AN; I know there should have been a chapter for the Rise of Zaun. And I am sorry. It's still in the making, so I hope you all enjoy this new chapter of A Wizard in Zaun.

A Wizard in Zaun.

Chapter 02

Earth…

British Ministry of Magic…

Cherry Blackfeathers held her aching head after what she had just been told. Members of the Grey Alliance, which Cherry was also a part of, were looking at each other wondering what to do while those who understood what they had just been told were either gaping like a fish or also rubbing their heads fully understanding what they had been told. Alex Greyhorn was the creator of what was quickly being known as Magi-Tech and was someone every Noble and Ancient House across the world was looking towards as one of the greatest inventors while hoping to embed their selves or family members close to him. David Greyhound might be one of the founders of the Grey Alliance, but Alex Greyhorn had done what the Grey Alliance had been striving for since its founding as theIR main focus was the Progress of the Magical World that was still behind the None-Magi World.

Yet Alex Greyhorn was not in Britain, Magical or amongst the None-Magi. He wasn't on any of the known continents across Earth. He wasn't even on Earth or the sol system. Alex Greyhorn had once more proved how valuable he was, not only for the Grey Alliance but the Progress of the Magical World and None-Magi world as a whole. After hearing what Alex had been secretly working on Cherry didn't know whether she should be impressed he would think of such a thing or surprised that it worked. David Greyhorn was not a liar and was more than willing to take a magical oath as proof to what he had just informed them of, but the Dimensional Mirror he had brought with him had a recording function to it and showed his son Alex in another world he had traveled to, one that had the potential of a New Generation of wizards and witches.

"Has Heir Greyhorn made any contact as of late?" Lord Christopher Greengrass asked.

"Not since last night," David Greyhorn said still nursing his head which had a nasty bump on it. Many of the Head Lords and Ladies of Alliances winched upon seeing the bump on David Greyhorn's head and the bandage wrapped around it "As you just witnessed, he intends on following these New Generation witches"

"So…" Lord Haven Blackwick began "The most talented prodigy to have come out of this country has decided to go to another world and has found two New Generation witches amongst the people over there… How do we tell the public? For Merlin and Christ's sake! Do we even tell them about this?"

That was the question that many were thinking over. There were a few that still didn't fully understand what Alex had accomplished. While they understood he was in another world thanks to a new invention and spells he had created, they didn't understand the full implications of what could happen if word got out that traveling to another world was not only possible but achieved by a single person. Someone who hadn't even finished his schooling.

Magi-Tech was one thing. It was something that could be controlled for a time and released to the public on all levels. But the machine and spells Alex had created were beyond Magi-Tech. It was not something they could easily reveal to the public or anyone outside the Alliance.

"I take it, Heir Greyhorn had placed the spells he used into the Greyhorn family grimoire?" Minister Blackfeathers asked.

"He has" David Greyhorn nodded "If you're wondering about the machine that he created, don't bother looking for it"

"Fidelius charm?"

"Yep" David nodded "Unless he dies or tells us where he put the thing, no one ever is able to find it"

Many nodded at that and saw it as the right move to make. The last thing any of them wanted was for someone to find the machine and use it for their own ill ideas. It was also good that the spells for the activation of the machine were in a family grimoire as they were now protected by ancient laws that no one dared to break unless they were Albus Dumbledore.

"Does this new world have a name?" Cherry Blackfeathers asked.

"The locals call their world "Runeterra"" David answered "Alex is trying to get a good understanding of the world, but he had learned that the world has a number of magic users and had gone under what was known as the Rune War. People are wary of magic users because of the Rune War, the ruling governments and nations are also wary of Magi-User s"

"Rune War?" Christopher Greengrass asked.

"A Magi-War. One that had stretched across the world as a whole. Alex intends to look for records of the war and that age. Ruffly some eight hundred or nine hundred years ago"

"And the None-Magi's thoughts of Magi-User s?"

"Fear and suspicious. There's a country that locks Magi-User 's up. Demacia, I believe Alex called it"

There was a brief moment of silence until the Minster spoke up once more.

"For now, we keep this to ourselves"

Many look to the Minister while others understood what she was thinking.

