HeXercise

A new day dawns on the Neutral Grounds. People proceed to do their business as usual, and the streets of the city are starting to swarm with people. A gentle breeze sweeps across the ports the city, extending further downtown, much to the delight of its citizens. Not too hot and not too gloomy, today is a perfect day to go on a picnic with friends and family, and most especially a perfect day to hone one's own skills, be it physical and magical, while enjoying a nice cool breeze that revitalizes one's vigor.

Beyond the city walls and just by the shores near it lie a wide open field of emerald green grass with luscious trees bordering the field. A clear view of the sea affords one to appreciate the view of the gentle ocean and relax one's self with the soft crashing of the waves on the beaches. Wildlife linger about minding their own business, with the occasional deer strutting through and through and the birds flying just overhead.

Near the forest lay a homey lodge constructed out of stone bricks and wood, with a thatch roofing covering its inhabitants. The house is a two story building with a few balconies affording its occupants an ample view of the ocean and of the forest. A chimney protrudes by the end of the rood, with smoke billowing from the inside, letting anyone know that someone is residing and is inside the house. Within the walls of the house are comfortable wooden seats with cushions soft enough to be comfortable for the buttocks of those who would sit it. Beautifully sculpted wood gives these furniture a more homey appeal. Several monstrous trophies hang around the walls of the house, which includes a tusk that protrudes poison, an eye that never decomposes, antlers with mushrooms, and so much more. An ornate rack lay beside the door frame, holding the scarves and headpiece of the visitors and of the owner. Small wooden planks serve as the flooring of the building, all looking like they are shining and it ill affords one to slip.

Inside the lodge, Michael sits by the fireplace, looking as if he's in deep thought about a particular event. Specifically, he was thinking about what had transpired in the Sanctum Isles and what would have happened to him without the help of his brother. Accepting the fact that Ozwald indeed lost control of the spell, he has lost a small semblance of trust to him. It may be that, or it may be because of the influence of the sigil that's been plaguing his life. Extending his hand upward, reaching for the ceiling, a brief flash of memory fills his vision, one where his arm looked different and that his hand has claws as sharp as steel.

"Freedom..." A voice echoes in his mind as he finds himself drifting away, the wooden walls of the lodge torn away and the furnitures disappearing into nothingness. He jolts up at the sudden disappearance of the lodge, finding himself to be standing in the middle of the beach. He doesn't know where he is, and this has gotten him confused. Beyond the horizon lay a village of eastern origin. Strange, he thought. He doesn't strike himself as a man who would leave Fiore. Thus there is only one course of option - investigate.

As he nears the village, ominous sounds start to ring around him, with the following words repeatedly echoing around him. "Freedom... Justice..." the voices ring out repeatedly until he eventually finds himself standing by the entrance of the village. By the looks of it, it looks barren save for the lone creature standing at the center of the village. It has a striking resemblance of one of the demons he saw in his dream the other night.

Looking to meet the ominous creature standing by the village center, he starts walking towards him. He has so many questions about what's happening to him and he expected a good reason for what was going on. Passing by the gate, the creature's wings perk up. As the creature turned his head around to meet his gaze, a wave of fear encompasses Michael. Falling prone, he quickly stood up, but another force threatens to pull him away from the village. He is resilient, however, and could not be easily moved. The ground shakes and the building collapses and the entire world threatens to enter a calamitous ruin. The creature sets his eyes on him and approaches him, their heads now close, a little too close.

"Freedom... Justice... Vengeance!"

As the creature cries out, he felt himself being pulled once more. As he gave in, he opens his eyes to find himself back at the lodge.

Michael awakes to find a girl with long blonde hair and crimson red eyes similar to his. She wears an ordinary civilian clothes, with an apron protecting her from some substances, which is given since there are traces of visible magic power staining it. Even without makeup, she looks beautiful. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you fall asleep while waiting for me?" She asked. He took a few blinks to figure out that the woman standing before him is none other than Giselle, a magic engineer from the fallen Arch Vorbrundt Order.

