“Hey Sin?” Ril asked, eyes closed, “Do you remember what Siorraid said?”

[Of course,] Sin replied haughtily.

“Remind me, please.” Ril spoke, his voice deadly calm.

[For your first mission you will be tasked with infiltrating a specific building without being identified and collecting as much information as you can from the residents therein...Would you like me to continue, or--]

“Please.” Ril said softly.

Sin sent exasperation across their telepathic link and what vaguely felt like an eye roll.

[A positive identification of you will lead to failure of the--]

“Enough.” Ril interrupted his eyes snapping open, a faint sheen of orange light peeking through his contact lenses. “Technically we have already been detected when the Professor noticed us before, but that isn’t what the mission is about. We fail if we get identified or captured. Key word: identified. And we know that all White Lily operatives use shadows to hide themselves.”

Ril popped his knuckles, calling his clone while channeling mana into his new ability. Frost formed around him, completely covering his face. The ice fused to the cloth of his hood, forming an icy mask. Two sharp icy horns sprouted from the front of his mask. Ice cracked and popped, the sounds muted by Muffle, as it molded over his leather armor. Cruel looking gauntlets covered in spikes encased his fists, while his feet were imprisoned in sleek ice.

Within the mask, he pooled shadows, preventing anyone from glimpsing his true appearance through the slits he used to breathe and see.

“In that case,” Ril whispered, misty breath gushed out from the mask. “I don’t see why we can’t hop in and teach these brats a lesson.”

Sin hissed, annoyed at the sudden temperature drop of his perch.

[What happened to the bullying intensifying due to your intervention?]

“That is still true,” Ril replied coolly, “but I don’t plan on just giving them a slap on the wrist, or a healthy dose of fear. No, what I am going to do is anything but healthy. I am going to take everything away from them.”

[Really now. Why the sudden bloodlust?] Sin asked, his tail curling curiously.

“I am calm, but he looks like a damn hero,” Ril spat. “He is no hero. He is the opposite of a hero. Also...what’s to say those kids will stop when they grow up. Their victims will just become countless.”

[And you are the arbitrator of justice?]

Ril scoffed, “As if I could do justice to...that concept. No, I just recognize the injustice, and I am going to snip it at the bud.”

Then, Ril hesitated, a hint of doubt cropping up. “But, uhm, Sin? Should I? I’m suddenly unsure. I know I don’t always make the best decisions, and uhm, the plan I came up with is...cruel.”

[Oho, most definitely,] Sin chuckled wickedly. [Ruin them Ril. Instill in these monsters a fear so primordial that the mere thought of you drives them to stupor.]

Sin hopped off Ril’s shoulder, diving into Ril’s shadow. The shadow rippled like the surface of a pond as the cat disappeared within its depths.

[Go! I will distract the venerable Professor. Good hunting.]

* * *

Ril stepped forward, and dropped both Muffle and Vanish on himself. In a flash he appeared in all his frozen glory in between Hauke and Alex. Blueish mist wafting up from his Frost Armor.

His clone stood invisible at his side. It wouldn’t do for the children to recognize him via its presence.

“So this is what the youths of today are like. How far you have fallen.” Ril rumbled, intentionally pitch shifting his voice to be slightly deeper than it normally would be. Unlike when the fat bully did it, Ril didn’t lower his voice so far that it resulted in embarrassment.

Alex yelped, taking several stumbling steps back as shock and fear warred across his face. A fraction of a second later he noticed that although intimidating, the icy figure was nearly a foot shorter than he was. In a flash, he regained his confidence, lifting his burning sword up and resuming his previous position. He pointed his sword at Ril haughtily.

“Who are you? Where did you come from? What are you doing here?” Alex challenged, despite his outwardly calm demeanor, his words betrayed how on edge he was by Ril’s sudden appearance.

Ril cocked his head to the side. Behind him, the younger kids gasped. He spared them a fraction of a glance before turning back towards the main threat.

“You act like a hero,” he intoned, “you wield a hero’s blade,” he gestured to the blazing sword, “but you are no hero. You do not deserve the power that you have been given. I am here to strip you of your strength.”

