What Has This World Come To?

Job:

Ariel held his glass in his left hand. It was half empty. He sat by the counter, with his left elbow on it. He gave the picture of one who was very bored. His head turned slowly as he took in all the busy scurrying and talking in the tavern. However, he found it all very boring in dull. There seemed to be nothing interesting that was catching his attention. Tch, it was all so very mundane. What happened to the interesting conversations or the stupid (but funny) drunks that often polluted taverns? Ariel became alert as he heard a shout. He curiously looked around the room, hoping that perhaps something interesting had- nope, just some idiot fell on accident.

Admittedly, Ariel was not is a good mood today. Why? Well he just felt moody. There was not an explanation to why he felt that way, he just did. It was one of those days where he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Whenever Ariel was moody, he was often hard to please and found everything dull and boring. He was also very cynical and tended to have a slightly more cruel attitude towards others, being more apathetic than usual. Honestly, Ariel was usually in a bad mood, which probably explained why people disliked him so much. Ariel really knew how to frustrate and anger others. He often did it without even trying when he was in a terrible mood.

It was another good day to go for a drink at the tavern near Tenma’s inn, he was in the mood to drink some of the tavern’s signature drink and the bartender always had a good stuff for him as far as he could remember. Without hesitation, the black haired man entered the tavern and headed straight to the counter. He would then rub his cold hands together before warming it up with his warm breath, he couldn’t help it but the weather was a little colder than usual so he was really thankful that the tavern could give him some warmth. The swordsman greeted the bartender as he approached the seat in front of the counter, relieved that no one sat on his favorite spot in the bar. Without even saying anything, both men looked at each other and somehow, the bartender giving Tenma a confidence nod, as if he knew what Tenma wanted to drink at the moment. He was a fine one if the black haired man could say; it was rare to see such an understanding bartender like him that could create a true masterpiece in his creations.

At some point, he could hear as shout and quickly focusing his gaze at the source only to find someone fell. That was pretty amusing but Tenma decided to not giving any more attention, knowing that his gaze should be fixed on his drink only for now. However, the man could feel something, perhaps it was just a coincidence but somehow the aura that a certain man was letting out was not so suitable for the place that was supposed to be lively. So with a chuckle, Tenma would ask the bartender to pass a glass of a red wine for the man that was sitting on the counter as well. “You look sour, don’t you think it is better to enjoy the moment while you are here?”

The bar was very busy and people chatted loudly. Conversations flowed through the bar and easily mixed with other conversations. It was loud and noisy, that Ariel would give. Still, listening onto the conversations wasn't very fun unless there was anything interesting to be heard. As far as Ariel could tell, most of the conversations concerned either business or news of the happenings which were going around Heliohapt. Unfortunately, Ariel had heard the same news over and over and there seemed to be nothing new going on. That was possibly the reason Ariel was in such a mood today. He also felt exhausted and sleep deprived. He had noticed an abundance of slavery going on in Heliohapt and it worried him. Magicians were especially viable to slavery due to their great control over the rukh. Not only that, any child found running the streets without an adult to look after them could very well be a target of a slave trader. He would know...

A glass was put in front of him. Ariel looked down at it. He glanced at the glass which he had just been drinking from and realized that it was empty. He placed the empty glass down on the counter. Ariel glanced up and met the bartender's eyes. He shook his head, signaling that he didn't want it. Still, the bartender did not take it back; he took the empty glass back, though. 'What a bothersome bartender,' Ariel thought. Grudgingly, Ariel lifted the filled glass and sipped a little of the wine. Honestly, wine was never Ariel favorite. He always had preferred spirits. He decided that this wine was no different: he disliked it. Though, he did admit that the wine was of fine quality. Still, Ariel had never favored wine much, so he placed the glass back down.

Ariel moved his head towards the man next to him. He had black hair and his right eye was golden. A much prettier color than his puke hazel eyes, Ariel jealously noted. His left eye- well, it was covered by an eyepatch. How strange. He made it obvious about staring at the eyepatch, though he did not realize how obvious his staring was. He wondered how the other had received the eyepatch. What had happened to him? Or was it just for decoration and style? The man seemed to have a sort of pirate-esque to him. It was most likely the eyepatch's fault, Ariel concluded. While Ariel did admit that he did know his manners, being rather impulsive at times, he often forgot them. Well, more like purposely ignore them. Habits tend to die hard, after all.

Ariel huffed.

"I would, but there really isn't anything to enjoy," He grumbled.

His eyes moved towards the man who had just entered the bar. He looked like he was in his thirties and he wore rich clothing. He looked very irritated, almost like he wanted to pick a fight... It would prove interesting if he did. Instead, the wealthy man turned his head towards Ariel. He grinned and walked up to the younger. Ariel's eyes narrowed and he gripped tightly on his staff which had been resting loosely in his right hand. He tensed, prepared for the trouble that might come. While Ariel rarely engaged in physical fights, he wasn't exactly defenseless. He knew a few spells that he could use to defend himself with. Much to his relief, it seemed the man did not look to pick a fight. Actually, he wanted Ariel to do a job for him.

