Akira

(Sorry for the wait. ^^") Location: Hermitage. Izanagi remained mostly silent as Lucius and Daedrin said their goodbyes to each other. “Likewise Lucius. Take care of yourself.” he simply replied in his usual calm tone while nodding slightly at the man before both himself and Daedrin made their way to the stables. Lucky was waiting patiently there, she seemed to be rather calm and happy to be Izanagi again. “Hey there Lucky. Did you sleep well?” Izanagi asked, obviously not expecting an answer from the horse while gently rubbing her nose a little bit. After the slight gesture of affection, it didn’t take Izanagi very long to get ready. Soon, Lucky was saddled once again and Izanagi was riding her, ready to continue their travel to Selil. “Alright, let us keep going, shall we?” he simply said. *Be warned* Odium interrupted *I have a bad feeling.* After hearing this, Izanagi immediately focused his attention in the energies around them *What 's wrong? I can’t sense any sort of dangerous or angelical energy around.* he asked the demon *Me neither. I just… let’s just say it would be best to keep your eyes peeled* Izanagi nodded slightly. As they gained some distance from Hermitage, Izanagi decided it would be best to warn Daedrin about what Odium said “Daedrin, just so you know, Odium said he has a bad feeling. We should keep our eyes wide open” he spoke in a firm yet calm tone.

Location: Hermitage. Having properly dealt with the brute guy, Izanagi made his way upstairs so he could pack his things. It was a good thing that he didn’t have very much to pack in the first place. One could say Izanagi lived a… minimalistic sort of lifestyle. Then again, that was partially due to the fact that the demon didn’t have much money with him in the first place. He also took his time to organize the room he had slept in a bit, not wanting to leave a mess behind for someone else to clean up. While he was working on that however, Odium decided to have a little chat *So, why didn’t you kill that big pile of muscles earlier?* the demon asked, causing Izanagi to sigh a bit before replying *The waitress said he was useful to have around. Plus, he didn’t strike me as an actual evil person. He simply seemed to be just… too much of an egomaniac for his own good.* Izanagi then took a quick trip to the restroom so he could fix his hair. Luckly, a bit of water was enough to deal with the problem. Once everything was done, he made his way back downstairs to meet up with Daedrin. “Sorry for the wait” he said as he approached his friend “I am good to go now”

Location: Hermitage. As the woman leaves, Izanagi lets out a slight sigh and rubs the back of his head a bit. “Talk about a weird morning. First I find out that my hair is an absolute mess, and now this…” Truth to be told, this sort of thing never really happened to Izanagi before. The demon never thought about himself as an attractive sort of person, mainly because of his inhuman nature and how much that would freak out most people. *Well well, someone’s popular all of the sudden, huh?* Odium teased a bit *Oh came on! Not you too!* Izanagi mentally replied to the demon. Now that he was done with his meal, Izanagi was about to follow Daedrin’s lead and head upstairs and pack his belongings so they could continue on their journey, however, something a bit unexpected happened. The tavern’s door was suddenly slammed open, revealing a tall and muscular man on the other side, wearing a complete set of heavy metal armor, helmet included. “Oh, Brutus. You are back.” The woman who was serving the food casually said “Who was it?” The man said in a cold and demanding tone, getting nothing but a confused look from pretty much everyone who was there at the time in response “Who is the responsible for killing all these creatures?” he demanded to know in an even more aggressive tone now. Izanagi didn’t reply. He simply didn’t care much for the fame of taking down the monsters from last night. “Oh, it was him and his friend.” The woman pointed to Izanagi, much to the demon’s displeasure, and then to Daedrin who was near the stairs. Brutus then began to slowly make his way towards Izanagi. The wooden floor beneath his feet squeaked in complaint due to the heavy weight of the man. Soon, Brutus was right in front of Izanagi, towering over him with huge muscles and stature. “So, you are trying to take my title, huh?” Izanagi blinked a bit and tilted his head slightly in confusion “I am sorry, what?” the woman behind them rolled her eyes and groaned a bit in frustration “Brutus, not this again… they were just helping us! And they saved many lives.” she tried to explain, but her words had no effect on him “Let me make this very clear to you, tiny men. Hermitage can only have one hero, and that is me. Got it?” Now it was Izanagi’s turn to get frustrated with the muscular guy. “Sooo… you are mad at me for helping these people while you were bumming around doing nothing?” The demon replied nonchalantly, causing Brutus to get angrier at him “I was away on a mission! Escorting a merchant to a nearby village!” The bag of muscles was clearly trying to be intimidating, but he wasn’t having much effect on Izanagi. “Riiiight. What do you want from me then?” Brutus grinned beneath his helmet before replying “I am gonna teach you what happens when you defy me. And after I am done with you, you friend will be next” Izanagi rolled his eyes before responding “Be my guest, but be warned, if you pick a fight against either of us, you’ll only get your ego and bones broken…” Brutus ignored the warning and tried to punch Izanagi’s face. Obviously, the demon simply caught his fist with one of his hands, stopping the attack completely. While Brutus was insisting on forcing the attack more and free his fist from Izanagi’s grasp, the demon took the opportunity to get some info. “Oi, can someone tell me if this guy actually helps around or if he’s just some complete idiot?” The woman from before was the one who replied “Well, he really does help most of us from the village when we need a lot of muscle power…” she said honestly “In that case, I am not going to break him much.” Izanagi said before Brutus tried to punch him with his free hand. Again, the attack was easily caught by the demon. “I suggest you learn how to keep that ego of yours in check, though. Friendly warning.” Izanagi then kicked Brutus in the gut. The kick was powerful enough to crealy crumple the metal armor and crack his ribs a bit. Brutus was barely able to scream in pain before being sent flying out through the same door he got in. Satisfied, Izanagi turned to the woman once again before speaking “He should be fine, but it might be best for him to take it easy for the next few days, ok?” the woman simply nodded a bit while Izanagi now made his way up stairs to get his things and also fix his hair.

