The Devil's Lab

In Talonia was a war torn man, wearing nothing but his boxers, lying down on bed and staring aimlessly at the ceiling. The room was dark and the only source of light was from the vents, where sunlight would pass through. It was only recently that he had dealt with the thieves who dared try to take his precious piece of hardware and after searching for his main target, it was stolen from him.. By a woman he knew as Anastasia, she who stole his hunt, a former bard now a mechanical fighter who grew in power.

She earned a spot in one of Dubhlainn’s Blacklist.

However having a thieves steal from him isn’t the main issue he’s having, it’s the Mediocrity of Mages who abused their magic and abuse their powers.
Its was funny tho that legal mages don’t act just as merciful to its enemies, in fact when in a fight, they are bloodthirsty, their desire to kill was just the same as a primitive sabertooth tiger. It was pure mediocrity that they were being paid to kill and acted as if they weren’t human beings at all. Mages keep on forgetting that they were human in the first place, they keep on forgetting that one day they will die regardless that without power, they are worthless. Mages who abuse their magics in situations that can be resolved in a more humanly matter….

…possess a high level of mediocrity, magic makes them work and they cannot live without magic. It is the sight and knowledge of those kinds of people existing is what sickens Dubhlainn to the stomach. Only a few mages such as Mikomi of the Hidden Daggers and Janneline the current Guildmaster had earned his respect, in fact both of them were acceptable cases and respected their own abilities to not abuse them.

The rest of the Savage Skull were mediocre trash, even if some were considered more powerful than Dubhlainn, they are all just pathetic and harmless thugs without magic in the face of dubhlainn, he who is a war veteran, who fought many battles, with and without the use of magic, he who knew how mages work, how they act and how they feel about power surging through their veins. It’s a psychological disease to make them think they are gods.

Magic can achieve the impossible but that doesn’t mean one has to abuse it thinking they can beat anyone, Dubhlainn wanted to prove one thing to all Mages out there in Fiore….

…. All of them were Gods and he shall be the man who shall slay God, that is the true concept of what one calls a “God slayer”.

Just the thought of it angers him, the thought of it upsets him and it would satisfy him to take down a “God “they who are powerless without their magic powers, it would bring him in ecstasy.
Dubhlainn used to be a Military agent in Mirai who fought for the state of the world and for its future until the great civil war happened, it was all thanks to a powerful neurological poison that everyone turned against each other, those that are poisoned united and tried to bring the Mirai military down but having found no cure to a Neurological poison, the victims had to be culled, the blood of Dubhlainn’s allies… in his own hands. He later retired from Mirai military and became a freelance mercenary, an assassin, he performed several missions before he finally started to see “the value of life and humanity” and through circumstances, he was tasked to locate and eliminate all traces of the neurological poison that is here in Fiore. A destructive weapon that can take civilization apart and this was a land were powerful mages exist, should conflict arise then the land would be devastated.

The Wincott poison, that’s its name and it almost wiped out the Military factions of Mirai, it was complete madness, killing his own comrades branded himself as a monster who knew nothing more than to fight, his captain, his best friend died trying to save the Mirai military from destruction, Gallant, his friend who he considers his equal, now has his hands stained by his blood. Due to circumstances, he became one of Harrigan’s servants and is working in cooperation with the legendary magus, Merlin Ambrosius to seek the poison, find a cure and eliminate it and forbid its craft forever.

Mages had experienced conflicts in their time and petty wars, wars and engagements in Mirai even before the civil war; it was three times more worse than a war with magic. If a Mage had no magical power and is faced with a scenario similar to Mirai’s wars, they won’t last 5 minutes, even the Kings of Ishval cannot overpower such force and tactics that can counter any strategy, including magic and through it all it be a lie if Dubhlainn say he wasn’t the least bit scarred of it, but not a lie to say that he’s used to it.

On his table near the bed was a radio, it started to buzz with static, there was someone contacting him, but who could it be?

