Genometrics Concert Hall ~Mrgrgr!!!~

"So I hear you're going to try to convince the boss to let you and Yeager go." Mart asks a few minutes before the break begins.
"Yeah. Since we're closer to the surface I'm going to head into the town when the break starts."
"Have you ever seen him before?"
"Only once, when I was signing up to do this job. He was wearing a robe that covered his face and he used a voice modifier to mask his voice. Who ever he is, he must not want to be recognized by anyone."
"He must have his reasons"
"I guess. If I can't do anything about the situation, I'll just have to go back to Ostia after my contract is done and wait out that month that he has remaining"
"I'm sure you'll get something done. Good luck" He says and leaves to work elsewhere in the mines. By now I'm pretty self sufficient enough to get my job done by myself.

Break comes after a while and I set off to the town. I have no time to eat so I'll probably go hungry today, but that doesn't matter. I walk into the town and head towards the tallest building. The boss is on the top floor. I see some guards and I expect them to try to stop me, but to my surprise they step aside.

"The boss is expecting you on the top floor" One of them says.
"How did he know I was coming"
The guards stay silent. I shrug and I go in. There is an elevator, thank god. I don't feel like climbing all of those stairs to get to the top.

At the very top, the elevator opens up directly into the boss's office. He's sitting there, looking at me. I can't see his face, but I can feel his gaze.

"Come in, take a seat." He says through his altered voice. I sit.
"I'm here to -"
"I know why you are here" He interrupts. He does? How? Does he listen in to everyone's conversation somehow?
"I've thought it over" He goes on" And I've decided to grant you what you request"
"Really? Wow, I thought it would be a lot harder than that."
"What you are here to do is a noble cause and I am a noble man. I also heard of how you saved and entire tunnel sector from flooding" I think that saving would be an exaggeration, but I let him proceed.
"My company owes you for that. Besides, I've grown to like you"
"...huh? How we've never met"
"Haven't we?" He takes off the hood of his robe revealing his face.
"Mart?! You're the boss?"
"I am"
"But, you down there in the mines with the rest of us!"
"Being here in the office all the time is boring work. Besides, I don't like to put my workers through something I wouldn't do myself"
A noble man indeed. The working conditions are appalling, but the boss ain't such a bad guy. That should count for something shouldn't it?
"So you'll let me and Yeager go off early?"
"Well yes...but under one condition."
"Sigh, there usually are conditions. What is it?"
"Every once in a while when a diamond is found, someone wont turn it in. It's not usually a big deal when it's a small one, but when a large one is found and it's not turned in, THAT I cannot. I know you are a mercenary and the next time that happens, I want you to hunt the person down for me, free of charge."
"That seems like a reasonable request. It's a deal."
"Alright, Straha, but I'll hold you to it. Do you have a home or somewhere I can send a message for you to receive it when the time comes?"
"No...hmm...oh, I know. Do you have my things that I brought with me when I signed up?"
He sends an order through a speaker and in a few minutes a guard brings my things. I did through one of my backpack and find a tracking device similar to the one I game to Anne, but with a green 'gem' instead of red. I hand it over to Mart.
"What's this? He asks.
"It's something you can use to contact me. When you want me to come here. simply touch the green gem until it starts to glow. I'll be here as soon as I can when it does."
"Well...alright. I'll send someone to go get Yeager. You say he's in group four right? My guards will bring him here soon. How about telling me some of your history as a mercenary while we wait."
"Alrigh. Well, when I was ten my grandfather gave me a knife and..."
I continue telling him how I began life as a merc. I can't believe that I can finally get out of here.

「....Lila... When I was down, looking at Lila, slowly limping towards the tall enemy, I understood why my magic was hard to gather. It was not because of the long run of using Melodia Bellax and casting Zephyr Storm. That mysterious bastard, when they hit me, they used some kind of magic disruptor... It made my magic go a bit haywire, but now I can gather it normally. Still, I have, at most, half of my magic left, this won't last long... No time to think, I have to save Lila!」

"V...Vis... Maxima!!!"

「At the sound of the outburst, both of them turned their heads towards me. Vis Maxima is a spell that draws out the maximum potential of Cantus/Melodia Bellax, meaning it requires a huge amount of magic upkeep, I have at most, a minute left until my magic completely depletes... It's time to get serious, no time to fake anymore.」

"Anima mea tenebris. Accursed wind, flowing through the rivers of hell, pushing the accursed souls towards their unfortunate demise, heed me. Force thine enemies to drop on their knees! Tainted Flow of the Damned!"

「As I finish chanting my spell, for the first time in the whole confrontation, my enemy took a guarding stance. Wind of omnimous nature and black in color gathered around me to finally spiral around my hands. This is... Dark magic... The things that I went through to acquire these spells, you can't call me human anymore. It's a miracle that I'm still sane, but sooner or later, I'll end up being corrupted by it. But now, I have to take that risk of using it.」

「Tainted Flow of the Damned, an accursed wind that once you breath it in, you'll be poisoned and slowly drained of you magic, rendering you powerless. The spell, being of the wind element, makes it more deadlier, at contact, it will slice small openings on the point of impact, letting the cursed wind get inside the enemy and corrupt them. The dark wind has finally compressed around my fists. Without thinking, I leapt towards my opponent. When I got close enough, I threw a punch towards them, aiming for their chest. It'll hit!!」

「But alas, my hopes were crushed, they stopped my punch by side-stepping to the side, grabbed my right arm, and instantly, broke it. Without backing down, they instantly punch me in the stomach.」

"Gah!"

「The pain from my broken arm and from the blow to the stomach disrupted my dark spell. As soon as I coughed blood, they proceed to instantly slice off my left arm. I watched my left arm fly away, it looks painful. My left arm, gone, it's not part of me anymore, it's gone... It's suppose to be painful, it's suppose to shock me, but why don't I feel anything... But fear... Then I suddenly felt something pressing against my chest, it was the palm of my enemy. No... I can feel it, they're gathering a lot of magical energy onto that palm, at point blank, I don't even know what will happen... Crap, I can't even move...」

"STOP IT!!"

「Eh? A woman's voice... Who is it?」

"...Woman, leave... Or die..."
"DESFEL!! RUN!!"

「This voice... It's Yula isn't it? Damn it... I shouldn't be the one who should be running away, run you idiot. The enemy suddenly strongly pressed their palm against chest. No, Yula, run...」

"....Black Tiger."

「A sudden powerful impact blows me away. Yula tried to catch me but she wasn't strong enough to stop my flight and flew away with me. I don't know how many walls we've crashed into. Once we finally landed, I immediately fell unconscious...」