Team five had seen team four a while ago, they were headed back to Vancrest to report the completion of their mission. "Now to find this so-called haunted house."
Today's request didn't have a client, some people had reported seeing blood in a haunted house used for the attraction of tourists. They weren't informed where the haunted house was so they decided to pair up and search. Hex went with Luna and Otto went with Willow.
Conversation was flowing smoothly for one pair but for the other well, let's just say they aren't very sociable people. Luna looked at Hex once and didn't look at him again, he had an atmosphere that brought both fear and a calm air of coolness which she couldn't resist.
Hex was about six feet tall and had long dark hair which he packed to the back like a man bun, the sides still fell over his face giving him medium-length bangs. He was a weirdo. He wore completely dark clothes, A dark short-sleeved shirt and dark trousers complimented by white shoes.
"One, two, three, fear... One, two, three, anger." Hex said while looking in a particular direction. "There's the haunted house."
"What?" Luna said before looking at where Hex was. "Oh, that actually is the haunted house, how'd you know?"
Hex walked away and pulled his sword out of the strap that went across his shoulder, "Alert the rest."
The team was complete and it was time to infiltrate the building, the request said a lion-class daemon ate people who went into the haunted building. Even the first group of hunters that were sent by Leigrix had been killed by the daemon, so someone sent a request to Vancrest. "Worst case scenario, it's now a dragon class." Hex assumed.
"That would explain why it still hasn't been killed." Willow pulled out her enhanced bow "Feathering veil" when she fired an arrow at something, once the arrow impales the mana of the target is slowly drained.
"If it was a lion class a few weeks ago, the odds of it becoming dragon class just by eating a few hunters is unlikely." Otto said as he pulled out his axe.
"That would be true, at least eleven or more mana holders must be eaten for a lion class to change its tier." Luna added.
"Worst case," Hex repeated himself as he walked into the building.
The entrance was dark but you could still see, at least enough to walk without hitting something but all of a sudden something changed. Something felt off.
"Stay close together guys," Luna told them but she didn't hear anything back. "Guys... where are you?"
Almost instantly it became pitch black in the hallway and Luna noticed it, this was a mechanism of the haunted house, however. The daemon used it to his advantage. By splitting up the hunters he could easily kill each of them individually.
"There's one daemon, meaning if my assumption is right everyone should be more or less in the same state I am. Including the person the daemon is with." Luna couldn't use support magic, if she could she would've created a call between her and everyone within the building. "Fuck."
They were separated and their senses were dulled and to add to their list of worries, there's a lion class that's chasing them. He stopped and tried to feel his surroundings.
A gust of wind blew past and Hex jumped over the arm that was about to rip his head off before landing swiftly on the floor. Hex was confused. Not confused that the daemon was smart enough to take advantage of the room separation mechanic but because out of the four hunters, the daemon came for him first.
The daemon rushed Hex and using its shoulder barged into him, a move which was swiftly countered by the hunter as he slid underneath the legs of the daemon before slashing at its back once he went behind it. "I won't even need an act for-"
Hex twisted his body and used his sword to counter a strike by another daemon, they were two lion classes and although that complicated things it wouldn't matter. Hex's power was meant for taking out crowds anyway. The two daemons stood side by side growling as they looked at him.
"This takes so much out of me so I don't like using it," Hex stood in a kendo stance, waiting for the daemons to make their move... "Red lines."
Gifts were the results of mana flowing through the bane and affecting certain parts of the body causing enhancements to said part, it was a rarity among humans but Hex was one of the rare few.
At the age of six. Hex found out he had a gift, he could see sounds and not only see them but also identify the emotion that came along with them. Red lines meant aggression, green lines meant jealousy/envy, white lines meant pure intent and black lines meant death. Right now he saw a mixture of black and red and using that he could dodge attacks despite being in a dark space.
Even though it was dark in the room whenever a sound was made by a footstep, or a swing of an arm he saw it and by using those lines he quickly countered. The two daemons ran at him simultaneously and immediately they reached they swung their arms at him almost in unison
[Battle magic act three: Rhythm cut], using the sound the feet of the daemons made as they ran he created an invisible blade that slashed at both of them. No results. However, the two daemons took the hit and clawed at Hex.
