Chapter 6: Arc 1: Start-up (6)

“Ciel,” Amy was freaking out about the status screen in front of her. “What is this?”

Caislean: Concentrate on the screen and it will explain everything.

“Miss Caislean,” Amy gasped. “Wait, you have been in contact with us all this time.”

Caislean: Amy, I am the residence manager. Every communication in the network is managed by me.

Amy stared at Ciel, “She is listening to everything? That is scary”

“Your concern is valid,” Ciel skimmed through the [Construction] ability and smiled inside. “Great.”

A pale magenta light flashed and the ropes tying Ciel unbind itself. Each strand of fibers unwound and rebound itself into thinner wire beside him.

Amy’s eyes widened, “How do you do that?”

“[Construction],” Ciel replied. “An ability born from the contract between us. I guess Unity Lord derived it from your mastery of production skill. The skill allows me to craft something from surrounding material. I can assemble material into a complete product and reshape a metal tool from the ingot.”

“You can skip an intermediary process to produce something?” Amy felt cheated. “Are you planning to rob me out of my job?”

“It is not that great,” Ciel explained as he unbound her. “The more complicate the process, the longer it takes. It doesn’t work on material lace with concentrated mystical energy or life force. Basically, the moment magical ingredients get involved, I can’t do a damn thing. I also need to read the material structure, and accurately assembled it according to a precise blueprint. This ability is also limited to physical work, not chemical or thermal.”

Amy must say it was a pretty useful ability for production work, but as an experienced chef, she knew it wasn’t enough. Cooking, for example, required mastery of timing, temperature and seasoning. Ciel would be better off cutting the fish to make a sushi himself, rather than trying to make one with [Construction]. Then there was the obvious problem that low life force translated into the cardinal sin of unfresh food.

But in this case, Ciel’s ability was perfect for getting out of a normal rope.

Amy rubbed her sore wrist, “What is next?”

Ciel tapped his foot and used [Construction] to read the entire room.

“Barrels of alcohol, dry kindle some aged fruit and ore,” Ciel listed the material store in the crate around the room and grinned mischievously. “This is perfect.”

“Escape plan?” Amy asked.

“Not exactly.” Ciel answered.

…

Bruno was walking in a dirty alleyway, humming happily.

Yes, today was rocky. He got publicly creamed by Gordon Seyfert’s student, but that indignity already got solved. The two twerps were under lock and key. Bruno, being a smart man, searched both of them and confiscated the girl’s emergency beacon rune Elizabeth La Louve gifted her. Without that rune, there was no chance the clown princesses could do anything before the girls and her leverage was transported to Carolina Westerna’s waiting arm.

By the time the mayor and the posh bimbo worked anything out, Bruno would disappear and escaped the repercussion.

However, the ‘leverage’ was smarter than Bruno could imagine.

“Hello, Mr. Harris... That sounds wrong. Let settles with Bruno.”

Bruno froze. He knew that voice.

The voice continued, “You want to know an interesting thing, Bruno? A secretary of that financial adviser — I think she is called Caislean — insisted that our adviser needed to discuss my meal plan with Betty and me at 5 P.M. She also said that if that guy didn’t arrive by 4:45, something must have happened. We are at 5:20 and the only suspect is you.”

Xiahana La Louve walked up behind him, “I also took a liberty to ask Artichoke and after a little more… persuasion,” Xia did a stretch as she reached the ‘persuasion,’ part. “He confirms you threatened him to keep Betty occupied. Sure, we already expect this to happen, so we gave Amy an emergency beacon rune with a back-up tracking function. You must excuse Betty. She loves modifying rune even since she was an annoying kid. I bet you never realize we can track you with that, or else you wouldn’t keep with in your robe.”

Bruno reached inside his robe and tossed the troublesome rune on the street.

Well, the day was ruined, but Bruno believed it couldn’t get worst.

…

Bruno was wrong. The day was about to get worst.

The start of this domino launched when Dumpty, Bruno’s personal enforcer, opened the door to check on the prisoner.

Click!

