Once everybody had gathered, the trip began, with the vampire and Mako acting as their guide. It was a quiet trip, as the vampire did not engage in much chat. He did have a few exchange with Mako, but that was it. The Industrial Zone was in sight within a short period of time. The place was pretty much desolated, abandoned. The presence of men were fleeting. It was definitely a sign that the creatures were ravaging the area. Dusts were beginning to collect on objects, a gentle reminder of Dawn Slayer's adventure out there. And a weak reminder of how savage this world was. Yurius simply just curved his lips as the students walked. But then a student suddenly asked him directly a question.
"Like Ms Mako said, you gotta figure it out on your own. For your own live experience, I will not help you. Until you get your ass kicked." He smirked a little at his own joke. "Still, I will give you one warning. My centuries old senses are picking up something. Those creatures are here. That we are here at the right time." He said, seriously, yet there was a subtle bloodthirsty tone to his voice. The vampire was definitely up to a fight if there need be. There had rarely been a worthy opponent to him ever since he clashed with Alister, so he was eager. Definitely so.
Amidst the peaceful patrol was a call. To the Sky Defender.
"HQ? Yeah? Yeah."
She was replying as she halted in her tracks. And so did Acion.
"It's a possible lead, but do you really think a guy with a weird looking mask is suspicious enough for investigation?" She said mockingly through the comm links. A period of silence ensured. "Oh, you are saying it to Corsair when he is in his youth. And you are saying it to probably 200 heroes out there who have fancy trademark masks . Even a kid attending a children's party can wear a mask." She sighed a bit before cutting off with an encouragement. "Still, you at least tried. Good work. Scan the area again."
"Is it about the clan?" Acion asked.
"Yeah. We're finding leads, but hell, it doesn't make sense." Aurelia replied. "Well, they are newbies after all. Ground staffs who dealt with machineries and technical things."
"You even have that? I thought this is an aerial themed group."
"True, but this was just recent months. Just a few months ago I have signed a contract allowing us to use some of the military equipment. We were confident about handling them by ourselves at first, but our numbers stretched really thin, that we could not cover all the works." Aurelia said. "So we decided to recruit some from the support fields to cover that. However, people with good quality prefers to work for other hero groups or on their own instead of us. What was left were those from hero schools from the middle of nowhere."
"That's a..."
"Shame you say? Oh they'll be regretting not going for us. The big shots may look easy and profitable to work with, but the big one doesn't mean the best. Only utter discipline, high cooperation and sense of brotherhood would be able to come out on top. Believe me or not, this generation of heroes are way worse than last ones. They can't protect this city properly. That's why..." Aurelia said as she moved closer and put a hand on Acion's shoulder. "I'll count on your generation to make a new era. Of peace and unity."
Acion chuckled, seemingly endorsing the statement with his whole heart.
"Yeah, we will." The two siblings continued to patrol the city for a while more before making a stop at a café downtown. As they sat and enjoyed their respective drinks, discussions began to spring up between the two Nakamijis. Sometimes it was family stuff, about how their mother and father were doing at home, and how they miss the two of them, since Aurelia had moved out and lived on her own, while Acion was boarding at Komei's dorm. But mostly it was about the heroic stuff, naturally coming down to that. The six-winged fighter was naturally curious about things like this, since he was going to be the one who will be dealing with it after all, while Aurelia was not the one to shy away from a conversation with her family member, especially her brother, whom she was very likely going to recruit for a position in the Sky Knight squadron, or even the Sky Knight Council as a squadron leader if he proved to be competent enough. And that she knew both of them wanted to talk a lot more to each other, after several embarrassing things that kept them apart.
"The clan that you are chasing after, how is it possible that they are on the top of your list while you had so little clues about their origins?" Acion asked skeptically.
"The clue comes from several of our past villain group raids." Aurelia replied as she sipped on her drinks. Then, she leaned closely to Acion and whispered to him. "What we find was surprising. That some of these villain groups are using mercenaries as new methods for their misdeeds."
"That's worrisome..."
"I bet you do. That can create a new terror. A new trend in evil." She didn't stop leaning for the whisper. "Anyway, in our cases, we have found that a few members had been using a hero hunting mercenary group called the Shadow Clan as their tools to thin out the hero population, so that they can perform their work better. We've managed to uncover a few details about these groups, like they accept a bounty for the lives of a living person."
