Superstition and the Cycle of Violence

Ignis glanced at the three.

Aris smiled back innocently, his amber eyes becoming doe-eyed as if he wasn't just aggravating his teammate.

The white-haired girl glared at him with narrow eyes. She had a beauty mark near the corner of her left eye. The intern had pale red eyes, Ignis presumed she was albino.

The albino girl noticed Ignis' piercing gaze, and quickly shifted her focus to her combat boots.

The last person sent for backup was a short, at least 5ft 1 cat beastman. He glanced calmly at Ignis, his sharp eyes giving him a cold aura, but Ignis noticed his tail flicking nervously.

They were all wearing neat, black clothes with some chest, shoulder, and knee armor, or leather pockets, all in different styles. Each had a badge on their chest, with colors corresponding to their main attribute and either secondary or third attributes.

Aris had red, brown, and silver-grey on his badge. Indicating that he could both use Fire and Earth attribute, and combine them into the metal attribute.

The albino girl had mostly black on her badge, with a small line of brown. Obviously, Dark attribute main with some talent in Earth.

The cat beastman had Dark attribute main, with Nature attribute and just a bit of Wind on the side.

They all looked suitable, Ignis would make sure to protect them if they concentrated on their mission.

Thinking this, her orange eyes brightened turning into little crescent moons, "Well, I already know Aris. So, can I get both of your names? And if you can, how much experience you have. It will be useful later."

The white-haired girl nodded, smiling nervously, "Hi... You can call me Bai Jing, Bai for white, Jing for crystal clear. I've been on five missions, three C rank, where I got some combat experience, and two B rank missions, where I was mostly scouting out and assessing the situation. I have good control over my attribute, mostly restraining, though."

She made sure to give Ignis the details of her ability, this mission was A rank, they were messing with lives. Even though they had potions and a few mid-grade weapons, It was better to understand one's limits.

Ignis nodded, noting that down in her mind, she then glanced at the beastman.

The beastman's ears twitched, he spoke in a calm voice, "I'm Neo, five missions also. Two C rank, mostly combat, two B rank, mostly combat, and one A rank, scouting, restraining, and first aid. I have a strong attack force but my body will tire after a while, I also use a medium to strengthen my control." Neo took a black obsidian-looking wand from a pouch by his waist, it seemed to resonate the same cold aura that Neo had.

"Alright, good to know, Nice to meet you, Bai Jing, Neo" Ignis smiled. "I'll update you on the situation, but for now come with me, I'll talk and walk" She moved toward the entrance, from what she remembered, the refugees weren't staying too far away.

The four walked alongside each other as Ignis explained, "I'm sure some of you know, but in A rank missions we need to make a report on how the situation is, and how escalated to this point. I already found some information. The first disappearance was a boy named Markus, his body wasn't found, but he was a crow beastman and the villagers found many of his feathers scattered around the edge of the Procyon Forest."

"That was three months ago. We can assume whatever took him, either the Verdis or a beast, was weak at the time and couldn't hunt anything large for a while, maybe Markus injured it before... Anyway, the next kid to disappear was definitely attacked by a beast. It was on the second month. The pictures that the village police took of the body had claw marks. The only thing I found odd was some strange-looking stab wounds near the abdomen. They seemed out of place."

"Then wouldn't it be possible that it was murder?" Bai Jing spoke up, the thought pained her, dead but everyone only thought it was a beast attack. The murderer getting away with the crime easily.

"I think that might be right, the scratch marks and lacerations could be a cover-up. If I was there I would have been able to check his scent, and if he had any nature mana surrounding him. But we can only speculate with lack of evidence. " Ignis shook her head, her expression complicated.

"Anyway, after that, each following week a kid would disappear, some with the body, some without, there wasn't any obvious pattern with that." Ignis stopped at a house, "I think this is where one of the village elders is staying. Anyway, this all started after the kid Markus disappeared, it would be smart to ask about him." She added.

Aris nodded, "Right, and even if there is a high chance they've already passed, the body wasn't found." He had been on many A rank missions, it was important to note that nothing was always what it seemed to be.

Ignis knocked on the door three times before the door opened.

An elderly looking lady opened the door slowly. She had brown hair tied back in a bun, with various grey hairs. Her face was wrinkly, and her eyes giving off a nervous shine.

The woman looked at them suspiciously before noticing their badges.

"Ah, sorry, can I help you?" She asked, a bit more calmly.

Ignis nodded to Aris, who was on her right, to take the lead in making a report. In any case, this was just getting more information on the enemy. Any classified questions would be asked by her.

Aris smiled charmingly, "We just need a few questions about the attacks at Florir Village. Possibly anything to do with Markus or any changes in the environment."

The woman's gaze flickered a bit. She sighed and started speaking, her voice somewhat cold.

"Well," She started "Everyone in our town has heard of Markus. His mom escaped there from another village, and they built a small house close by the village. His mom would beg for food sometimes, and we would tell her to get a job, but she would keep on begging, that woman. Some people who helped her would get sick, and most of us thought it was because of her sins being carried over from where ever she came before" The woman sneered.

Neo glanced at the woman coldly, but it went unnoticed, and she continued.

"Then, finally the woman got sick herself. It was her punishment, so no one dared to help. I don't know much about the boy, but he went to school with my grandkid." She sighed, "Who knows, maybe the attacks started because of him, too"

Aris had a blank face, and looked like he was on the verge of speaking up, but the woman didn't seem to notice.

Ignis spoke up "I see." She said slowly. "Thanks for the information."

Ignis led the group down the streets to the next house.

So it was like this.

Ignis wasn't easily fooled by the woman's words. She could see her annoyance in her eyes and the disdainful expression on her face.

She felt a pang of sadness for the boy named Markus. She hoped to take revenge on the monster that ate him.

"That woman..!" Bai Jing couldn't help grumbling. "I bet she's another one of those people who believe crows are bad luck, or that humans are superior."

Neo nodded, scoffing.

"Even though we are in a new era, so much superstition is still around." Aris sighed. "Although Churches are restricted, people still believe that some things are more evil than others. The human heart really..." Aris trailed off, shaking his head.

Ignis spoke up. "The least we can do is spread awareness to newer generations." She looked at a house in front of her. "This is where the school teacher is staying, he reached out to me yesterday. Hopefully he can tell us something useful"

She knocked on the door, and a teen girl about Neo's height opened it a few second's latter.

The girl had strawberry blonde hair in a braid. "Are you here for my Uncle?"

"Possibly" Ignis said, curtly. The teacher just sent her his name, address, and a short letter. She didn't know what he looked like.

"I'm Tammy, come on in." Tammy opened the door for them.

Ignis nodded to the others, and the group was led inside by Tammy. She hoped that she could learn any patterns about this case.