“Dubhlainn, I got a job for you, if you’re interested then come to the Neutral Grounds immediately.” The voice on the radio was a man’s voice and it only belonged to one, Degardo.

Degardo was one of the most powerful politicians in the Neutral Grounds, he also owns a crime family as well and was a syndicate boss long before he rose to political power. He hired Dubhlainn to do various things, such as become one of the Neutral Ground’s temporary and replacement enforcers, assigning him to assassinate targets or rather yet to collect loans and debts that his clients owe him.

… and right now this job involved another collection. Because of Dubhlainn’s methods he was known as the Mad Tyrant of the Neutral Grounds or rather the Raging Berserker, he would come up to a client’s house and notify them that they need to pay up, if they cannot then they must leave, but if they are hostile or proven to be fools and leeches, then Dubhlainn goes to work by throwing them through walls or breaking their bones as fee.

… He does have a short temper when it comes to this kind of work.

Not many Dark Mages know Dubhlainn works in the Neutral Grounds or rather works in Era for odd jobs, he was a complete oddity for his like, but that was because he refrained from using any magic and resolved everything through human-like means.

Dubhlainn sat up right from his bed, rubbing his temples and massaging them. He gets off from bed and starts moving around, going to the bathroom, filling up the pail with cold water and turning on the TV before washing himself down.

“For today’s forecast, sunny skies, in the northern parts of the region and cloudy skies in the southern region with a chance of rain.” That was all that Dubhlainn heard as he washed himself down.

Afterwards, he wore his formal attire, and exited his housing unit.
He mounted his horse and rode on to the Neutral Grounds, and when he arrived, some people were startled because the Raging Berserker was in town, on a horse. Dubhlainn stopped and dismounted the horse, pulling the animal towards the ranch whereas he pays a farmer to take care of it while he’s out doing his rounds.

He headed up to the building where Degardo would be in and presented himself before him.

“Ah yes, that’s what I like to see, a man in good formals, now follow me to the unit and I shall point you at the stubborn pig who’s not been paying his debts.” Degardo took Dubhlainn towards the place, presenting himself first before the client.

“Now good sir, its me again and much like yesterday, I would like to know that I’m serious about the issue we are having here.” Degardo was trying to be polite but the client wasn’t making it easy for him.

“Bah, you and your nonsense, you’re the politician here aren’t you? How come you’re coming in and collecting tax ER!? And who the hell is this guy?” He was rude, acting like a delinquent.


“You see here, you’ve been here for a few months and had not paid rent since I had given you many warnings about this and yesterday, you spat at my face and I told you that I will bring someone over soon, this person is Dubhlainn.” Dubhlainn proceeded to grab the client’s neck with just one hand, gripping it tightly before throwing him outside the door, falling from the second floor and bashing into a wall.

Degardo only looked at him with a face that says “really”.

“…. One look into his eyes, there’s no point in trying to talk some sense into him” was Dubhlainn’s reply.

Degardo would only shrug as he headed outside, coming down the stairs to approach the fallen client who is still alive and breathing. “So then if you can’t pay it with money, then this will be your fee instead, is that understood?” He smiled at the client who can’t even seem to move his neck to nod.

“Thank you Dubhlainn, I will be going now, I have a family meeting and if you’re not busy you could go over to the office and watch things for me while I’m gone.” Degardo left, waving Dubhlainn goodbye, he was in a hurry to get to this meeting of his, and perhaps it was something really important.

Dubhlainn was not in the mood to watch over Degardo’s workers but he can show his face and force all of them to straighten up, after all he is the raging berserk and one of the Neutral Grounds enforcers and that he did, he came up towards the office which startled everyone to work even harder.


“I will return shortly, if I ever see any of you slacking off, then there’s going to be consequences alright?” He didn’t say it in a threatening voice but rather that of a disciplinarian, but unintentionally everyone working there was threatened because they all knew what he’s capable off.

Exiting the office and hanging outside, he could only walk around town, some gangs flee and hid from his sight, praying that he doesn’t beat them up.