“Ha, ha! What are you talking about?” Alex laughed, and brandished his blade. His two buddies saw this, and stepped forwards, their own confidence restored. “You are the spy that old Erdell was freaking out about. I’m going to chop you up, and hand you to Erdell on a silver platter.”

Ril summoned two tiny Flames with Remote Casting that hovered in the eye slits of his mask. He made them flash once, before letting them fade away.

Ril paused, looking directly into Alex’s eyes. He saw the glint of greed in the kids eyes. No remorse. No guilt.

Step 1, why did I even bother..., Ril thought.

“Spy? Of course not.” Ril said, shaking his head in disappointment. “I am no spy.”

“Oh yeah? Then what are you? An ice elemental?” Alex scoffed. His girls tittered behind him.

Ril smiled underneath his mask, then in a stroke of brilliance, molded the ice of the mask to form a cruel grin full of sharp, jutting teeth.

“I am your worst nightmare.”

Ril charged, reaching out with his mind and crushed Alex’s mana within a Mana Prison. The weight of mountains slammed into Alex’s mind. With a cry, Alex collapsed, a blood vessel in his eye rupturing instantly at the insane pressure. His sword fell from his hand, its flames snuffed out, but a bare wisp of smoke rising from its once heated edge.

The fat kid met Ril’s charge, matching it with his own lumbering steps. Although he had a wooden practice sword strapped to his waist he didn’t bother drawing it. Instead he let fly a wild haymaker right at Ril’s face.

Compared to Saddie, it was like the kid was fighting underwater.

Ril dashed left, smoothly flowing around the punch. With surgical precision he supported the boy's arm as it reached the end of its travel and launched an uppercut to snap the arm at the elbow.

At the last moment, Ril winced, pulling his punch and opening his fist. He grabbed the elbow, securing the arm in his grip. Instinct born from repetition had guided his fists, but it wouldn’t do to cripple the boy for life. He was here to crush their confidence, not kill them.

Instead, he spun around the fat boy, and twisted.

Pop

The fat boy howled, his dislocated arm flopping uselessly, as he tripped over his feet and fell to the ground.

Ril rolled with him. He wasn’t done yet.

On the ground, Ril jerked the kids dislocated shoulder roughly, causing him to gasp in pain, tears springing to his eyes.

Step two...the unpleasant part, Ril thought with a sigh.

Lightning fast, Ril grabbed his face summoning a shard of ice inside of the kids mouth. He choked, his jaw hyperextended as the ice forced his teeth apart. Using the fine control of his magic that Saddie had drilled into him, Ril manipulated the magically summoned ice so that spikes arose from the chunk and pointed at the base of the teeth.

Mercilessly, Ril placed both arms on the back of the kids head and with an almighty heave slammed his armored knee into the bottom of the kids chin, while simultaneously pulling his head down.

Teeth shattered. Bone fragments went flying as the kid’s head ricocheted, his eyes unfocused. Bloody drool leaked out from between mutilated gums.

Ril rotated the boy around, and pulled the ice from the kids bloody mouth allowing it to dissipate as tooth fragments spilled out of his mouth.

But Ril was now in a compromising position; prone on the floor entangled in the fat boys limbs.

The skinny lackey who had been right behind his fat friend reached him. He raised his wooden sword in a two handed grip and slammed it down onto Ril’s head.

And now to convince them that I am someone far more dangerous than little old Ril...

Just before it could land, Ril dismissed the body that was entangled with the fat boy, and made his second body appear; both Vanish and Muffle fading. At the same time, he resummoned his clone at his side, concealing it with Vanish and Muffle.

True Teleportation was a really uncommon ability after all.

Unprepared for Ril’s sudden disappearance, and unable to stop his strike, the skinny kid slammed his sword into the fat kid's shoulder. An audible pop resounded as the limb reseated into its socket, its owner gurgled, his eyes rolling as he finally lost consciousness.

