'I guess Sharon is a pretty choice for a name, doesn't stand out too much as well.'
'Let's just hope that dumbass Gilbert doesn't let it slip.'
'I do have to say that was outside my expectations. Looking back at it, I guess having to testify should result in more than just a momentary materialization as a reward.'
'If we'd know that was an option, we would've suggested it ourselves. Plus, that's another thing we can try to learn, bringing back the dead is quite an attractive ploy.'
With renewed energy, Lucas left Gilbert to his dark rituals. He looked forward to the coming days when he would be taught a plethora of abilities. Withstanding the pressure from a Rank 2, having full control of the magic in his body and being capable of dealing with souls all piqued his interest quite a bit.
His excitement for the future was impossible to contain as a big smile appeared on his face. Other students that passed him in the hall didn't see him as a young man full of jubilant, but as someone with wicked intentions. His smile felt crooked and insidious.
Lucas never felt bothered what others thought of him, even back in his hometown he was bullied, but never felt bad. He simply didn't care about others and their opinions. If he had to remove them from the picture in order to achieve his goals, he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest. Elders, children, women, men, orphans or even innocent bystanders, status didn't matter if it meant realizing his desires. On the other hand, he wouldn't start a rampage for no reason, but the moment it did have a reason, he wouldn't hold back.
Even if that was the case, he was weak at the moment, compared to a normal Rank 1 mage he was practically cannon fodder. He only had a few tricks and basic sword training, he would be at the bottom of the barrel during the school competitions. They started in quite some time, so he still had some time left.
Lucas wanted to visit the church where Micheal was at, but also wanted to avoid the crowd at the market square. Taking the slums as a side route, he made his way forward.
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"C'mon boys, we have a pig to catch!", a large man with a scar across his face yelled. He was surrounded by his underlings. They were all dressed with leather clothing while the biggest among them wore a wolf's pelt as a cape.
"Boss, what's the gig about?"
"Some higher ups are angry at the citizens and wants to punish them."
"So who's the target?", the men didn't care who they needed to hurt, as long as there was coin involved, they wouldn't care in the slightest. Only a single person felt disrespected.
"We're just going to kill peasants again? My skills are not meant to be used on trash!", a smaller boy, carrying a staff, pouted at the big man.
"Calm down Roy, after this job we'll go out again. I've heard there's been some nasty Red Wolves that need some taking care off.", to which the boy nodded with a smile. Roy had been picked up by their leader and grew up alongside the group. At a certain point, the boy awakened to magical powers.
Once the boss realized what kind of things they could achieve with a great mage on their side, he started to take missions in order to gain tomes in order to teach the boy. Most mercenary groups would start to fall apart the moment a mage entered the scene, as they would destroy the hierarchy. But surprisingly, all the members were outcasts and found happiness by seeing the boy grow up. They were a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless.
The boss had a great presence and charisma to form such a stable group. Everyone respected each other's opinion and goals. They might've been seen as scum by the normal commoners, but perhaps that made their group so much tighter. Slaying monsters and helping the people out as most adventurers would. The only difference was that they would take on the dirty jobs for a bit of extra coin.
"To think we have an actual mage in our group, doesn't that mean we're the strongest mercenary group out there?", the others laughed at the suggestion. Even though they had travelled a lot and seen a lot of things, they were all based within the mortal realm. Fighting against monsters with magical capabilities would be the same as suicide without a team of mages to stand beside them.
"Hahaha, we might be in the future, boys, but that's a long ways off."
The group joked around and had a laugh or two, it seemed their mission of killing innocent people didn't bother them in the slightest. They acted the same as always.
"Let's start with the slums, the guards aren't that active there."
"Alright, boss, let's get this done quickly. I saw some good girls on the way here.", the men were all trained by their leader. The boss was a former knight, but lost the position when he killed someone out of anger.
"Hahaha, like you would actually enter a brothel. Each time I see you looking away and move towards the bar!", the laughter reignited as they made their way towards the slums.
"Alright boys, time for laughs is over, let's get down to business.", all the men took their weapons in hand. The joyful and harmonious atmosphere vanished without a trace. Only coldblooded killers remained. Even Roy, who was still learning magic, put on a serious face, he had killed before, but he still got nervous when carrying out his missions.
"AAAAH", screams and groans from the slums appeared out of the blue. The men were clearly too powerful for any of the people living here. Most had been underfed and training was something they could only dream of. Self-defense was non-existent for these commoners, they were destined to die.
People were running away with tears in their eyes as the men slowly but surely slaughtered a bunch of people. Their job was to cull the weak to show that protesting and going against the current rulers was a stupid idea. Ruling through fear wasn't the best, but the ruler of the city never bothered to reign in the aristocrats.