The brute noticed the moving door tugged on the roped connected to a mechanism which, in impressive domino effect, cascaded to the point it tugged the legs from the stand holding up the heavy crate full of ores. The stand collapsed, causing the crate, fitted with rough metal edge, to crash against the precisely placed metal on the floor like a flintstone, generating the sparks.

The sparks then ignited the pool of oil beneath the trap and lit the path painted with flammable oil. The trailing fires traveled on the flammable roads, setting fires to those oil-soaked crates.

Within the next minute, the confused Dumpty was yelling out of the room about fire as smoke and flames consumed the hideout.

…

Within the Residence, Caislean, Amy and Ciel, watched the carnage from the singular window.

“How did you do that?” Amy asked.

“My master, one of these days you remind me why you are in charge,” Caislean watched the screaming gangster with admiration. “Imagine walking home, believing you have won a war, opened the door and somehow trigger the chain reaction that will burn your family alive. I will say it is excellently done.”

“Ciel, whatever happens, don’t do what Caislean said.” Amy was seriously concerned about her new friend. “And can you tell me the how?”

“I use [Calculative] to work out the precise engineering to pull this off and assemble it with [Construction],” Ciel shrugged. “It is not that hard. Hopefully, this will get Betty’s attention. After the crisis is dealt with, we can open the residence gate at the point we left and walk out scott free.”

“What about Bruno?” Amy said.

“Yeah, I am worried about that part,” Ciel shrugged. “Who knows? It might work itself out?”

…

Bruno, as expected, resisted arrest.

“You know, Miss Mayor,” Bruno said, flexing his fingers. “I am pretty please you come to arrest me personally. Did the police department walk out on you?”

“Oh, I would love to have a police department,” Xia said, endorsed by raw force of depression. “But out of hundred and fifty people in this town; twenty are hookers, sixty are gangsters, ten runs a bar, three are pimps, thirty-five make a living outside and the rest are beggars. Those numbers aren’t counting the annual emigration. There is only one reliable law enforcement in Springsong: Me.”

“Must be hard,” Bruno sincerely felt sorry for the poor Xia. “Seriously, get a better job, woman.”

“And you shouldn’t mess with my supply of food,” Xia growled, drawing a modest rapier by her belt. “Any last word?”

“I don’t plan on having last word,” Bruno gathered his Mana. “Bolt!”

A bolt of energy shot toward Xia.

But Xia was much faster.

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White Magic Rank 2: Strengthen

Xia’s body glowed white, and she disappeared from the bolt’s trajectory. The attack harmlessly blew a hole in the ground, kicking up dust and cracking air. Bruno turned just in time to see the mayor coming from his side. Her rapier reflected the sunset into his eyes, blinding him. He knew, from the rushing sound of wind and flickered of White Mana, that Xia was closing in to finish him.

“Red Magic Rank 3: Flare!” Bruno yelled.

Flames erupted from his hand, engulfing the alley way and licking upon the building and setting everything in effect on fire. Houses burned and people nearby screamed as Bruno unleashed his strongest magic.

Knowing he caught Xia at point-blank, Bruno relaxed his guard amid the roaring flames.

It was a mistake.

Xia emerged from the roiling flames, invisible forces of Aura blunting the flame as her mild burns rapidly heal. She thrust her blade in a practice motion, skewering Bruno in the stomach. Bruno gasped from the pain as blood rushed up his throat. Xia, refusing to waste any second, pulled out her blade and severed his tendon with a single swipe.

White Magic Rank 3: Bind

Rods of light impaled Bruno through his chest, legs and shoulders and abdomen, pinning him to the ground and sealing his movement.

“Before you use magic in a fight, learn silent casting,” said the angelic voice.

Bruno didn’t have many regrets as Xia’s rapier penetrated his brain. He was pretty please at how well he held up.

Xiahana La Louve. Curtis’s fallen crown princess. A prodigious White mage, one of the most skilled swordwomen of her generation, celebrated genius and a certified master of Aura Art. The woman, who, at her peak, was the untouchable crown jewel of the capital.

Xia released her spell and watched Bruno’s lifeless body hit the floor with the thump. She sauntered from burning buildings and alley. Winds lifted her hair dramatic as she gracefully navigated past the panicking crowd into an isolated shadow behind a building with no one watching.

