It had been a trying week with Kon having been involved with his third demonic incursion. The decisions he had made during the event had troubled him severely, his decision to flee from the forefront weighed on him heavily as it resulted in the deaths of just under a hundred citizens and mass damage to Astera’s pier. Even the citizens within Astera seemed to be eyeing him off as some sort of coward even though he was instrumental in killing the demon in the end. But people always wanted someone to blame. For now however Kon would set to work on ensuring that no other evil creature remained within the area. And that was just what he had been doing for the past few days hearing rumors from the civilians who still spoke to him about a monster in the area. Whether it had been there as a result of the incursion or it was merely a coincidence it mattered little all that did was that the monster was slain to ensure that it would not be able to hurt anyone or damage anything and thus setting back the people of Astera further.

The rumors lead the former Holy Knight to an isolated and deserted part of town, it was eerie lacking any signs of life. At least that seemed to be the case until he turned the corner and came face to face with a brunette who was fairly powerful, halting immediately he raised up a hand and spoke to the young woman. “Hey there, Monster Hunting as well?”


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The response he got from the woman was completely unexpected and uncalled for from his perspective. She was aware of the rumors but had been making light of them, even suggesting they merely just go out and squash it, even making light of the entire demonic incursion incident by lumping this monster in with the others. On the flip side in comparison to another he met in Astera at least she was acknowledging their presence. She even went as far as to suggest that they paired up and took on the monster together. Kon was hesitant on the idea, working with others was never something he was good at and given the demeanour of this girl he wondered whether he would be able to do so. The two seemed radically different even from the first response, but he likely would have to go along with the suggestion as this woman may just try and fight the monster by herself. She might be able to defeat it but Kon didn’t want to be burdened with more death in case she failed.

And so, sighing reluctantly and rubbing the bridge of his nose, kon caved. “Alright, fine just be careful, you’re strong I get it but I’ve heard that the monster is also pretty strong.” Collecting his bow from his back with his left hand, he motioned to the girl. “Well, let’s go.”

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Kon mentally kicked himself as the young lady questioned him on how he could tell she was strong. “Damn, I shouldn’t have said it that way.” He scowling himself mentally. Wanting to be transparent and seeing no real need to hide anything, Kon merely rose a finger and pointed it towards his golden globe forcibly lodged in his empty eye-socket. “This prosthetic allows me to see a whole lot of things most people can not.” Wanting to show just how much it could do he continued. “For example, I know you’re a light mage with fairly good physical and magical abilities.” Dropping his free hand further down to his chin, he rubbed it a bit while he eyed the woman further as she began to walk off with Kon following in toe before the distance became too great. Wielding the bow in her presence seemed to have sparked something, with her muttering something under her breathe which he couldn’t hear. “Pardon?” He asked, only to be given a name then another name and a jab towards his bow. Rather then taking offense, Kon took it in his stride and merely replied. “It’s nice to meet you, Cherry, I’m Konstantin, however, most people call me Kon, it’s a lot easier, as for using a stick I hardly think that’ll be needed…” At least that’s what he hoped as if they were resorting to just using debris things were worse than dear. Where they were going exactly kon didn't know but it didn't really matter as if things got truly desperate he'd either be able to defeat whatever faced him or flee.

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A scowl formed on the Black haired mage as Kaiser revealed the name of her magic something distinctly identifiable as originating from Bosco, it was this and her accent that lead him to the realization that she had either come directly from there or her family were. Wanting to learn more about her origins, Kon branched out further into her magic and towards their shared culture. “So are you from Bosco?, I couldn’t help but notice your accent, your magic all tell tale signs of being from that uhh influential country.” His choice to describe the country was used carefully as he didn’t know what her allegiances were to or if she had any to begin with. Her mannerisms, tone even her nonchalant behaviour suggested that she held none but all the same, one could never be too careful. It seemed however that the girl while knowing her magics name was apparently incapable of using it or that she was “still figuring it out.” It was odd for someone with her power to have little to no talent with their magic had something similar to kon occur with her in that she lost her ability or forgot how to use it and was merely too pride to say otherwise. For now however, she remained unconcerned with her opting to have them both rely on his stormcaller. “Why did she place so much emphasis towards it?” He thought to himself, “Had she seen him in the conflict between the lesser demon?”

