Bale, Ebina, and Mammon turn around to see what what the commotion was about. Who would try to rob someone in broad daylight? And why do they sound so young?
They see 3 human boys about from 10 to 14 years surround the flower girl. The boys have wooden swords strapped to their waist and brown hair all styled the same: A high buzz cut on the sides, with the midle part slicked back and tied into a pony tail. They are brothers.
"!!!" "Oh no!" Ebina panics. "We gotta help her!" "..." Bale and Mammon are quiet.
WHAM! "AHHH!!!" The boys slap the flower basket out of her hands.
"!!!" Seeing this, Ebina suddenly crouches and covers her ears with her hands. "No! It's scary!" She shouts. "It's alright!" Bale quickly hugs his crouching sister, rubbing her back.
He then utters through gritted teeth "Mammon, can't you do something about it? I'll pay you extra." Mammon then exhales "Sorry kid, but if people find out about a grown adventurer beating up some kids, my career will be ruined."
TMP! One of the boys kick the demonkin girl to the ground. "UNG!!" She is frozen in fear, unable to get up.
"Heh, just threaten them a little and they'll freeze up." Bale then has a flashback of when he was being held down by Renalt's friends while he gets punched.
Mammon looks at the conflict in Bale's face, and sees that he has his fists clenched.
"It'd be fine if it's just a fight between kids though." Mammon exhales. Bale then looks away painfully.
"This horn makes me easily identifiable, I can't bring trouble to my family." Bale knew that once he got started, he won't be able to stop his rampage - just like a broken dam. He's mustered all the rationality he could to hold himself back.
SNAP! Mammon snaps his fingers as Bale's horn disappears. "There, your horn's invisible." "!!!" Bale looks at the horn on his head, it's no longer there.
"Go help her, I'll watch over the little missy here." Mammon winks.
"Don't let Ebina see me." Bale utters in a low voice as he starts walking towards the boys.
"Ooh here it is! I knew it was worth tailing her!" The 12 year old boy pulls a brown leather coin pouch from the little girls dress pockets.
"N-no please! We need that money!" She shouts. "Shut up bitch!" He shoves her head down as she struggles to hang onto the pouch.
The adults in the distance ignore the pleas of the little girl. They're quite used to the boys picking on other demonkin, and usually look away lest incurring their parents wrath. They're quite wealthy and work for the Viscount in the next city over.
CRACK!!! Suddenly Bale blindsides them and smashes the oldest boy's face in with a brick. "UWAHH!!!" The kid falls to the floor holding his face.
"What the?!" The other 2 kids are stunned, trying to process the quickly evolving situation.
Bale then turns and kicks one of the kids in the crotch "GUH!!" CRACK!! He then follows up with the brick still in his hand, knocking him down. "UWAHH!!!" The boy lets out a high pitched shriek, with both hands covering his bloody face.
TOOM! TOOM!! TOOM!! Bale then begins to stomp on the newly downed boys face. His teeth all over the cobblestone road, dripping blood everywhere (These little shitheads need to learn early!) It was as if Bale had been possed by a demon, his switch flipped.
The last, and youngest kid standing then unstraps his wooden sword.
"You'll pay for that!!" He charges at Bale with the sword held high, but was unprepared for the brick to be thrown in his face.
CRACK!!! "AHHHH!!" The kid drops the sword to hold his face in agony, letting out a high pitched scream.
FWOOSH TOOM!! One moment later, he gets clotheslined by Bale and lands on the back of his head. With the world spinning around him, and a pain that he's never felt before on his face, all the boy could do was scream and cry for his parents to help him out of this unfair situation.
TOOM!! TOOM!! TOOM!! "You fucking bitches need to learn respect!!" shouts Bale, stomping his teeth in.
Bale then goes around and stomps on their hands one by one, hoping to teach them some humility through pain. CRACK!! "AHHH!!" They shout and curl into a fetal position, their fingers bent in odd directions.