"We can't let the discovery of this "Runeterra" to become publicly known" Cherry Blackfeathers continued "There will be people out there wanting access to the machine and spells. This includes the ICW and the member nations out there. The capability of traveling to another world will be too captivating by even the most sensible leaders and countries. Everyone would start demanding access to the machine and spells the moment they find out about them, to the point we would have to fight off those people if we wish to deny them any further"

After coming out of what was now commonly known as the Blood War, there was a large amount of Ministry forces that had been killed and was still taking time to Ministry forces that had been killed during the war with the Wizengamot at the time stopping the Aurors from using lethal force. It had been embarrassing to the nation as a whole after the full death count had been tallied and released to the public.

Everyone in the Alliance cursed Albus Dumbledore and both the Dark and Light factions for creating and passing the laws that stopped the Aurors from doing their jobs. While good men and women were dying, the Dark faction was laughing their asses off while the Light faction and their leader were using those deaths as a means to push their own agendas. The other nations were doing much better holding the Death Eaters and their master from gaining any ground with lethal force, but it later became apparent Dumbledore had been trying to lower the abilities of those Aurors as well so he could swoop in and save the day thanks to his supporters within those nations Ministries.

Even though much of the Ministry and its Departments had been purged of both the Death Eaters and Dumbledore's followers, there was still animosity between Magical Britain and member nations of the ICW. With the release of Magi-Tech, it would bring much business, trade agreements, opportunities, and hands of friendships for Magical Britain as a whole. But even then, there would be still more than a few countries that were unhappy that they allowed someone like Albus Dumbledore to get away with so much for so long. Some wanted to put sanctions on Magical Britain for a time as a punishment while others wanted to place ICW members into the British Ministry as Overseers.

If not for months of intense negations by the British's new ICW representative, they might have lost a lot of their independence. If it was not for Lord Gregory Silverhand, the fifty-five-year-old Gey Alliance member had managed to get the ICW off their backs while they licked their wounds and cleaned up their country.

"People are going to notice Heir Greyhorn missing," said Amelia Bones "Him not turning up at the train station for his next Hogwarts semester is not going to go unnoticed"

"We'll tell the public he's working on a new project," David Greyhorn said "He's already ahead of all his classes and could take the OWLS exam with ease"

"The test examiner will have to swear into secrecy" Cherry Blackfeathers stated "Do we know how Heir Greyhorn intends to return to this world? How long did it take for him to create the machine that sent him to Runeterra?"

"The better part of six months" David Greyhorn answered back "Though that machine was a one-way type version"

"Then how the bloody hell does he intend to get back?" Amelia Bones demanded.

It was then David Greyhorn pulled out a small piece of paper that grew in size so that everyone could see its contents. The image was of a circler device which had a number of explanations as to what the device did and how large it was.

"This is what Alex calls "The Transdimensional Gateway". The device has already been built on our side. And Alex claims he only needs to build a second one on Runeterra. Once that's done, he should be able to connect the two and able to just walk right back here with one step"

Many looked at the blueprint that lay on the table with more than a few taking notes. The Lords and Ladies of the Grey Alliance were people of progress and visionaries, while they were behind in understanding much of the science that was being introduced to the Magical world after centuries, they were more than eager to learn.

"Heir Greyhorn has already completed this device?" Amelia Bones asked.

"He has" David Greyhorn answered "With the help of the Greyhorn House Elf's, Alex was able to get the job done quickly. And let's be honest, magic had a big part in the construction"

For the next half hour, the men and woman of the Grey Alliance made the decisions they believed was best for the current time. As far as the world would know, Alex Greyhorn was taking private lessons and would be removed from Hogwarts for the foreseeable future. A rumor would spread about Alex creating a new form of technology and magic, and an OWL examiner would be brought in under oath as that Alex would be able to perform his OWL exam, even though he was in another world.

An oath was also taken that none of what had been discussed would be revealed to anyone outside the Alliance, if they wished to tell their spouse and children, they too would have to take the same oath.

As the rest of the Lord and Ladies of the Grey Alliance left the meeting looking forward to the future, David Greyhorn rubbed the bump on his head knowing his wife and her fry pan were waiting for him.

Runeterra…

Piltover Undercity…

Alex looked at the abandoned factory which look like it was on its last legs. The windows had been smashed and the have of the main building had collapsed. By right the place should have been torn down considering how much of a hazard it was and the fact there was nothing stopping anyone from entering and looking around. Yet this was the place Alex intended to turn into his personal base of operations as no one besides the extremely curious came around, with a few spells here and there along with his House Elf workforce at the ready, he could tear the place down with ease.

But rather than doing that he pulled out his wand and pointed at the factory while calling up all the power, he could muster.

"Fidelius!"

