274 Darth Matron...

In the end, he got his ass handed to him by Aela, who seemed to be able to tell what he was going to do before he even made a move. Either her reactions were just that good, or his skill and techniques with swords were simply too easy to dismantle.

Regardless, after a thrashing and 'putting him in his place', he was handed back off to train with the other recruits, who were all soundly beaten... He might not be able to match the Inner Circle with his unenhanced skills yet, but the recruits were a piece of cake.

After all, even if most of his advantages came from outside sources such as his runes, he'd still fought and triumphed against many powerful people. Mercer, Sheffield, and Loutiel being the most prominent on the list. None of the recruits was even approaching their skills, so it was fairly easy to beat them.

Soon enough, training came to an end, leaving them all with free time to do as they wished. Some stayed in the training grounds to exercise harder in order to soothe their bruised egos, while others instantly headed to the nearby tavern for whatever reason.

Michael however headed to the Gildergreen and once underneath its slowly decaying branches, pulls out the Vessel of the Hunt. He fixes onto his belt and focuses on his target, the murderer.

Instantly the familiar scent of blood fills his nose, and he's off walking towards around the Wind District. Some people glance over to him, but upon seeing nothing, quickly lose interest.

He walks by the Battleborn estate and soon finds himself standing in front of the Orphanage, it's called Lonely Jay Hall... For some reason. Unable to simply go invisible and sneak in, he pushes the doors open and walks inside, spotting many healthy-looking children scrubbing dirty pots and pans while a few others clean the windows. Their chores for the day it seems.

"Hello?" an elderly-looking woman asks while poking her head out from another room, the pantry from what he could guess. She looked around eighty years old with all the wrinkles and liver spots you could ever need. She had a kindly expression and long, wispy white hair, not someone you'd expect to still be taking care of an orphanage.

Unfortunately for them both, as soon as Michael saw her, the smell of blood intensified to an almost sickening degree... This was his target, and by the sudden look on her face, she knew it too.

The woman turns and rushes back into the pantry as Michael swiftly follows, only getting there in time to see the woman pull a long, two-handed nodachi-like sword. A big ole' black katana that shimmered a vile red when it entered the woman's hands.

"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THEM! HHHAAARGHH!" she screams as she charges Michael, faster than one would think possible for such an old woman.

Michael dodges backwards out of the doorway just in time to avoid the Ebony Blade. It cuts into the stone arch with ease, and it causes stone fragments to fly when the woman wrenches it out with the strength of a hydraulic press.

Obviously, Michael couldn't just kill this woman in her own Orphanage, thus, he decided to lead her outside... If only he had taken out Derflinger for this... All he had on him right now was an ebony dagger. He hadn't expected to run into a Daedra's champion...

The children scream in shock and terror as the matron chases after Michael, the woman luckily leaving them all alone as he bursts through the doors and down the street. He continues, eventually reaching the top of the stairs that lead to the Gildergreen when he decides to make his stand. By now a crowd had gathered, and all of them were watching with wide eyes as the matron attacks Michael, as if her name was Palpatine.

Michael avoids a horizontal sweep of the ebony blade by ducking backwards, afterwards appearing behind the woman with Blink Strike... Only for her to anticipate this by spinning around and making another try for his life.

"Shock!" exclaims, blasting orange tendrils of electricity at her, only for the blade itself to catch it all. Taking no damage in the process. He glances over at the gathered guards, but none of them seems to have a clue about what's going on... One breaks out of his stupor and tries to intervene, having known the matron for many years, only to get bisected in two by the Ebony Blade, red energy getting sucked from his corpse and into the sword, seemingly rejuvenating the matron as it does so.

"Gods! This is madness!" a terrified woman screams, fleeing at the sight of such a grisly murder. This only attracts the attention of the now completely beserk matron, who attempts to chase after them... Michael stops her however, a Shackle wrapping around her ankle and preventing her from going any further.

"Surrender you crazy hag!" he shouts, more for the audience than anything else...

"NEVER! YOU WILL NEVER TAKE THEEEM!" she screeches, resuming her attack on Michael after cutting the Shackle with her blade.

Michael Blinks to avoid yet another strike, and blocks another... Only for it to cut his ebony dagger in half. He growls at her, "Fine then if you want to die so badly! Laguna Blade!" he shouts, pointing his finger at the woman's chest as she raises the Ebony Blade high in an attempt to bisect him like she'd done the previous guard.

*KRAKOOOOM!*

The sound of thunder explodes in the center of the city, and the bright blue light that shoots from Michael's fingertip blinds all who were watching temporarily. Michael is unaffected however, allowing him to see the effects of his spell...

The bolt hits the matron in the chest, scorching a large hole into her, incinerating a few of her ribs and internal organs, which includes her heart. Then, the electricity does its work on her body, causing her eyes to explode out of her sockets, blood bursting from, her ears, and a blood-curdling scream to wrench itself from her lips.

She drops to the ground not long after, leaving but a blackened, smoking carcass...