Travis Williams was in the Williams estate courtyard. The courtyard was filled with hedges of white and red roses; they were currently being attended by gardeners that pruned and shaped each hedge into a whimsical shape from a fox to another man and even depicted dragons and various types of monsters. Travis The ever diligent son was attacking a training dummy made of a Nano polymer composite material that withstand hits from even his mother. His mother was a driving and honestly overwhelming force for his own development. He didn't resent her and loved her all the more for it. Honestly, he knew that she cared and only wanted the best for him and he was willing to listen. Fortunately for him and excitedly for his mother, he had the aptitude for familiar so much magic and thus his mother took him under her wing teaching him everything he would need to know about familiar summoning. Amongst a flurry of blows against the Nano polymer dummy. Travis used a small ring located on his middle finger to deploy a knife slicing his hand open allowing a deep red crimson to gush out. His blood congealed into goblets as it lashed on to the Nano polymer dummy slowly forming into a small bloodhound. Travis was simulating a scenario in his head and in accordance with that he jumped back to avoid an imaginary attack, allowing his summoned familiar to take the aggro. His blood hound Dox was ripping and tearing all up and down the Nano polymer dummy; it crawled around it like the dummy itself was the surface it walked on. Taking the time that doxs bought him Travis began to cast a spell. He knew he spoke in the guttural language of the words of command. However, for him whenever he spoke or heard it, it came out in common. He wasn't sure why and he had never told his mother about it.

  “ Hardened earthen stagnant water heed my call and become my power. Stone rain!”

  In mere moments, after Travis finished his casting, droplets of rain begin to form in the sky with a brownish tone to them. Without warning they rapidly shot towards the Nano polymer dummy ripping dozens of holes into the chest. They quickly repaired themselves as the Nano polymer went to work. Travis paused to catch his breath turning to a small display placed on the edge of a stone bench.

  “ Reports have come in for the first time in years that the surface has been subjected to a terrorist attack.” A news reporter spoke, the image was fuzzy so Travis turned back to the dummy while he listened.

  “ The bombing occurred last night just after sunset. We have reports that the residents were all Hunst Academy students staying on the invitation of The founder Valder Hunst himself. His own villa was apparently being used as a private training facility in preparation for the upcoming tournaments”

  “That's unfortunate.” Travis said. Even though his spoken words were remorseful yet unworried his inner monologue was filled with worry for Sophia Hunst they were the same age and as two heirs to well known and prestigious academies they had roamed about in the same circles. Travis had a long time affection for her one that his mother never approved of.

  “ Sweet heart!” Travis mother called out Travis lion ears perked up with a small waggle. He turned around calling back Dox allowing the blood hound familiar to seep back into his body.

  “ Over here mother!” Travis called out as he jogged towards the main elevator entrance. From the ground rose a circular platform on it was an old gentleman he had the appearance of a butler well into his years of service Travis recognized him as Valder Hunst Sophia's grandfather and founder of Hunst Academy.

  “ If it is not too much please escort our guest to my office and get a few workers to bring up refreshments” Travis' mother said.

  “ Okay mom I'll handle it.”

  Rin's body was racked with pain everywhere from his head to his toes ached. He was laying face down against a hard surface. He tried to look around to get a feel for his surroundings but on the porch black darkness Rin could see nothing. He tried to stand up but was met with even more pain. His right shoulder was dislocated and it felt like there was something inside him preventing him from moving properly. Rin pulled up his interface to see if there were any new notifications that could shine a light on his situation. When he tried the notification window appeared and then fuzzed out leaving nothing but static. Rolling onto his back Rin ran his hand across his body to access any damage. He quickly found four separate spikes protruding from his body each set equal distance from each other from a square across his chest and stomach. Someone must have placed them there. Rin postulated the way they were positioned didn't seem random. With great effort Rin stood up and began to feel around with his left hand eventually finding a wall, he placed his dislocated shoulder against the firm surface and pushed forcing his shoulder back into place with a pop. The pain shot through his body as he groaned out.

  “ First things first, figure out where I am and second find out what happened.” Rin tried to open his inventory hoping he could pull out malice but no luck, his interface giving him only static. Suddenly he was blinded by a bright light turning on, he quickly shielded his eyes.

  “ Huh you're awake already? The boss was right, you're a tough bastard.” The voice came from behind him. It was gruff with a low growl. Once Rin's eyes adjusted to the light he turned around to look at the newcomer. He was a large reptilian man a whole foot taller than Rin, the reptilian man had muscle that bulged from his white wife beater shirt that appeared two sizes too small. His pants were regular gray sweats with a large hole cut in the back for the man's tail.

  “ Never seen reptilian-kin before?” The man asked with a sinister laugh.” Just like beast-kin the reptilian-kin were animal-like humanoid with some of their race being more animal then Human, like Liliandra who was seated somewhere in the middle this man was similar he had skills that tapered off into a flesh like gradient around the joints of his body. His head was more crocodile shaped than human.

