Fshink!! I sliced through one creature, then the next, then the next. Now I could feel I was gaining some rhythm, zooming from one target to the next. My speed was definitely increasing more and more. I could feel my movement was becoming far smoother. I sliced through another creature, slid past the next and stabbed it through the back. Flipped my sword forward again and ripped through the next one from the bottom up. The next creature swiped at my head, I bent back onto my hands and over back onto my feet. I then quickly charged forward, stabbing it in the chest. It disappeared, and so did the world around me. The simulation dummies that the projectors transformed, sank under the training floor.
"Time's up!! Nice job Vera, your time has improved by 5 seconds!"
I deactivated my sword, and it shrank into a small disk. I slid the disk into a gauntlet on my right arm, then looked up at the room above the training area and saw Colt, a tall somewhat muscular man with short shaggy blonde hair. He gave me a thumbs up. I looked down and mumbled to myself, "Only five? That isn't good enough"
"I can hear you, and what do you mean? You just killed thirty-five blackhounds in forty-three seconds! The next closest in the guild is Sein, and her best was sixty seconds. I'm betting this new time is really going to set her off this time"
"Oh, I'm sure. Also, are these things even real? I've never seen anything like this in the field before."
"I think so. Kato said they're from the volcanic plains on the continent of Gorra"
"Why are we fighting things that are not even in Elegar?"
"I don't know, ask Kato. He's the guild master. I just run the show. Speaking of running the show, can someone go clean up her mess. The floor is a wreck!"
"Oh yeah, I'll be sure to go ask him." I said, rolling my eyes.
I scanned over to the exit door and saw Tessara, the annoying girl who happens to be my typical work partner, waiting there. She was wearing her signature outfit, black combat boots, black and yellow shorts, a matching cropped t-shirt, a black harness with two side holsters for her dual pistols. She has slim yellow eyes, with light brown hair and light colored skin, and she's about five foot four. Which I guess is her greatest strength, because let's be honest who expects a five foot girl dressed like a bee to whoop your butt, but typically that's exactly what happens. She gave me a smirk, "Your hair looks nice today", she yelled out sarcastically.
"Oh shut it", I yelled back.
I felt my hair. It was extremely frizzy. I pulled my hands out and watched as a few silvery strands fell to the ground.
"Oh, and by the way, I will beat you one day", she said as I made my way to the doorway.
"I doubt it", I said in a slightly annoyed voice. She likes to follow me around, like some lost puppy. Being a little more bored than usual due to our lack of jobs lately, I am starting to barely tolerate her presence at all.
She laughed and said, "Just you wait, I'm excited to see that look of defeat on your face"
"Oh I bet", I said in a sarcastic tone. I then ran my finger along the side. It made a small pop as it depressurized around my head. Parts of it then collapsed until it turned into a much smaller version than what was originally on my face. I attached it to my belt as I continued down the dimly lit hall. Like my sword, I don't remember how I got it or who gave it to me, but I've had it for as long as I can remember. Something about them is special to me, so I carry both around everywhere. Tessara is a little jealous of my mask and really wants one herself.
Tessara and I have been 'partners' for a little over a year now, and our relationship is continuously growing. Negatively in my opinion. Unfortunately, I'm pretty comfortable around her now, even if I don't want to admit it. I don't trust easily, but something about her feels right, so I'm going to trust that feeling. The first time I met her was for a job, oh jeez that was quite an interesting one. Well it's the first time I officially met her. Before that, we were hell bent on beating one another, both of us locked in a war of trying to outcompete the other or ruin the other person's day. Why it started honestly I don't remember. It was a long time ago. The job we were tasked with was rescuing some civilians on their way to the city of Ocuei. Their truck had been raided by bandits and we were sent on an emergency mission to go rescue them. Why it was us two that the Kato chose, I still don't know, but it was the one thing that managed to finally bring us together. Ever since that mission we've been work partners, and just about every job after, we took on together. Mostly because she doesn't understand the word no. She gave me a smirk, the same one she always does when she has some good news, or something stupid to say.
"I assume you have something to tell me?", I asked, with a small undertone of annoyance.
"I got us a new job!", she said excitedly
"What is it this time…?"
