A soldier, a magik gunner, and a dog got caught in a bombardment.

It was the most un-magical situation imaginable. The three of them were currently taking cover behind a large rock at the bottom of a hill. The sound of the shell's impact was still echoing around them.

"O Father's beard! How the djiit do common bandits have mana grenades?" Cried the soldier.

"Lets find that out later." Said the female magik gunner. "We need to find a way out of this."

A mana grenade exploded on top of the rock they are hiding at.

"It's easier said than done, lady." Said the soldier.

"Well, it would be easier if you had protected our mana generator." Said the magik gunner. Her eyes looks back to what is the remains of a mana generator.

The mana generator is, or was, the power source for their magiteks. If it were destroyed, they wouldn't be able to use their weapons or magiks.

"Speaking of mana, I only have 2 shots left on my magitek gun." The gunner looks at the soldier disprovingly.

"Same." Replies the soldier. "I only have 1 big swing left out of this mana sword."

"For something that is oversized, it suuuure lacks in endurance."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"You know I know what you meant. It's inappropriate. Especially in the situation we are in right now."

Another mana grenade exploded. The rock starts to chip.

"Hey hey Pico. Come here boy." The soldier calls out for the dog, who is taking cover a few steps away.

"...Arf..."

"He said no."

"Yeah he definitely said no."

"You have any idea?"

"No. Let me think."

The rock started to crumble down. They were about to get exposed.

"Hey we still have the back up mana cores in your bag, right?" The gunner's eyes lighten up.

"Yeah. I still have 1. What about it? You know it is useless without the generator, right? Without the generator's mechanism, the core is just condensed explosions....Ohhh." The soldier comes to realization. "If somehow we can deliver the core to them, you can trigger it with your shot. Bandits go boom!"

"You said your sword have enough mana for 1 more swing, right? You can hit the core on the side of the blade, it won't go off that way, and it should have enough push to reach them.Now we just need some distractions..."

The soldier jump out of cover, his sword blazed with blue light.

"What the djiit are you doing?" The gunner screams at him.

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"Deliver the payload." The soldier scream back as he toss the mana core into the air. "Take this you djiit bandits."

He swings his sword. The mana core flies up as another mana grenade heading straight to him.

"Hego!"

He is covered by smoke and fire.

The mana core landed right in the middle of the bandits brigade.

"Hurry up and use your magitek gun!"

The magik gunner snaps back. She turns around and take her shot.

Chaos ensured as the explosion died out. The remaining bandits run for their lives.

The magik gunner turns to the fire where Hego was last seen.

"Hego..." She starts to cry.

"..."

"...Arf Arf!"

The magik gunner looks up.

"Wow. You really think I was dead." Said Hego. He was bruised, but mostly intact. His sword is now dull and it no longer shines.

"You are alive!"

"Of cource I am. Pico pulled me out. What a good boy!"

"Arf arf!" Pico wagging his tail in agreement.

Hego looks at the gunner in the eyes. "You were really worry about me, Asta. So cute."

"Hego, I..." Asta looks back at Hego's eyes.

She high kicked Hego in the face.

Now he really wishes he was dead.

"That's what you get for playing with my feelings!"

......................................................

3 days later, at Tellus Iter, a small Seekers' Guild, headquarter.

"Great work on the bandits, Hego, Asta." The guildmaster said.

Nobody knows how old the guildmaster really is. His hair is almost gone, his beard is as white as snow, but his body is still in peak conditions. In fact, noone in Tellus Iter, even the younger Seekers in their prime, could match the guildmaster's strength. Not that Tellus Iter has many seekers under their roof, but it is still a very impressive feat of the old Guildmaster.

"You are really something else, you know that?" The guildmaster said while wiping away a tear from his eye.

"I just did what any good seeker would do." Hego smirks.

"I wasn't complimenting, you djiit head!" The guildmaster smashed the table. "The job was simply to drive the bandits away from the village."

"But we did drive them away."

"At the cost of our one and only mana generator! And all of the dead bandits we have to report and to deal with." The guildmaster covers his face in disapointment. "We are broke for O Mother's sake. Do you have any idea how much does a mana generator cost?"

"Urg... Like, 1000 desos?"

"Try a thoudsand time that." The guildmaster grunted. "And that job only paid 500 desos."

"So we just need to take on, urg..., 2000 more requests, then?" Hego tried his best to smile confidently.

"Father....I mean Master, please. This is my fault, too." Asta trying to calm the guildmaster down. "I was supposed to look after Hego and the generator."

The guildmaster signs.

"You are lucky. Not because of my daughter, but because aside from Asta and I, this guild only have 3 members. So I cannot afford to disband a magitek user." The guildmaster relaxes his face a bit. "We are that broke."

"Oh, so you do like me and my works." Hego smirks.

"No, I like Adius and Sola better. They actually make money on their jobs."

"That's hurt, Master." Hego lets out an awkward smile.

"All thing considered. You have worked hard enough for this. And the villagers was happy about the result. So we might gain some more popularity, so it is not all lost." The guildmaster regains his calm. "Here is the cut for the job, spend it as you like. But remember to take care of your own mana sword. It looks like it needs some maintenance."

"Yeah, I know."

"Just, make us some profit on the next job, will you?"

"Do you have the next job ready for us?"

"As it happened, we recived an expedition commission from the Royal Academy. They are rounding up Seekers' Guilds to protect their scholars on a trip to some ruins. The detail isn't shared with us yet."

Royal Academy, that do stir up some memories for Hego. He froze for a split second.

"Will Adius and Sola be back for this job, too?" Hego asks.

"Yes, the gathering for this job is a moon away. Adius and Sola are expected to comback in 2 days time. All 4 of you will join the expedition." The guildmaster continues. "The details are still being worked out. But they assured us the pay will be worth our time."

"I will try to buy another generator for us, Master." Hego replies.

"That's good to hear." The guild master noted. "Also, take care of my daughter, will you? She is the only family I have left."

"I will, Master."