[Unknown Location]
Deep in the forests, a few dozen miles outside of the city, two dark figures were standing face-to-face with one another. Both had their faces hidden underneath their black hooded sweatshirts, fully concealed beneath the dim light provided by the moon above their heads.
"Do we have any news on the whereabouts of our missing merchandise?" The first person spoke in a casual but authoritative tone. A woman, judging by the voice.
"Yes, ma'am." The other individual answered as he nodded his head. "The cryptid that we lost during transport was killed before we could reclaim it."
"Killed?"
"Yes. One of my men tracked it down to a church in the city. But, before he could try and capture it, a group of DPA agents got rid of it."
"How...unfortunate...." The woman said in a way that made it very clear that she was dissatisfied. "I trust that you understand how big of a blunder this is, correct? Your incompetence nearly allowed an entire pride of wampus cats to escape. On top of that, you somehow managed to lose one of the largest males of the group and failed to reclaim it before it was done away with. These beasts aren't exactly cheap, you know."
The man suddenly became very nervous as the air around him grew cold. "I-I understand, ma'am. And I fully intend to make up for this mistake. I promise that my guys and I will double our efforts to get you a suitable replacement."
"I hope that you do." Was all that the woman said before turning around and walking away. Only to pause for a brief moment to look back at the man. "This will be your only chance to redeem yourself. If something like this were to happen again then...well...I'm sure that I don't have to tell you what will happen to you, do I?"
"N-no, ma'am."
The woman simply nodded. "Good. I'll be contacting you again in the next couple of days. Please have some good news for me by then."
With that, the mysterious woman disappeared into the trees. Leaving her subordinate very happy that he was able to walk away from this encounter with his life.
-(o)-
[July 2022, Three Months Later]
"I have to hand it to you, rookie, you've turned out to be a lot better than I thought you would." Ayako Watanabe said to her young partner. "I guess that I have a pretty amazing eye for talent."
"Yeah, I guess so...." Cyrus lazily shrugged.
It had been well over six months since Cyrus joined the DPA, and things were looking up for the young rookie. Ever since completing his mandatory three months of training, the 'tree magic' user had really come into his own as a full-fledged agent. With him and Ayako working as partners, the two were quickly becoming one of the best duos in their entire station. On top of that, their 'tree' and 'water magic' turned out to be quite the formidable combination to deal with. Earning them a rather impressive stat line when it came to the number of missions they had completed so far.
"So, what do we have to deal with this time?" Cyrus then asked as he leaned back in his seat.
"A minor cryptid infestation." Ayako replied. "Apparently, a colony of E-ranks decided to start a nest in a laundromat on the north side of the city. The owner just discovered it this morning after walking into her shop today."
"Do we know what kind we're dealing with?"
"Nope!"
"Of course...." The 'tree magic' user couldn't help but let out a slight sigh.
Today was pretty much a typical day in the life of the rookie agent. After showing up for work and getting in some valuable morning training, Cyrus and Ayako were instructed by the Chief to go handle their latest problem. Not that he was complaining, though. In truth, Cyrus actually enjoyed doing this kind of work, as crazy as that sounded.
There was never a dull moment when it came to their hunts. After all, most of his days were filled with waiting around for if and when a new cryptid appeared nearby. So the chance to go out and actually do his job was always a welcome alternative in Cyrus's opinion. And it was certainly a far cry from the boring existence that he was dragging his feet through barely half a year ago.
In no time, the duo had arrived at their destination. Which was a decent-sized laundromat wedged between a restaurant and a coffee shop at the far end of a local shopping center.
Once Cyrus and Ayako stepped out of the car, the two were greeted by a young woman. One with tan skin, shoulder-length brown hair styled in a bob cut, a slender frame, and brown eyes barely tall enough to reach Cyrus' eye level. The woman was very obviously a sorcerer based on the fact that Cyrus could sense her mana signature. And if he had to guess, Cyrus would say that she was probably around the same age as him.
"Thank God you guys are finally here!" The woman said with sincerity. "You guys are the DPA agents, right?"
"That we are!" Ayako said to the woman. "Are you the owner of the place?"
