Gear of Corruption
- Thread starter ryuan
- Start date
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
It also burst into smoke when the assassin died.
13
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
"If I knew who sent the assassins to me I wouldn't be asking for your second opinion!" I said exasperated to Buffy and company. "By the way, I'm going to deal with the demon-in-a-jar right now. Just give me a large room and some chalk so I can properly burn off this spiritual parasite. With someone after my life I don't want to take any chances for targets of opportunities to arise."
"Do you actually know what you are doing?" Asked Giles with what I hoped were a diminished amount of suspicion. "To finally deal with Eyghon I mean."
"Yeah", I nodded, "should have done that before but I didn't wanted to show you guys this particular aspect of my knowledge. Two people can keep a secret if one of them are dead and all that."
"What do you plan to do?" Asked Buffy curious at my turn of phrase.
I couldn't help but smirk. "'Waste not, want not' is the unofficial moto of the magical future back in Sol's world."
~~O~~
Eyghon was safely disposed, and aside from the demon impotent cries of rage and pain, nothing bad happened. A basic recycling spell was repurposed to break down the mana of the demon, refining it into a pure state while the corruption was being burned out, leaving a small bit of crystallized mana in it's wake.
Normally a spell to recycle magical items, Sol managed to use it to clean up the fallen Gears and get usable materials and some extra cash.
"I'm going to keep this one for myself", I told the group while pocketing the small crystals on the ground. "For payment for dealing with the demon and all that."
"Can I expect you to give some samples for research to the Watchers Council?"
"No", I bluntly stated, "no you can't. I might make items on commission if you want after I get enough mana crystals and other materials, but I'm not going to give the secret to this procedure to anyone."
"That's disappointing, but not unexpected." Said Giles, "as for the assassins after you, we will take a look on the library to try and figure out who's behind it."
"Thanks, now I just want to go home and relax. I'm really not up to more shenanigans today."
~~O~~
"Yes?" I said when I heard the knocking on the door, "who is it?"
"It's me, Xander." Said the familiar voice. Outside it was still bright but considering I was attacked in the middle of the day that's not much of a relief anymore. I charged mana in my fist and opened the door, finding that it was Xander there.
"So, ready for another magic lesson?" I said and the teenager nodded.
"Yeah, both Buffy and Willow are going out and kicked me out of the fun, so it was either going back home or trying some more magic. I know which one I choose."
"Good, good, I will take a shower first so you can get started on your stuff." I said while stepping aside for him.
Except he didn't enter.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
I smiled at his words.
~~O~~
"God that was awful, I wonder if Yu will let me crash at his place for a while."
The front door of the building burst open, and a large half snake half bullman went flying on the street while on fire.
"What the hell!" Yelled Xander as he saw the monster on the ground picking itself up, before he looked at me.
"Careful with that monster, it's stronger than it looks." I said while gathering more magic to myself before using the healing spell to fix the many cuts and bruises I had, leaving only a few of them. The monster on the other hand stood up, some of it's damage visibly healing up until the process stopped after fixing about half of his injuries.
"That thing looks strong enough already!" He said before looking at his things. He had a stake, a cross and a squirt gun. Taking the last he pointed at the monster. "Hope it's vulnerable to holy water."
"Shot it while it's down", I said before charging the monster once more.
The shapeshifting creature changed into a minotaur form, reared back his head before charging and trying to gore me to death.
Just as we were about to meet each other I waited until the last minute before unleashed my fully charged attacks. "Volanic Viper!"
My left fist was coated in fire and my attack sent me upwards, while a veritable storm of fire raged around us eating and drilling into my opponent, it's screams of pain filling my ears despite the raging inferno.
We landed roughly at the same time but the creature was in a worse shape, so with a very quick repositioning I maneuvered him so the next few attacks would land him into a corner, more explicitly the wall of a building. I punched and kicked him both on the ground and in the air, using a low powered Bandit Bringer that still send him skidding on the ground allowing me more time to continue my assault.
