The next day Xavier was woken up early to prepare everything he would need for the hunt. His father came to him and handed him a pack. "This is everything you'll need for your hunt." He nodded towards Xavier's e.r.a. "Not everyone gets a spacial storage item so I want you to study how I packed this so that you know how to in the future in case you lose yours."
Xavier nodded his head. "I understand father. I'll study it carefully."
His father nodded, "You're not going to be going with your mother or me. Instead, I'll have you join the city hunter squad."
Xavier stopped short for a moment, stunned by the revelation. "You- you're not going with me?" Xavier felt a sense of fear wash over him. He had expected one of his parents to be going with him.
"It'll be a better experience for you if we're not there." His father put his hands on Xavier's shoulders. "If one of us goes with you it'll be too comfortable for you. You'll need that extra edge to keep you on your toes."
Xavier frowned and turned his head away so that his father couldn't see the expression on his face. His father smiled as he looked at Xavier's reaction. "You'll be fine. You're going down into the sewers with the city squad to help them conduct a purge mission. Most of the creatures in the city sewer are only servant class. Running into a warrior level creature is very rare."
Xavier nodded his head nervously. "Will- will any of our family mages be in the squad?"
His father shook his head in the negative. "There won't be any familiar faces for you on this one. A good quality to have is to know how to work with just about anyone. There'll be times you must form squads or groups that may not have all the components for a good team. For instance, the squad you'll be joining won't have a mage that has the healing element so you'll need to be prepared for that."
He nodded his head at the pack in Xavier's arms. "There's medical supplies and a book on how to treat wounds. Use them wisely."
His father turned and left abruptly. Xavier stood there for a moment dumbfounded before he realized his father was nervous for him. He smiled and then made his way to gate to get in the car that would take him to the city hunter's headquarters. His mother was waiting there for him.
Her expression was much calmer than he thought it should be. "You're not going to wish me luck?" Xavier cocked his head at her.
She smiled. "Why would I do something as stupid as that? You don't need good luck. You're well trained and well-armed for any fight ahead." She looked at him with a serious look on her face. "So, which is it? Do you need good luck or do you want me to tell you, you had better not screw this up?"
Xavier looked at his mother in stunned disbelief. "I suppose I'll just go then," he reached out to open the car door.
All of a sudden, he found himself in his mother's embrace as she whispered in his ear. "Good luck." Then she pushed him into the back of the car and closed the door behind him before he could respond. The car took off as soon as the door closed not giving him a chance to change his mind.
Less than twenty minutes passed before the car pulled up to the city hunter's squad headquarters. Xavier was expecting something like a small fortress like his family's villa but was instead greeted by an ordinary office building.
Xavier and the driver got out of the car in front of the gate. The driver was named Marcus and had been with his family for more ten years. Marcus walked him into the headquarters entrance and then to the security check in just inside the door.
After giving the guard some papers and speaking to him for a few moments Marcus turned to Xavier. "Young master this is where we part. Remember that while you're here you represent the Mitchell familia." His look was stern as he continued, "Do not disappoint us young master." With that he turned and walked back out the door before Xavier had a chance to respond.
Xavier turned in some disbelief to the guard. The guard gave him an amused look before directing him to the receptionist behind him. The receptionist took a cursory glance at his papers before gesturing to the door on the left of the three doors behind her. "Go through here and find the door with dual sabers crossed. They're the ones who're assigned to patrol the sewers and eliminate any demon creatures that have got into the sewers."
Xavier nodded and went through the door indicated. There was a long corridor with many other doors leading off it. Each one had a plaque to the side of them that had sigils etched on them. About halfway down he found the sigil of crossed sabers.
Xavier stood in front of it for a moment, took a deep breath, and then knocked firmly on the door. There was a moment of brief silence before the door opened. The man on the other side was very tall. He looked from side to side a few times before shrugging and then abruptly closing the door.
Xavier stood there stunned a moment and then knocked on the door again. The door flew open again, the same man standing there. The scowled and cursed under his breath, "Damn!" He slammed the door in Xavier's face before he could even get a word out.
Now Xavier was a little bit mad. This time he slammed his fist on the door. He frowned as he heard more expletives from the man on the other side, "Son of a bitch!"
The door slammed open but this time Xavier was ready. "Hey dickhead! Down here."
The man looked down in surprise. "What the shit? What's a little shit like you doing here and why didn't you say something earlier?"
Xavier cursed inwardly. "You never gave me a chance to say something earlier, you ass. So how about you shut the hell up and let me in the door."
The man's eyebrows rose before he stood back opening the door and letting Xavier through. Xavier walked through and then turned to stare angrily at the man. The man's frown deepened, "You still haven't told me who you are you little shit."
Xavier nearly hopped up and down in frustration. "You haven't told me your name either you overgrown, overblown, dick." Xavier had never cursed so much in his life. "Why don't you pull those cocks in your ears preventing you from hearing anything and shove them in your mouth so that you'll shut the hell up long enough for me to tell you who I am."
The man opened his mouth in shock. Xavier waited for a moment to see if the man would keep bullshitting or shut up. When no words came out of his mouth for more than three seconds Xavier nodded his head in satisfaction. "Good now that you've shut up, I can tell you that my name is Xavier Mitchell and I'm here to aid your squad in cleaning out the sewers."
"The Mitchell familia? No wonder you're an arrogant little shit. Who says that our squad needs or wants your help? Why don't you go crying home to your mommy and let us do our damn jobs." The man cursed right back.
The two glared at each other for several seconds. Finally, neither one of them could hold it anymore and burst into laughter. Slapping him across the should the man roared, "Not bad kid. You might do well in this world after all. My name's Trenton." He shook Xavier's hand, "So you're the kid in the Mitchell familia who awakened early."
"You know about me?" Xavier asked.
Trenton nodded. "Your mother wrote to me a few months ago about the possibility that you would be coming out here soon."
Xavier nodded. "So, you were just screwing with me with the door bit then?"
Trenton shook his head in the negative. "Not at all. I was never told specifically when you might be coming by so I just assumed one of the other hunter squads was screwing with us. I didn't see you at all when I opened the door a moment ago."
Xavier sighed. "You need a bit more patience old man. You didn't give me a chance to even introduce myself."
Trenton shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say little man? You're just too little for me to notice."
Xavier felt it was time to move on. "Let's get past this now. So, my mother wrote to you about me coming to participate in a hunt? How do you know her?"
Trenton smiled as he gestured. "She used to be a hunter herself. She was one of the founding members of our twelve sabers. Still I'm surprised that she would be willing to send you into the field so early."
Xavier nodded his head in understanding. "I see. So, everything's arranged for me to join your squad on this hunt then?"
Trenton nodded. "That's right. Now, that you're here we can go ahead and get started."
"Right now? Is there some rush?" Xavier quizzed.
Trenton nodded. "That's right. I was actually just about to leave to join the rest of the squad at the sewer entrance. Let's go."
With that he took off with Xavier following behind him. It wasn't long before they reached a culvert that led into the sewers. There was a small group of people waiting there. Xavier took a deep breath before joining them in entering the sewer.