"And?" Acion asked, solemn but genuinely curious. But what he got were two palms from Aurelia.
"That's where the story says 'To be continued'. We are still mining for more information, but that's all we have now. Also there are occasional cases of heroes going missing without a single trace. It's not confirmed, but very likely that this clan is the perpetrator."
"That's dangerous...But how come the police don't know about this?"
Aurelia just shrugged. "Some do. Some don't. But the general public aren't aware."
It was at that moment when another phone call was sent to the Sky Knight's leader.
"Mustang here..." Aurelia answered, in her codename. "Are you sure about this?" Her expression then changed drastically.
"What's up?"
"They've found a suspicious person on camera. They are now trying to confirm it." She said, as she was waiting patiently for the result. But then, she realized the tension in the air around them, and on his brother's face. He was definitely thinking on the same wavelength as her. "You want to hear out on this?"
"Uhh, sure. But is it alright?" He asked, but without an answer, his older sister tossed him an earpiece. It looked somewhat like a hand-me-down kind of thing. "What's this?"
"A com link to HQ. It used to belong to a deceased member. I know, I haven't really gotten over it completely. But still, it should still work." She said, as Acion tried out his new thing. "Just keep quiet." As she turned to the Sky Knight ground staff. "Are you sure it's not another generic masked guy?"
"No ma'am" Over the com, a young, seemingly in their early to mid-twenties, woman's voice returned the question. "This one, no mask but he has weapons. Two swords on him."
"Where is he?"
"Eto... The voice paused for a moment, presumably to check the location. "Downtown Shino. This was confirmed by Corsair just a minute ago."
The answer was transferred to both earpieces, as the recipients were dead on serious. As the one person began to pack things up, the other person quickly called the waitress.
“This blade will be your future, or your perishment. Make your choice."
B A S I C I N F O R M A T I O N Name: Mor Juno Alias: Jeune Garde (Translation: Young Guard) (Barely anyone actually know) Age: 434 Gender: Male Sexuality: Heterosexual, but he's dead already, who cares. Birthday: April 12th (how do you even keep track of it?) Languages: French, English, Germanic Nationality: French Race: Supernatural
Type: Undead Powers/Abilities:
-Selective resistance to lethality: Because Mor is part of the undead race, he is unable to die. No matter how lethal the opponent's attack is, if the attack is not the correct type, it will not be able to bring him down.
-Exceptional Swordsmanship:
Among the youngest to join the Royal Guard at his time, Mor is quite untypical of a normal swordsman. His skills is one trait. That aside, he is an oddity who fights using three different fighting styles with his weapons. He wields two swords, his main being a 1 meter long Swiss saber, along with a scimitar in his reserve. He also carries a teardrop shield as both defensive and offensive weapon. While his default style is one sword, he is capable of performing exceptionally well at other styles, being sword shield and dual wielding, and he uses the styles interchangeably according to his opponent's style of battle.
He is extremely skilled with swords. Because he was revived to live for hundreds more years, he is capable of achieving a state in which no swordsman is able to in one lifetime. Despite the gigantic size that he has, his swordplay is so fast that even some supernaturals and celestial beings find it difficult to track. He prioritize in using both his strength and speed, finding the weakest spot in his enemy and pounce on it. His infamous ability is the Infinity Slash, in which he focuses all his strength into a slash that is quick and powerful enough to create a vacuum that can cut his opponent without even touching the blade.
Explicit Weaknesses:
-Fragile body: All that is left of him are bones. His flesh, his only protection from explosives. Anything explosive, either spells or bombs, or is powerful enough can potentially dislodge his joints and dislocate or amputate him completely. Anything crushing can also destroy his body pretty easily
-Inability to use magic: Although his body is fueled by it, he can't use it. Nor he can learn to use it.
-Reliance on necromancy: The only source of life that ties his souls to his skeletal figures, if Mor runs out of it, he's gonna be 'dead'. Well, detached, until someone ties it back again. Any sort of draining in that is also his Achilles heels.
