A/N After reading a lot of fanfics, I think I should answer reviews as a way for thanking everyone that reads my stories.
To Arrow-chan3: thanks for the praise, hope you enjoy this chapter too! XD
To Western-Otaku: didn't take a month this time :D!
To Astaria Mel Kanariane: I hope this counts as soonish.
To Rising Wind: Eve isn't a nasod in this story, but a magician that can change her skin to metal
Chapter four
Elsword smirked to himself triumphantly. Of course Aisha wasn't going to the excursion, he only said that to his father so he had an environment to work in his favour. Assuming that this rumour starter didn't know the layout of the Princes Castle, it would be easy to catch him following him. At school he would bring to much attention trying to find whoever had spread the rumour, but at the excursion, with only their year level going this would be the perfect opportunity or at least the best opportunity to find the root of the rumours. Outside in the front yard of the Sieghart mansion, Add was trimming (with chainsaws) the hedges.
"Hey Add!" Elsword called out.
"Welcome back master Sieghart," the gardener replied bitterly, probably from the recent torture that Rena had put him through.
The red haired boy nodded his head in response, as if thanking the boy. He made his way towards the front door, which opened for him, revealing the tall butler, smiling.
"I pray you had a fine day young master?" he asked.
"Yeah. Who's in right now?" Elsword asked, kicking off his shoes, before putting them on the shoe rack beside the door.
"Everyone is present but Lady Rena and the young mistress."
"I see," the red haired boy muttered, making his way up the stairs and towards his room. "If you need me I'll be in my room writing."
'I hope Aisha is going to be alright tonight…'
Dressed in her bounty hunter clothing, Aisha strolled down one of the alleyways in Velder. Stopping in front of one of the doors, she knocked gently.
"Password," a voice came from behind the door.
Aisha sighed bringing her hand to her forehead, maybe hoping that hiding her eyes would make her invisible.
"Tomatoes are smelly," she forcefully whispered.
As she said that, the latches behind the door could be heard, unlocking. The woodened door slowly creaked open, revealing a white gloved hand.
"Aisha," the soothing voice continued. "It's been a while. Come on in."
The figure waved his hand in a motion to come inside. Following him in, Aisha closed the door behind her, the bolts and latches automatically locking themselves. Inside was a flight of stairs, leading downwards.
"Coming?" the man asked.
The purple haired girl followed the man down the spiral staircase, and after a minute or so they arrived at the door below. Waving his hand past the door handle, there was a click, before the door opened, leading into a brightly lit library. It was fairly large, with countless shelves filled to the brim with books. Tables for reading were situated in the middle of the room, where a variety of magicians were currently reading. The floor was carpeted in a soft red fur like material, possibly from a red phorus hide.
"We have a new variety of books today," the now visible man said. His white hair was wild, hovering over a black mask. An equal coloured robe was worn, with padlocks holding back his magic power. "Any form of magic, we got it all here."
"Cut the crap Glave," she said. "You know why I'm here."
Smiling (not to sure with the mask), Glave rubbed his hands together in an excited glee.
"Best not do it here," he replied. "I prefer privacy."
He indicated the hooded figure in the corner, observing the bounty hunter, while spinning a pen around his thumb.
"Yes," Aisha agreed.
The two weaved past the shelves and some readers, careful not to attract any attention.
"At least this place is livelier than normal," Aisha muttered. "Though as one of the three sages, you could have done so much better."
Glave chuckled, arriving at a door that had restricted written over it.
"It's a time of peace Aisha," Glave cooed. "I have to make a living somehow do I not?"
A bunch of seals were also carved into the door, which Glave tapped, causing them to turn and weave about, before becoming an engraving of a wolf's head. He opened the door, which Aisha followed closely behind.
They entered a dimly lit room, with a single table in the middle of it. There were two couches, which Glave leapt onto one, immediately crossing his legs. Without any indication, Aisha sat down on the opposite seat.
"You know why I'm here yes?" Aisha asked.
Tapping his head in a thoughtful manner, Glave nodded.
"I did try to track down the source of the recent perpetrators you and your colleagues had caught," Glave said. "Sadly there isn't anything I would consider viable. Just a rumour."
"And this rumour was about?" Aisha urged the older man.
