I stare into the coffeehouse, Wodao resting on my shoulder. Though there was only one that I found, it feels like there's more in there, more that smell the scared and meek outside its domain, hungry for their bones.
I shake my head to purge the thought, don't need to go thinking up stuff that puts me even more on edge. I look away from the shop to my squaddies and civilians. The squad mates are doing their best to keep the civilians away from the potential danger. The Civilians are scared and restless, wanting the crisis to be done and over with.
Some have tears lining their cheeks, crying "My son's in there!" or "Has anyone seen my wife/husband!?". Every line that enters my mind causes my own tears to start up. Knowing what happened in there, none of these people should know. They can't see the bodies, the terrible mutilated bodies.
It's while the tears are nearly breaking open that the police show up. Three S.W.A.T.-like vans show up, followed by six cruisers. They all stop in front of the coffeehouse with four officers in full tactical gear and beast weapons exiting the S.W.A.T. vans.
Counting the ones driving, fifteen officers enter the shop. While the SWAT-adjacents are in the shop, the normal police do their best to keep the civilians away from the area. Don't want unnecessary casualties.
I ask Seok, who was next to me, who the Swat-like officers are called. He gives me a strange glance before saying, "They S.M.D., Special Monster Division. The people you send in for scenarios like this."
"Why not just send Hunters?"
"We're not loyal enough, plus, who would want to put their life in a mercenary's hands."
"Fair point."
We wait until the SMD come out and give the clear while pulling out another three skelemorphs. My blood runs cold from the sight, were they in there while I was, or did they form after I left? Either way, it's terrifying.
Once the skelemorphs are loaded into each of the different vans, they drive off and leave the situation to normal emergency responders.
With the leaving of the SMD, we decide to head out too, finally, finally, going to the Association for real now. It takes us a little bit longer due to Seung's unconsciousness, but we make it there. We cash in everything we got, split it evenly, say our goodbyes and leave for our homes.
-
I awake the next morning, armor still clad, weapon still drawn. I put the blade in its sheathe and head to the bathroom to look at the damage that both me and the armor got.
Looking in the mirror, I see near perfect circle in my armor where the spike tore into. I touch the exposed flesh and get the usual feeling, so there's no adverse side effects of getting semi-impaled, which is nice.
I get ready for the day, go through the daily morning routine, and then head off to school after talking with Ryung and Hana who seemed to be doing better, but still probably needs professional help.
The school day is much the same, have lesson, take notes, do work, for most of them. There is the fun one though, of Martial Arts which takes away much of the boredom of the day. It's in this class that I can talk with Instructor Kim and spar with Joon Woo.
The class starts off the same, going over what we're going to be doing that day and then going off to spar. Unlike most days though, I head over to Instructor Kim and ask him a question.
"Instructor Kim, is there a way to make attacks comprised of Gi?"
He looks away from the sparring students and to me. He stares for a moment before responding, "Do you mean Gi infused strikes, or attack entirely made of Gi?"
"I mean attacks entirely of Gi."
He thinks for a while before shaking his head, "That idea was abandoned hundreds of years ago. It was deemed insufficient for what was needed at the time, and research never continued as we have Mana which can do what the goal is, better. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I used such an attack yesterday, and so I was wondering if there was a manual or something similar that could teach me how to do it easier."
He doesn't respond, instead staring up into the rafters with a contemplative gaze. A minute goes by while I'm standing there, nervously waiting for him to come back to Earth.
My prayers are answered when he looks back to me and says, "You're going to show me what you're doing. Come to my room at the Association after school and I'll see what you can do and if I can help."
This is more than I had hoped. I bow ninety degrees and offer up, "Thank you, Instructor Kim."
Though I can't see his face, I fee like he has a slight smile.
After school at the Association to learn more about Gi, that's going to be fun.