#FirstDates #ThirdWheel [Job w/ Venir + VindStot]

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It was a day like any other. Except it was not at all. A ton of things happened in the past week without relenting. The Rune Knights, which were run by the Magic Council, were found to be guilty of corruption in the higher ranks of the order. Fiore's King ordered a Purge on the organization and the ones who were to carry that out were known as the Garou Knights. Hero himself was requested an audience with by an officer from that organization. Though the giant answered the call, he did not accept the invitation to join their ranks. The reason for that? Yamamoto felt that an organization led by royalty was ultimately doomed to corruption eventually and he did not want to commit to a faction that was not going to hold true to their ideals. Hero wanted something more than that, though he did not know or understand what it was he wanted. He did know though that he wanted the strength to genuinely protect those that are, or would be, close to him. That was the main thing spurring him forward currently.

After that whole thing happened, he continued to get mail from their organization regarding the Rune Knights and such though there was nothing substantial yet that drew the giant's attention. Meanwhile, his cousin Elyx had the man go on a little trip for him into this active volcano for a treasure chest. Yeah. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Hero was in there for about an hour and a half before he finally found it, though it was not that simple. It was slightly confusing as well, considering what happened. At first, there was Elyx who wanted to challenge him to get the chest by getting through him first. That was fine and all, but then another Elyx appeared. Yes, there were two of them but then it went downhill from there. The Elyx who had arrived second knocked the other Elyx on the head and then that Elyx poofed into a woman. The woman was explained to be the real Elyx's girlfriend and that she liked playing pranks on unsuspecting people. The man had already figured that something was off about the first Elyx but he never would have thought it was a shape-shifting tanuki woman. After all that nonsense, his cousin explained the reasons behind why he wanted Yamamoto to take this little game of a request and it made at least some sense, though it would have been easier to just ask. The giant had no legitimate reason to deny the offer from his cousin so he accepted and thus joined the legal guild, Golden Phoenix. Hero also obtained an empty bottle from the chest; Elyx said that a good friend of his wanted to know what lava tasted like and wanted the giant to fill the bottle with some lava and take it to the friend. There was a problem with that though: he had no idea where to find that person. His only clue was that she worked as the guild's bartender when she was not out on jobs.

The bottle of lava was still in his house out of sight and it was likely going to stay that way until he knew exactly where to find that friend. If this person was a friend of Elyx, chances were high that they were also very strong though that of course was only conjecture. After that day, it was actually pretty quiet. Since there was no guild hall yet according to Elyx, there was no way for the man to know where that friend lived or worked, which meant he had to either wait for his cousin to give him another hint or try and search for them by going on some pilgrimage to every city and town in Fiore. He was NOT going to do the latter for the sake of one person whom he had never met before. Unfortunately, Hero was not kind enough to do something like that without some more legitimate reason than "they want to know what lava tastes like". There was one thing however that he deduced from that. The friend must have been a Slayer of some type and he also figured that they had to be a Fire Slayer. However, there were three known types of Slayers that they could have been; they were distinctly different in the way the types obtained their power. It was simply a matter that the man was not willing to handle just yet.

Just the day after that, his cousin threw him under the bus metaphorically speaking. Granted he ended up not being alone for the entire ordeal but it was pretty intense. I mean... it was not every day one got to take on a horde of ravenous, bloodthirsty werewolves on a Perfect Moon with three other people until the sun came up. That was a really intense night, though he and the others managed to get through the night with non-lethal injuries, save for himself whom was covered in bruises from the smacks he took by that behemoth of a beast in the village. It would have been a lot worse, had the alpha not been assaulted by a mob of its own kin during the battle. When the sun finally came up, all of the turned villagers returned to normal and the group of four people were thanked by the village elders who knew it was going to happen from the start. All in all, it turned out to be another invaluable experience for the giant.

Then the day after that, which was also pretty fun, he and a fellow guild mate named Luna Jaeger went treasure hunting out in the Ancient Ruins. It did not take us too long to get to the bottom of the whole ideal and found this guy Harper Goldenshine to be extremely troublesome. He was also searching for this treasure and was found to be wanting the treasure for darker intentions, which Hero could not allow. He and the woman found the treasure and then left with Harper in tow to inform local authorities on the matter; later that day, Yamamoto was informed that the Magic Council was thankful for their efforts in protecting the sanctity of the deceased Wizard Saint's tomb. It was a good feeling to do good deeds for the sake of tomb preservation. A thought also crossed his mind while at the ruins. Why were those ruins such a hotspot for all these different occurrences? It was at the very least strange and the giant was very interested in finding out what it was all about.

Then there was the matter of the friend of Elyx's he was supposed to find on his own. He did end up eventually finding her on an island off the coast of the mainland, Crescent Island the resort, and goodness she was a beauty. It was at first strange to watch her drink down that bottle of lava like it was some kind of alcohol. Though the thought was a little funny and ironic because the friend was a bartender. Turns out the friend was also a woman, in case one had not noticed. Long blonde hair and the kind of body that just about anyone would fall to their knees for. The more important thing was getting that lava to her though so that was a success at the very least. Her name was Venir RuLush and she was an S-class wizard part of the same guild as he, Golden Phoenix. Hero himself was on vacation yesterday, so most of the time was simply spent at the resort talking with the woman. Nothing else happened which was a good change of pace for the giant whom was so busy the last couple of weeks.

