Initially, when the hooded man had come to the meeting and only saw one person turn up, he was feeling a little disheartened. Every time they had these meetings, it seemed to be a result of bad news, one after the other, rather than good news.
However, today seemed like a turning point, and the grin on his face couldn't stop forming on his mouth. Before leaving the crooked building that they were in, the man turned to the woman.
"It seems the Dark Spirit has given us two tasks. In my position, it would be easier for me to look into the Grand Magus and try to figure out if there are any strange reported movements," the man stated. "Is that okay with you? Will you be okay trying to find out the information about the old mages?"
The woman thought about it for a while.
"That should be fine." It was better than fine; if anything, it was ideal for her.
One of the rules of the group was not to reveal each other's real identities. Although when recruiting people, some might have seen their faces, they still knew what their role was in the outside society. Instead, they would share information while trying to complete small tasks with each other one step at a time, depending on the task, they would split it to who would suit it best. It worked as a type of volunteer system.
In this case, there were two main jobs given by the Dark Spirit, and the man had somewhat decided for them.
Splitting up, the two went their separate ways. The woman headed right, and the man headed left. Since they were in the underground living areas, there were plenty of ways for them to head to the surface.
The hooded man walked through the children playing around in ragged clothing, muck on their faces. The areas were filled with people coughing. He then lifted himself up with wind magic on top of one of the houses until he found a ladder. It was made out of rusted metal. He slowly climbed it up as he headed to the manhole cover that was above him.
"Whenever I visit this place, it just makes me angrier," the man mumbled to himself.
The people who lived underground had no choice really. If they rose up to the surface, then there would be guilds and government workers that would be asked to clean the streets. The world of Alterian was one by appearance, one that had no beggars. Because they were forced to move. They had to get out of the cities.
They could go to the masses of land with no infrastructure built, but unless they knew how to grow their own crops, they could do nothing. There were no jobs for them out there, no one that would willingly feed them unless they could contribute to society in some way. So the only choice they had, and the only way they could stay in the city, was to live under it.
At least here, they could live off the scraps that would fall from above. Once in a while, there would be those that would even come from above, making certain requests to those below. Maybe asking them to get rid of someone, to commit a crime on their behalf, or things even worse and darker. To put it shortly, living under the city, they were able to at least continue living off the scraps from those above, but it was away from the eyes of others, out of sight, as if they didn't even exist.
Eventually, the man pushed the manhole off, and he appeared in an alleyway down a street. The lights from the tall buildings above shined on his face, and quickly he soon cast the robe away. It disappeared into a black void that was in his hand, and now he was wearing a black uniform with patches of red on his clothing underneath. He had short spiky black hair that showed underneath his rounded hat. He was a man that looked to be in his mid-20s, closer to his 30s. Slowly, he raised his hands, touching the corner of his mouth.
'I really need to get rid of this smile.'
Waiting a few moments, he waited for his smile to drop before he walked into the streets, blending in with all the rest. It was currently evening time, so the glowing neon lights were shining brightly, yet the streets were filled with those shopping or eating on the side.
The man continued to walk until he had reached a large square of buildings with glass at the front. As he took a step through the front door, a strange green laser light went across his body.
"Hey, Chief Harvey, what time do you call this?" A man called out, reading a digital device in the air. He was sitting at a desk seemingly doing nothing, it was the reception. He too wore the same uniform as the man named Harvey.
"Something came up on the way here; I thought it would help us in a way. I'm not quite sure how helpful it will be," Harvey replied.
"Ah, is it the case with that mass murder that's been on the loose recently? I thought once the Dark Magus was dealt with there would be fewer incidents, but we seem to be as busy as ever," the man sighed.
Right now, Harvey was in a police station. A group of mages that worked for the local governments and also were quite well-connected with the local guilds. This was because from time to time, they would have to work with the local guilds in different areas to deal with situations that got out of hand. There were still large criminal cases that would appear from time to time. With his position, especially as chief of this particular station, he thought he would be able to look into the Grand Magus and their doings far easier.
That was until the small little badge lit up on both Harvey's and the man behind the desk's chest. Harvey pressed it, and a screen popped out in front of him, showing him the report that was taking place.
"It looks like a seller has been found," Harvey said. "I'm in a good mood today; you can stay here. I'll deal with it."
As quickly as Harvey had entered the police station, he had quickly left as well. He followed the directions of the badge, which showed him those that were on the chase of the Mage.
A seller was someone that sold illegal magical products, mostly enhancing magic items with bad side effects. It didn't take long for the chief to meet up with two members of his team that had chased the man into an office building. Thankfully, everyone had already gone home as it was the end of the day shift, but still, it was a building, so fighting inside with magic would be quite troublesome.
Not only that, but Harvey could see one of the officers holding his arm; there was a large wound on it, and it was cut.
"A 3-star mage, sir…he has wind magic, so I would be careful," the officer stated.
"Don't worry, you guys just stay here; we don't know what can happen," Harvey replied. "Just catch him if he escapes."
Entering the office building, Harvey was alone. He had gone up the floors until he had reached the floor where he was last witnessed. There were a number of stalls and electronic devices that had been set up, including crystals. The glass spread out on the back into the open areas.
Slowly, Harvey walked through the stalls, that was until one of them went flying right into him.
Immediately, he reacted as he ducked below and the stall went flying over his head.
"Just let me go!" The mage on the run shouted as he swung his arm, throwing out a wind slice.
When it went through the air, with his own hand covered in Ice, Harvey swung it at the wind slice, breaking it apart allowing the attack to do nothing.
"ARGH!" The man shouted and was ready to swing his arm again; that was when something grabbed him.
"Dark Puppet," Harvey whispered as he went in closer. The man was confused; his hand was firmly grasped by something, and it wasn't just one but the other, and soon his legs as well. His whole body was lifted into the air. When the man looked down, he could see a pool of Dark Magic below him had stretched out, creating arms that were holding onto him.
"You… you're using Dark Magic, a police chief is using Dark Magic! I can't believe it!" The man said, laughing even though he had been caught. "Wait until the others hear about this! Do you think you will go unpunished if you bring me in?"
"Huh?" Harvey said, approaching the man, Dark Magic swirling around his arm. "Do you think I'm an idiot like you? If I showed you something that you weren't meant to see, then what do you think that means?"
Panic started to set in the man's eyes; his heart started to race as he was beginning to get an idea of what he meant.n.-1n
"Today is a good day, and on behalf of the Dark Magus, I accept your life. Dark Lance!" Harvey stated as out of his hand a large lance made of Dark Magic had pierced several places in the man.
With him being held still, blood soaked his clothing, and he was killed on the spot.
"Today is a good day, and I can't wait to see what type of new powers I will learn from the Dark Spirit! Everything is for the sake of the Dark Magus."