At last, Dubhlainn was at the park, a place where he could be at peace with himself. Unfortunately it looks like that it would start to rain, luckily for Dubhlainn he brought an Umbrella with him but no droplet has fallen from the sky just yet. The weather report said there’s going to be rain in this area, glad it was an accurate report. Like how he lied down on bed, Dubhlainn stared aimlessly at the sky, reminiscing the past and his encounters with a few people. His mind was falling asleep, buried in these thoughts.

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WC: 1837

Non Magical Passive: Innocent Monster - 25% permanent increase to all physical parameters.

The weather was indeed cloudy and it would seem like it was going to rain soon, Dubhlainn was still lost in his thoughts remembering all the experiences he had just by being a mere grunt of Savage Skull, and one of Harrigan’s servants.  Did he really come here for the poison? Or was it all for a chance of a new life and a fresh start? Not even he knows the actual reason, perhaps both.  It took him only a few seconds to realize that a woman was calling out to him, his reflexes kicked and before you know it, he’d almost grabbed the woman’s neck. He was startled of course, realizing his mistake he apologized to the woman.

“Hmm? Do I look unemployed to you?” He cracked a smile, chuckling at the woman, course he did look unemployed, was him wearing his formals not enough to indicate that?

“W-well no but you see, I’m having trouble trying to hire some people to investigate the underground laboratory in the Neutral Grounds.”

“Underground, laboratory? You speak of the cursed lab of the neutral grounds” This sound like something Dubhlainn didn’t want to be involved with, but he was curious.

“Before I could say anything, I’d like for you to know that this is top-classified information. No one must know this, before I could even brief you of the details, I need to know If you’re going to participate, regardless.” Dubhlainn looked right into her eyes and deep down into her soul, there wasn’t anything suspicious about the woman, but Dubhlainn decided to play along.

“Very well, but I like to know the cause you are working for” Dubhlainn said.
“Well I don’t exactly work for a cause but I do work for one of its surviving members” was her reply.

A droplet fell on his head; he drew the umbrella, shielding him and the lady for what it may seem like it could rain. “This isn’t a place to talk, come.” They went into the district and came towards the same café, the woman and Dubhlainn had to make sure they are alone since this was probably sensitive information.

“I could trust you to do this right? How experienced are you in underground exploration?”
“Good enough for you to send me there, given that you’re about to explain what you’ll be dispatching me for.” He replied to the woman calmly, from Dubhlainn’s tone of voice and his eyes, she would have to take a gamble.  

“Alright, I’ll explain, you during the time the Neutral Grounds were still under its early stages of development, the Magic Council and the Leading Scientists used the underground laboratory as the epicenter of research and technological developments in all of Fiore, but unforeseen consequences led to its downfall, there was an accident of some sort. The research data needed hasn’t been recovered and it’s been down there ever since.”

“I see, any schematics of the place?”

“Here it is” the lady pulled out her envelop and gave it to Dubhlainn as he examine the map and the structure of the entire facility. There were several rooms for experimentation and testing, a place to keep live subjects, a weapons and arms facility, a lounge and some residential places, to summarize this up, this was no mere underground laboratory, rather it was more suited to be a fallout shelter. It was terrifying how deep it was, it was built to be bombproof it seems during its early days.

But now it’s a rundown facility.

“I heard there has been an investigation team, even journalists who wish to uncover a story disappeared here, but none of them have returned, any information to the cause of this?” Dubhlainn asked.

“We believe it may have been an environment to strange organisms we don’t know, my benefactor told me that it could have been the live samples experimented on, we don’t know what the results were of those experiments but we caution, this is a dangerous job and its ok if you’re willing to back down from it.”  Dubhlainn put the map back into the envelope and slid it back to the lady across the table.

“What does your benefactor wish to accomplish from all this?” Dubhlainn asked, crossing his arms and stared right into the woman’s eyes. It finally started to rain droplets can be seen sliding down from glass panes.

“We wish to contribute and we believe that the data in the abandoned lab may help further improve the economy and stability of all citizens of fiore, and probably we can find a way to finally turn the Neutral Grounds back into a magical zone for Ethernano to occupy.”

