ASS 23

Out of the four, he was the most suited for scouting and the more discreet missions. Not to mention that their faces were known as they were S-class wizards. The useless Rune Knights would be atop them as soon as they even neared one of the bigger cities, which would only serve to alarm whatever guild was situated there. In this case, that was Fairy Tail and that other one he couldn't even bother remembering its name. Not like the latter mattered to him since they were a bunch of scrubs in his eyes.

Technically, Skim's face was also known, but thankfully, he knew a nifty magic to resolve this problem. Transformation Magic was so handy, and he wondered why other Dark Wizards didn't pick it up, but that was probably due to aptitude. He never managed to learn any destructive magic no matter how many times he tried, for example.

Skim didn't have physical strength like Tsar, destructive power like Kru, or a deadly technique like Willow, though the last one was debatable depending on the viewpoint. His skill set was more subtle -infiltrating and silently capturing targets were his strong points- but that didn't mean he lacked the ability to kill.

As someone born in the slums of Bosco, Skim had been lucky enough to awaken his magic at an early age. As a street urchin, that had been a joyous occasion. Or it should've been if people hadn't looked down on his magic.

"Sleep Magic? Pha! Even the slavers won't be interested in that!" Skim was belittled for his magic, and in a way, they hadn't been wrong. He lacked range, couldn't use it on multiple targets, and they usually woke up shortly after he used it. Add in his small and frail body -the reason slavers wouldn't have even looked at him- and he couldn't even deal with his targets before the effect of his magic ran out.

He had been put down over and over again, but Skim didn't give up. Magic had been the only thing he had going for himself, and he had been determined to make it work. And eventually... he did.

Sleep Magic had a simple use; put the target to sleep. However, he pushed that to its limits, finding a way to not simply make his victims take a nap but to force them into an eternal slumber with just a touch. That's all he needed, just a single touch, and he would make someone's organs fall asleep, soundlessly killing them with none the wiser.

Skim turned the magic people looked down on into the killing technique that was the reason for his rise to fame or infamy to be more accurate. However, his face becoming known turned into a problem since he couldn't easily get close to his targets. So, he picked up a couple more types of magic, ones others would've called simple or even useless, but he already knew at that point that the strength of a magic solely depends on the user.

His infamy grew even more as he killed slavers, nobles, and the like while grabbing anything of value they owned. If he hadn't been so zealous back then, people might've thought his victims had died of natural causes, simply passing away in their sleep. However, he had been young, and his greed had pushed him to target as many as he could as quickly as possible.

It was then that he realized his magic didn't work on all people. Those wizards with crazy high magic power? They were able to resist it to an extent, some even ignoring it completely. He absolutely despised those wizards, who were born with a strong magic and the reserves to back it up. What did they do to deserve it? Nothing, absolutely nothing!

It was when he nearly died after his magic failed him that Skim realized he needed allies. So he found like-minded people like him, and they formed a guild. They were strong, no one was able to stop them, and they did whatever they pleased. Until one random wizard passed through their headquarters and wiped them out single handedly.

Gildarts broke them -in both mind and body- but they would have their revenge. They might not be able to fight him directly, but they would ruin him mentally. They swore as much, plotting to send him the body parts of his son one by one.

Their plan was simple; figure out William's schedule and capture him before Fairy Tail even realized what had happened. The problem was, the man was with an S-class mage almost throughout his entire day. And when he wasn't, William was in his shop, which Skim found out had magical protection, and he wasn't willing to test how good it was.

Capturing him was becoming a bit more complicated, so Skim started devising a plan of his own. He was certain William wasn't untouchable and that he just needed to catch him off guard. The slave traders he hired would give him that opportunity, and if they got lucky and managed to capture him? Well, he could deal with them and run away with the target while pinning the blame on them.

Just as he suspected, Skim found a window of opportunity. Both S-class mages that William hung around went off somewhere while he left without any guards. He noticed his target looked a bit different than when he last saw him a few days ago, but he didn't think too much of that and quickly contacted the slavers.

Of course, they ran into another problem as William met up with a Fairy Tail wizard, but Skim still had hope. Especially when he recognized Loke as that playboy that only knew how to use Ring Magic. Though he didn't even need to worry as they soon separated.

This was it!

Following William, Skim couldn't help but have a bad feeling. His target was acting... weird and his body language indicated he was on edge. Something wasn't right, and just as he was about to urge the useless slavers to jump him, he noticed the playboy following after them with a girl hanging off his arm.

Skim would've thought it to be a coincidence and dismissed it, but the man was clearly looking at the group and searching for something or someone. They knew! He didn't know how, but they knew! Skim was pushing his Concealment Magic to its limits, but they had somehow figured out he was there.

'So be it.' Skim changed his plan, deciding to take action now. He might not be the physically strongest, but he didn't need to be, and he was quick on his feet.

