8:12 AM, Thursday, Red Veil City:

 

Within a small, two-story townhouse on one of the busiest streets in Red Veil, inside a home which housed a small family of three Wolfkin, one could hear the sounds of what can be considered to be an average start of their day.

 

“Jaco! Did you find those wrist-guards I was looking for yesterday?” A middle-aged Wolfkin woman’s yell was sent upstairs to her husband.

 

“No! I couldn’t find them! You will just have to tell the client to please wait one more bloody day!” An agitated reply is what came back down the stairs.

 

“Ack! Useless man!” The woman threw one of her hands up towards the staircase and released a low growl. She then took her call she was on off hold and went back to talking to the client with a pleasant sounding voice.

 

“Yes, Mrs. Windsor? Unfortunately, we will have to ask you to come tomorrow… That’s right, it is a shame, but our materials are still in transit. We should be receiving them today… Thank you for understanding… Yes, as per our store policy, the price will now be 20% less, yes Mrs. Windsor… Of course, thank you, Mrs. Windsor, we shall see you tomorrow.”

 

After finishing her call, she then slammed the phone down and heaved an agitated sigh, “That woman is a swine,” She cursed lowly.

 

“Jaco! Wake up Kingsley, I need him to do some work for me before he goes to the Academy today!” The woman walked to the base of the stairs and shouted towards her husband once more.

 

“I’ll wake him now.” Was the reply that came back down to her.

 

The woman, after hearing her husband, went back to her work after hearing the reply.

 

Within the upstairs apartment, Jaco walked towards his son’s room and pounded on the door. “Ey! Kingsley, wake up man! Your mother needs your help. Get up and get ready, quickly now, before I come in there and start throwing water on you!”

 

 

*
*
*

It was at the sound of what appeared to be a door being pounded on, it broke through the sleep that the young Wolfkin boy was in. His upper body shot up out of the bed, and he was gasping for air. His breathing was unsteady and his eyes were wide open and filled with terror. He was in shock.

 

‘What!?!’ … He exclaimed internally as he looked down and began to feel his body, confirming he was in one piece. His body was completely fine, which shocked him greatly.

 

His hands were shaking and it felt like sweat was soaked into the back of his shirt he was wearing. After a few seconds, he started taking control of his breathing and buried his face into his hands. He heaved a deep sigh and looked around his room.

 

It was then...

 

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

 

“Kingsley!!! Come on! Wake up!” A man’s voice, which sounded agitated, came through the door after three more consecutive knocks.

 

“I’m up!” Kingsley announced as he threw his covers off and stood up, out of his bed, “I’m coming now, just let me get changed!” He said while he slowly stumbled around his room.

 

“Alright, but make it fast, yeah? Your mother needs your help!” His father announced before leaving his son’s door and going back to his work.

 

Kingsley just nodded while he walked over to his closet and opened it up. He took a long look over his clothes which seemed different, but at the same time familiar, before deciding on what to wear. He grabbed some underclothes and socks, a grey t-shirt, jeans, and a black leather jacket.

 

He quickly changed into his selected attire and walked over to his mirror. His hair was fine, it was a bit messy, but he did not mind it all that much. He looked closely and inspected his facial features, nothing was out of the ordinary. Besides his blue, bloodshot eyes which appeared to be telling him he did not sleep well.

 

He just heaved a light sigh and decided not to mind it all too much.

 

He took a quick whiff of himself and began looking around on the top of his dresser for something but he saw no deodorant or body spray, he then just sighed once more and made a mental note to buy some later.

 

It took him no more than 5 minutes to get ready. After he was changed and began putting his shoes on, he ran through all the things he had to do today and attached mental notes to each of them. He needed to make sure not to miss a single detail.

 

Academy in the morning, Enchanting work in the afternoon, studying throughout the evening, and the different chores which come in-between Enchanting and studying. It was all fairly simple, not complicated at all.

 

He mentally prepared himself while standing at the door, taking deep breaths to calm himself. After 30 seconds, he opened his door and ran downstairs. When he reached the bottom, he hanged a left and went through another door.

The door leads to the shop which his parents run, “Coetzee Arms and Armors”, one of the oldest and the most trusted shop for weapons and armors in Red Veil City. Over the years of mostly favorable service, they have built a rather large reputation for themselves. They currently have their main flagship shop, along with two other shops around the growing city of Red Veil. After all, this is the City of Adventurers and Hunters. The market for weapons and armors in this city is constantly on the rise and is fairly enticing to most entrepreneurs.

 

“I’m here, what can I do for you mother?” Kingsley ran to his mother and asked.

