Slow jazz music, the odor of tobacco, the slight gossips of women, laughs of man and the classic bartender behind the counter set the scene in tune. In the scenery was a table that sat at the corner of the establishment remaining inconspicuous and independent from it, yet there occupied a young male with his head turned downwards sipping on some wine in silence. He held a map of what seemed to be the geographical terrain of the city he currently was in.
The young male was none other than Neil Axiom inside the Red-Hyacinth Inn contemplating on what to do for the next 5 days. He wanted to do some mercenary work to curb the boredom after all the Auction would only start in 5 days. Neil stood up from his seat and went to the bartender's table and sat on a stool.
"Give me another one", he said the male behind the counter.
The bartender nodded and presented another glass to him. He popped open a bottle of wine and poured in the glass.
"Here you are sir.",
"The Classic Foreshore, it has such a unique taste different from those other mediocre things.", he said out loud.
"For someone so young to understand the workings of wine is truly surprising."
"Well…. Let's just say I travel a lot", Neil said and threw 5 silver coins on the table which the bartender immediately snagged into his pockets.
"When I came in, I looked at the mission board and saw one that particularly caught my eye. It says the House of Evergreen are hiring mercenaries nothing more, nothing less."
"Indeed sir. One of the 3 noble houses that run Shea City, Evergreen are looking for talented Mercenaries. They have not said why they are looking….", the bartender's words trailed off.
Neil threw 3 more silver coins to the Bartender who snagged them mid-flight.
"They are looking for Mercenaries that can help them search for an item they 'lost'."
"Do you know the item they wish to retrieve?", Neil asked.
"Unfortunately, no. But I have an idea.", he said.
Neil threw another 5 silver coins and the bartender pocketed them.
"I believe its one of their defining treasures. The reason why they had not mentioned any specifics on the mission is because if the other noble houses got wind that one of their defining treasures has been 'lost' their reputation would fall.", the bartender elaborated.
"Oh… and how do you know all this?", he asked.
"I have my ways"
This guy … he is more abnormal than I thought,
That's the conclusion Neil came to.
"The mission said nothing about how to contact them… so how is it done?",
The bartender smiled and turned his gaze to the stairs and Neil immediately felt a strong Nux influx that was pinpointed on him.
"I see…", Neil smiled in annoyance.
He left the counter with his cup and walked upstairs to the next floor. He went to the end of the floor and entered the last room.
The room was empty but Neil knew that not to be true as he kept following the traces of Nux which led an open wardrobe. He entered the wardrobe and closed the door behind him. He felt the Nux once pinpointed on him scatter and swirl around him bewildering his vision.
"Well, we have another one. It seems there are some talented people …", a voice echoed into Neil's ears.
Neil turned around and opened the door. What greeted him was a circular table and two chairs. There were Guards attired in black-lime garments with images of a rose imprinted on the back on their clothing and in front of them were two figures seated on the chairs.
Did I just teleport? No that's impossible. That would require a high-level of mastery of the Law of Space-time.
One female and one male each with blonde colored hair, they wore purple garments lined with golden strips and glyphs of a flying sparrow engraved on the shoulders and back of the attire. The male had ocean blue eyes and female, striking violet eyes. They were both pleasing to the eye exuding a carefree aura which made them approachable. The guards behind them were menacing radiating murderous intent, very appropriate indeed. Neil could guess who they were,
The female's irises slightly gave off a violet luminescence as she scanned him which left Neil shook, she seemingly was looking for something in him yet was unable to locate it which left her in surprise. The male next to her simply looked at Neil with indifference with his right index finger tapping the desk rhythmically.
"Well, is this how you greet guests?", Neil asked with a straight face but many things were going through his mind.
Those eyes…She almost penetrated my Aspect. It was good of me to add some sensing resistance runes around my Aspect.
Neil walked closer to the desk and they both looked at him.
"My name is Louise Evergreen", she responded in a firm tone which was neither imposing or prideful.
"You can call me Ernest", the male named Ernest said.
They both ignored his question but Neil knew what happened. The Bartender was setup by them but not everyone could sense the peculiarness of him. Only those with a keen Sense would notice him which showcased their abilities in real time. So basically, if you could find out the peculiarness of the bartender and ask the questions relating to the mission you would be sent here.
