Undercover Boss [Recruits! Job - Vardreth/Adrastos]

Job Details:

It was early morning, and the moon was still out. A small amount of light was showing out in the horizon; dawn was quickly approaching. Even so, many people had yet to wake up. It was only recently Vardreth learned that Neo was extremely capable in the way of disguises. Vardreth made his way through camp, amused at the idea he had come up with. He moved quickly, making his way towards Neo's tent.

There was little stirring among the other tents - the time was, after all, approaching the start of the day. Vardreth reached the tent, clearing his throat. He paused for a moment to give time to anyone within. "I'm entering now." He paused a moment more. Vardreth was impetuous and uncaring, rude and arrogant to most. The only thing he respected was the strong. Even though Neo had already proven his strength, Vardreth's show of respect stopped at those two brief pauses. There was no request for permission to enter, nor did he wait until a reasonable time of the day to do so.

Opening the entrance, he kept his wits about him for any sudden attacks. Different people had different habits, after all, and there could be a variety of traps and the like inside the tent. Vardreth was beginning to understand to a greater degree what the capabilities of the magicians were.

OOC:
227/1000

Upon entering the tent, Vardreth would notice the simple interior design: two long red couches on the sides, a desk and a smaller couch nestled in the back, a total of eight lanterns, six near the back and two next to the entrance, were the room but only the two at the entrance were lit, and pillows scattered across the floor. Nox, the dark haired man that always wore a mask, was standing beside the rear couch, his hand at his dagger in response to a need to defend his master. However, the man’s hand slowly moved away from the blade and toward the slumbering figure on the couch.

The figure stirred with a groan. As the body sat up, silver hair fell over the face and shoulders, but not so much as to hide the dead ice-cold stare that met Vardreth’s eyes. The magician didn’t speak until Nox lit the four lanterns that hung on the side and returned to his previous position. “I don’t appreciate this intrusion so early in the day, Vardreth. What is so important that you thought it was okay to interrupt my sleep?” he said in a cold, unforgiving tone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vardreth paused, momentarily recalling Adrastos' prior position on being ordered to do things. He recalled a lesson he had learned in the Shu-Fang Military Academy. An officer must be flexible in order to rope others into a job. Looks like I'll have to treat this a bit different than how I normally would. Vardreth cleared his throat, looking at the older man before him. The truth of the matter was Vardreth was bored, and wanted to mess with some new recruits while simultaneously judging the testing capabilities of the recruiters, and the setup of the growing army. If they were lacking? Humph. Vardreth would have some words for them to swallow.

Crossing his arms, Vardreth let off a domineering attitude. "You were severely wounded just the other day in combat. Aside from work that I have already planned, I also intend to put you through the steps so you can handle yourself better in close range combat. In order to finish everything I had planned today, your assistance is necessary. I need you to use one of your magics to conceal us while we take the new recruit test at a neighboring encampment. This will guarantee we won't be recognized, and will allow me-err, us, to conduct this inspection quickly and effectively. If you aren't interested in becoming stronger, then there's nothing I can say about that, however the fact now is that you're up and I'm up so we should get going sooner rather than later." Vardreth nodded to himself inwardly, thinking it should be enough of an explanation. In truth, the words he spoke were likely to incite a degree of anger from the magician.

OOC:

WC: 504/1000

Adrastos reluctantly listened to the mercenary’s explanation and took note of his overbearing posture. The magician was still not pleased once Vardreth finished, his eyes as cold as death focusing more intently on the man before him. As he rose to his feet, silver hair slipped off his shoulders like silk to expose the scars on his arms and shoulders and the bandages wrapped around his torso and collarbone where he was injured by Tao, one of Yoshiro’s elites. Adrastos slid the hair that covered his face back to tie it back but still didn’t utter a word, his pale gaze never leaving Vardreth, even after positioning himself in front of the desk.

The magician was aggravated that the teenager casually mentioned his recent struggle. He knew he had been extremely injured, so why bring up such a memory that was still freshly engraved into his body and mind? Furthermore, he was mainly here to wait until word from Emperor Gao Yuan Zu arrived or he could meet him in person, not assist this young leader just to get his work done faster. Vardreth wasn’t being honest, and that just added to reasons the magician’s blood boiled.