As we neared the corner I threw a Gun Flame, though it came out a little awkward without the Fire Seal to smooth the process over, and I had to expend most of my gathered tension on a Roman Cancel maneuver to seamlessly connect my chain of attacks, which ground my movement to a halt and brought me to a neutral position. It was almost like turning back time into a previous state with how smooth the transition was, and I used it to keep the pressure with more attacks going into mid air, lighter strikes to stronger ones chained together until another Volcanic Viper hit the creature, making it wail in pain just as I finished it with a knee drop on it's head.
We landed first, but took longer to recover than he wanted. He still had enough bit in him to hit me by surprise with a tail sweep that grabbed me on the leg, pounding me left and right both on the ground and the building wall before sending me far away. I rolled with the attack, coming back up a bit dizzy from the assault but none worse for the wear since my Guard spell was acting as it should.
The creature morphed into a large dragon, and took off into the skies either to attack me from higher ground or to escape. I didn't let him.
Using another spell I did a 'high jump' coming right into the dragon's face, grabbing it with my right hand and exploding it's face off, making the creature scream in pain and fall back into the ground.
Still that wasn't enough, with the creature once more making to stand up so I had to gamble on my next attack. I quickly charged as much mana as I could before unlocking all restraints in the Tension I gathered. The creature had became an ogre which I kneed on the stomach sending him a few paces back, before I moved so fast it felt like I had disappeared.
I ended behind the monster crouching and panting from exertion, but I knew I had won. "This is the end."
The multiple small balls of Magic on his body detonated one after another in a conflagration that melted the ground beneath us, the pillar of fire reaching high in the sky before only a charred husk was left on the ground.
I looked back a the creature who was laying inert on the ground. "Xander do you have a knife or something?" I looked at him and he just stared at me, frozen. "Hurry!"
He fumbled a bit and found a Swiss army knife, which he gave me and I cut my palm with it. Quickly I made a circle around the creature, which would be enough. Dispelling my minor spells for what I would do I created an instant magic circle and then a Magic recycling spell took place. In five minutes the corpse disappeared from the ground and a couple of mana crystals was on the ground. I hurried to grab them before motioning for Xander to follow me.
Once we were on my apartment I sagged in relief on my bed. Guess I will need to make wards around my apartment to avoid this kind of thing.
No, make that wards on the building itself and the street I'm in, just to be sure.
We stayed in silence for a moment, with me catching my breath and Xander trying to process what just happened.
Eventually, he broke his silence. "Do you really need to yell the names of your attacks when you do them? The girls were wondering that."
"I just killed a shapeshifting demon dragon, your complaints are invalid."
"Do you actually know what you are doing?" Asked Giles with what I hoped were a diminished amount of suspicion. "To finally deal with Eyghon I mean."
"Yeah", I nodded, "should have done that before but I didn't wanted to show you guys this particular aspect of my knowledge. Two people can keep a secret if one of them are dead and all that."
"What do you plan to do?" Asked Buffy curious at my turn of phrase.
I couldn't help but smirk. "'Waste not, want not' is the unofficial moto of the magical future back in Sol's world."
~~O~~
Eyghon was safely disposed, and aside from the demon impotent cries of rage and pain, nothing bad happened. A basic recycling spell was repurposed to break down the mana of the demon, refining it into a pure state while the corruption was being burned out, leaving a small bit of crystallized mana in it's wake.
Normally a spell to recycle magical items, Sol managed to use it to clean up the fallen Gears and get usable materials and some extra cash.
"I'm going to keep this one for myself", I told the group while pocketing the small crystals on the ground. "For payment for dealing with the demon and all that."
"Can I expect you to give some samples for research to the Watchers Council?"
"No", I bluntly stated, "no you can't. I might make items on commission if you want after I get enough mana crystals and other materials, but I'm not going to give the secret to this procedure to anyone."