While concealed, no one saw Alex pointing his wand at the abandoned factory. Within a few minutes, any recollection of the factory vanished from the records and minds of everyone who knew it or was erased from the record books held by the government. If anyone saw Alex, they would have seen him vanish out of sight.

Stepping into the factory, Alex started casting charms and spells left and right. Wood that had rotted reformed itself as to where the metal had rusted returned back to its original state. The spell Alex had created, known as "Rejuvenation" sent inanimate objects back to their original factory-made state, back home those who had little understanding in how things were built would find the spell a waste of time to learn, while those in the medical sector would find the spell as a failure to the type of rejuvenation they were looking for.

Alex found the spell to be another step towards the future, while the Magi-User s who had kept out of the None-Magi world and politics for some time, wouldn't understand what the spell meant for the environment, the New Generation knew what it cost to make new materials and the effects on the environment. The true reason why Alex had created the spell was to later help the planet earth in cleaning up its waste, there were companies out there that were doing their part, but the effects of modern None-Magi technology was slowly destroying the world, and while the politicians and the biggest companies that made the pollution problem look like a minor issue, Alex intended to make sure that "Minor Issue" didn't become a massive problem. Magic was one part of Alex's plans in fixing and cleaning up the future, most people just hadn't realized that.

Inside the factory, the House Elf's Alex had brought with him to tend to the mobile magical farm/zoo popped inside and started getting to work. While the factory building had been brought back to its peak, the machinery and everything else inside that was useless to Alex was being broken apart and turned into raw materials for later use. Walkways were torn down with new floors being made and gear that Alex had been carrying in his shrunken trunks were brought out and positioned around the newly built and formed rooms.

A library with books Alex had copied from his family and Hogwarts school library had been made with the shelves filled to the brim with the copied books. A greenhouse had been built on the top floor with a charming ceiling showing a clear sky giving the plants sunlight or changing into a small rain shower when needed. A bathroom, study, living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and guestrooms had also been constructed in less than an hour by the House Elf's and Alex. By the end of it, the abandoned rundown factory exterior had also been changed to look like a mansion, with a small garden between the main building and the newly constructed redbrick wall.

What would have taken months to do was done in one afternoon, and Alex could not help but blush a bit at the fact he had turned the abandoned factory into his personal mansion while trying to outdo the Greyhorn family mansion. What would have taken over fifty people or more people to do just took Alex himself and a handful of House Elf's and he was both proud and disheartened at the achievement. On one hand, he had the ability to create something beautiful without making a sweat, and on the other hand, he made many professional builders and retails redundant by doing so.

That was the problem when it came to Progress.

Everything Alex had done and was capable of was for the betterment of Earth and its people. He didn't see himself as Albus Dumbledore as he didn't want to force or manipulate people into following his beliefs, he just wanted to make sure that there was a future for both the None-Magi and the Magi-User s of the world. Alex knew sooner or later Earth would start heating and the pollution created by both the None-Magi and the Magi-User s would make the planet uninhabitable. Which was one of the reasons he decided to look for alternative means to saving the planet, its people, and other magical races.

Entering his newly formed office, Alex pulled out one of the shrunken trunks and brought it back to its proper size. Opening it a bright blue-bird flew out and landed on the bird perch and cried out in annoyance.

"Don't get picky at me Frost" Alex said to his familiar "You're the first Frost Phoenix that's traveled to another world across the dimensional gap! Be happy about that"

Rather than thanking Alex, his familiar let out a huff and started munching down on the seeds the House Elf's prepared for her.

Frost came from a rare breed of Phoenix race that many hunted down to near extinction. The blood of the Frost Phoenix's had high magical potentizes that could be used to increase a person's Magi-Core when used correctly, it was the only known substance in the world that had the ability to do such a thing which made the Frost Phoenix's become one of the most hunted magical animals across the world. It was only when the magical animal was near extinct that the Frost in their name was given meaning.

In retaliation to the death of their kins, the Frost Phoenix's started freezing inter magical communities and attacking the manors and homes of those that both hunted down and drank the blood of their kin. It was near to the point the secrecy of the Magical World was nearly exposed to the None-Magic world. The ICW branded the Frost Phoenix's as Dark Creatures which had been spearheaded by Albus Dumbledore himself, it was only lately that the Frost Phoenix's had been unbranded as Dark Creatures and put under the Near-Extinction protection act that gave the Frost Phoenix's full protection from poachers who would receive the death penalty for hunting and killing the creatures.

"Would you like to know that I found other New-Generation Magi-User s here?" Alex asked taking a seat at his desk.