Bale notes that the human boys are well dressed. They probably didn't need the money, which flamed his rage even more. They're totally just like Renalt....the boy that he killed. (No....I should stop). Bale thinks to himself. (Killing them will only leave a bad taste in my mouth.) Bale then takes a deep breath and picks up the oldest by the collar.
"Try something like this again and I'll come back to kill you and your whole family, got it?" "...uuu" The boy only responds with a whimper.
"GOT IT?!" WHAM!! Bale punches him in the face one last time. "G-Gohit!" cries the boy.
"Uuuu..." The little demonkin girl is crying as Bale walks up to her and helps her up. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, thank you very much." He then gives her back her pouch of money. "Don't come out by yourself next time okay? There's lots of assholes like this everywhere." "Hurry and get outta here." "O-okay! Thank you mister!" She shouts as she runs away, slightly confused at the situation.
Bale glances over at the boys as they're bleeding and crying (It may be petty, but physical pain and terror is the only way bullies will ever learn).
Mammon could not help but have a wide grin on his face as his eyes feast upon the carnage. "Heh heh heh....it was worth investigating him after all."
"Hey! What the hells going on here?!" shouts several guards as they rush over. 2 Humans and 1 Elf.
"You! Did you do this?!" They shout angrily to assert their authority. (Hmph, where the hell were they when we needed'em?) Bale glares at the approaching guards. SNAP!! Mammon snaps his fingers as Bale turns invisible.
"What the?! He disappeared?!" The guards look spooked. Bale then looks at Mammon who is already walking away, keeping his distance from the guards. He runs and catches up to Mammon who is cradling Ebina in his arms. She still has her eyes closed and hands over her ears.
"Come on, lets get outta here." says Mammon. "Right." says Bale.
As they get further away from the scene, Mammon sets Ebina down. "Hey, it's alright now sister." says Bale as he hugs her. "T-that was scary." says Ebina, looking down-trodden.
"It's over now, nobody will hurt you." says Bale as he puts a hand on her head. Seeing how shaken up Ebina is, Bale half-began to entertain thoughts of going back to end the boys.
In his mind, cold-blooded murder was natural. Brutality was all he ever experienced. He had never experienced warmpth from anyone other than his mother and sister before this life. Although his fear of opening up to anyone didn't help the matter any.
He was broken, and he knew it. He accepted it. It's something that will never be fixed. But he takes no joy in bullying the weak, and wants to believe that he still had morals.
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Mammon breaks the silence "You sure went overboard there kid." Although he said that, it was meant as a compliment and not a scolding. "I just hate bullying." replies Bale with a stern face. "But thanks for helping me."
"It would've eaten me alive if I just let it go." Bale smiles.
"You know, we're always looking for strong demonkin to join our group." says Mammon as he pats the boys head. "They're so hard to come by nowadays." "What does your organization do?" Bale asks.
"Just like you, we hate injustice. I'll tell you more if you join." Mammon smiles
(Eeh, sounds kinda shady) "I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to worry my parents." replies Bale. "Hmmm alright. I guess we'll let you grow up a little bit more."
"It's not like we have enough golden Zodiac stones to go around anyway." Mammon shrugs. He then gazes at Bale as he's helping his sister walk.
"You know, Demonkin weren't always this docile."
"What made them that way?" Bale asks.
"Demonkin lost the great war over a thousand years ago and became enslaved. All those who were defiant or agressive were killed, while the docile were bred." Mammon sternly gazes into the distance. "And what you see now are the results of centuries of selective breeding: The perfect slaves."
"It was only about 2 centuries ago that demonkin were freed in neutral nations like Pnakotica. But a lot of the pro-human nations still enslave them."
"What about the Elven and Dwarf nations?" Bale asks.
"The Elven nations don't enslave demonkin, but they sometimes kill them for sport as an old enemy." Mammon then exhales "And as for the Dwarven nations... they've always kept to themselves. But they've always maintained a neutral stance."
