Tobias didn't hesitate after leaving the butcher's shop. Despite weaving through the crowd held back by guards, he maintained top speed. The people he passed only saw a blur cross their vision in a flash, while a slight gust of wind sent their clothes into a flutter. It took Tobias under a minute to arrive at the Orphanage front gates. He finally halted his movements and released his smoky aura into the surroundings, directing them towards the double story building in front of him. Just as the tendrils entered the front doors, passing through them like a ghost, another set of tendrils suddenly rebuffed them. The new set of tendrils appeared like thousands of thick ropes gilded in gold. A whip-like crack echoed as the golden tendrils struck Tobias, causing his Aura to dissipate.
"Ouch! For soil's sake, woman. I'm not an enemy." Tobias replied into the empty air, as he couldn't help wince slightly in pain. Having one's aura tendrils forcefully broken always felt like being kicked in the side of the head. Especially with a significant power imbalance between the parties. After blinking his eyes a couple of times to clear his blurry vision, Tobias strode towards the double doors. The boy was still hanging limply in his arms. The two doors before him silently swung wide to either side. Revealing a middle-aged woman with a scarred face and wearing a chest-to-floor brown cloth dress. The boss of the orphanage, Mother Leanne, appeared in all her scolding glory.
Arms crossed and a frosty demeanor greeted the Hunter as he approached, halting just before the front step. Mother Leanne cast a glare across his form that flashed golden for a moment, before her eyes widened upon seeing the unconscious boy's form and returned to a placid brown. Without saying a word, the woman appeared to teleport right in front of the Hunter, causing Tobias to tense and his aura to leak into the surroundings again. Mother Leanne, not paying any attention to the man before her, put her scarred hand onto the boy's forehead and closed her eyes. Her hand appeared to light up in a white glow before disappearing. The ball of light turned the boy's already pale skin translucent, as if scanning him. It travelled from the top of his head towards his neck, then chest before stopping just above his bellybutton.
Mother Leanne followed the light with a critical eye. Her stern face appeared to crack a little, with a glaze enveloping her eyes, as the situation of the boy revealed itself to her. The Hunter, noticing the woman's intense focus on the boy, retrieved his aura and watched the light, frowning tightly. With a slender but firm finger, Mother Leanne tore open Loch's threadbare shirt and watched as the glow stopped at his stomach. All the while it travelled, it showed the inner condition of Loch's body. It was like his skin wasn't there, revealing burnt and singed vessels and organs as if the boy had a storm contained within him, that went on a rampage before calming back down and settling in his navel. Loch's stomach, a bizarre sight, contained a fist-sized, sparking cloud of dark smoke, crackling with blue electricity. Imprisoned thunder resonated within it.
As if sensing intrusion, the cloud reacted to the approaching white glow with a lightning bolt that extinguished the light and sent sparks throughout the body. With the glow gone, Loch's translucent body turned back to normal, hiding his inner state once again. Loch's face also twisted in pain at that moment, while a trickle of blood leaked out of his thin lips. Tobias couldn't help but gasp once he saw what was inside the boy. Lifting his head to match gazes with the woman, he was shocked to find her lifting her hand from Loch's forehead in a hurry, before clenching her hand into a fist. In that brief moment, though, Tobias was able to see a small scorch mark in the middle of Mother Leanne's palm. His eyes bugged for a second, but he snapped his face back to normal and spoke out, "It appears I have come here in vain."
Mother Leanne had not looked up at the Hunter yet or replied to his words. Her full focus was on the boy in his arms. She dabbed the small line of blood from Loch's mouth with the end of her sleeve. The usual expressionless but stern face appeared the same, but for Tobias, who was used to reading the micro-expressions of the powerful, could see the tightening around her eyes and the subtle scrunch to her nose that revealed her inner feelings. With one more glance at the boy, especially towards the boy's stomach, Mother Leanne finally matched eyes with the Hunter. Suddenly, a terrible force locked onto Tobias, cutting him off from the world. Like a boot poised over an insignificant ant. Pondering not if it should squash the ant, but whether it was even worth it. Sweat covered the Hunter's forehead, while his shoulders involuntarily hunched. His recently injured body let out creaking noises, sounding as if his very bones were bending under the sudden pressure surrounding him.
"Maiden... I... can... explain." Through gritted teeth, Tobias got out only a few words. Nothing but silence filled the air for several seconds until a soft groan leaked out of the Loch's mouth. To Tobias's relief, followed by a very unladylike grunt, the pressure weighing down the Hunter disappeared, almost making him stumble forwards and release his grip on Loch. "If you drop that boy, I will pulverize your very soul." The Hunter couldn't help swallow after hearing those frosty words from Mother Leanne, who had now turned around and begun heading towards the Orphanage's front doors. Calling out behind her, she said, "However, you are mistaken. You coming here was not in vain. It was the smartest choice you could have made. Come with me. You've also got some explaining to do."
