"Do you really think this will work?" Nathan asked as he frowned at the plate with a burger and pile of fries in front of him. "And did we have to come here?"

"Yes," Keith picked up a fry. "And yes."

They were at a restaurant that Nathan would have preferred to avoid. He wasn't a fan of their food, which Keith knew. But the magician wanted to eat there, so that was where they went.

"You're paying," Nathan told Keith.

"I know," Keith responded. "And it looks like it worked."

"Already?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Keith told him. "Unless it's coincidental that we were followed from your place to here – which you admitted was happening – and that the head of the local branch of the Black Orb walked into this restaurant, even though he normally wouldn't be caught dead in it, just like you."

Nathan didn't see why they needed to go to a 'crap' restaurant to force the agent to approach them, but Keith insisted on it. Nathan felt confident the agent would have approached them at an expensive, quality restaurant, too.

"Hello, boys," a man sat in the seat at the end of their table.

He looked to be in his fifties, with black and gray hair and dark brown eyes, dressed in a black suit. A small, black crystal orb hung from a golden chain around his neck. As he sat down, a privacy barrier formed around their table to prevent eavesdropping. Keith identified it easily, while Nathan only noticed the magics in the air, unable to determine what, specifically, they did, even though he was sure he knew.

"Darren," Keith greeted the man. "How are you?"

"You know who I am?" Darren asked.

"Of course," Keith answered. "I'm the rogue element, remember? The one that allies with no faction or government? I make it a habit to know who all the major players are in the area around me."

"I heard you're helping the government now," Darren told him.

"In non-magic things," Keith stated. "And only temporarily. They're overlooking some past actions of mine in exchange for certain things. My one allegiance is to Nathan, and that's because he's both my partner and ally in enchanting, which is why we drew out the local faction."

"You drew me out?" Darren asked.

"We knew," Keith gave Nathan a look that told the other man to keep quiet. They had an agreement that Keith would do most of the talking, as Nathan had a habit of being blunt and forceful with his words. "That you would likely keep an eye on any survivors' movements. When we came back to town, we knew you would watch for an opportunity to approach us, so we decided to create one.

"If you want to know what happened to Madeline," Keith told him. "She turned everyone against me to draw any suspicions away from her. At the same time, she built up a force to assist herself, tricking the other students so that she could grow stronger.

"When this came to light," he continued. "And that she was a part of the organization that had forced that round of the game, it made her into an enemy of everyone present. Then there came a Challenge where we were put into groups based on our ranking, and she was put into the group that Nathan and I were in.

"To finish that Challenge," Keith popped a fry into his mouth. "One person from each group had to die. Naturally, as she was the enemy of everyone there, she became the target. That said, she challenged me to a duel directly, intending to put me down for good.

"That was her mistake," Keith told Darren. "As she underestimated my power. Even her familiar wasn't able to do more than amuse me. I killed her easily and without even a moment's doubt I would succeed. Your attempt at gaining a powerful resource failed because of her own hatred and darkness.

"That said," Keith continued. "There's a good chance you'll manage to force another one in the next year, of course. And then there's the chance that a random member gets 'lucky'. So the Black Orb will get someone sooner or later. Several someones, no doubt."

Darren digested that as Nathan poked at his burger, then frowned and pushed his plate to Keith.

"We're going to my mom's restaurant after this."

"Nathan Hunter," Darren looked at Nathan. "From what we were able to hear, you're one of the most powerful players to come out of the game."

"Most dangerous," Nathan corrected.

"Unless you get into the terms of raw magical power," Darren said. "Our reports put you as a very powerful young man."

"I'm a warrior with enchanting, not a magician," Nathan stated.

"Who contracted a phoenix as a familiar," Darren said. "I can see you're surprised by me knowing that," Nathan suppressed an eye-roll, he hadn't been surprised at all, so it wouldn't have shown. The Black Orb isn't the only organization that's aware of this, even if it's meant to be a secret, Mr. Hunter. Contracting a phoenix has only occurred once in history."

"Once in known history," Keith gave Nathan a look that told him to stop before even starting. "We know of someone who's mentioned at least three other cases of it, besides Nathan and Merlin."