 

“Ah, finally. I need you to apply lightning and wind runes on each of these arrows for me. Put the lightning runes onto the arrowheads and the wind runes onto the shafts. Make sure not to mess them up, alright?” His mother handed him a quiver filled with arrows and a bag of Enchanting tools. “Get to it. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

 

“Yes, mother.” He received the quiver and the tools and promptly walked over to a workbench and started his task.

 

The middle-aged Wolfkin turned around and watched her son.

 

He went straight to his work today without a single complaint or anything, something she took note of. She nodded quite happily at this welcome change. She was very pleased, but of course, she did not show it. She just went back to picking out materials for a new set of wrist-guards. Thinking about how today should be a good day.

 

*
*
*

While Kingsley was in the middle of inscribing the runes onto the arrows, he began running through a few things that he had on his mind.

 

‘So what could have happened? How did we end up here?’ He thought to himself.

 

*It appears to have been an anomaly of some sorts, I am also uncertain as to what happened. The fact remains, however, we were transferred to another planet.* A robotic, feminine voice filled his mind. It was his Biological AI Assistant, Kleo.

 

‘Ok… But... Did she also get transferred? Could she have made it out too?’ He asked with a slightly worried tone.

 

*... There is no trace of her on this planet, and I am unable to access the whereabouts of other Mercenaries, my apologies Kingsley. Perhaps the Commander will be able to tell me if I asked for it.* The reply brought Kingsley’s mood down quite a bit…

 

‘I see, please do ask, I would like some peace of mind...’ He now had a bitter taste in his mouth, and why shouldn’t he? It was his fault after all… or so he told himself. He wasn’t fast enough to end it before that damned deity regained his power and tore him, along with his partner, to pieces with some sort of devastating holy power. Something which he simply was incapable of standing against.

 

All he could hope for now is that she made it back to her personal space safely… If she didn’t… Well, he only has himself to blame.

 

‘Anyways… As things stand… There just so happened to be a younger Wolfkin version of myself on this planet. Was it just some sort of coincidence that I assimilated with his soul? What did the Commander tell you about this?’ He asked while he began the inscription process on one of the arrowheads.

 

*I am not at liberty to inform you of the previous conversation I had with him. Just know, the Commander has retrieved the log which I had and is reviewing it. If he has an answer for us, he will give it, if he so chooses to. He did inform me that he will attempt to distribute an objective to us after speaking with this world’s deity and clearing you for active duty.*

 

Kingsley just sighed and dropped one of the inscription tools and ran his hand through his hair, ‘So, does this planet belong to one of the deities that did not get affected by The 44 or something?’ He asked with a tinge of confusion.

 

*Please take note, we are restricted from talking about anything related to The 44. Please forget you know of the existence of that project.*

 

‘What?... Why?’ Kingsley asked, yet again, with a confused tone.

 

*It is by the order of the Commander, he did not give a reason. He just demands our silence.*

 

‘That’s… Should I be troubled by that?’ Kingsley asked while scratching his chin.

 

*Do not be, just know that the deity of this world is not hostile. We just need to remain silent about The 44.* Kleo promptly attempted to reassure her troubled Mercenary.

 

‘So for now, I just need to live peacefully?’ Kingsley asked while fiddling with the Enchanting tools.

 

*That is correct, if you are to take any hostile action, it will go against the treaty we have with this deity and shall lead to your termination. You must await confirmation before taking any action. However, I suspect we will only need to wait for a few days, at most.*

 

‘Well, I guess it’s the Enchanters life for me until that time comes…’ Kingsley sighed and promptly gripped the Enchanting tools in his hands and began to get to work.

 

