Name: Ivan Zahariev
Location: Silver Crux guild building - everywhere and nowhere
Activity: Talking and mentally hating on guild members, bringing Siyah & Jay to the job board, picking up a job, returning to the kitchen
Interactions: @Merlin's Siyah; @-QT-'s Jay Minha @UnderTheStars's Lunari Konkonoko (I have no idea how to make the stars, teach me master!)
Ivan paid absolutely no heed to any of Lunari's oddities and idiosyncrasies, as the teenage-looking woman allowed him to take the job of finding the lost boy, as well as bring whoever he wanted with him. It was only to be expected, that she wouldn't mind him taking on a C-tier job, since it didn't take a genius to know an AA-tier wizard would probably ace it, while simultaneously providing a valuable experience for the other two mages. Therefore, he merely nodded in acknowledgement of her permission, retaining his gaze at the job board. One thing she said, though, broke The Thunder King's stoic stance -
"But seriously. Do well." Lunari had spoken this in a serious tone, unlike her normal, carefree manner of speaking.
"We will. Don't worry. We always do." Ivan answered in his usual stentorian, husky voice, quickly throwing an intense gaze back at the guild master, before she proceeded to walk across the room, towards some unusually bulky man, who wasn't a member of the guild, for as far as he knew.
"I'll join you on this one Ivan, I've actually been wanting to work with you for some time now." Siyah voiced his desire to partake in job. The Thunder King looked at him with a smirk - it was understandable that the C-tier boy would want to work together with someone seemingly so much stronger, however he somehow intuitively sensed, that it was not petty self-interest that had motivated the youngster to say that. Ivan strained his eyes, transfixing his penetrating gaze upon the young shadow mage for a few short moments, as if trying to peer into something that wasn't visible in the physical realm.
"Good. I'm looking forward towards working together with you too, Siyah. There is, undoubtedly, potential in you." The Lightning's flash spoke briefly, in his husky voice, before patting the boy on his shoulder, perhaps harder than he should have, and walking up to Jay, who, in the meanwhile, had wandered off after Lunari, but not before managing to talk up a storm of bullshit, of course.
"I'm not interested in little girls." Ivan had moved in closer, just on time, to hear the large man, who had revealed himself to be a mailman, reject his guildmaster outright. The Head of the Special Sector could not help but snicker at this development: it was refreshing to meet someone with a proper, sober reaction to Lunari's childlike body, in a stark contrast with the majority of the men closer to his age group, who, for whatever reason, kept drooling over her childlike frame. Not the least of these, according to Ivan's, clearly closet paedophiles, was Jay Mhina, who was quick to restore Lunari's slightly damaged self-esteem by openly confessing how lovestruck he was from her appearance.
"Great... the last thing she needed was another boost to her already inflated ego..." he thought, half-jokingly and half-seriously, the reflection leaving a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth.
"I'm taking your comments as an affirmative on my job proposition, Jay." Ivan's modulated speech congealed any further attempt by Jay to keep spewing senseless crap, after the Thunder King had just ignored the last portion of high-quality hokum, pertaining to the perceived metaphorical stiffness of his gluteus maximus and the latter's appeal to his male progenitor.
"I'll be expecting you within the hour." The Head of the Special Sector denoted in the same matter-of-fact intonation that so annoyed his guildmate, after Jay announced his immediate plans and decisively moved towards the bar to realise them.
***
"It sure is surprising, even if not entirely unexpected, that things would turn out this way..."
Such was the main thought that Ivan entertained, as his pathetic attempts at preparing some semblance of a lemon squash also entertained his guildmate, Svarog.
Svarog was older than Ivan, though not by a large margin, he was large and muscular, with blond hair, a majestic beard and clear blue eyes - the dream of every damsel. He was also, unlike Ivan, was an excellent cook.
"Do you need help with that?" Svarog asked in his usual raucous voice, smiling with contempt at the sight of Ivan squashing the lemons
"Oh? What's the catch then?" Ivan put his hands around his waist (he had already stained his entire shirt with lemon juice - there was nothing to protect at that point!), as his lips formed an amused facial expression, the corners of his mouth turned up to expose the front teeth
"It's always good to be on good terms with the Head of the Special Sector." Svarog shrugged, refusing to reveal anything else
Did the mage want to join his sector, Ivan pondered. The blond guy had given him some indication of such ambitions over the years, but he had never actually applied. Well, if he harboured any desires of being a member of his sector, then it was Svarog's responsibility to speak out and express his wishes straightforwardly, The Thunder King had little tolerance for backpedaling. Whatever the case, he allowed Svarog to make his non-carbonated lemonade for him and, after adding a large dose of honey, drank the two-litre bucket in just a few minutes, carefully munching on dried up meat inbetween the mighty gulps.