Location: Vector’s apartment. Vector found himself dealing with a bit of a conundrum. On one hand, he could go check the chemical factory which’s label he found on the chemical components he had taken from those Leech agents not long ago. On the other hand, he was also very curious about that woman he met during his confrontation with those low level Leech operatives. The man took a few minutes to think and consider his options. Eventually, he decided to check for info on the mysterious woman, since striking against Leech in quick succession like that probably wasn’t a good idea. Still, Vector didn’t really know where to start. While he did see the woman’s face, he didn’t get her name or anything else by which to identify her. So he decided to begin by his first assumption about her being an undercover cop. He quickly picked up his laptop pc and booted it up. Before long, he was hacking his way through the city's police registration database. It took him quite some time to check every picture he could find there, but none of them matched the woman he was looking for. Feeling a bit lost, Vector then turned to the only other thing he knew about that woman: she was after Leech as well. The million dollar question was “why?”. Since he had been keeping his eyes out for any Leech activity ever since he arrived at the city, it was pretty safe to assume that whatever was driving her to fight against the organization was something that happened before he moved in. As such, he began to check for old news that could hint Leech’s involvement. While it is true that the list was a bit long, that was the best place for him to start. While there were many articles talking about murders or smuggling inside the city, very few met the criteria to be even remotely considered Leech’s doing. Even so, some of them did catch his attention. One in particular was about a government worker whose entire family had been murdered, save for one person. It would have been very easy to simply ignore it as just another unfortunate piece of history, but the description of the wounds were too alike the organization’s modus operandi to ignore, once Vector investigated them a bit further, that is. Precise wounds inflicted on the neck to reduce the chances of the victim being able to call for help. Hard to believe a normal everyday smuck would be able to do this sort of thing. Especially considering that the victim worked for the government. Still not satisfied, Vector decided to investigate more. After some digging and code breaking, he found out the worker's identity: Charles Kingston. A man who worked for the Ashean Intelligence Service. That’s definitely someone who Leech would want out of their way. Unfortunately, Vector wasn’t able to find the survivor’s name, but it was pretty safe to assume she would be related to the Kingston family to some extent. He would keep that information in mind, should he meet her again.