"That's disappointing, but not unexpected." Said Giles, "as for the assassins after you, we will take a look on the library to try and figure out who's behind it."
"Thanks, now I just want to go home and relax. I'm really not up to more shenanigans today."
~~O~~
"Yes?" I said when I heard the knocking on the door, "who is it?"
"It's me, Xander." Said the familiar voice. Outside it was still bright but considering I was attacked in the middle of the day that's not much of a relief anymore. I charged mana in my fist and opened the door, finding that it was Xander there.
"So, ready for another magic lesson?" I said and the teenager nodded.
"Yeah, both Buffy and Willow are going out and kicked me out of the fun, so it was either going back home or trying some more magic. I know which one I choose."
"Good, good, I will take a shower first so you can get started on your stuff." I said while stepping aside for him.
Except he didn't enter.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
I smiled at his words.
~~O~~
"God that was awful, I wonder if Yu will let me crash at his place for a while."
The front door of the building burst open, and a large half snake half bullman went flying on the street while on fire.
"What the hell!" Yelled Xander as he saw the monster on the ground picking itself up, before he looked at me.
"Careful with that monster, it's stronger than it looks." I said while gathering more magic to myself before using the healing spell to fix the many cuts and bruises I had, leaving only a few of them. The monster on the other hand stood up, some of it's damage visibly healing up until the process stopped after fixing about half of his injuries.
"That thing looks strong enough already!" He said before looking at his things. He had a stake, a cross and a squirt gun. Taking the last he pointed at the monster. "Hope it's vulnerable to holy water."
"Shot it while it's down", I said before charging the monster once more.
The shapeshifting creature changed into a minotaur form, reared back his head before charging and trying to gore me to death.
Just as we were about to meet each other I waited until the last minute before unleashed my fully charged attacks. "Volanic Viper!"
My left fist was coated in fire and my attack sent me upwards, while a veritable storm of fire raged around us eating and drilling into my opponent, it's screams of pain filling my ears despite the raging inferno.
We landed roughly at the same time but the creature was in a worse shape, so with a very quick repositioning I maneuvered him so the next few attacks would land him into a corner, more explicitly the wall of a building. I punched and kicked him both on the ground and in the air, using a low powered Bandit Bringer that still send him skidding on the ground allowing me more time to continue my assault.
As we neared the corner I threw a Gun Flame, though it came out a little awkward without the Fire Seal to smooth the process over, and I had to expend most of my gathered tension on a Roman Cancel maneuver to seamlessly connect my chain of attacks, which ground my movement to a halt and brought me to a neutral position. It was almost like turning back time into a previous state with how smooth the transition was, and I used it to keep the pressure with more attacks going into mid air, lighter strikes to stronger ones chained together until another Volcanic Viper hit the creature, making it wail in pain just as I finished it with a knee drop on it's head.
We landed first, but took longer to recover than he wanted. He still had enough bit in him to hit me by surprise with a tail sweep that grabbed me on the leg, pounding me left and right both on the ground and the building wall before sending me far away. I rolled with the attack, coming back up a bit dizzy from the assault but none worse for the wear since my Guard spell was acting as it should.
The creature morphed into a large dragon, and took off into the skies either to attack me from higher ground or to escape. I didn't let him.
Using another spell I did a 'high jump' coming right into the dragon's face, grabbing it with my right hand and exploding it's face off, making the creature scream in pain and fall back into the ground.
Still that wasn't enough, with the creature once more making to stand up so I had to gamble on my next attack. I quickly charged as much mana as I could before unlocking all restraints in the Tension I gathered. The creature had became an ogre which I kneed on the stomach sending him a few paces back, before I moved so fast it felt like I had disappeared.
I ended behind the monster crouching and panting from exertion, but I knew I had won. "This is the end."
The multiple small balls of Magic on his body detonated one after another in a conflagration that melted the ground beneath us, the pillar of fire reaching high in the sky before only a charred husk was left on the ground.