Today? Well actually, the day had not ended yet. The giant was still on Crescent Island with that woman, Venir, whom was getting changed into more appropriate attire. Now, why was he still here? Well, earlier into the day, Hero had pulled a chair from under some drunk man to keep a waitress from falling to the ground. As it turned out, that drunkard was actually a member of a Dark Guild that must have been somewhere on the island. He figured this because the guy had a guild insignia on his arm that he did not recognize. Being a retired Rune Knight, the man was well-acquainted with both Legal and Independent guilds and it was not any of the noted Dark Guilds he had read about before. Simple deduction skills led him to believe it was a covert Dark guild that had been more silent-moving than others. Hero could not in good conscience let this guild roam free so that was brought him to the current time, waiting outside the bar for Venir to finish getting changed. I would have preferred her stay in that bikini... he thought to himself, though it did not bother him. Professionalism ended up being far more important to Hero than really anything else.

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To Hero's silent delight, Venir walked back out with her bikini top still the only piece of clothing on her upper body which was a sight to behold. However, Hero did not know why exactly he was so keen on these thoughts. He was a grown man after all. Surely seeing a young woman dressed like that was not such a big cause for attention. Then again, these reactions could have easily been attributed to the past month. Ever since he met his cousin the man was changing bit by bit in the ways he thought of things. Until now for instance he never saw a woman in this manner before and now he was thinking like someone who was unprofessional. Of course, it was not a problem since he was an adult whom kept such thoughts to himself and did not let said thoughts influence his actions or decisions. Venir was a... very beautiful woman to say the least. He caught his eyes wandering for a brief moment and then snapped himself away before it could be noticed. The young woman then asked how they should proceed. That was a good question but Yamamoto already had an answer.

"Simple. We do nothing. That man I threw out of the bar already went to get his buddies, by my calculations. I'll handle whatever comes at us and then whoever remains will call for back-up, thus forcing the Dark Guild out of hiding. It would be a waste of time trying to find a guild that is trying to remain hidden after all."

It made sense. When drunk, the most common course of action was to get help if they got into a fight they could not handle. The giant, after a moment of silence, began walking more toward the shoreline when he heard something loud headed in the direction of the island. It sounded like something was flying through the air and it was not some small thing; then in the distance he saw that something flying through and realized it was a person. Why was a person flying through the air like that? Did they not have Jewel to take a vehicle across? That was no longer important though as Hero was eventually able to identify who it was that was headed toward him. He stepped twice to the right casually and a couple moments later, that person landed on the sandy surface. Yamamoto knew her in passing among other guild mates as Leila Vergious, a rising wizard in Golden Phoenix. The question now was this: why was she here? The girl could not have known about the Dark Guild here since Hero had only just found out himself. Even more so, she could not have known that the two wizards were on the island. Then again, that did not matter either at this point. He and Venir needed assistance wherever they could attain it.

"Interesting way to get to the island, Leila Vergious. Unfortunately there is no time for pleasantries or questions. It looks like my hypothesis earlier was correct, Venir."

Moments after the girl arrived, a large mob of people in strange uniforms were walking toward their position. Hero's demeanor changed completely from what it was only minutes ago. He became focused on the task at hand and that change could probably felt, due to the ethernano in the surrounding area slowly seeping into the giant's body. A few minutes passed while the group moved slowly toward them but eventually they stopped and there were two people in the front. Yamamoto recognized one of them as the drunkard he threw out of the bar but the other one looked tougher than the others. That one must have been one of the veteran members of the guild, whatever name it was. The drunk pointed at Hero; it seemed he was telling the other that he was the one who threw him and then the veteran talked aloud.

"I have been told that you caused trouble for this underling. We are the Syndicate, a Dark Guild that works in the shadows. My name is Gladius. You will learn your place right now."

What Dark guild was stupid enough to announce themselves and their names, if they apparently worked from the shadows? This guy must have been one of the less smart members as well. The giant walked forward at a casual pace while gathering ethernano into his right arm and he spoke in a serious tone in retort to the enemy faction.

"Thank you for telling me who you work for, Gladius. We three will be taking you all in for any crimes you have committed as a Dark guild."

The giant continued walking toward the mob but steadily his body tensed up and his facial expression became one that was set on eliminating everything in front of him. Hero was not the type of man who wasted time talking to his target; he already knew what he had to do in order to draw out the rest of the guild and this punch was going to do it. Yamamoto was perhaps five meters away from the group when he cocked his right arm back and took a stance with his left leg placed in front.

The veteran looked at Yamamoto with a raised eyebrow as he took his stance and underestimated what the giant was actually doing. The enemy then ordered the mob to run in and attack which was a bad idea, not that he knew that. Hero then threw his right fist forward as a straight punch when the front line of the group was only a meter away; a giant wave of pressure was flung at the group at the speed of the thrown punch and blew away nearly all of them, save for a few in the very back. Even the veteran was blown back by the pressure, though he was able to stand back up from it. The guy looked like he had seen a ghost in all honesty. After throwing said punch, he placed his left hand on his right shoulder and stretched it out. Then the giant began walking forward again, not worrying about the two women whom were somewhere near him. He spoke again then, with the same serious tone as before.

"If you have any intention of bringing us down, I suggest you gather your entire guild. We will remove you all at once."

At the giant's threat, Gladius ran off with the remaining members of the mob in the opposite direction. He sighed quietly then and let his arms drop to his sides in a relaxed fashion before speaking to the two girls.

"We should tie all of these people up to ensure that none of them escape the island. This was only the introductory wave, I'm certain."