3/26/54

ALEXANDER GALDUR

Worst. Possible. Encounter. Ever.

A fucking dark magician hunting family? They are one of the worst possible groups I could ever encounter! Sarah seems to be deviating from the family tradition by going with the DME, but she still has those ties with her family. Plus, the DME is just as bad for dark magicians as the Knight family is.

Collapsing on the bed after that nerve wracking Diablo VI session, I just wanted to stay in this room for the rest of my life. I have to go to training tomorrow, but then I’ll be forced to meet with Sarah again. Not only that, but now that we’re acquainted, the chances of us interacting will become even higher. We’re also always placed within the same group.

For now, all I have to do is keep the whole dark magician thing under wraps, and while some random person finding out would be equally as bad as her finding out, it’s still terrifying. I’ll just have to avoid her without giving away that I’m actively avoiding her. Easier said than done.

Choosing to sleep this all off, I got ready for bed and proceeded to collapse into the soft mattress.

3/27/54

The next day went by as any would: breakfast, teeth brushing, changing, walking, changing, training, magical training, being beaten into the ground, being beaten into the ground vol. 2, walking, changing, trudging back to the room, enjoying the rest of the day, dinner, showers, changing, teeth brushing, bed.

3/28/54

After the routine, I heard on the news about another monster incident. Thirteen casualties, twenty-six injured, and even then, not every monster was caught. The smaller ones seemed to be sneaking off to anywhere they could. That posed a pretty big threat to public safety as even the smaller monsters were just as dangerous.

3/29/54

Ass kicked hard today. Sent to the medbay again after my dark magic tried to break free from the control that I put over it. Everyday I spend using my magic, I can feel it growing stronger, but now, I can also feel its presence constantly. I’m getting stronger both physically and mentally, but my magic, too, is growing. My control over it seems to be growing by a little, but I can’t tell if it's just my dark magic toning it back or not.

I can only think of it as a wave. The waters are receding, but doesn’t that just mean that something bigger is coming?

3/30/54

I’m getting better. My magic use is improving, and I’m becoming harder to take down during sparring. I can feel myself becoming faster, stronger, and much more magically attuned. Magic aside, I wonder why my physical abilities are growing so rapidly. Shouldn’t I be feeling sore all the time? I’ve been consistently ripping my muscles apart, but I seem to be fine. I wonder why?

On a separate note, I won't have to worry about Sarah now. She was called up by Trainer Masako along with four other people to take the finals. The previous group was also composed of five trainees; that’s probably the amount of people in each group when people are called up.

3/31/54

End of the month. Half a month has passed since I’ve begun training now. It feels like it’s been an eternity since that fateful meeting in the alleys. Everything’s changed so much since then. Despite my debt, I feel good about everything that’s happened. Bounty hunting can be quite the lucrative business, so even with the majority of my earnings being taken by the DME, any amount of money I earn will be more money than I’ve earned on the streets.

4/1/54

Beginning of April. April fool’s day, too. Nothing of note happened. Everything was still the same. However, another monster incident occurred. This time it erupted during a concert, so the body count is still being counted.

4/2/54

ARO terrorist attack today. It wasn’t anywhere near the DME building. No, instead it was an attack on a group of retired veterans from back when the NMSA was created. Seeing as how its an organization made solely for the purpose of gaining rights for evil magicians, and the NMSA was formed atop the corpses of those deemed as evil, this seems to be pretty in line. I still don’t know why the ARO attacked that day back when I was four. Random attacks on random people in random locations. It’s too chaotic, too different from their normal behaviors. They have these little outlier incidents occasionally, and every time, it seems as odd as before.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

4/3/54

Asked Anna about why my physical capabilities have been growing at such a rapid pace when I was sent to the medbay again. Turns out, every time I was healed, it repaired my muscles in a natural way that let me basically speed run strength growth. While that’s nice and all, I really need to stop ending up in the medbay. I’ve become acquainted with the other nurses and doctors there.

4/4/54

Another group was pulled up for finals again. Again, it was five. I guess I’ll know how many people I’ll be pulled up with when it's my time. I shouldn’t have to worry about that anytime though; I still have plenty of time to grow and become stronger. Maybe I’ll get pulled up in May? Probably.

4/5/54

It was a day just like the last ten days before. The routine started off the same; however, once sparring was supposed to commence, another group was called up for training.

“Would Maximillian Wells, Fiona Riley, Henrietta Andersen, Tomos Gallagher, and Lucas Greymore come on over here?”

I froze.

Mindlessly, I walked over with the four others who were called up. Absentmindedly, I noted that Trainer Masako spoke into a radio. Stupefied, I dully watched five new people join us as we walked to the door that led to wherever the finals took place. Walking through the entrance, I saw that the room was just as empty as my mind at the moment.

