Book 1 Chapter 17: Who is she?
The priest looked at his brother with a certain kind of stare only his kin could pick up on before turning to Jaeger with a different but softer look, "What are you? What can you do? Why are you here?" Asking in tandem several questions on the rest of everyone's minds.
Jaeger said the same thing to him as he did the engineer when he arrived which earned a nod before continuing about himself,
"I am a summoner of a frog that has an internal dimensional space, I have a lightning and metal affinity to combine both with my body, I specialize in the use of guns and a chain blade. I can be considered a jack of all trades in a fight, but in most cases its mid-range to close melee combat. I have the power to combine materials into my body as well. I was a private investigator of the city before coming through the fog with friends to fight against the inevitable…in terms of days, I have only been in the city of horrors for a mere several weeks…but in the case of inter space to portals, I have been here several years."
This was also another reason why some said they were here several years, because they too had been through portals and in total added this to the time they had been here.
"I see…" The priest nodded before going back to scrawling on the hemp rope.
The abjurationist girl looked jaeger up and down, her eyes wandering over Jaeger's mid-section a bit longer than the rest. It made him feel like a tiger was looking at him as a snack, but in a strange way. Knowing that Alexandria could be watching at any time, Jaeger shrugged and turned away.
The engineer was looking at the generator in a strange way, "Why…fuck…what will we do without the protection of the fortress, a recess from the horrors outside these walls…"
Jaeger turned to him with a calm expression on his face, "How do you feel knowing the horrors are within…that within this place you cannot escape any of it. We are strong enough to fight off the weak undead…even though they too become stronger, in some cases so do we….this isn't the only safe place here. Unlike you, I didn't stay in the fortress….i stayed in the cabin in the woods!"
Everyone looked at Jaeger with blazing eyes, "You what?"
"I stayed in the cabin where you can find parts for the generator here…except unlike you, I didn't leave. There are countless places to hold up in, and I have determined that the only place…with the most sinister air here…is the place most call the safest."
The swordsman thought for a moment, "I am Ito, call me that…call my brother Tao. What happened when you stayed in the cabin…"
Jaeger shrugged, "Well…unlike what I heard, it was different for a person who was going solo. The undead didn't seem attracted to me, they all wanted to go to the fort. The more I didn't go over there, the more was able to stock up in the area of the fortress…took me a while to clear them up actually. It seemed though that something was drawing them here…and so, I lived my day's moving silently to explore while not approaching the fort itself…many moons went by in this way…near the end, I slowly began to feel the presence of…something, coming to life from within…only until I came out, and came into your portal finally did I feel it was truly alive."
"So…it started the moment we arrived to fight the 7 bosses…" The engineer was sullen, puzzled and most importantly frightened at this sudden thought.
Jaeger turned to his frog, and out from it popped a small hand held electrical generator. It was the same one he was given from the mage school tower place 'Do they even have an official name?'
The engineer though saw this as a piece of safety and ran over and studied it.
"How'd they get it so small? Hell, I couldn't even carry mine in here so I had to bring charged crystals…" Jaeger handed it to him, and placed his hand upon the crystal at the end.
"Hey…don't…" The engineer was about to shove Jaeger back from killing himself, when he felt Ito's hand on his shoulder. "You remember what he said earlier…affinity for lightning. I have my guesses…"
Jaeger nodded to Ito, and turned the crank causing crackling bolts to dance from within the small cylinder towards his hand. Two small bolts slowly lit up on the back of Jaeger's hands, before being covered up by a glove.
The engineer knocked his head, "Well I will be damned…" He began to crank it nonstop until the crystal glowed with blue light, "This thing will hold a charge for a long time…damn this was expensive, why the hell would they spend so much on…" He suddenly scoffed at himself, 'We are the reason" and yet the funny thing was it was mostly for Jaeger, but even Jaeger wouldn't say that.
Ito looked to Tao, "So…you think you can do it?"
Tao shrugged, "I can't bless something like vibrating molecules…fire I mean…but I can lock this place down if the abjurationist helps me, so that what is burned within… cannot leave." He held up the hemp rope he had been working upon, it was cut into several long pieces the width of each of the doors. It was beautifully decorated with countless lines and symbols in the gold paint he had used, but Ito knew full well this wasn't a decoration and in fact a long string of mantras and protective chants.