Leaning forward, Glave placed his elbows onto the table.
"Nasods."
Aisha raised an eyebrow.
"Nasods are extinct," she said. "They all were destroyed in the last war. I mean even if they were still some around, why would anyone work with them? Their sole purpose is to kill everyone!"
"That's why I said it wasn't viable," Glave muttered, leaning back into this seat. "Though people are easily fooled. Perhaps they were promised something. As for proof there have been some Nasod sightings. Even some nasodian weapons in The Trade."
The Trade is a term used in the magic world as a neutral market that sells everything. I literally mean everything. From tissues to the latest weapons. So a nasodian weapon, a rare sight indeed, would be devastating in the wrong hands.
"Surely someone must have noticed?" Aisha said. "I mean with a nasodian weapon and all. Unless-"
"Unless it was meant to be traded specifically to a certain investor," Glave interrupted.
Aisha was about to say something, but Glave interrupted again.
"Sadly I can't help you with the whereabouts of this investor, I have been bribed to not speak of this to anyone. I do value my customers after all."
Aisha sighed.
"And you call yourself a Sage?" the purplette mocked.
Glave bowed.
"I was never a battle type of magician, I more deal in information," he replied, standing up. "Now, if you excuse me, there is someone knocking at the front door. Careful on your way out."
Clicking his fingers, a small portal appeared next to him, which he stepped through.
"Also, I appreciate if you don't make too much of a mess," he said, before finally disappearing entirely.
The portal closed, and a single sheet of paper fell from the portal. Curiously, Aisha walked around the table, and crouched, picking up the small folded piece of paper. Slowly, she unravelled it, taking in the words.
'The investor resides in Lanox.'
Aisha smiled, remembering what Glave had said.
'I have been bribed not to speak of this to anyone.'
"You sly old bastard," the bounty hunter muttered to herself, folding the piece of paper again, slipping it in her back pocket. "Well with this I can kill two birds with one stone."
She stood up, and made her way to the door, before stopping. She hovered her hand around the door handle, before lowering her hand again. There was a ticking sound, like an old clock…with an occasional beeping. Her eyes widened, as she quickly jumped backward, just as the door exploded from the bomb ticking outside. She cursed as she grabbed her baton, extending slowly into her staff. The smoke rose, clouding her field of vision. She didn't know who was there, but she had to make the first move. Her staff now fully extended, shot forward, clearing the smoke away, revealing the culprit as the hooded figure from before. As it cleared, the hooded person dashed forward, catching Aisha on the gut with their fist. Coughing, Aisha skidded along the floor, crashing as a heap against the wall. The perpetrator dashed forward again, but Aisha splayed her hands against the wall, causing her to slip past her attackers legs, much to their surprise. Rising to her feet, ran past the door and into the library, where there seemed to be no readers.
"Good, no one to interfere," she muttered, to skidded to a halt between two tables and turned around, waiting for her attacker. As she had thought, the hooded figure emerged from the smoke, charging towards her. Aisha gripped her staff tightly, before she too charged at the hooded figure. Swinging her staff, she aimed for the head, but was blocked by the attackers arm, a solid clanging sound resonating from the blow. Swinging their arm, Aisha was thrown backwards, crashing through one of the bookshelves.
"What the hell this thing made off?" she murmured. Standing up from the fallen bookshelf, she dusted herself off.
She faced the hooded person, smirking.
"You should be proud," she said. "No one but Rena has pushed me to do this. You're a tough opponent, so maybe I should get serious."
She retracted her staff, and attached the baton back to her belt, before crossing her arms and bringing them to her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she started to hover slightly, the wind around her picking up immensely. The books around her were thrown away by the force of the wind, finally, it started to retract, the area of raging winds becoming smaller, until it completely coated Aisha in an aqua coloured wind, as did the colour of her pupils. This was a high form of elemental magic. Created as a theory by Vanessa of Velder, the strongest elemental master, the magician releases as much magic of one particular element. As they do, they absorb it within their body, and for a limited amount of time, the user 'becomes one' with the element, gaining the physical benefits of the chosen element. This is known as the 'elemental aura'.
"Ready?" Aisha mocked, before suddenly disappearing.