Waking me from my stupor, Trainer Masako addressed us and our current situation, “Okay, the reason y’all are here is because y’all seemed ready to get out of this training. So, I called ya up here to work as a team to prove yourselves against some trained professionals. The people in front of ya are your opponents. Employ your magic, your martial skills, and your strategic abilities to do as best as ya can. Ya don’t have to win, aren’t even expected to; all ya gotta do is try to do well.”

Finally looking at the people joining me in this venture, I noted the variety of people. Our opponents were composed of a skinny man with blonde hair and skin dotted with scars from past pimples, a woman with slicked-back silver hair and light blue eyes that stood out against her coffee-colored skin, a man with brown and blue swirled hair stood at attention, his whitish-yellow skin shimmering in the overhead lights from sweat, a frail-looking woman with icy hair and an icier expression, and finally a woman with muscles corded together that stretched her burnt umber skin, the long braids her hair was formed into looking like vines with how green they were.

On my team, everyone took a moment to look each other over and introduce themselves.

“Um, h-hi, I’m Maximillian Wells, but please call me Max.”

“My name’s Lucas Greymore. I hope we can get along.”

Afterwards, a woman with brownish beige skin and fiery hair pulled up in a ponytail introduced herself, “My name is Fiona Riley. It’s a pleasure.”

“I’m Henrietta Andersen.” A woman with skin similar to dark honey nodded, her well-toned muscles flexing with the simple movement. Her long brown-pink hair reached down to the middle of her back.

Finally, a man with neon teal hair and shining sky blue eyes that shone against ivory skin spoke curtly, “Tomos Gallagher.”

“Yes, yes, you’re now all friends and shit. This next part you might want to do in privacy, so…” Trainer Masako droned off as she formed a fist she from a raised hand. Suddenly, earth poured through the cracks, wrapping around every person there. In the stifling darkness, I was suddenly thrown against one of the walls of the ball. It was like I was standing up in a car, and it suddenly went from zero to a hundred in a second.

After a long, disorienting while, I was suddenly slung to the opposite side of the sphere. The earth dissolved, and I was left lying on the cool metal. Then, a deep, loud, and imposing rumbling erupted throughout the entire room. Looking up, I saw how dirt started seeping up from all over. From under me, from under the other disgruntled trainees, from every crack in the metal.

A solid earthen floor formed underneath us, but that wasn’t even the most shocking part. Cliffs, overhangs, hills, and canyons began assembling themselves everywhere. The end result was similar to an arid canyon, the reddish brown earth really driving the point home. Another mass of earth pillared itself in the center of the artificial terrain. It had bold letters carved into it that stated “PLANNING: 5:00.”

The timer part of it began ticking down, giving a sense of the finite time we had before a battle against truly strong enemies began. Getting up, I noticed that everyone else had already done so, and I caught on just in time for the extension of the introductions.

Taking charge, Henrietta exuded the aura of a leader and got our planning started, “We have five minutes till we have to fight. We should explain our magic and fighting styles. I have body-altering magic that can excite cells and glands. It lets me hasten the body’s natural healing process or make glands like the adrenal gland secrete more of its respective hormone. I’m good for support, healing, and debuffing, but I can also fight with a dagger if I need to.”

Fiona went next, “I use a bow and arrow, and my magic creates arrows out of fire. I can create fire arrows that can work as bombs, napalm, or any other sort of nasty effects. I can hit hard from a range.”

Max followed it up, “I-I’m Max, and I have magic that creates ink. I can use the ink to draw runes that can create tentacles of ink, prisons of ink, spikes of ink, and other things… Of ink. I can defend a single area pretty well.”

“Energy dome creation. I can create defensive spherical barriers. I can make barriers around my fists to use as weapons. I box. I’m a good defender.” Tomos stated, briefly.

I finished up the introductions, “I have light magic. I can create balls of light of any color, turn them into flashbangs to blind people, and infuse my body with light to speed myself up. I also box. I’m fast and can sneak around pretty well.”

After that, we talked about strategy. We assigned roles to everyone based on how they fought as well as how their magic worked. It was all pretty straightforward and obvious. Max and Tomos were assigned to area defense. Tomos would protect Max while he set up traps creating an area that could control the flow of battle.

Fiona was going to be a sniper. Her arrows shot out in a straight line for almost a mile if she willed it so. They were powerful and could deal heavy damage. Henrietta was utility and support; she could help allies and weaken enemies.

I was the team’s scout and frontline fighter, something I was very unhappy with. In the end though, I was the best suited for the role. In a pinch, Henrietta and Tomos could help, but their magic wasn’t as specialized for it as mine was.

After introductions, we began strategy planning. Remembering the lessons from oh-so long ago, we came up with a decent idea. Though, it wouldn’t be as effective since the number of people who would be fighting would give it away.

Still though, envelopment of a single flank seems like a pretty good idea to me.