Cooperation

Dexter

Dexter walked through a hallway in a luxurious mansion. He was six and a half feet tall, and very burly. He had a scar running from the side of his nose down to his jaw, the end of which disappeared into his graying beard. He wore rough, baggy clothes, which hid how muscular his body was. He glanced around the room, observing how expensive his surroundings were.

They always call me out to these fancy places. Can’t we just talk over the internet?

“Good evening, they’re already waiting inside.” The butler said as he pulled the large, ornate door open for Dexter to pass through.

“Thanks.”

“My pleasure.” The butler bowed slightly before closing the door behind him.

Dexter walked up and pulled a chair out for himself. Seated around the circular table were three people, two of which were already in the middle of a screaming match.

“You’re obstinance is holding us back! Imagine how many people would convert if the public knew!” This man wore a modified priest’s robe, allowing him to move more freely. He was Jacob Stewart, leader of the church’s elite exorcist division. They could manifest holy miracles through prayer, which they used to destroy monsters. Aside from his outfit, he was plain in every way.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” The thin man in nice clothes seated across from him responded. “Hundreds of thousands of people know about the supernatural, and only a small fraction adhere to your religion.” This man was Wilhelm Ward, High Archmage of the Mages Society. “Besides, you people attack us on sight. If everyone knew, it could lead to all out, global war.” Dexter winced as he slammed his fist on the table. “Do you want a world war with magic and monsters involved?”

“Can you two quiet down? Our guest is here.” A man in black clothes said, massaging his temples. He was Lewis Moore, president of the Hunters’ Federation.

At least one of them is a reasonable person.

“Ah, Dexter, it’s good to see you again.” Jacob said as he turned to him.

“Indeed.” Wilhelm said, composing himself.

“The feeling is mutual.” Dexter lied. “I think this is the first time I’ve met with all of you at once. Did something happen.”

“There are two matters we’d like to discuss this time.” Lewis said as he pulled a picture out of a manilla folder. He slid it across the table to Dexter. It was a picture of a young woman with black hair. It was subtle, but he could tell from her red eyes that she was a vampire.

“You want me to kill a vampire?” He looked around the room. It must be strong for all three of them to cooperate. Maybe an alpha?

“Most likely, but it isn’t that simple.” Lewis said as he adjusted his glasses. “She’s gone by many names, but currently she’s called Stella Morgan. She’s been living in Moorwick City for hundreds of years, inheriting her own wealth every few decades. Instead of attacking people she uses a citywide magical array to take a small amount of blood from every person. Because of that, it benefits her to increase the population of Moorwick as much as possible. She’s personally invested billions into improving the livelihood and safety of her territory. Because she’s generally beneficial, and personally drives out monsters, the federation has labeled her an F-class threat.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Do not engage, huh? He scratched his head.

“However, the amount of violent crime in Moorwick has been rising. We think it’s unlikely she’s suddenly changed her MO.” He said grimly. “We believe she was driven out or killed by a more powerful monster.” As he said this, he passed a few more pictures across the table. “These are from a week and a half ago.

“They had quite the fight.” Dexter said as he looked at the photos. A four-story parking garage blown in half, a hole all the way through a tower, wide enough to fit a whole house, and a sizable hole in the building next to it.

“Indeed. To defeat an ancient vampire, her foe must have been incredibly powerful, around the strength of an alpha vampire.” Everyone at the table looked grim.

“And the second topic?” Dexter asked.

“In order to investigate this incident, and other similar problems, we decided to put together a team, with members from each of our organizations.” Lewis Gestured around the table. “But none of us would accept appointing a team leader from another organization.”

I don’t like this. Dexter thought to himself.

“So, we reached out to you, the strongest independent exorcist in the western world.”

Dexter sighed, rubbing his temples. They had all tried to recruit him to their respective organizations in the past, and each time he’d rejected them. The church’s dogma repelled him, the mages society had no interest in protecting the people, and the hunters’ federation was too mired in bureaucracy. This was their most promising attempt at roping him in, though.

“Tell me who’ll be on the team first.”

“Our candidate is Oscar Moore.“ Wilhelm chimed in first, sliding a file over to Dexter. “He’s a promising young wizard, with powerful mid-range combat sorcery, backed by high competence in magecraft, witchcraft, and alchemy. We believe he’ll be able to provide support in and out of combat, while also holding his own in a fight.” Wilhelm seemed proud.

Dexter examined the file. The picture showed a young man, around his mid-twenties, wearing a mages academy uniform. His light brown hair matched his light brown eyes. He seemed confident. The next few pages listed his abilities and accomplishments. He didn’t know enough about magic to tell how impressive it was.

“Sorcery means he has innate magic with a special ability, right? What does...” Dexter squinted at the page. “Frequency Manipulation do?”

“It means exactly what it says, he can manipulate frequencies. Sound, light, radio waves, and the like, he can create and control them.” Wilhelm responded. ‘As for practical examples, he can create shockwaves, fire lasers, and make calls without a phone.”

“Huh. That does sound useful.” Dexter turned to Jacob. “How about you?”

“We’re planning to assign Olivia White to the team.” He said, sliding his own file over. “She’s flippant with doctrine, and ignores orders from her superiors, but she gets results.”

“Are you foisting your problem children onto me?”

“Of course not.” He laughed softly. “She doesn’t get along well with more zealous exorcists, so I thought she’d be better suited to working under you. Not to mention, I didn’t think you could put up with one of our more dogmatic members.”

“Fair enough.” Dexter leafed through the document. She had platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. Couldn’t be older than twenty. She could perform exorcisms, blessings, and divinations. Impressive for a girl her age.

“You said she isn’t a fan of the church’s teachings; doesn’t that effect the strength of her miracles?”

“It is not the adherence to dogma, but faith in the gods that determines the strength of a miracle. I assure you, she’s second to none. That’s why she hasn’t been kicked out yet.”

“Last but not least.” He turned to Lewis and took the last folder.

“Her name is Sarah Williams. On top of being blessed, she’s versed in many weapons, both ancient and modern. Currently she wields the Spear of Tranquil Night, a Holy Weapon from the Middle Ages.”

Dexter leaned back. When it came to enchanted weapons, blessed, cursed, or magical, the type of weapon affected the potency. Older weapons with more legends attributed to them tended to be more powerful, while modern weapons were extremely weak. Spears were second only to swords. He looked down at the page. She had bright, red hair, early twenties.

“Blessing of the Hunt?” He looked over at the expert.

“It’s one of the blessings associated with Lunaris, God of Nature.” Jacob put his hand on his chin. “Like all blessings, she should have enhanced physical abilities, and this specific blessing should also enhance her senses, including her sixth sense, giving her excellent tracking abilities and combat instincts.”

“Anything else?” Dexter asked.

“That’s all the information we had to discuss; would you like some time to think about your decision?” Lewis Responded.

Dexter stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the scenery.

A bunch of kids... He furrowed his brow. They’ll form this team with or without me. His face changed to a look of resolve as he turned around.

“I’ll do it.”