Too smart for his own good. (Ray's B-rank exam)

Alexander was looking up some paperwork for the estimates on the ship. Things were still under construction, but things seemed to go swimmingly. However the paperwork could be damned for right now, instead he sent a messenger in to come deliver a letter to Ray Ignazia to come over. A simple boy around 8 that saluted Ray upon delivering the letter. Surprising how the right propaganda brainwashed these people into believing the guild members were celebrities. Upon opening the letter there was a single sentence.

Ray Ignazia, get your a** over to my office. It is of utmost urgency.

Alexander Zenneth


Alexander simply waited for the man of the hour to arrive. He had a very serious look on his face when Ray Ignazia opened the door. Alexander stood up from his seat and asked, "Could I get you a drink before we start business? I suggest highly the Caelum whiskey." Whether he did or not mattered little, only the outcome of receiving a drink that was inconsequential of whats coming next. So after taking a drink he said, "I am giving you a choice Ray. Continue as a D-rank and do grunt work or do an extremely dangerous job and skip a rank into B-rank. You are too smart to be wasted as a grunt in my honest opinion."

Wasn't that the bloody truth.

Ray sat in his cabin, leaning against the wall. He was staring out of the window, into the night sky, his alert mind already stringing together the various nefarious constellations that made up every stargazer's limited understanding of the ample amounts of information that these large balls of hydrogen and helium held, populating the entirety of the emptiness known as the universe. However, Ray's faith in humanity was such that he believed that one day, the users of magic will be able to parallel the unknown, that the masters of the arcane arts would finally harness all the power known to mankind. However, this dream, was still quite far-fetched with the newer generations of slight magic wielding nutcases who called themselves "mages". With such people who believed in brawn over brain, how was magic supposed to evolve and become better? Ray shook his head at that idea, cursing himself for even thinking such arbitrary thoughts. He had a lot more things to do, and those things would actually involve into him thinking thoughts which were not philosophical. Ray got up, looking outside the window one last time, before paying attention to the magic books that were placed on a desk, walking toward's them.

Knock. Knock Knock. Knock.

Ray's speeding momentum was halted as he turned around, trying to find the source of the knocks. They seemed to have resonated throughout the room, he would have to check the cause of that later. Ray went to the door, opening it with a quick, backward motion, allowing the door to be opened partially so that Ray could see outside, but the possible assailant could attack him, if there were a possible assailant. Noticing a young boy, Ray opened the door more, standing in front of the young boy.

"Lord Zenneth has a letter for you.", said the adolescent, saluting Ray in a representation of vigor and respect. Ray merely smiled, and took the letter from the kid's hands, and read it. So, Alexander wanted him in his office, urgently. The day couldn't get any better. He wasn't going to get to read those books anyways. He looked at the kid, speaking in his usual cold tone. "It would do you best to study. Always remember, a single man with a briefcase can steal more than 100 men with guns." Then, wearing his suit coat over the green shirt he wore, Ray walked out, closing the door behind him. He walked pretty quickly to the Guild Master's office, and knocked on the door thrice, before entering.

"Could I get you a drink before we start business? I suggest highly the Caelum whiskey.", said the male sitting across the table. Ray shook his head. He wouldn't want to reduce his awareness by an intoxicant. He looked at Zenneth, the cold, red eyes slightly disturbing in the way they stared. "I am giving you a choice Ray. Continue as a D-rank and do grunt work or do an extremely dangerous job and skip a rank into B-rank. You are too smart to be wasted as a grunt in my honest opinion."

Ray smiled, a chilling smile, and stared right into the man's eyes. He didn't know why the man was being so interested in Ray's development as a wielder of potential magic, but, at this point, he couldn't care less about the reason. He spoke up, his voice being slightly warm now. "I don't have much of a choice, do I? I'll take the job."

Alexander said plainly, "I am providing you with a suitcase filled with counterfeit bills, but filled with explosives. You will go to the meeting to negotiate a Lacrima shipment we are supposed to have received days ago. Now the have the gall to be asked to be paid up front at double the price. You are going to be my answer. Oh but here is the main clicker, it's in the Neutral grounds so there is no magic at all. Blow them up, get the Lacrima shipment and you will get your double promotion. Sound good?" Alexander was not the type to give overcomplicated jobs, but they were dangerous. Still this mission was would be dangerous. To see if he still accepted it would be interesting to see.

Word Count 2500 words

You are given a suitcase full of "cash" to deliver to the opposing group. It will get passed security. How you use this bomb and your intelligence will determine if you get the case of Lacrima. You have no magic, but you can improvise in this mission as you see fit.

