Wanted: Jacob Goodlight (Solo)

Javel's travel was a silent one. The dark mage had arrived to Hargeon Town, the town of the port. Hargeon is one of the Fiore's ports and also one of its most beautiful old towns. Javel recalled being told that the town is very prosperous and renowned in fishing. Truly, it was a shame that the location would be under heavy turmoil and terror from the likes of some murderer. The dark mage could not lie; this place was truly beautiful in scenery and it bothered him greatly that some scumbag would have the audacity to disturb its peace. Well no more; this man was going to answer for everything he's done. Every life that was taken was going to be paid in blood.

Javel took out the mission slip and carefully read over the details one more time to remind himself of what he's dealing with. The target in question is Jacob Goodlight, who was the local miner infamous for his brute strength and shrewd intelligence. Definitely a frightening combination of skills, but the dark mage would have to see for himself whether the man himself lived up to the credit the town gave him. With that kept in mind, Javel made his way through the port and towards the office destination written on the mission slip. It didn't take long to locate the building in question and found himself at the entrance.

Javel gripped the door's knob and turned, opening and then entering the premises. The young mage arrived to quite a tragic scene. A small group of people crying over a small memorial set up outside the building; the dark mage could only guess it was for the town guard who died by the hands of Goodlight and those people were presumably members of his family. Javel coldly took a glance at them with a slight touch of sympathy and moved on to the main desk. He found himself directly in front of an officer in a uniform covered with badges, his heading facing down and heavily deep in his thoughts. Javel stood there and waited for the man, supposedly the head guard, to acknowledge his presence. It took mere seconds for the guard to take notice and look face-to-face with the dark mage. It almost looked as if he haven't slept in days.

Javel displayed the mission paper on the desk and slid it to the guards's hand and took a step back to allow him to contemplate. The town guard picked up the slip; he noticed the notorious skull stamp on it and looked at the man. "Are you here for the misson?"

"Yes..."

"But you're a-"

Javel shot a very stern glare at him, a warning to choose his next words very carefully. He spoke to the guard in a very cold voice. "The situation doesn't change, sir."And Javel knew the townsguard captain couldn't argue with that. The terror in this town had to be stopped, whether it be done legally or not did not matter.

The head captain relented and stood up. "You're right." He looked over Javel's shoulder at the crying family mourning for their lost. His eyes were locked at the memorial portrait of the fallen guard in question and he struggled to hold back his tears. "We lost a good man a couple days back. Town has lost all hope in us ever since and more people just keep dying everyday. I just want this insanity to end."

Javel felt pity on the poor man and nodded quietly as he waited for the head guard to regain his composure. For him to bear the burden of the town's safety over his shoulders, it was clear to Javel that he was the town's last ray of hope for a better future. He spoke to him with the same cold voice, "Take me to the location of the last murder."


Javel found himself at the crime scene with the townsguard captain. The port was as beautiful as always, but what ruined the scenery was the blood stains that polluted the water and the wooden planks that the two were stepping on. Javel narrowed his eyes and spoke to the disgusted captain. "When did this happen?"

The captain's expression was very grim and he replied. "Our victim was killed a few days back. He left his wife and child behind..."

Javel felt a strange stir in his stomach as he heard the news. He remained as stoic as ever, staring blankly at the stained waters in front of them and asked another question. "You said the murders always take place in this general area?"

The captain nodded to Javel's statement. "The murders tend to be twenty or thirty meters part, but it's always this port and never elsewhere. The problem stems from the fact he strikes at random and there's no predicting when or whom he'll kill next..."

Javel turned around and walked away from the location and back towards the town bay. The captain followed him and asked, "What's your plan, mage?"

"Tell your men not to patrol this part of town anymore." Javel vaguely replied.

"...But, that will put the safety of the townspeople at ris-"

"I will see to that no one gets hurt. I'll deal with him myself when the time comes."

"But with no guards, he'll-"

"This is a gamble we will have to take."

The head guard could not believe what he was hearing. After everything that's happen and this stranger was asking to put more lives on the line? He angrily refuted, "You're insane! More people will die because of you!"

