The building we arrive it is similar to the Lusvaris Training Center, being an unmarked building with a parking lot. It's also massive – easily bigger than the Lusvaris Training Center is. Theo leads us to the entrance and places his hand on the scanner, and the solid metal doors slide open.
"This building," Theo says once we're inside and the doors have closed. "Is used exclusively by the Sivalshi Guardians. Only we have access to it, and only we can enter it – literally. It's shielded from all others by the Patron. Had you both not accepted the offer, you wouldn't have even noticed the building, despite me leading you here."
"That's impressive," I say.
"Yeah," he says. "Come on, orientation is this way. Isaac will finally get to find out why it's in that room instead of the normal one."
"What do you mean?" Zane asks.
"Normally, we do orientation in a certain room," Theo says. "The Patron likes to teach new guardians – and new vigilantes – a new spell they can use. Or two. So we usually do orientation in a room that's good for that. When the Patron told us to bring you three in if you accept, he told us to use a different room. Isaac asked the Patron probably forty times why it's that room instead of the normal one."
"I take it you know?" I ask.
"Yeah," he answers. "For once, I actually know more than Isaac, which he doesn't know. He's going to find out during orientation, though."
Theo leads us through a few semi-illuminated halls, eventually arriving in a large room with a stone floor and stone walls. Something about the room feels… strange to me. It's as if I can sense the magic in it. The room isn't lit very well, and I can feel my strength rising as we enter it.
"Whoa," Zane says. "That's a lot of magic."
"The room is shielded from damage," Theo says. "Far more than others, which will be needed tonight. Hello, Isaac."
"Hello," Isaac greets us.
He's in his guardian uniform, though without the cowl and mask. Though it has the same base form as all guardians and vigilantes, and is still skintight (a boner is visible in it, though it's tucked between his legs so that it's not as visible), it differs from his Crunalz outfit. Isaac's guardian outfit is black with dark brown and dark grey lines spread across it, his boots black with brown laces, his gloves black with the lines on them as well. I didn't know they could do partial outfits, but if he had his mask on, it would be solid black save for the eyes, which would be brown.
Isaac is standing on one side of a rectangular table, resting atop which is a cellphone that has a phone call to the Patron active and on speaker, I see as we approach. Beside the phone is a small wooden box.
On this side of the table is another guy, who looks to be around our age.
The other recruit's hair is red – not that rusty color of redheads, but actually red – with orange and yellow highlights, making me think of fire when I see it. Rather than normal eyes, his irises are orange. Either he's dyed his hair and is wearing contacts, or that's his actual appearance. Considering his eyebrows and even his eyelashes are the same shade of red as his hair, I'll assume the latter. He's dressed in a hoodie and jeans, his hands tucked into his hoodie pocket, and he is hot as fuck.
"Whoa," Zane says. "You're sexy, man."
"Thanks," the guy's face flushes a little. "You're both kind of sexy, too."
He finds me sexy? Is he an elemental, too? Theo did mention that it's likely all elementals will find me attractive since one does. His bulge looks normal, though. Hasn't learned to take on his elemental form yet?
"Welcome," Isaac greets us. "To the ranks of the Sivalshi Guardians. Since you're here, it means that all three of you accepted the offer."
I pull out my phone and pull up the camera app.
"What are you doing?" Isaac asks.
"Taking a picture of the turtle."
Everyone looks at the table, where sure enough, there's a turtle sitting. It's resting on the box, staring right at me. I snap the picture, then return my phone to my pocket. The fact that it's here shouldn't surprise me considering that there's even a phone call to the Patron going on and he's the one putting the turtles everywhere just to mess with me.
"Welcome," a deep voice speaks from the phone before anyone can comment about the turtle. Though the voice is deep, it doesn't sound ancient – it actually sounds young, similar to our age. "To the ranks, Aiden, Zane, and Kieran. Each of you was carefully considered before approached, and you were observed this last month to see if you continued to meet the requirements. As you have no doubt figured, I am the Patron of Sivalshi City."
"Thank you for the offer," Zane says.
"You are most welcome, Zane," the Patron says. "I am glad that you accepted. Your brother has refused every time."
