Kon sat restly at his desk thinking over the incident in Dawncliff Mine, the wuhan bat infestation and more importantly the mutilation that the unknown woman had done to one of those ghoulish creatures. Drumming his left temple with his golden hand, he read and reread the original reports from the mine, none indicated an infestation let alone the experimentations. Something was missing, clearly, another page, a removed section of the report not including it, false information, even deliberate exclusion of the information? Perhaps there was something more to this, perhaps inference from the workers and citizens being displeased with the enforced servitude that they had now been placed under.

Kon had in some ways experienced this being under the thumb of first the Rune Knights legalities then the Holy Knights fundamentals before being thrusted into becoming a disciple of Illumin forcing their philosophies onto him albeit briefly. While he could sympathise with them, the cruelty was needed as part of the syndicate's plan. There was clearly something he had missed when he was in the mine, something he had come to sorely regret as he’d be coming back to the caverns filled with bile and gore.

With a heavy sigh, Kon left his chair, lightly scratching the stony floor, before removing his suit jacket and tie, resting them both on a nearby rack. He had learnt from his first visit that the mine was no place for formalities and so began to completely unbutton and undress wearing nothing but briefs, an undershirt and socks. Pulling open his chest, Kon withdrew a leather black jacket and pants, thick enough to resist the harsh environment of the mine. Getting into these old clothes was somewhat of a challenge having gained some pounds both in fat and muscle.

Finally squeezing himself into the tight fit, he rolled his shoulders and adjusted himself allowing his prosthetics and bare skin to get used to the garments. Comfortable, at least as comfortable as someone wearing something two sizes too small could be, Kon left his master room, leading to the stairway leading to the ground floor of the island. He could easily teleport all the way down but that was messy and he admittedly needed the exercise. Approaching the stairs, he looked out from the adjacent window below him, members were mingling, workers were repairing and cleaning, foreign diplomats were discussing amongst themselves and the various envoys Kon had assigned. He had to be careful now more than ever, only really trusting a few within his circle to have the subtlety in handling representatives of other countries.

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Walking down the worn stone stairs, Kon passed the cracking walls that separate him from certain death, at least for a person without his abilities. Portions of the tower’s walls had been damaged so much that there were holes still being repaired by constructors. These constructors had come from Rush Valley after receiving both monetary incentives and some harsh encouragement, with some sentinel members removing their children from their homes until the work was done. The living conditions of the children as a result of their kidnapping were potentially better than if they were still in the town. They were fed three square meals daily, given the best education and clothing the guild could afford as a result of Kon’s virtually unrivaled ability to generate gold from touch alone. Kon would frequently visit the children with gifts and candy feeling a sense of guilt about something he had committed in the past but could no longer remember. Even now Kon was plagued by the haze created by the torment Midnight Cult pushed upon him, his entire identity, memories were still a cluster of truths and lies.

Being mindful not to touch the walls with his left hand, Kon reached the bottom floor and pushed open the Chestnut door. Pausing Briefly, He breathed in deeply through his nose, several smells came into his mind, warm tar from the repairs to the walls, sea salt from the western breezes, even the warm baked goods provided by Rush Valley were in the air. Taking in the sights and smells weren’t on the agenda for today, especially with the turning weather. Clouds, dark and gloomy, full of hate as if revealing things to come. Rain on the island was never a pleasant experience, turning to ice in the high climate, piercing through even the thickest of clothing. Even Kon’s leather attire had cold spots, while his metal prosthetics left the skin around them cold almost leading to frostbite.

The chilly weather in the floating island was harsh enough that in private he would remove his right arm and golden eye to relieve the rubbing of the sensitive tissues. Avoiding this was one perk from this mission, but it didn’t exactly offset the terrible things to come. Leaving the island at a respectable pace, he could already feel the rain beating down upon his head, slowly freezing into an icy crown. Rubbing the rock-hard helm flicking off the ice, kon felt something odd, unearthly in sensation almost magical. Looking at the clouds further, something odd became apparent through his heightened vision, a Magical entity was laying down a splatter of particles. The being’s intentions were unknown but appeared otherwise unhostile and were out of Kon's reach.