"The choice is yours. Will you allow me to deal with this scum or should I leave you worthless trash to your fates? I must remind you that you are in no position accuse me if you and your comrades can't catch  just one crook." Javel spoke back sternly, reminding the head townsguard of his status as a dark mage. Since he's not bound by the law, he is not legally required to offer his service to anyone. It is also in his benefit considering that it was illegal to hire dark mages for help in the first place. The townsguard was silent, unable to argue with Javel's point, despite the evident risks at hand. He looked down in defeat. "If one more person dies..."

Javel responded. "Not going to happen..."

The captain stared at the dark mage in surprise by his confidence. He asked him, "And how will you stop him?"

"The life of this worthless dogshit should not matter to you or to me. A coward like him deserves nothing but death, law or not."

The captain had no words left to say to the dark mage. Javel watched him leave the dock and head back to the office in the distance. Alone, the mage waited at the bay, watching the sun slowly set in the horizen...


Javel stood quietly as he stared at the moon in the night sky, the evening breeze blowing past him as he did so. He couldn't remember the last time he got to enjoy the peaceful night like this; he envied the townspeople for the landscape gift that was given to them by the endless sea in view. The appearance and sound of the navy calm waves placed him at ease and he felt as he could stay here all night. His thoughts were slowly slipping from the mission he still had at hand, only able to remind himself of what was at stake when his eyes wandered back at the bloody dock not too far from where he was...and the poor townsguard who died there...

Like all good things in life, his moment of peace had to come to an end. Javel might have been at ease, but he was far from stupid. His awareness of his surroundings were still as sharp as ever, and he could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from behind. What he was not expecting was for the footsteps to come to an abrupt stop, from a distance no less. Initially confused why the footsteps didn't close in on him, Javel quickly understood the situation he was in and calmly accepted it. He spoke aloud, "Speak..."

The voice that responded to his demands was hoarse, arrogant, and of utmost evil. "So the town decides sends in a mage to deal with me? How pathetic."

Javel could hear the wrapping of chains; there was no doubt that the man behind him was Jacob Goodlight himself. He chose to stay silent and allowed the man to continue speaking. "I overhead your silly little conversation with the head guard. Worthless dogshit? Coward?!"

Violence was inevitable, given Jacob's tone, just as Javel expected. The murderer had indeed been listening earlier this morning and fell for the bait hook, line, and sinker all according to plan. With Jacob's full attention on him, the dark mage slowly positioned his hand over his head and reached for his weapon slinged onto his back, readying himself for combat. Adrenaline began to flow in his veins and his calmness of his expression began to change.

There it was, the rumbling of footsteps and the sound of thrown chains towards his direction, followed by Jacob's roaring bellow. "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, YOU COCKY F***! ME, A COWARD?! I WILL CUT YOU UP AND MAKE YOU SCREAM!"

The battle had begun; Javel immediately turned around and countered the thrown chains by the meathook. His more portable weapon, the Berserker's Hand, easily bashed the chains aside and ducked under his opponent's follow-up strike with a combat. Getting back up on his feet, Javel took a good at who he was up against. As the mission slip described, Jacob Goodlight was a big man, easily towering over the dark mage by a whole eight inches. In additional to high height, this man packed more muscle than any known human opponent Javel has ever encountered. Out-muscled and out-heighted, it all came down to who is the better fighter. Lucky for Javel, Jacob's massive size seemed to make him slow and the dark mage knew that he needed to exploit that weakness if he wanted to win.

Making a mental note of Jacob's subpar speed, Javel charged forward and swung his Berserker's Hand at Jacob's head. He made contact and his weapon's bludgeoning attack was just enough to momentarily throw Jacob off-balance, a perfecting opening for another strike. Javel was quick on his feet and, gripping his weapon with both hands, swung again ruthlessly at the giant brute before him once again aimed for the head. His weapon made contact again and caused Jacob to stumble backwards, providing yet another opportunity for a followup attack. Javel took the chance punch Jacob with a left hook, then tossing his weapon to the aforementioned hand to free the other for a right hook. Each successful hit stunned Jacob for an additional second and the dark mage violently plowed the Berserker's Hand into the back of his neck.

It was not enough. Impressive as his attacks may be, Javel's attacks were merely blunt-based and his combo of attacks merely earned him a wounded scoff from the now-pissed off Jacob, who was bleeding from the repeated concussions dealt by Javel's weapon. The ex-miner slowly rose up from his kneeled position and grabbed the Berserker's Hand still lodged on his neck with an inhuman grip and chuckled.

Javel was momentarily caught offguard. "...What?"