  “What did you do to me? What happened?” Rin asked his voice cold and with a sprinkle of anger.

  “Me? Nothin. The boss a lot. You were unfortunately collateral Lucky for you, the boss has a kind heart and didn't want us killing you while you were unconscious. He did figure it would be better entertainment for us to film your death but that's besides the point.” The crocodile man looked around the room and as Rin followed his gaze he noticed cameras all over the wall to cover each angle of the small concrete box like room.“ Those spikes are for suppressing your magical ability. I told the boss it wouldn't be necessary but he wanted to err on the side of caution.” Rin touched one of the spikes.

  “ Suppression huh. This is different from the bracelet. I wonder if having it implanted in the body creates stronger effects?” Rin thought to himself. He wasn't concerned about the man's proclamation that his next moments were going to be filmed and he was going to be dead but instead his mind worked. Wondering how his friends were doing. He felt no real concern for him but he knew that they would be in trouble and they would need his help. The crocodile man began tapping his foot, irritation evident in his body language.

  “ Are you just going to ignore me? I just told you I was going to kill you and you don't seem to care. Maybe this will be a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.” Without another moment wasted the crocodile man lunged forward, flame sprouting out of his fist as he cast a quick incantation. Fortunately for Rin the stats he gained from his mental and physical evolution skills persisted even through suppression cuz they were more of a physiological change and a mental change. Rin side stepped the first jab moving into the man's chest. He redirected the next attack, allowing him to deliver a concise uppercut to the man's jaw. He could feel his movements were slow as the metal spikes grated against bone. Each quick movement sent jolts of pain through his body. The moment it took him to recover from the pain, the man was already attacking again. His tail whipping around a trail of fire following it. The man's thick tail hit Rin in the chest like a lead pipe. The force of the attack caused him to stumble back. The flames jumped forward creating a second crocodile man repeating the attack hitting him again putting him on his ass. Rin felt bones crack as he fell but he didn't linger on the pain, quickly rolling to his side and kicking out hitting the man's knee turning it backwards. With the crocodile man now kneeling Rin jumped on the opportunity with brutal efficiency. With all beast, reptilian, avian, arachnid, and all the other kin shared traits with their more animalistic counterparts. Unfortunately for the crocodile man he shared the impressive bite force but that also meant he shared a similar weakness. Rin did not use this weakness instead he went for overwhelming Force. His increased strength stat put him in superhuman territory. Using leverage and mechanical advantage Rin gripped the bottom and top of the crocodile man's mouth and began to pry it open. The strength Rin exerted was immense and despite the man's position and free hands that allowed him to attack the crocodile man had to focus his entire attention on biting down every muscle in his body

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  He strained as he attempted to keep his mouth shut but Rin's strength was too great. The moment his muscles relaxed Rin ripped the top of his jaw off along with the top half of his skull, leaving a geyser of blood as the man's body dropped to the ground. Rin stood over the man's body staring down at it as blood pulsed out, with the dying beats of the heart. This was his first time killing anything that wasn't a monster or demon. He thought killing was supposed to come with a remorseful feeling but he felt nothing. No exhilaration or excitement, just nothing. Tearing a clean piece of fabric from the deceased body. He cleaned the blood off of his face and started looking around. The room really was just a concrete box with a single door. After rifling through the man's pockets, he found a set of keys he grinned and turned to one of the cameras in the room holding them up. He knew or figured at least that somebody was watching.

  “ I don't know who you are or what you want but I'm going to find my friends and then I'm going to find you and remove your heart from your chest.”

  Rin turned towards the door to walk out.

  Valder stood at the wall spanning window in Eagrosa office behind him was the desk carved from a single piece of mahogany. The walls were lined with books each laid out in a descending gradient of color. A single couch and a few chairs surrounded a coffee table in the center of the room. Her son Travis had done as he was told and brought Valder up getting staff members to bring in refreshments. He had returned to his training. Valder felt a presence enter the room and sit. They were quite not saying anything as they watched Valder.

  “Do you make him train in view of your office or is that some coincidence?’ Valder asked not turning away from Travis watching the boy as he cast earth and water elemental spells separately at first and then together before moving onto combining the elements

  “ Why did you come here Hunst? I know it wasn't to watch my son train.” Eagrosa didn't bite at Valders question, instead asking one of her own. Her tone had a tinge of venom in it.

  “ I know you have had a man looking into the children under my care and I want information.” Valder said

  “ The bombing?” Eagrosa asked. Valder nodded.

  “ I'm not in the business of helping a rival you know this, I do admit I have had one of my men looking into the past of one of those children you've been hiding in your Villa. I still haven't figured out why you're hiding them.”

  “ The church of justice is hunting them.” Valder was forthright with the information, surprising Eagrosa she tried not to let it show but the small fluctuations in her mana and aura let Valder know all he needed to. They both shared the rank of Ecumenopolis yet the power disparity between them was immense.