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Having a job to do, Kon ignored the beings’ increased focus on the Nephilim, even with the increased pelting of hail which was not just piercing him to the core there was something more behind the appearance of the sprite. The truth of the matter would be revealed in time but for now Kon had more earthly matters to attend to, the resources from the mine or lack thereof. It was clear that his previous efforts of simply clearing out the mine of those vile bats was not sufficient. There was a clear morale issue with the workers, it would be hard for him to gain the trust of the men having already revealed his callus and unforgiving attitude. Trying to bridge the gap between them would be hard when he held all of their children virtually hostage and tore off one of their worker’s arms for a simple joke at Kon’s expense. Whether he wanted to, in the first place, was one of the questions of the day, the thoughts and opinions of the general masses.

Platitudes and civility would be key today, there were already reports of unrest and signs of protesting. Perhaps they needed a softer touch, something to ensure the workers didn’t turn rebellious and force Kon’s hand further. He hated the thought of having to hurt an innocent child, but it might be needed to get the point across, that he was not someone to cross. All these decisions and thoughts ran through his head as above the sprite continued to pepper him with enhanced hail. It was clear that it was having a greater effect on him than he’d like to admit, his holy-fiery stores of magicka seemed to be freezing over, his heartbeat slowing dangerous for a regular man. And yet he was fine walking in the rocky road now littered with snow, even his breathing revealed something was off inside him. For the average person mist would be formed but now ice particles, as though his body was colder than outside.

Clicking his left hand trying to cast his flames, revealed something more shocking, alarmed Kon hurriedly tapped his forehead hoping to return to buntai island, only to move a few meters back to his intended destination. The ice sprite was clearly doing something to him and not for the better. Perhaps in an overzealous belief in his own abilities, Kon shook his head as if to return his focus. “Surely this is only a temporary thing?” He laughed cautiously.

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Waving away the paranoia of potentially losing his magic, which was essentially a core part of Kon’s personality, his character, his known past. Having it forcibly taken away only made him remember the pain he suffered all those years ago, if only he could replace that pain with pleasant memories. Walking through the thickening snow, Kon looked upon noticing how the sprite had gotten closer as if knowing he could not stop it. Looking skyward revealed something else, his distinct black hair gladly turning to the purest of whites. This would be a shift back to his roots, having been a blonde throughout most of his childhood and teen years, only becoming black through magic, and now magic was manipulating Kon once more. Running his steel arm through his coarse, whitening hair, Kon exhaled heavily, sighing about the future, his future and the country's future. What would become of the syndicate if Kon couldn’t extend his reach as he could so easily with Heavenly body?, He was certainly powerful with his hands of steel and gold but that wasn’t enough, not for his grand plan.

As if sensing his despair, the small sprite that had a hand in removing Kon’s abilities rested on the Nephilim’s head. “Worry not my child, for I have blessed you.” Before rushing towards Kon’s chest, directly striking his heart, freezing it in place. And yet he remained standing functioning without a heartbeat, resting his fingers on his carotid artery, he scrambled for a pulse, only to feel a lack of any beat. “Very odd…” He thought to himself as a chill nibbled at his thoughts. “No matter.” Flexing his arms as he came to the clearing of the mine. It seemed his changed appearance had thrown off a few of the men who he could recognise but the moment they spotted his golden gauntlet anger grew through them. Seeking to quell the men’s behaviour before picks were thrown at him, he rose up his golden arm. “You all saw what happened to your colleague a few weeks ago, do not make me do the same to one of your children!”

A bluff to be sure but extreme times called for extreme measures and such a grand display of force was not characteristic of the Nephilim. Realizing that he was a man of his word, anger turned to resignation and subservience. Needing to find the manager, Kon bellowed out to the group of laborers forgetting the man’s name just remembering it started with P. “Patrick?, Peter?, Paul? Who’s your manager?” Finally asking broadly to all of the workers before him with one pointing weakly to the entrance of the mine itself. “Thank you.” He responded before heading into the blacked mine.