"I am providing you with a suitcase filled with counterfeit bills, but filled with explosives. You will go to the meeting to negotiate a Lacrima shipment we are supposed to have received days ago. Now the have the gall to be asked to be paid up front at double the price. You are going to be my answer. Oh but here is the main clicker, it's in the Neutral grounds so there is no magic at all. Blow them up, get the Lacrima shipment and you will get your double promotion. Sound good?"

Ray nodded. It wasn't going to be an easy mission, no doubt, but it required Ray to utilize his most preferred characteristic, his intelligence, something which appealed to him dearly. He was definitely going to have fun on this one. However, the most irritating part about this was the fact that he couldn't use magic at all, that would mean that he had to rule out a lot of the possible permutations he could have used. However, this would also open up many other permutations where he would have to rely on his ability to control people with his speeches, something that had turned out to be one of his..."hidden", talent, per se. Brushing his blonde hair sideways, Ray got up, and took the briefcase, giving it an initial jerk to weigh it's contents. Sure enough, the briefcase was slightly heavy, and this showed that this was filled with something other than counterfeit bills. Then, appearing to be lost in thought for a few moments, Ray moved over to the door, and reached down for the carpeted area. He yanked lightly on the carpet, taking out a single piece of silky thread, hardly 32 centimeters long, and wrapped it around his wrist, tying it loosely just so that it tucked under his coat. Looking at Zen, he nodded once more, and walked out, his stride being that of a proud man who had absolutely nothing to lose. He walked out of the guild hall, and out of the manor itself, onto the streets, whereupon quite a few of the ordinary citizens gave him respectful glares, which he tried to reply to with the best smile he could muster.

Looking back at the citizens, who were still continuing to give him respect, Ray began thinking, however, he was fully aware of where he was going. "Respect means a lot of different things for different people. It includes taking someone’s feelings, needs, thoughts, ideas, wishes and preferences into consideration. It also means taking all of these seriously and giving them worth and value. Giving someone respect seems similar to valuing them and their thoughts, feelings, etc. It also seems to include acknowledging them, listening to them, being truthful with them, and accepting their individuality and idiosyncrasies. But then again, why would respect be the true core of any working relationship that a person might want to follow?

There are countless ways to earn respect, and not all the respect you garner could be related to the same form of respect that requires really thinking for someone and caring for someone, as most who were specifically synchronized with life would say. Was that the delusion, however, that we were supposed to be living in? Respect can be shown through behavior and it can also be felt. We can act in ways which are considered respectful, yet we can also feel respect for someone and feel respected by someone. Because it is possible to act in ways that do not reflect how we really feel, the feeling of respect is more important than the behavior without the feeling. When the feeling is there, the behavior will naturally follow. However, what if the feeling fails to be there, and the behavior is due to an entirely different stimuli that couldn't have ever been thought of to have garnered said respect for specific individual? Is there truly any true way to see why a person respects you, or is it one of those secrets that people take to their grave not because they don't want to tell people, but because they cannot explain it?

When we are respected we gain the voluntary cooperation of people. We don’t have to use as much of our energy and resources trying to get our needs met. When people respect one another there are fewer conflicts. In summary, it is for both evolutionary and practical reasons that respect is important, and also why we simply feel better when we are respected. Respect seems to be like a boomerang in the sense that you must send it out before it will come back to you. Respect cannot be demanded or forced, though sometimes people mistakenly believe that it can be commanded. But then again, wasn't what Ray was doing considered to be entirely commanding respect? The citizens here didn't know who he was, didn't know what he was capable of. All they knew was what Zenneth had told them about him, and how much Zenneth had hyped the arrival of Ray Ignazia. Didn't that practically put him in the list of eternally damned people who hadn't garnered respect, yet, were given respect through others? In that case, he would have to garner respect for himself now, he would have to do so many new things all so people understood what he truly was and gave him respect for that instead of any other possible reason they would give him respect for. However, his ego would battle with him upon this. He knew that for sure. His ego would kill him slowly, yet not allow him to do things for the good of people he wouldn't care about. Goddamn."

Ray looked further above the road, he could see the special car that was kept for him as a form of transport till the docks where the shipments were kept. Sitting in the car, he turned the ignition, keeping the briefcase next to him. The true mission had started now.

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The engine purred it's way to life, slowly making the car move in time with it's own rhythmic turning of the piston. The car shuddered once, presumably having been kept inactive for a long time, the sudden rush of the fuel spark providing more than enough kinetic energy for the entirety of the car to move. It was one of those classic, timeless models, looking as beautiful as ever, with it's engine still running smoothly although there had been quite a few years on this model now. Ray tapped it into the first gear, and slowly lowered the accelerator, allowing the car to start moving at a steadier pace first, then stepping on the accelerator and relatively rocketing forward, making his way towards the docks whereupon he had to collect the shipment from. The docks weren't too far away, but what was on Ray's mind, ironically, was the legality of such an undertaking. Sure, he was technically doing the people good by getting rid of these money minded fake enthusiasts, but at the same time, was there a certain sense of ethicality in what he had done? What regarded his ethicality anyway? Giving a completely faith based support, the ethicality was often judged by society. With this thought process prevalent, Ray drifted off into deep thought again.

