It was arrogant of him, sure.
Especially when he essentially bluffed to someone who has a better idea of the threat that he could and would be able to handle the situation better than her, better than the Kirijo Group who had been at this for 10 years.
It was the height of arrogance when there were entities known as Demons running around that the world had to be saved from, twice. To think that this was something he could solve on his own.
There was something inside of him that was confident in his victory and all he would have to do is act to make it a forgone conclusion.
Pride. The Pride of one who decides. Choices were given to those who had will.
Faer contemplated this as he cleaned up his new apartment. He would begin his training tonight, he decided. He had already figured out for the most part how to use this system. By projecting Intent he could open up the interface that had managed to get everything neatly tied into neat numbers.
He still had no general idea of what metric was used here, but he could use this to grow. The idea was similar in principle to a role playing game, fight opponents, gain experience, level up.
「Summary」
【Name: Faer Jaecar】
【Level 1】
『HP: 135/135』
『MP: 1/1』
『Str: 3 』
『Agi: 1(1.7)』
『End: 4』
『Int: 3』
『Mag: 2』
『Dex: 4』
『Luk: 3』
Conflict Points:
【Skills】
「Inventory」
【Inventory】
【Evoker: A gun built to as a conduit for magical energy.】
【Full Tang Combat Knife: A Mundane knife with an edge that won't dull easily. 】
It wasn't much but some part of him recognized that he shouldn't need much more than this. Why he couldn't say but since receiving a name the formerly nameless Contractor found that somethings almost called out for his attention.
In some roundabout way he supposed they were what was left of his instincts and old behaviors. In a way it was like being hollowed out where there are echoes of once was still bouncing throughout the empty cavern that is his being.
These same echoes reassured him that he would be fine, all Faer needed to do was seek strength, the rest would come along in due time.
Here's to hoping that everything went smoothly well enough.
After cleaning everything and organizing what had been given to him there was nothing else that might give him an edge.
Though that was probably the point of the Black Card he had been given.
He should probably go buy some medical supplies, before he bites off more than he could chew.
…
"Are you sure that this Medical Powder can be used for emergency first-aid?"
Faer had found a place called Aohige Pharmacy, and while everything was ultimately Kirijo backed it didn't stop him from wondering what type of Medical Powder could allegedly pull people back from the brink of death.
He knew at least where he came from there was tons of specialized equipment needed to do even half the shit that this was said to do.
"I assure you, I know what your kind of people are doing here, if this wasn't the real deal, we wouldn't sell it. Just know that it won't replace limbs or fix maiming, but I imagine that you'll have something a bit stronger on hand for that."
"Fair enough. I'll take 20 bottles." The student grumbled out, it wasn't like he was in a position to argue why something like this sounded like snake oil. If it didn't work it's not like he would still be alive to complain about it.
"Is there something menacing on its way?"
With a shrug the Faer replies, "I don't plan needing this but better to have and not need than need and not have."
After finishing his purchase the new found contractor had found himself with an abundance of time until the Dark Hour arrived. Unfortunately he had no way of knowing what he was going up against beforehand but the one thing he ought to have prioritized is at least trying to get a handle on his equipment.
To that end he was basically stuck going through what he knew about Kali Silat and the few martial arts techniques he had been taught in his old life and reading that manual…
Unfortunately even when he finished reading through the manual he hadn't been granted the skill meaning that he still had something he needed to learn before he could even say he was proficient at it.
Looking out the window and seeing how high the moon was in the sky he knew that there would be no more time to try to learn the skill that night.
Faer's hair begins to stand on end as the time eventually gets close to midnight. Then without so much as a flicker, the Dark Hour begins.
Faer wastes no time in leaving his apartment after getting dressed, it only occurs to him in that moment that he was likely going to be in the second worst fight of his life so far on this night.
Instead of cowing him into submission, he felt something else.
Something bubbly, he wasn't sure what that feeling was, but he desired to see what it was.
Then without warning an explosion cracked through the air of the deadened night.