Springing forward, he reached towards his target, planning on taking him down quickly. His eyes widened as William suddenly ducked, seemingly knowing he was after him. Despite being surprised, that wasn't enough to stop him as Skim still cast his magic while vaulting over his target even if he didn't get to touch him.

'I should've figured,' he cursed in his mind, seeing William get up. Skim wasn't attempting to kill him, so he hadn't used a full-powered spell as he tried to knock him out. However, William was the son of Gildarts, so he should've anticipated him to have high reserves, but he acted in haste.

Nevertheless, his spell still had an effect, judging by the sluggish movements of his target. However, William wasn't knocked down, and he was even attempting to cast a spell of his own. Skim had no idea what kind of magic he knew, but he couldn't allow him to use it. With another quick jump, he swiftly reached William, tapping him on the shoulder and hitting him with a stronger spell to ensure he got knocked out.

To Skim's surprise, his target didn't just fall down and instead just swayed back and forward. This was turning out to be a failure by the second, but the situation was still salvageable. Peeking at the Fairy Tail wizard, he saw him rushing towards them, but he believed the group of slavers should be enough to keep him busy for a moment. They did specialize in neutralizing and capturing targets, after all. Now, Skim just had to take down William and run away before more people started storming in.

"Cool name here mode activated," the words escaped his target's mouth in a monotone voice.

'Huh?!' Skim paused mid step as he narrowed his eyes. What the hell did that even mean? His target should've been barely conscious at this point, so was he just mumbling random words?

"Enemy detected," William's following words spoke otherwise, and Skim was ready to bolt from there with that. He figured out that his target wasn't a simple shopkeeper, so this hadn't been a complete failure.

Loke wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed Will wasn't done yet, having some fighting spirit left in him. Still, he didn't look to be in that great of a shape, so he had to take care of those goons quickly.

"Use attack," Will's words rang out in his monotone voice as Loke rushed the men. Mentally, he tried cheering him on, but whatever happened moments earlier had cut off their connection. Peeking at Will as he charged his ring, he almost tripped when he saw him raise his hand and punch the empty air. That was it. That's all he did.

"Add lines of code here," Will's voice rang out as he stayed there motionless with his arm stretched out.

'You have to be kidding me!' Loke cursed as he activated his ring and punched forward, sending a whirling force at the thugs.

One of them quickly jumped forwards, a familiar ring flashing on his hand as he created a protective barrier and blocked his attack. The other four swiftly prepared themselves, three of them taking out magical items they had hidden underneath their clothes.

'Four Holder type users and one unknown. Great!' Loke had an idea of what to expect from the Holder type users as they held a chain, gun, and whip, but the last one didn't have a weapon with him.

Activating his second magic ring, he was surrounded by a barrier, protecting him from the ranged attacks of the thugs. Loke continued rushing forward while protected, and the last of the men made his move, creating a magic circle in front of him and sending a wave of sand in his direction.

His barrier was battered from the many attacks, forcing Loke to jump back just as it shattered, narrowly avoiding the last of the barrage. Dodging and evading the attacks, he kept an eye on Will while trying to figure out how to get past the blockade of thugs. Loke had to squint his eyes, but he noticed that a torrent of nearly invisible bubbles was hitting Will, though... the bubbles didn't seem to have that much of an effect from the looks of it.

"Enemy detected. Use attack." Loke didn't know why he got his hopes up that something different might happen this time, but Will just punched the empty air in front of him, doing absolutely jack shit. "Add lines of code here."

What did that even mean?!

"Ah, fuck this!" Loke cursed as a few bullets found their target, slamming against his left shoulder and chest area. If he'd been a regular human, that might've even killed him, but he was a Celestial Spirit, and that only served to annoy him.

"Ignore him!" A voice called out from somewhere near Will, presumably from the invisible enemy. "Capture the target before any more wizards arrive!"

The thugs quickly reacted, deciding on a formation in a split second as if it was second nature. The two with rings and a gun focused on Loke while the other three turned towards Will, activating their magic as they tried to capture him. The sand user used a spell that slammed him onto the ground while the other two were about to bind him with their weapons.

"You're gonna owe me big time for this," Loke muttered, taking a deep breath as he activated his barrier ring once more. He then raised his right hand while clasping his bicep with the left. "O Regulus... Grant me your strength!"

A burst of light flashed from his body as Loke leaped forward, his speed having doubled after using his magic. He ignored the gun wielder, aiming for the rest, but the thug with the ring intercepted him. That was a big mistake on his part as Loke crashed through the barrier, his light destroying it as if it was made out of paper. His momentum didn't falter, and he continued on his path, slamming into the thug and sending him spiraling to the side while coughing blood.

The three that had just turned around and attacked Will managed to jump out of the way before he crashed into them as well. Loke might've not taken them out, but he managed to stop them from capturing their target, and it also allowed him to reach Will.

