After about a day’s worth of traveling Shura made it to oak in record time. He hitched a ride on a farmer’s wagon that was on the way back from selling prized pigs. This occurred about an hour into the trip, the elderly man was nice enough to help Shura along the way. He didn’t have to pay the man but he offered his protection from any bandits or wildlife along the way. Thankfully it was a quiet trip to Oak. Upon entering Oak Shura parted ways with the individual, to go take care of what he came to do. Before that happened something peculiar happened. He felt vibrations from the pops in his pouch, located on his left side. He pulled one out and it was resonating with something. ‘It’s doing it again,’ he thought.

He saw this once before in Wood Worthsea. The soul pops were drawn to each other and that meant there was another lost soul nearby. He figured it wouldn’t be a crazy idea to stop and collect some more. He had seven at the current moment and wanted to try and amass as much as possible.

“Where are you?” He waved the pop around, the aura around the pop dimmed when not pointed in the right direction. People were beginning to stare but he didn’t really care if they did. He was onto something with this. All he needed was a dog and some friends to help him solve the mystery of the pops. In this case he was solo so he just rolled with it. When Shura pointed it in the proper direction the aura became thick and the pop vibrated more. It acted as a global positioning system for finding more things to do. He began to walk in the direction it was leading him in, through crowds of people on the sidewalk. He found himself looking up and down constantly to keep from bumping into people or objects. He was not quite sure where this was going to lead him. About thirty minutes of walking around a new town the pop began to pulsate. Shura looked up and pointed it around the area. The strongest pulses came from down a alleyway across the street between two buildings.

He put the pop back in his pouch and proceeded across the street. He looked both ways before crossing. He moved quickly across the street to avoid any accidents occurring. He stood right in the middle of the entrance to the alleyway. He waited for a moment to see if there was any sound or movement. The silence was his answer to that question. He still proceeded with caution. He tapped his index finger to his thumb causing a small flame to spring to life at the tip. Thank’s to being a fire mage, he had no need for torches or lighters. He could spawn fire at will with minor effort. A blue flame sat at the top of his finger, giving the area a blue tint. He walked forward a few paces, very carefully. Scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary. He began to hear mumbling towards the end of the alley. As he got closer it became a lot clearer. It was a male’s voice. Someone was talking to themselves, it was hard to make out what exactly they were saying. Getting closer, the blue tint of the light he created caught the attention of the person in question.

A man in leather armor came out with a sword drawn. Pointed the finger forward and sounded off with a command. “Stop!” The flame at the tip of his finger began to twist into condensed energy. And the light became brighter causing the darkness to flee the area. The man stopped in his tracks seeing that the man before him was a mage. The sword was a meter away from Shura, “State your business.” The voice asked in a daunting tone. Shura could see the individual clearly now, a bit transparent but he see him clearly.

“The soul candy brought me here. I am not here to harm you, but to help.” He pulled his finger back, reverting the energy back into a calm flame. This was a show of good faith, make sure he wasn’t seen as a threat. The man sheathed his weapon and extended out a hand. “Jon Ber Masolini, at your service.”

Shura looked at the hand for a moment, “Kind of hard to do that when I only got one arm. Not to mention you are a roaming soul. Kind of hard to shake your hand when you are a ghost.”

Jon pulled his hand back and let out a hearty laugh. “Smart one aren’t ya? Sorry bout yer arm.”

“Don’t be.” Shura response was coupled with a shrug. He was not one to hold onto things, what happened was in the past. A he could do was move forward without the missing limb. Not to mention he could craft one at will so it was not that bad. “So what is this about you being here to help me?”

“Well you aren’t the first one I have found in this kind of situation. It’s simple, I help you pass onto the next world by doing something for you. You leave some special candy behind. I help you, you help me.”

Jon nodded Shura’s explanation and began to tell him his tale. “Well as you can tell I am dead. I was done in by my own men. Backstabbed over a dispute between myself and who I thought was my friend. I can not rest knowing he is roaming around without justice being done. I can’t do it myself so I can’t pass on until he is dealt with. Can you do that?”

“Just tell me what he looks like and consider it done.” Shura responded.

“I will do you one better, I will show you.” Jon suddenly went inside of Shura’s body, possessing him. Shura felt a cold shiver crawl down his spine suddenly. He could now hear Jon’s voice in his head. ‘Mind if I take over for a moment?’

“This is odd but by all means. I will be your tool of vengeance.”

Five minutes passed and they stood outside of the mercenary agency that Jon used to run. Shura looked up to see the sign and read it outloud. “Silver Mercenary Company,”

‘This isn the place kid, we gotta find his favorite bar. He is rarely ever here. He is usually blowing the money he earns on booze.’

Shura chuckled at the idea of wasteful spending like that. But each person had their own escape from reality. “Well let’s find it, so I can be on my merry way.”

The ghost taking control of his body led the way, it was roughly five minutes of walking before hand. Shura and Jon were staring down the club that this man was located in. “Leaky Clam? Really? Could it have been somewhere ya know classy? Why this hole in the wall?” Shura questioned.

‘Cheap, and the wrong people know to stay away so why not?’ Jon responded.

Shura shrugged and walked into the bar, it was relatively empty except for one portion of the bar. In the back corner in a booth a man and his crew were drinking. Laughing and having a good ole time. A few girls were present, most likely just trying to get a bit of the fame he boasted. The bartender looked up and saw the masked individual walking in, someone walking in like that meant trouble was coming. This was a dive bar, he saw this kind of thing on the regular.

There was one individual, a bald man sitting in the middle cracking jokes. Shura didn’t care to really listen to what the man had to say. He had a mission that needed to be taken care of. He quickly stopped laughing when he heard the sounds of his dozen men standing up and reaching for their weapons. He looked up to see the masked individual in question. “The bald man in civilian clothing laid back in the chair. Shura stood roughly five meters away from the group, the bald man spoke up. “You looking for trouble friend?”

“Depends on if you are the one in charge of Silver Merc Company.”  Shura responded.

“What if I am? You here looking to work for me? Or you trying to die today?”

Jon was silent the entire time, welling up with rage at the idea of this man betraying him. Someone who he trusted and fought side by side with. ‘This is him.’

“You ladies should leave, this is going to get ugly.”

The women sitting at the tables got up and left as ordered. The bald man had a cocky look on his face, “Hey freak who the fuck do you think you are?”

“That doesn’t concern dead men.” Shura smiled behind his mask for what was to come next.

They all began to laugh at Shura, not knowing they had punched their tickets at that very moment. Shura reached out with his right hand and snapped his fingers. This caused a crimson streak to dance across the air and smack the man in the mouth as he laughed. An azure light engulfed the area, igniting a four meter diameter radius. Everyone in the back of the bar was caught in the explosion. The barkeep hid behind the bar to stay out of harms way. The dozen men were blown back and lit a blaze.

The back area of the bar was blown out, exposing it to the air. Some of the men were still alive. Their screams became a orchestra while Shura was the maestro of this destruction. Immune to the flames, he casually left as if nothing happened. Jon left his body, surprised at what happened. 'That was a bit much don't you think?'

"Those who turn on comrades for materialistic reasons are lower than dirt."

With those words Jon faded away, leaving a few of the candies behind.

1705/1500 WC
1060/1150 MP

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