P H Y S I C A L A P P E A R A N C E Height: 195cm/6'5 Weight: 113kg (27kg of armor) Eye Color: Cyan Flames (Does he even have eyes?) Hair Color: He has a shiny head. Fashion Sense: He always dons a set of golden armor Abstract:
Deep in the chilly fog covering the deserted cemetery, there was a man. No, not a man. A skeleton, in fact. It was impossible to read his gender, but the armor, the size, the fright of the cyan flame inside his skulls already suggested it. Behind his back was a large teardrop shield, along with a sword, while gripped firmly on his other hand was another one. As we wandered around, he spotted us, and we spotted him...
The skeletal man was a sight to be haunted. The bones turned, as he stared at us. The grip on his sword appeared to have tightened. A chill was sent down on us, as this man suddenly stood up, his gaze never left us. Then, he slowly approached. The skeleton towered as twice as large as us. The heavy golden armor banged on the ground with every steps, piercing through our courage like a knife through butter. We were terrified. The next thing we remembered, my partner and I were already out of the cemetery, panting and catching breathe
~Excerpt from the diary of an adventurer, page 19~
P S Y C H O L O G Y Personality:
Bearing the Royal Guard's code of conduct and honor, bringing it into the grave along with him, it is the only thing that refuses to die along with his spirit. He is never the type to strike on defenseless innocent people, even if they are hostile to him, in which he would instead tried to intimidate them into leaving. And he expects others to have the same demeanor. A man who admires the beauty of nature, and the flowing of time, but a fearsome, and in some cases brutal, opponent when met.
Being a skeleton, his ability to talk is severely limited, and because he doesn't have many people to talk to, Mor is considered to be quiet and composed, sometimes cold. But within that seemingly cold attitude was a fire of loyalty that can never be extinguished as long as his master lives, or his or her loyalty is still unwavered. But along with that is the fire of vengeance. Once proven to him that you are capable of maintaining a degree of loyalty, and you'll earn a friend for life. But betray him, and you'll end up chopped down into pieces. If he can't, he'll chase you down until the ends of the Earth until you learn your lesson.
Fear: Betrayals from or lost of those he wants to protect. Greatest Hope: To protect the ones he wants to protect. Hobbies:
-He likes to practice swordsmanship, to create new techniques and improve
-Other than that, he just likes wandering around outside, enjoying the beauty that mother nature had given him.
H I S T O R Y Hundreds of years ago, Mor was born in a traditional family. An ancestry of honor. His maternal grandparents were ministers in their empire. His father was an imperial guard. And through his family's teaching, he was inspired to become one as well. He practiced swordsmanship as soon as he knew how to stand, and was skilled enough to become one of the youngest guard to stand in front of the great castle of his empire. Thus his title from his colleagues: Jeune Garde (those who happen to live at his time, and at the right place, would heed this name). His first, but also the last of his lifetime, master was the second prince of the country, who did not ascend to the throne due to being second in an absolute monarchy government, but maintained a certain amount of power over the empire. This brought fear to some of the aristocrats, who, in fear of having their wealth and power taken away by a coup de tat that was never supposed to happen, then falsely accused the second prince of treason. This soon turned to be Mor's demise.
On that June morning, hundreds of soldiers appeared in the court outside the small castle where the second prince was stationed. It was a bright day, as Mor was walking around, admiring the beauty of the blue sky when hundreds of soldiers descended upon him with anger and hate. The exceptional skills of the imperial guard's most finest swordsman, and even the title did not save his life. He was brutally slain, and his master did not live much longer than him.
He was given a chance to go to heaven, but he refused. How could he let the people who betrayed his master, betrayed his own country for their own petty self-interest go rampant, alive and well? He wanted to come back, to bring judgement and vengeance to those disgusting creatures. The nethergod accepted this demand, and he was brought back to life. Rising in his still rotting body from the dirt, the Young Guard had lived again. His skulls burned with fire of dark magic, as he took his first step as an undead. There, he vowed. Vengeance would be his.
He spent his time, gathering information of the perpetrators, and then at night, he would storm into their house and slaughter them. Rumors soon spread, but he could not be stopped. Because he was one of the greatest swordsmen, he could not be bested. Because he was already dead, he could not be killed. And so, one by one, the aristocrats were slain in a way like how Mor had been on that day, and their misdeeds were soon exposed, cleaning his own name and his dead master.