I looked back a the creature who was laying inert on the ground. "Xander do you have a knife or something?" I looked at him and he just stared at me, frozen. "Hurry!"
He fumbled a bit and found a Swiss army knife, which he gave me and I cut my palm with it. Quickly I made a circle around the creature, which would be enough. Dispelling my minor spells for what I would do I created an instant magic circle and then a Magic recycling spell took place. In five minutes the corpse disappeared from the ground and a couple of mana crystals was on the ground. I hurried to grab them before motioning for Xander to follow me.
Once we were on my apartment I sagged in relief on my bed. Guess I will need to make wards around my apartment to avoid this kind of thing.
No, make that wards on the building itself and the street I'm in, just to be sure.
We stayed in silence for a moment, with me catching my breath and Xander trying to process what just happened.
Eventually, he broke his silence. "Do you really need to yell the names of your attacks when you do them? The girls were wondering that."
"I just killed a shapeshifting demon dragon, your complaints are invalid."
Last edited:
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
Less than a week. Don't worry, there will be a time skip since there's some time between Giles episode and Career Week.
jaiveer00
Siding With Thanos
- Location
- The Beginning and The End
...you can't just leave this running on top of the hellmouth, can you?
...
yes clearly we should do that.
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
More like making a living with magic items, though the magic crystals mean he won't be pressed for cash when supplying himself with magic items later.So.... I gotta ask...
Can ya make a livin' stacking them magic crystals, eh?
ChaosRonin
The Man From Down Under
- Location
- Melbourne
Remember Kids always recycle, Its good for the environment!
Hehe I see this getting abused pretty hard as more and more magic items come up. Also he totally needs to learn some sort of sleep/bind spell so he can do battlefield recycling
Hehe I see this getting abused pretty hard as more and more magic items come up. Also he totally needs to learn some sort of sleep/bind spell so he can do battlefield recycling
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
It's not necessarily canon GG spell, but since they are awfully vague on the Lore, I will make up new things as I go along. Basically, anything that current technology does in some way or another the MagicScience of the magic future either replicates faithfully without pollution or does it better.Remember Kids always recycle, Its good for the environment!
Hehe I see this getting abused pretty hard as more and more magic items come up. Also he totally needs to learn some sort of sleep/bind spell so he can do battlefield recycling
And yes, the idea is to go 'farming' on the vampire nests for money, jewelry and bodies for conversion into magic crystal. It's also good to note they are converted into pure mana crystals without corruption, for safe handling.
14
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
"You look tired", said Willow when I sat down on the cafeteria, "what happened."
"Oh, you know, just fending off demon assassins all week." I said while trying to eat all of my food. Needs more pepper.
"Don't say that out loud", hissed Willow and I shrugged.
"Yeah, as if they would believe it", I muttered before taking another bite of my food. I wonder when the assassins will start to get craftier and try to poison my food. Sol was immune to ninety nine point eight percent of all poisons know to mankind, natural and magical alike and only specific spells could poison him for some time, like some of Testament's spells. "Anyway did you guys already finished the career week's survey?"
"I'm still trying to figure it out", said Xander, "I mean, here it asks if I'm a people's person or if I like to keep my own company, but what if I'm a people's person that keep to his own company due to external influences?"
"First, it means we need to slap some bitches", I ignored Willows cry, "if they think this kind of bullshit will be tolerated any further. I just spent a literal hellish week and I lost all fucks to give. Second, you should mark the first option because it's asking what you think of yourself and how you wish to be or how you want to act. People being dicks means there's something wrong with them, not with you."
The rest of the slayer gang stared at me for a while, and I couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, it just reminded myself of an unpleasant past, of people walking all over others because they aren't nearly as 'cool'" I said with finger quotes, "or willing to sink into violence at first glance, or that are simply clumsier and more awkward than others." I paused for a moment before going back to my food. "Nevermind."
