PROTECTING ONE'S OWN (NIKOLA, JAHEIRA / PRIVATE) [COMPLETE]

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It had not been very long since Nikola had finished his latest adventure and this came in the form of the current year's Halloween festival. It had started rather uneventfully enough for him, with him signing up for three activities, these being the "Witch's Brew" followed by the "A Little Night Music" and finishing off with the "Tunnel of Terror". The first of these had involved a enchanted potion brewing station wherein any interested festival goers had been invited to try their luck with imbibing some of the randomly enchanted potion which had been concocted by the activity overseer there. Nikola had not expected anything of any real note to occur to him while engaged in this activity, but here, he had met a rather curious woman who went by the name, "Jaheira". They had started out by simply taking their share of the enchanted potion and then comparing notes about their respective choices on them, so to speak.

Nikola's choice had turned him into a male kitsune temporarily and this was what had seemed to catch Jaheira's attention and had made her engage him in conversation. Meanwhile, Nikola had seen that Jaheira's choice had somehow altered her vision to allow her to perceive spirits and specters of all sorts floating about the festival grounds and naturally, due to his nature as a mad scientist who was obsessed with all things unfamiliar and/or mysterious, these two effects had interested him greatly and had caused him to immerse himself deeply in his conversation with Jaheira. After they had finished that activity, he then formed a sort of impromptu duo with her since they both had the exact same festival touring plan, aka, the same three activity choices, one of these having been the "Witch's Brew" they had just done together, albeit unwittingly. From there, Nikola had gone along with Jaheira to walk about the festival grounds while still conversing further about various topics of interest and just generally observing the other festival goers passing by them.

After a while of doing that, they had then chosen to take a break at a rest stop of sorts which also just so happened to be the next activity locale for them, aka, the "A Little Night Music" one wherein interested festival goers were invited to sit down on the many benches and other such furniture therein and enjoy the seasonally themed strains of music that were permeating the milieu at that place while also enjoying some seasonally themed alcoholic beverages of various kinds. So, Nikola and Jaheira had done just that and had continued their ongoing and also rather amusing conversation till then. After that was over and they had felt rested enough, Nikola had then made his way along with Jaheira once again to the final activity on their list, the "Tunnel of Terror" and here, things became a little more interesting, at least for Nikola. Specifically, whereas he had thoroughly enjoyed contending with the special enchantment that had been placed upon the tunnel they had gone through which served to bring forth and manifest illusions of their deepest fears, his being his caniphobia for bestial dogs and wolves as well as acrophobia for heights of more than 100 m, he had seen Jaheira devolve into a state of extreme and rather plainly visible discomfiture from whatever her personal fears were that she had been presented with while doing this activity.

That said, since his tendency was to pretend to be a model, upstanding citizen of Fiore whilst in public and not show his true nature as the totally dispassionate and unscrupulous mad scientist magus, Nikola had chosen to put on a convincingly genuine but ultimately false display of concern for Jaheira's well-being instead. Interestingly enough, Nikola had seen her recover rather quickly from her ordeal with the tunnel and the terrors it had shown her at this point. Consequently, Nikola and Jaheira both had been able to finish this last activity and once they had made their way to the festival overseer's booth at the entrance to said grounds, they had each received 3 "Skull Tokens", one for each of the three activities that had just done as a sort of souvenir of their time there. Since that marked the end of their time together at the festival, Nikola then turned to Jaheira and inquired, still speaking in that same naturally baritone and melodious voice of his

"Well now, the night is still rather young, as the popular aphorism goes, Ms. Jaheira...so given that, would you care to accompany me for some wining and dining at some of the more upscale restaurants in this fair city at all, perhaps?"

After asking that, Nikola fell silent and waited for her response, all the while wondering if Jaheira would accept his invite since he was getting the distinct feeling that there was something still more interesting about herself that she was hiding from him and being the mystery lover he was, he wanted to discover the nature of her secret.

