Intro:
This is a world of magic. In this modern-day steampunk age, all beings from humans to elves, and other races, are born with the innate ability to use it. It is like a muscle—the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
There are, however, a very select few who are unfortunate enough to be born without it. The "mage" we follow in this story is one such individual. Though what he lacks in magical prowess, he makes up for with another power that few can understand.
Because of this power, he was appointed as the Acting Captain of the Black Wolf Knights. A placeholder for another remarkable captain, one who has been absent a year since his departure.
The Black Wolf Knights, or rather the Black Wolves, are a group of misfits, one of the eight Guilds in the Valley Kingdom. They are ranked 8 among them, the lowest rank on the roster, and the most underrated.
Each one has a unique magic ability and past—as well as our Acting Captain, as he struggles to remember his. Throughout the story, they will fight against traitors within one of the Valley Kingdom's Guilds.
So, when evil makes its move, his past comes back to haunt him, and the Valley is left to rely on this band of unlikely mages who call themselves the Black Wolves… how will they fare?
Arc 1:
Part 1: Pilot
Chapter 1:
It felt like a dream. I opened my eyes, and I was falling through the sky. It almost felt relaxing, just falling through the blue and hitting the clouds on the way down.
Did I want to die? Was this the feeling of relief of finally choosing to dive, or was it something else? Why did the sky and clouds also take the shape of blue eyes and white wispy eyelashes as I fell endlessly into it?
I closed them and opened them again. I was no longer falling.
Daydreaming again, it seemed.
But the thought always came to mind. Not the falling part, but the part where it had begun to look like someone staring right back at me. The eyes of a girl... but who was she?
"Yoo-hoo, Captain, we going in?" said a cheerful female voice that managed to interject, waving a hand and bringing me back from whatever dream I was just having.
When I came to, I found myself staring upward and the tip of my black boots just barely over the ledge of the massive skyscraper we were atop. Though only a town, this little place called LeHarla was fairly advanced. Pipes and metal occupied most of this tower we were on, and below us was just a plethora of windows going all the way down.
We made it up here to scout for something, and it seems we found the right spot.
There were three of us. Me, this girl, and a guy crouching a few feet above us, looking down; balancing on some railings higher up.
We wore matching uniforms, which were only jackets. The rest of our clothes only matched in color—which was dark and each worn differently, complementing our own unique styles: Charcoal dark jackets with a black fur trim on the hoods. A black wolf logo on the back of each. Casual white shirts. If one would consider these proper mage uniforms...
I gave a sigh and replied to her, "Yeah… also, I told you to stop calling me that." Putting my hands in my pockets nonchalantly.
"Then what are we waiting for? I'm bored shitless standing way up here," she said back. Her short, black hair layered over her long, loose rat tail, which was a blonde peekaboo underneath, rustled in the breeze. Her bangs covered her right eye area, which was occupied by an eyepatch, and her one exposed left eye was dark purple. She gave me a mischievous smile as she tilted her head to the side and waited for my response.
"Told you, you didn't have to come with," I replied. My black hair, mid-length and spiked in the back, also rustled in the soft breeze. Short bangs hanging above my right eye obscured it slightly, and silver crosses dangling from each lobe chimed as I stood there. "Plus, knowing you, you won't be contributing anyway. That's why I only asked Havoc to come with."
The other male, a younger man, held a calm and tired look upon his face. Still crouched down atop some railings behind and above from where this girl and I stood, you could hear his eagerness to be there with the way he looked alone… Energy drink in one hand and the other just hanging off his knee, it seemed no matter how much he drank from it, it couldn't disperse his tiredness. Tired and fast. That's all it made him, and tired was an understatement at that. Even if he didn't want to look the way he did, the nasty scar on the left side of his face wouldn't let him take on any other expression. His hair, dirty blond, also rustled in the breeze along with the braided rat tail from the back, draping down to the right side of his head. His blind left eye was in the center of his gnarly scar and his right eye was the complete opposite—untouched and reflected a dark green color as he finally looked at us.
"Actually, I think I'll sit this one out too, Cap," Havoc's young, raspy voice chimed in at last.
"Really? Come on…" I responded. My reaction to something different unbeknownst to him.
"It's a Grade 4 down there, not a Grade 3 like the mission implied. You really don't need us." He could have fallen asleep after saying that, as he almost dropped his empty energy drink can without a care in the world.
"Not that," I said back, "Since when did you guys start calling me that? It's been a whole ass year and not once did any of you call me that since—"
"Keeper, Cap... if you keep talkin' the Grade 4's gonna get away..." He sang a lazy tone at the end, rotating his head back and to the side to stare blankly into the distance.