  “ Your son, what mark does he have?”

  “ Mark? Iv no clue what you're talking about.”

  Valder turned and gave her a flat look.

  “ Is it the mark of the bear? Or the fox.”

  “ Again I have no clue what you're talking abo-.”

  “ Mrs. Williams! Don't pretend you are good at lying. Your son may very well be in the same danger as my granddaughter and her friends the cult knows more then we think.” Valder cut Eagrosa off, moving to stand in front of her. Even to her super human perception he appeared to teleport.

  “That boy Rin has the mark of the wolf doesn't he.” Eagrosa had thought that would be the only reason Valder would take such an interest in nobody.

  Her confidence and smug grin came off as a child acting like they know more than they actually do. Valder let out a sigh.

  “ No he doesn't not, I will tell you what I know in exchange for what you have learned. I know your ways and nothing less of complete perfection will be able so I can trust your investigation was thorough.”

  “ That's reasonable but I want to hold the right to refuse my information to you in the case I believe that you're lying.”

  Valder often tried to portray a subservient role like a butler to put others at ease, his immense power could be off-putting to those that didn't understand.Valder sat at Eagrosa desk as she had chosen to sit on the couch she looked irritated that he would sit in her seat, but the irritation, Valder steepled his hands and lean forward.

  “ My granddaughter bears the mark of the wolf blessed by Lumia Dougelee Vlounderparts bears the mark of the dragon blessed by Helios, Liliandra of the Xulun mountains I believe will manifest the mark of the fox in the next month. Your son bears the mark of the bear and is blessed by Gaia. One day they will work together against the encroaching darkness that is returning to our universe.”

  There was a long silence in the room until Eagrosa finally spoke.

  “ This morning I was given an update on my people's investigation. Into Rin Wezts They were unable to find anything real important, however there was a reported incident of four teenagers healing. A woman suffering the ghoulish effects of a botched cancer removal surgery. My man went to investigate. He was quickly and efficiently taken care of by some gang members. Becoming hospitalized. Now this is just me putting in my own speculation but if what you just said is true and your granddaughter really does bear the mark of the Wolf and then I have reason to believe that the cult of the Void is involved. My man Arther is no weakling and could not be taken down by common Street thugs.”

  Sophia, Douge, and Liliandra were all bound with chains that connected to an anchor on the roof. Each of them had four metal spikes impelling them multiple cuts and bruises scattered across their body. Sophia was the first to wake up. She looked around the room, panicked . It was a large open space with cylindrical containers scattered all about various pipes running to and from each container. Leaving the room through various holes cut into the walls she noticed the suppression of her powers before she noticed the middle spikes impaling everyone she knew exactly what they were. Suppression spikes it was overkill to use four spikes at once. One for each mana reservoir a person can have. Her feet barely touched the ground, causing her to stand on her tippy toes to relieve the strain from her shoulders as her weight pulled down. She tried swinging side to side in an attempt to reach Douge or Liliandra but rings lined the wall preventing the train from swaying. It wasn't long before the others woke up. None of them spoke. Her grandfather's Academy knew the dangers of being an adventurer and had taught lessons on torture resistance. They knew that anything they said would possibly be recorded. Shortly after Liliandra awoke a man walked around cylindrical containers. He was stressed in a long dark robe, his Hood. He was holding a chair made of metal that could fold. The man deftly sat the chair down in front of the three of them. unfolding it with a jerk of the wrist. He sat in it. His chest resting against the back as he stared at them. Not saying a word. The man looked back towards where he came and with the gesture two men rolled out a large screen, wires trailing behind it and disappearing into the darkness of the room. The two newcomers placed the TV behind the man and gave him a remote before taking off. The TV blinked into life showing an amber lit room of concrete in it stood a crocodile-like man and a familiar face.

  “Rin!” Liliandra blurted out in surprise. The robed man remained silent watching them.

  “ I swear…” The robed man cut Douge off by holding a finger to his mouth.

  “Shhh. Relax and watch the show.” The robbed man said. Douge shut his mouth as he glared at the man. On the TV, the three of them watched as the crocodile man attacked Rin. Rin dodged and counter-attacked only to be caught off guard and put on his back. They watched as Rin kicked out seemingly shattering the man's leg causing him to kneel down. Liliandra gasped as she watched Rin brutally tear the man's head in half.

  “ I don't know who you are or what you want but I'm going to find my friends and then I'm going to find you and remove your heart from your chest.” Rin said from the video and the robbed man burst into laughter.

  “ Oh Rin!” The man shouted as he laughed “ Rin Rin Rin Rin. My boy you certainly have come a long way. I can't wait to meet you here.” The man pulled back his hood to reveal a face filled with the youth that came with acquisition of multiple elemental affinities. The biggest dumbest grin on his face.