Whether she had not not didn’t matter as while she was quite powerful, he’s own strength doubled her own even tripled in some areas. But all the same underestimating an opponent was an easy way to get a dagger in your back, and yet he didn’t sense that from her merely just someone who was both impatient and in a hurry at the same time to do something else more important. For Kon killing the monster and purging any traces of it was his own priority. Evidently wanting to keep the conversation a bit lighter, a jab was made towards Konstantin’s nickname with him merely responding. “Yep, exactly like Con.” Interacting with Kaiser was something that while not uncomfortable just wasn’t what he was used to. There was something he couldn’t put his finger on. For now however Kon’s thoughts were halted as he walked idly behind Kaiser as the area around them grew far darker than before.

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His educated guess had been correct with her revealing that she did, in fact, come from Bosco. Given her prominent accent it seemed like him that she had come to Fiore only fairly recently. Curious about his own origins, Kaiser questioned him on his own upbringing. His Boscoi childhood and nationality were somewhat of a sore sport for Konstantin, however, he didn’t lie nor sway away from the question. Coughing somewhat and drawing back his native accent, Kon replied. “I am Bosco myself, I couldn’t help but notice, honestly your accent would only be something identifiable by a Boscoi but you do seem to have a trace of something neither Boscoi or Fiorian.” Kon continued to explain himself. “I came to Fiore four or five years ago due to familial issues and was forced to blend into the rest of society, lose the distinctive accent and adopt the Fiorian culture.”

The weather meanwhile seemed to be a significant issue with the girl, The worst that could happen was rain, lightning he could easily manipulate. Kon, himself was dressed in a thick water-resistant fur coat so any rain would be minimum. Kaiser was lacking such attire and so her comments would have been more appropriate to say, she was in trouble. Refraining from correcting her and revealing the strength of his bow, Kon instead replied. “If we get wet, we can always find somewhere warm to dry off, even if we need to spend some time in this desolate place.” Her bravery towards defeating the monster seemed to be wavering as safety was addressed. Why this shift of attitude had occurred he didn’t truly know, even so, he didn’t ignore her concern instead nodded and continued to speak back in his non-Bosco accent. “Of course, We don’t know anything about the monster or even what it looks like.”

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The change in attitude from the girl was noticeable to say the least, with her now switching completely to Bosco, which while he was fluent in occasionally he would forget the right phrase for something equivalent to what he wanted to say. It sadly was as if he had adapted too well into the Fiorian background that he was losing his bosco heritage. Kon continued to remain silent as she barreled off her own upbring of joyan and Boscoi, an odd but not the most unusual combination he had ever seen, the two countries weren’t really that far away. As they continued much to what would be Kaiser’s disappointment drops began to fall from the sky, initially it was lazily but quickly it was increasing. Their initial plan of going for cover to wait out any potential rain would be extremely short lived as a terrible noise of stone grinding against stone resonated in front of them as a big brute approached the center road lazily wielding a club that dragged against the road leaving deep grooves into the dense rock.

Needing to gain the attention of his fellow boscoi, Kon grabbed at Kaiser’s loose attire and dragged her back his way, with his free hand. Never allowing the monster to leave his gaze as he did so. It was a fairly formidable foe something that he would like to be able to take one without too much trouble, but with the presence of another by his side even as strong as she was, he was in a bit of a bother. Typically he would have just tried to run and gun down his target with his bow while relying on the strength of the storms above him to apply attrition to his opponent but that wouldn’t be possible at least it’s not something he wished to tempt with him having seen firsthand the outcome of the misuse with his bow, crippling his already maimed comrade leaving him blind and armless.

Again not wanting to attract the attention of the monster dangerously close to them but needing her to be on high alert, Kon spoke in a hushed tone just audible over the rain towards his companion. “Careful, we don’t want him to notice us before we are in a position to attack him ourselves.”

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How had the monster managed to sneak up on someone so careful as Konstantin, He should have been able to sense his power even if he didn’t have a mana pool, perhaps it was Kaiser’s and Kon’s own overwhelming strength that had dominated his vision causing it to adjust as to not be blinded by himself and his companion. No matter for now, both he and the woman that stood with her would face the beast now roaring into the skies sending a booming wave of noise towards them sending debris to fly in their general direction before it swung the large club against the ground in front of him sending shards of stone equally towards them. It was like the beast was testing them, tempting them to attack him directly. “Odd” he responded to the Kaiser’s comment. Standing strong towards the beast Kon drifted back to his right leg and drew back the string of his bow as he did so listening to Kaiser over the rain comment about the stick she was going to pick up. “And just how would that have helped” he thought to himself before finally commenting. “Well, you can either find something, use your own fists or distract him while I put enough arrows in him that he’ll stay down.” With a further word or enough time to allow the woman to respond, Kon unleashed a volley of arrows increasing in potency as the beast began to charge him causing the monstrous being howl in pain and develop the appearance of a porcupine.

