Capítulo 6: Useless Weaklings, Ten-hut! Pt3
There was something he 'forgot' to mention...
The invisibility Fritz casted on them wasn't just formed via one Paper Charm. It was a complicated 'Craft' that required him to not break his particular breathing rhythm for even a short millisecond.
The 'Breath Circulation' technique of the Lazrik Clan was a special one that was unable to be taught to outsiders. It allowed him to circulate magical energy directly from his Limiter Inverter.
A fear unheard of even for higher echelons.
Perhaps the explanation for it was too vast.
Martial Artists called this power 'Internal Qi', while Magi called it 'Mana'. Both were called 'Magic'.
They were of the same source, only viewed differently and expressed in various ways.
But that itself wasn't important.
Fritz had always had to keep himself calm and rational by keeping his breath in a particular way.
Any obstruction could lead to a big disaster.
It was why he wasn't comfortable after a while of being shifted around in the scarlet beauty's arms.
He looked up and was about to say something to her, but stopped when he saw those bright eyes.
'Would you look at that…' Fritz could only inwardly admire the dedication and focus she was showing.
It made his breathing return to a calm state.
This wasn't a question of talent or qualifications. A look like that only belonged to those striving hard.
Pushing through all obstacles in her way.
It wasn't just respectable. Fritz had become entranced by the beauty beyond her appearance.
She truly was someone he could admire…
A thought that made the fears he had towards her transform in a way he couldn't quite understand.
'What is this feeling…?' Fritz held onto his chest.
But now wasn't the time for revelations.
Once they got to the bright yellow taxi's last destination, someone stopped them abruptly.
"Why are you following OUR target?" There was a feral youth who seemed similar to them in position.
Wearing their Academy's badge.
Fritz quickly jumped out of her arms and brushed himself off. He was already sure Betty would tease the life out of him should she find out what happened earlier. It was embarrassing to think of.
"You're target is the Poison Butterfly, right?" Valry straightforwardly asked the student before the drop point. It was a café that was inconspicuous enough to not draw attention from the outside.
Her Squad Leader recognised the student, but was unable to act close to him compared to before...
"Yeah. So what?" The fiery student's rude attitude rubbed her the wrong way, but Fritz stopped her.
His hand grabbed her shoulder to hold her back.
"We have a different target. Don't worry about us getting in the way... 'Roger'." Even though he called the student by name, the angry youth shrugged his attitude off and went back to his leading position.
It was certain that the popular 'Assault Squad' of Anti-Martial Academy were planning an ambush.
When they were clear that their squads wouldn't interfere with each other, the communication was cut. It looked like the leader of the Assault Squad had no respect for his former friend and ally.
Something they had to get used to at this point…
Seeing the student walk away, Valry was annoyed her 'leader' didn't even try speaking up for her.
"Do you know him?" (Valry)
"...We used to be friends." (Fritz)
"Used to?" The girl read between the lines well.
"Had a falling out on our first semester." Fritz didn't needed to explain, but he made sure he was clear.
They weren't on good terms.
"Then you should stop taking this attitude from him and fight back. Stop being a pushover." (Valry)
"I know, right~?" Despite her harsh words, Fritz only laughed meekly in response. This annoyed her greatly. The youth didn't even have the attitude or charisma that was expected to lead a Squad.
But only he knew why fighting here was useless.
Keeping a levelheaded mentality so that they could focus on their priorities. Rather than a single lead.
Fritz could tell what she was thinking about. It wasn't the first time he'd been told that as an insult. Still, he'd find it much more hurtful coming from someone as professional in the field as her.
Maybe she was right…
…but it didn't change what they needed to do.
That's why Fritz Lazrik decided to move on. There was a job to be done regarding their objective.
Since bringing a bunch of equipment would've been suspicious, the duo could only make do with small gadgets they could fit on them. Fritz took out equipment he'd hidden underneath his loose shirt.
One of them cybernetic visor made of special glass. Transparent and mired with magic circuitry.
The other being a mini-microphone on his palm.
Fritz started to show his worth as a leader.
"Betty, can you see this?" On the other end of the video call, the two that were left behind were there.
From the top left side of his vision, he could see that their Battle Engineer was messing with their sniper. Upon hearing him sigh, the black-haired bimbo straightened her back and got serious.
"Tina, time for lip reading-" Fritz switched the call.
"On it!" The brat on an interface beside her started typing on a keyboard while looking at their mouths.