It took at least a week for Giselle to work on the kinks and programming of Michael's HeXarmament Magic, upgrading it with additional features and perks. "Not like I have anything to do." He replies without any hint of sarcasm or manner of retort. It felt lifeless. "Did you finish it?" He asked, waiting for the upgrades of his magic to be his. He clearly doesn't want to stay any longer, itching to get some work done. "I sure do! I'm pleased to say I managed to work on applying storage capabilities to it just like you requested. Now, for the last part of the upgrade."

Michael sits erect and stares at Giselle, both crimson eyes fixing their gaze on one another. A sudden flux of magic power tethers their eyes, behaving as if Giselle is transmitting data towards Michael. Anticipating the need to blink after starting at someone intensely, they applied eye drops prior to their exchange. And it was only when a few minutes have passed that the transfer has finished. "Done! How does it feel, Michael?"

He could feel the power surging through him as he starts to process the magic she gave to him, overriding the previous version of his magic into something stronger. He felt revitalized, and felt like he could take down a mob or two. "Great." He replies as he punches the air, and small sparks expunges from his fists, threatening to take down the lodge. "Watch where you're aiming that, idiot!"

"I know how this works." Michael replies, even more lifeless than ever. He clearly knows what he is doing and he trusts Giselle for her expertise in magical engineering. Giselle sighs at the stunt Michael pulled. "Anyways, I was thinking of giving it a field test. Here's 3 job postings I snatched from the board for you to pick." She says as she hands him 3 flyers.

A client from the first flyer is looking for able bodied wizards to annihilate a caravan of dark guild members. The pay is good, and it might be a perfect opportunity to test how his magic would affect his weapons. The dark guild in question was said to be relatively small - a band of misfits who earned their infamy through robbing merchant caravans and killing the passengers, leaving no evidence of their existence. It appears they've been clumsy if the client is posting about them.

The second flyer urges a capable wizard, one who is skilled in reconnaissance, to infiltrate a building to get some dirt on them. The building in question is a casino, and the client is a part of the Magic Council looking to shut the place down. Not much info is posted in it, thus it would be imperative to meet with him. Or her.

The last flyer requests assistance in dealing a suspected terrorist. It details how the instigator of the recent explosions is not very good at his job, and more information could be gained by talking to the client himself. Or herself.

"So, what will it be?"

It looks like Giselle picked out jobs that would benefit from his magic - assault, reconnaissance, and hunting respectively. It may have been mere coincidence, but judging by how these jobs seem to complement his magic, he has decided on which mission he will do - "All of them." With that response, Giselle grins having anticipated Michael's decision. On the bright side, each mission would serve to test how his magic would fare in these types of missions. "I knew you were gonna say that. But, if we are gonna do all of them, we'll have to start with the first job."

As Giselle moves towards another room, Michael took this as his queue to depart and meet with his client while the sun still rises. She exits the room immediately, carrying a backpack that contains the tools she needs for her job as a mender of magic items and stuff. They eventually get inside the car Giselle owns, with her driving them to the Neutral Grounds.

Arriving by the shopping district, and just in time too, Giselle parks and Michael exits the vehicle, walking his way towards the location where he will rendezvous with his client. Before he could leave her earshot, she told him to "Get back here once you're finished with the job! I have something to give you.", and Michael simply waved at her.

His trip towards his client has been unnerving lately, and he has no idea why. The usual crowd has left him with a wave of unease to him as well an unknown feeling he can't describe. He knows the civilians are harmless. Who would be? And unlike his usual self, his face bears the expression of someone hellbent on murder. He's had a few stares from the passersby, probably thinking to themselves why is he mad and why does he look like he is mad at someone?

By the alley, he found the client he was meeting with. It wears a dark cape and its face is hidden from the shadows. As he approached him, the two locked their eyes on one another, and the client looks awfully familiar. Peering through the shadows, it is revealed that it is none other than his brother Francois. "I assume you are the mage? I'd wager this is not just any coincidence." He says as he pulls down his hood, revealing his luscious auburn brown hair and amethyst purple eyes. "This is would make this the second time I'll be giving you some work, though now, I'm not asking as a Rune Knight. You should probably know why I'm not showing my face to anyone."