When she had mentioned the fact that the Neutral Grounds would eventually become a magical zone, he did not hesitate to say..

“Then I decline, turning this city back into a magical zone is a terribly idea, sure it will allow magic to flow and power up some devices but mages will just take advantage of that, it will do the Neutral Grounds more harm than good.” The woman held his hand.

“P-please reconsider, If I’m not mistaken, you’re the famous Marauder of the neutral grounds are you not? You could be one of the few people who can even accomplish this and get out of it alive.”

“Flattery won’t convince me.” He stood up and drew his umbrella.

“I’ve sent people down there recently, I’m worried they might not be able to comeback, they are alone there!”

“Enough, if that person foolishly dive into the cursed place alone, then they have dug their own grave, good day to you Ma’am and I hope you can find another suitable person for the job. You can trust that I won’t spill this information as I have lost all interest.” Dubhlainn left the woman without even turning back. He took to the streets and headed for his own little place in the Neutral Grounds. He was about to settle himself in till he received a phone call from Degardo.

“Ah yes Dubhlainn, are you still busy?” Degardo asked.
“No, I am not” he replied.

“Sorry for the sudden request but may I have you go over to the abandoned factory? You see my friend here wishes to recover some—“ Dubhlainn immediately stops his sentence.


“Research data left by the cooperation of both leading scientist and the magic council that wasn’t recovered years ago correct? I ran into that person, I declined the job offer.” Dubhlainn lay down on bed, the only sounds that can be heard in the room of his was the buzzing of the light bulb and the drops of water falling from the sky.  

“They said that if the data were to be recovered, they would have figured out a way to revert the Neutral Grounds back into a magical zone, you’re asking me to help them when you know the consequences yourself.”  

“I know that and I am not allowing the Neutral Grounds to become a magical zone either. You see, the person you have met before was an aide of his, trying to get people into the laboratory to recover some data but so far there were all failed attempts and those that did come out alive, died from blood loss.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Well for starters, I hear from Dee that it could contain Anti-Magical weapons that you could use for your own purposes, you’ve implied that you held some kind of hatred towards magic correct?”
“I don’t hate magic, I hate the people who abuse it.”
“That is why I’m asking you to go with it, if the reward may help you in your future endeavors, why decline?”

“I’ll think about it” was Dubhlainn’s reply as he ended the call.
He has to think of the possibility that there could have been a mistake and that there are no anti-magical weapons down there, would he still go knowing of that possibility? He remembered what the woman said to him that she had already sent someone down there. A feeling came to him that he should, there is no way a powerless mage may venture off into a hazard zone by themselves but unlike some who possess and own magic, Dubhlainn is one who is used to having to use no magic at all.

And his code of honor tells him that he should at least help.

He drew his key and stood up from his bed, exiting his room and heading straight down to the basement. Unlocking it with a key reveals a twenty square meter room, filled with nothing but firearms and blade weapons, there was also his cache of explosions as well.  It was time for him to gear up.

Having selected his set of equipment, it was time for him to head towards the abandoned laboratory.

Everyone was staring at him, even the gangs in the streets would flee.

The Marauder, the Raging Berserker, he earned a lot of titles in this city.
There’s no way he’s gonna contact Natalia for help, she’s exhausted from the last mission so he had to go in alone, pray that the people that went ahead of him are still alive and breathing. He wore a night vision googgles. When the gangs of the neutral grounds saw this, that he was going into the cursed lab, there was probably hope for them to get rid of Dubhlainn, for good.

His weapons were all hidden under that trench coat, his boots produced a wet sound due to the fact that he came in contact with rain, he brought his umbrella with him which would serve as a primary weapon in case of unexpected surprises.

His list of objectives:

To find the missing allies.
Reactivate the Power Grid of the Underground laboratory
Boot up the Computers and encrypt the auth data
Download the data in a package and get out.

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WC: 1654 + 1837 = 3491