"Looks like I won't have to wait long to see what is going on."
As Faer ran towards the explosion, the sounds of regular gun fire and cracks of lightning became all too common creating a cacophony that was spreading across the island, the sounds echoing down alleyways and shaking office windows.
Arriving at what seemed to be a plaza with a movie theater near a four way intersection Faer could make out what had to be the UNDIT forces fighting against either Demons or Shadows.
The UNDIT forces seemed to be wearing some type of green and gold exosuit that increased their strength by some magnitude given how some seemed adept at engaging with physical weapons that when they hit knocked some their enemies back with grievous wounds.
But that was all putting this into a lighting that simply wasn't true.
They were getting the shit beaten out of them plain and simply.
Faer could see a man ripped in half strewn over a guard rail, while another seemed to be trying to tourniquet off another's sheared off leg. It was a fucking mess and it wasn't getting any better.
Pulling his pistol against what seemed to be a fair skinned young woman wearing a white bolero and short shorts with obviously demonic wings, even if she was cute she was obviously a Demon and as such his enemy. Taking a breath he built the castle on his gun and stead-
Bang
With a gunshot that had seemed like instant he pulled the trigger the round landed home in the Demonic woman's chest.
Everything almost pauses for a second and then, Faer finds a light of some sort bolting at him.
Too fas-
The magical lightning cackles through his body, racking his form with agony.
He drops like a rock to his knees instantly, seizing.
It takes everything he has to not bite off his tongue.
It wasn't anything to be surprised at, of course being struck by lightning would fucking hurt. It's lightning.
Faer's eyesight had lost either details or color, he couldn't be sure… but he knew he had to stand up and keep fighting.
Despite how fucking bad that was he and the others would die if he stood around too long.
Taking a vial of medical powder and instinctively throwing contents of the vial into the air, Faer could feel the majority of his energy return to him.
He smirked.
That was pretty bad, but if could do it once then he could do it again. He just needed to play it smart.
There were close to about 20 Demon(?) out here. A few tiny human shaped ones which were quick on the uptake that he was still alive, as he pushed himself off the ground he drew his knife and darted for the hoard ahead.
There was absolutely nothing ideal about using human techniques on inhuman physiology; they were designed for explicit effectiveness on human beings.
Didn't matter, the man thought, he would just have to adjust.
As Faer gets close to a man in armor engaging in melee with a demon that happened to look like a large dog with stylized eyebrows he jumped onto its back and drove his knife into eyes.
As the blade slides into its eyes it begins to buck and bite at the youth trying to take its life.
With an opportunity opened up the gold and green soldier swings the pole arm they were using with precision and removes the two front paws of the demon.
Then it fades into ashes and the young man catches himself in a kneel.
"Thanks for the save. You must be our Contractor then, right? You don't exactly look like one of the Kirijo kids."
Pushing himself to his feet Faer feels oddly invigorated. No… that's not it.
He's feeling… Stronger.
"That's right. Let's take care of this first before we discuss anything else then."
"Roger."
Though Faer had questions, (so many fucking questions) now wasn't the time.
Turning to the rest of the hoard Faer could see that even during the time it took for that to happen, the UNDIT had been getting crushed near effortlessly by the Demons.
Hell that same demon he had shot was still flying, about and was looking in his directi-
He dives to the side and it's a close thing as a bolt of lightning crashes into where he was just standing.
A cursory glance reveals that the man he just saved also managed to evade the strike as well.
Good. It'd suck to half to waste supplies on someone he just teamed up with.
Focusing in on the woman who just shot lightning at him, he noticed that she and what looked to be fairies had started closing in on him.
Firming up the grip he had on his blade the young man sprinted towards his new foes, the armored man coming in from behind holding his pole arm behind him in a single arm.
The newly formed duo closed in on the hoard of Demons the man clad in green used his pole arm to spring into the air, blurring into motion that was a bit too fast for Faer to accurately make out.
Winds cut through the concrete as the Demons took note of their approach.
