"Come on! You can't slow down now!" Bacchus exclaimed as his palm flashed through the air, Eric barely able to move out of the way as he instinctively swung a hook at the other man's jaw and clicked his tongue as the drunkard easily slapped the fist away.
Ducking under a heel roundhouse kick from Bacchus, Eric's eyes widened as he realized it was a feint as the man easily switched to an axe-kick before driving the foot downwards and into the middle of his back, forcing the wind out of his lungs as he was forced face first into the ground.
"Not bad for someone who's only been learning hand to hand combat extensively for a month. Give it a few months or so and I might actually have to try." Bacchus said with a leisurely smirk, chuckling at Eric groaning as the young mage pushed himself up to his feet.
"That's….good to hear. Son of a shit, my back hurts." Eric groaned before hissing in pain as Bacchus smacked him on the back, glaring at the grinning drunk man.
"Eh, a bit of pain will help you in the long run. Besides, that wasn't nearly hard enough to actually cause damage. Now, come on. One final round for the day." Eric sighed as he nodded, stretching and rolling his shoulder as Bacchus stood back just a few feet before Eric lowered himself into a fighting stance.
Eric had his right side facing Bacchus with his left leg bent to support his body weight while his right leg was stretched out slightly. His right arm was held at chest level & his left arm at head level with the hands curled in like mantis claws and Bacchus smirked as he stayed standing with his arms at his sides.
"I still can't believe you copied my fighting style to make your own."
'More like I stole yours, Bang's Fist of Flowing Water Crushing Rock, the Gentle Fist from the Hyuga Clan & the bit of Tai Chi that I knew, but you'll never know that.' Eric thought with an amused smirk as he just shrugged outwardly, the S-Class mage rolling his eyes before lifting his left hand and gesturing for Eric to attack.
As soon as he received the prompt, Eric needed no more invitation as he lunged forward, Bacchus smirking as he easily leaned out of the way of the knuckle strike to his throat.
Countering with a palm strike from his left hand to Eric's chest, the younger mage parried the attack to the right while also gripping the wrist of the outstretched arm with one hand as he tried backhanding Bacchus with the other.
However, the mage showed why he was a master in hand-to-hand combat as he twisted his arm in Eric's grip while also pushing his elbow upwards, parrying the backhand into the air while also ripping his arm out of Eric's hand.
Not finished with his counter, he sent a bit of ethernano to his palm as it flashed forward and smashed into Eric's chest, sending him skidding back & knocking the wind out of the young mage as Bacchus hummed.
"Huh, your style is still rough around the edges and it looks as if you're struggling to figure out the proper counters & attack patterns for it, but overall, I'd say if you combine it with your magic, you would be able to take out the average dark mage or magical beast. Just make sure to take them out as soon as possible and don't underestimate anyone under any circumstances. It only takes one sneak attack to end your life, understand?"
"Understand. So, another match?" Eric asked and Bacchus snorted as he shook his head while shaking the now empty gourd at his side.
"Nah, we're done for the day. Besides, we've been training since dawn and it's nearly midday. This gourd doesn't have infinite alcohol in it, ya know?"
"Wait, seriously?" Eric asked in surprise as he looked up at the sun and realized that Bacchus was right, squinting at the yellow ball of flames & gas hanging directly over their heads before sighing as he followed the man into the guild.
"Yo, Eric! I see you got your ass kicked like usual!" A tall & big, robust man with a heavily muscular body exclaimed as soon as Bacchus and Eric walked into the guild, the man's long white hair tied into a ponytail that took on a fan-like shape and dressed in nothing more than a pair of dark fingerless gloves, dark pants & a pair of simple light shoes.
"Yeah, and I see you're getting fatter with every cheeseburger that you eat, eh Jäger?"
"I'm not fat! I'm just a bit big-boned, okay?!" Jäger exclaimed with a glare while the guys in the guild cackled at his abrupt anger, making Eric grin as Bacchus snickered before Master spoke up.
"Jäger, get off your fat ass & go take a job or something. You've already eaten half of the burgers & meat that we have." Goldmine said with a smirk, Jäger grumbling under his breath as Eric chuckled before the guild master turned to him.
"On the other hand, you get ready. You've been requested for a job."
"Wait, people can request someone?" Eric asked with a frown and Goldmine nodded as Bacchus gave a hum.
"Yeah, if your name has been spread from city to city if you did a job well done on a previous job. I suppose it is expected for your name to be spread since you killed a Wyvern on your own on your very first job after becoming a mage, which is quite the rare feat."
'So, there's like a renown system in this world too? Damn, this is far more advanced than I thought it to be.'
"Okay, so who's requested me?" Eric asked and his eyes along with that of everyone in the guild's widened as Goldmine answered.
"Princess Hisui E. Fiore of the Royal Fiore Family wants you to escort a group of merchants that are travelling from Era to Crocus as they are carrying some precious & fragile cargo that the Princess wants. The cargo will be picked up just on the outskirts of the capital city Crocus by a group of her most trusted Rune Knights. However, since you're still new to the guild and this is such an important mission that may greatly benefit our guild & possibly go up in rank to S-Class, I'll be sending one of our S-Class Mages with you."
