Chapter 93: First Day Assignment

"Excuse me?" I said.

"Yeah, you two are taking a vacation to Nexus soon. Should be fun!" Michael said.

"Isn't that incredibly dangerous?" Isabella said.

"Of course it is! But you two are more than capable of handling anything they throw at you. Although, I haven't said everything yet."

"Then please continue, Michael," Isabella said.

"So here's the deal, last time Iris went over there, Novak told her that if she showed up again they would kill her. Normally, that's a hollow threat, but... They actually have the power to do that now using the Abyss Engine."

"Again with that thing?" I said.

"The Abyss Engine neutralizes her power as a goddess and renders her vulnerable. If Iris dies, the Enforcers go with her. Except you two, that is. You two aren't sustained by her power. The divine energy sustaining you comes from somewhere else. All Iris did was activate it within you and manifest your Aspects."

"Very well then, tell us the plan," Isabella said.

"The entire region of Nexus has been outfitted with towers that produce the Abyss Engine's energy field. They started building them a few years ago and finished recently. In short, we can't go near it, Iris can't go near it, and the Attendant soldiers can't go near it. And trust me, sending conventional military to fight Attendants and Overlords is a TERRIBLE idea. Kazuma alone would obliterate all of our military forces and that's before the others get ahold of 'em. Your job is to neutralize the towers."

"Won't that cause them to all attack us at the same time? It seems pretty poorly thought out if you ask me..." I said.

"Does that matter? You two could probably take on a lot before needing to retreat. Although I don't recommend it. But no, we don't expect you to have to kill anyone. We believe the towers are controlled by a power source. If you destroy that, we can begin our assault. Cool?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Can we kill Kazuma if we see him?" I said.

"Look, I don't wanna say no to that. I would love it if you killed that asshole. But...if you kill any Overlords, Novak is likely to get involved and there's no way in hell you could actually fight him. In short, kill anyone who stands in your way, but retreat if you encounter an Overlord. When you finish the job, we'll send someone in to evac you."

Personally, I considered the possibility of just killing all of them before requesting evacuation, but...

It would probably be better to wait in this case.

Speaking of which, I was highly aware that Yakon's replacement was likely to be ready to fight as well and this person was a complete mystery to us.

"When do we leave?" Isabella asked.

"In two months. Practice with your new powers in the meantime and prepare for infiltration. Also, your friends at school wanted me to deliver something for you and I went and bought two phones to use since it makes it easy to communicate," Michael said.

He handed us two small boxes and a letter.

I was aware of how the small devices they called cell phones operated, but...

I didn't know how to use one and neither did Isabella.

They had screens that allowed someone to touch and operate them. Apparently, you could talk to people from far away using them among other things. Kind of like a communication crystal from Avernia, but with a lot more functions.

Supposedly, these small devices could access a data library online that held all the information currently catalogued in the world.

And people used it to look at pictures of small animals doing funny things.

We neglected to get them because we were under close watch by the Enforcers and had no use for it.

But now, since were going to be alone, they wanted us to have them.

"Training wheels are coming off now, you two. Ask Rune to teach you about those phones and keep them in your...space bag inventory thingy. Hey, how does that work, exactly? It's kinda cool," Michael said.

"It requires the use of a magic system called status magic, but I can probably modify it to give you an inventory. I'll do it later once I figure out how it works. Then all of us can have them," I said.

"Great! That'll be fun. Man, magic is pretty awesome, right?" Michael said.

"Yes, but not as wonderful as technology. These things are all very new to us and quite interesting," Isabella said.

"Technology? Yeah it's great. But magic is so cool!" Michael said.

"Uhh...yeah. Maybe we should go back home now?" I said.

"Nope. You two have patrol today. Go around the city, introduce yourselves, and help people whenever you come across them. Then you can go home later. I'll be with you today to show you how to do things, then I'll be going."

"That sounds wonderful, Michael. Thank you," Isabella said.

* * *

We spent the entire day out with Michael and he gave us a rundown of how Enforcer work was performed on a day-to-day basis.