Before Mother Leanne crossed the threshold, she paused, making Tobias, who had started to follow her, pause as well. Her head snapped right around, as if she had no neck muscles, causing the Hunter to flinch and step back a step. Mother Leanne's eyes were now radiating gold, with no speck of white showing, while one of her hands was enveloped in similarly golden colored flames. Tobias began to draw the little power he recovered, readying at least a token effort of defense. Deep inside, he knew it was a futile resistance against one of her calibres. However, he stopped himself after only a moment. He had noticed Mother Leanne was not looking in his direction. She was instead gazing into the air past his shoulder. Following her line, Tobias turned around, but all he could see was the empty street and the dark night sky. Transferring the little power he had been sending to his arms, up to his eyes, they took on a bestial look. The rounded pupil turning into a slit, while the whites were dyed a dark yellow, just like one would find in a snake.
Tobias's view of his surroundings took on a kaleidoscope of muted colors, with only a few blotches of dark orange appearing around the area, within some of the houses that lined the other side of the street. However, a large splotch of vibrant red lit up his vision. It crowned the roof of the house facing him. "Vile Fiend." A voice filled with barely controlled rage came from behind Tobias. Despite the soft tone, the words possessed a physical force that moved past Tobias. Causing his tattered jacket to swish before heading to that splotch of red. In Tobias's vision, the red splotched rose into the air but was soon heated with something and caused his color to lighten. After releasing the power within his eyes, they soon transformed back to normal. Above the house, a visible distortion in the air appeared before his eyes. Like a mirage, it rippled in and out of view.
"If you don't want to show yourself. I'm just going to have to make you." Mother Leanne's voice spoke out once again. This time, it was accompanied by a gale that swept past Tobias and sent the little snow left from the winter fluttering through the air. Mother Leanne, who was a few steps behind Tobias only a moment ago, now appeared above the roof of the house opposite them in the time it took to blink. Appearing like a fiery angel, her body was covered in foot-high golden flames, that had no effect on her and radiated a sense of holiness. One of her hands shot out into the rippling distortion, and like a broken mirror, shattered the hidden image. Revealing a slender, human-like figure that resembled an aristocratic gentleman, down to the neatly pressed suit and tailcoat, but that's where the similarities ended. A mouth that was currently attempting to gasp for air revealed rows of sharp needle thin teeth. Alongside large pointed ears and a pair of giant flesh wings, similar to a bat, with tufts of fur running along the edges, it clearly showed this being was far from a typical human.
The creature's pale face was slowly turning purple, while bits of its flesh even seemed to be melting under the heat coming from Mother Leanne's flames and the relentless grip she had around the creature's throat. The creature strained with all its might against the iron grip around its neck, using both its clawed hands to try to pry its throat free. It struggled to catch a breath, appearing on the verge of speaking. However, Mother Leanne appeared to not care for either attempt and merely sneered into the terror filled gaze of the creature, "Vlad's tainted spawn, may your blood be cleansed upon your return to the Earth." Mother Leanne's golden flames erupted, consuming the winged man and reducing him to ashes in seconds. Releasing her grip with a flick, the ashes were soon blown away by the wind.
In a golden flash, Mother Leanne returned to the frozen Tobias. And as if she hadn't just roasted what looked to be a powerful creature of the night within a second, she walked past him with stable steps and once again commanded, "Come now, Stalker. I have limited patience." The Hunter shook himself and looked back at the woman who was disappearing into the Orphanage. Looking down at the unconscious boy in his arms, Tobias couldn't help but say to the night air, "A Soil blessed Grand knight. What the hell have you got me involved in, boy?" Realizing the woman's footsteps were becoming faint, the middle-aged man almost jumped in place and scurried after, his previous graceful steps entirely gone.
The Hunter soon caught up to Mother Leanne as she ascended the stairs to the second floor and down the hall on the opposite side of Loch's room. Entering through a door that was set apart from all others at the end of the hall. The room Tobias entered behind Mother Leanne appeared like an office, with just a small shabby cot off to the right side and a curtain around it, denoting it served as a bedroom as well. A large wooden desk dominated the center of the room, with one high-back chair facing the doorway and several small chairs on the other side. The desk was meticulously organized, everything had its place, nothing was cluttered, with even several pens sitting straight in a row. A modest bookshelf sat behind the desk, but otherwise, the room contained little else. Mother Leanne walked straight to her desk and placed the small number of items within the drawers, eventually leaving it barren. Looking over to the Hunter, who had closed the door with his foot and a small frown, she pointed to the now empty desk.