Even so with all the arrows dealt to him, he still charged forward at the Black-haired former Holy Knight. A mere matter of inches separated the two allowing for Kon to see the long-gone scars that scattered across the body of the beast. It was a devastating sight, it was clear that he was a creature who had been through immense events, this distraction was enough for Kon to miss the last draw allowing the monster to land a powerful swipe with his club sending him into a building and through it’s crumbling walls. His vision faltered as dust and crumbling building matter landed on top of him. His bow now sat lingering in the rain as it left his hand mid-blow, Kon now would be left with but a handful of options, rely on his companion to defeat the beast, retrieve his weapon or fight against a beast significantly bigger than him with naught but his fists.

Spells used: Arrow Shot: D-Rank, C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank,
Remaining durability of Barrang: 1x S-Rank, 1x D-Rank

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An all too familiar taste filled the black-haired mages mouth as he began to rush out from beneath the rubble, he had bitten the side of his tongue while he hit the ground and it was now bleeding profusely leaving his teeth equally coated in the crimson liquid. Kon was surprised, even shocked behind the raw power that the monster was able to strike him with, to be able to wind him was one thing, to send him into a wall another thing entirely. His only hope amidst the conflict was that Kaiser was unharmed as well she was crude in the lightest of senses even seemingly air-headed, Kon was developing a repur with her and to see that being snuffed out would be rather disappointing. Raising to his feet proved harder than he had initially anticipated with him having unknowingly been impaled by the leg of a broken chair ironically in his own right leg, causing him to falter and wince as his calf muscle compressed against the foreign object.

Knowing it was neither a good idea to both walk on the injured leg or remove the piece of shrapnel, Kon opted to fall back to where he lay as the dust settled mixing with the rain to form loose gravel that clung to the sides of the road. Unsure about how severe the damage was, Kon began to bond the object with a piece of tablecloth that was conveniently nearby. Meanwhile, he watched on as Kaiser took up his bow and proceeded to let loose two arrows consecutively halting the monster's movements entirely with it dead. As the monster began to collapse, Kon immediately began to rise up once more using a nearby table for leverage supporting most of his weight on his left leg essentially hopping his way over to his companion.

Reaching the scantily clad lady, Kon was retrieved his stormcaller now wielding it gingerly with one hand as he clung onto his leg with his right hand. “Thanks.” He commented as he took up his weapon once more. Even in the terrible weather and situation, Kaiser still seemed to be willing to poke fun at current events, Kon, on the other hand, was a bit blunter as he responded to her jab. “He’s been fried to bits already, removing his head, well, I mean if you want to do the grunt work, I won’t stop you.” Wincing as he applied a bit of pressure on his wounded leg. “I meanwhile need to get this looked at and unless you can cast healing magic, I’m going to need to see a healer.” The need was more superficial than anything else with Kon likely only needing a few stitches to close up the wound while the healer would be able to resolve any cosmetic issues that came from the medical treatment he sorts out.

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The attitude of the half boscoi appeared to have taken a sharp turn as she came to witness Kon’s crippled form. Her anger was taken out of the now deceased monster, plunging a table leg into lifeless corpse causing blood to squirt across not just the room but all along both him and Kaiser. She seemed completely oblivious to the damage to her clothes from the dark fluid, Kon meanwhile was less than pleased with his front being completely coated from head down. “Thanks…” He muttered to the blood-crazed woman sarcastically. While he appreciated her efforts if anything she just left him open to getting an infection should any of that thick sludgy blood got into his flesh wound. Not only did she went out of her way to spear the beast, a deliberate effort was made to remove a tooth from its tooth jaw in a gory and precise manner bring with it pieces of tissue from its socket. Why she had done so he didn’t know, perhaps to have as a keepsake, to sell in the blackmarket perhaps for other reason. He remained silent through the entire process with her only comment about whether it was worth getting after taking the tooth in the first place. Lifting his hand that was gingerly holding his leg Kon hit the back of Kaiser’s head jokingly. “Why take the tooth, if you don’t know whether its worth anything, you might as well take the entire body….”  Before holding up his index finger in front of her and continuing. “And we’re not taking the body, it’ll be hard enough to walk around with this in my foot.” He would have preferred to take back his bow however it seemed Kaiser was invested in holding onto the weapon and he was busy tending to his wound. Rather then being rude and argue for his bow back in his injured state, He took Kaisers offer and allowed her to continue wielding the weapon in her free hand.

