The conference hall was silent, that was never a good sign, the people reunited here were not known for being the quite type, all the opposite actually.

  The man at the center chair was a man whose glare commanded authority and dissuaded people from starting up conflicts, he had the kind of glare that would make one think twice, if one added his stature and the size of his arms people thought twice before starting a problem with them around.

  His name was not as spread within the normal populace as the others more known, but that was better for his line of work, one didn't need to know the name of their bodyguard, but knowing they were useful was more than enough.

  That was a motto from which Matthew Striker lived by. All that marked him as a member of that family was the emblem sewn to his jacket in his arms, a shield of arms with a blue flower with thorns on the base.

  "We don't know for sure yet," And his opinion on the current issue was one that they should seek more information before acting, a hasty approach would put their client in risk, or that was how he liked to train his men to think. As such he followed that kind of planning in all he did, even if he himself no longer worked as a bodyguard.

  "We could fetch them and throw them into the sweatbox for a couple hours and fetch them to see if they are feeling more cooperative." The suggestion came from a red-haired man who was more lanky looking than the first one.

  He was known commonly among the populace as the helpful police officer who always walked around talking to the people and helping them, while his red hair and eyes made some of the populace wary, his sweet smile and caring attitude made him a favorite among those who lived near the Main Police Headquarters in SoHo.

  That was the kind of man that Michael Smith was, to the populace a helpful face who always had a smile on his face and a helpful attitude, but behind the scenes? He was one of the main reasons the police interrogations were so brutal when they caught you.

  He was there of course, all the way of the way, always at the end coming with fresh water and food when you were about to break, ready to pick you up with promises of punishment to the policemen that abused of their authority... at least in paper anyway.

  "Would they even accept that?" Another man chimed up, he was wearing an expensive looking purple tuxedo, the man was almost comical in how he dressed, not that any was laughing. He had violet hair set up in a high ponytail, the hair almost reached his waist. "I for one would never put a feet in any police building that Michael was at the moment."

  This was Dante Rivas, the owner of the biggest Casino and the ruler of shark loan and the casinos all over Manhattan, he ruled a monopoly and empire of debauchery and mostly ensured that the vices of the good people of New York didn't spill (Too much) into the light.

  "There must be a way to prove the information that Jack got," Matthew Striker said hitting the table with his fist, the other two people in the room didn't bat an eye at that. They knew how this man got that bit of information on the White Concord.

  The problem was who got it, and not what it was.

  "No way Albert is accepting to be taken in." Michael said shrugging, "If the tip had been from anyone else, maybe. But it had to be from the GreenHaven Association."

  "Perhaps if we shift it?" Dante proposed, "Not as a way to confirm that the Greens are in the right, but to prove the White are the ones in the right?"

  "... Do you really think it will work?" Matthew turned and looked with suspicion at Dante Rivas, "What's your angle here?"

  "If I was him, I would accept it. And then when I was proven innocent use that as leverage to steal more territory and building permits from them." Dante smirked, "Not that the White needs that, their business doesn't require building like mine. But no, I don't think they would accept it. If they did though, I would get a favour from the Green as it was my suggestion that got them. And if they are innocent? I will do my best to help the White and bring the hammer of justice upon the Green. God knows they need a humbling."

  "Stop using those stupid code names," Matthew Striker said glaring at Dante, "They are childish, who even came up with them?"

  Dante merely laughed at the outburst.

  "So what do you want me to call the GreenHaven Association? Do you want me to call their full name as The White Concord?" Dante Rivas smiled as the cat that had gotten the canary, "It is not my fault that the war started by the Green ended up labeling up every gang and organization with some modicum degree of power with a color."

  "I knew it was a bad idea when they brought it up," Matthew Striker grumbled, "Any idea from where they came though? Perhaps this suspected Seventh or Eighth Circle came from their hidden backers?"

  That was an issue that they as gang leaders had to deal with.

  "Nothing from my side," Michael Smith chimed up in, "But information gathering isn't my forte, a couple years ago we could get a wider network of information but..."

  "That goddamned stupid war!" Striker grumbled as his fist hit once again the table, "They were annoying, little slimy bastards, but they were good at their job, and got all the information so easily... My men can't get enough information even though we are spread all over Manhattan!"

  "That would be because you are expected to guard, and not snoop around." Dante Rivas said in a mocking tone, "You and your men are hired for their brawn, not their brains. Same with Michael's goons and my men. The only one that could rival the information network of our fallen friend would be the Black, but they refuse to enter into that business, not with the White around anyway."

  "Not like they would be that good, the gloomy bastards refuse to play team anyway." Michael grumbled, "They have been snooping around our police headquarters as of late, if they weren't useful I would have sent him to sleep under the Brookling Bridge already."

  It was common that the Leader of the House of Black didn't mix that well with the Police Chief.

  "Point aside, do you truly think that it is an Eight Circle?" Matthew Striker said turning to Dante, "Mage or Knight?"