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Nikola smiled and nodded as he heard exactly the response that he had been hoping to hear from Jaheira, namely the one of her agreeing to accompany him for some fine wining and gourmet dining to close out their encounter on a high note

“Very good then, and I happen to know a handful of such establishments, all of which have long been unanimously considered preeminent in the industry, and that reputation is one that they enjoy both here at home in Fiore and even abroad thanks to their many rather talented workers…and each one is within walking distance from this location, so I do believe it would be a wise choice to wine and dine at any one of these, Ms. Jaheira.”

Nikola paused there briefly and after collecting his thoughts somewhat, he continued onward with his narrative

“Furthermore, in honor of our serendipitous encounter here today, I shall be happy to foot the bill for both of us, as they say in the vernacular. Of course, if you have any preferences as to which restaurant you would like to go to, I am open to that as well, and naturally, my offer just now still applies there as well. So, what will it be, Ms. Jaheira?”

After inquiring thus of her, Nikola fell silent again, wondering which choice Jaheira would ultimately make regarding their wining and dining location for the night. Little did he know at that point though, that this specific night would be far more eventful for the two of them than a nice, relaxing wining and dining experience at an upscale restaurant.

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As Nikola was finishing up on informing Jaheira in depth about the various restaurants of excellent repute throughout Crocus, his enhanced slayer sense of hearing picked up the sound of her stomach rumbling and consequently, before he could stop it from issuing forth, he ended up letting out a deep, rumbling laugh which was quite unlike him since he was usually so devoid of emotion unless faced with very specific stimuli. After that, he remarked with a smug and amused smirk playing on his face

“Well now…looks like my narrative about culinary establishments has achieved its intended purpose, Ms. Jaheira. How amusing a sound that was to hear, indeed.”

Then, Nikola focused his attention on responding to her remarks after pondering the issue further regard which restaurant would be best for their wining and dining

“Now that is a rather telling remark, Ms. Jaheira…so then, you have had run-ins with the Rune Knights in the past, I presume? If so, then you have my sympathies…for I know from personal experience that they can be quite forceful and rather irksome as well, especially when it comes to law and order…”

Nikola paused there and after mulling over the matter some more, he resumed his remarks to Jaheira regarding their restaurant choice

“Now then, regarding the restaurant…since we want some place which can offer us not only high-quality meal and drink, but also a reasonable degree of privacy while we partake of it…ah, I do believe I know just the one most suited to these criteria…so please, follow me…”

With that said, Nikola began leading Jaheira to the restaurant he mentioned earlier when his slayer magic-enhanced senses picked up the sounds of the same man who Jaheira had heard earlier and upon listening to the man lamenting his ill fortune, Nikola remarked with an amused smirk playing on his face

“Oh my…it seems like someone has been somewhat remiss in guarding their assets tonight…and this one is undoubtedly one who has not yet discovered the marvelous modern invention that is digital commerce…what a poor soul, indeed…”

Nikola was about to say more on the matter, but then his attention was drawn to Jaheira by her query regarding the location of a cash withdrawal machine nearby and so he remarked

“Indeed there is, and it is on the way to the restaurant we happen to be going towards currently, so there is no need for us to take a detour either, Ms. Jaheira. You should be able to see it before too long…just past this line of residences, if memory serves me correctly.”

Nikola gestured towards the houses lining the sides of the street that he and Jaheira were walking upon while continuing their conversation. With that done, he fell silent and waited for Jaheira’s reactions and responses.

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Nikola led Jaheira over to the cash machine that she asked him about and once there, he heard her remark about how she skipped out on breakfast on this day’s morning period and so, he remarked

“Oh? Well then, I suppose we will just have to satiate that ravenous stomach of yours with a rather prodigiously sumptuous feast tonight…that and perhaps…several large measures of one of this world’s finest vintage wine collection that they have at this restaurant we will be heading to shortly after you finish your business here, Ms. Jaheira.”