Once everything was done, Mor had one last duty. He tracked down where his old master lays, his final resting place, and he stood guard there. For centuries he was there. Never once moved from the cemetery. People soon realized that there was this skeleton walking around in the cemetery, and soon it was considered haunted, desolated. But he did not care. Unless he found another person with equal loyalty, he would not leave...ever...
O T H E R A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N Other: -He's not as hostile as you think. -The Cyan flame can change color according to his emotions. Orange red for anger, green for excitement. -He does not eat, sleep or change his clothes, but he occasionally washes his own body armor.
"Hmph..." The old vampire was listening boringly to Reiko's speech the whole time. He wasn't surprised by the fact that students were still trying to have their ways in this school. Again, youth. They are the center of the world. The sun rises and set on their own butts. While Yurius did appreciate that a few were really acting on their own consideration and care for the general population and not for their own despicable self-interests, it didn't help wiping off the fact that they were incompetent, stupid and reckless for trying to take on a creature far beyond their current capabilities. The vampire knew that perfectly. That creature who murdered that kid was not a child's play.
And with that, the path of Hikari Academy took a sudden turn, just as Yurius was settling himself comfortably here. It was not something too unexpected. All beings in this world were susceptible to changes. Small or large. The turn could be a result of anything. But when a path had changed, and those traveling on that path were slowly adjusting to the turn, there would always be a tendency to think that the path would be straight, without any further turns. Nothing is further from the truth. This aged vampire's life was one prime example. An aristocratic vampire who had his own grand castle once had to live in exile. A vampire taught to fight for others, not for blood ended up killing thousands of warriors. And a vampiric murderer eventually winded up being a professor at an academy, hired by the people who wanted him dead years ago. You obviously could not expect anything.
What had happened was that the students that the staffs, including him, had reported to be potentially capable were chosen for a special field mission. Special because nobody would have expected a mission for students at the very first week of school. It was natural to assume that. But still, there were no reasons to conclude the abilities of students. There were people who were far stronger than others, despite being the same age, and there were also pathetic weaklings who couldn't even unsheathe a sword properly despite being older, and closer to their prime. Nothing can be concluded into a rule. That's the rule of reality.
As for the creatures, knowing that the incident one week earlier and the recent ones having some sort of loose connection to each other made the vampire speculate. This was definitely not natural. It could have been a shift in nature's rules, but most likely through rational manipulation. But who? Curious, but he had no way of having a clear conclusion. Only God knows what happens.
As the students were chaotically rushing to see the announcement, and whether they were on the list or not, Yurius just stood in a corner, his hands crossed in front of him, his head lowered, his eyes closed for a quick snooze. He was getting old after all. A few moments later, the students began to clear, and the old vampire casually put his hands into his pockets and walked to the board. He was definitely gonna get called for this little ordeal. He could tell almost certainly. The only teacher who taught combat, proper combat, and an ancient and very powerful entity even by today's standard.
"Hm?" He raised his eyebrows. He was paired with Mako as supervisor, while the paladin kid, the shape-shifting girl, the guy with the birthmark and another one called Ceiran, whose identities were not yet known to him at this point, but soon will be, composed of the team that were supposed to head out for the city to investigate and correct, or, according to Yurius, kill, these creatures. Make sense, since the vampire had no magic prowess. The adrenaline rush was a biological passive effect, which could have counted as magic. Other than that, his only weapons were his overwhelming strength and stamina that he naturally had. Mako was a witch, and perhaps unsuited for physical combat. Honestly, together, they may be already enough to deal with these creatures. However, this was the student's work too, so he also had to watch them as well.
And so with that information in mind, he stood right there, waiting for others to arrive. Currently, only two out of four students had arrived to the scene: the guy with that birthmark, Lumen Kresnik if his memories did not fool him, and a strange one...Ceiran? "Ho...So he is the guy at lunch yesterday." Yurius thought to himself as he glanced at him. He wondered what he had to offer that the staff had him listed as a potential student. He would know soon enough.
As he waited, the vampire punched his fists into the air multiple times, as a warm up for a journey, and as a way to keep himself fit, primed and powerful despite his age. He was ready, as ever.
"Look over here. Cheese!" The silver haired girl called as her younger brother, who was hovering at the high tree top level, his hands holding a large scissors, cutting branches, looking annoyed.