The leader had always found this brat's ability to work at such speeds to fill him with admiration.
Similar to what he'd felt towards Valry.
Fritz tried relating body language with the words coming up on the visor to make out the situation.
"That person's Kyle Lancaster. I remember his profile. He's a big figure in the underworld." (Valry)
While making out what was happening, he heard a soft voice speaking to him in the background.
"Is there anything I should be wary of?" (Fritz)
As thanks for telling her about Poison Butterfly before she recklessly attacked him, Valry brought up some information most students wouldn't be privy to. Something her 'leader' was grateful for.
It was just that she was bad at descriptions....
Valry tried to relay more information to him, but the only thing she got was random bits focused on.
After all, who cared about little details?
"Name is Kyle Lancaster. He's a boss of a local mafia. Ummm... He does illegal dealings. He's a bad guy. Is pretty strong overall. The Association have him on their wanted list. He comes from a lineage of Martial Artists. He's a bad guy." (Valry)
Fritz was sure that he'd heard that last part many times already, but one part stuck out to him.
"Did you say he comes from 'a lineage of Martial Artists'?" That part had gotten his full attention.
"Yeah. His family practised selective breeding for generations to gain an extreme affinity for flames, and has his own style of Martial Arts. It's said that he has a 'Combat Gift' he'd kept secret." (Valry)
This was turning into quite the controversy…
Even Fritz wasn't comfortable in revealing anything regarding his family skills… but that wasn't all.
There was something deeper under the surface.
He multitasked on this stakeout while listening to her explain. This 'lineage' was a little similar to his.
The only difference was that his Lazrik Clan knew how to adapt with the times. As Magi became more useful on the battlefields, the old techniques of his clan were discarded and replaced with new ones.
His 'Gaiasayer Style' was the end result of it.
With Limiter technology making it impractical to be a both a Martial Artist and a Magi, Fritz became what's known as a 'Combat Mage'. Even his Clan's own Combat Gift was pushed into their Limiter.
Now that he had a MagiPen, he could only access it while pretending that it was part of his 'Seals'...
Suddenly, the conversation between the two ended and the Poison Butterfly left the Mafia Boss a vial.
"He gave him poison?" (Valry)
"Medicine, actually." Fritz corrected her before she came to a wrong conclusion about what happened.
"But I thought he specialised in poison...?" (Valry)
"Medicine is just the other extreme from poison. It looks that guy is smarter than I thought..." Fritz was surprised himself. From what he'd heard, 'Kyle Lancaster' gave a lot of cash to buy this medicine.
"He doesn't seem to actually need it..." she took a glance towards the man's large and robust figure.
"You two. There's something I found out." Betty spoke after Valry and found some clues about it.
"What did you find?" Fritz was feeling curious.
There wasn't much of a connection between families that practiced Martial Arts in Border City.
Most lived in seclusion like his own.
…Even if that meant dying in complete silence.
"Kyle Lancaster has a comatose daughter who has been bedridden for years... That is for her." (Betty)
The mood suddenly dropped. The scarlet-haired beauty wasn't able to respond for quite some time.
Looks like this 'bad guy' looked human now.
"So we're trying to take back the Healing Artifact anyway?" Valry spoke to the video feed in doubt.
This mission suddenly became serious.
"Unless we want someone else to take this Mission and get all the credit." Betty nodded her head.
"We should leave them be!" Christina cried after seeing an image of his daughter's condition, but their Squad Leader shook his head. Although this changed Valry's opinion on him, it wasn't all good.
Fritz wasn't someone capable of making an irrational decision. They had a job to do now.
They couldn't just pick and choose missions.
It was at that point the trio of girls saw something they never usually saw in their leader's eyes.
Fritz's face was completely expressionless...
"The Mission is still on..." His words were like a hammer bashing nails down into a block of wood.
There was a lack of sympathy in his eyes. It was something taught to him by that 'old demon' who took him in after the tragedy of his past. He clearly remembered the teachings from his 'kind' Mentor.
"If you want to keep those close to you safe, then learn how to close off your heart to those who aren't as important. Be cruel and decisive. Be pragmatic. That's the true nature of a 'Demon'." A faint red glow arose on Fritz's eyes in nostalgia.
To him, failing this mission and getting closer to being kicked out of the Academy wasn't possible.
There was no way he'd let it happen...
Even though Valry had crushed his hopes and dreams, he felt being here was what he needed.