“You could do your inspection without the use of my magic or aid because I’m sure you’ve done it before. In fact, you don’t even have to go yourself since you can just send one of your high ranked officers to fill your shoes,” he growled. Adrastos turned his back to Vardreth, finally breaking his stare. Within the dim lights of the lanterns, even more scars could be seen, and more were hidden by the bandages. “Why not skip the task of babysitting? Why waste time with bugs that I can squash under my foot even in my injured state. Or,” he said with a pause before turning his head to look at Vardreth, his voice filled with rage, “perhaps be a bit more truthful. You just want to play with fresh meat.”

The magician crossed his arms over his chest, looking back down at his desk. He still needed to do his own tasks as the Shadow Master, but that proved difficult under the current circumstances. How long had passed since he received word from his subordinates? Too long. Zayn was proving to be more useless by the day, Kenji, on the other hand, was more reliable than the fanalis. Then there was Yoshi, one of his Shadow Generals. To not hear anything from him was odd. Adrastos had planned to send letters to each of them today, that was until the rude awakening by the young mercenary. Now his schedule was altered, all thanks to Vardreth.

Adrastos faced Vardreth with narrowed eyes. He walked toward the teenager, stopped, then advanced further until he was half a foot away. Part of him wanted to strike Vardreth, but despite his age, the mercenary practically outranked the magician. He wasn’t another Zayn. “I am only here to help the Emperor and wait until I receive word from him, not to be used whenever it is convenient for you and your antics. My skills are not for your enjoyment.” Adrastos’ eyes were dead glassy silver orbs, devoid of anything that would resemble human emotion. “I hope that’s clear enough because I hate repeating myself, especially to a teenager. I don’t care about your rank or what abilities you may possess.” With a small tilt of his head, the magician smirked and turned away.

Nox had poured a glass of wine, which Adrastos grabbed and raised to his lips, swirling the liquid around in the glass before sitting back down on the couch behind the desk. He sipped some of the wine while keeping his gaze on Vardreth. “Hmm.. Plum,” he complimented, nodding at Nox while seemingly ignoring Vardreth until he edited his initial proposal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Adrastos continued to speak, the look on Vardreth's face grew ugly. When the man nonchallantly sat down to drink, Vardreth had had enough. "Good, very good, what a good Neo!" Letting out an angry snort, Vardreth continued. "Old man, to not even give me this little face, are you not one who drinks the water of a well while forgetting who dug it? As your benefactor and voucher, you so easily refuse to help me! Humph. Humph." Snapping back at Neo's comment on his age, Vardreth was not going to give way immediately either.

Now that he vented most of his anger, Vardreth slowly calmed down. Vardreth, still upset, modified his stance. "If this is your way of trying to tell me you are not a vegetarian, then fine. It's true I'm mostly interested in this for the fun of it. If you assist me in this, then I will owe you one favor down the line. I'm sure you would find value in that, at least." There was not much more he could add on to what he had said. The concessions he made were the most he would be willing to, in the situation.

Vardreth frowned in his heart, wondering if this would sour the mood he was hoping to cultivate while messing with the neighboring encampment.

OOC:

WC = 744/1000

Adrastos chuckled when Vardreth finished his outburst. “You amuse me, Vardreth,” he said as he stood and dressed himself in a blood red kimono and tied his hair back. “I can use my light magic to alter your appearance, but if any combat begins, I will need to focus on my own disguise and spells. You’ll have to wear a helmet, which I’m sure is included with recruits gear. I hope that won’t be a problem for you,” said the magician as he grabbed his wand. His lips moved silently as he communicated to the rukh, casting Alternate Personas.

Vardreth’s’ Persona:

Adrastos’ Persona:

The magician looked over his work, proud of how he made the young mercenary appear. Nobody would suspect he was Vardreth, the leader of the Fang mercenaries. Oh, they’d think something entirely the opposite: a push-over that had no business in the military. Adrastos would admit it was unnecessary, but he couldn’t resist messing with the kid. “There. Time to go,” he said, walking out of his tent with a slight but subtle smirk.