"Hmm, well, that's different I suppose." Said Xander after a moment, "SO, did you filled your survey already?"
"Yeah, took me five minutes or so."
"What!" Exclaimed Willow, "but that's a very important questionary in our school life, how come you answered it that quickly?"
"I think what's important is what I plan to do after I finish high school than what a survey tells me what I'm supposed to be. I mean, what if I want to be a scientist but the survey tells me I should take a job at the service industry? Should I ignore my own hopes and dreams because a slip of paper told me what to do or tell it to screw itself and march?"
"Well, I don't know", said Buffy, "isn't that thing supposed to help you anyway?"
"If you're indecisive, it might help that's true, but I'm not indecisive."
"Then what are you going to do once you graduate?" This time it was Willow who asked.
"I'm going to be a scientist, a physicist to be exact."
"That's really, really nerdy", muttered Xander, "not that there's something wrong with it, but it's difficult to mix the image I have of you with that of a stiff professor."
"Sol had a degree in particle physics and his PhD was on a new field of science if you get what I mean. It served him well at a later date."
"Ugh, I just don't want people to look at my survey results and see something embarrassing!" Said Buffy and I stared at her.
"Yes, because what other people think about you is the most important thing to your future."
"Exactly! Glad that you understand."
I let my head fall to the table. Fucking teenagers.
AN:// Short update, but will probably make another one today.
"Oh, you know, just fending off demon assassins all week." I said while trying to eat all of my food. Needs more pepper.
"Don't say that out loud", hissed Willow and I shrugged.
"Yeah, as if they would believe it", I muttered before taking another bite of my food. I wonder when the assassins will start to get craftier and try to poison my food. Sol was immune to ninety nine point eight percent of all poisons know to mankind, natural and magical alike and only specific spells could poison him for some time, like some of Testament's spells. "Anyway did you guys already finished the career week's survey?"
"I'm still trying to figure it out", said Xander, "I mean, here it asks if I'm a people's person or if I like to keep my own company, but what if I'm a people's person that keep to his own company due to external influences?"
"First, it means we need to slap some bitches", I ignored Willows cry, "if they think this kind of bullshit will be tolerated any further. I just spent a literal hellish week and I lost all fucks to give. Second, you should mark the first option because it's asking what you think of yourself and how you wish to be or how you want to act. People being dicks means there's something wrong with them, not with you."
The rest of the slayer gang stared at me for a while, and I couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, it just reminded myself of an unpleasant past, of people walking all over others because they aren't nearly as 'cool'" I said with finger quotes, "or willing to sink into violence at first glance, or that are simply clumsier and more awkward than others." I paused for a moment before going back to my food. "Nevermind."
"Hmm, well, that's different I suppose." Said Xander after a moment, "SO, did you filled your survey already?"
"Yeah, took me five minutes or so."
"What!" Exclaimed Willow, "but that's a very important questionary in our school life, how come you answered it that quickly?"
"I think what's important is what I plan to do after I finish high school than what a survey tells me what I'm supposed to be. I mean, what if I want to be a scientist but the survey tells me I should take a job at the service industry? Should I ignore my own hopes and dreams because a slip of paper told me what to do or tell it to screw itself and march?"
"Well, I don't know", said Buffy, "isn't that thing supposed to help you anyway?"
"If you're indecisive, it might help that's true, but I'm not indecisive."
"Then what are you going to do once you graduate?" This time it was Willow who asked.
"I'm going to be a scientist, a physicist to be exact."
"That's really, really nerdy", muttered Xander, "not that there's something wrong with it, but it's difficult to mix the image I have of you with that of a stiff professor."
"Sol had a degree in particle physics and his PhD was on a new field of science if you get what I mean. It served him well at a later date."
"Ugh, I just don't want people to look at my survey results and see something embarrassing!" Said Buffy and I stared at her.