Surprised, the hooded figure desperately searched for the girl, but couldn't find her. That was until she reappeared behind him, punching them in the back of the head. As the figure flew forward by the large amount of force, Aisha reappeared in front of him, kicking towards the ceiling, which once again she was already there, raising her clasped hands and striking them straight into the ground. As the hooded figure crashed into the floor, Aisha let go of her form, the aqua wind disappearing. Her eyes returned to its normal purple colour, which then she descended slowly to the ground, panting heavily.
The downside to using such magic is that absorbing ones magical power damages the body. A small trickle of blood slid from Aisha's mouth, but she wiped it away with her left hand.
Aisha slowly made her way through the dust, eyeing the crater that she had made. The figure had lost their hood from the last strike, and as the dust started dispersing, Aisha could see the figure.
A nasod. Its sleek metal body reflected whatever was left of the ceiling lights.
"No wonder you were so tough," Aisha spat out. "So I guess those rumours were true. Who would have thought?"
Groaning, Aisha sat down, sighing a breath of relief.
"If one is this strong, I wonder how we even defeated them in the first place."
Aisha looked at it once more. The light around its chest core was no longer glowing. Probably dead. Having rested enough, Aisha stood back up, and walked off, leaving the dead nasod to whoever wanted it. She exited through the front door, and started making her journey to Lanox.
What she failed to notice was the twitching hand of the nasod as she had closed the door. There was some whirring, before the metal being stood right back up, as if nothing serious had happened, it's blue core glowing again. The body started to refix itself. Within the minute it was completely fine again. It took a single step, and leapt out of the crater, landing on the red-carpeted floor.
It stopped, as two sets of footsteps could be heard walking towards the newly fixed nasod. As they stepped into the light, the nasod cocked its head to the side. One was a boy, roughly Elsword's age, with tall with dark hair, wearing a black shirt with green stripes, while his pants were completely black as well as his boots. His shoulders were covered with metal guards, like one a soldier would use. On his back was a sword, nothing to fancy, just a plain one. The other was a younger girl, roughly twelve years of age. She too had dark hair, but was much longer with a light blue bonnet situated on her head. She wore a dark blue dress, which were similar in colour to her eyes. Around her wrists were countless amounts of wristbands. And finally in the girl's hand was a small amulet, glowing red as she pointed it at the nasod.
"Lucy," the older boy said. "Is that the nasod that killed mum?"
The smaller girl, Lucy, shook her head.
"No," she said. "But be careful Lento. Don't underestimate it."
Lento nodded, stepping forward.
"Don't worry," he said. "After all these years, a simple scouting nasod wouldn't hurt me."
He took a step forward his fingers cackling with electricity. He swung his hand down, the bolt of lightning erupted from nowhere, crashing into the nasod. Shaken, it fell onto one knee, struggling to get up. Lento casually walked towards the fallen nasod. Finally rising to it's feet, the metal being leapt at the boy, it's arm outstretched. Swiftly, Lento caught the arm, before crushing it in his hand. Ripping its arm off, Lento stepped forward and grabbed its neck, lifting it slightly off the ground.
"You're a scout nasod, so you're connected mentally by a controller right?" he said, already knowing the answer. "Tell your leader I'm coming for him."
As he said that, with his other hand, Lento pierced right through the nasodian core, his whole hand coated in an extreme light blue aura. His eyes to were similar in colour, but faded back to being brown as the aura round his hand disappeared. Lento pulled out his hand, letting the nasod crumple to the ground in a heap.
"Let's go Lucy," he said. "We need to find the next one."
Nodding, the smaller girl watched as the nasod seeking amulet in her hand crumbled and broke.
"It'll probably take me a day or so to create a new amulet for the next nasod," she replied. "What should we do in the mean time?"
Lento smiled, patting his younger sister on the head.
"Mum was investigating about the nasod sightings," he said thoughtfully. "If I remembered correctly, she tracked the source of an investor in the trade. In Lanox I think. If we go there, we could probably find more nasods. Might even find the one that killed mum."
Walking towards the front door, the duo started their journey to Lanox as well.
A/N Thank you for those that have been following this story so far. This right now would be my favourite and as such I will most likely update this the most (which probably means in stead of monthly maybe weekly). So hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, hoped you enjoyed it.
The next chapter: The Lanox duel