"Ethics may be defined as, the basic concepts and fundamental principles of human right conduct which includes the study of universal value. Ethics deal with the question of what is morally right or wrong. These orals deal not only with your business life but also our personal life. There are ethical lenses which include virtue theory, utilitarian and deontological theory. Virtue theory is dealing mainly with the character of a person. This theory emphasizes one’s character not he obligations or duties that are expected of them. Virtues are qualities that virtually morally good and desirable in a person. Utilitarian usually answers the question “What one ought to do in a situation.” A utilitarian may answer this question with the statement that individual should do whatever is the greater good for everyone involved. Utilitarian often involves accessing the consequences of one’s actions and what will resolve in the best interest of all involved. Deontological theory relates to ethics as a duty rather than a moral responsibility. But all these theories are prevalent in social conduct itself, and therefore, it is not up to a person anymore to judge upon themselves as to what their own ethics should be. Then why do we allow society to crumple us?

As children, we were taught by our parents that it is wrong to lie, cheat, and steal. As we grow up and enter into the real world with some knowledge of right and wrong, we see, first hand, the importance of ethics as well as its complexity. However, the individual may or may not choose to disregard the societan morality in question, with the only repercussion being gaining the mistrust of the society itself, and possibly, in lieu with actions, reprimandation to an effect. How in the world was that supposed to stop a person from making his own set morality?

Valdemar W. Setzer said, "Ethics is not definable, is not implemental, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling. Not only do we need to know what ethics are, but we also need to want to act upon them. People can have the knowledge of right from wrong, but still have no desire to live and act in an ethical manner." But how is it that we know what truly is right from wrong? In my immediate society, all my actions are encouraged, not frowned upon. Hell, I was just told to kill an entirety of an organization for the simple fact that they decided to increase prices against a group of much greater respect than them themselves. And then society has the right to ramble on upon what we should follow and what we shouldn't?! How in the world does the society even come into the picture here? It's a clear undertaking of the individual's own characteristic ability to make decisions based on what he wants to experience, and therefore, the society shouldn't have a say in that."

Ray looked forth out onto the road, which had smoothly curved into a narrower trail leading to the docks. He followed the trail, keeping his senses alert for the first sign of any unauthorized movement that could take place, and any potential threat that was to follow. He kept the briefcase in the shotgun seat, and drove into the dock's network of connecting various warehouses, making a beeline for the last warehouse in the line of warehouses, knowing well that it was the target as it was bustling around with heavily armed people, looking akin to a scenic villainous area. Ray parked his car at a safe distance from there, and did a quick scan of the surrounding warehouses, his eyes glinting red as he surveyed the areas from his solitary position. Finally, taking the briefcase, Ray stepped out of the car when he was completely sure that the other warehouses were empty, and that there was no available help for a long while. Ray had taken these points into consideration because Ray didn't want to get other warehouses involved in this, as he was to send a message to one group of people, and getting more than one group involved would just become slightly more annoying and there would be a lot of complexities to pay attention to. Ray walked towards the warehouse, the armored grunts acknowledging his arrival, grinning, and following him inside the warehouse, surrounding him as they waited for their leader to arrive and have a word with Ray. They believed that it was to be their payday, as they believed that apparently Nox Animus lacked the courage to do anything against them, and regardless of how many times they flouted the respect of Nox Animus the guild wouldn't attack them. Smiling unnaturally, something which visibly unnerved the group of armored guards completely surrounding him. Ray stood still in the middle of what had seemed to be a large circle, with the armored guards making a perimeter that was good enough to be about 20 meters in diameter. Soon enough, a man came through, wearing almost the same uniform as the guards, or, as their uniform suggested, "employees", however, this man's uniform was in a different color, and he had no helmet on. If Ray had to guess, he'd say that this man was the leader who'd asked to "talk" to Ray.

The leader approached him, pure scorn on his face. "So, you're the mage Nox Animus sent to deliver the money, eh? Well, mage, don't try any funny business, since this is a neutral zone, and if you use magic here your magic would be wrested from you forever. As for Nox Animus, I was right about your guild being weak, and falling for our every demands. Heck, I'm pretty sure I could heckle you for longer. What's that in the suitcase you've got there?" There was raucous laughter from the "employees", who probably thought that this man was the funniest in Fiore. Ray stared at the man with his blood red eyes, no expression on his face, and soon enough, the man's laughter faltered and there was a pressing silence in the room. Every eye was fixated on Ray.