 

~~~~

8:24 AM, Thursday, Red Veil City:

 

A luxurious 4-door sedan was making its way through the Red Veil Industrial area. Warehouses and factories were all quite busy as they were crowded with workers and delivery trucks. However, the atmosphere surrounding this particular district could be described as grim. The clouds were also fairly dark as if threatening to start pouring down rain at any moment.

Amidst the busyness surrounding the area, a particular warehouse stood out among the rest as it was crowded with police officers and reporters instead of workers.

 

It was at this exact warehouse where the sedan came to an abrupt stop at the side of the road. The driver door opened and out stepped a sharply dressed man in his late thirties. It was, of course, none other than Detective Charles Mariner.

 

As he closed the door to his car, he knit his brows as his eyes fixed themselves onto a particularly large hole in the side of the warehouse, next to the door leading inside.

 

‘... Was someone anxious to get… out?’ He thought to himself as he noticed bricks were strewn about outside the warehouse, suggesting someone either busted out or was thrown out.

 

As he was thinking to himself, he glanced forward and flashed his badge at an officer who was standing in front of a line of yellow tape.

 

“Good morning Detective.” The officer nodded and greeted Charles as he lifted the yellow tape for him to pass under.

 

“Good morning Sergeant,” Charles responded in a friendly tone.

 

As he entered inside the crime scene, he grimaced at what entered his sight.

 

‘Good Lord…’ Charles said to himself inwardly. He was in shock.

 

The entire place was empty, but at the same time, it was trashed. The floor was cracked in some places as if someone had taken a jackhammer and began digging into it. Support pillars were half destroyed and crumbling under the weight of the roof. Speaking of which, the roof was even caved in at some places.

 

However, what garnered his attention the most while his eyes wandering about, was an arm that was on the floor. There were quite a few mages taking photos of it and examining it.

 

As Charles was in the middle of taking in the scene, the Commissioner caught sight of him.

 

“Mariner! Come over here.” He motioned for Charles with his hand as he spoke.

 

Charles promptly began walking across the cracked cement floor towards his boss, the Commissioner.

 

“Good morning Commissioner, might I inquire as to why this place looks like it went through a tornado?” Charles asked sarcastically as he began to notice traces of blood around this particular section of the floor.

 

The Commissioner clicked his tongue at Charles before responding.

 

“That is because it was most likely the venue for a deathmatch of sorts, Mariner. Now cut the wisecracks. We have a decapitated corpse, and an arm that looks like it belongs to some sort of cross-breed.” The Commissioner berated Mariner in a serious tone. “Now, we do have one suspect. Whoever is missing this arm is obviously a person of interest.”

 

After the Commissioner finished speaking, Charles took a glance at the arm.

 

“Are you sure it is a ‘person’ and not a ‘thing’ missing that arm?” Charles bent down and took a closer look at the grotesque limb. The veins were all black as if they were filled with ink, the skin was covered in greyish looking scales, and the mana that was covering it was rather thick. It could have belonged to some sort of humanoid monster, perhaps? Regardless, it did not look like it came from any Cross-breed Charles had ever seen before.

 

“Hold a moment… This mana… When exactly was this scene discovered? Who reported it?” Charles asked as he began to take an interest in the mana coming off the arm.

 

“You were a bit slower on the uptake than I thought… It was reported this morning, around 5 AM by a security company. Our decapitation victim was a guard for this warehouse.” The Commissioner explained all of this with a serious expression, as per usual.  

 

“Apparently, the guard did not report to the company at all last night and the company only bothered sending a man to check in on him this morning. Stupid, I know, but what can you expect? They knew the warehouse was empty so they must have thought he had just dozed off… Not suspecting that someone came by and took his head off his shoulders. I want you to take a look at the corpse before they take it off the scene though, you will find it interesting.” The Commissioner then motioned for Charles to follow him.

 

“The mana signature you felt, is it familiar?” The Commissioner asked, while slightly turning his head to look at Mariner.

 

“The same one from the parking lot yesterday, I remember. So that fellow must have been hiding out here then.” Charles added while looking around the floor and walls. Looking for anything that might stick out amongst the rubble. “It doesn’t add up though, he should be human. The mana sample we got confirmed he was… Unless our mages were mistaken in their first examination, that could be a possibility.”

 

“Don’t go jumping to conclusions just yet. You need to see this corpse. Ah, I almost forgot to tell you, we have someone from the FBI who is coming to do a little sightseeing here in Red Veil. An anonymous tip was given to them about the whereabouts of someone on one of their most wanted list, they are sending a team headed by one of their jokers over here. We've been asked to give our 'full and undivided cooperation'.” The Commissioner concluded as he pointed to the decapitated corpse which was on a stretcher.

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Mariner asked while looking at the corpse that was currently covered up on a stretcher.

 

“Because I know you, I just want you to throw a nice smile on when you run into them and don't do anything strange.” The Commissioner explained.

"Well, I don't understand what you are trying to say, but I will put on my best smile for them." Charles rolled his eyes as he responded.

Charles walked up next to the corpse and tried to focus on activating his Observation ability. He bent down and unzipped the body bag.

 

“Huh… The mana signature is the same, but... it is much stronger on this one." The same mana which was on that arm was covering the entirety of this man’s body, but it was far more potent and ‘visible’, yet at the same time, Charles could tell it did not originate from this body.

 

“I imagine... this character might be forcing a large portion of his mana onto someone in order to manipulate them, in some shape or form. Perhaps that is why that arm was covered with his mana, he did something to it which caused it to break off from its body. Quite an interesting trick.” Mariner spoke as he inspected the severed corpse without much of a thought for its condition. 

 

“So then… I think I have a rough idea as to what transpired last night. Our illusion mage had a fight with whoever owned that arm. The security guard which was caught up in all this was most likely used as… some sort of puppet? Perhaps a diversion tool. Anyways, moving on, the physical damage to this warehouse could not have been done by our illusionist, there are no signs that a heavy sort of magic attack was used by any means, meaning it was all physical attacks. Therefore, I suspect the one who lost that arm did it all. Based purely on the physique the arm has, the owner must have been a fellow with quite the large stature and strength. That brute was the one who did all of this while chasing the illusionist around like a headless chicken. To conclude, somewhere along the line, after losing his arm, our brute was forced to make a brief exit. Through that, aptly made, hole.” Charles concluded his long-winded explanation while looking around the warehouse once again and pointing towards the hole in the wall.

 

“Now, the question remains, who lost the arm? Someone the illusionist knows? Perhaps a partner turned nemesis or just a nemesis?” Charles asked while looking back at the Commissioner.

 

He just shrugged his shoulders at Mariner’s question.

 

“That’s why I have you. You will figure it out though, I know you will. We now know at least that this character has enemies.” The Commissioner responded while nodding towards Mariner.

 

“Commissioner! We found something!” As someone shouted this, the Commissioner and Charles quickly started walking towards where the shout came from.