"Tch," Faer cut an erratic pattern as he followed the glaive wielding man towards one of the miniature floating women with fairy wings.
With a thunderous crash the man slammed into the ground kicking up chunks of the road where the woman had been a moment ago.
Key word being a moment ago.
The woman dodged with what looked to be a smirk on her face as she threw her hands forward, casting a bolt of lightning at the exposed man.
It would be her last move, as the foreigner had finished closing the gap between the two and lashed out with a slash that cut the woman from her jugular down past her hip.
As the lightning struck the man and slammed him into the ground the fairy woman had scarcely had a moment to recognize her own demise.
With a scream the woman disappeared into black ashes as if she had never existed.
Another feminine shout echoed into the air and with a pivot Faer scarcely avoided receiving several icicles to the back of his head.
Snapping his eyes towards where the projectiles came from.
A small yet larger Demon he just killed, a blue woman with a long transparent scarf. Her apparent miss hadn't been enough to discourage her as more frost had fallen from her hands.
Sprinting with all he was worth the distance closed in a matter of moments, but it wasn't without its worries, Faer had taken lacerations to his shoulders and arms.
He really needed a ranged option.
Swoosh
From behind the blue woman blade swung cleanly, taking off the woman's head with no hesitation.
Another person wearing the UNDIT armor had given him a brief nod before refocusing on the rest of the pack of Demons.
Time to rectify that ranged issue. Taking a quick glance for one of the downed soldiers Faer made a quick advance to grab one of the rifles that was laying on the ground.
An FN2000, ew.
Bullpups were gross but it was a damn better boon than trying to continue to sprint. He wasn't an Olympic sprinter but he was definitely faster than the average joe. But he would never be able to close that gap faster than a bullet and with how this magic had almost picked him apart he probably would get the chance to.
A light flashes leaving spots in Faer's vision, and the demon he had been ready to engage had looked back at it, seemingly surprised by its intensity.
"Hah!"
It was the demon from earlier, she was being pressed, hard even as she gathered lightning in her hands she was dodging the persistent attacks from soldiers surrounding her, magical and physical in nature.
The flashes of light grew to be more powerful as the woman seemed to be reaching a crescendo… Faer would have to trust that they could deal with it.
Quickly Faer brought his new rifle to bear and pressed out four rapid shots into the demon's chest, it collapsing into ash, still distracted by the display behind the fighting duo.
An explosion of energy.
Thunder sounded in rapid succession leaving Faer's ears ringing dully and the vertible storm of lightning around him left him nearly blinded.
Arms raised to the air the cream colored demon had a look on her face the kind that sent a chill rocketing on Faer's spine.
Faster than he could comprehend he was deprived of sight by a burning light that had arced past him, then in its wake a sonic boom had thrown him into a wall, the boom bursting his eardrums as a courtesy, along with almost making him feel like his head was going to pop like an over filled balloon.
The smell of Ozone and burning flesh had assaulted his sense of smell overriding even the smell of blood native to the dark hour.
Faer's thoughts lost beneath the storm of sensations his body had subjected to even as he tried to pull himself together.
He couldn't hear the vibrations of his throat either as he spoke but if he could he is sure he would be damning the situation.
Seconds stretched on for an eternity and as he eventually gained his vision back Faer realized that he managed to maintain a grip on the rifle when he slammed into the wall. But that was the only highlight of the situation: his left shin was sticking out his pants and was leaking in time with his steady heartbeat.
Pulling the rifle up to bear the man could only hope that he managed to choke back the groans of pain he wanted to release with his body being as messed up as it was from being slammed into that wall.
Faer looked to the demon as his vision continued to swim, whatever she did, must have been a one and done deal since she barely managed to maintain a float.
But in return the destruction she had wrought had clearly made the area look like a bomb had gone off in the four way shards of torn metal and tarmac embedded blown apart and saying almost nothing of the corpses which had been reduced to ashes.
It was a targeted attack but not one that she could pull again.