Jaeger looked at the hemp rope, "How will this work? What if she simply leaves?"
Tao looked at the rope and then back at him, and the rest of the people in the room with a gloomy gaze, "Someone….will have to stay to draw it in…"
Jaeger shrugged, "I'll do it…"
Everyone flipped their gaze over to him with horror, "Why would you want to get burnt alive? What if it gets you?" The cryomancer looked at him like an insane man.
Jaeger had indeed given up his affinity for fire, however that didn't mean he had given up the ability to draw in fire! Because heat was something that was present in all things. It wasn't something he could lose, the ability to control it like a mage was what he gave up. He severed his ability to ever use it as his own, that was what he gave up. Any skill related to fire, and Dao within fire, was given up and thus the path of flame was severed from him. That didn't mean he couldn't draw it in.
"I have…my way's to live, to survive the spirit…well…I'll make my way around it."
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"No!" A woman was screaming at the fountain, "You idiot! Why are you always so calm!" Alexandria was being held back from leaping into the fountain. Solomon had finally arrived back; merely 45 or so minutes after Jaeger had left, but had stood by the fountain watching his friend within.
Spear was the weapon he had used to gain Master of one. His skills, like Jaeger with his chain blade, were now exceptionally potent with the spear. He too had succeeded in gaining the hundred percent, and to a truth that only Jaeger could understand, had too slept with the Princess.
He would ask Jaeger if he did too, but for now wasn't the only thought in his mind.
"Alex!" He yelled fiercely causing her to stall and turn to him, "If you want to help him…go to the school, make the contract and become stronger!"
She swayed, but nodded before turning to the fountain, "If you die…I will burn this place to the ground in your memory…" She moved off towards the mage tower, and stopped one last time to look at Solomon who stood guard next to the fountain. He nodded, and she sighed before moving through the towers front gates.
Solomon turned to Ana, "Where did Jack and Malcolm go"
Ana looked at him, grateful that he wasn't the one within the fountain currently. A lot of things went through her mind, but she still answered "They left on their own path to go figure out things about the city…they didn't plan on staying to work or learn…so they went off to a different sanctuary to see if they could gain other skills and abilities"
In response, Solomon smiled and yet felt a little estranged. At the least, he hoped to see his old friends again and wished them well in their choice. The real question however, was what choice was he to make himself now? At this moment.
Ana looked at the mage school, "I have a power…so I can't study there, I already went in earlier with Alex…they make you sign a contract to stay within for four years, within…like the portals, time is different and so it passed much faster then out here. We learned the reason why the people say they have been here a while…is because they have been within there. After the 4 years of safety and learning, you are tasked by the school to go on missions and so all these people around us are in fact people about to depart. I can't learn there though…because I have a power, and not specifically an affinity. Malcom didn't want to take his chances gaining something….so he left, should we?"
Solomon sighed, but nodded, "Yes…we have to become stronger too."
Ana slumped against his arm, holding it tight as she layed her head against him. The cold armor under his clothing didn't deter her, and reminded her more specifically that her knight and shining armor was right here before her.
Solomon used his free hand to rub her head, caressing her hair for a while before flipping the screen on his watch open to watch Jaeger.
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Jaeger was currently looking at the back of his hand, two metal symbols shone with a matte silver light and the last symbol a flickering flame.
It wouldn't feel great, but the fire would deter the heat and the two metal meant his flesh and skin was made of strong steel. He choose the metal with a high heat resistance. Countless golden symbols flickered across his metal skin from etching's Tao had placed on him directly. They didn't itch, but if he changed back at this exact moment he would most definitely feel itchy as all hell.
Looking around, each of the many doors within the fort had rope going across them. The calligraphy of the ropes spread out from the rope when they were placed and covered each of the doors in warm and holy glows.
*WhoosH*
Jaeger didn't flinch; he couldn't, and wouldn't at the sudden sounds eating away at his ears. If he let that woman know the HE knew she was there she would kill him directly. Jaeger had to strive to fight the creeping fear boiling his blood to not look at the mirrors that surrounded him. He was in the center of the fort, and through sheer will had lured her into here. After making sure she was with him, watching, he non chalantly acted like he was placing up decorations. Only when the last rope was set would the rest go off and spread their words, and so to her they probably seemed like some shit ward rope painted in gold.