"You taking this seriously or not?" He turned to her. "This is a proper presentation, not a vacation."
"Life would be tragic if it isn't funny. I did this to White Hat back when I was in your carefree time." She replied, amused. "Though I can't say that he liked it."
"Ayyy...So, have you got it yet?"
"You're too serious with this. Yes I did. Perfectly HD. Now you better finish it quickly or I will leave you along with this little footage."
With only a shook of his head, Acion continued the work, cutting branches of old trees, so that it did not create an imbalance in central gravity, in preparation for strong winds or perhaps storm if there were them here. He already started soon enough, so ending it was only in a matter of minutes. Once everything was done, he packed things up, returned the tool to the company, who appreciated his help, and left the area. Now that his job was over, it was Acion's turn to return his sister the favor, as he flew right next to her, eyeing the city from above. Patrol time. From Waterfront station, they flew across the sky, slicing through the city from above, passing over places like the Aeral drawbridge, the shopping complex Metrovillage, along with the chain of restaurant downtown. All in an afternoon's work.
It maybe the first time, but the hero trainee, as he soared through the sky with Aurelia, the well-known Sky Defender, actually felt great. It felt...new. It wasn't like having to go through hours of assignments and trainings in Komei. Those two activities weren't bad per say, but when doing this instead, he felt like more of a professional hero, not a trainee. And he also felt like he was actually heading there, harnessing valuable and relevant skills rather than doing stuff like making a presentation to show that you are doing practical things.
"I haven't seen that thing. Is it new?" Acion asked as he pointed towards a crossbow that Aurelia was wielding behind her back. The last time he met her, she wasn't having that one.
"This? It's a raiding weapon, used in hideout raids and sieges, but recently we decided to equip it during patrols as well. Everybody has one, except for those who prioritize in ranged combat, whom gets a sword or knife instead." She replied. "After that incident I told you, we decided that no Sky Knights would be inexperienced with the common type of combat."
"So I will get one after I join?"
"Yeah, and proper training with it. I can assure you, it will be 'fun'." She laughed lowly, and evilly.
"What kind of hellfire do you have in store huh?"
"Well, you would receive more extensive trainings of CQC, along with socializing with our ways. Also, you will learn some leadership and cooperation. Important aspects for each and everyone of us. As for the details..." She continued grinning evilly. Spared him the details...
Acion decided not to go further. Man, he had a midterm break in not long and Aurelia would definitely pull Acion into one of these shits that she was so devilishly looking forward to. He was willing to bet gold on that.
"You say that we are on patrols, but do we have any idea who we are prioritizing after?" Acion asked.
"Well, commonly we are just skimming the city for potential threats, but currently, we have a few...entities that we are after. A swordsman, and a clan."
"A clan? That's interesting..."
"Well, from what I know up until now, they aren't professional villains. Just hero hunters. Their motives and origin to us are not yet known."
"Hmm..." He shouldn't need to care since he was only a student, for now. This was pro hero's work technically, but the young man could not help but get curious about it. It was going to be his work sooner or later. And he better off prepared for it.
"I guess you get the scope of what we are doing. This isn't kiddy stuff you do in Komei. Hopefully you'll get used to it before you actually apply to join us." She said, seriously. "But you are a smart person, and determined, so I don't doubt your ability."
Acion smiled lightly. It was certainly nice. He had a goal, now it was rock solid, and he was going to strive to overcome that rock, no matter what...
Badly wounded, from battling over a number of fighters in his class and that huge explosion that almost resulted in the death of multiple students, Acion was then taken care of at the infirmary later on. Despite all that, his recovery was surprisingly fast. Quick enough so that at the end of the day after, the injury felt like a distant past. Before that, he was able to see the replays of his and the other's performance. Overall, he was praised for endurance, but was then criticized for his ill decision at the beginning of the fight. And he did not disagree. He felt himself face-palming when he realized that the initial escape by Joann at the very beginning was totally not as fast as he had expected. He had the air supremacy and velocity, and if he chased them down, very likely they would be down by one or maybe even two. By letting them go, he had let them secure valuable score points, and nearly handed them the victory, if the point wasn't destroyed later on. He had to make note of that.
