Zombehs — Roleplayer Guild

It didn’t take long for him to pay for their meal thanks to the modern conveniences that were present. It did remind him that there were some schools that were rather old-fashioned and refused to mix technology and magic. “Ugh…” It was actually depressing to think about and he followed after Eli after a moment. He might have been able to catch up with her, if it weren’t for the fact that there were a number of recognizable faces around. Happy to see them, he spoke with old teammates and classmates briefly, but was quick to take his leave. There was a new friend he had to spend some time with after all. She might have found a seat, but Runik halted as he watched her carefully undo and replace a bandage. 

Taking his seat across from her with little noise, her immersion in the book was enough to bring a small grin to his face. Rather than any words though, he popped the platter’s lid off with a small snap and waved to waft the smell of fresh sushi towards her. “Come on, let’s eat.” Unreserved in the slightest, he plucked a piece from the platter with his bare hands and popped it in his mouth. A hum and nod expressed his approval before moments later he reached for a different piece; there was plenty of variety after all. The process repeated itself several times before he looked at her and asked, “No need to answer, but what’s with the bandages?”
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 As she read, most noises flew past her before she heard a small noise right by her. Looking up, startled, she saw that he had returned. That scared me.
 “Come on, let’s eat.” 
“O-oK.” She nodded as she took a pair of chopsticks out. The fact that he ate it with her hands surprised her, having not seen anyone do that before. She smiled childishly and took a piece of sushi off the platter with the chopsticks. Putting it in her mouth, she felt delighted at the taste of it. Childishly smiling with her mouth full. After she gulped it down she turned to him, “It tastes so good!” Excited but at the same time in a quiet voice but she soon realized that that was the first sentence she said to him that didn’t have any stutters in it. She soon heard him begin to speak and looked up at him. 
“No need to answer, but what’s with the bandages?”
“E-eh? Oh… I e-ended up hurting m-myself with a s-scythe. Hehe.” She smiled and turned back to the sushi, taking another piece off the platter and eating it. This really tastes so good.
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“Oh? There is an infirmary if you want to go. Someone should be able to fix it up in a jiffy.” Leaving the matter at that, he continued to pluck piece after piece from the steadily shrinking supply of sushi. Being rather considerate though, Runik made sure to at least leave one of each sort for Eli and actively avoided any she seemed to enjoy… which was a bit hard considering she seemed delighted with almost everything she tried. It was nothing to complain about though, and both time and money well spent to see someone else enjoy themselves like this. He leaned back afterwards and sighed, content and full for the moment. 
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The thought of an infirmary never crossed her mind. “I-it’s fine…” She said quietly. Going to places with needles and other torture devices was never something that she could do. Eating another piece, she sighed happily “A-Akito would love th-this too.” Smiling, she remembered that he was a fan of cooking meals for her and always liked to make her gourmet meals even though it wasn’t part of the job. She took one last piece and was going to continue eating but she was already extremely full. “Th-thanks for the m-meal.” Looking up at him with a sweet look on her face and putting down her chopsticks.
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Accepting her decision with a slight nod, he turned aside and brought a hand to his lips. A muffled burp later and he looked back towards the platter between them. “Well, you can bring him the leftovers. Better than leaving them in a fridge for a few hours.” He stood to go grab a more appropriate container, but paused to accept her thanks with a nod and smile. “You’re welcome.” It didn’t take long for him to return or put things away, and he handed the small box of sushi to Eli afterwards. “Guess you’ll be off to find Akito? I’ll see you around then.”
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 She looked at the leftovers “Y-yeah, that’s a g-good idea.” She was just about to stand and get a container herself before he went ahead and did it himself. She took the box of sushi carefully. 
“Guess you’ll be off to find Akito? I’ll see you around then.”
She nodded “Y-yes, OK.” She turned around to leave but stopped abruptly and faced him again. Covering her mouth a bit with her sleeve, she looked up at him, “A-ah umm… Th-thank you… Th-that was really fun and y-you’re really nice… I-I never really had a f-friend th-that wasn’t a b-bodyguard or s-something a-and yeah… Th-thanks.” She smiled a bit shyly and innocently and bowed her head as a goodbye and head back to the dorms.
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His eyes flicked open at her voice and a smiled played on Runik’s lips as he leaned forward as if to catch her whispers. “Say again?” His tone was teasing and he pulled away quickly, standing up straight again as he reached over and patted her on the head. “It was quite nice, so find me if you’d like to do it again.” With that he waved goodbye to her, only letting his expression sour after she was out of sight. Just what sort of history did his new friend have that kept her so isolated? Her parents didn’t seem like stellar folk either. It wasn’t long before a frustrated sigh escaped his lips at the old memories dredged up as a result, and he rubbed at the back of his head. While not caught up in it, it was something that lingered on his mind as he continued along with the rest of his day.