◈━◈━◈━◈━◈
At the marketplace, Garrus and Milly are standing at the stall, watching as passer-bys check out their products. Their vegetable seeds were the biggest selling products. "Thanks, come again!" smiles Garrus as he recieves some zenny for a bag of seeds.
"My, we're almost out of seeds and bulbs." says Milly, elated at the thought of returning to Mardane village with empty boxes. Garrus then recaps "Borelard's still recovering from the war, it's no wonder crop seeds are so high in demand."
"Mother! Father!" shouts Ebina as she runs to her parents.
"Oh there's my little girl!" Milly's eyes home in on Ebina as she scoops her up. The parents takes note that Ebina is a little shaken up. "Ebina, is something wrong?" asks Garrus. Ebina only shakes her head in response. They then see Bale walking up to them with Mammon in tow.
"Bale, is everything alright?" asks his mother.
"Hey mother, everything is fine. Sister just saw something unpleasant, that's all."
"Well, if you say so son." says Garrus. "And who's this?" He looks at Mammon "Ah, don't mind me. I'm just an adventurer dropping these kids off."
"At any rate it looks like my job is done. Cya around kiddo!" Mammon waves goodbye and promptly walks away.
SLAM! At the police office back on earth, Inspector Dio slams his palms onto the desk of the deputy chief, whom is putting on his coat and getting ready to go home for the day.
"Deputy Chief Garcia, what do you mean I'm dismissed from the case?!"
"It was only a matter of time before the FBI took over. This involves a senator after all." The deputy chief sighs.
"You contacted them didn't you?!" Dio shouts angrily. "They asked us to share all the information we had. Did you expect me to say no?" Deputy chief Garcia shrugs.
The next day pass by un-eventfully as Johar is lying down in his bunkbed, writing down in his diary.
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Silver Zodiac stone experiment results:
* Ones bodyweight can increase up to to 25x, depending on the amount of magic being channeled. Be sure to stand on solid ground, otherwise it'll crack and you might fall through.
* Maximum bench with body enhancement magic is 1400 kilos.
* Maximum squat with body enhancement magic is 1300 kilos (Body weight excluded).
* Maximum speed on straight sprint is roughly 110 kph.
* Increased resistance against heat, cold, electricity, and poisons.
* Re-inforcement magic is most effective on solid objects.
* Re-inforced objects can gain up to 25x their weight, depending on how much magic is channeled.
* Larger objects are harder to re-inforce, and will wear you out quicker.
* Cannot re-inforce 2nd hand connected objects, such as chains or jointed plates. Must be molecularly bonded, Just like trying to wiggle fingers with hands cut off.
* Durability vs modern weapons and explosions: TBD
* Results subject to change with growth and exercise.
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Johar had conducted these tests when he was sure nobody was looking.
He lifted the vehicles in the parking lot, and looked up their average weight online. So what was written in the diary was only an estimate.
He also set the stove to certain temperatures and touched them with his hand. He even sniffed the bathroom chemicals to test his resistance to chemicals attacks.
He could withstand up to 600 degrees farenheit for several seconds before his hands started hurting. However he only gained about a 3x resistance to poisons in comparison. And his reasoning was that once you inhale or ingest poisons, they now become a part of your body.
The next day in Etheria was spent uneventfully lazing about at the marketplace, watching his parents peddle their village products. And at night, he decided to try sleeping with a black Zodiac stone.
Next to the Tiny Hope Orphanage, a black sedan parks across the street. A clean shaven man wearing a black suit and tie leaves the sedan to walk across the street toward the Tiny Hope Orphanage. He his hair is black and wavy, tied back into a ponytail. He then approaches an old nun who is sitting on a ladder, changing a lightbulb near the entrance.
"Excuse me, is there a boy named Johar Heiluck in this orphanage?" He pulls out his badge and opens it to show her. "I'm sorry my eye sight isn't that great." the lady squints. "I'm agent Kelly with the FBI."