Then she fell and hug her knees in a tearful childish rant.

“This is so embarrassing!” She wept. “I know I am slower, but that is too much! How could I slip that much in two years!? Back then, I would have decapitated him in one go!” Xia sobbed. “I even got caught by that amateur's Flare. My Aura is so rusty, I slipped when blunting the attack. Father, I am sorry, but I can’t take this anymore!”

Xia would be sobbing for a long time

…

Unknown to their leader demise, the collection of goons finally got the fire under control.

“Keep going, boys!” Humpty, Bruno’s righthand-man shored the morale. “Find the brat who set this place on fire!”

“Yes”

Then a shadow cast over them. The men noticed the change and looked upward.

They gulped at what they saw what the smokes summoned.

She was a woman in a featureless white mask with a bombshell body wrapped in a black skintight reinforced fabric. Her hair was invisible under an all encompassing hood. A black utility belt slung across her hip, accompanying a similarly styled long-sleeve glove and boot. Beneath her feet, and levitating her into the sky, was a black staff covered in rune.

If a witch ever started a superhero career, she would be exhibit number one.

One of the goon stared without blinking in disbelief, “No way… is that…”

“The Sorceress of Justice,” one gangster gaped.

“Bane of the Military Police,” Dumpty, standing beside Humpty, quaked in his boot.

“The Dark Witch,” Humpty trembled.

“Isn’t that the upstart band from capital?” the other goon pointed out.

“Idiot, that band is named after her!”

The Dark Witch descend to the chaos around her and mentally did the head count.

“Yo, low lives,” The masked woman said, twirling her staff with artistic refinement. “Around fourty, well, that is about most of the town troublemaker.” She flexed her neck. “Great, that will be a third of the town less populated.”

The gangster did a quick survey.

“There is one of her and forty of us!” Dumpty took the lead to the gallows. “What are we waiting for? Attack!”

And they did. It was a magnificent charge from the damned army. Dust flew. Leg spun. Men yelled to tribute their soul for the watching god of warrior. They were indeed very brave, and very stupid.

The Dark Witch raised her finger and clicked to unleash the wave of Blue Mana.

Blue Magic Rank 1: Lethargy

The blue wave brushed past every charging man, slowing them down to snail pace. The hell in seconds where they could observe their fate, but their body refused to speed up to avoid it. It was a dense of ocean of altered time where reaction got stunted to a painful degree.

Red Magic Rank 3: Flare

Red Mana gathered in a ball at the Dark Witch’s waiting palm. She tossed it into the sky, where it landed in the middle of the group suspended in slow field and burst outward in a self-contain furnace. Anyone within the proximity of the Magic was reduced to ash. Everyone else dropped to the floor in a mess of burns and groaned from the mere exposure to the temperature. It was the level of power incomparable to Bruno’s version of the same spell.

The surviving of goons muster the strength to stand, but the witch didn’t give them a chance.

Black Magic Rank 2: Slaughter X 10

Ten balls of Black Mana the size of cannonballs materialized behind the witch and mercilessly shot at the struggling gangster. The badly burned Humpty and Dumpty barely screamed when the Black Magic exploded the two into blood and gore. Eight more of their followers promptly suffered the same fate.

With all the hostile down, the witch in black turned toward the smoking warehouse and sighed in relief when Ciel walked out.

CIel was confused, “Hello, are you…”

“A complete stranger,” the witch quickly answered. “How much smoke did you breathe in? Did they do anything to you? And where is Amy?”

“I am here!” Amy appeared from behind the burnt-out wall next to them.

“How did you…” the Dark Witch was utterly shock at the sudden appearance of Amy before brushing it aside. “Never mind! Here!” she tossed them the rune, “I will be here for a few weeks. Use that rune when you run into a problem.”

The witch in black promptly got onto her staff and flew away like it was a flying bloom, while Ciel and Amy stared

“Hey Caislean, that is the third SSR in this dump, right?”

Caislean: Master, 3 SSR in one day is ridiculous. I smell a shenanigan.

 

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