“So, Yamashiro was with Tsukishima the entire time? That old fool. I never did like him. Can’t say I’m surprised he bolted once he figured out his plan didn’t work. I don’t think he’ll be back in Baska or anywhere in the West anytime soon. The ideal choice for his health.” Herman says as he takes a deep drag from his cigarette. He blows the smoke off to the side as it wafts around the man. Shortly after getting his equipment repaired, he made good on his word to head towards the committee and grant Yamashiro a slow and painful death. When he arrived, after once again breaking their newly repaired door, he discovered that Yamashiro was nowhere to be found. After ‘gently’ prodding the staff for information, Jin found that Yamashiro mysteriously vanished not long after Jin departed. Given the time frame, Yamashiro most likely left after he realized his plan to have one or both of them killed failed. With little else to go, Jin found himself back in Oak, the only place he could think of going in search of answers. That search led him back to Herman’s office once again who, just as the last time, needed a job completed.

“Why are we here?” Jin sneers as he glances at the church again. Herman sighs shortly before taking another drag of his cigarette. “I told you before that these spirits come back in droves no matter how many times you get rid of them. The good people here want them gone and are willing to pay for it. Also, like before, you’ll need money for where you’re going.” “And just where is that?” Jin questions as he steps towards Herman. If this man knew more than he let on and deliberately denied Jin the opportunity to get the information he needed, he’d kill him. Herman, glancing towards Jin and recognizing the potentially murderous intent behind his eyes, wisely moves just out of Jin’s range. “Honestly, if I had any concrete evidence, I’d let you know. Yamashiro deserves every bit of what’s coming to him. However, my knowledge is limited. You helping with this will allow me to look deeper into it. I don’t worry, I’ll do what I can.” Herman says as he ascends up the stairs towards the entrance of the church.

Jin sighs in frustration as he moves towards the back entrance of the church. The ghastly wails of the active spirits could be heard from the entrance which led Jin to conclude there were more of them than the last time. Taking a step inside, he glances back towards the man behind him. “You coming?”

WC: 442

‘So this is Oak?’ Ikazuchi was surprised by how peaceful the town seemed considering the reputation it had due to housing an illegal guild. He had always been curious about the historic town, but hadn’t made the time to explore it until now. For one reason or another, he spent most of his time in Baska when staying in Fiore. Had it not been for something suddenly coming up, it was likely that his visit to this town would have been delayed for many more months.

Ikazuchi had arrived at the Ranking Office ahead of Jin, but had no luck. He hadn’t entered as aggressively as Jin would, but he still forcefully explored the location and confirmed that there wasn’t anyone named Yamashiro within. It was unfortunate, but he had quickly met a deadend in his search. Fortunately, he had an idea for how he could resume his search anew.

The answer to that was Jin, the individual who he had separated with a short time before. Without any other leads, Ikazuchi could only set up outside the Ranking Office and wait for Jin to arrive a short time later. He found himself thoroughly entertained by the man’s entrance into the building, even re-entering it in order to enjoy the show. It was only after the Demi-Human exhausted his leads here that Ikazuchi approached Jin about Yamashiro.

Due to their last encounter, Ikazuchi and Jin lacked any sort of fondness for the other. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be strange if they immediately started fighting each other. Fortunately, these weren’t normal circumstances. Ikazuchi inquired about any leads that Jin may have, and that directly caused him to accompany Jin to Oak.

What Ikazuchi didn’t expect was for Jin to lead him to the one place in all of Oak that he didn’t wish to visit. Ignoring the fact that he wasn’t religious, Ikazuchi absolutely hated the idea of ghosts. He couldn’t help but remain silent as Jin conversed with Herman, not really paying too much attention to the words being exchanged. He absentmindedly followed along with Jin as his gaze was constantly drawn towards the ground beneath the church.

‘It’s not like I can back out now…’ This was Ikazuchi’s last thought before he steeled himself to enter. It was right after this that Jin addressed him. “You coming?” This question made Ikazuchi realize that his steps had paused a short distance from the back entrance that led into the catacombs. “Of course!” Ikazuchi responded without hesitation. It would only be after following Jin into the doorway that he would speak once more. “Jin, serious question… Is it possible to cut a ghost?” Ikazuchi’s tone and expression were sincere as he inquired, hoping to receive a pleasant surprise now that he would soon face one of his long time fears.