"And how trustworthy is this person?"

"My martial arts instructor," Nathan said. "And a demigod who's lived for hundreds of thousands of years. I'd say he's pretty trustworthy on this matter. Keith, the reason we're here?"

"Before you get into that," Darren said. "We at the Black Orb would like to recruit you two."

"No, thanks," Keith interrupted before the magician could begin his spiel in an attempt to convince them. "Nathan and I have our own plans. That said, if you'd like to help us-"

"We only help those in the Black Orb."

"Maybe," Keith smiled as Nathan did his best to not snap at Darren. "But you see, in two weeks, Nathan and I are visiting Endariv. You know who he is, yes?"

"Yes," Darren frowned. "The government is letting you?"

"We're negotiating a lower monthly tribute," Keith explained. "As part of our attempt, we're creating an enchanted item we believe Endariv will like."

"The Black Orb doesn't deal in creating enchantments," Darren said. "So our aid would not be useful to you."

"Actually," Keith said. "We weren't looking for your assistance in the item. We already know what we're making, and we're going to have it made before then. We are also completely confident in that we'll succeed in the negotiations, for reasons we aren't inclined to share."

"I wouldn't count on it," Darren said. "Endariv was Merlin's dragon, and from what I know, he refuses to believe the ancient magician is dead. His tribute demand is partly an attempt to draw Merlin out."

Keith and Nathan weren't aware that Endariv had contracted to Merlin, but they didn't show it to Darren. Nathan wondered how long before Merlin contracted him that the dragon was born, as the dragon would have been young around the time of Merlin, if the timeline they'd been given was correct.

"We'll manage," Keith told the magician. "Do you know about Nathan's projects?"

"I've heard rumors that he's made some sort of interesting enchantment," Darren said. "But the 'what' is pretty tightly-sealed."

"We'll share it with you," Keith said, and Nathan placed a card on the table.

This card was similar to the other cards, though the back of it, which was facing up, was entirely black, save for a circle with a pair of A's on it with one flipped upside-down, the bottoms of their legs touching so they formed a diamond that stretched from one edge of the circle to the opposite. It could also be seen as a pair of triangles with a squashed hexagon between their bases, though Nathan wasn't too happy when Keith made that comparison.

Darren picked up the card and looked at the front, onto which Nathan had drawn the image of ice cubes in a glass of water set onto a black background, the word "Chill Drink" written at the top and five short, vertical lines directly beneath that, a horizontal line separating the two.

"Touch it to your cup," Nathan said. "And put a little mana into it while saying the card's name."

"My cup?" The magician asked just before a waitress showed up with a glass of tea, no ice. "Thank you."

The waitress smiled and asked if they needed anything else, and Nathan told her that was all. She walked away, and Darren raised an eyebrow.

"We told her," Keith said. "To bring a tea a few minutes after our guest arrived. No ice. Do as Nathan instructed, and you'll see what's going on."

Darren touched the card to the cup and pushed mana into it.

"Chill Drink," he said.

Immediately, a frosty vapor flowed from the card and into the cup as one of the vertical marks disappeared. The outside of the glass became frosty, and Darren gave the two teens an incredulous look.

"Magic cards?" He asked as Nathan snatched the card back.

"Correct," Keith said. "This is Nathan's secret project. While the idea behind them isn't new, it's the first successful version of such a thing. Even if you know it's possible, it's not something that can be easily broken down and figured out, and even if you got hold of one of Nathan's cards, they're protected against discernment."

Keith let that sink in. He knew the magician had probably attempted to read the magic in the card as he used it, but Ichtvar knew the lost art of anti-reading for enchantments. A safeguard to protect an enchanter's secrets.

The chill card was the one they had decided to focus on making as it would draw the least attention out of everything Nathan had come up with, from what they could tell. They spent two months alone on working on the card in their second run of the extended Survival Challenge for the sole purpose of this meeting.

The research and effort they put into that one helped them with several other cards, and they knew that further research into a select few cards would result in major advancements in their card-based enchanting.