~~~~

 

 

8:40 AM, Thursday morning, Red Veil City:

‘But you escaped without sustaining any serious injuries, correct?’ The concerned thoughts of Olivia were sent telepathically towards her target.

 

‘I escaped, yes. As for my injuries... they will heal over time. However, Mirror was not so lucky. I suspect his mana infection was acting up because after he was forced to use what I estimate to be a large portion of his power, it caused his arm to fall off completely. We should take this opportunity to finish him off while he is in this state. He should be in hiding as we speak, but that is not a problem. I request you allow me to have The Banshee find him for me.’ The rest of the report from Blood Wing came in the form of a deep sounding voice.

 

‘I shall allow it, I shall personally contact him. As for you, I demand that you finish what you have started… You will be thoroughly compensated greatly for this, I assure you.’ As Olivia finished speaking, she quickly cut the telepathic link and disabled her voice masking rune as she heard footsteps coming down from the stairs.

 

She turned and looked towards the stairs and noticed Cassie’s face peeking through the balusters. She had a quizzical look on her face.

 

“Good morning Cassie, did you sleep well?” Olivia put a smile on her face and greeted her second cousin with a cheery tone.

 

“Yeah,” Cassie responded plainly as she looked at Olivia with what could be described as a weird gaze, “Is... my dad... around?”

 

“Ah, no, he was called into work, there was a… Uh, a murder or something on the news this morning. It might have had something to do with that.” Olivia explained as she pointed towards the TV which was on. It was the scene of a warehouse with a massive hole in it. The news anchor was going over what the police commissioner stated about the whole incident a few minutes prior.

 

“Oh, I see,” Cassie replied as she walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen.

 

“Uh, would you like me to cook some breakfast for you?” Olivia was about to walk into the kitchen, but Cassie shook her head at the offer.

 

“No thank you, I am just looking for some stomach medicine… Ah, there it is.” Cassie pulled a bottle from a cabinet and then took two pills from the bottle.

 

“…I think I might've eaten too much last night.” She explained after taking the pills. The look of fatigue on her face was also quite apparent.

 

“I should say so, you certainly have quite the appetite for being such a skinny girl,” Olivia commented while sitting back down on the couch. “Oh yeah, I will be taking you to the Academy today. I have an interview that I have to get to around the same time as your classes start. So I reckon we leave in about 20 minutes or so?”

 

Cassie nodded her head at the question and started walking back upstairs. “Yeah, sounds good, I will be ready. I just need to grab something and I will be good to go.”

 

“Cassie, I said in 20 minutes, you’ve got time love.” Olivia restated while watching the girl drag her body back up the stairs.

 

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, Cousin Olivia.” Cassie responded and then morphed into a shadow on the staircase, it was most likely taking her to her room.

 

‘Huh… She seems rather peaked today… Hope she is alright.’ Olivia thought to herself as she went back to watching the news.

~~~~

*Quick Notice*

 

I have ACT exams this week and I am finishing High-School in the next two weeks. All the while packing in order to prepare for my move to America at the end of the month.

 

Why am I telling you this?

 

Because I am gonna have to pause my uploads until May.

Hope you can understand and thanks for reading!