"Zach's been offered?" Zane asks.
"He is more qualified than you," the Patron responds, and I try not to laugh at that. "Before we grant you your guardian names and your spellsuit tokens, you must remove your clothes and set them on the table."
Not to my surprise, the turtle has already disappeared.
"Sir?" Isaac looks confused. "May I ask why everything seems to be different this time?"
"All will be revealed shortly," the Patron says. "Theo, you know what to do once they have stripped. To the three of you, remove everything, including any jewelry which you might be wearing. Go completely naked."
Confused but curious, I obey. Zane and Aiden both strip as well, and we put our clothes on the table. Aiden and I do our best to fold them as we do, Zane just dumping his on there. Aiden has a nice package down there, and I'm guessing he's either just plain aroused or he was using his power recently. Almost ten inches long and a little more than two inches thick I'd estimate, with a foreskin. Long for a power user, but average in thickness for one. It's a good package.
"Theo, if you will."
Theo raises his hand, then blasts us with lightning, sending us tumbling back. Much to my surprise, I'm only slightly disoriented for a moment, thrown to the wall by the blast, then I fall to the ground. Zane has switched over to his stone form and only stumbled back a few steps, while Aiden was thrown into the wall, just like me.
However, Aiden's now a man of fire – literally. So he is an elemental, then? Even made of flames, I can tell his weapon's grown.
I start to pick myself up, only to realize that I'm now made of shadows… and that my dick has grown, too. It's nowhere near an elemental's monstrosity in length, but that's probably because it's still growing for now. I'm an elemental, too?
As I return to the table, Aiden walking with me, I play around with the ability to alter my form, slimming my dick down to 1.85" while making the length 8.6", just because I can. Doing this actually feels natural to me, and it doesn't itch as Theo and Zane claim. Maybe it's only when we do those two forms that our bodies itch?
Whatever it is, it's not the only change. I feel powerful – much more so than being in darkness alone should make me. I remember Zane being told that his elemental form is ten times as powerful as his human form. Or, well, his humanoid form, I guess.
Isaac looks shocked, which tells me he didn't know this or expect it, but Theo's expression… the Patron clearly told him to do that beforehand and he knew about our true forms. He even told me before that he knew the identities of all of the elementals in the city.
Which means he knew that I was a shadow elemental when we met.
Wait a second… three elementals find me sexually attractive, and I find them the same way. Did Theo mean that elementals tend to be attracted to other elementals? What about Lucas? Unless he's an elemental, too? But I'm sure that someone as powerful and knowledgeable as Lucas would have known that about himself, so he probably is just an outlier. Perhaps his magic's just powerful enough that we're all subconsciously drawn to it? As for his attraction to me, well, I could just be his type.
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"The three of you," the Patron says once we return to the table. "Are among the ranks of the elementals of our city. You are nigh-unkillable, and if you are hit with a lethal attack or suffer too many injuries, you will revert to your true forms, which is the forms you three have taken on thanks to Theo's attack. Only Zane knew of his true nature beforehand, so I felt it better to inform you two, Aiden and Kieran, of this at the same time I inform you of your nigh-immortality.
"However," he continues. "Do not think yourselves immortal. Elementals can kill elementals, and there are two who do not align with me. Aiden, Kieran, I am sure you can both feel your ability to shift to your other forms. It is safe to do so, and time to receive your spellsuit tokens."
The three of us return to our humanoid forms, and my alteration remains as I do. That's pretty neat.
There is also no itching.
"Aiden," the Patron says as Isaac opens the box, then pulls out a silver chain with a golden flame token hanging from it. "When you are a Sivalshi Guardian, you will be known as Embralsi."
Isaac holds out the token and Aiden accepts it, then pulls it on around his neck.
"Zane," the Patron says as Isaac pulls out a silver chain, from which hangs a small fist carved of some sort of brown stone. "When you are a Sivalshi Guardian, you will be known as Stolaxil."
Zane accepts the token and pulls it on.
"Kieran," the Patron says as Isaac pulls out a black orb held by a silver claw, which hangs from a silver chain. "When you are a Sivalshi Guardian, you will be known as Noxulkin."
