- 7th August 2138, Late Morning, Order of Judicators, GC Branch -
Coming to the obvious conclusion, I confidently pointed at the desk as a whole. A devious smile plastering my face.
"I'll take them all," I announced! "I'll take all three jobs."
I'd expected Wolfgang to be shaken by the prospect of me taking all three jobs. Instead, he smiled and clapped. Chuckling to himself.
"I knew Warmund had chosen right. You really do have a penchant for justice, kiddo." He grinned, still chuckling. As if he'd been told about the EX-Beast crossing the road joke for the first time.
"You know, it's not easy to find someone who's willing to do a little of everything," Wolfgang continued. "I'm sure all three of them will be happy to hear you've accepted the jobs. Especially after seeing the footage of our battle." He concluded.
With that, Wolfgang brought the meeting to an end and told me to head to the second floor and speak with the three clients. With a little spring in my step, I made my way back to the lobby. This was going to be very profitable in the long run. He'd informed me he'd send the details for each task to the directory on my InfoComm. It seemed they had their own application for members. Until then, I took a seat next to the hulking mass that was Warmund.
"How did it go, shrimp?" He gruffly asked.
"He offered me three jobs!" I grinned. "I took all three of them." I added pridefully.
"That's good to hear." Warmund nodded, before turning to me with a serious expression. "But you need to be careful. You're only starting out," he reminded me. "You need to take it slow, and not bite off more than you can chew." He sternly advised.
Bite off more than I can chew? I'll be fine. This was a fantastic opportunity to stockpile power for myself. I'd be able to steal from the petty thieves, form connections with the super-rich and get experience fighting EX-Beasts. Though it would be a good idea to look into how to manipulate my gravity powers. Who could I ask about that..?
-------:-
Of the three jobs, one was scheduled for today while the other two were scheduled for later in the week. The first job for me to complete would be hunting EX-Beasts in the sewers. For that I'd have to meet up with the Sewer Corps for a briefing.
Finding them on the InfoComm's mapping system, I opened the door to their lobby. Letting myself in be immediately enveloped in a cool, refreshing atmosphere.
A spacious and lofty room, with plenty of comfortable seating, a juxtaposition to the image one expects when they hear 'sewage corps'. The front desk was occupied by a amiable looking attendant who greeted me with a warm smile. I felt immediately at ease. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, I enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. After a few minutes, the attendant came over and asked if I required anything.
"Yes, I'm here about the request with the Order of Judicators."
She looked down at her notepad before looking back up at me, furrowing her brow.
"Aren't you a bit young to be fighting EX-Beasts?" She inquired.
"Yes." I replied, with the confidence of a tiger hunting injured prey. "But I don't care."
Taken aback, she pushed her glasses up before tapping a few things on her device.
"I'll have you see the Commander soon. Please wait."
Just as I began to get comfortable, a rather large man sat himself beside me. He had a tall, stocky build and carried himself with an air of authority. His keen turquoise eyes seemed to overlook nothing, and his stern expression made it clear that he expected obedience from those under his command. Impeccably dressed in a navy and white uniform, neatly pressed and adorned with medals and ribbons, one of which depicted a sewage system. This must be the commander.
"I don't care about your age..." He said sternly. "Just get the job done. I'm sending a map of the sewers to your InfoComm.
Quick and straight to the point, I like it. It wouldn't hurt to handle him with a little respect.
"Affirmative, Sir." I barked back at him.
"You'll be fighting the Rottalon brood, born from the Extrinsic Energy found in our waste."
I gulped. This was going to be more difficult than I thought.
The commander continued.
"They're hardy, but they aren't too smart. You will be able to take them down if you use your head."
"I understand, Sir." I nodded.
"Good." He said, before getting up and leaving the room.
With the briefing out of the way, I made my way to the sewers.
-------:-
The sewers were damp, dark and smelled of rotting flesh. I almost making me gag as the stench filled my lungs. I could hear the scurrying of rats in the distance, and the occasional drip of water. I quickly chanted {Storm's Arsenal: Schwert}
and summoned a magenta longsword of sparking energy, illuminating the path in front of me while also functioning as a weapon. I followed the map on my InfoComm, making my way deeper into the sewers.
Rats, among other animals, had joined humans in their exodus from earth, following the destruction of earth's civilization during the war that followed the Great Rousing.
Suddenly, I heard a loud screeching from behind me. I turned around to see a large, furry creature charging towards me. Stepping to the side to the side, I avoided its charge, narrowly avoiding its claws. I backed away carefully, trying to put some distance between us.
This must be the Rottalon, judging by its gnarled, almost rat-like appearance. Quite clearly from its appearance, it was a Blight-Aligned Ex-Beast.
I confidently readied my sword in both hands, blade crackling at my command. The Rottalon screeched and swiped at me with its claws, but I dodged out of the way. With a strong thrust, my sword impaled in to the creature's side, dissipating into its body, almost fatally electrocuting it.
It screeched in pain and lashed out at me with its now singed claws.
At the last moment, I deftly rolled out of the way, the monster's claws grazing against my uniform. Couldn't get too confident...
The squelch of muck echoing through the sewers as I dirtied my clothes.
Conjuring one more instance of {Storm's Arsenal: Schwert} aimed directly at its head, I launched the blade.
It Impacted the Rottalon square on the head, who screeched one last time and collapsed to the ground, dead.
That was tough. I almost got hit. Who knows how quickly any wounds could fester down here? A sickening thought. I continued through the sewers, being extra careful. I had to find the entrance to the Rottalon's lair. Somewhere down here. Its children needed to be exterminated.
After a few minutes of exploring, I found a large cavern filled with Rottalon young. They screeched and hissed as they saw me, blood-red eyes glaring. Summoning two electrical swords of glinting violet, curtesy of {Storm's Arsenal: Schwert}.
In a fit of calculated rage, I began flourishing my swords wildly, electrocuting and slicing through the creatures. They squealed in pain as they were electrocuted and died.
I kept swinging my swords until there was nothing left but singed corpses. They put up little resistance. Perhaps the loss of their mother had blinded them to all logic?
This was going to be a day to remember.
Bizarrely, I felt nothing for all these young creatures... Slaughtered at my feet. They merely acted as stones, paving the road to power. I continued deeper into the darkness, eager to find more creatures to slay. This was actually rather fun!
I found another group of Rottalon young and promptly dispatched them. I was starting to feel a tad like a god, invincible and all powerful. It was exhilarating!
I kept moving, finding more and more Rottalon to kill. I must have slain hundreds of them by the time I finally made it to the bottom of the cavern. And there, in the darkness, I found a sole juvenile Rottalon. It must have been the last.
She was between the size of the mother I'd killed and the young. Her eyes burned with hatred as she saw me, and she let out a deafening roar.
Without a solitary fragment of hesitation. I charged forward, swords swinging.
The battle was fierce, but I was determined. The juvenile Rottalon was rough, but I was stronger. In the end, I emerged victorious, covered in the blood and gore of hundreds of rat creatures.
The Rottalon brood were no more. I had killed them all.
I stood there for a moment, savoring my victory. I had done it. I had killed them all. I was the ultimate predator.
But then I realized something.
I had enjoyed it.
I had enjoyed massacring them.
The thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction of the kill.
Was this my calling?