Then, Nikola turned his attention to Jaheira’s remarks about the Rune Knights and her past interactions with them and remarked, at first seriously as Jaheira had spoken, but then later with an amused smirk playing on his face and amusement being conveyed in his voice too

“I see, well I certainly am glad that you have not been apprehended yet…for if you had been, then I would not have had the immense good fortune of encountering you tonight as I have, for you have provided me with a great deal of high-quality entertainment tonight with your rather pleasant company thus far, so you have my thanks for that…and regarding that magic of yours…it sounded quite intriguing, so perhaps, you will do me the distinct honor of witnessing it in action at some future point, Ms. Jaheira?”

With that said, Nikola noticed then that Jaheira had noticed his ability to pick up on that rather distant sound of the man who had been complaining about his lost financial assets and so, he chuckled before responding

“Indeed, I have…for one does not merely become widely recognized as one of the world’s preeminent physician-scientists without having superlative senses among other things…as these are quite necessary for the purposes of diagnosing a rather wide variety of maladies, Ms. Jaheira.”

Then, as he waited for Jaheira to finish her cash withdrawal, Nikola chuckled at her remarks about how so many people had been remiss about guarding their finances from her misappropriation tonight and then replied in that same amused tone from earlier with that smirk on his face growing every wider and more clearly displaying his mirth

“Oh my, how very naughty of you, Ms. Jaheira…and how very amusing as well...I do mean that as a genuine compliment, of course.”

After saying thus, Nikola fell silent and waited for Jaheira to finish her business with the cash machine and while waiting, he idly scanned their surroundings for any sign of potential trouble, but so far, he noticed nothing too awry with the scene.

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Nikola chuckled as he heard Jaheira mention how she would become quite the animal once she had done a bit of wining and dining and then, he remarked

“Oh? Well now, that makes you ever more fascinating for me, so perhaps we ought to meet up more often…perhaps on a job or two in our work as magi, Ms. Jaheira”

Then, Nikola turned his attention to Jaheira’s remarks about her magic and after mulling over said comments briefly, he responded

“Ah, so some sort of illusion-type or shapeshifter-type magic then, eh? Perhaps you can teach me a spell or two from your repertoire someday if you are amenable to the idea, Ms. Jaheira, for you do seem to have had more experience in those magical arts than I have thus far.”

After that, as Nikola thought about what she had said regarding how people seemed to drop their guards to dangerously low levels around festival time, it prompted another chuckle to issue forth from him and then, his reply followed suit shortly thereafter

“Indeed, what poor saps they are…that said, it is entirely their fault for being so careless whilst out in public, so they have no one to blame but themselves, Ms. Jaheira.”

With that said, Nikola fell silent and watched Jaheira work her magic on the cash withdrawal machine and fortunately for him, he did not have to wait too long for her to complete her business with it after which point, he heard her indicate that she was ready to head out and so he nodded and remarked

“Most excellent news, indeed. Now then, let us be off once more towards our destination, shall we, Ms. Jaheira?”

Then, Nikola began leading Jaheira over to the five-star restaurant that they had agreed upon to wine and dine at that evening, but unbeknownst to them both, their plans would soon end up being abruptly curtailed by a most unwelcome interruption.

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Nikola chuckled as he heard Jaheira’s comments regarding his magic and afterwards, while nodding in acknowledgement of her remarks regarding her stance on teaming up for some potential future mage work together, he responded

“Very good, then, and you are indeed correct to presume that my magic is of a very scientific nature in its mechanics, Ms. Jaheira. So, I suppose at some mutually convenient point in the near future, either or both of us can see if we have something wherein we need each other’s assistance to facilitate job completion…and furthermore, it would also be an excellent opportunity for us to acquire a feel for each other’s magic, thus killing two birds with one stone, as the saying goes in the vernacular.”