"Heh...That the best you got little man?! MY TURN!" Jacob taunted and with Javel's weapon locked in his gripped, effortlessly pulled it aside and threw a punch squarely landing into the dark mage's chest. The force behind the punch knocked him off his feet, and he landed on his back with a heavy thud. The worst had yet to come.

Jacob tossed the Berserker's Hand aside and took out his cleaver, smiling slyly. "ALL TALK, NO WALK! NOW SCREAM AS I RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"

Javel barely had enough time to recover from the initial punch to dodge the cleaver swing that came immediately after. He tried to wrap his arms around Jacob's muscular hand holding the cleaver to keep him from swinging again, but his efforts were futile given the latter's overwhelming strength. Javel found himself backhanded in the stomach and he reeled back; Jacob took on the offensive and attempted another cleaver swing on him. Once again the dark mage barely evaded, and Jacob stumbled from the failed attack. Open to attack, Javel answered the opportunity and kicked Jacob in the side. Not much effect as Jacob had too much muscle in him to feel that kind of attack.

The dark mage leapt out of Jacob's range and took the chance to pick up his dropped weapon. Soon after, Jacob re-focused his gaze back on him and in response tossed his oversized carving knife before charging in with this cleaver. Javel ducked the weapon throw and too ran foward; the two combatants collided and their weapons clashed on contact. Being the smaller of the two, Javel found himself being tackled to a wall and found himself helpless pinned by his much bigger opponent. The only thing keeping him from having his throat slit open was his Berserker's Hand intercepting the cleaver's blade, which was slowly inching closer to him and Javel lost strength.

Jacob, triumphant, laughed. "Give it up, kid! You never stood a chance against the likes of me! You're a hero wannabe in way over his head and I'm going to paint this whole port in your guts for DARING to defy me! And once I'm done with you, the rest of the town is next!"

Javel glared at the brute in front of him angrily; he was so full of rage and disgust and hearing this madman made his blood boil. He had it with this scum; he was going to put him down. No, he was going to ANNIHILATE him.

Barely freeing his right hand, he clenched it into a fist and raised it in front of him, and commanded. "Requip: The Soul."


A yellow magic circle in the shape of an eye was expelled from the end of his fist, blasting Jacob off of him. It retracted as Javel pulled back his hand, it landing on his chest and prompting blue lightning-like patterns to outline through his entire body. Blue energy combusted from the magic eye, his Soul Armor now in the place where he was once standing. Javel flexed his arms in triumph and a hooded cloak sprouted from his chest-embedded magic eye, flying over and then coming back down on him. The cloak then merged with him, forming the armor's unique faceplate and finalizing his transformation.

Jacob could not imagine that the opponent he was dealing with would be some sort of Requip mage and he would not have time to address the change of situations either. Javel's speed and strength were now enhanced to the point he could finally match up with the much bigger brute. He slammed his weapon into Jacob's face, stunning him for a second, which was all the dark mage needed. He followed up with a flurry of punches and weapon jabs, each attack knocking the off-balanced Jacob one step backwards after the other before finishing off with a push kick that sent the oversized man over the port and into the deep waters below.

Javel was not about to let him recover from that. He immediately summoned a new weapon to finish the fight; he opened his palm and a strange lantern formed into existence over the top of his hand. He lined the newly summoned spell weapon with his Berserker's Hand, opening the latter's hand function as he did so. The mechanical hand then closed on command, gripping the lantern in place, forming a pseudo-mace for the perfect finisher. He jammed the Berserker's Hand into the water and activated his 'Omega Bomber' spell once the weapon was halfway submerged. Yellow electricity violently crackled and sparked, the currents quickly spreading through the whole general area in seconds. Jacob's muffled screams could be heard underneath the deep for a few seconds before finally going silent. Javel retracted his weapon and canceled his Requip magic. It was done...

The whole commotion was more than enough to wake the whole town up. The townsguard captain, alongside his squad, were the first to arrive to the scene just in time to see Javel deactivating his Requip spell as he started blankly into the sea below. Cautiously, the captain approached the dark mage and asked. "Mage, I-I heard yelling! What happened?!"

Javel held his response and waited until Jacob's charred body floated into plain view. He looked up and saw the shocked expression of the townsguard. Unmoved by the disturbing sight, the dark mage's reply was a cold one. "It's over..."