"Yes, because what other people think about you is the most important thing to your future."
"Exactly! Glad that you understand."
I let my head fall to the table. Fucking teenagers.
AN:// Short update, but will probably make another one today.
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
Well, yes, that's what the author notes said.
ChaosRonin
The Man From Down Under
- Location
- Melbourne
Sounds good to me, although I know absolutely nothing of GG in fact I thought you were going to dress as Squall from FFVIII when you were asking Ethan for belts.
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
Squall only have two to three belts, Sol had eighteen.
- Location
- England
Good story, so far. Protagonist-guy seems to be taking things as they come, instead of breaking out the OOC info to accidentally canon. Not that that is necessarily bad.
Xander speaking, so it could be intentionally horrible grammar.
- Location
- Dual citizen of SV&SB
Wait, seriously? How does that even work?
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
The SI simply don't know much about canon. Everything that he could tell the scoobies he told them offscreen because he's not a moron, but there isn't much evidence and information to go around with it.
- Location
- England
I thought that was part of it, as he didn't seem to remember exactly what was up with Ford. He knows enough to do more than he is, though. Or to decide not to. The mayor, for example. I caught him wishing he had died. I'm sure he also knows 'Boinking Angel is bad'* and he probably knows 'Wolfram and Heart are dodgy as hell'.
* In another BtVS fanfic the SI acted as a seer and got Giles to warn Buffy off. This worked about as well as you would expect (not at all).
meganeshounen
*tips glasses*
- Location
- Far East Asia
When in doubt, "Magic" is an appropriate response.
Otherwise, "anime-styled costumes" also work.
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
meganeshounen
*tips glasses*
- Location
- Far East Asia
15
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
Two days later Buffy came into the library with worry in her face. "Hey Giles, does the 'Order of Teriyaki' means anything to you?"
Giles blinked for a moment. "Order of what?"
"It's a japanese dish, usually chicken made with a special sweet sauce." I supplied to her making both Slayer and Watcher stare at me.
"I thought it was chinese food." Said Xander from his point in the table.
"Maybe there's a similar chinese dish, but with that name it's clearly japanese in origin."
Buffy palmed her face. "I don't think cooking have anything to do with demon assassins coming after me." She said while showing Giles a ring, making him gasp in surprise.
"That's the emblem for the Order of Taraka-"
"THAT'S what it's called! Thanks Giles."
"-an order of assassins having both demons and humans alike." He continued ignoring his interruption. "Once they accept a contract they finish it no matter what, sending assassin after assassin no matter how many failures they suffer until the target is silenced."
I turned to Buffy with a flat stare. "Really Buffy? Just because I had my own demonic assassins after me doesn't mean you had to be jealous and get some of your own."
"This is no laughing matter!" Said Giles while glaring at me, "the Order of Taraka is made of ruthless monsters who will do anything to fulfill their contract, even going as far as attacking Buffy in plain daylight!"
I just stared at him with my best 'O'Rly' expression waiting for him to caught on.
The stare off continued for a while before Xander coughed on the side. "Hmm, that's exactly what happened to Yu recently if you don't remember. In fact, that happened just yesterday too."
"I'm not doing a 'who gets the worst assassins' dick measuring contest with you Yu." Buffy said flatly at me. "I just want to figure out how to eliminate assassins from my daily diet."
"Well, we could find out where they live, bust out their compound, kill everyone there, hear the lamentations of their women while we burn down the place to the ground and eliminate the Order once and for all."
"I will try to book 'cultural purge' on my planner, somewhere before 'mass genocide' and 'creating an utopia'."
"Stay out of my notes!" I told her while standing up and pointing an accusing finger to her, which she and Giles looked at me like I had grown a second head before I calmly sat back on my chair.
"Bloody teenagers who don't take things seriously", muttered Giles under his breath before I snorted.