With that said, Nikola turned his attention to responding to Jaheira’s remarks regarding her family’s specialty of shapeshifting and her further remarks regarding her own magic and then remarked with a thoughtful expression on his face

“I see, that is quite intriguing indeed, Ms. Jaheira…and if you do not mind me saying so, that familial specialty of yours with the shapeshifting powers strongly reminds me of several mythical entities I have come across during my many long years of research till now…spirit foxes, cat spirits, monster raccoons and the like…I suppose that is since these entities have been most far-famed for this rather wily ability of theirs which they have been able to use to great advantage in various situations…so, I daresay that I would very much enjoy a demonstration of these special powers of yours at some point, that is…if you are amenable to the idea, of course, Ms. Jaheira.”

After that, Nikola fell silent and walked alongside Jaheira and after a little while longer, they were almost nearing the restaurant at the end of the relatively deserted street they were moving upon at present when, with neither warning nor preamble of any kind, a whooshing sound could be heard coming towards them, as if a large bladed weapon were whirling and cutting the air. Naturally, Nikola noticed this thanks to his hearing being enhanced by his slayer magic, but he did not show any outwards signs of being aware of this and instead simply kept up his conversation with Jaheira to maintain his chosen façade of ignorant bliss. Internally, however, his keen mind was already formulating a battle plan for the skirmish he was now anticipating as being imminent

Hmm…this could be troublesome…should I prepare a countermeasure for this…hmm…yes, I think that is the most effective solution to this imminent problem…namely to not only let this attack go through, but also prepare a countermeasure…by the sound of it, some sort of slashing attack…in which case…ah, that one spell should suffice for this display of power…while at the same time keeping me safe from harm as well…

After rapidly mulling over his course of action thus silently with a neutral and inscrutable expression on his face while still conversing and walking along as he had been doing till now with Jaheira, Nikola waited for the weapon to come into view and as expected, it was a giant boomerang which had a razor-edge to it. Said weapon then crashed into Nikola at an incredibly high velocity and consequently, it sent him flying and made him crash with a loud, sickening thud against a nearby lamppost. To make things worse, it had bisected him in half, with the bottom half of his body being pinned against the lamppost by the giant boomerang and his top half coming down about 100 m away from said bottom half. Naturally, Nikola was stunned briefly by the physical shock of the impact, but thanks to his mental preparedness in anticipation of this attack on him, this stupor did not last very long.

Now…then…to see who or what is behind this attack…

Nikola thought as he lay there in two disparate halves, but still very much alive and very much conscious despite the alarming rate at which blood was flowing out of his body thanks to the fact that he was a highly advanced true cyborg and not just a mere flesh-and-blood human in both body and mind. A second or two after this had transpired, a group of 3 individuals came onto the scene and all of them were smirking as they saw that their ambush attack had succeeded, at least apparently, anyway. They began to gloat over their presumed success while jeering at Nikola and laughing raucously

“Finally!! Consider this payback for interfering with our work earlier, you worm!! To think that our colleagues were so scared of you…and yet there doesn’t seem to be anything special about you!! What a joke!!!”

Nikola did not respond to this and instead, he merely kept pretending to be unconscious to give more impact to his plans for his follow-up maneuver. Noticing this, the three would-be assassins became emboldened further, apparently now having been fully convinced that their attack succeed after all and so, they drew near Nikola and after pulling out the giant boomerang from the lamp post, they kicked his lower half roughly onto the ground, making it fall near his top half, and then they jeered at and insulted him some more, but were unaware of the magic power building up inside him due to being caught up in their euphoria over their victory against him.

Excellent…this is the right time for my move…now then, Ophiomancy Art: Restorative Snakes!

At this point, Nikola activated one of his spells silently, causing several snakes, or what seemed to be snakes at least visually, to come slithering out from the open ends of his top and bottom halves rapidly and upon coalescing, these serpentine tethers pulled each half of his body towards the other and finally reconnected the two fully, thus making him whole again at just the right level of velocity to give a really dramatic view of his apparent revival.



