“Excuse me,” a solemn voice spoke up from the crowd. The speaker hadn’t used a loud voice, but the tone of authority which carried his words broke through the clamor. People parted to open a path as the silver-haired man in an orange jumpsuit walked through. He wasn’t particularly tall, standing at an average height of around five feet eight, so not many people could see the person. All around people spoke in hushed tones, guessing at the identity of the man when he finally arrived at the barricade formed by lower-ranked Rune Knights who quickly saluted at his appearance.
“Situation?” the silver-haired man spoke up again, while rolling up the sleeves of his orange jumpsuit and slightly lowering the zip running down the middle of the suit’s front.
“We’ve got ten men handling the berserk mage, restricting his movements and containing him within the perimeter. We are still unable to make any progress in wearing him down and taking him out. Ten civilians were harmed when he started rampaging but we are treating them as we speak,” a Rune Knight spoke up as he walked over from another side of the barricade. When he stood in front of the silver-haired man, his right hand went up into a salute as well which was quicky dismissed by the latter with wave of his hand.
“Cause of the rampage?”
“Eyewitnesses mentioned that they saw the mage consuming some type of potion and within seconds, went berserk and started attacking randomly. Aside from inducing some sort of instability, it seems the mage’s physical capabilities have also greatly increased.”
“Hmm,” the silver-haired man said, his gaze focused on the ongoing ten-on-one within the center of the barricade. Much like what his subordinate had reported, the berserk mage was giving him the squad of ten Rune Knights a run for their money with his enhanced strength. And despite all that rampaging, the mage was clearly still capable of using his spells. The obviously higher-ranked Rune Knight stretched out his right arm and a crack could be heard as his elbow locked, before pulling it back in.
The other Rune Knights were confused by the lack of response by their superior, but the one that had been reporting was already clear on what would happen. Turning his to men, he instructed them to sent out the signal for the ten Rune Knights to retreat at his command.
When the silver-haired Rune Knight heard it, he smiled faintly and nodded appreciatively towards the squad leader and charged into the fight. The moment he charged in, dark blue flags with a white mark were raised into the air with a swoosh with the immediate retreat of the ten Rune Knights engaging against the rampaging mage.
The transition was smooth and seamless, with the silver-haired Rune Knight seizing the small window of confusion caused by the switch. A simple uppercut to the jaw sent the rampaging mage up into the air from the sheer force of the punch, and he was quickly engulfed by a burst of silver and blue flames from the Rune Knight’s left hand. The two attacks alone contained more firepower than half of the ten Rune Knight’s simultaneous attacks, leaving the group of ten to let out hisses of air.
“Did Major Brackurs get stronger again?” one of the ten asked in a low voice as he moved over to the leader.
“Nope. Look carefully. This is just at 50%. This berserker is still far from capable of drawing out the Major’s full strength,” the leader replied without missing a beat, his eyes completely glued to the fight that was happening right before his eyes. In less than five minutes, the Major already had the berserker on the ropes. Every hit landed and counted, and enhanced durability or not, the berserker was already on one knee finding it difficult to even stand up. All was left was one last blow to knock out the fellow.
But that last blow was never needed. The mage vomited blood explosively in Brackurs’ direction with the latter quickly hopping to the side to avoid it, and then the former just collapsed to the ground. His slightly heaving back indicated he was still alive, but his shallow breathing spelled trouble. They still needed more information regarding the drug that had been consumed.
Medics rushed out from within the group of Rune Knights and quickly tended to the unconscious mage, stabilizing his condition before carrying him away on a stretcher for more inspection.
“I will leave things to you here, Wider,” Major Brackurs casually commented when Warrant Officer Wider, the leader of the group and also the next highest ranking officer after Major Brackurs on site.
“Yes sir,” Wider replied with a salute and went back into the fray, ensuring the whole situation was diffused calmly.