Runik Brandt vs. Boss Masked
Considering everything that had happened earlier, the rest of the day was practically a bore. A few classes after lunch with Eli where he had paid just enough attention to realize he didn’t really need to pay any, and then Runik had been free to do as he pleased. There wasn’t much to do on the first day either sadly. The training grounds and arenas were practically empty, missions had yet to be posted, and people were getting settled in. He caught up with a few friends and acquaintances here and there and went to town for dinner with a few of them. Pleasant and enjoyable, but not very exciting… 

As a result he had retired to his room shortly after sunset and got his things in order for the next day. He hadn’t seen much of Logarius aside from the morning, and it was getting late enough that he was curious as to where his roommate was. Eyes flicked towards the clock on his nightstand and he set his phone down for the moment as he swung his legs off the bed. While a bit concerned, Runik was also confident that it wasn’t anything worth losing sleep over. He had just stood when the door opened with a slight noise. “He-” The words died on his lips when he saw the individual in the doorway, clearly not his roommate. 

There was probably something to be said about how easily he slipped into a kill or be killed mindset, but for another time. His tattoos didn't just glow but flared to life, red light filling the room and pulsing out of the windows. While the masked man wasted his breath, Runik mustered his mana, converted it into magic, and replied with fire and ice. 

The summoned creatures didn’t get to do much more than growl before their half of the room spontaneously combusted into a raging inferno. At the same time the intruder and his summoned creatures were surrounded by a prison of ice. A wall of ice cut them off from Runik while hoarfrost covered every surface around them. The flames flickered and licked at the smooth surface, light dancing within the ice, but it didn’t melt in the slightest. On the contrary, the ice seemed to thicken in response to the fire's insatiable appetite. 

Well, the masked man certainly did not hope that erasing Runik would be easy, he was there personally because he was certain the others couldn't handle it, after all. 

"Hmph. Fine. I was planning on letting you off easily with the small fries, but if you are asking so harshly for it." 

The man produced more pieces of paper from one of his sleeves. 

"Answer thy covenant. Kappa!" A stream of water started shooting from that single piece of paper. 

It was going at a really high speed, and it easily cut through the ice. It also did its job of appeasing the flames surrounding him, if nothing more. 

After the paper was way too wet to be of any use anymore, the masked man discarded it and then lifted his hand with 5 papers on it. 

"Heed my call, Tengu, Kyubi, Nura, Gashadokuro, Oni!" 

The papers shined and in the next instant, his summoned creatures started appearing. 

Naturally he hadn't stayed in the same position, and Runik's eyes narrowed in annoyance as the water stream cut a clean line through the ice and then his room. His opponent clearly wasn't down for the count, and the small confined room was disadvantageous for him. Glass shattered as he slammed through the windows and abandoned the building. 'Think that's the fastest I've ruined a room,' he thought idly as he shielded his face from the shards and fragments.

Twisting around mid-air, the air around him seemed to twist and swirl before half a dozen spears of ice materialized. Fires flickered within each of the projectiles and he whipped his hands towards his room as gravity began to take hold. It didn't matter that he couldn't see his masked opponent. The projectiles slammed into the room with enough force to rock the building, and shattered to fill the room with bursts of shrapnel in the form of ice shards.

Shooting his hands backwards, gouts of flame bellowed out and washed over the ground to slow his descent. It still wasn't a soft landing by any means, but bruises were better than cracked or broken bones. As he climbed back to his feet, a groan and rumble came from above before he saw a cloud of ash and dust rush out from the building's side as his room collapsed on itself.

He was quick on the uptake. After all, he was correct. 

Coming himself to erase him was the right decision.

The masked man could not finish all of his summons, but a fox spirit of 9 tails had covered him from Runik's sudden attack. 

Its breathing was ragged and it seemed about to die. 

"I did not expect this to go so easily that I wouldn't need to sacrifice one or two of you guys. Sorry, but your contract is released." He swept the air with his hand and the fox spirit disappeared with a poof. 

Of course, he hadn't forgot of Runik. And he hoped he didn't forget either that the fox spirit was his 2nd summon. 

A tengu rushed out of the room, spear on hand and rushed towards Runik, aiming to stab him right through his stomach. 