The Contractor had a lucky break, as he managed to hold onto the Belgian made rifle moving into a supported kneeling Faer knew there would only be on opportunity for this. Armed with a chance, Faer sucked in a shallow breath… in and out.
A shiver races up his spine.
A squeeze and two hard pulls of the trigger bark out, the only feedback the man knows off is the very slight kick of 5.56 and the smell of exhausted gun powder. Three shots, two to the chest and one to the head, each easily finding purchase in the young looking demon.
A textbook failure to stop drill.
It had been enough with the young woman disappearing between the second and third shot into ash.
Setting his leg straight been a chore, but especially with not having a sense of equilibrium, but again that miraculous powder had seen his crippling injuries fixed up with a liberal use of the stuff seeing as though he couldn't be sure how his HP would quantify broken bones use the bruises that he had received through the course the fight thusly had been cleaned up.
"That's enough, the fight is over, you must be that Contractor, Jaecar." a tired voice called out.
While it had been a short amount of time the total silence that came from being deafened was a unique sensation, hearing again after something that it was still profound to be able to hear again.
【Level Up】
【Mystical awakening: due to encountering magic for the first time MP will now grow upon leveling】
【Due to intense fighting gain +1 Agi】
【Due to intense fighting gain +1 Mag】
【Due to intense fighting gain +1 End】
『+5 Conflict Points』
It was the armored man with the glaive from earlier.
"That's me. I don't suppose it's like this every night on this island?"
"No according to our notes from the change over this only happens every few months, a couple days out from the full moon. Though I understand your concerns, they tore right through half of us like tissue paper before we even could get a grasp on the situation."
"Notes? Was there a changing of the guard before I got here?"
"Yep, our Sir insisted that we'd be able to handle it just fine and the U.N. believed him. Pretty sure one of these piles of ash is what's left of him."
"Fucking hell."
"You can say that again. The name's Snipe. I was just one of the rank and file but I guess someone needs to pick up the reins here." The man said as he pulled Faer to his feet.
"Faer Jaecar, but you already knew that."
Without preamble the atmosphere shifted and back into the unaltered night sky.
Sighing Faer could only wonder what the damage control for this would look like, this wasn't exactly subtle.
"I wouldn't worry too much about the lives lost here or the damage, we knew what we were signing up for here. And as for the damage? They've gotten pretty quick at getting shit fixed before the public becomes aware," the tired man yawns out.
"This front, while I personally don't agree with it, was one of the few terms of agreement that the U.N. and the Kirijo Group agreed needed to stay up."
"Right, I doubt that people are largely aware that Demons are running around and they aren't even being cordoned off, nor would they be happy about it."
"Yeah, got it in one… Anyways I'm going to get counts, you should probably attend whatever business you've got to handle in the meantime."
It was dismissal if Faer had ever seen one and honestly this night was fucking bullshit.
But it looks like he's at least getting a free gun out of this. Even if it was a disgusting bullpup.
Magazines had also been left scattered about and it didn't seem like the power armored soldiers gave too much of a shit about him looting.
「Summary」
【Name: Faer Jaecar】
【Level 2】
『HP: 154/154』
『MP: 7/7』
『Str: 3 』
『Agi: 2(2.7)』
『End: 5』
『Int: 3』
『Mag: 3』
『Dex: 4』
『Luk: 3』
Conflict Points: 6
Available Stat Points: 3
【Skills】
【Inventory】
There was an issue here that Faer wasn't sure how to address.
Firstly being how each level up only offered two points to distribute through leveling. Clearly he was supposed to find alternative methods for raising his stats if the pay out for this was as shit as it was.
Secondly he couldn't see his experience point accumulation. Only that he received a pop-up for it after combat.
"I mean I suppose there was a moment where I was feeling a bit stronger while fighting but I can't be sure if that's because I was feeling the adrenaline or not…"
Speaking of adrenaline, Faer supposed he ought to get some sleep before he crashed. It would be unprofessional to look badly on the second day of school, especially when the Kirijo Heiress looked to have an excuse to get on his ass.