Location: Hermitage. Izanagi simply kept on enjoying his breakfast, barely paying attention to anything else around him. In fact, he only really noticed Lucius’ arrival after hearing his friend greeting him. The demon swallowed another mouthful, choosing to simply keep himself focused on his breakfast for now. He was also nearly done eating. Still, when he heard his name being mentioned by Daedrin and then Lucius, he knew he would probably have to engage in a small talk, at the very least. “Well, it’s good to know you are feeling better” he commented as he averted his eyes from his meal and directed them towards Lucius “Things were looking pretty bad for you last night, so I guess it’s only natural for you to be a bit, shall we say… forgetful” while it was a little hard for Izanagi to show any real emotion towards Lucius, since they had just met each other last night, he was Daedrin’s friend and clearly chose not to mock the demon’s messy hair, so at the very least Izanagi did his best to come out as the polite sort “Let’s all just be glad you had someone to help you with your wounds, yeah?” he commented as he finished his meal, choosing not to mention that Daedrin was the one who solved the infection problem with that weird medicine thing. He didn’t want to risk mentioning something he shouldn’t about his friend, now that they were in public and all that. After he was done eating his breakfast, Izanagi pushed the now empty bowl a little bit, signaling he was done with his meal “Thanks for the breakfast ma’am. It was very good” he thanked the woman, who was now done with the dishes. “You are welcome, dear” she replied with a kind smile on her face as she took the bowl away “Say, if you don’t mind me asking… where are you from?” Izanagi was a bit taken back by the sudden question, but that woman had only shown kindness to him and Daedrin ever since they arrived, so he decided to humor her “Let’s just say I am from a land very far from here” he simply replied “Oh? And what brought you here?” Once again, the demon was a bit taken back by her curiosity, but he figured that not answering would probably draw more suspicion to him “I am on a journey to solve some personal problems. After that, I’ll just… find a place to settle down, I guess” he shrugged a bit “I see.” she replied “If you want to, you could… live here, know?” she suggested “I mean, it would be nice to have someone like you around if any creatures showed up again and… I am sure you would get a lot of attention from our uh… local residents” the woman spoke that last part in a… weirdly suggestive tone, which only got Izanagi more confused. While the village was pretty nice, he wasn’t sure if he shou- Wait a minute. Was she hitting on him? Well, he surely wasn’t expecting that. Not sure about how to reply, the demon simply put up his best poker face before speaking again “I’ll uh… keep that in mind…”

Location: Constantine’s house and a couple’s farm. Constantine was currently taking a shower. His day had been pretty damn slow so far. Nothing really interesting had happened and, even though he surely was doing well as a monster hunter, it felt like forever since the last time he did something truly exciting. Like fighting a foe that was worth going all out against. Then again, this probably wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, since actually strong monsters don’t really show up very often. After he was done with his quick shower, he got dressed and made himself dinner. As a true fan of italian food, he decided to go for a classic spaghetti with tomato sauce and grilled chicken. The man was quite proud of his cooking skills. Even though he didn’t consider himself a professional chef, since he didn’t cook for a living, he still invested quite a lot of time and effort into learning how to cook properly and the results were quite satisfying from his point of view. It didn’t take him very long to prepare his meal. After all, he already had everything he needed to make his dish and he was very familiar with the process. As he was eating, he also activated his computer and began to check the forum for monster hunting jobs. After some time browsing through the page, he found a couple of interesting requests. One request however, got his attention. Apparently there was a farmer having some problems with goblins and, judging by how he was describing the situation, it seemed to be a quite serious case. It didn’t help that the authorities were ignoring him. Knowing all too well just how nasty and problematic goblins can be, Constantine decided to accept the request. He sent an email to the farmer, confirming his acceptance. After taking a few more moments to finish his meal, Constantine got in his car and made his way to the address provided by the website. It wasn’t long before he had arrived at the farm, traffic wasn’t as nearly as bad as usual at that part of town. Upon arriving however, he noticed that there was someone else there. A woman. It would seem that she had just arrived too. Could she be another monster hunter interested on the job?