Inside of the orphanage, Emily is sitting in the back of a classroom. The welt on her cheeks are hardly noticeable now. She's next to the door to the hallway. She's reading along with the teacher's lectures in the textbook when suddenly she gasps in surprise.
"Johar?!" She sees a man in a black suit and tie pass by with his hand on Johar's shoulder. "Excuse me Emily, is everything alright?" asks the teacher as all the kids look back.
"What's going on?!" Emily runs up to them. "It's alright Emily." smiles Johar.
"Emily, right?" says agent Kelly. "I'm agent Kelly with the FBI." He then takes out his badge. "I just want to ask your brother a few questions." He smiles at her.
"I'll return him in a jiffy." "..." Emily can only watch quietly as they walk off.
The man opens the door to the back of the sedan, and motions Johar to get in. "Come on, get in." "O-okay." Johar answers as meekly as he can. "There's nothing to be scared of." says the agent.
(This is just a 7 year old boy that's been abused by his father. Why are they making me do this?) He sighs.
"I can't believe this is happening." says Dio, standing behind a double sided mirror. Agent kelly and several of the maids, now in regular clothes, are standing next to him. They're looking at the lineup of people on the other side of the mirror.
The people vary from old men to big hardened criminals with tattoos. And then there's Johar, standing in the middle of it. "Do you recognize any of these people?" says Agent Kelly.
"Like I said, the kid was wearing a gray baseball cap and blue facemask, I can't even tell." says one of the maids. "Hmm yea, if anything I'd say that kid in the middle looks like the attacker, just based on the size."
Johar then looks directly at the mirror. He can see through it, unbeknownst to the detectives. (Good thing I decided to sleep with the black Zodiac stone this time. It allows me to use my eyes from my other body in Etheria).
"!!!" The maid is shocked as she realized Johar just made quick eye contact with her. "C-can they see through this glass?" She asks. "Of course not." detective Dio replies.
(Damn, I forgot about the maids. I was wondering what possible witnesses they had on hand.) Johar thinks. (Should I kill them?) He furrows his brows for a moment.
(No, they had nothing to do with Emily's death, they were only working a job.) (Maybe threaten them?) He thinks again
(...no, that could backfire if anyone finds out). For now, Johar decided that his best choice was to do nothing.
About an hour later, Johar is sitting inside an interrogation room, with a chocolate icecream cone in his hand. He glances at the agents behind the double sided mirror.
(They're behind that window observing my actions. I better try to act as much like a kid as possible.) He then begins to pick his nose.
Another hour goes by when the door opens and agent Kelly walks into the room. "Sorry for the wait, I had some emergency to attend to." He smiles (Suuuure you did).
"I'm bored, can I have another icecream?" pouts Johar. "Sure, after I ask you some questions, ok?" "Okay." smiles Johar.
"Do you know Senator Danny Young?" Agent Kelly lays a photo of Danny Young on the table. "Nope." Johar tries to answer as childishly as he can.
"Are you sure?"
"Yup."
"What about these other people?" agent Kelly then lays the photos of Renalt and his mom onto the table.
"Nope." Johar calmly picks his nose. (Heh, this means that they have nothing on me. I burned everything I wore that day).
At the end of the day, agent Kelly returns Johar to the orphanage. He watches Emily and Johar hug each other on the sidewalk from the comfort of his sedan.
Another man in a black suit and tie - with a rounded hat, sunglasses, and black facemask - approaches and opens the door. SLAM. He sits in the passenger side and closes the door.
"So, did you find anything suspicious in the boys possession?" asks agent Kelly.
"Nope, nothing. No gray baseball caps, no black sweatshirts, sweatpants or gloves. His shoe prints don't match what's on the crime scene either."
"I hate to say it, but I told you so." chuckles agent Kelly.
"Either way, the kids case is the only lead we have. It's not a strong lead, but we should keep an eye on him for a while."