I accept the token and pull it on. Just like everyone else's, the charm is small, the crystal orb maybe half an inch in diameter at the most. It's cool to the touch, and when I put it on, I feel a strong sense of responsibility.
This is it – I'm an actual Sivalshi Guardian now.
"Welcome to the ranks, young ones," the Patron says. "Ordinarily, we only bring one in at a time. Isaac and Theo are likely wondering why I chose to bring in three, and I will explain that now. There is a job which only Kieran can do, among all the potential guardians. It is a job which requires immediate attention, unable to wait until he turns twenty-one, the age at which I would normally make the offer.
"Because of that," the Patron continues. "I decided to advance your own offer, Aiden. You were to be offered it upon turning twenty-one as well, despite you having turned down the offer to become a vigilante on your eighteenth birthday. Your skills in combat are admirable and worthy of being among the ranks."
There's silence after that, and Zane shifts impatiently. I have a feeling the Patron is making him wait on purpose just to get Zane to ask.
"What about me?" Zane asks. "I'm past twenty-one."
"Yes…" the Patron trails off as if in thought. "With you among our ranks, more than half of the elementals in Sivalshi City are now Sivalshi Guardians and we have one each of four different types now as well. I know you will dedicate yourself to being the best guardian you can."
Trying not to laugh at Zane's stunned expression is hard. He was basically a "let's just try to collect one of every type" kind of deal. Isaac and Theo said that the Patron likes to do things on a whim, but I don't think even they expected him to do that when selecting Zane to be a guardian.
"Normally," the Patron says. "You would be informed of the pay rates, then taught one or two new spells. However, the job for Kieran is immediate, as I said. So Kieran, I will teach you the new spells. Switch to your elemental form, you will learn them much more easily that way."
I shift back into my elemental form, my body becoming shadows in the shape of me once more. This form is kind of weird, because I feel solid, but I'm literally made of shadows – I can actually see through myself, to a degree. It's like seeing something that's cast in shadows, when I see what's past me, but there's also an awareness of my form there as well.
"Reach within yourself," the Patron tells me as the lights go out in here. "And sink into the darkness, but do not come out of them, enter without a destination. Once you do, move around through the darkness."
Confused, I do as he instructs, sinking into the shadows without a destination in mind. This time, I actually stay in the shadows, and find myself able to move around. I can even sense where the others are while in this state and weave around their legs just to test myself. Interestingly, it doesn't feel like it uses any magic to do this, only to enter the shadows.
"Return to the table," the Patron says, and I can hear him just as fine in this state despite knowing he's speaking from the phone.
It's as if all of the darkness around me is a part of me, a part of my senses.
I return to the table and emerge from the darkness, and the light turns back on.
"That is called shadow-gliding," the Patron informs me. "It only costs magic to enter, and you can move at great speeds. Though it is slower than shadow-walking in some respects, you can travel much greater distances for less magic, provided there is darkness to travel through. You will need this spell in order to reach your first mission quickly and unnoticed."
"Is it an assassination?" I ask, returning to my humanoid form.
"It is," the Patron answers. "The assassination of one Victor Damariks, better known as the Blond Boy Basher."
"Wait," Isaac says. "You said that it's something only Kieran could do, sir. You also said that we guardians couldn't handle him, and Keiran's new. If it's the death of-"
"Isaac," the Patron calmly says, and Isaac stops. "Victor is a power user who uses a spell called 'dimensional lock'. It locks down the area in a dimensional field, which is how he travels unnoticed. Your ability to rip space would be stopped by it. However, to one who can sense shadows or light and move between it, entry would be no difficult feat."
Shadows or light… Lucas could have been assigned this job, if he'd been a supporter of the Patron rather than a hater. And I can't tell Lucas this, either – nor that the reason the guardians didn't handle the situation was because they couldn't.
The Patron wants the Blond Boy Basher taken care of, and he had to go to the second choice for dealing with it because of Lucas's hatred. This puts a lot of pressure on my shoulders, especially since the Patron is trusting me to do this with only a month of training.