Name: Goblin King. Region: Mostly found in forests and rural areas, but some of them are daring enough to explore more urban areas. Diet: Omnivorous. They are not really picky and will eat pretty much anything they can. Description: The only goblin variation that is rarer than the mage goblin, there can only be one king per nest, obviously. In fact, mega nests literally can’t exist without a king. Much like the mages, no one is certain about how a goblin becomes a king, but the most accepted theory is that an archer has evolved and developed exceptional strategic and tactical abilities, excelling at commanding other goblins until eventually becoming their leader. These guys always wear crowns on their heads made out of metal stolen from outside the nest. Some of them are even made out of gold. Intelligence: Advanced. Aside from also being able to speak human languages, goblin kings are known for being exceptional leaders, capable of coordinating hundreds of goblins at the same time without much issue. Also, they are capable of cooking up some pretty elaborate strategies and tactics to deal with their foes. Much like any king, they keep the most capable fighters of their nests as bodyguards. Getting close to a king is no easy task. Weaknesses: Even though they are very clever, goblin kings are still weak on their own, which is precisely why they are always surrounded by other goblins to keep them safe. If you manage to get past their defenses, they are usually not very powerful foes. Hostile: Very hostile. Kings only leave their nests if they are kicked out by another king or if their nests are destroyed. Should they find an intruder inside their nests, they won’t think twice before sending his subjects to attack and dispose of the enemy. Danger: Arguably the most dangerous goblin variant in existence, since their presence means you are dealing with a big nest. Maybe even a mega nest. If you can’t deal with a swarm of foes when you see this guy, run for your life.

Name: Mage Goblin. Region: Mostly found in forests and rural areas, but some of them are daring enough to explore more urban areas. Diet: Omnivorous. They are not really picky and will eat pretty much anything they can. Description: One of the rarest goblin variants in existence, these guys mean business. No one knows for sure what leads to the creation of a mage goblin, but the most popular theory says that they are archer goblins who have stolen books about magic and spell casting, read them and were able to actually learn how to put the knowledge to use. Being such a rare variant means they rarely, if ever, are sent on expeditions outside the nest. In fact, they are so rare that even mega nests rarely have more than six of them. Intelligence: Advanced. These guys have very high value due to their intellect. Aside from being able to use magic, they are also pretty good at analysing their enemies and coming up with tactics to defeat them. Mage goblins are also known for having an endless thirst for knowledge. Additionally, they are among the few types that can actually speak human languages. Weaknesses: Despite having the ability to use magic and spells, they are still pretty weak when it comes to physical feats. One’s best chance at killing a mage goblin is to get close and finish them with melee strikes or force them to exhaust their mana pool, leaving them pretty much defenceless. Hostile: Mostly hostile. Much like archer goblins, these guys are smart enough to recognize when they are in an advantageous situation and avoid fights they can’t win, so they aren’t as aggressive. Danger: Despite rarely leaving their nests, these guys aren’t as nearly as dependent on numbers as the other goblin variants and pose a considerable threat to pretty much anyone who doesn’t know how to deal with them. Of course, if there are other goblins with them, and there usually are, they are even more dangerous.

Name: Archer Goblin. Region: Mostly found in forests and rural areas, but some of them are daring enough to explore more urban areas. Diet: Omnivorous. They are not really picky and will eat pretty much anything they can. Description: Much like the warrior goblins, these guys are goblins who have fought in the front lines and lived to learn from their battles. However, instead of gaining increased muscle mass and weight, they instead gained increased brainpower. Additionally, their skin has also grown a bit darker, making it easier for them to hide among the leaves of the forest trees and bushes, as well as dark places in general such as caves. Intelligence: Semi-primitive. These guys have learned how to properly use and craft basic bows and arrows using wood and stone, as well as using the environment to their advantage by camouflaging themselves and hiding to strike their foes down with ambushes. They are sent outside at a slight higher frequency than the warrior goblins, but they are still not the most common sort of goblin seen outside, obviously. With that said, they still can’t be considered geniuses and their ambuses and tactics can become predictable enough to anyone experienced at dealing with them. Weaknesses: While they are at least smart enough to keep themselves out of direct combat if at all possible, they are still as physically weak as any normal goblin. Once a stronger opponent manages to find and get close enough to them, they are pretty much screwed. Hostile: Mostly hostile. These guys aren’t as aggressive as most goblins because their evolved brains allow them to more easily recognize non advantageous circumstances, thus, avoiding conflicts they can’t win. Danger: Alone, an archer goblin might not be as dangerous as a warrior, but with help and support from other goblins, they can be just as dangerous, if not more.