WC: 470

“I’m not… scared. It’s just that I was always told that you needed magic to deal with them…” Ikazuchi couldn’t help but defend himself in response to Jin’s comment. He grew up hearing about how scary ghosts were, and how they were defeated. Most kids would focus on the defeat, but Ikazuchi was frustrated by the fact that magic was the only method used in those stories.

It could be said that his childhood fears were clashing with his confidence as he heard Herman’s voice. ‘Sounds like Jin makes a mess wherever he goes.’ This served as enough of a distraction for Ikazuchi to follow behind the older man calmly. The young man’s strength didn’t equal experience, and that was displayed at this moment. No matter how calm he was normally, his lack of experience was bound to show at times.

Once the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs, Ikazuchi saw a sight that made him once again doubt religion. “And people tell me that religion isn’t a scam…” This mutter unintentionally escaped his lips as he closely observed the room from a standing position a few feet away from Jin. He was here as a support for Jin in order to pursue leads, so he didn’t intend to impose himself as the leader at this moment. Truthfully, he hoped that things could proceed as slow as possible.

Ikazuchi maintained what he considered a comfortable distance from Jin as the man dealt with the diagram that eventually activated some mechanism that lowered the center of the room into what could be considered the catacombs of the Oakland Church. ‘Fuck, if it’s going to be cold then I would rather deal with the Raiders…’ This was what he thought as he listened to what Jin had to say. Following that, he drew his weapons and responded. “Aren’t you a bit too calm?” His gaze remained fixed on the open entrance leading lower, clearly wary of what was producing the wails below.

WC: 330
TWC: 800

“I’m not afraid of ghosts.” Jin said simply. He restrained himself from arguing with Ikazuchi. A fight, there of all places, was not the time nor the place. Plus, he did not want to run the risk of getting injured yet again. For now, he would just have to begrudgingly deal with it.  The central area descends deeper into the darkness before it suddenly stops. The two men find themselves completely surrounded in darkness, only the faint flickers of light in the distance. “You got a light?” Jin mutters before reconsidering his words. For a brief moment, he had forgotten that the man with him was not a mage, just a very skilled swordsman. “Fuck. Guess I’ll have to use it.” He mumbles.

Jin staggers his feet, shifting his weight equally between them. He brings his arms to a slight angle and clenches his fist. Slowly, he begins focusing his energy as the ground begins to shake violently. His muscles twitch with anticipation. His eyes become brilliant green in color as his hair and eyebrows rapidly flashes back and forth between their usual jet-black color to golden blonde. His body become more defined as a golden aura surrounds him. The flickering stabilizes revealing Jin’s golden hair. The golden aura completely illuminates the room, revealing a bevy of spirits. These, unlike the ones he saw the previous time he was here, were all monstrous in appearance. Seeing that if he moved away Ikazuchi would be in total darkness, Jin focuses more of his magical energy and expands his aura. Now charged, the aura extends outwards a maximum of five meters; more than enough to illuminate the room so they can do what is needed. “Stay on guard.” He mutters in Ikazuchi’s direction as he takes off towards the biggest spirit in the room. A quick barrage of magically enhanced punches quickly dispels the beast. The behemoth takes off with a sinister laugh, repeating the process with each spirit in his direction. One by one he attacks, slowly losing himself in the enjoyment.

WC: 341
TWC: 1,258

Ikazuchi felt a bit dumbfounded. Ikazuchi wanted to question why Jin didn’t fear ghosts, but soon remembered that the man had already been here before. ‘Oh well…’ The mechanism lowered the two into an area that was shrouded in darkness a few moments later. Deep in the shadows Ikazuchi could see the movements of various monstrous spirits causing him to clench his swords tighter.

It was at that point that muttered a question from a short distance away. Ikazuchi couldn’t help but to blurt out a question in response. “Why would you need a light?” Ikazuchi had long grown accustomed to his night vision, so he easily forgot that he was the abnormal one until he asked that question. After that Jin’s voice could vaguely be heard after that as the man seemed to speak to himself.

It was only when Ikazuchi saw the stance that Jin took that he understood what would be coming next. ‘This again?’ Immediately afterwards, Ikazuchi turned his attention towards the darkness with an understanding that what Jin was about to do would cause a scene.

It wasn’t long before that distinct golden aura overflowed from Jin’s body as he became a Super Saiyan. That golden light continued to expand until it even offered Ikazuchi a source of light as well. Ikazuchi intended to deny the gesture, but missed his chance as Jin immediately rushed towards the largest spirit that could be seen.

