Once again, Farren found himself within the streets of Oak Town as he began to search for suitable targets. This day was almost exactly similar to the day before yesterday, to the point in which would could almost call it déjà vu. Farren was yet again in the employ of the mysterious Dr. Mabuz, someone that he had come to know very well recently. So far, this would be the fourth request that he'd take on for him.

It seemed that the gambit that Farren took on the previous day had worked far better than expected. By taking a day off from handling any request that the mysterious Doctor had put up, he hoped that he would cause the doctor to realize just how valuable he was. Once this value was noted, it would only be a matter of time before not only the pay that Mabuz offered began to rise, but also, the exclusivity of the requests that he would offer. Many people feared the unknown, and once they found someone that was competent enough to handle their requests, it was common that they'd simply stick with such a contractor.

Though the usual pay didn't increase for this particular job, given the difficulty of it, what did change was the fact that Dr. Mabuz went out of his way to seek out Farren to undertake it. This was unsual, as such a task could simply be relegated to anyone. However, this time around, Mabuz specifically asked for Farren when he approached the guild about the request. It showed that not only did Mabuz value Farren's abilities, but also that Farren's plan had begun to work.

The young Phantom Lord mage smirked to himself as thought about all of this. Though simple in this situation, all sorts of manipulation appealed to Farren; causing people to bend to your will. It was also why a request such as this one appealed to him as well. Though such lowly ranked requests would usually cause much boredom to someone that considered themselves to be above them, he had to admit that he found himself enjoying his time hexing people. Though only one hex worked as advertised the last time, there was something about ruining someone else's day that tickled him. Maybe this was a sign of some sort of personality disorder? Whatever it was, Farren simply felt the need to indulge it, and what better way to do so than with hexes that were now advertised to be "stronger than ever"?

He wasn't exactly sure what "stronger than ever" meant, but he could only assume that Dr. Mabuz meant that these hexes would actually work as they were intended to. One of the hexes was supposedly the same as last time, but the other was different in some regard. The first hex that Farren would attempt to make use of would be the "Decrepify" hex. This was a hex that allowed the user to paralyze the intended target's legs for around an hour. The first time he'd attempted to use this hex on someone, all he managed to do was cause his target to gain a visible limp. Needless to say, it hadn't worked as it had been intended to work.

WC: 549
TWC: 549/1000

For Dr. Mabuz's sake, Farren could only hope that his next use of this hex would actually do what it was supposed to do. Though he had no real idea how much it costed to research and develop such magical hexes, he could only assume that the costs weren't cheap at all. Having to go back to the drawing board a third time would be costly; especially when coupled with the fact that he wouldn't be able to turn a profit on an unfinished product.

As Farren continued to walk through the city, he finally came across a man that he finally decided would be the target of his first hex. This man in question was pushing a cart full of produce, and seemed to be struggling immensely. Farren figured by targeting such an individual, most people would simply attribute falling or injury with the sheer weight of the cart. Many wouldn't assume that a hex had just been placed on someone in broad daylight. With this in mind, Farren sped up his pace a bit until he was within five meters of the man.

"Decrepify"

He made sure to speak this word in unison with the loudness of the crowd around him, making sure none would be aware of the fact that this word was spoken. Almost instantly, the man was sent toppling over to the ground; his cart promptly following him. He screamed out in pain as the cart partly fell on top of him, causing many to rush over and begin assisting him. He cried out about the fact that he couldn't feel his legs at all, causing many to fear that the cart had done serious damage to him. As those assisting him began to pick him up and carry him to a nearby healer, Farren had already left the area in search of yet another victim.

There was but one more hex left, and Farren was interested to see how this next hex would perform. He had to admit now that he was impressed that Dr. Mabuz had corrected his previous mistakes so quickly. It was usually rare to see magic of such complexity being implemented in such a simple way. In essence, hexes such as these even give those that hadn't been gifted with the ability to use magic the ability to wield spells that even some of the most practiced mages weren't capable of.

With this in mind, Farren found himself even more excited about testing these hexes. All he could see at this very moment were dollar signs. The potential financial gain behind these hexes was immense, and Farren was sure that he could find a way to profit off of these as well if he continued to show just how reliable he was to the strange Doctor. It was this excitement that caused Farren to almost completely throw caution to the wind as he read off the next hex on a randomly picked victim.

"Magna."

He expected to see his victim slump to the floor with all of his strength drained out of him. Instead, Farren found his body being given a vigor that he had never felt before. He could feel strength surging throughout every fiber of his being, and as the seconds passed it showed no sign of leaving him. Not only did the hex backfire, but it worked in a fashion completely opposite of its intended use. With all the information now gathered, Farren quickly made his way back to the mysterious Doctor to report what had transpired during the testing. Mabuz's eyes lit up instantly as Farren began to tell him about the effects of the Magna hex, and once the doctor paid Farren he immediately slammed the shop door and went back to work.

WC: 636
TWC: 1185/1000