Not having to be told, Tobias gently laid Loch's form on the desk, which was big enough to keep his entire form suspended. He made sure that Loch's head didn't slam into the hardwood desk when he put him down before he took a step back and looked over at the woman on the other side. Mother Leanne, seeing the Hunter's care when placing the boy down, retrieved her frown and adopted her normal emotionless face.
A tapping sound of something hitting glass rang throughout the room, capturing both of their attention. Looking to the left, Tobias saw a familiar bird striking its beak upon the window outside. Mother Leanne was the first to react and with a disgruntled sigh, she walked over to the window and removed the latch, swinging it wide. The bird backed up and then dived through the window, landing on the desk next to Loch's unconscious form. Jack the raven, with his grey mohawk, let out several caws near the boy's head, as if he was calling out to him. With talons curved, Jack touched Loch's gaunt cheek, pushing against it gently but seeing no reaction, the bird appeared to deflate. His wings fluttered as he trotted back and forth on the table, in a bird's rendition of nervous pacing.
Tobias found the actions of the Raven truly odd, but endearing. Jack turned its beady eyes to Mother Leanne, who returned to the other side of the desk and cawed at her. As if understanding the bird, Mother Leanne frowned at the noisy Raven and said, "He'll be fine. Don't henpeck the boy so much, he'll grow up to be just like those soft, noble children." Jack appeared to take offence at the woman's words and flared his wings to either side, cawing out again, for some reason, Tobias appeared to look slightly offended by the woman's words as well, but he didn't have the stones to retort to the woman like the bird did. Mother Leanne merely scoffed and wagged a finger at the bird while she said, "Stop your nonsense or I'll send you back out. If you dislike seeing the boy in pain so much, then be silent and stop distracting me."
Paying no more attention to the bird, Mother Leanne turned to face the bookshelf behind her. She took out several books in quick succession, but only half moving them out of their spots on the shelves. Tobias, seeing the woman's action, turned around and faced the door swiftly without a word. Even though Mother Leanne wasn't facing the Hunter, she somehow saw his action and her tight scarred lips rose on one side for a brief moment. After moving the books out of position and then placing them back into place several more times, Mother Leanne stopped and watched as a metallic click was soon released from the bookshelf.
The bookshelf split in two and, as if on tracks, slid to either side, revealing a hole big enough for a person to walk through. Hearing the noise, the hunter couldn't help but turn around. The split bookshelf revealed a flat panel made of golden flames, the shape of a door. Mother Leanne lifted her hand, which was now covered in similar colored flames again, and pushed her hand towards the flame wall. Once the two made contact, both flames seemed to join for a moment, as if tasting each other. Appearing to like the taste on Mother Leanne's hand, the flame wall flashed for a second before moving to either side like a set of curtains, revealing a small stone room behind it. Lining the walls of the room were strange glyphs, colored in purple, shiny ink. Tobias could almost feel the repulsing power that radiated from those glyphs. Inside the room were several closed chests, a couple of shelves with an assortment of odd items, and in the center of the room, looked to be an armor stand with a sheet covering the contents.
The Hunter, seeing the sight, wheeled around to face the office doorway as Mother Leanne's footsteps echoed on the stone floor of the little chamber. 'Mum always warned about peeking at a maiden's lair.' Tobias smirked to himself. He stood with his back to Mother Leanne for several minutes, hearing the sound of her rummaging through things before the sound of the Bookshelf sliding back into place made him turn back around. Mother Leanne now stood next to Loch's head, with a vial of liquid that was pitch black but looked to have several shining motes of light drifting within it. "Give me a hand here, Stalker. I'll need you to hold the boy's head up while I make him drink this," Mother Leanne said as she swung the vial in her hand back and forth.
Tobias didn't agree straight away, as he looked between the potion and the boy several times. With an arched brow and his trimmed moustache curved in a frown, he said, "Maiden, you saw the state of the boy's core. His seed has been forcefully activated, no healing tinctures can help with that." Mother Leanne gave the man an icy glare before she responded, "Do I need a little Hunter like you who hasn't even reached Meta to educate me on what the boy needs?" The middle-aged man felt a chill run down his spine from the other women's tone as he said, "Of course not, Maiden. I just..." With a chop of her hand in the air, Tobias stopped mid-sentence. "This is not some healing tincture brewed by those smelly alchemists. This is a Fiend level Hunter's Nightmare."
Tobias felt like many things he had witnessed and dealt with this night surprised him, but the women's last words jolted him to his core.