Cate was in their new offices alone with Thabo for a few minutes before the other members arrived. Cate was happy when she saw that two of the members were people she could call friends: it was Mary and the Mage Born. Cate was surprised to see them being assigned to this division, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, she understood why.
The Mage Born had managed to pass the second test by creating a new spell. It was one of the spells that Cate had improved on. This alone made the Mage Born suitable for the Magic Research Bureau. As for Mary, she was a witch with the abilities of a seer. Since their team was meant to investigate ancient ruins and gather information, a seer would be very helpful. With these two, the team now had three people, including Cate. The hall became more lively as the group chatted about their adventures during the test and the housing they had been given by the Society. On the issue of housing, even the ever-silent Mage Born looked displeased.
They waited for about thirty minutes before the other two people entered the hall. Cate also knew these two people. One of them was an enemy she had already defeated. It was Albrecht Ewald Amara. This was the vampire that Cate had hunted for its blood in order to heal Mary when she was poisoned during the examination. At that time, the fight was very intense and grueling.
Albrecht Ewald Amara was the son of Altergott Ewald Amara, the founder of the Amara Immortal Vampire clan. Altergott Ewald Amara is an ancient and powerful being considered a Vampire God. This was the reason as to why Cate had to let Albrecht Ewald Amara live even after she defeated him. Killing the son of a Vampire God would bring down disaster and trouble that Cate currently did not have to deal with. She was focused on opening the Vault of Souls, and this alone was sure to take many years to achieve. Maybe after that, she would revisit killing him.
The other person was Jordan Staranse. This young woman was from the Staranse Mage clan. She was the sister to the real Catherine Staranse, the woman whose identity Cate had taken over to infiltrate the Avalon Society. This had inevitably led to conflict between Cate and Jordan. The two had fought on two occasions, and in both instances, Cate had come out on top. In their last encounter, Cate was cornered and forced into using the Original Sin spell, a spell that had already begun changing her in ways she was not sure she could handle.
Cate looked at the director of the Magic Research Bureau, and Thabo looked back at her as though he knew nothing of the history she had with the two people who had just entered the hall.
"I am Albrecht Ewald Amara, nice to make your acquaintance," the vampire chose to ignore the bad blood between them and even bowed for this greeting. Jordan walked into the hall and stood as far from Cate as she could. "I am Jordan Staranse," that was all she said before going silent. Cate's eyebrows twitched slightly, but since everyone wanted to move on, she saw no need to bring up their troublesome past.
Thabo introduced everyone once again before he began telling them about the duties of the team. Thabo was very lazy, but when he began talking, he went on for hours. The meeting only came to an end after five hours. By then, Thabo had given the group more information than they needed or wanted.
"It's finally over," Cate said as she moved to get up from her chair. The hall was arranged in a circular manner, meaning that all team members had to face each other, with Thabo speaking at the center of the room. The group was clearly divided between Cate's people and the two latecomers.
"Before we leave for the day, we must choose the team leader. I am the director, and I have way too much work to deal with all the teams personally. The team leader will be responsible for running the team and everything else that goes with the territory. They will receive missions from me and report back after the missions are completed."
Cate looked at Jordan who was seated opposite her. The young woman looked away quickly. Cate was still not sure about what Jordan had seen in the Edgeless Forest and whether it could bring her trouble.
"I am willing to take on this responsibility. Besides, everyone here will agree that I have more experience, and I am the strongest," said Albrecht Ewald Amara. The vampire stood up and looked at everyone in the hall. He truly believed that even though he had lost to Cate in the forest, that was a one-time thing and that it was only possible due to his negligence. On the issue of experience, Albrecht Ewald Amara was over five hundred years old. It was common understanding that with a long life came experience. He was not wrong about this, but he did not know that Cate was thousands of years old. Jordan remained seated, but it was clear that she was also interested in taking on this position.
Cate stood up and looked at the vampire. "Sit down," she said. Suddenly, the vampire found himself back in the Edgeless Forest, begging for mercy using his father's name. He staggered backwards and fell over with his chair, creating a resounding sound in the hall. Cate had used a simple mental spell to push fear into Albrecht's heart. This caught him off guard since he did not expect such a thing at this time.
"I will be the team leader," Cate said.
Days went by without the team being given any mission, but Cate did not think that this was a problem. She used the time to learn more about the inner workings of the Avalon Society and how best she could get what she wanted. She practiced spells with Mary and the Mage Born, and their days were seemingly moving smoothly. There was only one problem that Cate could not seem to get a handle on. Whenever she ate any food, she vomited everything up a few minutes later.