'Well so much for boring...' Movement from within the cloud that lingered outside the ruined room caught his attention, and Runik quickly began to backpedal to open up some distance. His eyes widened when the tengu came into sight, but his lips curled into a grin at the sight of its weapon. There wasn't a hope to outrun the youkai, but he didn't need to now.

Here under the open sky with the creature holding such a convenient lightning rod? A bright tendril snaked from the heavens to its spear, faster than even the creature could move. No rumble of thunder accompanied the bolt for it wasn't true lightning that would have left the creature a smoldering corpse, but it was enough to numb and stun the tengu. A blast of razor sharp icicles flew from a hand, peppering and skewering it almost immediately, as a sphere of flame grew around his other hand.

The tengu was done for. Of course, the masked man knew that. 

Soon enough, though, the man was standing right in front of Runik. 

"Skilled in magic, yes. How are you with fists?" He said, but if Runik turned to see his hands, he'd see them both inside the pockets of his coat. "Not mine though." 

From his flank, another youkai, the gashadokuro, aimed to hit the mage with its gigantic skeletal fist. 

If the masked man wanted a reply from Runik, he would be rather disappointed. His eyes did widen slightly at how easily the distance had been closed, but the surprise didn't hinder his reaction. What did however was his instinct for self-preservation.

Catching the massive fist at the edge of his vision, he knew his feet would not be enough to carry him out of range. The sphere of flame at his side roiled intensely before it blossomed into a powerful explosion. The heat washed over him harmlessly, but he was still thrown sideaways. A hiss of pain escaped as he hit the ground and tumbled several times, shredding his clothes. 

He had worse though; the pain and soreness only heightened his focus and the urge to fight and survive. He'd managed to deal with the first two, but this one was literally a massive skeleton that apparently did live up to its legend since it slipped in and out of his notice. Testing its invulnerability was not on the list tonight. Ice and fire shrouded his hands once more and when he brought them together steam bellowed forth, quickly concealing him from sight.

A smoke screen. He should be able to see just fine through this, then. 

The masked man decided to not take any chances and instead sent into the steam another one of his summons, one better suited to fighting somewhere like that. 

"Heed my call, Kappa!" He threw the paper forth and into the steam. He couldn't see what was going on inside, but the Gashadokuro would strike once the Kappa was done for. He was better used as a quick invocation technique just like before instead of physically summoning him. 

By the time he separated his hands the steam was thick enough that he could feel the moisture on his eyes. Confident he was hidden from his attacker, he raised a hand and let the magic flow freely. The area he could manipulate spread quicky and he was about to act when another presence manifested nearby. Unbothered by the heavy blanket of fog for whatever reason, it seemed to hone in on him with uncanny accuracy. 

With a snarl of annoyance, Runik shifted his attention to this newly summoned creature. The steam cleared away violently as the temperature plummeted sharply around the Kappa, frost forming on its body. It didn't take long for frost to build up into a tomb of ice, but he was forced to move as the rest of the fog quickly disippated. 

The masked man quickly matched Runik's pace as he ran behind him. 

He took another piece of paper and chanted again, "Answer thy covenant, Kamaitachi!" 

He put the paper forward and a whirlwind came out of it, leaving the paper in tatters as if it had just been cut. Something that would happen to Runik too if he did not avoid the attack. 

It didn't matter how quickly he backpedalled, but he was able to keep an eye on the attacker at the least. Where the hell were his other summons though. His eyes flicked side to side to try and catch a glimpse of any creatures before he was forced to focus.

Sliding to a halt, he dropped to a knee quickly and slammed his right hand into the cobblestone path. A shockwave of pure ice exploded forward in a cone, spikes of shimmering white bursting from the ground. The tips vanished, carved into dozens of pieces, but the thicker bases endured the flurry of cuts well enough to shield him. 

His left hand slammed into the ground not a moment later and a nova of flame blossomed with him at the center. A blanket of fire rushed outwards, shattering the ice spikes and turning them into dozens of deadly shards instead. Runik stood easily enough afterwards and continued to back away, but the steam that rolled from his body showed the battle was taking its toll.

Just like Runik was exhausting himself, so was the masked man. His breathing was becoming ragged and his summons were half a second slower. 

So many rapid summons and invocations were definitely bad for him. Probably, Runik should've also noticed that his magic was in fact Pythones, similar to an Onmyouji but summoning youkais. 

The more powerful the youkai, the harder it was to keep it in this plane. He was already half out of mana, so the gashadokuro, oni and nurarihyon were retired, at least for this battle. 

He would have to settle this quickly, or the Erasal would be a grand fail. 

He readied his next paper, it was slightly bigger in size than the others, "Heed my call, Bakeneko!" He slammed the paper on the ground. 