"Going on a job again so soon after a hangover?" Svarog continued voicing his curiosity, while preparing his own meal
"It's not like you to go on a job without a thorough preparation, Ivan." the larger soberly man noted with maybe just a small hint of concern, while chopping onions at a large enough distance so as not to tear up.
"Hello everyone. This is Lunari. I've got a little announcement for everyone, since I don't think anyone is out on a job right now. I've just received a notice that Silver Crux has been evaluated by the Magic Council. Silver Crux has been put as the second pillar of the five pillars! We'll be having a celebration tonight! Make sure your schedule's are free! Otherwise, you'll have to dance with me tonight~" Lunari's voice, overexcited and boisterous as always, burst through the communication lacrima and filled in the room, before Ivan could answer. Both men looked at each other in surprise - Second pillar? Of course, it was expected that they would score high with their semi-perfect job record and the rumours across Fiore did indeed rank Silver Crux higher than most other guilds, but being officially recognised as the Second Pillar was still rather unexpected. Ivan knew there were other guilds with much stronger mages than Silver Crux could hope to bolster and he had though that the people from Era would be using that as a main determinant of a guild's position. Apparently, he had been mistaken and, apparently, they were doing the something right, since Silver Crux was only one step away from being the first!
Ivan wanted to play it cool and act as if he didn't care much about the standings, pretending they were something fictive that didn't have any bearing on the hard, physical reality in which he dwelled. However, for all his desire not to care, the mage actually cherished this recognition quite a lot! The Lightning's Flash had worked hard for Silver Crux's image and he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride over the guild's accomplishment, which he also considered his own merit. Nevertheless, he couldn't sympathise with the latter part of Lunari's statement - now that the magic Council had officially elevated the guild's status, Ivan felt even more motivated, obligated even, to do as good job as possible. In order to uphold Silver Crux's reputation, he would find the boy and rescue him without delay.
"Are you not staying for the party, Ivan? I'll be missing you at the drinking games." Svarog turned his head to look back at him, making a small grin as the Head of the Special Department stood up, throwing the bucket he had used for drinking into the sink, and motioned to move towards the exit of the kitchen
"I'm sure you won't grieve too much!" the black-haired man grinned back at his friend, knowing all too well that Svarog would quite easily find himself a female companion to "consolidate" him during the night
"Good Luck!" Svarog yelled out a heartfelt cheer, back from the kitchen, as Ivan was already marching throughout the corridor and towards the second floor.
Going up the stairs, Ivan was quick to find himself back in his room, on the second floor of the Silver Crux building.
It was an undistinguishable room - neither too small nor too big. There was a single window, overlooking the mountainous terrain underneath, with cheap, brown curtains he had inherited from the previous owner. The man wasn't home too often, but that didn't step the room from being a complete mess, with clothes all over the bed, the small table and his three chairs. The desk was stacked with papers and there were a few pencils, only one of which bolstered an unbroken tip. Ivan closed the door and stripped, moving into the shower to take a much needed bath after the long night. The hot water didn't make him sleepy - in fact, it did exactly the opposite, energising him for the challenges of the new day. He exited the shower without bothering with a towel and quickly got himself dressed, picking clean clothes from one of the chairs - a plain black trousers, a belt and a white shirt on top. He finished the quickly-fashioned outfit with a skinny black tie and run a comb over his this, wet hair - not that it would have too much effect, but it was still better than nothing, he reasoned. Looking at his wardrobe, Ivan found took out a very thick, brown cloak with furs around the bottom and the shoulder area. It also had a hood and long sleeves, which also ended up in furs, making it perfect for the brisk cold of the mountains, as well as the chilly region of Hanza. After a short search, the black haired man was also able to find a suitably large backpack and, in a few minutes, had equipped it with a sleeping bag, a knife, a few spare clothes and some other necessities, as well as a set of paper, adding in the one unbroken pencil left standing.