As the crowd began to thin out once the action was over, allowing the Rune Knights to carry out their duties in peace, Major Brackurs was preparing to walk away when he was approached by a boy, in his teens.
“Are all Rune Knights as strong as you?” the dark-haired boy asked as he approached Brackurs.
“For all officers above a certain rank, yea, we are pretty strong,” Major Brackurs replied with a laidback smile.
“Then do you guys get to fight really strong people and monsters and stuff?”
“If the situation requires us to, then yes.”
The young boy’s eyes sparkled as he heard the answer. He had seen the Rune Knights before, but this was his first time witnessing a high-ranking Knight fight singlehandedly so splendidly. The idea of joining a guild to find stronger teammates and opponents was wilting away in his mind as it was replaced by the idea of joining the Rune Knights.
Brackurs raised one eyebrow quizzically at the kid’s response to his answer, everything written so clearly on his excited expression. He had seen his fair share of recruits that had wanted to join the Rune Knight in order to attain fame and build their reputation, but the Rune Knights were an organization that required teamwork and cooperation. There was no room for solo heroes, except for very special circumstances.
“A word of advice. If you are planning to join the Rune Knights for the wrong reasons, then you better stop that line of thought. There’s no place for people to play hero in there.”
------
3 years later.
A young man with black hair stood outside the doors to the Rune Knight headquarters, baring his sharp teeth in a malevolent grin. His arms were crossed across his chest, standing proud and tall in an orange jumpsuit with the sleeves and pant legs rolled up.
“Here we go,” the young man said to himself as he gave the whole building a good look up and down it’s entire height before moving forward. His flip flops made slapping noises on the ground as he walked up the stairs towards the huge door and pushed them open to enter the lobby.
His grin showing ever wider when he walked up to the counter, prompting the officer manning the reception counter to give him two hard looks before speaking up.
“How can I help you?” the girl asked with an expression full of suspicion. What is this guy up to? Is he planning to do something stupid in HQ?
“I would like to submit my application form to join the Rune Knights,” the young man said as he fished around his pockets and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it on the counter, trying to smooth out the creases of the folds with an embarrassed chuckle before passing it over to the female officer.
“This is me, Obi Hinata,” Obi said as he pointed at the name written at the top of the application form.
[1308 words]
“Situation?” the silver-haired man spoke up again, while rolling up the sleeves of his orange jumpsuit and slightly lowering the zip running down the middle of the suit’s front.
“We’ve got ten men handling the berserk mage, restricting his movements and containing him within the perimeter. We are still unable to make any progress in wearing him down and taking him out. Ten civilians were harmed when he started rampaging but we are treating them as we speak,” a Rune Knight spoke up as he walked over from another side of the barricade. When he stood in front of the silver-haired man, his right hand went up into a salute as well which was quicky dismissed by the latter with wave of his hand.
“Cause of the rampage?”
“Eyewitnesses mentioned that they saw the mage consuming some type of potion and within seconds, went berserk and started attacking randomly. Aside from inducing some sort of instability, it seems the mage’s physical capabilities have also greatly increased.”
“Hmm,” the silver-haired man said, his gaze focused on the ongoing ten-on-one within the center of the barricade. Much like what his subordinate had reported, the berserk mage was giving him the squad of ten Rune Knights a run for their money with his enhanced strength. And despite all that rampaging, the mage was clearly still capable of using his spells. The obviously higher-ranked Rune Knight stretched out his right arm and a crack could be heard as his elbow locked, before pulling it back in.
The other Rune Knights were confused by the lack of response by their superior, but the one that had been reporting was already clear on what would happen. Turning his to men, he instructed them to sent out the signal for the ten Rune Knights to retreat at his command.
When the silver-haired Rune Knight heard it, he smiled faintly and nodded appreciatively towards the squad leader and charged into the fight. The moment he charged in, dark blue flags with a white mark were raised into the air with a swoosh with the immediate retreat of the ten Rune Knights engaging against the rampaging mage.