A gasp escaped his mouth. That last one had depleted his mana reserves and it would take all he had inside of him to keep the gigantic cat out. It was now or in the Magus Games, and he certainly preferred now. 

He hopped unto the cat's back and made it dash forward with a slight kick to its side. 

It would leap towards Runik and hold him down, so that the masked man could seal him away. 

The sight of yet another paper was his sign to stop the retreat. His tattoos pulsed furiously with the hammering of his heart and his magic circuits burned as mana flushed through them. 

The massive two-tailed cat wasn't enough to give him a moment's pause, and he steeled his expression as he stared his enemy down. It was too agile for him to try and hit at a range; he'd have to let it close the distance, and close it did with a light kick from its master.

Even as it bore down on him, the shards of ice and balls of flame continued to swirl around his arms. The massive creature slammed him into the ground, and forced a strangled cry of pain free when it shattered his right shoulder. His left hand still worked though and it clenched into a fist determinedly. 

Fire and ice disappeared for a moment before a shaped charge of ice stabbed into the beast's gut. The flame within glowed bright, blindingly so, before the enhanced projectile detonated and drove shards even deeper into and clean through the summoned beast.

The bakeneko too was done for. The masked man had no other but to retreat. 

The bakeneko was thrown back after the slight explosion from Runik's magic, sending its master flying back with it as well. 

He clicked his tongue. A shard of his mask had fallen over, revealing one of his golden eyes. 

He prepared another piece of paper. It was then. Do or die. 

One of them would die after this, and even if one of them could be revived after that, the psychological trauma wouldn't go away. 

"Heed my call, Gyuki!" A sharp slash attack came out from the paper. 

It could cut through Runik's ice, but too many layers of it might stop it. If that happened, it was the end for him. He had no more energy to move out of the way. 

'Fuck.' Pain, but thankfully not enough to cloud his thoughts as he struggled to sit back up. This wasn't the worst condition he had been in, but it was pushing pretty damn close and his silence was finally broken when he realized that it wasn't over yet.

"Are you fucki-" The curse was cut off by a bloody cough that doubled him over and when he looked up, even if his eyes were watery, the slip of paper was impossible to miss. 'I'm not dying here, fuck you.'

'Could Rollan- No time for doubts.' Even if his right arm was completely devoid of sensation the magic circuits were still quite active. In fact the numbness was actually a plus, otherwise he might not have been able to stomach the pain this would have caused. Manuevering the limp limb with the arm that did work, he slapped the palm against the floor and flooded mana through it. 

The limb began to smoke and Runik felt his limb actually burn, but the result was a shockwave of ice even more powerful than what he had used earlier. A wave of spikes, so large he couldn't even wrap his arms around, burst forward, and as the excess energy was shunted elsewhere the surroundings literally burst into flames.

"What!?" The masked man shouted, before his stomach was impaled by the spikes. "H-How...?"

His mask started falling to pieces, reavealing his true face. 

"T-This is not the last you see of me, Runik..." He weakly turned towards him, blood rolling down his chin from his mouth. "I-I'll honor you with my name, for we shall meet again. I," he coughed, painting the floor red with blood. "I am Amatsuhara Atara. Onmyouji and Pythones magician... just let me tell you I've more tricks up my sleeve. You'll see them next time we meet." 

Despite that, the man then lost consciousness. 

It might have been scenic in a gruesome sort of way with how the light flickered through the spikes of ice. Shadow and light danced across both their blood-stained visages, and he fought to focus on his opponent. The heat that spread from his right arm threatened to overwhelm his ability to think, but he managed to at least engrave the Eraser's, for what else could he be, face and name into his memories. 

Bitterly he wondered if Rollanda was capable of healing someone whose ashes had been scattered to the winds... The thought wasn't entertained for long for various reasons, but mostly because he couldn't hold onto a coherent thought for any amount of time at the moment. Runik knew he had to stand, make his way to the infirmary otherwise he might just die here, but his body refused to co-operate.

"First survivor of the Erasals, found." Rollanda seemed to appear from out of nowhere and supported Runik. "It's all right, you can fall asleep now. And you should know better. I can heal anything, even ashes scattered through the air."

After that, she started carrying him all the way to the infirmary. She could heal him there and leave him resting. Others would need her help today. 

Surprise was fleeting at the Head Nurse's sudden appearance, though it returned quickly when she commented on the rather dark thought. As much as he wanted to protest since it was practically guarateed he had not been the only target, her suggestion was impossible to resist. His eyelids grew heavier with each step she helped him with and within a dozen she was carrying him.
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