Frost didn't bother responding and continued to eat his food. How he put up with the bird was beyond Alex. The cold magical animal didn't listen to anyone and would only do the bare minimum request Alex asked of it, if anything his familiar acted more like a freeloader with a bottomless stomach.

In response to Alex's question, Frost sent a telepathic response which Alex had to interpret himself.

'Why should I give a fuck?' was what Alex got from Frost.

"There might be Frost Phoenix's out there"

'I doubt it'

"You don't ever know. I was surprised when I found those two New-Generation Magi-User s"

'Oh? And where are they now?'

Alex grimaced at the question. Powder/Jinx was easy enough to talk to, but whenever he tried to talk to Vi after removing the spell, he had put her under, the pink-haired young woman would automatically start attacking him, which left Alex with a black eye, bruised cheek, and a broken nose. In the end, he got the two boys, Mylo and Claggor back up and had them carry Vi home or to where ever they lived.

Personally, Alex wanted to help them with whatever problems they were currently having. Before Powder and the two boys left with Vi, he handed them a small sack of gillions that had been charmed so only Powder could open it up. Powder said thanks along with the two boys who were still cautious of Alex and he couldn't blame them, while he only had a bit of understanding to how most people of Runeterra acted towards Magi-User s, but he knew there was a lot of suspicion towards them, and with the number of spells Alex had used to get the group out of the apartment was him practically screaming he was a Magi-User.

'You fucked up'

"Fuck you"

Runeterra…

Piltover Undercity…

Benzo's Traders…

Benzo looked at the gold coin little Powder pulled out of the sack she was carrying, and the hundreds of identical coins that followed the first. There was more gold on the counter than Benzo ever imagined seeing in his life, and some mage had just handed al over to Powder after a heist had gone wrong and could have killed them all while also pissing off the Topsiders.

"So how much is it all worth?" Powder asked while holding a bunch of the gold coins in her hands.

Vi, Mylo, and Claggor were also looking at the coins. Mylo had greed in his eyes while both Vi and Claggor looked at the coins suspiciously with Vander behind them doing the same.

It wasn't until half an hour after both Mylo and Claggor brought Vi in from the back of the Last drop was when Vi was released from whatever spell the mage had put her under. Before Vi was released from the spell, Vander got every bit of information out of Mylo and Claggor about their heist with Powder filling in what happened between them being frozen in a spell and how the mage saved their lives. While the man didn't show it, Vander was beyond grateful at the mage who had saved his kids, while at the same time said kids had decided to break the rules and tried to rob someone from Topside and had nearly gotten themselves killed in the process.

"More than I have," Benzo said looking at each coin with an artistic eye while holding a layer of greed.

Benzo had the same greed look in his eye whenever the kids brought in something he could sell. But for the first time, he doubted he would have enough money to get half of the coins that somehow came out of the small sack Powder carried with her. Part of Benzo just wanted the coins how they were rather than melting them down and selling them for the gold value, they were printed coins, one side had the symbol of a dragon while the other had a face of an old wizard with a long pointy hat.

"And the mage just gave you the sack?" Benzo asked looking at another gold coin.

"Said I was the only one who could touch it," Powder said smugly towards Mylo.

Mylo in turned growled but said nothing. More than once the skinny boy had tried taking the sack off Powder but was shocked when doing so with the sack of gold reappearing in Powder's hand. The others had tried doing the same thing, but rather than shocking them the small sack just reappeared back in Powder's hands.

"For the craftmanship; that would be at least fifty to a collector. For the weight in gold; seventy-five or eighty, depending on the price of gold these days. Each"

Claggor did the calculations in his head and his jaw dropped.

"Thirty-seven thousand and five hundred Piltover National Coins"

The three teens and even Vander's eyes widen at the number.

A person could live off three coins in the Undercity a day. Twenty-one for a whole week. Thirty-seven thousand and five hundred could last for years if spent correctly. Yet the amount of money Claggor tallied was the type only the Chem Barons and some of the biggest gangs in the Undercity and Topside could make within a year or two. And a mage just handed them it all.

"Give what you can to them Benzo," Vander said "Put the rest in the pouch and hand it back to Powder"

"Why does she get to keep it?" Mylo complained even though the answer of obvious.

"You want to get shocked again?" Vi retorted with her eyes telling him what would happen if he tried stealing it from Powder.

Mylo just sighed.