  "I sure as hell hope it's a Knight," Dante said, shuddering, "A mage that high in the Circle count? That would be true horror. You should be aware of it too."

  "I still can't see it," Matthew said, shaking his head, "If I didn't know you personally, I wouldn't even believe the rumours."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Do you think you can defeat me?" Dante said seriously as he turned fully to look straight on the Leader of the BodyGuards within Manhattan.

  "...Not without some prep time I don't. So not now, not here, perhaps if I had some time... And it wouldn't come cheap." Matthew said sighing, "You know that."

  "Exactly, you a Sixth Circle Knight can't defeat me a Third Circle Mage." Dante said shaking his head, "Leaving aside the choice of spells you picked for a second."

  Matthew merely grumbled under his breath.

  "You are fully focused on defense, so while you couldn't defeat a Second Circle Mage, they would probably be unable to defeat you or even stop you if you wished to leave." Dante continued on unbothered by the mumbling of Matthew Striker. "But that is merely because of the innate difference between how a Knight and how a Mage built up their power."

  Michael Smith nodded from the side, "The fact that our circles are all spread out and yours are stacked right?" And said so pointing it out.

  "Exactly, my if I cast a First Circle Fire Ball like this." Dante said raising a finger and materializing a sphere of fire above his index finger, it was pitifully small, but it would burn quite well and probably could start a fire if used with some thought, "And after making my second circle and stacking it up above the first, this happens."

  Dante merely fueled more Mana into the spell while changing the base structure so it wouldn't collapse, the sphere of fire turned from a tennis ball-sized sphere to a basketball-sized sphere.

  The heat was now palpable and the amount of energy within the ball was incredible to say the least.

  "People usually think that since the difference from the first to the second circle is going from one hundred to two hundred, that means that you only are twice as powerful as before." Dante said shaking his head with a mocking smile, he dispelled the sphere before turning to his two spectators, "That is a misconception, the density is twice as strong, the ability to manipulate is twice as good, the amount one can manipulate, the energy, everything is twice as better. Which means that one can do so much more... What do you think it happens when one goes to third Circle?"

  "You are three times as good?" Matthew Striker said begrudgingly, as if it hurt his pride to answer it.

  "Wrong," Even so, Dante shook his head, "You aren't three times as powerful as a First Circle, quite the contrary, you are merely twice as good."

  "That doesn't seem right," Michael said, shaking his head, "I once saw a regional chief who happened to be a third circle mage, that was not twice as powerful as a first circle officer."

  "Twice as good... as a Second Circle, if First Circle is one hundred and Second Circle is Two Hundred... Third Circle is four hundred." Dante said with a smug face, "So what do you think would happen if you a Sixth Circle who in reality has Six First Circles in your body was to fight a... say... Eight Circle Mage."

  The face of realization was immediate, as was the dread that followed.

  "...That does not...." Matthew tried to say something before shutting up, "But..."

  And continued for a few seconds finally shutting down.

  "What do you think it is then?" Michael was the one that spoke in the end, "Knight? Mage?"

  "I sure as hell hope it's a Knight, I should be able to at least do something if they are a normal Seventh Circle Knight." Dante said in a wistful tone, "I think. If they are something like Albert, who focused on specialization instead of standardization, like how the Mages are duping you, knights... Then I'm out, I am pledging my allegiance to our new overlords then and there."

  "That much of a difference?" Michael sighed, "And if it's a mage?"

  "Then I'm running." Dante answered immediately, "I don't think they are a Mage though, if they were a Mage, and they worked for the White Concord, we wouldn't be here doing this fine, even though we are obviously scheming in the dark. No way, Mages that high in the Circle count are all stuck-up bitches who crave authority and power. Trust me."

  "So they must be a Knight then." Matthew finally worked himself out of the self-inflicted despair, "Then we have hope."

  "They could also..." Dante started speaking only to frown a second later, "No, never mind."

  Michael caught on to this and narrowed his eyes, "Could be what?" He didn't let it go, for he knew better than ignoring such an obvious tell, "There could be a lower circle mage? A Specialist mage then?"

  "There... aren't specializations that low on the Circle Spells that could do something like what the tip says." Dante shook his head, "No, if it is a mage and they are a standard Mage doing mage things, then they must be at least Seventh Circle... Unless..."

  Dante did not like the other option, and it was obvious from his grimace.

  "Out with it!" And Matthew would not have anything such as that, "Spill it out!"

  "They could be... An Origin Circle wielder." Dante finally said it, "That is one way in which they could be low on the Circle Count and still do something like what the data says."

  Dante turned to glare at the piece of paper that the GreenHaven family had given them.

  Data about a suspected spellcaster that was able to distort the environment, there wasn't enough time for a more detailed report, but from what they guessed, it distorted the environment in such a way that they could disappear almost twenty men without leaving evidence.

  And it was dangerous enough that an enforcer wasn't able to escape, a fourth-circle enforcer, that is to say. One that was expected to be able to make it to the Fifth Circle.