"Well first of all it was given to us by the city police, so we must be real special," she said with a small laugh, "anyways, there has been a group that was going around town stealing eloq crystals"
Eloq crystals are crystals that are loaded with magic energy making them a powerful energy source and the main component in powering objects, vehicles, and cities around the world. Their energy can only really be extracted through large energy extractors with our current technology, so they are used for little more than generators.
"Eloq crystals? Why?", I said as we made it up a small dark flight of stairs towards another dim hallway.
"They've been doing it for the past few weeks. Well, more like months, but now it's getting worse. At first it was, like, once a month then once a week. Now it's pretty much every night, and I have no idea why. But I really wanna find out!", she exclaimed.
"You seem like you're full of energy. What did you eat this morning, pure sugar?"
"Nope, but I did have eight cinnamon toaster strudels"
I gave her a disapproving look, "That explains it…so when does this job start?"
"Tonight"
"Did Kato choose us to do it then?"
"The police actually came and asked me. They told me they already informed him"
Kind of weird. Usually, the person with a job comes to Kato and he comes to us , once he chooses the best people for it. Oh, well. That's just one less thing I have to worry about.
"Alright…anything else?"
"The officers also said they think they know their next target. They're going to be hitting a small factory on the west side"
"I guess that makes them far easier to find. There is only one factory on the west side. But why us? Seems like something they can handle"
"I don't know, but it sounds fun! Things around here have been pretty boring lately so I'm up for anything at this point!"
"Yeah I guess you're right"
"And guess what? I've got a plan"
"Oh, do you now?", I said in a monotone and sarcastic voice.
Tessara doesn't exactly have the best plans. For example, one time, we needed to kill a pack of Vescai attacking a man's farm. Vescai are carnivorous reptilian plant-like creatures, they have long green bodies with beak-like mouths, claws, large feet and pointy frills. The best idea she could come up with was to slather a jacket in honey and run around in it. For some reason, that's their favorite food. I guess they eat it and their body turns it into a special type of digestive acid or something. There she was, slathered in honey, running for her life, screaming in the middle of an open field. I was supposed to attack them once they got into the tall grass where I was hiding. Did the plan work? Yes, but that's not the point. It was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. That specific one right there is why Tessara isn't allowed to come up with plans.
I then focused back on the current moment.
"Yes, I do. We're gonna leave at about six o'clock, and there's a building across the street we can wait on the roof and watch. Ooo, ooo! Wait – how about I wait on a roof in the front and you wait on a roof near the back door?"
"For once, your plan sounds somewhat normal"
"And once we catch them then that's when we beat them until they give us the information!!" she started punching the air in front of her, "Hey wait what is that supposed to mean?", she asked in a slightly offended tone.
"Nothing, except you can almost never come up with a good plan",
"That is not true, I just made a good one!", she said in defiance.
"Still needs to be seen whether it's good or not"
"Trust me, it is! Anyways, I gotta go, got some things to do, catchya later!", she said, shooting finger guns at me as she ran off down the hall. She made it about four feet before nearly tripping.
"I'm good, just tripped over my foot", she chuckled. She didn't resume running after that and just casually walked down the hall, or at least in a way that's casual for her. So more like an eager speed walk. I just shook my head and continued walking towards the main area of the building, which is a large lobby. I walked through a doorway into the lobby and towards the front door.
The lobby was lit by bright sunlight beaming in from high windows. The tables were crowded with other members of the guild, most of which I recognized. They've all been here about as long as me, if not longer. I was never a very social person. I like to keep to myself even to the people in the guild. We practically grew up with each other, but even since the day I arrived at Blazing Phoenix I never really felt like I fit in, so I typically spend most of my days alone or out on missions. Well, that's if Tessara isn't following me.
Even though she annoys me, she tends to be the only one I can really tolerate. She's pretty energetic–oh, and did I mention annoying? But I guess it's nice to have some company. I made it down to the street and looked out onto the giant city. Large, looming skyscrapers and faded lights filled the sky above, while busy streets filled my view below. I hopped on my bike, activated my mask and rolled off into the road. The bike is sleek black and has dark purple energy circuits running up and down the sides. When I'm not tweaking it, I'm speeding through traffic on it. I looked back at the guild hall. It's about three stories tall with red walls, an orange slanted roof with black accents, and a large awning over the doorway. It's a pretty large building. On the first floor is a huge front lobby that has a bar and restaurant area, along with several training areas. Also there is a weightlifting, running area, a swimming pool, and a simulation booth,(a large metal room powered by our personal eloq generator that has special projectors that can create life-like battle scenarios, like the one I fought in earlier.) On the second floor are the personal rooms, a guys side and girls side. Not everyone in the guild lives here, but it is an option. Finally, there's the Masters quarters at the top.