We helped out several people with simple and complex things. At one point, we captured a criminal that tried to steal a car.

I had fun with it because I got to use binding magic on him to freeze him in place when he tried to run. Afterwards, Michael showed us how criminal apprehension works. Usually these things were taught before manifestation, but we had too much to learn about the world before we could start.

Throughout the day, I was surprised that no one tried to challenge us. I was used to violence running rampant in the cities and towns in Avernia.

Michael said that there really weren't a lot of people stupid enough to attack three Enforcers at the same time.

Actually, he said that most people were smart enough to not even bother attacking just one, either.

I certainly hoped not.

Michael also told us about the laws regarding an on-duty Enforcer.

On-duty Enforcers were the most trusted individuals in the entire world to Iris.

Never had one actually betrayed her trust and misused their powers. Even if they did, Iris could sever her connection to them at any time and erase them. Their lives were literally in her hands.

And since the work they did was always important, it was illegal to interfere with them.

Any attempt to disrupt the activities of an Enforcer deployment was met with swift punishment. An on-duty Enforcer always worked for the greater good of Ignitus. To disturb them was the same as disrupting that goal.

The result...was that no one even bothered to approach us aside from staring in awe or waving and giving simple greetings. It was nice.

Still, another goal of today's mission was to introduce ourselves to the general public and to earn their trust.

Generally speaking, the public usually outright accepted new Enforcers without much resistance. Although there were still plenty of paranoid individuals that believed we could have done harm.

Nevertheless, we worked diligently for the people's sake.

And at the same time on that day, we began to truly love the people of Ignitus.

This world was our new home and we needed to protect it. We needed to use our power to help others.

Once we got home, we ate dinner prepared by Earl and retreated to our room.

"Isabella, would you like me to take a look at your spells?" I asked.

"Can you do that?"

"I think so. It night be a benefit to you. Is that okay?"

She smiled and hugged me.

"Mizik, I trust you more than anyone. Please do as you like."

I gently pulled away and placed my finger over her heart.

I used my power to peer into her soul and...

I began seeing her memories.

I saw the constant struggles with her parents, the absurd expectations, constant harassment from noblemen, her childhood friendship with Cassandra, Academy school life, as well as the genuine love she had for me.

Although there was a sort of...glitch in her memories. With some searching, I found that the cause was the damage to her soul. I wasn't sure if I could fix her. But, I looked deeper and found her skills anyway. I grabbed two in particular.

Attack Support and Defense Support.

Using my Archmage Aspect, I combined the two and increased the energy output while minimizing the mana cost. I also added passive regeneration and shielding into it.

"There we go. I'll call this one...Omni Support. Do you like it?"

Isabella's eyes lit up with great joy.

"It's...it's...AMAZING! WOW! MIZIK, YOU'RE SO AWESOME!" She shouted as she nearly jumped up and down with excitement.

"Eh...it's nothing, Isabella. I just want to make sure that you're at your best."

"But...it's so amazing! I love it! Can you do anything else with my skills? Can you!?" She said excitedly.

"Hmm...let's see here... I can't modify Honor's skills, but I can see about changing your other abilities."

"Yes! Please do!"

I placed my finger over her heart and peered within her again.

She had saved a lot of skill points so I gave her an infinite amount instead just in case she wanted to play around with them.

At the same time, I couldn't see many more skills that would be more useful by modifying them.

Instead, I formed a new skill within her.

I decided to touch the thread between us and expanded it further. This skill would increase our strength even further while we were close. Building off of what Iris told us earlier, of course. What I made was a passive skill that we could share.

"I'll call this one...Adoring Resonance."

Isabella looked at me with wide eyes as her face turned red.

"Mizik...th-this... Is this how you feel about me?" She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked cluelessly.

"You added something in me... I saw a glimpse of great love and dependence... Ah...I feel so flustered right now!" She said as she covered her face.

"I truly don't know what you mean. I added a skill that makes us stronger together."