Michael understood the implications of his brother's need to hide his identity, assuming his position would be in jeopardy if anyone was to find out about the job. "Why aren't you stopping them then? You're a Rune Knight. It's your job." He questions the logic behind his brother's need to hire a mage and is met with a satisfactory answer, much to his delight. "The Rune Knights are won't to lay a finger on a non-existent threat, that is, assuming they are indeed non-existent, in which they aren't. That, and I'm doing... malicious compliance. I'd wager someone in their merry band accidentally left behind evidence during their onslaught, in which a surviving member has told me of their next course of action. That, and a piece of parchment was found among the wreckage containing a detailed plan to meet their goal, which is utterly rubbish and stupid." He answers as he pulls out a parchment, handed to Michael for him to read.

"They can't be that far from the Neutral Grounds, at least, at this point." Michael says as he deconstructs the parchment into pixels, turning them into digital data stored through his new ability. He has found this ability to be very useful for his endeavors as it is very convenient for him to store his weapons in his magic. For how much he can store, he doesn't know. "Tonight, there would be a raid on a cargo vehicle a few kilometres away from the city where there will be not witness. However, I can't guarantee the safety of the cargo nor the passengers. I can't take action if I lack the information I need against a band of wizards."

"I didn't hire you to protect anyone. I hired you to exterminate the pests." Francois nods in approval, not really caring about the driver of the cargo, though in his mind, he thought it'd be better for the driver and the passengers to be safe and sound. "And if they're attacking at night, it will be a lot easier for me to try out the abilities Giselle gave me. I take it there's nothing you want of me?" He asks, prepared to depart to ready himself for the mission, to which Francois nods, giving him the go signal.

"No one saw us. Got it?" Francois pulls up his hood, shadowing his face and making it hard to distinguish him. Michael nods, knowing what would happen should their exchange be witnessed. "I know." And with that, the siblings parted ways, with Francois under his guise to avert attention and hide his identity while Michael goes to his apartment to prepare himself.

As the morning sun falls one the horizon and the serene light of the moon blesses the night with its radiance, Michael went on ahead to scout for the dark mages. In his mind, he thought the dark mages could just oust themselves if they attacked the driver of the cargo, granting him a clear shot of the bandits and more likely to injure or kill the driver. It was inconsiderate for him to disregard an innocent person's life, yet he has barely noticed any changes to his behavior and thought process. Instead of doing just that, he decided to seek the bandits before they could lay a finger on them. As he was 15 minutes early, he sought a vantage point for him to snipe them out, all while summoning surveillance drones for any stray mages.

It should be fairly easy to identify the criminals, for their insignia is literally sprayed on their back vests - a stupid move for a group of mages who takes pride in being non-existent. Looking at his HeXcry, he has detected presence of a few stray mages he could take out in an instant, all of which were found by his drones. Aiming his sniper rifle at his first prey, he uses an enchantment to silence his attack and... thwip. His rifle didn't generate any alarming noise through the enchantment he casted upon it, looking at the feed with satisfaction as the head of his first prey was pierced by a silent and deadly bullet, dying almost instantly.

He takes aim another and... thwip. Another shot was fired on another, dropping dead and blood flowing from her head to the ground. More shots were fired on several other mages until there were no more strays left. Whatever they were doing, they are doing a piss poor job at it. Then again, who wouldn't die from a military trained wizard? And so far, the drones Giselle gave him has proven useful for reconnaissance, though he used it as a tool to help him assassinate his targets.

Their numbers dwindled from the rounds he fired against them, and judging by the feed, the others are not aware of their current situation nor are they checking up on them. He spent the rest of his time observing them and eavesdropping on their conversation through his drone. It was not long until it was time for them to enact their plan. "They don't look very strong." He says to himself as he leaves the vantage point, ready to face them head-on. It shouldn't take long before the cargo arrives. Suddenly, a voice rings out to him followed by a feeling of nausea, prompting him to fall prone and lay by a nearby tree. 

"So you have sought justice for others by killing? We must be kindred souls, you and I." Standing in front of him is an image of a bird demon, the same one from his dreams, though he seems to be tamer than usual, and he looks like someone from the eastern continent - one donning a samurai's garb. "If you want to rid this world of the true demons, bond with me, mayhap a contract forged with our convictions."