"Good," Vander said before continuing "Now… all you lot, back to the Last Drop where a number of choirs are waiting for you"

"Come on Vander!" Mylo complained "We just scored the largest amount of money you've ever seen. Let us go spend a little!"

"And scream to the whole Undercity that you have more money than most Chem Barons? What do you thinks going to happen when people find out you have that type of money on you?" Vander retorted.

Vi and Claggor rubbed their foreheads at their friend's stupidity. Mylo's loud mouth had got them into trouble more than once, he would either barge to others about a heist they pulled off, or give away some of the group's secrets when he was convinced to by some of the females with just a few words and puppy dog eyes.

But Vander wasn't going to be moved. Not with a mage roaming about the Undercity.

Before coming to Benzo's, Vander had more than a few words with Vi and the rest of the group. Mylo and Claggor carried her still form through the Undercity with a cloak covering her, when they reached the Last Drop and used the back entrance, it was safe to say that Vander was not happy when he found out they had not only tied robbing someone from Topside but had come in contact with a mage.

Word was already spreading around the city about the possibility of a mage being in the city, due to what had happened at the Jack and Taylor's Steel Mill and Refinery. Enforcers were ready to tear the Undercity apart as the Piltover Council had no love for anyone that was capable of using magic and typically gave people who could use magic three choices.

Option One; Join the Academy and become a gunnie pig.

Option Two; Leave Piltover and never return.

Option Three; refuse any of the previous two options you will be killed.

Vi knew more than a few people who had been caught with the ability to perform magic and had been dragged off to the Academy. Parents who had children that had been taken because they had the ability to perform magic never got to see or hear from their children again, one child had managed to escape and told her parents of the horrors the scientist performed on her in the name of their "Progress". Any child who had the ability to use magic was thoroughly told to never try and perform magic again and forget about being able to do such a thing.

With the threat of riots rising up once more, the Council released the children and fired the scientist that performed the horrid experiments. The children released to their parents didn't get to stay in the Piltover, the parents were told if they wished to keep their children then they would also need to leave Piltover's cities. For the people of Topside, it was easy as they had the resources and wealth to restart anywhere, they liked with even some help from the Council.

For the people of the Undercity, it was a different story, it was hard enough to stay afloat with the little money they had, and starting a new life somewhere else without any support was impossible. Some parents took their children and left, while others who had so little, handed their children back to the Academy or gave what they could and sent their children away.

The decisions the parents made were never questioned by others by the people of the Undercity, while the people of Topside openly voice their opinions. Vi heard the stories about the parents who sent their children back to the Academy or away on their own, she both hated and understood their positions. Even though the Council fluffed up the reasoning and presented themselves as the kind-hearted people they saw themselves as Vi knew it was just another way the Council showed off their authority to the Undercity.

Now there was a mage in the Undercity who had already humiliated a group of Enforcers who were beating down on some homeless men and women. Word quickly spread in one moment the homeless were being beaten, and the next they were hanging upside down by their ankles with "I like beating homeless people" branded onto their chests. People of the Undercity were up in arms about the incident, and Vander had been running around trying to keep the piece while also trying not to look like the Topsider's lapdog rather than The Hound of the Undercity.

The fact Vi and the others had decided to rob a Topsider just added to the pile of concerns Vander's hand, and the man wasn't going to let them off easy.

Vi didn't know why the mage had been following them or why only Powder could see him on the rooftops when Vi herself couldn't. Looking at the gold coins that Benzo was greedily was collecting, Vi wondered where or how the mage managed to get so much gold, he had handed to Powder as compensation for taking everything they were intending to sell to Benzo. Not that Vi was complaining about the gold, it was worth more than the contents of the apartment, or so she thought.

Runeterra…

Piltover Council…

When word reached the Council that there was a mage within the two cities a meeting was held within the Piltover Council Chambers. No one inside was happy that a mage was roaming freely within one of their cities, whether it was out of fear for the powers they held or the disrespect they felt as a mage was outright disobeying their rules and laws. The fact the mage had attacked one of the patrols within the Undercity just reinforced their belief that the man or woman was dangerous and needed to be removed, they didn't care why the mage had attacked the Enforcers but rather how quickly and effortlessly their Enforcers had been attacked and defeated and strung up and branded for everyone to see.

"We should send out the Hunters!" Councillor Hoskel demanded while slapping the table with his hand sending a ripple effect across his overweight body.