"Yes."
'Isn't she a little young to be running a place like this?' Cyrus thought. 'She's barely older than me. Hell, Mom didn't even open up her shop until a few years after college.'
Not one to waste any time, the senior agent got right down to business. "So, what can you tell us about the infestation, Miss...?"
"Dempsey. Makayla Dempsey. " The laundromat owner clarified. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you all that much. I've been out of town for the last few days. This was my first time coming to the shop since last week. So I have no clue how long those damn cryptids have been in there."
"Do you know what kind they are?" Cyrus inquired.
The woman now identified as Mikayla shook her head. "No, I've never seen that kind before. All I can tell you is that they look like naked mole rats. But with razor-sharp teeth and thorns sticking out of their backs."
"It sounds like we're dealing with some keengan rats." Ayako deduced based on that quick description.
"I've never heard of those." Cyrus looked at his partner as he tried to picture an image of the creatures in question.
"They're basically naked mole rats that gained the ability to use mana. Typically, a female of the species is the first one to develop a mana core, which we call a brood mother. Then, all of her offspring from that point on will have the same abilities as her. They usually live deep underground. They only resurface when their food supply runs dry."
"I guess that makes sense." Cyrus then sent his gaze toward the laundromat. The place was right in between two restaurants. So if the creatures were looking for food, this would be the perfect place to go scavenging. "I can sense a few of them in the building. But they all seem pretty weak."
"Of course, they're all E-ranks after all. Even the pack leader."
"I see."
"I'm sorry for having to bother you guys with this." Mikayla then spoke up. "I would've dealt with it myself, but my magic isn't exactly suitable for these kinds of cryptids."
"Don't trouble yourself over it, Ms. Dempsey. This is our job after all!"
"That's right." Cyrus nodded his head.
"Now, if you'll excuse us. We should probably get to work."
"Yes, thank you!"
With that, Mikayla led Ayako and Cyrus into her establishment. Once they were inside, the junior agent couldn't help but take a moment to familiarize himself with the interior. Although he had never actually been inside a place like this himself, Cyrus could certainly appreciate how neat and tidy the place was. Obviously, the owner took great care in making this place presentable.
"Alright, here we are." Mikayla told the two once they reached the back door of the laundromat. The woman then went fishing in her pocket for a second before pulling out a key. Quite a few weak mana signatures were coming from the other side of the door. And at least fifteen of which were far below ground.
"You can just let us take care of it from here." Ayako confidently stated. "We should be done with this in a jiffy!"
"Good."
With that, the laundromat owner opened the door and let the two agents walk past her. The room was an average-looking storage space filled with shelves, cleaning supplies, and anything else that didn't look incredibly important. The only exception was the massive four-foot hole in the center of the floor.
"Alright, here's the plan." The senior agent started. "We're gonna keep this simple. These things usually have a network of interconnected tunnels. But they're never that widespread. Which is perfect for us. I'm going to flood the entire thing with my magic and try to either drown the little rats or flush them out. After I do that, put as much mana as you can into one of your seeds and drop it inside."
"Got you." Cyrus nodded. It was pretty cut-and-dry in his opinion. Since his 'tree magic' absorbed mana, the mana in the water would help in spreading his creation's growth inside the underground tunnels. Although it seemed like a gruesome way to kill the creatures. It was the smartest way to go about it.
Seeing as there were no objections from her partner, Ayako took a few steps forward and pointed her hand at the hole. It only took a second for the mana in the atmosphere to shift around her body before a heavy stream of water began to pour out of her hand and into the tunnel.
"Downpour!"
It only took a few moments before the screeches of the cryptids below the surface began resonating. From what Cyrus could feel, the Keegan rats were scurrying in all directions. A few of them were doing their best to move away from the bottom level of the tunnel, while the rest were presumably being swept away in the current.
Everything seemed to be going as expected before a single mana signature started barreling right towards them.
"Cyrus, take care of this one!" Ayako ordered.
Without so much as a word, Cyrus pulled a single seed out of his pouch and formed it into a wooden spear as quickly as he could.