They were faster, stronger and had a business in killing, snuffing out a few lives were nothing to them. Because of their overwhelming advantage, they split up to finish the job as fast as possible. The moment the city's guards were to intervene, they would be in trouble.
One of the men was chasing after a lady who had her child in her arms. "Come here little girl, I'll make it as painless as possible, hihihi."
It didn't take long before he reached her, slashing his sword, leaving a gash in the woman's back. The blood quickly seeped out and stained her clothes with a deep red.
"Aah!!", she was still alive, although probably not for long. Falling to the ground, her clothes shifted a bit, giving the man something nice to look at. His bloodlust quickly disappeared, but that didn't make it any better for the woman. His eyes were filled with lust, he reached out to her without holding back.
"Yes, you should be glad I'm not killing you right away!", he put his sword back in its leather holder and started to unbuckle his pants. The man was lost in his desire, not realizing the slowly forward reaching hands around his neck.
"HNGG!!", the hands started to clamp down on his throat, forcing his windpipe to almost break. He started to flail his arms around, trying to pull the hands from his throat, but he couldn't even budge them. Trying to hit the person's head behind him also failed miserably. The color in his face started to disappear, it didn't take long before he turned blueish pale.
'My sword!', his brain was starting to lack the oxygen to think clearly. In his lust, he didn't have complete control over his breathing, making his current situation only worse. He quickly reached for his sword before receiving a brutal kick on his fingers. With panicked movements he tried everything he could, but the hands didn't move in the slightest, he only felt them getting tighter.
KRAK
A horrifying crack made sure he wouldn't be walking this earth any longer. The body could only lifelessly spasm as blood started to pour out of his mouth. His windpipe wasn't the only thing broken.
All movement stopped, the life in his eyes was gone, he had left this world. The woman was frozen stiff, she wanted to scream and run, but her body refused to move. The corpse was thrown before her feet, making her pull her feet in. The pain in her back was starting to become more present again. A young looking boy with yellow hair stood in front of her. The emotionless yellow eyes forced her to stay back.
The boy stepped on the corpse to closer to her, without hesitation he grabbed her shoulder to turn her around.
"Stay still.", he said, the woman was scared stiff. Was she saved, or was she in even more danger? She felt the hands of the killer on her back, the same hands that not too long ago fractured a spine. She prepared herself for anything, if she were to die by this boy's hands instead of being raped...
"Huh?", slowly the pain she felt was being taken away. She had no visual image, but she felt her wound slowly stop bleeding and closing. 'Is he a magician?!', the awful thoughts vanished, and she was filled with glee. A savior for the slums had arrived. There were a few stings from the healing, but she assumed that was the natural way of healing, hence the reason he asked for her to stay still.
"There you go, that should be enough. Go to the Order of Light's church, do you know your way?"
"..Y...Yes, I know the way!", the boy didn't even acknowledge the woman's reply. He had already turned around and was searching the corpse.
"Hmm, better than nothing.", the boy mumbled before taking the sword and moving on. Only when he was gone did she catch her breath. There was a subtle presence the boy had she couldn't put into words, she felt as a mouse that just saw a wolf take out a cat. She was determined to move away from the slums, no matter the cost. 'But first, the church!'
Not far from the woman were the other mercenaries, slowly putting a stop to their rampage.
"You think this would be enough?", one of the men asked their leader as he was their decision maker.
"Hmm, it should have a large enough impact, as long as the rumors spread it shouldn't take long before the people start to cower in fear again. We're done here.", the boss had good instincts and knew when to reign in their slaughter.
"Alright, you're the smart one, hopefully those bastards actually pay up this time.", another man said with an annoyed look on his face. Since they worked in the dark, not all things went according to their plan or contracts. Their leader had to negotiate a lot to gain a worthy reward, now they only had to receive it, but the boss had a strange look in his eyes.
"Wait a second, I don't see Pike anywhere. PIKE!?", the group consisted of six people, five swordsmen and a mage. Since they traveled a lot and knew about the dangers in the world, it's no wonder that they would lose a family member now and then. Still, that didn't mean they would give up on someone right off the bat.
"He's not responding to the boss's call, something is wrong."
"Could a peasant have killed him?"
"No, Pike wouldn't lose his focus when fighting, he's serious during his job. Men, spread out in groups of two, I'll go alone. Find Pike dead or alive and bring their murderer to justice!"
"AY!", the men grouped up and moved out to search the streets. They obviously hoped their friend was still alive, but a direct call from their leader was never ever ignored. If they ignored it they must've either been too far away or dead.