Other than that, he was generally fine, his performance was ok. The next few days were rather peaceful, with some minor assignments to accomplish. He just did that as soon as possible and as fast as possible, so he would have plenty of time for things. His schedule was pretty routine. After school, he would hit the assignments, then relax with some video games and then late night training. Today, however, was a little different.
It was Tuesday afternoon. The bell just rang. And Acion headed for the dorm to change, and then straight for the school entrance. He was to file a leave to the school's bodyguard. A little inconvenience anyway, but whatever. He was going to meet with his sister, Aurelia, today. It was supposed to be right after the day of that exercise, but he was in bed on that day, so he had to delay it. The schedule was pretty simple. They would both head to Waterfront, ask the Green Tree company for permission for Acion to help them cutting trees for the day, while his sister would do the work of recording it. And then, for the rest of the day, Acion would join Aurelia patrolling the city. It would be exciting. Not only he was able to deal with his assignments, he had the opportunity to do what he would be doing if he managed to get into Sky Knights.
Soon, a small silhouette began to appear in the sky. It became larger and larger, slowly forming into a human-shape, with long silky silver hair. Giving her a smile, Acion said. "Hello sister."
Aurelia Nakamiji
Inside the large, plain and spacious room, a round table stood firmly, bolted to the ground, as holograms were being projected right above it, displaying four thin screen facing four different direction. On those screens were videos. Animated informatics, showing colored boxes and arrows. And in every four corners of the table were all professional heroes, dressed in medieval armors. There was Aurelia, along with a young black haired man with a saber, a long black haired girl with dragon horns and two lances and a bright haired lady with fairy wings.
Today was a bright day for Aurelia. And for Sky Knights.
"It is a resounding success. The wisp strategy that Alice came up is decisive. The enemy had focused their entire defense on us, allowing Forte and Albert to flank their hideout without much resistance. Great work." Aurelia gave a thumb up to the girl with fairy wings, as she nodded.
"Thank you, thank you." As she puffed her cheek a bit.
"The attack was good, though I have to ask Forte." She turned to dragon horned girl. "How did you get stalled out at the entrance to the common room?"
"Well..." The girl scrolled her eyes around the room a bit. "We failed to seize the inhibitor guy, so he had the time to use his quirk. That's why we have to call Albert in."
Aurelia shrugged. She was not there to criticize any further. Forte should know by herself by now what she had to do.
"Fair enough. Albert, quick reaction from you and your squadron." Aurelia thumbed up to the black haired man, whom returned the gesture in toll. "Now that our tactic review is over, we can turn to the summary." She changed the hologram. "Now that the Maeshin group has been subdued, we can now concentrate on other major criminal groups out there."
"What's the next priority?" Albert asked.
"Pushing it up, we have The Sword Saint, along with a group in which had pretty much the same danger level. Well, not exactly a group. A clan rather." She replied, and she opened any leads or clues they have about them.
"Well, I don't see many clues out there. None significant." Forte remarked. "We're not gonna go anywhere unless we find a better lead."
"So it's back to patrols you mean?"
The dragon horned girl nodded, so did Aurelia.
"Just keep our eyes peeled for news and incidents, along with sending active search parties to police offices, crime scenes and slum areas." She said as she shut off the hologram. "A clue is just somewhere in the horizon. We will seize at the nearest one."
All members nodded at the decision. They knew what it was now. The end to the meeting. They all unsheathed their weapons and raised it upward into the air, pointing towards the center of the table. A common ritual among the Sky Knights at the end of every significant meeting like this one. Then, the meeting was dismissed
The rest of the Sky Knight squadron leaders proceeded to pass down instructions to their squad members. For some, it was patrolling or tending the base. For Aurelia, it meant going to Komei. Once again. She had a promise, and she was not going to break it.
As soon as the meeting ended, she headed off into the sky, flying straight for the city of Hosu. Not long after, the sight of Komei was already visible. Slowly descending to the entrance, she could see her naïve little brother standing out there, waiting for her, as he gave a smile and a casual greeting. She had no hesitation to return him the gesture.
"Hello my naïve little brother." She smirked.
"So I'm naïve now. No more foolish?" He replied.
"Well, still. But not as foolish as you were. So I'll give you a raise."
"Tch, nice indeed." He replied sarcastically, though not annoyed. "Shall we then?"