"I'll pay you if you agree to find some things that I lost," he told Ariel.

Judging by his stance, Ariel guessed he did not want to be in the bar, nor had he wanted to ask a commoner like Ariel to perform the job.

"How much," Ariel immediately demanded.

He was sure the other would not appreciate being asked in such a manner, but that was how he was. He was right that the other did not like being talked to in such a way, for the other glared at Ariel and replied that he would get whatever he saw fit to give a 'commoner scum'. At that point, Ariel was really ready to bonk the guy on the head with his staff. That haughty behavior was very annoying. But Ariel refrained himself from doing so. And why? For the money, of course!

"Well then, what do you want me to do?" Ariel asked as calmly as he could force himself to be.

"Well, you see, I've lost some slaves earlier today so I want you to go after them," the man explained.

Ariel's brows turned down. After some careful and deliberate thinking, he accepted the job, though he wore a sly smile in his eyes. Most likely the foolish man would regret hiring Ariel.

"You must go after them right away!" he proclaimed.

Ariel sighed and rolled his eyes. He told the other to be patient and allow him to pay for his drink. The slave master glared at Ariel but relented. He told the magician that he would be waiting for him outside. Ariel only muttered 'whatever, whatever'.

He turned back to the bartender, who seemed slightly angry and handed him the money. Ariel laughed lightly and waved at the bartender.

"Well then, I best be off. Wouldn't want his royal highness to loose his precious slaves, yeah?" said Ariel with a dangerous grin.

Precious, sure. Ariel couldn't even comprehend why the other wanted him to fetch his slaves. It wasn't like there weren't plenty of other people out there. Not that he was wanting any of them to be made as slaves as well. Oh right, that was it, the other didn't want to spend his money on another "worthless" slave or something. It was also a twisted reason. Always.

Word Count: 1163/1000

“Mmm, wait for it.” Tenma chuckled again before lifting up his glass and sipping a little bit of his drink, using his tongue to feel the taste before finally gulping it. The moment when a man entered the tavern, the black haired man sighed, thinking that something might happen today. That kind of man usually would turn the tavern into a fight club, mostly because of his body language and his attitude. As the man approached towards them and talked to Ariel, he almost thought that both men knew each other. But after hearing some of their conversation, it was clear that they didn’t know each other and was not clear why the shady looking man would just randomly approaching a person like that. Thinking how easy this man to let someone else hear what kind of job that he offered to another person made Tenma amused, he could feel the tickle on his stomach as it was just too funny even though he had not yet revealed the detail of the job. By the time when the shady looking man go on to tell the brown haired man that he lost some slaves, Tenma couldn’t help but to wrap his arm around his stomach and looked away as he tried hard to not bursting into laugh, which if he did, it would force him to be in the bad situation.

“Don’t be that angry or your customer would be scared of you.” A small laugh escaped the swordsman lips after he noticed that he was somewhat irritated without unknown reason, but perhaps the most reasonable thing was about his dislike to this kind of person that claimed himself as a slave master. He scoffed, what kind of slave master that could lose some slaves, not only one but it was just too many. It meant that he was not an experienced one or he could be just a stupid one, of course his act to spread the information easily like that even though he knew Tenma was there could be considered as stupid and careless. The bartender seemed know what Tenma had in mind and he just nodded at the man before trying to calm himself down then continued to serve his the customers in his tavern.

To be honest, this slave master disgusted him as well but he needed to wait for the right moment to kill him. It was a suitable punishment for someone who looked down to another person’s life and treated them like they were just a bunch of animals, but sometime there were a lot of person that were as worthless as the slave masters too so it might be not a bad choice to make them as a slave. He sighed and drank some more of his drink, didn’t want to get involved for now and he would just watch from where he was sitting now, keeping his eye to this slave master.


WC:810/100

The brown haired magician exited the bar, his earlier mood throughly gone for an odd reason. Honestly, Ariel himself didn't really know where the sudden cheerfulness had come from. It wasn't something he could really pinpoint the source. It was more than likely a combined set of reasons. Possibly even they did not explain everything. Ariel's mood changes were not alway explainable. Some of them really just didn't make any sense. It was often futile to understand how Ariel's mood changed, since the reasons were never just one reason or there was just no reason. Speculating, more than likely his sudden change of mood was influenced by the alcohol he had just consumed.

He displayed such a happy mood towards the slave master as well. He waved at the older man, grinning. The other talked to Ariel queitly, explaining where he thought the slaves might have gone. He thought they might have headed further towards the docks so he wanted Ariel to scour that area. The magician interjected and pointed out that was exactly what they wanted them to think - the slaves were not at the docks. The slaves had traveled away from the city. So that meant if they wanted to catch up to the slaves, they would need to go East. The slave master protested that 'mere slaves would certainly not have the capacity to think as such!', much to Ariel's annoyance. The slave master soon found himself alone. He scurried after Ariel and told the other to wait. Apparently he wanted to come with him, though Ariel protested a few. In the end, however, the wealthy man was able to follow Ariel, much to the black magician's chagrin.