No wonder he moved things to today, too – he probably wants to decrease how long Lucas is on his hunt for, to avoid having Lucas get into a fight with his agents.
"Kieran," the Patron says. "Once you activate your spellsuit, I will display the route to take to reach him. When you reach his apartment, remain in the shadows, sense the shadows within his dimensional lock. You will need to reach deep into your power to do so, and once you do, shadow-step into them. Then kill him. His combat skills are within your capabilities to handle. Once he is dead, his lock will fade and you will leave. Theo, you will then enter and rescue his current victim. As this is an emergency mission, you must leave now. However, as it is asking a lot of you to kill someone for the first time, Kieran, I will grant you five minutes to collect yourself and calm your racing heart."
Nodding, I take a few steps back as the Patron begins to teach Aiden a new spell. Theo grabs me by the arm and pulls me over to one wall, then wraps his arms around me in a hug, rocking me gently as I return the hug and lean my head against his chest. While I knew I was probably going to have to kill someone, I really didn't expect it to be my first night. Not only that, but it's someone Lucas is hunting for.
"I see you got the hang of shifting parts of your body," Theo murmurs. "Planning on doing the same as me when putting on the suit?"
"Probably," I answer. "Did you know?"
"I knew that I was going to be rescuing Cyrus," he tells me. "The Patron didn't tell me anything beyond that."
"Why have two different guardians act?" I ask. "Because I'll probably freak out after killing the killer?"
"No," Theo answers. "Cyrus can light-walk, right?"
"Lucas mentioned that, yeah."
"He's probably been kept in darkness, if he hasn't been able to escape," Theo says. "In a separate room. So he won't see the kill – nor you. This will delay the public finding out about Noxulkin. It might be to stagger the reveal of three new guardians, or it might be so that those who know about you don't connect your new job to it to make the censoring lighter for the Patron."
"Oh," I say. "Or to make it take longer for people to find out there's a new assassin around. That might make it harder for me to do jobs."
"That, too," Theo says. "And after I finish dealing with ensuring Cyrus is returned to his family, I'm not going to leave you alone. I remember my first kill, and you're not as tough as I am in that regard."
"Thanks," I close my eyes and take a deep breath, then manipulate my dick and balls out of existence so that they won't be visible in the spellsuit. There's nothing there now, no sign of any genitals at all, just smooth skin. "Okay. I shouldn't try delaying it, this needs done. The sooner that Cyrus is rescued, the sooner Lucas calms down. If he knows a guardian did it, then he might lighten up in regards to the Patron."
"Or he might see it as the Patron trying to win him over," Theo says. "To activate your suit, just channel some magic into it."
Theo walks me through using magic in that manner, and my spellsuit begins to form around me, sliding out of the token, which disappears entirely as it transforms. Soon, I'm covered in the thin, skintight bodysuit of my spellsuit.
It's dark grey with a one-inch black stripe down each side, leading from the armpit down to the ankles. From the black stripe, black swirls stretch out, looping around my nipples and reaching for my dick – or where it would be if I hadn't disappeared it. Something tells me there are swirls on my ass, even though Theo only mentions the ones on the back of my cowl, which is the same dark grey as the rest of the suit. He says that my mask is dark grey as well, with a black swirl reaching toward each eye from the edges of it. As for my boots and gloves, they're dark grey as well, with black laces on the boots.
"Does the Patron like making us look like we're wearing sex suits or something?" I ask.
My voice sounds deeper as it comes out, yet the depth sounds natural rather than filtered, and I can't recognize it as my own, indicating it's still altered in other ways. I can see and breathe through the mask as if it doesn't exist, too, even if I'm able to tell it's there. This is pretty neat.
"Depends on the person, but yeah," Theo snorts. "Zane's is actually probably thicker, and a non-elemental dick would probably not be visible in it. He likely has one built for defense rather than agility like ours or looks like Isaac's. Those tend to be thicker and have cups. Let me change, then we can head out."
"I'll go ahead," I tell him. "You'll probably get there faster than me anyway."
"Alright," he kisses the cheek of my mask. "See you soon."