The Bounty Hunter

November 30th, 2088

After that battle, I briefly collapsed as I regained my strength.  Heroes are without a doubt a cheat existence.  All I fought with was a heavily faded remnant that had been worn away after thousands of years.  Her body had become a zombie for some reason, one of the weakest types of undead and the most common naturally occurring.  

The type of undead that rises is not dependent on its body, but on the amount of soul that inhabits it and the remaining memories of that soul.  Undead with nearly intact souls and most of their memories have human-level intelligence and are even more powerful than when they were alive.  The body either amplifies or limits the undead’s power and some of its abilities.  This meant that the zombie Hero was far slower, weaker and dumber than when she was alive.  But amongst zombies she was likely the strongest one in history. 

I collected the throwing knives, crossbow, butterfly swords, and the estoc.  Each of them was a priceless magical treasure.  Whether it be the quality of the materials, the strength of the imbued magic or the level of craftsmanship they were incredible.  It was fortunate that she didn’t have the awareness to activate them.  But even as weakened as she was, I needed to fully expend my mana and stamina in order to win.  That was probably barely 1% of what Clara’s power had been like at her prime.  I’ll say it again:  Heroes are without a doubt a cheat existence. 

As I grumbled to myself, I took out the pitch-black onyx that is Demon.  The throne room in this palace was precisely in the center of the entire city and thus was the ideal location to set up my ritual.  All of the regrets, wrath and sorrow in the city would be sucked in along with the Hero’s negative emotions.  I started carving out a large magic circle into the floor.  Creating magic circles requires one to use symbols that have a meaning to the caster.  The meaning from the same symbol could be different from wizard to wizard.  It’s a matter of personal taste. 

I have always made my designs simple.  There was a circle to contain the mana and circulate it, a 4-pointed star to focus it, and 4 diamonds in between the star points that were connected with lines in a square arrangement to reinforce the magic circle and to stabilize the incoming mana.  Lastly, I had drawn a broken heart in the very center of the circle to filter everything out except for negative emotions.  Demon’s onyx stone was placed there alongside the filled soul sapphire.  The magic circle was 10 meters in diameter and it had taken me a while to arrange everything.            

I stood at the edge of the magic circle and started to speak an improvised incantation.  I originally wanted to just use the circle without speaking, but after fighting Clara I felt a sense of comradery with her.  They say warriors can communicate with their blades and during our fight I could tell she shared my hatred for this world.  She deserves someone to acknowledge her.  So I chose to speak out my own feelings even if no one could hear. “Here lies a victim of this rotten world, betrayed by both her people and history itself.  She was cursed to be a Hero and was consumed by that responsibility.  May the darkness that dwelt in her heart and lingered through time gain new purpose.  May that darkness fulfill the desires she could never pursue.  May that darkness become my companion as I leave for a new world.  May that darkness grow alongside me as we pursue personal goals and selfish gains.  I am not a hero, and may the darkness I summon be of the same ilk.”  As I spoke I started supplying the magic circle with mana and broke open the soul sapphire.

The circle started to ominously glow with a dark light.  I could feel all the negative emotions that lingered within the city start to rapidly flow towards it.  Soon it became a rainbow colored vortex flowing into Demon’s onyx stone.  My mana was merely used to maintain control of the ritual while I relied on the soul energy and environmental mana to truly power it.  Eventually I could see the rainbow vortex start to dim, meaning that I had almost finished, when something unexpected happened. 

Apparently my words earlier had resonated with Clara’s soul and mana from the environment started aggregating here at an abnormal pace.  This amount was far beyond anything I had gathered so far.  It surged and caused an explosion that roared against the magic circle, shattering it.  All the darkness vanished in the city as an unknown light shined throughout it for a moment. 

During that moment a phantom of a black haired, red-eyed dwarven woman appeared in front of me.  She simply gave me a carefree smile, like all her burdens had been lifted off her shoulders and faded away with the light.  The onyx stone then started to swell to the size of a beach ball.  It subsequently burst and I could feel the bond between master and familiar that had gone dormant awaken with a roar.  I could feel truly impressive power from my familiar.  This level of power would rival high-ranking wild spirits.

I fumbled in the dark for a moment before my conjured light illuminated the wreckage that once was my magic circle.  Lying in the center was a small fox kit.  It had jet-black fur with white markings on its paws, the tips of its fluffy tail and ears, and on the front of its chest.  It opened its eyes and I saw that they were a sky blue and filled with intelligence.  It cutely tilted its head at me as it waited for me to give it a name. 

When a spirit gains sentient intelligence, it either chooses or is given a name in order to anchor its identity.  Since it was my familiar it was waiting for me to give it its name.  I paused for a moment as I thought of some options, but the ones I had prepared were all male names.  I could feel that this familiar was female. 

I took another look at my demonic familiar that was born from my own feelings and refined by those of the fallen hero.  From our bond I could tell that this demonic fox has a sly, wicked and playful personality.  She’s a truly dishonorable rogue who would do whatever is necessary to get what she wants yet she has certain unbreakable rules by which she lives by.  I already like her a lot. 

And then an amusing thought for a name came to mind as I looked at her black fur and familiar looking sky-blue eyes.  I picked up the fox and whispered “I’m Minato Cross.  It’s nice to meet you, Rin.”  Rin cutely yipped her own greeting in response and then faded away as she merged with me.  She’s a young spirit, so it’s too early for her to communicate with words.  As a demonic fox spirit it’ll probably be when she grows her third tail that she’ll be able to speak.  Poor thing is also tired from just being created, I’ll let her rest for a while.  She’ll be put to work soon enough.