  One that Jack Greenvale willingly admitted that he was nurturing to become a SpellKnight, someone who would be trained in the ways of Mages.

  Someone with that degree of talent had deemed whoever he fought dangerous enough that he didn't think it was possible for him to survive, so he instead sent the message out.

  That was why Dante thought it would be a Seventh or Eighth Circle Knight-Mage.

  At that point the Knights had enough Mana that they could perhaps cast that kind of spells that affected the enviroment. And Mages, of course, would have enough juice to affect their environment and hide it from everyone that could be watching.

  Or...

  "The hell is Origin Circle?" Matthew asked annoyed, "Did they add another number that I knew nothing about?"

  "No, that's... Different right?" Michael said frowning, "We have standing orders from Washington to report any mage that we find and that used weirdly powerful Magic that doesn't match the Circle magic they wield. Like a First Circle Mage shooting thunder powerful enough to level houses and the like."

  "That is a very primitive way to categorize Origin Circle wielders." Dante shook his head, "But good enough, I guess. An Origin Circle wielder is someone who didn't make a Circle and instead managed to create one without help."

  "We all make our own Circles like that though." Matthew said confused, "I made my first Circle without external help. No fancy meditation techniques or Mana Potions."

  "No, you don't get it... Ughh.... you heathens," Dante groaned and facepalmed, "Origin Circle is... A myth, they are spell casters that can cast spells before having the Magic Circles that lets them manipulate Mana and accumulate it. Like if I had an Origin Circle for Fireball, I could cast Fireball even if I didn't knew how to wield the spell, accumulate Mana or even see it."

  "... Like a Knight?" Matthew asked confused, "I don't know how the spell Iron Skin works, nor how it accumulates the mana, but I can cast it."

  "That is not the same!" Dante screamed hitting the table and cutting it in half, his fist gleamed in silver color as he had cast that same spell, or well, a variation, Silver Skin. But that was besides the point.

  "You troglodyte learned the spell formula, learned how it moved the energy within your body. Moved the Mana tracing the Circle and then when enough iterations were carved into your body. Then, and only then, was the Magic Circle formed right?" Dante said pointing straight at Matthew's chest, the spot where he had carved said spell. "Even if you have forgotten said information, that data was carved into your body. So your body knows how it should work, and the same can be said for each of your spells Circle. You learned how they moved, how they felt, and carved them after hours of work, did you not?"

  "I mean... yes." Matthew said flustered at the energy and emotion from Dante, "Are Origin Circle not like that?"

  "NO, THEY ARE NOT YOU IDIOT!" Dante screamed while covering his face in annoyance, "Imagine... I know, it's hard, but imagine it nevertheless, that one day. A normal day, you wake up and you can shoot fire from your finger, you don't know how or why, but you can point and a fireball will shoot from your finger."

  "... That... is not how it works." Matthew said confused looking at his finger, "Just like that? Isn't that bullshit for all the mages and knights?"

  "Yes," Dante said, sitting down tired from the conversation, "It is bullshit for everyone who learned the spell fireball. But that is how Origin Circle works, we don't know what or who decides who gets what. But if you manage to awaken them, you get a spell, sometimes a school of Magic even, you get something that you can do without effort. So if the White Concord managed to nab one of the Origin Mages... or worse, if one of them awoke an Origin Circle... Then we are screwed, we will never find them. I don't know of any spell up to Fifth Circle that can detect them, I doubt there is one below Seventh Circle."

  Michael nodded slowly at this new information, "Then what do we do if they have an Origin Circle? Surrender?" He did not like the idea of doing that, but they had never seen Dante this worked up. The man didn't mind risks or betting his life or that of his men.

  But now?

  "We go to war," Dante said sighing, "We follow the example of the GreenHaven Association, and we pray it works for us as well as it did for them. We rally on all the other five houses with the GreenHaven and raze to the ground the White Concord, no one can be spared, we kill every one of them."

  "...Doesn't Albert have a daughter barely five years old?" Matthew asked, gulping the saliva in his mouth, "Even..."

  "Everyone," Dante said in a cold even voice, "We can't risk it, you DO NOT want a pissed off Origin Mage. They are a menace, the Origin Circle does not count towards the count of Circles when it is time to make a new circle. So they have the mana generation of a First Circle Mage as a normie, then they have the same mana generation as a Second Circle Mage when they form their first standard Circle..."

  And that scaled with each new Circle, as more circles, more Mana, they could climb the ranks of Mages faster than their peers. And if to that we add the special type of Magic they had access free of charge from their Origin Circle?

  No one wanted an Origin Mage as their enemy. Since they had access to Magic before even becoming a Mage, they had a shortcut to Mana Sensing too, so they didn't need those circles; they were Geniuses when it came to Magic.

  And if there was something Dante hated more than anything, it was genius. The bastards... He would not suffer another Genius after moving this far away from England.