"That would be me, Eric." A voice spoke from behind them and Eric turned before smirking at the man nodding at him. He was a tan-skinned, young & slim man with a very muscular upper body, a beige dog-like cloak with a red mane, long ears & jaw draped over his head & shoulders & wearing nothing but a pair of dark pants with rectangular white stripes & light-coloured boots with fur around the upper edges.
"Hey, Warcry. I thought you were gone on a job already."
"The master said that I needed to come back as there was an important job issued and so, I finished it & came back as quickly as I could."
'Damn, wasn't he supposed to have been hunting down a very powerful Dark Mage? You know, the anime made him look far weaker than he actually is.' Eric thought with a grin as he nodded in response to Warcry's words before turning to the waiting Goldmine.
"So, when do we need to be ready for this job?"
"The merchants want to start moving their merchandise before the week is over, so about two to three days. If you take the railway, you can get to one of the towns near Era within a few hours & it would only take a day or two of travel before you reach the town."
"Okay, when can you leave?" Eric asked as he turned to Warcry & he shrugged.
"I don't need much so whenever you want to."
"Okay. Give me half an hour and I'll meet you at the station at about half past one. That cool?"
"Sure." Warcry said with a nod and Eric smirked as he nodded while Goldmine chuckled before he spoke.
"Good. Then, I'll go & approve the job. Remember, if it comes down to a battle, then make sure to go all out and go with the wild…"
"Four!" The guild exclaimed and he chuckled before Eric turned & walked to his assigned room in the guild to go & prepare.
"What is all that for?" Warcry asked with a confused look and Eric grinned as he patted his backpack.
"A few meters of rope, a few hand-cuffs, enough foot for both you & I for the next two weeks if we get lost some way and a few other essentials that we may need to for this job."
"…I know that being prepared is good, but I think you're being a bit too paranoid."
"Eh, being paranoid helps keep you alive." Eric said with a shrug and Warcry chuckled at his words as he nodded before they started walking towards the train heading for the town of Nivea that was also the closest to Era.
"The master never told me, but what is your magic?" Eric looked away from watching the scenery passing them by as Warcry asked him a question, the young mage shrugging as he lifted his hand before a light violet glow covered it and the air above his palm began to shift & moved.
"Gravity Magic. Pretty cool, but energy consuming and it takes far too much concentration to use the one advanced spell that I know. What about you?" He asked and Warcry smirked as Eric blinked at the sight of a few tears flowing from the corners of Warcry's eyes.
"I use Tear Magic. It's a type of Support Magic which boosts my physical & magical powers the more I cry. It's a weird kind of magic and even I don't know the exact way that it works, but all I know is that my magic creates protein-filled & ethernano-filled tears that acts as some sort of steroid."
"Oh! So, you're essentially doping and the more you cry, the stronger these 'steroids' become."
"Simply put, yeah, that's the gist of it." Warcry agreed with a nod and Eric hummed before Warcry continued speaking.
"Also, I heard from Master Goldmine & Guy that you are also learning Jutsu Shiki. What would you need that for?"
"Oh, that? Yeah, I need that in order to create my new Eye Magic." Eric said with a nonchalant shrug as he reached into his backpack to pull out his note book while Warcry just blinked a few times before he spoke.
"…You're actually attempting to create your own Eye Magic? You do realize that there's a reason there are only less than two dozen types of Eye Magic in the world, right? Why not choose from one of those?"
"Nah, that's too generic. Creating my own sounds far better than replicating something that anyone else has used. Besides, I'm already a fifth of learning the 300 Ancient Dialect letters needed for Jutsu Shiki, so I'm too far deep to give up now."
"Master said you were a man of many goals, but I think goals are an understatement of the crazy stuff you're trying to do."
"That's me. Eric Creed, master of goals that are near impossible to accomplish yet I do it anyway because it's more fun." Eric said with a grin & a shrug, making Warcry shake his head with a chuckle before he went back to looking out the window as Eric continued with studying his Jutsu Shiki.
"So…where are these merchants?" Eric asked as he and Warcry walked trhough the busy city of Era, admiring the architecture that looked similar to that of the modern world he was used to as well as the stalls where merchants were selling their goods.
"Did you not read the pamphlet the master gave us?" Warcry asked with a frown, to which Eric frowned at him.
"What pamphlet?" He asked and Warcry sighed as he shook his head.
"Not wild, Master. Not wild four at all."
"Uh…"
"We're supposed to meet them at the Light Union Inn in about half an hour where they'll explain further details on the job."
"Okay, then. What are we waiting for?" Eric asked with a grin and Warcry chuckled as the duo walked through the city towards the commercial area, taking a few minutes before they finally stopped in front of a large inn-like building made out of a beige wood with the doors & window frames made out of a darker oak and a large sign made out of a dark grey metal with the words 'Light Union' written in gold on it.