I normally hated being interrupted, but only with people I didn't personally know. These two were unfortunately an exception. Or maybe my standard on that was just too low... Either way, I didn't care.
"By the Keeper, you guys. Having me do all the work. And here I am as your supposed 'captain'. You two should be going down there while I watch from way up here, arms crossed, looking like a badass."
Both snickered at me in response. I simply looked up at the sky once more and let out another big sigh. A tattoo of half of a wolf's face was plastered down the center of my neck—in-your-face type of visible. Purposely unfinished. Holding within it, lore of its own for another time…
"Ophelia and I will wait at the rendezvous while you handle this one," Havoc said finally, completely ignoring what I had just said.
My tired eyes kept looking upward, waiting for it to turn into those eyes once again. But they didn't.
"Do what you want," I said, maybe too passively. I should've been more stern, being the acting captain and all, but I really didn't care at that moment. And I really didn't care about being the captain. Plus, I think I'd just get bored myself if I had really made them do it.
Man... Why did I get chosen for this? This was entirely not my choice.
Regardless, Havoc was right. This was an easy job. Even for someone with no magic like me.
"Alright, well… see ya!" I said, stepping off and turning to both of them, waving with a cheerful smile on my face.
"Bye-bye, Greedy!" was all I heard from Ophelia as I stepped off the ledge, plunging down from the skyscraper.
***
On the ground, a huge swing from an abnormally large arm shattered a nearby wall and window of a store. People screamed and ran away from the creature that swung it. Its arms were muscular and had three large talons for fingers. Its legs were small, so it had to carry itself upright with its arms—like a gorilla-mixed-creature. The head, monstrous, had three slits for its mouth that opened, baring endless teeth within them. The creature gave a loud growl that startled the people around it and sent them scattering away for dear life.
A young lady who had just turned a corner from an intersecting street finally saw the creature after hearing its deathly cries from around the block. Other people were running toward another street. She couldn't tell where the shrieks were coming from and had thought she was running away from it. Instead, she found herself in the midst of the ruckus, with the creature there only a short distance away from her. It was looking elsewhere until it felt her presence and turned directly toward her, facing her completely. The young lady, shocked with fear, couldn't even let out a cry. Trembling, immobilized, she stared at it as it stalked toward her slowly like a predator and her the prey, then gradually ramped up and ran vehemently. Through her eyes, it felt like time slowed. Even though a vicious creature was speeding in her direction, all she could do was wait. Wait to be killed in a matter of seconds…
***
I fell headfirst, eyes closed, and my mind at ease. At this time, I thought about how I had gotten to this point, the people I met, and what I meant to them. My past had been blurry. It felt like there was a gap—something missing in my memory that I couldn't help but think about any chance I got. It had been five years since I woke up in this world. And each and every day since, even with all the new memories I've made, and the people I've met, I still wondered who exactly I was…
All I knew was that I had a sin for a name.
I adjusted my body to let my head lead—speed accelerating after each story I flew past. When I got closer to the ground—faster and faster—I repositioned myself as if surfing on the air, fist ready for impact.
For an instant, my right arm and fist were coated with black. The air pressure condensed as I fell at staggering speeds. The windows I neared shattered one by one on the way down, like a meteor.
Then…
The creature, as it drew dreadfully closer to the young lady, was twice her size. It was the size of an elephant-beast compared to her. Closer and closer, it raged toward her, closing the distance in seconds.
Still in shock, the young lady could not move an inch. She was in what seemed like endless slow motion to the point she felt nearly paralyzed. And the beast kept trudging in her direction through the reflection of her dilated eyes all the while.
I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die… she said to herself. She closed her eyes. But heard a loud impact.
CRASH!!!
A mix of debris, shards of flesh, and a wave of purple liquid blasted in all directions—mostly upward—from where the beast was. Only a few feet away from the young lady.
She opened her eyes, only to be slapped with the beast's insides all at once.
At that moment, she saw a male standing in the middle of where the creature had once been. There seemed to be a crater beneath him, as if he had caused this. He even seemed dry after the impact—after the beast exploded.
Little did she realize, more pieces of itself began falling; the drops of purple blood showered over him as he simply faced upward and let it fall like rain. After it stopped, he looked at the young lady, dreary-eyed, both of them disgustingly purple. And then asked, "You okay, miss?"
Then and only then, with her emotions rising, clarity of thought and the reality of the situation finally caught up to her all at once. She looked him dead in the eyes and screamed hysterically.