"I find mildly amusing that you would try and heckle us more, because we're this close to losing our patience, and in fact, I was the one who had to calm Zenneth down. After all, you wouldn't want one of the strongest mages in all of Fiore to come after you, do you? However, I, who'd agreed to give you something extra for the lacrima, was against giving you money. Who in their right mind would pay double for something of that sort? However, since you'd done us a favor, I've come to repay  it in kind. I've come to make you an offer you cannot refuse. In this suitcase I carry, there is the earlier amount of money, and two lacrima with lost magics that happened to be in my possession. I would like all of you to retreat into the office, since, let's face it, your leader isn't a man to be trusted, and I'm sure you wouldn't want your hard earned money to go to waste in such a waste. I cannot even use magic, so if you really want to guard things against me, keep one employee with me who can collect his money later. Until and unless you want to lose out on money, and possible Lost Magics. After all, the leader would only give the lost magics to those whom he thinks is better than the rest, and I'm pretty sure each one of you feels that way. I'll be here, next to the truck carrying the shipment, since I don't trust you enough to leave and expect the shipment home.", his tone was chilly, and with just the slightest hint of a threat. However, his speech had worked. All the employees had begun looking at their master, it dawning on them that if he could dupe a guild, he could definitely dupe them out of their money. Ray threw the suitcase at the leader, who caught it, a cold fury on his face. He had realized that the mage had just ruined his reputation in front of his own workers. However, he turned around, and walked towards his office, prompting the other employees to follow him too. One employee stayed behind, with his back towards Ray, making sure he wasn't going to escape. There was an unnerving smile on Ray's face.

What happened next happened very fast. Ray heard the murmur increase as they opened the suitcase, looking at the money, and the two explosives wrapped, which would begin glowing at this point. Knowing he didn't have much time, Ray pulled out the silky string he'd taken earlier, and daintily slipped it around the guard's neck from behind, like a little girl, before giving it a yanking throttle as he placed his foot on the man's back, the string digging into his throat. The man thrashed about, and soon enough, like a fish on the hook, went limp, however, he had now lost control of his bowels, and his clothes were wetting as Ray removed the string and walked towards the truck, leaving his dead body in the same spot. He jumped into the truck, and reached underneath the wheel, finding the ignition cord and the fuelspark cord, connecting them, causing the truck to come to life. He looked at the office, since he was at the level of an open window, and smiled at the Leader, who'd just begun to realize what was going on, the fear of a thousand men imprinted upon his face. Ray gunned the truck just as the office exploded, the screams of the dying men tuning out any other noise, but to him, it was just sweet music. He was laughing, laughing in a way that could only be termed insane, as he sped away from the warehouse, the lacrima shipment in the container behind him rattling slightly due to the explosion.

The trip back home was pretty short, as Ray's adrenaline had rushed to his mind, unable to make him think, and made him drive faster and more recklessly. So much blood on one spot. So much blood. It'd been a treat, a treat for Ray to have killed so many people all at once. He reached the manor, driving into the garage, and parking the truck there, and walked toward's Zenneth's office, his walk a little faster than usual. He came into the office without knocking, and stated simply, his tone as chilly as ever, "The job is done. They won't be troubling us anymore. The shipment is in the garage, and thank you for allowing me to do this job."

However, there was only one thing running in his mind, his favorite thought about insanity. "The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success."


Word count for post: 2098
Word count in total: 3118/2500
Posts Taken: 2.
Magic/Spell used: None.

Alexander was organizing the last bit of paperwork that he had before the night was over. The shipment of Lacrima would benefit not only weapon distributions, but engine maintenance costs. So when Ray came back with the shipment, Alexander gave a small smirk. Ray Ignazia looked like he had fun, the only kind that one got when they experienced an adrenaline rush. The man was crazy, but the right kind of crazy. The demon slayer said, “Then I will be the first congratulate on succeeding in achieving B-rank. Not many people would have been able to do what you have achieved today.” It was the truth, his guildmates were lacking in intelligence sometimes and saw the short picture. Never to see beyond the horizon, but Alexander had a plan to dethrone the Magic Council. So Alexander looked at Ray and gave him the mark of the B-rank mage. His tattoo now slightly glowed, but not enough that it couldn’t be hidden. However this was a sign that he was no longer a boot licking grunt, but a true soldier of Nox Animus.

“You are dismissed. You will find some books on elemental magic and other banned books from the magic council. I hope they are a good read.“