"As much as I would normally agree with that course of action. We can't send the Hunters into the Undercity right now" said Mel Medarda "With the people of the Undercity having more than their fill of the Enforcers having their way with them, I doubt sending in the Hunters would do any good. The last thing we want is another uprising fuelled by Enforcer and Hunter brutality"

Mel Medarda knew how the Undercity perceived the Council and the people who lived in Topside. Ever since the riots, otherwise known to the people of the Undercity as the "Bloody Bridges Massacrers", there was a large amount of friction between the Undercity and Topside that had been slowly growing over the years even before Mel herself arrived in the city. Right now, there was a large amount of discontent coming from the Undercity, state of living, and animosity for the Undercity towards the Topsiders and the Council itself. While most of the wealthy and the average citizen that lived in Topside didn't care for the happenings in the Undercity as they had the belief the Enforcers could deal with any of the problems the Undercity and its residences posed, Mel knew sooner or later the people of the Undercity would have enough of the hand they were being continually dealt with and fight back.

As much as Mel believed they could win against the Undercity with the weapons Piltover was known for, there was a chance the bloody riots were nothing more than a lesson for the people of the Undercity, not the type that the other members of the Council believe they had taught in not messing with them or going against their rulings, but the type soldiers and generals from Noxus learn t when they were bloodied and beaten by their enemies. The people of the Undercity would adapt to the fighting methods that had been employed against them during the riots, how they would adapt was beyond Mel, but she knew it was not a fight they could afford right now.

"We put an arrest warrant out for the mage," said Councillor Salo, the youngest member on the Council "A hundred National coins for the capture of the mage or information leading up to his capture"

"A small reward," said Councillor Shoola "Would the people of the Undercity even bother"

"I might be chump change for the people in Topside, but the people in the Undercity would see it as a small fortune," Salo said while chuckling.

Mel didn't do anything on the outside besides keeping her passive face on. But on the inside, she was shaking her head at the two. Salo was someone who had basically inherited his seat on the Council and followed whatever the majority, the man didn't care for much besides keeping his family's business running which were run by his sister. As the oldest, his sister inherited the family business in weapon manufacturing and development while Salo himself acted as the face of the company and mingled with the upper class of Piltover.

The money Salo was offering to the people of the Undercity was the equivalent of what the average Topsider would spend in a week. It was chump change, yet it was something the people of the Undercity would jump for as it was more than they would make in a week. The economic difference between the two cities had helped create Piltover its wealth over the decades, but even Mel who had grown up in Noxus knew that the hardships the people of the Undercity faced were a lot more difficult than what the average citizen of Noxus faced on a daily basis.

The right thing to do would be to increase the reward money. But that would just make the people of the Undercity start crying wolf and the people would no doubt start turning on each other out of desperation. As heartless and cruel as it was, the small bounty would keep the people from turning on each other and feed the PPD information they needed.

"Do we know where the mage came from?" asked the oldest member on the Council and only Yordle amongst them, Councillor Heimerdinger.

"Currently, they have turned up nothing so far," said Councillor Cassandra Kiramman "Besides the mage breaking into my family's owned apartment there is little to go on right now"

"Do we know what was stolen?"

"Everything. Besides the furniture that was used to block the front door entrance, everything had been taken" Cassandra said annoyed "Every book, note, blueprint, and prototype my family had sponsored was taken. That includes the furniture that wasn't used to barricade the door"

"How did the mage even manage that? Was it even the mage?" Salo asked with a confused look.

"Jayce claimed he was only gone for five minutes with a friend. Both are students of the Academy and claimed everything in the apartment was gone when they returned and they claimed they heard a number of people insides the apartment at the time"

"So, we might be dealing with a number of magic users!?" Councillor Hoskel spat "This is why we need to send in the Hunters!"

Mel frowned at the thought of the Hunters. They were a reliable force the Council had on hand, but at the same time, they were the type that used less than moral means to get the job done. The Hunters acted more like a religious inquisition and hunted magic-users inside Piltover like animals. There had been one incident where the Hunter released trained dogs in the snow after a mother and her child, it was decades ago but the incident blackened the Hunters reputation with the international guests and allies frowning upon them.

"We don't even know if the other people in the apartment at the time were even magic users," Mel said calmly "For all, we know they could have just been regular people who were working for the mage"

"If that's the case we should raise the bounty," said Councillor Bolbok "The thieves would no doubt have accumulated money from whatever they had stolen, not enough to last them long, and if they are thieves, they would be more than happy to backstab this mage for some extra coin"

"Unless the mage had already silenced them," Mel said in turn.

Runeterra…

Piltover Undercity….