Michael shook his head, believing his words to be mere lies and deception to get him to surrender his soul to the demon. "I will not forge a contract with a demon like you! You're a bloodthirsty maniac who knows nothing but to kill."

"Out of justice. I will not hesitate to kill those who seeks to abuse their powers for their own benefit. But suit yourself." He sighs in disappointment, and vanishes into the darkness. His voice echoes once more in his mind as he fades away. "Know this - my offer still stands. After all, you can only do so much without the power of demons to help you." Perhaps it was a good decision for him not to join hands with a demon as he probably dodged a bullet.

He feels much better now that the voice is gone, and he has stopped getting nauseated. Before he could process what had just happened to him, he hears the sound of a vehicle coming to his way. He frantically ordered his drones to search for the dark mages. He has wasted valuable time conversing with the demon in front of him, but he couldn't help himself if he felt sick and lethargic at that time. Ere long, before he could find the mages, they enacted their plan as soon as the cargo vehicles was sighted.

Each mage was working harmoniously as they went to perform their respective tasks - one of them was able to make the vehicle stop through a weak gravity magic, while one of them was a Requip gunslinger who managed to kill the driver, its bullet crashing through the window and piercing through the driver's head. Screams of panic could be heard from the front and one of them pulled the door open to reveal two children, crying at the sight of the dead driver. If they were to hazard a guess, the driver was the father of these two children.

No matter how hard he tried to get there in time, it was too late for him to save the children on board, the bandits laughing manically at their cruel deed. He was too slow.

Powerless to stop them, he felt a wave of rage crash upon him, angry at himself for being to slow to save them. With the well of rage filled to the brim, as well as an overwhelming feeling of regret, he finds himself lost in his mind. A crimson circle appears below him, one that looks similar to the sigil on his back. He screams out loud as he undergoes some sort of metamorphosis - his skin grew dark hard feathers and a pair of dark steel wings protruded from his back. The transformation was painful, excruciatingly painful, and once he was full transformed, he was no longer Michael.

While the dark guild looted the vehicle for any valuables, all of them felt uneasy, which eventually turned to fear. By the road, they saw an avian looking man with wings as hard as steel, and its eyes glowed menacingly red. At that moment, all of them felt paralyzed out of fear.
Immediately after the demon avian's arrival, all of them flung spells at him which proved to be futile as they merely bounced off the demon's armor or it had little to no effect. Even gravity magic couldn't stop his advance.

"Freedom... Justice..." It was at that moment they realized... they were dead the moment they saw him. Some attempted to run while a few handful of them froze, not knowing what to do as they are too afraid to do anything. "VENGEANCE!" The demon cries out as it moved swiftly towards one of them, eviscerating it, and quickly lunges towards another one. One by one, all of them fell dead by the fury of the demon. It was a horrifying sight, blood spilling all over the road with mutilated bodies scattered around.

As the last member of the group, its leader, stood alive, she used her remaining strength to pull off a powerful spell, which ultimately failed as he was quick to chop off her arms before she could cast anything. His eyes glowed menacingly once more as the leader froze in fear, and then she got decapitated.

The deed is done, and his insatiable thirst for vengeance was sated. Ere long, the demon morphed back into a human, transforming back into Michael. As he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a horrifying sight, one that looks exactly like incident back in the Arch Vorbrundt Order.

He felt numb after processing what had just happened, but with this, his job should be done.

He met with Francois back at the alley they met in in the Neutral Grounds, and there he spotted the Rune Knight, waiting for his report. A quick glance at Michael reveals much of his recent endeavor. "I'd wager something awful happened in your pursuit against the dark guild?" Francois' question was answered with the shaking of his head. "I finished the job just like you asked. Their guild is no more." And with that, Francois tossed him his payment. "I'd wager you transformed into a demon. Ozwald told me much since your bracelet was detecting signs of overwhelming emotion. I won't pry into the details, however. I care not how you do your job, I care only that the job went through. And thus, I bid you adieu." Francois parts ways once more as he blends into the crowd near the alleyway. Michael went home and thought of what had happened back then. Eventually, he felt tired and fell asleep on his bed.