"Th...this... Look, when you added it, I saw inside your heart. I saw how much you cherish me! This ability is constantly reminding me as well. I can't stop thinking about it!"

Did I do something bad? I didn't intend on breaking anything... Maybe I should fix it?

"Sorry...maybe I screwed something up. I'll fix-"

"Nooooo! Don't! I love it! I don't want this feeling to go away!" Isabella said with tears in her eyes.

After that, she forcefully pulled me close and kissed me.

I hugged her tightly and she smiled at me.

"Mizik, I love you more than anything. Please stay by my side forever."

"Forever and always. I won't leave no matter what."

We stayed like that for a bit and then I moved to the bed to lay down and meditate.

Isabella continued after me and laid down on my chest.

Then I began my meditation.

First of all, I began messing with my inventory.

The frozen space was attached to the status magic system and I managed to separate them.

Once I discovered the concepts behind the inventory, I expanded mine to fit far more items in it. Now I would be able to give the other Enforcers inventories for their items.

Since the inventory functioned best when attached to the status menu system, I decided to reconnect the two and moved on.

I thought heavily about the idea of giving status magic to the Enforcers and figured it would only be a benefit.

Then I made a telepathy spell and contacted Iris.

"Iris, can you hear me?"

"GAAAAAHHHH! WHAT THE...!? MIZIK!?"

"Calm down. Yes, it's me. I made a telepathy spell to contact you from-"

"Dammit, Mizik! Just call me! Michael gave you phones, right!? Use them!"

"Rune hasn't taught us how to use them yet. I was wondering if you could maybe call a meeting for the Enforcers soon? Like tomorrow?"

"Why? I mean, I don't mind doing that, but is there a reason?"

"I made a breakthrough for my status magic. I want to apply it to the other Enforcers to increase their power. Or at least try. Can I do that?"

"I mean...sure. As long as you don't kill anyone. You're having fun, aren't you?"

"Lots of fun. By the way, have you had any luck with Dante?"

"Unfortunately...no... He told me the reason for his rejection yesterday after everyone left... I told him that his power couldn't possibly hurt me...but..."

"What is it?"

"Dante rejected me... I'm just...currently trying to understand it...and trying to accept it... He sees me as a mother, a friend, and a leader. Nothing more. He said he was married to his job and wouldn't want to ruin what we already have..."

"I'm really sorry, Iris."

"Don't be... I'm just glad I finally got a real answer. You two deserve a reward for helping me out here."

"Yes, lady Iris."

"Okay then. Leave me alone now, I'm trying to cry myself to sleep!"

At that moment, I felt something cut off and I couldn't talk to her anymore.

I decided to contact Gavin, next.

"Hey, Gavin. Can you hear me?"

"What the hell...? Who is this? What's going on?"

"It's Mizik. I'm using telepathy to speak with you."

"That's weird. Leave me alone. I'm kind of dealing with something at the moment."

"Can you at least try to get along with us?"

"We...ugh... Why do you care?"

"Because we're allies. Why are you so against otherworlders?"

"You really wanna know? Because they killed my family. My wife, my kids, and every one I know. That's why. I don't like them and I never will."

"We don't mean you any harm though. Isabella and I-"

"Are you still talking? Didn't I say I was busy? I'm on night patrol, Mizik. Why don't you go bang your wife or something? Leave me the hell alone!"

This wasn't getting anywhere.

As much as I wanted to get along with Gavin, I had to admit he was just an asshole.

Oh well.

I hoped he would come around at some point.

Until then...

I think I'll bother Michael, next.

I decided to sever the connection to Gavin and contacted Michael.

"Hey Michael, it's Mizik."

"I won't ask how you're doing this. Mainly because I don't care. But we have personal lives, dude. I'm kind of on a date right now."

"A date?"

"Yes, a date. I'm watching a movie with my girlfriend. Kinda hoping to get the mood going if you catch my drift..."

"I don't know what that means, but...I'll leave you alone."

"Thank you."

That was...awkward...

I decided to leave it there and only contact them during the day...