"Oh, I take attempts of my life very seriously, that's why every single assassin sent after me was dealt with swiftly and decisively before being converted into mana crystals. It's just that after a whole week being targeted, either on the streets or on my own house I kind of lost all fucks to give at this point. Speaking of which, how do I figure out someone is from this Order? Do they have some identifying marks or something? If so the idea to go overseas and smash some skulls become much more attractive."
"Well, they had this ring", Buffy said while showing me a signet ring, "apparently all assassins have it."
I looked at the intricate pattern, but otherwise I didn't recognize it or saw any of the demon assassins after me wearing something similar. "Well, if you see one of your assassins try to ask them if they have a contract on me, would you?"
"Why I need to ask that?"
"They're your assassins, aren't they?"
"They're not friendly!"
As the discussion went on, I saw Giles banging his head on the nearby wall softly with a look of utter despair.
~~O~~
Because of the discussion of who had the best, or worst, demon assassins after each other I had missed the fact that Buffy saw some vampire running off with some kind of book from a cript. Supposedly the book is important and I was accompanying both Xander and Cordelia to Buffy's home to tell her the news and see how she's holding up.
Just of course, for a couple of shadow ninjas to burst out from the shadows of the nearby objects and try to gut me like a fish. It says wonderful things about my life that I thought those ninjas were probably genins sent as canon fodder to test my defenses since I was attacked on the middle of the day.
It also say something that by now I got much more used to the magic flowing through my body that I could actually perform some of the spells without requiring build up time for the charge. Still not a proper knight, but with the assassins providing with free training and my healing spell making sure I'm back at peak efficiency after a fight means I'm integrating Sol fighting techniques much more quickly than expected.
At least some good thing from the demon assassins. Aside form the loot, of course.
From my bag I took out a small dagger I made with the mana crystals I had beforehand. It's no jinki, but as a proper magic weapon it should hold to this skirmish.
Six ninjas, all of them focused on me. It's almost like the world had slowed to a crawl, both me and my opponents moving in sync. The first ninja falls to a superheated blade on the neck, while the second one I break his face with a well placed Fafnir. The next two I take both at the same time with a Gunflame using my pre-charged magic. The second to last takes a Bandit Bringer on the face, caving in his skull, while the last one takes a Volcanic Viper to the guts.
As the last of them dissolves into shadow, meaning I can't quite loot their bodies, both Xander and Cordelia came out from their hiding spot, the later far more shaken than she would ever admit.
"So, you do this often?" Asked Cordelia in what she hoped was a casual tone.
"There will be more. These six didn't even count for a work out, though the fact more than one assassin started to come after my hide is worrying."
Cordelia look was grim before she sighed in annoyance. "Let's just get to Buffy's house."
As we continued walking, Xander couldn't help himself. "I wish I was important enough to have assassins after me."
"I could try and kill you in your sleep?"
He sighed. "It just wouldn't be the same."
"By God there's two of them."
Giles blinked for a moment. "Order of what?"
"It's a japanese dish, usually chicken made with a special sweet sauce." I supplied to her making both Slayer and Watcher stare at me.
"I thought it was chinese food." Said Xander from his point in the table.
"Maybe there's a similar chinese dish, but with that name it's clearly japanese in origin."
Buffy palmed her face. "I don't think cooking have anything to do with demon assassins coming after me." She said while showing Giles a ring, making him gasp in surprise.
"That's the emblem for the Order of Taraka-"
"THAT'S what it's called! Thanks Giles."
"-an order of assassins having both demons and humans alike." He continued ignoring his interruption. "Once they accept a contract they finish it no matter what, sending assassin after assassin no matter how many failures they suffer until the target is silenced."
I turned to Buffy with a flat stare. "Really Buffy? Just because I had my own demonic assassins after me doesn't mean you had to be jealous and get some of your own."
"This is no laughing matter!" Said Giles while glaring at me, "the Order of Taraka is made of ruthless monsters who will do anything to fulfill their contract, even going as far as attacking Buffy in plain daylight!"