'Is that...'tree magic'? I've never actually seen it before. I thought that only existed in South America.' Mikayla's eyes widen. It wasn't every day you saw magic like that. At least in this part of the world.
Before another word could be said, like a bat out of hell, the aforementioned cryptid shot out of the tunnel and landed a few feet away from Ayako. It was truly an ugly-looking creature, or at least that's what Cyrus thought. Its sagging, reddish skin, coupled with its large front teeth and beady eyes provided the teen with enough nightmare fuel to last a good few weeks.
The creature appeared to look around the room for a brief moment before letting out a screech and charging right toward Ayako. Fortunately, the thing barely made it a foot off the ground before getting skewered by Cyrus' spear. A clean hit right to the center of its torso. Which was more than enough to get the job done, seeing as the creature immediately began to crumble into dust.
"Okay, we're good." Ayako looked back at her partner. Completely unfazed by the fact that she almost got attacked.
With a nod, Cyrus stepped over to the hole and quickly dropped a seed into it. A few seconds was all that it took for the magical construct to begin absorbing all of the mana within the water and filling every underground crevice. One by one, the young man could feel the mana signatures of the Keegan rats disappearing, topping off with the largest one near the center. Probably the pack leader, if he had to make an educated guess.
And just like that, the duo's job was done. The cryptids were gone, and the hole was now filled up.
Ayako shot her young protégé a thumbs-up. "Mission complete! See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Not at all." Cyrus replied with a grin.
"Wow." Mikaya chimed in. "That went way faster than I thought it would."
"What can I say? We're the be best duo in our office after all!"
'Something tells me that's not even close to the truth...' Cyrus mused, but kept his thoughts to himself.
The laundromat owner then turned her gaze towards the man. "I never expected to meet someone with your kind of magic before. You don't see it all that often in this part of the world."
"That's what I've been told."
"And it seems way more practical than what I've got."
Okay, now that definitely piqued Cyrus' curiosity. "What kind of power do you have? If you don't mind me asking?"
Instead of a verbal response, Mikayla simply pulled up the sleeve of her shit and held her arm out. Suddenly, the very bones within her body began to rise above the skin. Revealing several pure white spikes about seven inches long. "As you can see, I have 'bone magic'."
"'Bone magic'?"
"I'm not surprised that you've never heard of it." The brunette laughed. "It's a mutation of 'body magic' that's pretty rare. And on top of that, it's only really good for close-range stuff and self-defense. Now you can see why I couldn't deal with those rats on my own."
"That's still pretty cool, though." Cyrus replied. He couldn't help but be fascinated by what he was looking at. He's gotten pretty accustomed to seeing all types of weird stuff ever since he joined the DPA, but this woman's ability definitely took the cake so far. There was still so much that he wanted to know about magic. And he had a feeling that this wasn't even close to the most interesting magic type out there.
"Anyways, thanks again for dealing with those rats. It sucks that I have to keep my shop closed for the next few days to do repairs. But you guys just made my life so much easier!"
"It was no trouble at all!" Ayako said confidently. "That's what we're here for."
"Right." Cyrus nodded.
After a couple of minutes of asking a few follow-up questions, Ayako and Cyrus made their way out of the store. Leaving Mikayla to get started on getting the place back up and running. However, as the two agents made their way toward the car, the brunette's eyes lingered on the freckle-faced young man.
'I should probably tell Hannah and Aaron about that guy. His magic is pretty rare. And it would definitely score us a few bucks if we can get some good samples out of him! I bet those fools in the Blair family would pay top dollar to have that in their gene pool.'
Unbeknownst to Cyrus, this brief interaction would prove to be one of the most important events in his young life.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Freddy
Name: Frederick Harvey Price
Alias: Freddy
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Birthday: September 17th
Birthplace: Eureka Springs, AR, USA
Height: 72in
Weight: 175lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Race: White
Magic: Dark
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: C
-Physical Strength - 3
-Intelligence - 3
-Magic Amount - 2
-Magical Control - 3
-Magic Sensing - 2
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Favorite TV show is Yu Yu Hakusho.