However, now, she watched him with the glare of death. Jaeger felt it too, he could feel she was trying to sense out what these humans had done and why she couldn't leave. If she killed Jaeger right off the bat, she might very well be stuck here. Why would the humans kill one of their own? However, in the same regard where had they gone?
Jaeger paced back and forth, smoking the eternal vanilla cigarrete he so dearly loved. He was wearing regular clothing, and had long taken off the light leather armor and gun holsters and put them within his frog. Why burn up his gear incase shit hit the fan? Especially if shit hit the flame.
A little frog danced around his shoulders, ribbiting several times before disappearing into a mist within the air.
Jaeger sighed, and breathed out a plume of smoke.
A pool of unknown liquid sat on the ground, leading out from it were several lines of this liquid that seemed to go into air ducts and other places out into the fort from this room.
Jaeger summoned his frog again, and like some mystical ash tray flicked his cig into its mouth.
'If she follows me in…I would be giving her a free way to survive this, so I can't go into my frog either…fuck me.'
The frog disappeared again into a mist, and didn't come back this time. Jaeger looked down at the liquid, and pretended to act cold. He was actually slightly cold, because the glare of this spirit woman had a bone chill effect to it. He knelt down, set some wood together over the liquid and lit a match.
The woman slowly stepped out from one of the mirrors, the creaks of ancient bones sounding out from her body as they creaked. Jaeger didn't stop what he was doing though, and continued to set up the wood as if his life depended on it.
After a little tipi was formed, Jaeger stood up and took out a crap pistol he had amongst several others. It was merely a 9mm gun, but for now it would work. The woman silently crept closer to him, dark hair covered her face, her skin deathly pale. Her hand was about to reach Jaegers neck when it stopped, two dark crimson eyes peered out around the room as she felt the air become still.
Jaeger didn't have to look to easily shoot out every mirror in the room, countless sparks and shattered glass spiraled down crashing into the ground before Jaeger threw the gun to the side of the room and took out a lighter.
"Can you talk?"
His hand hovered over the tipi that was wet at the bottom from the countless gallons of high burning fuel the engineer had left.
Her hand still hovered in the air as her eyes watched him.
"Can't? Or won't? I really wish we could talk, if you understand me then…well I am sorry. I always respect the dead…I promise."
Her hand slowly lowered to her side before she stepped forward and touched Jaeger's hand that held the lighter. Jaeger saw through her dark hair, a beautiful woman that seemed aged and tired. She didn't speak, it indeed seemed that she couldn't speak but her gestures showed Jaeger how she felt. A cold feeling permeated down into jaegers metal hand, and with it came the feeling of sadness.
"i…." Jaeger's throat choked, this feeling….it tightened his stomach and caused him to want to curl into a ball and cry endlessly for eternity.
She moved her hand away, and the feeling within Jaeger disappeared. Jaeger breathed in deeply.
"You won't kill me now that you have been captured…what's the point in fighting when you can finally be released, nothing can stop you…from being finally released." Light flickered across Jaegers face as the flame from the lighter danced back and forth. The light from the lighter slowly traveled down his body as the lighter fell through the air and with a soft clink touched the ground. The flame licked down it and touched the liquid before a burst of flame surged out from the volatile liquid and traveled out into many pathways like a spider.
Two bodies danced with shadows of glowing flames.
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Ito and Tao watched from outside the fort as flame burst out air ducts, before smoke clouded the sky in dark grey and ash.
The 5 watched as stone and metal melted, and the doors collapsed. A red hot burning figure slowly walked out from one of the doors clutching something in his hands. Rain began to fall heavily, and slowly the red hot figure turned grey in color as sizzling sounds danced off their body. Jaeger collapsed on the ground, and let his body slowly cool down. After a while, metal slowly sank from his body as if the rain was washing it away. The earth and plants around him slowly absorbed what his body let off and turned to steel. Ito picked up a flower, and rolled it in his hands with a pondering look.
"What a strange power…hmm…" Ito was very fascinated, but dropped the flower to steadily look around. He wasn't the careless type to begin with.
Tao looked at the cracked lines he had carved into Jaeger's once metal skin, "They will heal… I didn't go too deep on purpose."