Adrastos and Vardreth had entered the recruitment camp about an hour later. The older, more experienced looking officers bumped elbows with one another as they pointed and seemingly laughed, the subject of their mockery primarily aimed at Vardreth. “What are you doing here?  You need to be able to lift more than just a quill if you want to survive this man's army, boy.” The others laughed, including Adrastos, though his was more of a silent chuckle.

They continued to the recruitment desk to fill out their information. The two clerks looked at Vardreth a bit perplexed before handing some forms to him. Adrastos had already finished filling out the form and was directed toward a small training circle with two other recruits. They were very sloppy, probably having joined a few hours or minutes before he and Vardreth. The magician got into his own fighting stance, holding his wand much like a sword. Once the two men took a few steps forward and were two meters away, Adrastos whispered to the rukh, casting Adrastos Persona to keep his disguise while in combat and Tripped Vine. The footsoldier (A) fell, dropping both the wooden sword and shield. His partner had stopped, surprised that the other fell. Taking advantage of his diverted attention, Adrastos unsheathed Poisonous Demise and slashed at both foot soldiers, creating a small cut in their skin.

“You should really be ready for anything and not get so distracted. If I were more powerful, you’d both be a cold corpse on the ground.” Adrastos slid his wand into his sash. “Honestly, you would save a lot of time if you were dead,” he muttered.

---

Social Spell:

Combat Spells:

Items Used/Brought:

Vardreth was surprised at the change in the magician's mood. A hint of suspicion arose within the warrior's heart, however Neo did not hesitate to use the requested spell. Looking at his hands and clothes, Vardreth could tell that it was definitely working. Forcing away the suspicion, Vardreth nodded to himself before casting a sidelong glance towards Neo. Huh. This... This is strange. The captain of the Fang Mercenaries could do nothing more than chalk it up to mood swings, though he had never really seen many of these.

Sighing, Vardreth put aside his earlier feelings and began to focus his mental state into that of an inspector. The two walked towards the reception area where recruitment was happening. Almost immediately Vardreth drew looks from some of the officers who laughed at him. Was... Was I found out!? A flash of worry went through his heart. This didn't last for long, however, as he was suddenly mocked by some of the officers. Stunned, Vardreth paused where he stood.

The look on his face and his actions made the appearance that he was frightened to be here. In truth, his mind was working fast and knew that Neo had set him up with a strange appearance that made him look particularly weak. Neo had already walked off to his own side and Vardreth could only gaze upon his back ruefully. I suppose he isn't so stiff after all. Vardreth could tell that the man at least had a sense of humor, having done such a thing to him. Perhaps I went too far? Vardreth considered his actions from the morning, frowning.

Either way, he picked up the standard gear given by the test givers and stepped out into the field. His opposition was nothing more than a couple of novices. They each held themselves in poor form, unable to truly hold their own against another in a fight. Using his exceptional speed and strength when the fight began, Vardreth moved in and out of range of the attacks, sometimes blocking and other times dodging. His movements didn't look very fancy as he was still trying to hide his true strength - a skill he had perfected since long ago - yet even though his movements were unsteady he was capable of overpowering his opponents with relative ease.

Vardreth sent a side kick towards one opponent, knocking them back two meters and onto the floor. Shortly after he sent a punch to the gut of his other opponent, who subsequently doubled over and wretched their breakfast upon the ground. The officers from before were shocked, as they knew the strength was beyond what those thin arms should have been capable of. Still, while their faces turned green with regret they did not feel too off about it; the strength this child showed was still weaker than theirs, and they were much more skilled at using it.

Vardreth already had an idea of the weaknesses of these tests were - a stronger opponent can regulate their strength to the appropriate level, and should have been the grader of the new people. I wonder if they were strapped for manpower... They won't have a good idea of my strength with only having sent out these as my sparring partners... For a portion of time after, Vardreth continued some drills here and there before finding an opportunity to catch up with Neo and slip out of the testing.

When they managed to get away and began walking back to his camp, Vardreth looked back over to Adrastos with his helmet still on. "I see you have a sense of humor." There was a gleam of amusement in his voice - he was not overly angry about the matter, instead accepting it for what it was in stride.

OOC:

WC: 1300/1000

Traits Used:

*Edited to add traits used