It was an obsession even he himself didn't understand. One he hid by changing the subject:
"There's a chance it's useless junk anyway."(Fritz)
"Really...?" The scarlet-haired maiden asked, and his other team members started listening in.
"You said his family practiced selective breeding earlier, right?" He wasn't merely consoling her.
"Right..." (Valry)
"There's a high chance what he's trying to cure his daughter of is an 'OverBody Mutation'." (Fritz)
"None of us know what you mean, but… I'm interested either way." Betty spoke up on the line.
The three girls paid attention.
"Err... The whole purpose of selective breeding is to attain the power of those living in the 'Divine Realm'. If you ask how I know, then let's just say that I've studied them a lot more than you." (Fritz)
"You mean that place you usually see in Eastern Fantasy? That's real?!" Christina seemed to have read some interesting works in a spare time. She had a secondhand familiarity with the subject.
"Not sure. Those rumoured to have actually 'ascended' there in the past never came back. So it's likely just a belief. Anyway, there's a lot of things that don't make sense if I'm right." (Fritz)
"Like what?" Seeing his deep knowledge on Martial Artists, Valry wondered how he knew so much.
"'OverBody Mutations' are supposedly blessings to their user. It's extremely rare that one would harm the body. Either way, no amount of medicine can 'cure' a trait that's more like an appendage." (Fritz)
"Her condition COULD be that 'rare case'." (Valry)
"Even so, lineages that practice selective breeding should have already attained perfect control over their bloodline. Blood transfusion to turn normal people into 'Clan Members' and techniques to remove an OverBody Mutation should exist in their family. Are you sure Kyle Lancaster is a Martial Artist?" Fritz was doubtful of that being the case.
Even if his body looked as tough as one, that could be just the side-effects of something different.
"Maybe not... but how are you so familiar?" (Valry)
"...Read it in a book." (Fritz(
"Which one?" Valry asked, but was interrupted:
"ANYWAY..." Sensing her leader's discomfort, Betty cut in to swiftly ask: "Can you heal her condition?"
"Suppression shouldn't be a problem." His Paper Charms practically existed for tricky tasks like this.
"Then let's get going!" Christina seemed happy about their mutual agreement they'd come to.
Time to move in…
A few minutes later, they followed the Mafia Boss to what seemed to be his base of operations.
It was a 70 to 80 floor skyscraper which wasn't that uncommon in the reformed architecture of Old Faustus Border City. Seeing that this would be the place, he asked their sniper to arrive at the area.
Betty and that brat immediately went to find a suitable location for her to to put down her rifle.
They used the authority granted to them by the Academy to book a room in the nearby building next to their target location. It was around 50 floors high and was a good vantage point for their sniper.
She put together her sniper one piece at a time while the duo of Fritz and Valry looked up information about the place they'd hit. Though Valry herself seemed amazed by their cooperation.
Even though that annoying bimbo was still at the Academy, she was able to set-up an interesting system between them using a small lens-attached headpiece. The two agents also prepared themselves to infiltrate deep into enemy territory.
It went without saying that they put on their Academy uniforms, not just for pure aesthetic purposes, but because the materials and soft armour underneath was optimal for combat.
In a room in the same building Christina had to get near the top of, Valry was putting on her boots.
Her Squad Leader was fiddling with the futuristic headpiece that had a lens on his right eye.
"You guys are much more professional than I thought." The beauty suddenly spoke out to him.
"...How did you think we'd do work?" (Fritz)
"To be perfectly honest, I thought you guys would do things in a sloppy way." Her sincerity was brutal.
"So you don't regret joining up with us?" (Fritz)
"That's yet to be seen." (Valry)
"Fine... Anyway, Tina, how's the view look?" Fritz pressed on his headpiece to make contact with her.
"I have a clear visual on the target." (Christina)
"Can you find what we're looking for?" (Fritz)
"...It was easy to find it using the 'Magic Sight' Auto Skill, but you're not gonna like the answer." Tina said while adjusting her rifle's scope. The Macro Converter she had attached deactivated its power.
'Auto Skills' were pretty common for Academy students. Although Macro Converters only had a certain amount of data storage space to record Automatically Executed Magic Skills (or 'Auto Skills' for short), their benefits was in range of versatility.
'Magic Sight' still lingered on Christina's own eyes as she gazed towards their target from the rooftop.
The situation was worse than she imagined...
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