Greyhorn Grand Recycled Manor…

Unknown to the Council, Alex wasn't killing his associates, considering he didn't have any. He wasn't planning on cursing the city or bringing about the apocalypse like most of the upper class of Piltover told their children as bedtime stories.

Alex was going over the food his small militia of House Elf's was preparing. A simple family-style roast chicken with all the trimmings one would have for dinner. It tasted wonderful and like always he praised his House Elf's for their work.

Walking into the kitchen Alex saw a large number of roast chickens being cooked along with roast potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. Everything came from the shrunken trunks as three of them have farmlands and gardens with House Elf's tending to the choirs. The amount of food and crops Alex could produce could feed an army, runic spells had been created to make the terraformed land more fertile for plant growth along with making the female animal populace fertile as well.

It had taken time and effort to get the mobile farms and gardens right. With the increase of animals there needed to be an increase in food for them to eat and water to drink. The amount of effort to make sure the animal wouldn't starve and had enough room to grow and populate had nearly made him go insane. Yet looking at all the food that was being prepared and cooked to perfection, all that time and effort left like it was worth it.

"Master Greyhorn sir" the head House Elf named Dev bowed "The feast is almost prepared sir"

Unlike the House Elf's that wore pillowcases as clothing, Alex found a way to make his House Elf's look more presentable while not removing them from their service. Giving clothing sieved the link between the House Elf and the magic-core of their Masters, but rather than handing clothing over, Alex ordered the House Elf's to make clothing for themselves, which led to something he, nor anyone in the Magical world had experienced or expected.

Rather than being the submissive House Elf's that everyone knew. The House Elf's that were given permission to make their own clothing turned the submissive House Elf's into what people would consider Hero or Religious Worshiping House Elf's. Alex just wanted them to have some protection when handling some of the hazardous ingredients he collected and grew, but he didn't expect for them to treat and revere him as Dobby did with Harry Potter.

The clothing Dev had made for himself was that of a head butler. The House Elf's that were working in the kitchen were wearing cooking uniforms going about their work. It didn't cost much for them to make their uniforms and Alex felt it was more professional to have properly clothed House Elf's rather than the ones in rags.

"It looks, tastes, and smells delicious Dev" Alex praised with a smile "Do you remember the next instructions?"

"Of course, sir," Dev said with a nod "All food will be delivered and those that participate in the feast will be monitored and protected"

"Thank you," Alex said "Give my regards to the others"

Dev bowed once more and Alex was glad that his Head House Elf was not kissing the ground he walked on. That had been a problem with many of the other House Elf's in the past and Alex had to order each and every one of them to stop worshiping him as if he was their god and, in some cases, their goddess. Don't ask.

Leaving the kitchen, Alex went to the basement. As much as he enjoyed seeing his hard work being put to good use, there were other things he needed to work on.

Entering the basement, Alex looked to the workbench where the Enforcers Amour had been broken apart along with weapons. The amour was made out of a light metal which Alex found impressive, but with a closer look at what the metal was comprised of Alex found the metal to be made out of elements he was not familiar with. While exciting, it made Alex frown that there was no magical makeup or essence within them. The guns, on the other hand, were different, they looked more underdeveloped than the hand-held weapons the None-Magi from Earth used, they were in fact a lot more powerful.

Using one of the rifles once, Alex found the weapon to be powerful, very powerful.

Looking into the makeup of the guns, Alex found the inner workings to be more complex than the standard None-Magi weapons of Earth. The weapons were built to kill but in the most ruthless way possible. Where the weapons of Earth were built to kill more efficiently, the rifles created in Piltover were built for fear, effect, and gore. They packed a punch and tore everything that was in their way apart. Alex had put many of his own amours and reinforced clothing up against the weapons, the simple fabrics and armors were ripped apart, but the stronger fabrics and amours that had been charmed with runes were able to easily deflect the bullets.

But even though he could counter those rifles, there was still much Alex didn't know about Piltover's full capabilities. Noxus and the other nations didn't invade Piltover for no reason, and while a nation could win in the end, it would be an easy win. Swords and shields couldn't stop bullets, and magic could only go as far as the wielders could learn and understand the mystic arts. Men like Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore believed magic was above the ingenuity of the None-Magi's, and it was during the medieval age where Magi-User s were being successfully hunted down. The Leaders of Piltover knew there were Magi-User s out there, and they had no doubt created methods in dealing with said Magi-User s.