Upon exiting his living quarters once again, The Thunder King moved across the hallway, passing a few other rooms, took a turn left, reaching another corridor with an inverted staircase, leading towards the third floor and, having ascended that, stopped and looked at his legs. His left foot stood on the last of the steps, while the right one had already ascended the floor above. He returned it back onto the last step, took a deep breath and... jumped forward. Landing soundly on his toes, he slipped back so his heels would would also reach the floor and started counting, as he moved forward "two, three, five, seven, eight, nine... stop!" he counted silently, before stopping in front of a seemingly empty space in the wall. The Head of the Special Sector stoop there, scratching his beard, as if wondering if he had done something correct, after which he licked his thumb and made a 360 degree rotation, standing on his heels only. Sure enough, he had reached the right spot, as the usual corridor breeze blew back at him, from somewhere inside the wall!
Ivan stretched both of his hands into what seemed like solid wall, they sank through the air almost up to his shoulders and stood like this, as he searched for the locking mechanism. It took him a few seconds, but he finally undid the lock and, pushing the invisible wooden door, which he only felt with his hands, even deeper into the wall, dove into what seemed like a solid, unchanging matter. Walking forward, he immediately found himself in a large room, well-lit by an array of lightning lacrimas which floated around the sky and shone light on almost all the corners of the place. The mage's gaze shifted towards the writing on the inside of the door arch, reading
「Adventure armoury N:1」.
This designation made it seem as if there was an
「Adventure armoury N:2」, which was wholly untrue. He had spent quite a long time looking for it, until finally settling with the explanation that it was another one of Lunari's games.
You see, the Silver Crux guild building wasn't an ordinary place. It was a castle, a fortress of magic and mystery, which held within it might and majesty from all the generation of mages who had called it their home, including the founding trio. There were several different kind of armouries laying around, but they were all hidden, all to be managed by one of the Sectors. There were two kinds for a mage to gain permission to using them: either through discovering one and managing to unlock one by themselves (not an easy, but most certainly not an impossible task), or by simple tier advancement. Usually the first preceded the latter, or at least, in his case it had - by the time Lunari had told him of the armouries, he had already accessed a few of them. Perhaps that is actually why she told him, so as to make his borrowing rights official? The man shook his head at the thought and continued searching through the ample supplies that laid there. After what seemed like half an hour of digging around the various crates, stands, holders and wardrobes, he finally had stuffed his large backpack with everything he needed. The poor thing looked so uptight that it might as well have busted open at any moment, had it not been specially weaved for his owner's needs, costing quite a lot of proceedings. Being finally done, Ivan took out a piece of paper from the bag and quickly jolted down a list of the items he had borrowed, for the Lacrima department to be able to keep track:
Large shovel, iron x1
Small spade, iron x1
Pickaxe, small, wooden frame x1
Rope, long, hemp x2
Hook, able to be tied x2
Trap, large, bear x1
Trap, small, rabbit & fox x2
Caltrops, 50pcs., iron x2 packs
Blankets, thick, wool & fur x3
Water skins, 3,7 litters, empty x3
Torches, wood, resin & cloth x3
Having looked at the last item on the list, Ivan gritted his teeth, thinking of his two companions and quickly made a change onto the number, before grabbing another three torches - he had never had to use more than two himself, and he hoped they wouldn't need more now. If there really needed to be some lighting after all the torches had been used up, he could simply use his lightning, although he preferred saving his magic for as long as possible.
Torches, wood, resin & cloth x3 x6
Having tied the pickaxe and the large shovel to his backpack with one of the ropes, Ivan finally looked satisfied, feeling the familiar weight on his back. The man left the note over one of the crates and quickly exited the room.
Moving back into the guild hall, he noticed it had gone much livelier, as everyone was busy making preparations for the celebration. For a second, he too felt the urge to join in on the festivities, but the urgency of the job quickly reminded the mage of his duty - no son of Valchan would celebrate and drink, while a boy was all lone in the dark ruins of Hanza.
Cutting across the room, Ivan found a seat at one of the benches closes to the exit, where no one sat, due to the cold mountain air seeping through the large doors and making that part of the grand hall slightly chilly. The Thunder King surveyed the hall for his companions - he had expected them to be late and, since he had most certainly been late himself, decided there was no room for complaining. The man'd wait for them to appear, although he was anxious to catch as much daylight as possible in order to make at least a third of the way to Hanza today. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to wait for his companions for too long.