“Fuck…” Leaving only that single frustration filled remark, Ikazuchi also charged towards the spirits in a different direction than Jin. ‘You two better work…’ Ikazuchi had a faint glimmer of hope that his swords would save him from embarrassment as he slashed into the nearest spirit. He had led with Spellcutter and intended to follow up with Damocles, but was surprised to see the spirit had immediately turned into a shower of glittering particles.

Ikazuchi couldn’t help but pause in response to this. ‘That’s it?’ As if to make a mockery of his concerns, the nearby spirits even seemed to have a certain amount of aversion towards him. Ikazuchi smiled as he understood what was actually going on. To test his theory Ikazuchi didn’t hesitate to rush towards the nearest spirits and cut through them with his swords. Damocles switched to the light element upon connecting and produced an effect similar to Spellcutter. His smile grew in response as he abandoned all of his worries and rushed towards the spirits in a similar manner to Jin. If he had nothing to fear, then he would never hesitate to swing his sword.

WC: 420
TWC: 1,220

Jin continues his near deranged attacks on the spirits. The rush of battle, even against spirits such as this, seemed almost cathartic to him. For the moment, he was able to clear his head and focus on something other than the near crippling fear he felt regarding Izumi. Unfortunately, Jin knew this euphoria could not last. As he dispels another spirit in front of him, he puts his hands down. He needed to end this quickly so he could get back to his true objective. “I’m ending this.” He mutters.

Using the peaks of his strength, Jin jumps up and just barely reaches the top of the hole where they descended from. Pulling himself up, he cups his hands to the right side of his body. Magical energy begins to charge as his aura flares outward. He considered shouting towards Ikazuchi to warn him of the impending blast but remembers the details of their…. unfortunately, short battle. The man easily dispelled the blast with his sword, making one of Jin’s strongest attacks seem like child’s play. “He’ll either get hit by it or he’ll dodge. I don’t care which.” He chuckles as he releases the blast towards the hole. The entirety of the room below is engulfed with a bright white light as the beam makes contact with the ground below and explodes out. All of the spirts in the area are evaporated by the blast as Jin reverts from his transformation, his blonde hair returning to its jet-black state.

He peers down in the darkened hole before shouting towards Ikazuchi. “Figured you’d be fine seeing as how you dispelled it the last time.” He says that last part with a fair amount of venom before turning to leave. Upon reaching outside, Jin sees Herman waiting. “I’m surprised you are still in one piece. I figured you’d kill each other long before the spirits did.” Jin ignored his comments, only taking one of the sacks of jewels from his hands and beginning to walk off. “I got a tip on Yamashiro that I think you might like.” Jin stops in his tracks and turns towards Herman who takes another drag of his cigarette. “Received word that he was spotted in Astera. Might be your best opportunity to go after him.” A sinister smile spreads across Jin’s face. It was time for some payback.

WC: 393
TWC: 1,651

Ikazuchi had an intense feeling of liberation as he acted as a reaper of souls. Each slash of his sword seemed to be cutting away at his own fears and insecurities. He was reliant on his weapons at this moment, but that wasn’t something to be ashamed of as a swordsman. The foundation of his strength was the confidence in his skills and weapons.

Their one-sided rampage brought forth more spirits from deeper into the shadows, but they posed no threat to the two. It was around this time that Ikazuchi noticed Jin’s actions, as well as the sudden spell that was in the process of being fired downward by the man. ‘This fucking guy…’ It was a spell that he was familiar with, but there wasn’t any concern for him who remained within the hole. As the spell flew downward, Ikazuchi didn’t hesitate to replicate Jin’s feat as he leapt towards the hole above.

It wasn’t possible for him to escape before the spell reached the bottom, but it allowed him to avoid the damage. Ikazuchi’s figure could be seen rising up out of the hole around the same moment that Jin had spoken his reasoning for not warning him. “I can deal with it, but then it wouldn’t have dealt with them.” The annoyance that Ikazuchi felt was apparent in his tone.

After that, Herman made a comment that Ikazuchi silently agreed with. It truly wouldn’t be surprising if the two suddenly attacked each other. ‘Oh well.’ Ikazuchi also received the reward from Herman who went on to share the lead about Yamashiro that he had obtained. “Astera, huh?” Ikazuchi looked at Jin’s expression and noticed that they seemed to be thinking the same thing. Yamashiro was going to regret targeting them, there wasn’t any doubt about that.

WC: 300
TWC: 1,520