Walking into the inn, Eric blinked at the sight of groups of people sitting around the tables, all of the s of the inn looking up to see who was at the door before he frowned as everyone instantly looked back down.
Warcry just ignored them as he walked towards the counter at the back of the inn and Eric gave a mental shrug as he followed after him, noticing how no one dared to look Warcry's way as he continued walking.
'Damn, are S-Class mages really that powerful that no one would want to mess with them?' Eric thought in shock as he followed after Warcry as the S-Class mage nodded at the elderly man behind the counter that was cleaning glasses, the old man smirking & nodding back as he put the glass in his hand down.
"Ah, Warcry! Didn't you just leave two days ago to go finish a job?" The man behind the counter asked and Warcry chuckled as he spoke.
"Yeah, I did, but unfortunately, the master received a job from a very high level individual that would boost our status tremendously and so, he decided to let me lead it with the new guy. Oh, right, introductions! Eric, this is Mr. Miyago, a former S-Class mage from Lamia Scale and current owner of the Light Union Inn. Mr. Miyago, this is Eric Creed, our new upcoming mage that you've most likely heard rumours about."
"Oh, so you're the kid that killed that young wyvern on your own? Not too bad. Pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, you too, sir. Wow, I'm sorry, but I'm still in a bit of shock. This is the first time I've met an S-Class mage from another guild." Eric answered truthfully and Miyago chuckled as Warcry smirked.
"Ah, don't worry. I wasn't that strong."
"You were the leading expert on Jutsu Shiki at your time, Mr. Miyago, so 'I wasn't that strong' doesn't apply to a great wild man such as you."
"I've told you youngins from the Quatro Guild so many times. Calling someone wild is not a compliment." Warcry just grinned at Miyago's words as Eric grinned in excitement.
"Wait, you used Jutsu Shiki?!" Eric exclaimed and Miyago raised an eyebrow as he nodded.
"Yes, but I was more of a barrier & seals creator as I was a support fighter."
"So, if you were to help a beginner with learning the alphabet, could you give them pointers and/ or ways to learn the language faster?"
"Why do I feel that the beginner is you?" Miyago asked with a raised eyebrow and Eric gave a sheepish grin as Warcry rolled his eyes.
"That's because he is. He's already learned a fifth of the Ancient Dialect letters needed to learn it in the month that Master Goldmine has seen him studying the magical language."
"…Did you just say that he learned a fifth of the alphabet in a month?" Eric blinked as he saw Miyago looking shocked at Warcry's words before he nodded.
"Um, yeah. It's a bit harder than I thought it would since a few of the letters are written the exact same with slight differences and I had to learn how to spot the differences between them all, but other than that, it wasn't that hard to learn the fifth of the alphabet that was supposed to the basics."
'Especially since the Ancient Dialect was just a weird fusion of Ancient Latin written in Kanji before being translated to Romaji, three languages which every weeb should relatively be able to understand somewhat. Also, why didn't I start sooner on it? Oh, right. I didn't feel like needing it until now.'
"…Here you go." Eric frowned slightly in confusion as Miyago reached under his counter before blinking at the sight of the old man pulling out a small notebook from under the counter & placing it down in front of him, Eric opening to the first page before his eyes widened at the in-depth explanation of the first Ancient Dialect letter written on the first page.
"The Ancient Dialect is a forgotten language that not many can read and so, I wish to make sure that someone that can learn the language in such a short span of time is able to preserve it for the next generation. That contains every bit of research that I've done on the language and the different kinds of Jutsu Shiki from the basics to the advanced patterns. Use them as you see fit, but I wish to ask that if possible, get a student that you can teach this to & make sure that the language does not die out."
"You have just given me the Holy Grail that I've been looking for. You have my word that I will make sure the language does not die out. I swear that on my life."
"Hahaha! A bold one, aren't you?! But sure, that's good. Now, I'm sure I already know what you're here for. The Pergrande Merchant group are on the second floor in the second room on the right side. They told me to send the mages they hired up to them."
"Thanks, Mr. Miyago."
"Thank you and like I promised, the language will be preserved until the ends of time."
"That's all I ask, young Eric." Miyago said with a chuckle and Eric saluted as he nodded, quickly storing the notebook in his Requip pocket dimension while grinning widely as he followed Warcry up the stairs.
"That's the biggest grin I've seen on your face since I met you."
"I just got the one thing I need to fully finish my little project. As far as I know, my luck is at an all-time high." Eric responded and Warcry chuckled as he nodded as they stopped in front of the door Miyago spoke of, Warcry knocking on it twice and there was a moment of silence before a voice spoke from inside the room.
"Ah, please enter." Eric frowned as the voice sounded slightly familiar, but he kept that to himself as he and Warcry glanced & nodded at each other before the S-Class mage opened the door and they walked in.
A/N: Another chapter and the first chapter of the new arc!
Next chapter, the new arc actually beings and the battles begin!
Also, in the original canon timeline, Warcry's magic was supposed to be something that impressed most of the strongest mages in the Grand Magic Games, so I decided to make him an S-Class mage befitting his form of magic.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!