Ariel mumbled curse after curse under his breath as he heard that bastard complain for the hundredth time! They had barely even set out on horses before he was complaining against Ariel. He was blaming him for the heat, even! Ariel did not understand why the other was playing that game but in no way was he good with it. And thanks to those complaints, Ariel's wonderful mood was immediately reversed. With his shoulders hunched, he attempted to ignore the indignantly shouting man. He continued to yap about the slaves while Ariel continued to ignore the man to the best of his ability. Finally the other came to the point where he could take it no longer. Fiercely, he whipped his head around to the slave master and growled out a warning.

"If I hear one more peep out of you, I'm leaving you stranded in the desert," he harshly yelled at the other.

Much to Ariel's relief, he did not hear a single peep out of the other during their journey.

They found themselves hot, sweaty, and lost. Or rather, the slave master did. But Ariel was not lost (though he was hot and sweaty) and he knew exactly where they were going. Why? Because he had lived in Heliohapt for a few years as a slave. He pointed out a figure of some houses in the distance. This was where they were heading and Ariel was sure the slaves might have stopped here for a rest. When they entered the group of houses, the residents glances supisciously at them both. Ariel ignored the glances and continued towards the largest house. It looked very old and abandoned, with paint chopped off of it and the yard wild and unmanageable. This was where the slaves had gone to. Ariel was sure of it.

"Well, it was great fun traveling with you, but this is where we say goodbye!" Ariel exclaimed with a none to cheerful grin.

He immediately used the end of his staff to knock the other out unconscious. Ariel heaped the body out of the doorway before lifting his head up, his eyes searching for the slaves. He suddenly spotted a movement, which made Ariel wary. Certainly, the slaves were here. They must have been all around. Ariel's hazel eyes fluttered towards the staircase, where he thought he spotted something. He cleared his throat and asked if they planned to leave when they had the change. After a bit of calm conversation with the slaves, they reluctantly stepped out of their hiding spots and inched carefully to the door. Ariel hissed for them to hurry, before the slave master woke up. Just then, a loud groan from the slave master emited. The slaves froze and Ariel pushed them along faster in response. But they were far too scared to move anywhere. The slave master opened his eyes to see all the slaves standing there. Immediately he jumped up and cackled. He ordered the slaves to come to him immediately. In response Ariel pushed them harder out the door. It slammed shut just after the last slave had fled.

Now the slave master and the magician faced each other alone. The older one glared at Ariel, upset that he would dare let his slaves escape. Ariel was the first to make a move. His first move would be Krashing Finsternish. As he performed the nessecary movements, the slave master started rushing towards Ariel, picking up speed as he flew in a fiery rage. The two orbs shot from his staff met the slave master first and both landed in his chest.

Now it was the slave master's turn to fight back. He immediately formed 4 fireballs and sent them flying towards Ariel. The first one hit his shoulder and the second his his chest. But the third and fourth, Ariel was able to move to avoid in time for the third orb to just barely skim his other arm.

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Magoi: 140/160
Stamina: 40/40

Abilities Used:

When the slave master left to follow the bored man, Tenma sighed and laughed to himself before sipping more liquor. He would then decide to not interfere with what they would do, choosing to just stay in the tavern and finishing all the boozes that was served in front of him. The one that he was looking for was not an easy prey, she was smart and if someone as clumsy as that slave master became her master, she would be a free person right away since she would definitely outsmart him. However if things didn’t go as well as he imagined, such as seeing that slave master coming back to this tavern by bringing the slaves that turned out was someone he was looking for, then he would kill the slave master right away. The one eyed man let out a soft sigh again before closing his eye, mocking his own confidence about the girl that he was looking for. He couldn’t find any clue about her anywhere so it might be bad if he stayed that confidence, however it was the only thing that could make him stay sane so he would still try to think like that occasionally. For now, he would just quietly wait for the bored man to come back to the tavern, expecting an interesting story from him… however that if he really coming back… or it would be boring.

WC: 1046/1000

As orbs of fire flew towards the black magician, Ariel evaded them easily, due to the slave master's terrible aim. Still, it was tiresome to keep on running. He realized that sometime he would have to catch his breath and that would give the slave master enough time to get a very good shot. So he needed to attack soon, while he had the advantage. But it seemed his body did not want to do anything but run. He felt as if all he could do was run and dodge those orbs. Really, it was too bad because as he ran, he slowed down slightly. Just enough to allow the slave master to launch a blow on him.

As a result, Ariel ran up to the other, his staff behind his shoulder, and swung it at the slave master. It wasn't just a swing, however. It was a spell that Ariel was performing. 'Shotn Pilke'. He deliberately used more magoi in the spell to end the fight. The slave master's body fell down with a thump. the sound made Ariel immediately halt. He looked down at the slave master, eyes widened and fearful. He- he hadn't actually killed him, had he? Cautiously, Ariel crept up to the body. He placed a hand over the older man's chest. He did not feel a heartbeat at all. So he had indeed killed the man. He felt horrified to have ended a life but at the same time... For some odd reason, it did not bother Ariel that he had killed this man. How peculiar...


Magoi: 120/160
Stamina: 40/40

Abilities Used: