Chapter 35: Veiss

“Tch! Why would the master risk so much for Smoker?” Jamali asked.

Veiss shook his head but did not bother to answer her. True the AoF had never attempted to recover imprisoned agents. But there had never been such an opportunity before.

‘And the master is an opportunist at heart.’

“We have to save him,” Diaby said, his voice muffled through the dusk mask he always wore. “He’s a prodigy.”

“He’s good but Veiss is a more prodigious,” Jamali said.

Veiss let loose a smile but the others remained unawares because he walked alone upfront. Leading the other three agents as vanguard through the dark hyperloop tunnel littered with puddles of stagnant water and permeating a smell like rotten eggs.

“Hmph,” Diaby scoffed.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jamali asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Think about it,” Diaby said. “If Master values him so highly. We might have a third heir. Don’t you think an heir is worth all this trouble?”

Veiss glanced back over his shoulders and met Diaby’s half masked face. He seemed disinterested as always but Veiss noticed how his eyes were smiling at him.

He turned back forward without a word, focused on the train tracks below him.

‘He’s just as difficult to get along with as his sister.’

He was trying to take Diaby under his wing but the kid was so damned lazy and kept pushing his controls any chance he got.

‘But of course, I won’t let him get under my skin.’

Veiss knew this mission was more opportunistic than planned. He knew they were simply taking advantage of the situation to rescue Smoker.

‘And not just him. The other sorry agents who had been incompetent enough to get snagged over the years.’

He knew very well Diaby was trying to stir him up.

And of course that had no correlation to why his position as the master’s successor felt more unsteadied now compared to five minutes ago.

“M’Khabye what do you think?” Jamali said to the old witch bringing up the rear.

“Smoker’s skills are indeed comparable to Veiss but only in combat and the mage controls. When it comes to intellect and leadership Smoker cannot compare to Veiss which is why he was considered but never chosen to be an heir…”

‘Hehe, the old witch isn’t so blind after all.’

Veiss grinned upfront without looking back.

“However, Malo on the other hand,” M’Khabye added. “She might have what it takes. Not as intellectual as Veiss by any stretch of the imagination. No, she’s more street smart as they say and has a commanding aura well suited for leadership.”

Veiss tried to keep an even kill expression but he couldn’t. Thankfully he was vanguard so none of his fellow agents noticed his ugly expression. He was tempted to argue but managed to restrain himself.

‘Don’t show them this gets to you.’

“Khumalo?” Jamali exclaimed surprise. “I guess she’s kinda smart, skilled in the mage controls but aren’t her duelling skills hmm…hmm…hmm…”

Jamali searched for the right word to use.

‘Trash!’ Veiss thought.

“Not good,” she concluded unable to find a more eloquent word.

The old shaman chuckled knowingly. “Indeed Malo is not a fighter, pathetic in fact and our AoF thrives because of our leaders who lead from the frontlines. And her skill for the technical arts of mage controls is worthy of note but Veiss is just as skilled if not more so.”

M’Khabye paused and let them absorb her words but Veiss knew she was about to overwrite the criticism with some godly praise.

“Malo’s skills lay elsewhere. She has something too hard to teach. Intuition.”

“Intuition?” Jamali said.

“A key component toward analysing the flow of probability which will allow her to grasp the trends of fate. With a bit of training, she can grow to better comprehend the patterns and in future her analysis of fate might rival my own.”

‘Where’s the logic in that?’

Veiss sneered.

‘I should’ve guessed. No wonder the old wench dotes on Malo so much.’

Jamali nodded along seemingly satisfied with the answer and it irked Veiss, how his one and only advocate ate this religious shit up.

However he didn’t voice his concerns. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

‘You’re above this foolishness,’ he reminded himself.

“Ideally though,” M’Khabye continued. “A leader should possess both of Veiss’ and Malo’s best qualities. But such a leader is only born once in a lifetime and fate has already blessed us the young master so we shouldn’t expect too much from the generations that follow.”

Silence.

He could feel Jamali and Diaby’s pitying eyes stab at his back but neither of them dared call out M’Khabye for her bluntness.

Veiss’ expression was dark and it took every bit of his rational not to pounce on the old bitch. Not that he could harm her but dammit he had his pride.

Their advance was halted abruptly. Their torch lights shimmered over a solid metal wall closing off the tunnel.

“A dead end,” Diaby said.

“No shit,” Veiss snapped and ran a hand over his gelled hair.

“Blatinum alloy,” Jamali said arriving a moment later.

“Did we take a wrong turn?” Veiss said to no one in particular.

“We haven’t diverted from the path the young master laid for us but I can consult fate to make sure.”

“No need for that,” Veiss waved her off impatiently. “We’ll have to tunnel through.”

“It’s blatinum,” Diaby said.

“I know,” Veiss said. He crouched, placed a palm on the rough concrete floor. “We can dig underneath it. Hopefully it doesn’t go too deep underground.”

Diaby grumbled something inaudible. The boy hated manual labour but there was no other alternative.

Jamali slender palm clasped Veiss’ shoulder. “Do you hear that?”

Veiss shook his head.

Jamali leaned forward, whipped off her aviator cap and placed an ear on the wall. “It’s faint but I think someone’s drilling on the other side.”