The transition was smooth and seamless, with the silver-haired Rune Knight seizing the small window of confusion caused by the switch. A simple uppercut to the jaw sent the rampaging mage up into the air from the sheer force of the punch, and he was quickly engulfed by a burst of silver and blue flames from the Rune Knight’s left hand. The two attacks alone contained more firepower than half of the ten Rune Knight’s simultaneous attacks, leaving the group of ten to let out hisses of air.
“Did Major Brackurs get stronger again?” one of the ten asked in a low voice as he moved over to the leader.
“Nope. Look carefully. This is just at 50%. This berserker is still far from capable of drawing out the Major’s full strength,” the leader replied without missing a beat, his eyes completely glued to the fight that was happening right before his eyes. In less than five minutes, the Major already had the berserker on the ropes. Every hit landed and counted, and enhanced durability or not, the berserker was already on one knee finding it difficult to even stand up. All was left was one last blow to knock out the fellow.
But that last blow was never needed. The mage vomited blood explosively in Brackurs’ direction with the latter quickly hopping to the side to avoid it, and then the former just collapsed to the ground. His slightly heaving back indicated he was still alive, but his shallow breathing spelled trouble. They still needed more information regarding the drug that had been consumed.
Medics rushed out from within the group of Rune Knights and quickly tended to the unconscious mage, stabilizing his condition before carrying him away on a stretcher for more inspection.
“I will leave things to you here, Wider,” Major Brackurs casually commented when Warrant Officer Wider, the leader of the group and also the next highest ranking officer after Major Brackurs on site.
“Yes sir,” Wider replied with a salute and went back into the fray, ensuring the whole situation was diffused calmly.
As the crowd began to thin out once the action was over, allowing the Rune Knights to carry out their duties in peace, Major Brackurs was preparing to walk away when he was approached by a boy, in his teens.
“Are all Rune Knights as strong as you?” the dark-haired boy asked as he approached Brackurs.
“For all officers above a certain rank, yea, we are pretty strong,” Major Brackurs replied with a laidback smile.
“Then do you guys get to fight really strong people and monsters and stuff?”
“If the situation requires us to, then yes.”
The young boy’s eyes sparkled as he heard the answer. He had seen the Rune Knights before, but this was his first time witnessing a high-ranking Knight fight singlehandedly so splendidly. The idea of joining a guild to find stronger teammates and opponents was wilting away in his mind as it was replaced by the idea of joining the Rune Knights.
Brackurs raised one eyebrow quizzically at the kid’s response to his answer, everything written so clearly on his excited expression. He had seen his fair share of recruits that had wanted to join the Rune Knight in order to attain fame and build their reputation, but the Rune Knights were an organization that required teamwork and cooperation. There was no room for solo heroes, except for very special circumstances.
“A word of advice. If you are planning to join the Rune Knights for the wrong reasons, then you better stop that line of thought. There’s no place for people to play hero in there.”
------
3 years later.
A young man with black hair stood outside the doors to the Rune Knight headquarters, baring his sharp teeth in a malevolent grin. His arms were crossed across his chest, standing proud and tall in an orange jumpsuit with the sleeves and pant legs rolled up.
“Here we go,” the young man said to himself as he gave the whole building a good look up and down it’s entire height before moving forward. His flip flops made slapping noises on the ground as he walked up the stairs towards the huge door and pushed them open to enter the lobby.
His grin showing ever wider when he walked up to the counter, prompting the officer manning the reception counter to give him two hard looks before speaking up.
“How can I help you?” the girl asked with an expression full of suspicion. What is this guy up to? Is he planning to do something stupid in HQ?
“I would like to submit my application form to join the Rune Knights,” the young man said as he fished around his pockets and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it on the counter, trying to smooth out the creases of the folds with an embarrassed chuckle before passing it over to the female officer.
“This is me, Obi Hinata,” Obi said as he pointed at the name written at the top of the application form.
[1308 words]
