"Oi, young man, looking for a neat Artifact stone to use?"
"Selling elite-level Artifacts for 65 gold!"
"Artifacts on sale, selling out quickly!"
He was in the Artifact market, a place near the ports of Argon City. Many airships were flowing in and out, all of them full of Artifact merchants and hunters. "Such a big place... I'm wondering if there would be any Artifacts on here for me to purchase."
The average pricing here is around 75 gold, overshadowing the 1 gold that his father had given him. "Wow, I feel like I don't belong here." he said, looking around. He saw a young boy purchasing an elite-level Artifact with a pouch of gold. His attire appeared to be in noble attire, a glamorous sight to behold.
He used the Artifact, having a bright light that followed right after. Then, emerging in the boy's hand was a pistol, patterned in crimson velvet. Harold saw how cool his newly acquired Artifact was and felt a little bit of jealousy too. "Man, only if I was more rich..."
Looking right next to the stand was a bin full of cheap Artifacts. On top of the bin was a piece of cardboard. The cardboard had written out "1 gold per common-level Artifact." on it, crudely put on there. "Perfect!" Harold said gleefully as he walked over there. His one gold was dying to be used, and he could sense this was the perfect thing. Coming towards the jackpot, he was interrupted by a scream near an alleyway. It was an enslaved girl, chained by her neck, being dragged away further into the alleyway. She wailed and swung her arms around in her struggle to break free, only to come to no avail. Her barren legs were scraping against the wooden floor of the dock, leaving splotches of blood in the trail she was dragged in. The people around her ignored her cries for help, acting as if nothing was wrong. "A slave as per usual..." Harold said, letting out a deep sigh. "Everyone has lost their morals these days."
At the far end of the alleyway, the slave had stopped being dragged by a metal door that led to an underground chamber. Many concerns flooded her head as her captors roughly yanked her around.
"I'm hungry..."
"My body hurts..."
"I want to see my family again."
The last sight she saw before her capture was her family being killed off by clockworks, only to see her kidnappers chain her up soon after. The memories were vague and painful, and every thought hurt her head. "How much do you think she will fetch?" one of the bandits asked. "She's a virgin noble; she would sell for thousands of gold!" the other bandit answered. Their conversation made her anxiety deepen, realizing that her future was going to be a slave for the rest of her life.
"Oi, you goofballs!"
An unrecognizable voice interrupted their conversation. "Eh? Who's that?" one of the bandits asked before getting a dagger thrown right at their neck. Before the other bandit could react, a man swooped in and sent a harsh punch to his face, snapping his neck with the singular blow. He wore a white mask around his face and a black gambler hat. His clothing was a dirty and raggedy black tailcoat, and he also wore brown leather boots. "Are you okay?" The man asked, kneeling to the slave. She nodded, speechless at his sudden entrance. "T-Thank you for saving me..." she said, still unable to fathom what had transpired.
"You're welcome." He said, beginning to unshackle her. His presence felt overwhelming but contained no malice towards her. An unusual feeling of safety but also danger arose from him. Noticing her uncomfortableness, he introduced himself. "My name is Ark; what's your name?"
She hesitated to say at first, but eventually told him her name. "Mina, that's my name." she told him with a face of uncertainty. She didn't know if she could trust a man like him. Why would he want to save her anyway? Her blonde hair had lost its shiny outlook a few weeks prior to her kidnapping. Not to mention, her clothes weren't the only things that were dirty. Her entire body was covered in mud and cuts, and her body frame was small and frail due to the malnutrition she had to endure.
Soon after, he unshackled her chains, easing the immense pressure that she felt bound to her neck. Coming to his feet, he gave a gentle breath of relief. "Alright, you're free to go. You can do whatever you want now." he said.
Stuttering, Mina says, "B-But I have nowhere to go."
"I know a place you can stay at; just follow me." The man motioned his hand towards the direction he walked in, prompting Mina to straggle behind him. Seeing her walk, he switched his pace, gently guiding her with his arms. "Ease yourself; I'm not going to rush you." he said, reassuring her. His gentle nature was something unexpected to Mina. For a brutal man, he is very patient and caring, especially to some weak and useless slave like her. "Why are you helping me...?" Mina asked, not being able to see through his white-blank mask. His intentions could never be deciphered, as his face was unreadable. Her temptations of peaking under his mask were high, but she didn't want to anger such a dangerous man.
"I did it because I want to help others." he told her.
His tone sounded casual, as if he wasn't being serious at all. Yet, for some reason, he didn't sound lying either. Not being able to decide if she should trust him, she still left him to guide her. "I'm far too gone anyway." she thought, looking at her miserable self.
As they neared the exit of the alleyway, a man blocked their path. "Ah, it seems I've encountered a troublemaker." He asked. A snarky tone he held, having a swallowtail blue coat and a silver badge pinned onto it. He wore a bronze mask that paired alongside his bronze helmet with a silver lining. By this appearance, this man was clearly a man of the law. Something that surprised Ark. "You must be Ark, the annoying vigilante that has been ruining our slave trade. I'll have you know, there's a huge bounty for your capture." he says, swinging his baton around.
Setting the terrified Mina behind a crate beside them, Ark questioned the police officer, aiming his dagger at him. "And who must you be?"
The police officer stopped swinging his bat to answer. "My name is Sirus, and I'm a captain of Argon City's police force. It's my duty to arrest a troublemaker like you who terrorizes the street."
