"Excellent isn't it?" A tall white-bearded man in a lab coat asked his assistant who's eyes opened wide in shock. The hairs on her body stood on end as she watched a nigh supernatural event unfold in front of her. They observed from a conference room into the testing space, as a little girl was disposing of several masters of super martial arts.
These specialists were classified as the most experienced solid red belt holders who had even awakened ether control. Yet, the scene unfolding in front of the eyes of these two supervisors indicated nothing of the sort.
"Hey, how did you just- Wahhh!" one of the masters exclaimed as the little girl grabbed him by the foot and flipped him on his back.
"Impossible! I'm a tenth dan grade, this can't be happening!" exclaimed another who tried to ambush her from behind, but got his knuckles fractured by her fist as she blocked the punch.
In the brief moment, he dropped his guard to scream in pain, she delivered a spinning heel kick to his groin, knocking him out.
"That was the last of them I suppose." the supervisor brushed his lab coat and gazed upon the scene of ten unconscious supposed masters that had picked up the challenge he offered.
The facility although not federally approved was backed by an agency just as large, hence, recruiting masters in ancient and modern martial arts was almost like sticking up a vacancy notice. The girl wearing a lifeless expression, began collecting the belts adorning the waists of these "masters" and tearing them in half.
The very pride and joy of those who had dedicated decades to polishing their skills was being trampled on by a brat who was just a little close to her first decade in the world.
"That was just as terrifying as it was amazing. Just who is this monster? What the hell is the plan for her?" The assistant who had now regained herself looked curiously at the supervisor as he made his way into the testing space to check on the little girl.
She quickly grabbed her things and hurried her footsteps to catch up with him. This may be the only time in her life she would get to interact with something like this- more than the fear that kept her frozen, her innate curiosity as a scientist drove her forward.
"I'm coming in! It's the supervisor and not an enemy!" the supervisor shouted before opening the door. "I'm coming in too, I'm his assistant!" the assistant said also. With a monster like this, the slightest mistake could result in fatality.
The supervisor navigated through the fallen bodies and greeted her with a warm smile. He avoided touching her directly for obvious reasons and began questioning her about her body state.
"I almost forgot Professor. What's her name? Or rather could you ask her to tell me herself? I want to hear what she sounds like." The assistant asked while also walking through the obstacles, but was met with a brief silence.
The supervisor exchanged glances with the little girl before looking back at the assistant.
"Her name is still high-level confidentiality in the firm, but we all call her by the name of the project. It's a quite catchy one too" He paused for a bit. "LUCY"
***
Many Years Later
***
Please wait behind the barricade until the doors are fully opened. Do not cross the safety line before the doors are fully opened. Thank You.
The warnings of the train's automated voice rang out throughout the subway as the door slowly slid open. The masses onboard slowly started gathering around the door, ready to alight.
But one figure seemed particularly energetic and eager with his struggle to leave the doors.
"Hey hey, Get out of the way!!" A young man pushed and navigated his way through the waiting passengers. Without even sparing a glance at the caution signs, he leaped through the slightly opened doors into the entrance and started a wild sprint into the corridor.
The sprint continued into the streets, he occasionally collided with other pedestrians on his way but his gaze never wavered from the beautiful blue skyscraper he was headed for.
The revolving doors invited his dash into the ground floor, and his eyes paced fast across the hall for a certain woman, the receptionist of the company. He was only a sliver of a straw close to being disqualified from his position as a member of the scouting party meant to inspect the recent netherworld opening. Losing this position would also mean losing his meaning as a mercenary.
"Hey!! I'm over here! Get over here before the registration portal shuts down." A silver-haired woman yelled from the other end of the room, holding up a mini laptop. The receptionist he sought after.
"I'll be right there Sharon!" the young man dashed towards her as quickly as possible, grabbed the laptop, and put in my details in a matter of seconds.
As the countdown reached the last five seconds, he hit the submit button almost simultaneously with the last second.
"Hahh, I made it at just the last second. That has to have been the closest call I've ever experienced before. Thanks for saving that spot for me Sharon" he sighed finally letting go of the laptop she tried to pry from his hands.
"Hmph, you should be more careful with things like this." She said as she strutted back to her desk, "I've known you to be careless for a long time now but you of all people should understand the severity of this situation. This is as close as you'll ever becoming a copper-class mercenary, finally climbing from the bronze class, and you start with a late registration for your promotional quest. You really have to be a different breed of stupid" Sharon finally snapped and started to vent out her piled-up frustration.