"It was brief but I sensed something quite interesting. You are quite the talented young man. ", Louise said
Neil squinted his eyes; he couldn't guess what she saw but he was confident about his runes embedded around his Aspect. Neil guessed she saw his high affinity with Runes.
Neil thought for a moment then responded," I'm Neil. So, what's the job?".
Louise and Ernest looked at each momentarily then gazed at Neil.
"As you've heard the item was lost but was in fact stolen and we need some skilled Cinths help to us retrieve it.", Louise concluded.
"We need you to help us find someone", Ernest followed up.
"Hm, I could help you but what are we going to be dealing with?", Neil calmly replied
"Very well. The person we are looking for a person is codenamed 'Riot'. This figure was able to infiltrate the Evergreen Mansion and took an item that belonged to the family.", Louise said
"Riot huh…, for a person capable of such a feat it seems he possess a very rare Law. I could assume that the Evergreen Mansion has many guards at the Ethereal Aspect perhaps you even have people at the Corporal Aspect and they all possess all sorts of laws so how was a nobody even able to steal an item from your noble residence?", Neil said
"From our investigation we were able to determine that Riot has a variant of the Law of Absolute Space. His law is limited displacement.", Louise emphasized clearly. Silence ensued….
"So, he can only displacement items in space and himself as well…", Neil asked.
"Exactly. He was able to use this law to bypass our guards and security which implies that he is strictly made for infiltration and not combat. " Louise said with slight irritation. Only she knew how difficult it was to catch this slippery eel.
"Space is an annoying Law to deal with not only because of its rarity but its elusiveness and mobility is unmatched", Neil sighed.
"So, are you in?", Louise asked with a smile.
"Well, I can't disagree anyways, can I?",
Louise had an eerie smile confirming Neil's statement.
"Good very good ", The one to speak up was Ernest who was silent during the whole conversation as he gave Neil an octagonal shaped object.
"That contains all the remaining data on Riot and the names of your colleagues, including a downpayment to express our generosity", Louise spoke to Neil with a tinge of mysteriousness in her voice.
"The mission will begin tomorrow early afternoon lead by Ernest and five others. All you need to prioritize is the death of Riot and retrieval of the item.", Louise said once more as their bodies began to vanish.
They evaporated like steam but Neil caught sight of Louise's amused look before she left and suddenly Neil looked at his surroundings again. He was in the wardrobe laying down. In his right hand was the object Ernest gave him.
"Hmmm…. ", Neil fell into heavy contemplation because a near non-existent law had just befallen him and it seemed like a fusion between two simple laws. The fact that he was put asleep without him even knowing made him shiver. He was still a young chick in the supernatural world but every time he would learn something which made him grow.
Neil stretched his limbs, casually left the room and went to his own. He ordered himself some steak and wine.
", Guess I'll need to put a tad of effort into this. This Riot character has me quite interested though. A Space Law is something you don't come by every often but based on she said it's not worth mentioning in front of me."
He raised a glass with wine and drank it in one shot, He titled the glass and his reflection revealed a carefree smile which spoke the confidence in himself. He then diverted his gaze to the object Ernest gave him.
" The [TheroCortex], quite expensive I must say. Capable of storing almost anything, from memories, knowledge, organic to non-organic materials. Unfortunately, these noble people are all stingy, this one is low grade and possesses a reasonably small space. Well let's see what's in here…"
A pair of siblings appeared in a high-class building. It was obvious it was the house of a noble with all the white, lime and black colors that filtered the house. In a room Louise looked at Ernest with a mischievous smile," That Neil is quite interesting, I could only see the surface of his Aspect but I wasn't able to find what type of concept he possessed which intrigued me even more. It seemed he only possessed high affinity with runes which is rare in itself but I don't believe for one second, he doesn't possess a Law. I think he possess a very capable Law."
"Indeed. He may even be one of the deciding factors in this mission", Ernest said to Louise with a bright smile.
"Hehe. He may indeed be a 'deciding factor'", Louise muttered softly and thus the pair silently stood up and went about their preparations.