Stopping in front of the downed shopkeeper, who was slowly getting up off the ground. His clothes were in disarray, and he was covered in sand, but for the most part, he seemed fine.

"Lion Brilliance!" Loke's light became brighter before exploding in a radius around him, blinding and damaging his enemies while leaving his ally unaffected. A cough escaped him as he raised his hand, wiping the blood from his mouth.

Using his own magic in his current state -without a contractor- wasn't the brightest of ideas as he was practically spending his life force every time he did that. The only reason he even considered it was since his situation had been somewhat stabilized with Will's potions.

"Enemy detected," Will's voice rang from behind him. "Use attack." And his hand sprang forward, missing Loke completely despite him being right in front of him.

"Really, buddy? Really?" Loke felt betrayed, but he didn't have any time to complain as he noticed a barrage of nearly invisible bubbles fly at him.

"Lion Brilliance!" He used his spell once more, destroying the bubbles and hoping to hit the invisible enemy at the cost of his own life force. A series of coughs escaped his mouth alongside the blood he was forced to spew out.

"Enemy detected. Use attack." And then there was also Will trying to attack him and missing completely...

"Buddy, what are you doing?" Loke groaned as his eyes scanned the area, searching for any signs of the invisible enemy. "Don't," he paused as another cough forced its way out. "Don't you have a potion or something to resolve this?" He asked, remembering that Will was trying to use Requip earlier before... he suddenly turned stupid.

"Potion requested," Will's monotone voice came from behind him. "Use Requip," followed by a flash of his magic circle. "Potion?"

Loke peeked back, only to see Will holding a bottle with bright green liquid that appeared to be sizzling. "What kind of potion is this?" He asked before coughing with a bit of blood splashing on Will.

"Enemy detected. Use attack." Will punched forward, missing Loke completely, but the bottle he held flew out of his hand, landing on the leg of one of the thugs.

"GAHHHH!"

"Holy shit," Loke muttered as he saw what the liquid did to the thug as his pained screams filled the area while the potion dissolved his pants and skin, leaving black marks on the now clearly visible bone that looked as if it was about to crumble to dust any moment now.

"W-what the fuck was that?" Loke asked, his eyes wide, having not expected to see something like that. He didn't get to dwell on it much longer as another barrage of bubbles came their way, so he quickly grabbed a hold of Will and jumped away.

"Enemy detected." Loke positioned Will so he wouldn't get hit by his punch as he continued avoiding the bubbles. He couldn't keep using his magic since he was already in a bad state.

"Potion, potion," he repeated quickly. "Don't you have Healing Potions?"

"Potion requested. Use Requip." Will stopped his punching motion, taking out a potion from his pocket space instead. "Potion?" He offered what Loke recognized as a Magic Potion, though it seemed to be richer in color.

"This will do," Loke grabbed it, quickly downing the thing in one go, his body shuddering as magic power filled him. His buddy apparently was keeping the good stuff for himself as that potion was far stronger than any other he had consumed.

"Enemy detected," Will's monotone voice rang out, but Loke was already figuring him out.

"Potion, give me a potion!" He called out before stopping and activating his spell once more. "Lion Brilliance!" His destructive light blasted out, popping the bubbles and blinding everyone nearby.

Loke used that moment to activate one of his rings, sending a whirling force towards the blinded thugs. One of them was already out for the count as he had passed out from the pain of having the skin of his leg dissolved. He shuddered as he remembered the sight of it, but he stayed focused, quickly dealing with two more by blasting them with his attack.

"Potion?" Will held out a bottle with white liquid inside it. Not recognizing it, Loke quickly grabbed and threw it at one of the thugs, hoping it wasn't as deadly as the first one. And if it was, well, he would deal with the consequences later. Fortunately, it wasn't, and the thug dropped to the ground without any signs of injury.

"Enemy-" Loke quickly interrupted him, already having figured out how this funky state of his worked. "Give me a potion," he requested as he ran away from the pesky invisible enemy.

"Potion?" A bottle with green liquid was presented to him, and Loke was about to quickly throw it away. The scene from earlier still played in his mind, but he stopped himself, noticing that he recognized this one as the Weak Antidote.

"Let's see if this helps," Loke muttered as he activated his magic, destroying the bubbles aimed in their direction and blinding the enemies.

Quickly, he force-fed Will the potion while avoiding being hit by his punch. Good thing he was just throwing it without aim, else it might've been a tad more difficult to do so. He remembered that Will tried taking out something from his pocket space, so he figured he might've been after a potion that could've helped him.

"I caught you now!" A voice rang from beside him as he waited with bated breath to see if the Weak Antidote would help Will. He felt something tap him on the waist, and he stumbled as a sudden sense of drowsiness washed over him.