I just stared at him with my best 'O'Rly' expression waiting for him to caught on.
The stare off continued for a while before Xander coughed on the side. "Hmm, that's exactly what happened to Yu recently if you don't remember. In fact, that happened just yesterday too."
"I'm not doing a 'who gets the worst assassins' dick measuring contest with you Yu." Buffy said flatly at me. "I just want to figure out how to eliminate assassins from my daily diet."
"Well, we could find out where they live, bust out their compound, kill everyone there, hear the lamentations of their women while we burn down the place to the ground and eliminate the Order once and for all."
"I will try to book 'cultural purge' on my planner, somewhere before 'mass genocide' and 'creating an utopia'."
"Stay out of my notes!" I told her while standing up and pointing an accusing finger to her, which she and Giles looked at me like I had grown a second head before I calmly sat back on my chair.
"Bloody teenagers who don't take things seriously", muttered Giles under his breath before I snorted.
"Oh, I take attempts of my life very seriously, that's why every single assassin sent after me was dealt with swiftly and decisively before being converted into mana crystals. It's just that after a whole week being targeted, either on the streets or on my own house I kind of lost all fucks to give at this point. Speaking of which, how do I figure out someone is from this Order? Do they have some identifying marks or something? If so the idea to go overseas and smash some skulls become much more attractive."
"Well, they had this ring", Buffy said while showing me a signet ring, "apparently all assassins have it."
I looked at the intricate pattern, but otherwise I didn't recognize it or saw any of the demon assassins after me wearing something similar. "Well, if you see one of your assassins try to ask them if they have a contract on me, would you?"
"Why I need to ask that?"
"They're your assassins, aren't they?"
"They're not friendly!"
As the discussion went on, I saw Giles banging his head on the nearby wall softly with a look of utter despair.
~~O~~
Because of the discussion of who had the best, or worst, demon assassins after each other I had missed the fact that Buffy saw some vampire running off with some kind of book from a cript. Supposedly the book is important and I was accompanying both Xander and Cordelia to Buffy's home to tell her the news and see how she's holding up.
Just of course, for a couple of shadow ninjas to burst out from the shadows of the nearby objects and try to gut me like a fish. It says wonderful things about my life that I thought those ninjas were probably genins sent as canon fodder to test my defenses since I was attacked on the middle of the day.
It also say something that by now I got much more used to the magic flowing through my body that I could actually perform some of the spells without requiring build up time for the charge. Still not a proper knight, but with the assassins providing with free training and my healing spell making sure I'm back at peak efficiency after a fight means I'm integrating Sol fighting techniques much more quickly than expected.
At least some good thing from the demon assassins. Aside form the loot, of course.
From my bag I took out a small dagger I made with the mana crystals I had beforehand. It's no jinki, but as a proper magic weapon it should hold to this skirmish.
Six ninjas, all of them focused on me. It's almost like the world had slowed to a crawl, both me and my opponents moving in sync. The first ninja falls to a superheated blade on the neck, while the second one I break his face with a well placed Fafnir. The next two I take both at the same time with a Gunflame using my pre-charged magic. The second to last takes a Bandit Bringer on the face, caving in his skull, while the last one takes a Volcanic Viper to the guts.
As the last of them dissolves into shadow, meaning I can't quite loot their bodies, both Xander and Cordelia came out from their hiding spot, the later far more shaken than she would ever admit.
"So, you do this often?" Asked Cordelia in what she hoped was a casual tone.
"There will be more. These six didn't even count for a work out, though the fact more than one assassin started to come after my hide is worrying."
Cordelia look was grim before she sighed in annoyance. "Let's just get to Buffy's house."
As we continued walking, Xander couldn't help himself. "I wish I was important enough to have assassins after me."
"I could try and kill you in your sleep?"
He sighed. "It just wouldn't be the same."
"By God there's two of them."