I took a moment to admire the giant symbol of the guild above the door. It was a red, yellow and orange geometric phoenix, definitely one of the coolest symbols I've seen. Next to the skyscrapers around it, the guild may as well be an ant hill. I looked back at the road and then took off towards Kuchino's kitchen, a restaurant famous on the streets for all sorts of food, especially seafood. Which is a delicacy in a city like this. Given that we are surrounded by desert and mountains. I sped down the road, bobbing in and out of speeding traffic and honking cars. The city I live in is called Nazul, aka the City of Lights. It got that name because of its high level of technology and enormous reflective skyscrapers. It also happens to be located on top of one of the largest eloq crystal clusters in the world, making it the most powerful city on the eastern continent, Elegar. Maybe even the world. With constant energy flowing, the city often glows a number of colors, giving it the name "The City of Lights".
It's also one of the few cities still not seized by any one corporation. Right now, it's a competition between Artech, Freearms, and Triage Armory – all weapons corporations. I'm not a fan of corporation-run cities, but that's how most of the world operates. Corporations rule the world. The government, most commonly referred to as the United Corporations Government, is as it sounds – a government made up of the world's most powerful corporations. Granted, though they have a large say in how the world operates, they do not solely run it. There are checks and balances and a majority of the leaders on the head council are voted in by the people. The council – along with the senate – make the final decisions on the laws in the world. Still, the more powerful you are, the louder your voice tends to be.
While the major cities are corporate run, there are still plenty of smaller cities and towns lingering around with little to no corporate control. Since corporations have the money and cities usually have the resources. The government, so to speak, will give territory to corporations, called city states, to govern, hire new people and make new things. They tend to hold the belief that any progress is good progress regardless of the means. Which can be a problem in some cases, but if the public speaks out enough, they tend to listen. Corporations don't have very many rules. Once the city or town is owned by a corporation they are free to do with it as they wish, for the most part. They can do just about anything, beside destroying the city or killing its people. With the corporations monopolizing the world's technology, they are pretty hard to oppose, especially if you can't use magic. Even with magic, it's a lot easier said than done.
Technology has been mostly reserved for cities and towns of higher population, leaving many towns and smaller cities with technology barely better than eloq power itself. Magic is the only thing keeping them alive. Without it, the environment would destroy them. This world is pretty nasty in a number of ways, and it's not just the people. The wildlife isn't always the friendliest. Most towns have no way of making money, leaving them little to no connection to society. Because of this, most people end up moving to the city and working for the corporations. Occasionally, a corporation will take a town, if they farm or do anything of any use to them. But most towns do nothing more than simply support themselves, so according to the government, they are not much better than animals.
Before the rise in technology and government, magic ruled the world. Guilds were what protected the villages and growing cities, but with the world recovering and becoming developed again, the need for guilds is shrinking. As such, we are kinda left to our own devices – to do as we please within city laws. We are privately owned, meaning the corporations don't have control over us. We are registered directly with the UCG, giving us almost as much freedom as the police. I guess you can say we're like the superheroes of the city There are special licenses that allow you to operate as an official Luminary, which is the term for a registered magic guild user. Magic in this world is not rare, but being able to use it is. Most people's genes aren't strong enough or they're too lazy to do anything to progress it. Guilds were built to help those special few to cultivate their abilities and put it to use in ways that can help those around them.
Magic is something that anyone can use depending on the strength of the genes in your body. The stronger the genes, the stronger the magic. The type of magic you use is also determined by your genes.
I can't use magic, well not yet, at least. I haven't quite unlocked my ability, whatever it is. Neither has Tessara, but she's making some progress. Her magic has to do with her fingers. We're not sure what it is yet, but she can create little balls of wind. Not sure how useful that is, but it's something I guess. Anyone who has a strong enough gene usually gains their magic abilities around twelve or thirteen. This world is strangely organized. To be honest, I don't entirely understand it myself – especially since I've barely ever been out of the city. At least, I know this city like the back of my hand.