Alex noted everything down he could about the Piltover's Enforcers weapons and armors. He didn't understand fully what the Piltover Council thought towards Magi-User s, but from the way their police force treated the people of the Undercity, Alex didn't have any hopes for how they treated people that could tip the scales of their control in the Undercity.

Then there was the research that he had stolen from Jayce Tails. Magi-Tech was Alex's discovery, while Hex-Tech was Jayce Tails. Looking over the notes, blueprints, and documents he had pilfered from the apartment, Alex could tell Jayce was close to developing working Hex-Tech. Alex's Magi-Tech worked on the same principle with magic acting as the main power source, the difference was the source of magic the two were using. Hex-Tech would be using synthetic and reinforced Hex-Crystals, Alex's Magi-Tech used the same method but was magic that had been gathered and compressed from Magi-Users themselves.

Synthetic Hex-Crystals needed normal Hex-Crystals to be made. As to where Magi-Reactors to be made by any Magi-User with the right resources that could be picked up from a hardware store and the right spell work. This was something that put Magi-Tech above Hex-Tech, while Alex had some of his Magi-Tech brought with him, he was more than capable of creating more and inventing others.

Alex also had a good understanding what the political scale between Topside and the Undercity, Topside had all the wealth and resources and was where the Council ruled. The Undercity, on the other hand, was the industrial power under the control of Piltover and was also where the workers and homeless lived who had little to no representation on the Piltover Council. Topside was no doubt the city which the Piltover Council wanted to present to the rest of the world while the Undercity was a place they wanted to keep in the dark and out of sight.

There was also the financial state of the two cities. It was clear to Alex that the people in Topside like to keep their wealth rather than paying the people of the Undercity with honest wages or putting money into the city itself. Besides sending money to keep the factories running, there was no money to keep the Undercity itself maintained or renovated to better standards. The more powerful industrialist made enough money to keep most of the much-needed infrastructure in the city running and usable, but Alex could see other much-needed parts of the city failing or outright collapsing on people.

And that didn't count the number of toxins floating around the Undercity. Alex could only imagine how the World Health Organisation would react when they found out the Undercity's atmosphere had the chance of mutating people.

Alex found it completely fucked up.

The moment Alex started making any headway in fixing the city it would cause a stir within both the Undercity and Topsider. He didn't know how the Chem-Baron's would react to him, but the people of the Undercity would no doubt be happy when they found they had running water in their houses and flushing toilets. But Alex knew that the people in Topside would see his charitable work differently, especially if it went against their status quo.

Whatever Alex did from now on was like walking a tight rope across two towers and over lava. One wrong step and Alex could find himself falling in that lava and burning to death.

He just hoped the food he was sending out to the people he found out were living in the Jack and Taylor's Steel Mill and Refinery would take his apology dinner kindly.

Runeterra…

Piltover Undercity….

Jack and Taylor's Steel Mill and Refinery that had been turned into a homeless shelter… Not built by the Council… because they are assholes…

Vander was rubbing his head. The smell of the food was intoxicating, and from the looks of the people who were eating it showed the taste matched the smell. Part of him wanted nothing more than to join in and have a taste of the roasted chicken, potatoes, baby peas, and gravy that the homeless that lived in the dilapidated factory. Yet Vander couldn't even touch the food or get close to the wooden tables that the food appeared, no matter what he or any of his men and women did, none of them could get close to the food or the people who were currently eating it.

To make sure there wasn't a riot, Vander made sure his people kept guard around the factory stopping people from going in unless they lived there. The last thing Vander wanted was for people to sniff the food and start charging in and could only watch as the homeless ate food they had never touched before and could only dream of eating.

Vander knew where the food came from. It was hard not to as there had been a letter left for Vander on the table. The leader of the shelter handed the letter to Vander, the homeless leader had also tried handing over some of the food to Vander. Sadly, the food vanished and reappeared on the table.

Opening the letter Vander started reading it in his head.

To the Leader of the Undercity or the most respected person in the city who people will actually listen to…

My name is Alex Greyhorn.

And I would like to invite you and whoever you deem trustworthy to dinner…

I was hoping to get the Rise of Zaun chapter done before this one. But I found myself too invested in this one. And the medication, the doctor had given me for the SHINGLES, made me lose my mind for a bit and I watched Harry Potter and Arcane for a bit and things went on from there.

I'm looking forward to the Horizon Forbidden West game. And have an idea for a new fanfiction for the Horizon Zero Dawn game.

Again. The next chapter for the Rise of Zaun is still in the making, but it's taking time and I'm back at work. So it's going to take a while. Sorry.