It seemed that killing the monster was Kaisers true objective with her having had the duo turn around at the demise of the beast. The pace was painful with each step jarring on his injured leg almost buckling every time he applied pressure onto it. He was going to suggest that he teleported the two of them but each time he tried a sharp and sudden crack was heard in the distance as if the very weather was against him from mentioning his abilities. Rather then remain stoic and fight through the pain, Kon halted for all but a moment to apply most of his weight on his other foot, removed his hand from his leg and tapped it onto his forehead bringing them relatively close to the end of the town but not far enough to see the exit. This was all done within a mere matter of seconds returning to the very same stance and positioning responding to Kaisers comment as she noticed a building in front of them. Odd in design but not unique with him having seen similar style buildings throughout Fiore. Approaching the building with renewed urgency and more wincing, Kon was now hopping more then hobbling, clinching his jaws as the shrapnel wiggled around in his leg leaving behind a trail of his blessed blood.

After suffering through the pain both Kon and Kaiser reached the door of the building, its sole occupant allowed them in cautiously giving him a sigh of relief now. This was short lived as Kon steadily began to fall to one side obviously having lost more blood then he initially thought forcing Kaiser to hold his entire body weight or allow him to fall to the ground. The latter seemed to be the case as a loud thud was heard as his vision darkened and the voice of the old man commented. “Oh dear…” In spite of the sudden loss of consciousness, Kon was swift to rise with him hearing the ending of Kaiser’s tale while he felt the hands of the old man binding up his leg having removed the piece of wood that now rested on the table by his side. “Thanks for that doc” The black-haired knight said to the old man weakly breaking mid-way, rather then allowing Kon to continue to talk he was handed a drink similar to Kaiser who appeared to be chatting with the old man.

Once the bandages were completed, Kon slowly lifted himself off where he been carried. A sharp pain radiated from the wound evidently the man was only able to heal the extremities of the injury, which was clarified as he also rose up wiping his blooded hands with a cloth. “I’ve cleaned and restored the outer layers of your leg, the muscle and inner tissue will heal on their own.” Thanking the man regardless, Kon hobbled and took up the man’s still dirty hand into his own and shook it a few times. “I’m sure it will be fine, thank you for tending to my wound and thank you for taking care of me, Kaiser.” Getting to his feet, Kon gathered up his things including his bow which had been resting on a corner near the entrance of the home next to a series of umbrellas, coats and boots all neatly lined up. Clear that their shared journey was not at an end, the duo continued on their way now towards the town of Astera itself, Kon still remained wincing with each step but it was far more bearable than before. Fortunately for the Nephilim, the two had been directed by the old man of a transportation service that used magicars something that while Kon was knowledgeable about he had never used. He had become too accustomed to teleportation for travelling long distances that alternative means like magicars or traditional methods such as trains were becoming trivial in nature, even slow from his perspective.

Where the two were going Kaiser didn’t say nor he really minded perhaps she had been told something by the old man relevant to the beast and they were going to collect a reward however that was something he would have to wait to find out. The information was swiftly revealed after the quick drive to town reaching the outskirts and entering the marketplace where they met with a local named Gallard, friendly enough fellow, who seemed to be a merchant of exotic materials and goods, both naturally and man-made. There were a few things that Kon recognised clearly from the Illumin religion but he couldn’t recognise their authenticity from a quick glance so remained silent on that matter while Kaiser handled the deal she struck with the questionable man. Much to Konstantin’s surprise the man was quite generous having only received a single tooth and he was even more surprised with Kaiser giving him an equal share in spite of him being injured and seemingly requiring her to take him to a healer. After providing him with his end of the reward, a light jest was made on his injuries before the duo parted, Kon remained in the marketplace while Kaiser disappeared into the crowd of people while he watched her blip of mana diminish in turn. Kon had remained in the marketplace primarily to learn whether he could find a more experienced healer that would be able to restore the internal tissue of his leg, unfortunately there was another but they were nature-based thus would be more likely to destroy the leg rather than heal it. Disheartened by the information, Konstantin soon left the marketplace as well to retire to his retired room.

Spells used: Instant transmission

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[Exit]