious to see how things were going to play out. His magic was already non-offensive in nature. But if what these two criminals were telling him was the truth, then there was a good chance that he would be able to change that after getting his overdrive ability. The possibility of him obtaining a new power that would allow him to fight properly was too tempting to ignore.
"So…what exactly do I need to do to obtain overdrive?" Cyrus then asked the two senior sorcerers with an anxious look on his face.
Elaine and Quintin both looked at each other for a brief moment before giving the other a silent nod. It was clear to Cyrus that there was something the two of them were unsure about. But what that something could've been was a complete mystery to him.
Fortunately, Elaine decided to just come right out and say it. They were already this far into the training process, so there was no point in her pulling her punches now.
"There are several methods that one can use to obtain their overdrive. But at the end of the day, they all boil down to the same thing." Elaine said to the young man.
"Which is?" Cyrus asked, a bit nervous as to what he was about to hear.
"To achieve overdrive, you have to push your body to the absolute limit. In simpler terms, you have to work yourself to the point where you're almost skirting the line between life and death. Once you reach that point, your body's survival instincts will kick in, and only then will you be able to activate it. It's basically an all-or-nothing attempt to keep yourself alive."
"Oh…." The 'tree magic' user said before another question popped into his mind. "So, how exactly are we going to do this?"
"Simple, really…." Elaine began by removing the white hoodie that she was wearing, revealing the black compression tank top underneath. "For the remainder of your time here, you and me are going to fight every single day until we get your overdrive to activate."
…
…
…
"What?!" Cyrus couldn't help but blurt out after his mind finally processed those words.
"You heard me."
"Wait, wait, hold on! You seriously expect me to fight you? You're an S-rank sorcerer! What the hell do I look like going up against you?!"
Quintin was the next to speak up. For some reason, he now had a devious grin on his face. "You want to beat Hannah and get revenge for your friend, right? Well, this is the most efficient way to do it."
"You can't be serious…."
"I'm dead serious."
"Oh, fuck…."
Needless to say, Cyrus was not looking forward to having to go toe-to-toe against Elaine MacNamara of all people. Popstar or not, the woman was still one of the ten strongest sorcerers on the planet. And they don't hand out those ranks for no reason. The Clock Tower, the organization in England that publishes the rankings every six months, never made a mistake when it came to that kind of stuff. And even though overall strength wasn't the only factor that influenced their decision-making, no one could argue that they weren't always on point when it came to establishing who the top dogs of the sorcerer world were.
"I told you before that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Now, it's time for us to get serious." Elaine then said while stretching out her muscles in preparation for what was about to happen.
"Is it too late for me to back out of this?" Cyrus nervously asked the two sorcerers standing in front of him.
"Yes." Elaine simply replied.
'Shit.'
Despite his feelings regarding the current situation, Cyrus knew that this was necessary for him to get stronger. He needed to get himself to a point where he could take on Hannah without any doubts. That was the entire reason for him even agreeing to this nonsense in the first place. But the idea of having to face off against one of the strongest people alive still made him nervous.
Scratch that, he wasn't just nervous. He was absolutely terrified.
"Alright, I'll do it. Not like I have any other choice." The young man finally relented after letting out a deep sigh. Like they always say, progress never came easy. And if this was what he needed to do in order to avenge Freddy and get back at the woman who mutilated his face, then so be it. "So, when do we start?"
"Now!"
"What-"
Before Cyrus could even finish his sentence, Elaine charged forward and reared her arm back before attacking the young man. Cyrus barely had enough time to throw his arms in front of his face before receiving a devastating right punch that was strong enough to send him flying back into the bushes a good thirty feet away from him.
That one punch alone was enough to let the young man know that Elaine was certainly no slouch when it came to physical strength. From just that one attack, he could already feel the pain radiating throughout the entirety of his left arm.
"Damn, that hurt! Oh shit-"
"Look alive, Tree Boy!"
Cyrus didn't even have the chance to get his feet up under him before Elaine came flying through the air and charging directly at him. To the young man's shock, the woman now had ten orbs of light green mana floating around her body. And on top of that, he could literally feel a change in the air around him.
Cyrus already knew not to underestimate his opponent, but the level of mana control that the woman was able to display in barely even a second let him know that this was not going to be an easy fight. Not by a long shot.
'What the hell have I gotten myself into?' Was the only thought that popped into Cyrus's head before Elaine sent the orbs of floating mana toward him at speeds that would make any normal human's head spin.
The next three hours of Cyrus Moore's life were easily some of the most exhausting and terrifying that he had ever experienced.