Name: Warrior Goblin. Region: Mostly found in forests and rural areas, but some of them are daring enough to explore more urban areas. Diet: Omnivorous. They are not really picky and will eat pretty much anything they can. Description: These guys are goblins that fought a considerable amount of enemies and lived to tell the tale and learn from their battles. As result, they have acquired better gear and are capable of wielding weapons with far more efficiency than normal goblins. In particular, they are able to use melee weapons and even shields in a somewhat capable way. Additionally, they have grown to be way stronger and bigger than their counterparts, reaching 1.70 meters in height and weighing over 60 kilos. The great majority of them wear armor that was either taken from fallen enemies or put together using stolen items such as thich leather and metal. Intelligence: Primitive. While they surely are smarter than normal goblins, warrior goblins are still very much limited when it comes to brainpower. They are capable of wielding melee weapons with some level of proficiency and can even repair their armor from some light damage and use shields, but other than that, they are still mostly dumb. Weaknesses: Despite the fact that they are much tougher and physically capable than most goblins, it is very easy for pretty much anyone to take advantage of their lack of brains. They can’t plan any sort of ambushes by themselves or apply any sort of battle tactic without outside support. If left to their own devices, they’ll simply charge at the nearest enemy head first without thinking twice. Hostile: Very hostile. While goblins in general aren’t exactly known for being docile, warrior goblins take things to a whole new level, being even more aggressive and down right brutal in battle. Danger: For obvious reasons, these guys are even more dangerous than regular goblins. While they aren’t as nearly as plentiful as their basic counterparts, they are over twice as strong and aggressive. Most of them stay inside the nests to provide safety for their offspring, but big enough nests can afford to send some outside to look for food and supplies.

Name: Goblin. Region: Mostly found in forests and rural areas, but some of them are daring enough to explore more urban areas. Diet: Omnivorous. They are not really picky and will eat pretty much anything they can. Description: These small little buggers are considered a pest in most regions. They are known for raiding farms to steal food or anything they might deem valuable at night. Some groups containing more advanced variants of goblins can also attack lone travelers, often resulting in death. While an individual goblin is hardly a threat, they usually live and hunt in groups of at least six. Most are about 1.30 meters tall and weight about 20 kilos. Being as weak as they are, goblin must rely on numbers to survive, which is why they live in nests. While most nests will only contain about one or two dozen of them, on very rare occasions, a nest can evolve and become a mega nest, containing hundreds of them. In extreme cases, maybe even thousands. Aside from their numbers, the biggest danger a goblin might present is their potential to evolve and become a stronger variant. Intelligence: Primitive. They are capable of using basic tools and weapons such as swords and daggers, but they mostly just swing those things around without any sort of technique. Weaknesses: As stated before, they aren’t exactly known for being super though. Their bodies are pretty fragile, making them susceptible to basically all sorts of damage, from shots to melee weapons and anything in between. Most goblins also don’t wear any sort of armor and only cover themselves with basics clothes made of stolen silk or leather from weak and small animals. Hostile: Very hostile. If someone is approached by group of goblins it’s pretty much a guarantee that they will attack. The only occasion in which a goblin will not attack is that if they decide they are at very heavy disadvantage, and even then they are not smart so their chances of actually reaching that conclusion aren’t very big. Danger: While a single goblin is hardly a threat, it’s very rare to see them alone. The work together based on instincts and can be very aggressive once they are in big groups. Obviously, the bigger the group, the higher the danger. With enough numbers, they can take down most preys without much issue.