"So as I said," Keith told Darren. "We're confident we'll manage in the next two weeks to make something that can help us negotiate with Endariv. No, what we want is your help with something else. If you help us with this, you can boast that you helped the people who negotiated with Endariv to decrease the resource and magical strain his demands require. No need to say it wasn't on the actual thing that got him to lower it. We won't acknowledge it, as the Black Orb is an illegal, criminal mage organization, but I'm sure you'd manage to find some way to have 'proof' of your assistance."

Darren thought over that, though the teens were confident he would accept the request. If he refused, or asked them to delay until after, they had other cards to play, though not literal cards like the Chill Drink card, which could lower the temperature of two cups of liquid by twenty-eight degrees. The more liquid present, the weaker the drop, the less liquid, the higher the drop.

There was more to it than that, but that was the explanation Nathan and Keith had given the other players in the Challenge when asked about it.

"Theoretically," Darren slowly began. "What is it we would be helping you with, should we accept?"

"Granting us access to the namesake of your organization," Keith answered. "As well as the full details you have on its creation, enchantments, and how it works."

"Absolutely not," Darren rejected the request. "The orb is-"

"The secret to how your main headquarters is protected," Keith nodded. "And having its secrets out there could potentially grant someone the knowledge they need to find a way through it. Now, Nathan's idea was to have his familiar attack your barrier and steal the orb. I talked him into negotiating with you.

"While this might be considered extortion," he continued. "There's a good chance Nathan will do that anyway if you don't comply with our request. There are several separate projects Nathan and I are working on that would require knowledge that can only be obtained through something such as your orb. One of the parts we need is how it fuels the barrier itself, where it gets the mana from."

"It's fed the mana," Darren decided to tell them the most basic part, something that wasn't as much of a secret. "We have magicians filling it with mana regularly to continue to power the barrier. As long as it has enough, the barrier remains at the same strength. It's connected to an enchantment matrix that defines the barrier."

"So it's essentially a mana crystal," Keith said. "Attached to an enchantment network, but instead of being set in how much mana it starts with, it can be refilled. It's commonly assumed that the orb generates mana on its own and that the enchantment is part of it, not a matrix it's put into. Shame it doesn't generate mana on its own."

"If only it did," Darren smiled. "It's quite mana-intensive, but we manage just fine."

Nathan cleared his throat and held up his phone. Keith checked his own, then nodded.

"One aspect of our projects," Keith told Darren. "Is to create our own version of your orb. It would be shielded by the same anti-reading enchantment that all of Nathan's projects are shielded with. Even if someone else acquired it, they would not be able to read it unless they found a way to crack that enchantment without unraveling the entire enchantment.

"One of the things we will use said orb for," he continued. "Would be to power a gate to another world. Such a device would also lessen the cost the government spends sustaining the gate by quite a lot. There's a possibility that if we mentioned to them we'd based the orb off of yours, they'd overlook certain things. Maybe bump hunting you to a lower priority."

"No," Darren said. "We are not allowing anyone outside of the trusted ones to view the orb or obtain any information regarding it. That would grant the possibility of someone figuring out a way to get through our barrier."

"The two are separate," Keith said. "You've already revealed that, even if accidentally. What you're worried about is someone else being able to create such an orb and protect themselves with it. Nathan and I have no intention of allowing anyone to see our research notes, and as you noticed when you attempted to read the magics in the card, there's a block."

"The answer is still no," Darren said, then looked at Nathan. "And we aren't afraid of your attempt, even if you have a phoenix. They aren't major offensive creatures. They're no dragons."

Nathan wanted to comment that he had full intentions of asking Endariv for an additional favor if this didn't pan out, but Keith's glare stopped him. The enchanter had figured out the warrior's thoughts almost immediately.

"In the end," Keith told Darren. "We will have an orb. All allowing us this request will do is speed up the process of creating it. In addition to that, it would make us… well, not allies, not friends, but not enemies, either. Refusing this request would make us your enemies."

"We'll give you a week to decide," Nathan set a business card on the center of the table, then placed a bullet on top of it. "Keith, if you're done eating, let's go. I'm hungry. Thank you for covering our bill, Darren."

Nathan stood and left, and Keith smiled at Darren.

"If you want to try to crack the anti-read," he told the older magician. "Check out the bullet."

Keith stood and followed after Nathan.