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Drawing closer to the mine’s entrance, Kon could smell the distinct vile scent of rotting corpses, Wuhan Bat excrement and all the other disgusting blends created from those wild creatures. Weeping from those strong, pungent, vulgar smells, he covered his face trying to filter them out as he entered the dark, damp mine. The working conditions were no doubt another impacting factor of the mine’s issues, no-one in their right mind would and reasonably so voluntarily go into the belly of the mines to be subjected to its horrifying state. This was clearly something he’d have to address, perhaps he would organise a cleaning crew, magic would likely be needed to completely remove all traces. This was definitely something that could bridge the gap between him and the miners, appearing sympathetic to them. Did he sincerely feel that way he didn’t know, he certainly hated starting a single moment in a mine even without these other problems.

Wanting to know whether this was the major issue that the men had, remembering that there were other potential parties at hand, such as that witch who was manipulating one of the bats. Kon reached out to speak to the manager once more who had been gobsmacked when they first met. A weak smile etched on the man’s face as he spotted Kon’s new appearance, but making no comments on the matter. Words of Ice left the man’s mouth as he broke the tension and silence between them. “What is the problem, Peter?, I was sure Caius and I cleared out all of the bats.” As if changing the temperature in the mine, the shivering man returned. “The miners can’t work in the caves anymore, we’ve tried fans, masks, everything! Not to mention all the bodies are still there, how are we expected to work while our friends and family are rotting beneath us?”

The Guild Master was cold, but understood how humanity required a delicate touch and so nodded at the comments. “I will have the mine cleaned out, your fallen men given the appropriate burials, I hope we can get this mine back to full working conditions in the coming weeks.” Pulling out a notepad from his inner pocket and a pen, Kon jotted down a few details as the manager explained the number of bodies and the overall area of the mine. The work required to resolve the mine’s current underlying issues would be time-consuming and something that he would ultimately relegate to another member of the guild or perhaps even create an assembly of both worker and guild members. Stroking his chin, Kon pondered about the decisions that would be needed for this mine to thrive.

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Recalling that the elevator had also been something that alarmed Kon, he had the manager follow him towards the structure. He’d be able to fix to a lesser capacity, obviously the entire lift hadn’t been restored, but the original power source really stuck out with him, a small two-stage diesel generator. Removing another object, a lacrima from his jacket, radianting a warm golden glow, Kon removed the generator and augmented the lift with the orb. The effects were immediate with the lights throughout the mine doubling and even tripling in brightness. Shocked, the manager couldn’t help but laugh, with Kon following in toe. Seeing every detail in the mine with greater clarity, the emotions felt by the miners were mixed, they would now be able to see their work easier, but now they would be seeing the bodies just as well. Realising the potential mistake he had made, he doubled down on goals to clean the mine. Remaining there would just increase tensions between them, and reaching the island would be the only way to start the cleaning process.

Dismissing the manager, returning him to his work, Kon headed to the exit, feeling sharp splintering pain in his chest once more as though ice was bursting out from his heart. Slumping onto the wall of the mine, Kon waited for the pain to subside and his vision to regain colour. Breathing in heavily, he pushed off the sharp rock and waddled out of the mine ignoring the miners who were encroaching upon the distracted Guild Master. Perhaps they wanted to seize the opportunity to get their revenge, or were concerned about his well being. Whether they wished to harm or help the man wasn’t something Kon could address, now falling head first into the gravelly snow littering his face with scratches and cuts. With his vision and consciousness fading he weakly tapped his temple opening a channel with everyone in the area. “Help.”

A single word uttered to the entire Sieghart Mountain, Man, Woman and Child, all were included. Broadcasting in such a manner was dangerous with the potential for anyone to be listening because he didn’t know whether he was even going to live through what he was experiencing. Answering his pleas, members within his guild arrived shortly thereafter taking away the man in a stretcher almost lifeless, breathing almost absent.

[Exit]
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