"Ah, arrest me? That's strange. Sending out a police captain to an area like this? Especially to the sounds of a slave runt, which not a single person bats an eye to. You didn't find me by coincidence, that's for sure."
Sirus chuckled, amused at how he caught on so quickly. "Well, smart one, are you? Even then, you're quite screwed."
"And why's that?" Ark asked, still aiming his dagger at him.
"I happen to be an elite-level artifact user..." Sirus said as a halberd formed within the palms of his hands. It had a wavelike design for its blade and was coated entirely in a dark blue. Bringing the polearm upwards and slamming it down, a huge wave emerges from the floor. This wave plowed through the alleyway, heading straight towards Ark. Seeing the wave coming right at them, Ark immediately covered Mina, who cowered behind the crate.
As the waves submerged them, Sirus stood there, waiting for the water to settle. "Oh, now look at that." Sirus said, watching the aftermath. It was Ark who held Mina tightly as they were sent into the city streets. Citizens from the area ran due to the sudden outburst of water that filled the area.
Before he could stand up, a second wave plowed into both Mina and him, slamming them against the shop behind them. As the shop windows shattered and the water flattened out, Sirus was seen slowly walking towards them. His wet leather boots made squeaking noises against the stone floor with every step, getting louder the closer he got to Ark and Mina.
"You managed to take out so many criminals, yet you falter against the power of an elite-level artifact."
In a sudden attack, Ark swiped his dagger across Sirus's face, only missing by an inch as Sirus leaned back to avoid the blow. As he came forward again, he swung his halberd at Ark's side, making direct contact with him. Within contact, he felt his halberd collide with metal. Confused at the abrupt stop, he glanced down at the halberd's blade.
Ark had used a sheathed sword under his coat to stop the hit at the last second. Using this window of opportunity, Ark lunged at Sirus, letting go of Mina in the process. Nearing impact with his blade, another wave slammed into Ark by surprise, pushing him back onto his back. "D-Damn, your artifact is annoying." Ark said, standing up.
"Time to stop playing around." Sirus said, as he immediately went to slam his halberd onto Ark. Using both hands, he blocked the blow using the flat side of his blade. However, this was a grave error because Ark was sliced by the halberd, which cut through his blade.
As Ark's chest gets cut, he falls to his back. The bleeding intensified as he tried to cover his wound with his palms. "Hurts, doesn't it? Your little game of being a vigilante has caused this to happen. Your delusions are the downfall of your life." Before Sirus could take out his handcuffs from his waist, he felt something grab his leg. Looking down, it was Mina. "Police officer, p-please stop it..."
Utter disgust flooded his head as a mere lower class being gripped onto his boots.
A disgusting, dirty, putrid SLAVE was touching him. HIM of all people. No way filth like HER should EVER touch a police captain like him.
Her actions had called for immediate execution in the eyes of Sirus. It was inexcusable. "Human filth should never touch me!" Sirus kicked Mina in the face. Blood oozed out from her nose, and her teeth were battered in. Mina let out a harsh groan in pain as she hit the floor. Writhing in pain, she curled up in a ball. Tears streamed down her face and pathetic cries filled the air as Mina was unable to contain herself. She felt useless and pathetic, her life fell into shambles in one singular incident. All she missed was the loving maids in her mansion, her kind mother comforting her, and her father giving her big hugs every morning.
"S-Stop, please..." Mina pleaded with a whimper to her voice. Sirus did not care, however. Slaves were trash, failed creations of god who did not fulfill their purpose in life. People say the lifestyle is forced, but others simply refer to it as the will of god. God had given up on them, therefore, their life is set to be a slave. That is the harsh reality people have come to when it comes to slaves.
Before Sirus could finish off Mina with his halberd, an unexpected figure appeared in front of Ark. As Ark sat up to look at the tall, imposing figure, it took off its cloak, revealing its form to be a clockwork. Sirus aimed his halberd at the clockwork, warning it. "You, state your purpose of being here. I've strictly forbidden this section of the city of the police force to Ark's arrest. You shouldn't have any orders to be here." Thinking it was a clockwork error sent by the police, Sirus was patient with it. But, he soon came to realize, that wasn't the case.
The clockwork spoke with a twist; his voice had life to it as if it were a real person speaking. "I've finally found you. You must be what Madam Eleina was talking about. You must be her son, Harold." The clockwork said, kneeling down to Ark. Underneath Ark's mask lay Harold's face with a shocked expression. "E-Eleina is my mother's name... what's this clockwork talking about?"
Harold was the mysterious man who held the identity of "Ark". He didn't expect anyone to recognize him, especially under his secretive alias. So for this clockwork to suddenly appear saying his name, and mentioning his mother, it was the biggest surprise he could ever encounter.
"I've observed you for a while from a far distance, and my time has run low. In short, your mother told me to give you this." The clockwork handed him an Artifact stone. This Artifact stone was something he had never seen before—a vibrant warm glow, etched with golden patterns that swirled around the stone. "Your mother spent ages looking for that, just to give it to you. Please, make good use of that." Harold was speechless. He couldn't believe such a precious gift was given to him.
"One last thing before I deactivate for good. Your mother is still alive. She is out there, far, far away. She wanted you to know that." the clockwork said, before deactivating.
"M-My mother... is alive?"
\\
Artifact Name: Deluging Restriction
User: Sirus
Rank: Elite-level
Ability: The ability to cast strong waves from any surface. These waves have enough power to topple small structures.
//