"What is with you all ungratefully born bastards!" Their attacker yelled, his voice laced with frustration.

"Lion Brilliance!" His light burst out of him as he coughed blood, almost falling down from the drowsiness.

"Enemy-"

"Potion!" Loke yelled and snatched the proposed red one as quickly as it was offered to him. Downing it in one go, he shuddered a little from the strong effect. Will really was keeping the good stuff for himself, Loke thought as he felt part of his life force being replenished. Unfortunately, it did nothing to help with the sudden sense of drowsiness that urged him to close his eyes and take a short nap.

"Potion!" Loke called again, weakly trying to get away while carrying Will. Another bottle with green liquid was offered to him, and he quickly took it. In his drowsy state, Loke mistook it for an Antidote, a stronger one from the looks of it. He wasn't sure if it would help, but he force-fed it to Will, hoping it would maybe work.

Will suddenly jolted, quickly jumping out of his grasp with a shudder. Spirits above, he couldn't express how happy he was that the dumbass was up and about.

"Dude!" Will called out as he looked around. "I'm not into that sort of thing!"

"Idiot..." Loke mumbled as his legs gave up on him. "We are being attacked."

In a surprising fashion, Will reacted quickly as a large magic circle appeared beneath them, followed by a massive globe that engulfed them protectively. Something crashed against the orb, slamming the protective sphere a few times as he tried breaking through it.

"Shit, are you okay?" Will crouched next to him as he took out a mixture of potions from his pocket space.

"Do I look okay?" Loke asked as he coughed, holding a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide how bad his state was.

If he actually had a contractor and one that could support him, well, he could've ended the fight right from the start. His Lion Brillance would've incapacitated all of their enemies with just a single use of the spell, but alas, he was already near his limits. If Loke hadn't been consuming Will's potions daily, he wouldn't have even considered using his own magic.

"Already got a Health," Loke said as he took a deep breath. "And a Magic Potion... I think."

"Okay, try this one then," Will replied as he force-fed him a green one. His entire body practically got filled with energy as his drowsy state was replaced by an invigorated one, giving him the urge to run a circle around Magnolia just because he could.

"You," Loke muttered as he got up. "We're gonna have to talk about the things you've kept hidden." Some of those potions could've made his life a lot more comfortable if he knew they existed.

"Sure, sure," Will scratched his head after he helped Loke up. "What happened after?"

"After you turned stupid?" Loke shot back. "I protected you while you... you did whatever you did. I knocked out the thugs and kept you away from the invisible one."

"Oh," Will looked anywhere but at Loke, acting like he was scouring the street for the enemy. His defense mechanism for when he got knocked out was... still in development, to say the least. After all, he'd just begun working on it, and he was struggling quite a bit with it. For the time being, it was just something intriguing that he worked on in his spare time -as little as that was- or just to work on his programming skills.

"Yeah, oh," Loke shook his head while looking around as well. "Anyway, where's that invisible bastard anyway? You are the one that can sense him."

"I can't sense him nearby," Will said as a flat-screen appeared in front of him. "And there are too many people with average magic power in Magnolia for me to single him out," he frowned as he swiped the screen away. "But I think I got his scent," he finished with narrowed eyes as he grit his teeth.

"Let's go get him then!" Loke was looking forward to punching that invisible bastard.

"This way," Will rushed out as the orb dissipated, and Loke followed with wide eyes.

'Has he always been this fast?' Loke actually had to try to keep up with him. 'I... don't know whether to pity or envy you, my friend,' he thought, linking it to his improved physique, which he assumed was partially due to Erza. Poor guy probably had to fight for his life in their nightly sessions. 'But this isn't the time to be thinking of Will and Erza's sex life.'

"We're getting close!" Will stated, his voice laced with anger. They rounded the street as the scent of the invisible enemy was becoming stronger and stronger. They were so close to reaching him, but they were met with a wall of Rune Knights, all pointing their staffs at the duo.

"Stop right there!" The leader of the unit stepped forward, keeping his weapon aimed at them. "You are under arrest! Surrender quietly, or we will be forced to take you down!"

"We are chasing after the last attacker!" Will yelled at them, trying to move past to keep pursuing the invisible enemy.

"Don't move!" The leader yelled as the staves of the entire unit lit up, all prepared to fire at them at a moment's notice.

"Are you serious?!" Will roared, his hands balled into fists. "He's just past you!"

"I said," the leader placed his foot down. "Surrender quietly, or we will be forced to take you down!"

"Don't bother," Loke said as he placed a hand on Will's shoulder. "The Rune Knights are as useless as ever. There's nothing we can do about that," he added, shaking his head in disappointment.

"You have to be kidding me..." Will muttered as he watched the unit surround them, making sure they had no way of escaping.

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Beta'd by LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB, and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th BritannianEmperor(Discord)