Chapter 9: Against a Gang

The Mayor had allowed them to use the spare rooms in the office building, although it wasn't very comfortable. "This is gonna take longer than I thought, we'll probably be back at Ku'rein by Monday night," Ferno informed her as they reached the Mayor's office. "How exactly do you plan on fending off the Blue Onis?" The mayor asked, still looking as dishevelled as yesterday. Ferno placed his hand on Elisa's shoulder, "This here is a first year at Yu Academy." The Mayor seemed to lose hope, "She's a dual Ego user, a natural one. The Grandmaster himself has appointed me to guide her as a mentor." Hope has been restored in the eyes of the Mayor, how nice. "We plan on talking things out with them. If that doesn't work, we'll have to force them to stand down," Ferno explained the plan before they set out to speak to the city's people.

They needed to learn more about the gang, but asking the mayor wasn't going to work; he was too afraid. The city was pretty big, so they'd only ask a couple of people and see what they could tell them about the gang. Vernin was much more lively than when they arrived yesterday. People went about their daily lives as normal. Elisa and Ferno headed toward a food stall, which would be their first. "Hey, you two seem to be from out of town. What brings you here?" The man asked, and he sold some kind of hard candy. On one side of his stall, he had a stove where the candy was cooked, and on the other side, he prepped it and set it aside to cool. "We need to know more about the recent activity shown by the Blue Onis." Upon mention of the gang, the man's mood did a full 180. He shooed them away, saying they were taking up space for paying customers. "We should split up, we'll have a better chance of finding something," Ferno suggested, so Elisa began looking on her own. They both continued to go around asking people in hopes that one person would talk to them. Anytime she brought it up, they either shook their head and walked away or just ignored her. Elisa ended up with a fruit tea, but no information on the Blue Onis. Based on Fernos' expression, he either didn't find anything or is wondering where the tea came from. It was pretty good; it had a strawberry flavour with small fruit pieces. "I didn't learn much, but I know where their main base of operation is, so we'll just go right to them to negotiate," Ferno explained as he led her in the direction of the base.

"Why didn't you get me one?"

"Gramps said you only drink alcohol."

"Gramps..? Oh, tch no I dont. Sometimes, not that much though." She'd remember that for next time.

The Blue Oni hideout was a giant warehouse on the edge of the city. Ferno stayed a few steps ahead, grabbing the door's handle and pulling it aside with ease. It was a full house. Elisa's eyes scanned the group; each one of them was around the same level as a standard hunter. She could beat them for sure, that is, if the ones at the very back stayed put. In the back was where the boss and his closest sat. It was easy to tell who the boss was; he sat on the couch facing the door, with a girl on either side. The lesser members stayed at a distance as they made their way, only being stopped once they got a good distance from the boss. Elisa had her hand resting on her blade's handle just in case. The boss was a rough-looking man; he was pretty buff, his blonde hair combed back as he grinned like a crazy person. "Well, well. To what do we owe the pleasure of the infamous "Ego Slayer"?" The leader spoke; his voice was rather brutish, it fit him. "We were sent here on behalf of the Association. Whatever it is you're doing, you need to stop. I'm sure we can work out a deal where both sides get what they want," Ferno looked like he was about to kill the man, or at least that's what Elisa can tell; she might be wrong.

The boss laughed, along with everyone else. "And what makes you so certain this'll go the way you want it to?" He asked, pulling his hands away from the two girls next to him as he leaned forward. Ferno took a step forward, making the guard hesitate a little, "Because, Dylan, I was sent here on a job, I intend to see that through." Upon mention of the boss's name, his smile dropped. It took Elisa all she had not to crack a smile. "Dylan," it's not a bad name, it just didn't fit him. He stood up, and boy was he tall. "I'll tell you what I told the Hunter who came here before you." Dylan walked to the minibar and grabbed a whole bottle, taking a drink before telling them what he told the previous Hunter.

" We'll negotiate," wonderful, "When you're dead," bad. Something slammed into Elisa full speed, throwing her through the metal doors and onto the empty front yard. She managed to stay on her feet. Irakami had been drawn instinctively, which took most of the hit, but her arm shook from the impact. Elisa half expected Ferno to follow similarly, but it was one of Dylan's guys instead. That hit from before hurt, but Sylia's hits were around the same level, so she obviously wasn't used to it(not really). A little later, Ferno joined her outside. "Negotiations are over, don't kill them, we still need them alive," Ferno says, drawing his dagger instead of his gun. Elisa drew Irakami, and the lighting crackled around the blade, like it was responding to the upcoming battle. Dylan's three vice leaders step out while Dylan himself stays behind. "I'm sure my guys here will be more than enough for you two, especially that one," he says, gesturing to Elisa, laughing. Ferno begins walking in the direction away from the city, and she follows him. "If we're going to fight, I'd rather we do it away from the city," Ferno yelled back to them. Dylan had no objection as he seemed to be following along with his vice leaders. Once they were far enough away, Fernos Varlant energy began building. " I'll take the one on the far right; you can handle the other two."

"On my own?"

" Yeah, if it gets to be too much, then switch to defence and wait till I can back you up," He says, patting her on the back, and before she could protest further, he was gone. In that short time, he was able to put distance between Elisa's opponents and his.

"How fitting, a lighting user. Let's see whose Ego is greater, shall we?" the one on the far left said. How dare he compare his lame ass Sparky Ego to mine? The other guy remained silent. Using what Gramps taught her, she was able to land a blow against the sparky Ego guy. A powerful hit, yet it did nothing. He stood grinning, swinging his chain with a metal ball on the end. It flew toward her but missed. A discharge of electricity sparked from it to her, and it hurt. It wasn't supposed to; she had a natural resistance against all forms of electricity. She upped her Ego output, allowing her to move faster. Her attack landed for sure this time, a clean cut to his arm. And yet he still has it; he slams the metal ball hard into Elisa's stomach, which is followed by a strong jolt of electricity. She was already pushed into the defence. She had a hunch as to what was happening. The other guy was a supporter, though what exactly he did, she wasn't sure yet. It was some kind of damage negation for sure, but there was definitely a limit to how much damage could be negated, while the other guy had a weaker lighting Ego and what she guesses is a resistance Ego.

There's no other way to explain how he's been holding out against Irakami. She reeled her head back in time to avoid the metal ball hurling past her. He had gotten faster. Elisa was still able to keep up, but it was getting harder. None of her attacks would land, while she would continue to take damage; this was annoying. "Come on now, just surrender! We'll spare you. I'll even put in a good word with the boss," The man said, spinning his ball chain. As the fight went on, the harder his attacks hit. She finally had a good idea of what the supports Ego was. It was obviously a buff, damage reduction and strength buffs, but a normal strength buff. The longer this fight went on, the stronger the buff got. Elisa was honestly tempted to up Irakamis' release to its highest, and yet if she did, the damage would be too heavy. She held her sword pointed at him. "Be serious, we're not afraid of you, kid!" He yelled out laughing. Not afraid... Elisa regained her composure; she would sheath Irakami.

"Ah, good, it seems you do have something up there after all," He said, pointing to her head. It seems he's misunderstood her intentions.

Elisa drew the second blade.