Location: Hermitage. At his friend’s first response, Izanagi simply lifted one of his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side slightly in confusion, not really knowing what he meant. The demon’s mind was still a bit slow paced since he just woken up from a hell of a power nap “Missed something…?” he asked as the woman returned from the kitchen with his breakfast “I wasn’t going to say anything, but your friend is right, dear. You hair is a complete mess.” she added as she placed the bowl of porridge along with tableware over the counter. “Wait, really?” asked Izanagi as he picked up the spoon and used is a mirror so he could check how bad his hair was. After seeing the problem with his own eyes, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose “Aw dammit…” he shook his head slightly “Well, whatever. I can fix this after I am done eating…” the demon then began to dig in. The porridge was quite tasty, earning a pleased hum from Izanagi “Heh, looks like you got some competition in the cooking department now, eh Daedrin?” he joked before getting back to enjoying his meal. “That’s really nice of you to say” the woman replied before heading back to the sink to deal with some dishes. The bread was pretty good too. It was just soft enough in the middle and still warm from the oven. Maybe Izanagi could come visit this place again sometime.

Location: Abandoned industrial area. Vector watched very curiously as the woman began to check the corpses of all the Leech agents they had killed just now. “Hm? Say something…?” he muttered to himself as she searched the dead bodies. First, she found a gun and apparently decided to take it with her. Vector could only assume she wanted to it with her so she could investigate it later. Knowing Leech, her chances of actually finding any sort of valuable and relevant information from that were… not very good to say the least, but hey, no harm in trying, right? The woman then proceeded to make her towards the other dead agents and, just like how did with the first corpse, began to search for anything of value that they might still had. While Vector still wasn’t sure what exactly she was hoping to find there, he still watched her working on it. Once again, she found something with potential to help: a few phones. “I see... “ he commented back “These are most likely disposable phones, but if you think you can get anything valuable out of then, be my guest” he replied in a carefree tone of sorts before he closed the coolers again. “Yeah, I’ll deal with these, don’t worry about it” he said to her as she left. Once he was sure she wasn’t watching anymore, Vector opened a portal big enough for the coolers and stored them into his pocket dimension. He would investigate the labels a bit better after he was in his house. Before that though, he decided to make a smaller investigation of his own. Using his portals, he teleported himself to the rooftops of one of the buildings around. From there, he watched the still known woman for a little while. He didn’t insist much on it however, stopping after she entered her car. He could no longer ignore that woman as someone who might not know what she is getting herself into. She clearly was up to something, yet, he didn’t think she was evil or anything of the sort. Plus, if they truly have similar objectives, as he suspects, then they would surely meet again. With his portals, it didn’t take Vector long to arrive at his house. Once inside, he opened his portals again and retrieved the coolers. He then dragged then to his desk in his bedroom and opened them again before grabbing some of the recipients and investigating the labels with a magnifying glass. At first, he wasn’t able to find much, since pretty much all the labels were damaged, making very hard to read anything on them. Fortunately, he had an UV flashlight with him and, as he expected the light revealed some new interesting symbols which could certainly be translated to a code and then decoded. It seemed every single one of those chemicals had been obtained from the same productor, which was weird considering how different they are when it comes to general application. It would be like having an orange farm suddenly start to transport watermelons too. It was worth getting a look at, in Vector’s opinion.

Location: Hermitage. It took a little while, but Izanagi was eventually able to fall asleep. Even though he had a lot to think about, having a comfy bed and an actual roof over his head after having to spend so many nights sleeping on the forest’s floor was more than enough to make his eyelids heavy. While in the dream world, he experienced pure peace of mind for a change, which was something he really needed at that moment, given the recent events and thoughts that were rushing through his mind. On the next day, he woke up a few minutes after Daedrin. He stretched out a bit, yawned and then made his way to the restroom and answered nature’s call before properly washing his hands and face. Once he was out, the demon made his way to the bar, failing to notice that his hair was still a bit of a mess. “Oh hey, good morning” he greeted his friend and the bartender. Out of politeness and gratitude towards one of the mans who had saved the village, the woman didn’t say a thing about his hair. Instead, she simply waved back. “Good morning” she said in a kind tone “Would like some breakfast?” Izanagi took a seat beside Daedrin “Sure, what do you have?” he simply asked, already feeling the good smell that roamed the area “We got some freshly made porridge and also some bread that just came out of the oven” she replied “Ooh, sounds good. I’ll have that please” she simply nodded before making her way into the kitchen “So, did you sleep well?” Izanagi asked his friend while the woman was gone.