Sound was an element mixture, by mixing thunder(lightning) with wind the unique new element was created by the Altrathor clan. They didn't share this new element with the public because it had a flaw. In order to use the spells regarding this new element, you needed sound. A small enough sound would be enhanced by mana and used to cast spells. Another reason they didn't tell people about this was because the bigger the sound, the bigger the attack. Regardless of the act.
Hex was pushed to the wall and using the sounds again he dodged two red lines before they reached him, if he wanted to win he would have to up the act, he was tired already. The slash given to him by the daemons wasn't deep enough to render his arms useless but he was losing a lot of blood. "Tch."
The two daemons rushed at him again. This time however going for the kill shot, they flanked him from each side and immediately swung their arms at him. He jumped. Above, Hex could see them. The two daemons were in perfect position for Ibis to strike and he fed the hungry mammal.
Ibis was the name of a wolf his parents gave him as a child, the wolf died when he turned fourteen and he had spent years perfecting an act that could allow him to see his pet wolf again.
Not all Altrathor's could see sound. The gift was a special enhancement only Hex and one other member of his clan had.
"Be devoured by the jaws of the echo wolf, IBIS!." [Battle magic act five: Echo wolf], The roof of the building broke as the wolf formed, no one but he could see it and the two daemons were cut in half, dismembered by the invisible jaw of a giant wolf.
"Death shall meet all," Hex staggered as he landed on the floor. "Now for my teammates." Following the almost inaudible sounds of footsteps, Hex exited the room and freed the other hunters.
"You killed both daemons alone?!" Willow shouted as she cast healing magic on Hex.
"He has some balls I'll give him that, I wouldn't be in my right mind if I was to attempt that." Otto sat down looking at Willow heal his wounds.
"Things can really go sideways and the information given by Vancrest isn't always accurate," Luna said. "You're really strong Hex."
"Still not strong enough." Hex murmured to himself. "I need to become stronger. That's the only way I'll be acknowledged by Liric."
Igor fell to the ground as he cast an act twenty spell, the fire technique was so strong that Liric had to use ice magic to take it out. However, even though the spell was strong. It had an act requirement of 15 and above, trying to cast it with lower won't work. So if he cast that spell and it doesn't hit. He would essentially be useless.
"Sure takes... a lot of stamina... as well," Igor said as he spat out blood, casting magic didn't only require mana but also stamina. The more you cast the more the toll brings down your body, till you stop casting or till it makes you stop casting.
"You'll get the hang of it, most of the spells I can actually teach you take large amounts of mana and stamina," Liric explained. "And since you don't have an affinity for ice there isn't really much I can do."
"I have an affinity for fire, earth, and lightning." Igor said as he slowly got up. "You can just teach me the lower-level ones..... from the book."
"I guess I could." Liric opened up the book and searched for a wide-range spell that needed less than act three to cast.
"Umm let's continue," Igor said as he sat up.
"What?"
"My mana pocket," Igor said. "It's refilled."
"That's abnormally fast, perhaps due to the fact that has a mana system of a human but not the body of one." Liric thought to himself.
Mana is circulated through the body by a special pathway known as the "Bane" mana is created and stored in the bane and when a human uses up all his mana, the pathways that allow mana to be used by the body are blocked. Then slowly as the body regains stamina and oxygen the bane creates more mana and when it fills up, the bane pathways that allow you to control mana open back up. Mana flows from the bane pathways and from there is channeled to create spells. (Note: Gifts are result of mana changing a part of the body where they circulated a little bit too long.)
The reason daemons can't create mana is because they aren't born with a bane, however by eating a human they can gain its bane and mana but are unable to use it till they gain a consciousness which they would attain once they reach titan class.
A bane is a part of the human system and it's pathways functions like the human nerves carrying mana to every part of the body. You're either born with it or you're a daemon that steals it.
The reason Igor's mana would refill so fast despite being half daemon would be because he has a bane and since daemons have more strength and stamina than humans, Igor would regain his mana very quickly. Added to the fact that daemons could gain the mana pocket of anyone they ate made Igor very frightening, but there was also something else that made Igors mana refill very fast, something the Titanfall couldn't quite put his finger on
"How long does it usually take for you to regain your mana after it's finished."
"An hour or so, I never counted." Igor answered, "Anything the matter?"
"No."
"Just that it's been twenty minutes," Liric thought to himself. "Igor dragonstead might just be the one that turns the tables on the daemons for good."
"Okay Igor, let's go again." Igor said as he stretched out an arm for Igor to grab onto.