I zoomed down the street towards the restaurant, weaving in and out of lanes. I soon arrived and parked on the side of the building and hopped off my bike. The restaurant was part just north of the Oasis in a large section of shops and restaurants – kind of like a strip mall. Like most cities, Nazul is split up in four parts, North, South, East and West. The east side, aka Goldies, is by far the wealthiest. It's full of snobs, high end business owners, and people who think they're the whole world. I typically don't venture over there. I've got enough problems without rich know-it-alls.
Most jobs over there are corporate. The north side is a mix of middle and upper class individuals. They're not much better than the east, but this is where most normal people live –, the people with average jobs and average problems. It's also where the guild is located, right on the west edge of the north side. The west side is where you start to get into the low end of town,. It's mostly normal people with low wages, and not the greatest positions, but are still able to make a living. Then there's the south side, the slums of the city. That part of town is full of criminals, and the homeless. It's mostly made up of factories and eloq crystal mines. This place happens to be right in the center of the city, and it's the most popular spot in the city, (other than the oasis, which is like the black market market version of the city center).
I sat in my usual spot, the second to last seat on the far left side of the bar. Mr. Kuchino walked out from the back and looked at me. I nodded, letting him know I wanted my usual order, and he gave a smile before heading back into the kitchen. He was a short old man – about sixty, with small squinty eyes, and short black hair. He walked out the back and plopped the plate on the counter on the back wall. It was a dish I had him make specially for me a while ago. On it was an assortment of sushi rolls, mostly eel since that's my favorite, and some fish from the eastern coast. He put a plastic cover over it to seal it and then set it in front of me. I typically don't eat it here, I take it back to my room and eat.
He looked up at me, "So any jobs this week?"
"Tessara got something from the city police. They want us to take down a group that has been recently attacking eloq crystal factories around the city"
"Hmmm, interesting. I believe I have heard about this group. Word on the street is it's a small gang. Not sure which one they are, but I heard they've stolen over two tons! That's enough to power, like, twenty towns! Not sure what they'd need that many for."
"Yeah – that's why I agreed to the job. I'm a little curious myself"
"Hmmm, you said the police gave this job to you?", he asked
"Yeah that's what Tessara said, why?"
"It seems like a small job, something for the police to handle. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to hire a luminary."
"Yeah, but we've been assigned dumber things. Plus, it's better than just sitting back at the guild."
"True. It doesn't really matter who does the job, I guess. Either way, it helps the city, so thank you for your continued service."
"You know you don't have to thank me every time I come to get food."
"I know, I know, but I want to,"", he said, smiling wide
"Ok," I said, with a small smile, "Then you're welcome," I stood up from my seat, dropped ten credits on the counter and grabbed my plate.
"Bye! have a nice day," he said waving to me as I walked towards my bike. I waved back and set my plate in a storage compartment on the back of my bike. When I started the bike, purple energy sparked up the sides of the bike and the power gauge flipped to max. I activated my mask and drove off back towards the guild.
I was planning on finishing some things up in my room before we left tonight. I had been gone on a solo mission for over a week. Kato had me do recon on a nearby private military base that recently became more active, to see what they were up to, on behalf of the city. I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, so I came back. After that trip, I still had to finish some cleaning. Plus, I had some tweaking to do on my wristech. It has been acting kind of funky lately.
My wristech is a device that typically is like an advanced smartwatch. except I modified mine to I guess let's say better fit my area of work. So mine covers a majority of my forearm with a large touch screen, a few buttons below for specific functions, and a holographic projection lens. The issue I have been having lately is the buttons don't want to function, so I'm probably going to have to take it all apart and do some rewiring. That sucks, but right now I have nothing better to do.
Lately, things in the city have been pretty boring – with fewer jobs to take on. Rumors of guilds closing are spreading due to loss of relevancy now that technology can do just about anything. That, along with the fact that police forces are growing and cities are just becoming more basic and less magical.
This is why I was doing tasks outside of the city. If Blazing Phoenix does go under, I'm gonna have to move. Even if the police could take care of this job, I'm glad to take it on.
I tidied up for all of five minutes, then laid down in my bed and almost instantly fell asleep. How very productive of me.