Ragoozer

Ragoozer thought himself to be a proud man. And if one were to cross paths with him on a normal day it would be quite easy to assume so. His tall figure and broad shoulders carried the two piece suits that he was so partial to, with grace giving one the impression they were in the presence of an esteemed nobleman. His roughish hair and deep purple eyes gave him a rakish look that had ensnared him many a female partner at the parties that the rich so often frequented.

But today was by no means no normal day; he wasn't lounging around in the comfort of his office. Instead he was forced into the outskirts and forced to blend in with its residents to enforce law in a place that essentially had none.

The outskirts were formed by the remnants of humanity who didn't make it into the walls of Rodina, humanity's last city. Those who were left behind were essentially scraping by in (pre-drowning terms) less than third-world living conditions. Things that city dwellers often took for granted like formal housing, sanitation, clean water and food didn't exist here.

The streets were littered with trash, and badly paved with the groans of the drowned and dying forming an odd symphony. The once proud apartments and uniform streets of Humanity's Digital Age were now reduced to little more than rubble, with people taking refuge in whatever structures remained. In other words a slum.

Beggars, peddlers and prostitutes roamed freely in these streets, all with the same dead and defeated expression. The "Drowned" or the soulless were commonplace here, their glazed eyes and rotting body's giving one the impression of the living dead.

Rag observed one of them, an old man who was rocking himself quietly in a corner. Rag could've easily become one of them as well; a shell of his former self who would wander aimlessly, his soul being eroded by Depths mana. Rag considered this thought for a moment then shook his head as if to dismiss it.

He had passed his trial. He was a chosen of Thanatos the God of Death, and an A rank diver from one of the world's (or what was left of it anyways) top 10 guilds. His position would be enviable by many, and his existence itself was a threat to all those who opposed the rise of humanity.

It was actually due to the nature of his rank that he had been assigned this mission. He had been issued an external mission by the Divers Union which his guild (Malkavain) had certified, to "peace keep" and attempt to win over the hearts of the slums residents.

Rag snorted at those words and immediately regretted it - the smell of the slums was that of rotting eggs urine, and all other sorts of unpleasant odors.

Gagging he thought about the ridicule of his current mission. "There's been a large mana trace detected near the center of the outskirts. We have reason to believe that someone may have gotten their hands on a dungeon seed." Tal had said.

"Wow sounds like a shitty job. So who's going?" Rag had replied as they shared a bag of potato chips.

"Well, the details aren't too clear on the specifics of the location of the seed, so were going to need someone with mobility and good mana sense..." Tal trailed off as he shoved a fistful of chips in his mouth and began to type rapidly on his laptop.

"Well send Vee. He's got a couple of mobility spells as a mage right? And he's a druid so for recon he's perfect, no?" Rag got up from the couch they had been lounging on and began to stretch.

"At any rate its none of my problem. Ima go get a drink u want anything?" he said after some pause.

"Well a soda would be nice, but I thinkkkk this might be your problem after all mate." Tal turned his laptop so it would face Rag and continued with a grin. "Vee's out training recruits, and the Gods know that my directional skills are a*s, so that leaves only one person." Tal's grin widened into a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "The paperwork's filled out already and your schedule seems clear enough, so I gave boss the suggestion that you'd be the right man for the job."

Seeing Rags shell shocked face of betrayal Tal doubled over in laughter and threw him what looked like a remote. Still in a state of shock, Rag barely had time to register his words and catch the remote before Tal disappeared in a fit of cackles.

Rags facial features contorted in rage as he recalled Tal's sniggering freckled face. "That skinny a*s Asian motherf*cker, I'm gonna punch his brown ass face when I get back." he muttered.

Tal was Malakian's leading techie and Rag's best friend in the guild. Being that Ragoozer was a chosen of Thanatos the God of Death, and Tal a chosen of Thaila the Goddess of Jesters (two opposing Gods) they made an unlikely duo. And yet their friendship had lasted throughout their Academy years to present day, 6 years after graduation.

The edges of Rag's lips curled upwards in fondness as he reminisced his Academy years, temporarily distracting him from the stench and sounds of his surroundings.

When the first Divers founded Rodina, they moved the majority of humanity south, abandoning the lands of Digital Age and erected the city of Rodina betwixt the Tigris and the Euphrates, and soon after established the Academy to train the future of humanity. The Academy was created only 12 years after the Second Great Drowning, and had over 50 prestigious years of nurturing young chosen between ages of 14 to 20 into full-fledged Divers - those who closed the dungeons whose monsters threatened humanity.

Only the best and brightest were accepted with only a tenth of applicants even making it past the entrance exam and only a third expected to graduate.

However even amongst the stress and the difficulty of the courses Tal and Rag had always managed to make life interesting, being dubbed the "Mad Duo" by both students and professors alike.

"Ahhh if only life was that simple now." he sighed. Being an adult wasn't all that it cracked to be, and sometimes he wished he was still a cadet struggling to find his place in the world. Between missions, raids, and scouting he barely had time to be, well HIM again.

"I should request for a vacation after this. Yeah that would be nice. I'll book a nice hotel at a resort, bring a chick or two and heck I'll ask Tal if he wants to come too. Knowing that bastard he'll make me pay for drinks but a vacation would be cool..."he muttered wistfully.

Rag's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a snot nosed kid bumping into him, smearing boogers all over his beggars cloak. Wincing at the thought of all the germs that were likely to be all over them, he made a mental note to take a shower the moment he got home.

"Watch where your going you little git." Rag said coldly giving the kid a scathing glare that even the most fearsome of outskirt crooks would shy away from. Right now he was no Ragoozer, he was a nameless beggar looking for a place to sleep and this kid was just another annoyance in his path to find a nice nook to starve himself in. He raised his leg to kick the boy as many other would have but paused.

"Oww I'm sorry sir" The kid sniffled tearfully. The young boy couldn't have been older than 6, his matted red hair and tear soaked face was streaked with all kinds of grime, just like the canvas rags he wore like clothes.

His figure was painfully thin ,with his ribs and his elbows protruding visibly. But worst of all he bore scars. Scars that held history that Rag himself never wanted to see. Cuts, bruises, and even broken bones that never healed right gave the poor kid a crooked figure.

He reeked of trash and all sorts of slum filth, but even so Rag found himself drawn to kid. He felt nothing but pity for the boy, but pity was all he could spare. There were thousands of his kind around here, half starved and left for dead. If anything was given to the child, it was likely to be stolen by those older and stronger by him.

Settling his leg back on the dusty streets, he forced himself to ignore the boy. As much as the kid needed help, he had a mission to accomplish. Moving his way through the street markets he pushed his way through prostitutes, gangsters and peddlers of every kind till he found a secluded alleyway. Once he was sure there were no eyes upon him he reached into the back pocket of his makeshift cloak but found nothing. Patting his pants he searched every pocket he had. Nothing, nothing.

No phone, no wallet and worst of all no mana detector.

"Ughh f*ck." he groaned. How was he supposed to get home now? No ID meant no way back. No wallet meant no money so no easy way back to Rodina. And no mana detector meant his mission was rendered moot.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of crooks in the area and he had just bumped shoulders with half of them. Suddenly an idea struck him and a grin crept upon his face.

"That sneaky rat like bastard."