But who would blame her though, Aries had put her through a lot.
From the day Aries had his magical power appraised and was reported to have a gray-colored affinity, an affinity only higher than the clear-colored affinity, his struggles only increased with each passing day.
He was only able to learn the
For seven long years, he stayed in the lowest ranks, barely distinguishable from an average person in terms of power. However, even though he didn't have any power, he didn't just float around during his seven years in the mercenary business.
He had racked up the most experience against the weaker class demons that newbie mercenaries were usually pitched against.
He even got to know Sharon during his first few years in the business, since she is the receptionist of the company that drafts missions occasionally.
And now with this new promotional opportunity Sharon brought to him to climb a rank higher, he was ready to risk anything to achieve just that. Even a few jabs here and there.
"I know I know, I'm really sorry about that. I was too excited to sleep last night and I just somehow ended up waking up late. Don't even get me started on how I almost missed the--"
"Ey ey! I don't need to hear any of that! Just go prepare for the quest, I need you in top shape to make me feel assured of your success" She interrupted holding out her palm to my face with a slight smirk.
"Aye Aye ma'am" Aries grinned and joined her to de-clutter her desk.
"Hey, I just told you to go prepare for something. Are you trying to pick a fight?" Sharon stopped immediately he started helping her.
"I'm not. Are you allergic to good deeds?" Aries countered while picking up his things to leave, for sane reasons, he definitely would not get into a quarrel with her. She squinted at him for a few seconds as he quickly marched out with his backpack. "Fine! fine, I'm leaving." with that Aries made his way back to the training grounds.
Later that night, while the full moon glistened on the streets of their countryside town, that same young boy was seen making his way towards the same building holding a bottle of water.
This time, gently pushing the revolving doors, he calmly walked in and made his way to the reception. Where the same young woman was immersed in the files she was arranging and didn't even realize when he had walked in.
"What are you still doing?" Aries asked and was met by a jolt of surprise from Sharon. She glared at him with her fist raised in anger, ready to clobber him if he hadn't thrown his hands up in surrender.
"Stop doing that! And don't tell me you're done preparing already. You do realize that you're going to be up against higher-ranked demons right?" She yelled at Aries who was currently trying to compensate by helping her pack up her things.
She was prone to walking late night shifts, some of which extended into even the early mornings. A young woman left alone in a gigantic building all alone at night was just a desperate plea for a death case.
"It's fine, I came here for you, you know? Did you really plan on walking alone this late at night? Just tell me you want to die." Aries responded as nonchalantly as ever, as he pried the keys from her fingers.
Sharon kept quiet after that, having a few strings in her heart plucked. 'Perhaps he also has the side of himself too', she thought to herself.
"Hey say something already, you're making--"
CRASH
A sudden crash came from the office behind, echoing throughout the entire floor. Aries hurriedly stood in front of Sharon while scanning the environment for the source of the noise.
There wasn't anyone besides them inside the building a few minutes ago, without a doubt. The only possibility then would be either the wind or a forced entry.
All the windows in the building were shut airtight, so obviously the wind isn't a suspect. The other option, however…
"Sharon, I think it may be a burglar. I'm gonna go check the office, you wait here and call 911. Got it?" Aries explained while already making his way towards the office, not allowing Sharon to discourage him.
Sharon understanding the situation, pulled out her phone and quickly called the police.
Aries inched closer and closer into the office until he got close enough to hear the intruder's voice.
"Ugh, I can't see it here. Valos, you sure he said the ground floor?" A husky voice asked aloud from the office, apparently talking to a second person.
"Geh, this sucks. Couldn't we have just killed all the filthy humans here during the day? Taking a hostage and then forcing the box out of them sounds like a far easier plan." The voice of the second was far more sinister than the first.
Killing humans… was only something a demon or demonoid would easily say with this wicked tone.
"Well, whatever, let's just go. It's not like it's going to pop up after this much digging and I'm already tired." Aries's ears were fully pressed against the door listening in. 'Would there be something so valuable that barbaric demons would resort to petty theft.' he wondered
"Oh not so fast Lith. Looks like we've got a helper. Isn't that right HUMAN??" His voice rang out in Aries's direction, petrifying him with supernatural fear. The demon called Valos sensed his presence.
Human fear and despair were the only forms of delight for a demon after all.