Naturally, since this happened so quickly and even without any outwardly apparent signs of activation, the 3 assassins were startled greatly and leapt backwards with clear shock and surprise being written all over their faces. After the interconnection process had been completed, Nikola slowly started to open his eyes before flaring them open fully wide with them glinting maniacally, again to enhance the theatrical impact of this performance he was putting on

“Ah, now that was truly excellently executed, you three…truly, my kudos to you. Your attack even managed to bisect me in half, in a single stroke, no less…alas, if only you had seen fit to do your research and keep your dossier files regarding me and my abilities updated, you three would not be in the rather laughably pitiable situation you are in now.”

Nikola exclaimed thus to the three assassins while chuckling in a rather ominous manner and mocked them in return with every word. After that, he started to slowly walk towards them with his arms extended outward and wide open while smirking in a wicked manner which, when combined with his sinister chuckling, made him seem once again like a stereotypical mad scientist from popular cultural media in Earthland. In response, the three assassins who were now looking more and more disconcerted began to step backwards rapidly and away from Nikola while crying out in a stuttering manner

“W-What a-are you?! Y-You m-monster!! Y-You a-are not h-human!! Y-You can’t be!! N-No one could c-come b-back from t-that magic boomerang’s attack!! S-Stay back!! D-Don’t come n-near us!!”

Upon hearing this, Nikola’s evil smirk grew wider still and more maniacal as well, if that was even possible, and he remarked

“How pathetic, you mean to tell me that this pedestrian parlor trick is all that it takes to break you three? My oh my, your employer must really be moronic if he chose to keep you three on his payroll and sent you after me…and after the humiliation he suffered at my hands during our last encounter in his failed attempt to recapture Hygīa…now then, is that all you three have to offer? If so, then this will be check…”

Nikola paused there for a split second and next, in the barest blink of an eye, he closed the gap between himself and the three now retreating assassins by silently activating his teleportation spell, the one he named as “Medicosurgical Art: Xénosómectomy” by extending out his hand towards the assassins and then turning it towards himself, thus effectively appearing up close and personal to them and scaring them further still as he finished his earlier sentence

“…mate!!”



Hearing that was apparently the last straw for said assassins as they now completely turned tail and began to run away from him

“N-No!! P-Please, s-spare u-us!!”

Nikola heard their pleas but said pleas fell on deaf ears as he decided that he was not going to tolerate any more interference from them or their employer and so, to make an example of them, he taunted them further still

“Leaving so soon, are we? How cowardly of you to not see your mission through to the finish…and for the sin of interfering with my activities again, you three shall serve as an example to your employer for what happens to those hapless souls who are foolhardy enough to trifle with me. So, now, I bid you three au revoir.”

With that said, Nikola activated one last spell, this one being his summoning spell to call forth his serpent collection from his menagerie and again silently, by opening his mouth and causing said snakes to issue forth in a massive swarm from it and then directing them to overrun the three assassins who were screaming and thrashing about the whole time with sheer terror written all over their faces as they saw this and engulf them whole before vanishing into thin air, effectively transporting said enemies back to his lab for him to do with as he saw fit later.



Once that was over, Nikola smirked one last time and then, he turned to face Jaheira while wearing his friendly and polite businessman’s smile on his face again and while speaking in that same cordial tone from earlier

“Now that this unfortunate interruption has been resolved peacefully, let us be off once again, shall we, Ms. Jaheira? After all, the gourmet cuisine and vintage wines that await us are not going to consume themselves…”

With that, Nikola fell silent and waited for Jaheira to come around so they could resume their move to the restaurant he had been leading them both to till now.

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(NIKOLA'S EXIT)

Rewards Requested:

• B-rank XP (boosted due to Mentor - Mentee XP bonus included)
  
  
• B-rank Standard Job Jewel Reward (boosted due to Ironheart Pact faction's Jewel bonus included)
  

Total Group WC: 6364 of 5000


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