"Hey, Lincoln, you got a minute?"

The boy wasn't expecting many things when he walked out of the room he and his teammates were resting, but having Eleanor walk up to him was certainly the most unexpected.

"What do you need from me, Eleanor?" the boy asked. "I figured you'd be spending some more time with our new recruit?"

"I was planning to keep doting on Meli like a little sister, but Chandler insisted that she was supposed to be a teammate, not a team pet," Eleanor rolled her eyes. "So, he told me he was going to take her to do some archery training, try to give her a bit of combat skill."

"Well, that makes sense," Lincoln folded his arms. "Meli's still young. The more things we teach her, the more prepared and capable she will be when she our guild is established."

"And the less time I get to dote and spoil her rotten," Eleanor sighed. "Listen, can we talk? I need to keep my mind out of this stuff."

"Sure, I guess," Lincoln shrugged. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Well, first things first..." Eleanor smiled. "Are you a Magic Knight, Lincoln?"

"Uh... yes?"

Eleanor grabbed Lincoln's hand and brought him down to the corridors of the castle, keeping a tight grip on his hand as she said:

"As a Magic Knight, you have the best of both worlds; you have the physical strength most knights possess, but you can also cast the most powerful tool available to all species in this world. That being Magic. But how much about magic do you really know?"

"Well, just the basics, I'm afraid," Lincoln rolled his eyes. "My family was planning to teach me a few more things... but then the whole disowning thing happened and-"

"That's great!"

Lincoln blinked twice. "Eleanor, you did hear what I just said, right?"

Eleanor giggled. "Yeah, you misunderstand; what I mean by this bring great is that I can actually give you some lessons about magic and what it is about. It's something I've always wanted to do... and in particular, there's one thing I always wanted to teach someone."

"And that would be?"

Once they had walked enough, Eleanor stopped, released Lincoln, and faced him with a gentle smile as she stated:

"Lincoln, as a magic knight, you're a unique existence among many others."

Eleanor snapped her fingers, causing her staff to float before spinning and summoning a small gust of wind.

"We mages can use magic, of course, but because our connection to them requires use to be more deeply inclined to the spiritual world than the physical world, our bodies are more fragile than most people."

Then, she made her staff try to bonk Lincoln, only for the guy to grab it with both hands and keep it in place with little issue.

"Knights, meanwhile, possess greater physical ability than the average person. However, their closer connection to the physical world means that the spiritual realm is one beyond their reach."

With another snap of her fingers, Eleanor took her staff back as Lincoln caught his breath.

"As a Magic Knight, Lincoln, your connection to both worlds is just balanced enough to allow you to have both benefits, without either of the drawbacks... except for one."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow, prompting Eleanor to add:

"Everybody knows about magic. The elements, construction, creation, destruction, all that jazz. But not many people know about its antithesis, a rare element that while so rarely seen it is only thought to be a myth, it is very much real, and those who encounter it and are lucky enough to live to tell the tale live the rest of their lives in fear, hoping they never have to find themselves faced against such a mighty force, ever again."

Lincoln stepped closer to Eleanor. "How badly would it affect me, as a magic knight?"

"It affects everyone, Lincoln," Eleanor confessed. "Magic knight, mage, bard, warrior, it doesn't matter what you are. This thing can strike you down even with your guard up. And the name of it is..."

...

"Anti Magic."

Lily stood in line in front of the other bandits, who stared at her as Sydney inspected her, Lily standing unfazed as she did.

"I'm gonna need you to tell me more than that," Sydney stated. "What do you mean anti magic? How is that connected to you?"

Lily took off one of her gloves, and snapped her fingers, causing pitch black electricity to course through her hand as she showed the hand to her leader.

"My urn ability allows me to cancel any magical ability simply by touching it with my hand. It gives me a connection with the antithesis of the spiritual world itself, allowing me to cancel whatever is connected to it by cancelling its very existence."

The electricity eventually vanished, allowing Lily to put her glove back on as Sydney told the other scouts:

"And this shall be the key to our mission. The "guild" we've been tasked with taking down has a magic knight and a mage. One with the power to use the spiritual realm to their advantage, and the other being able to do the same while holding a physical presence that means they'll be harder to take down. With Lily's gift of anti magic at our side, we will nullify the magic that gives them such an advantage, and strike them when they're at their most vulnerable to appease the orders of the eldest Loud sister. And we're not going home until we succeed, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Then get ready," Syd folded her arms. "We're going to blend in with the commoners of the kingdom so we can find out more about this guild, and once night falls, we shall strike."

Syd promptly turned to Lily, who looked at her gloved hand. "You will be the first one to know when we're ready to strike."

With those words spoken, most of the bandits bolted ahead for the kingdom, each pulling up cloaks to hide themselves among the commoners. Lily was the last one to leave, staring at her gloved hand for a few more seconds before clenching her fist, and cloaking herself to blend in, thinking:

After so long, I finally have you within my grasp... I'm going to find you, Lincoln. No matter what.