Ril clenched a frost laden fist. A split second of consideration later, Ril reoriented his strike from a lethal liver shot, to a direct hit at the kids groin.

Like a comet from the heavens, Ril’s fist crushed through the soft flesh.

The tall kid let out of mournful keen, blood spewing out of his mouth from where he had bitten his tongue. He keeled over, his legs unwilling to support his weight, as he curled up, clutching his mutilated gonads as vomit gushed out of a hyperextended jaw.

Ril reached down, and repeated the treatment that the fat kid received mere moments before.

Teeth shattered, leaving a bloody mess behind. The kid shivered, falling unconscious. Ril double checked that the kid wouldn’t die, then rolled off him.

Ril repeated the teleportation trick, standing upright while facing the remaining two girls. A tooth fragment crunched underneath his icy boot.

“M-monster!” the brunette screamed. She fell back, horror in her eyes as she pointed at him as if such an act would ward him away.

[Ironic, no?] a soft chuckling played through his head.

He ignored Sin and stepped towards the two girls, his clone charging ahead of him.

The blonde girl determinedly raised her palm. A ball of fire coalesced in her open digits. It smoldered for a moment before it shot towards Ril as fast as an arrow.

Ril scoffed, ‘teleporting’ off to the side, the fireball harmlessly detonating somewhere over his shoulder.

He slapped aside the girl's hand, and ignored the flash of fear in the blonde her eyes, as he snapped a quick punch at her throat causing her to cough, opening her mouth in a desperate bid for air.

Moments later, broken teeth fell like dice to the floor.

Ril let her fall, turning to the remaining girl, only to receive a faceful of acid. Smoke rose from his skin, his eyes blinded, but Ril hadn't spent that last month being brutalized by Saddie for nothing. He easily compartmentalized the pain and dashed forwards, healing himself in the process and using Sense to get a rough feel of where the girl was standing.

“Stop, pl-please, just st-stop.” The brunette was crying, large tears welling in her eyes and falling down her cheeks. She held her arms over her head protectively, peeking out from between the limbs to stare fearfully at Ril.

His armor was a mess. His face mask steaming, the acid globule soaking into his cloak which released sulphurous black smoke in a corona around his head. His gauntlets were covered in blood and vomit while his boots were worse.

Ril slowed down, wincing slightly as he looked upon the distraught girl.

“I’m not with them, I just happen to be here. Don’t hurt me!” She cried, desperate.

Ril stopped, standing in front of her, but not attacking. A sense of exhaustion creeped over him, which went above and beyond the mana drain from combat.

“I-I can make sure that they don’t...no that no one bullies Hauke and the others ever again. Please you don’t have to do this. I’ll do that if you leave me out of it. Please...” The girl smiled hopefully. Somehow she managed to look up at him through her lashes even though she was taller than him.

She slowly lowered her arms, clasping them in front of her chest. Ril noticed that the posture made her modest cleavage more apparent.

He tore his gaze upwards, disgusted in himself.

Ril considered her words. Now that he had stopped it was so much harder to follow through with the plan. With her looking up at him so pathetically. It was one thing to crush another while they were attacking you, but it was quite another to hurt a defenseless begging girl, even if the plan called for it.

“I had nothing to do with the bullying. Let me go and I can make sure it stays that way.” She said, some of her previous confidence returning.

“Ahh,” Ril breathed out, his heart hardened to the girl's plight, and his resolve strengthened. A wave of frost jetted out of the slit in his mask as he released a pent up breath. It engulfed them both in the freezing vapors.

The girl quailed.

He leaned in. His pitch black slits lining up to her eyes. “But, you laughed.”

Immediately, she clenched her jaw closed, and rabbitted.

Ril lunged after her, grabbing her by the shoulder and twisting around. She hunched her shoulders, bringing her arms up to protect her head. Her jaw still clenched in an effort to prevent what happened to her friends.

Ril kneed her in the gut. She choked back a gasp, her jaw riveted shut, while one of her arms went down to protect her core.

He tried punching her throat, but her arm got in the way, preventing the strike from being decisive.

I hate this...

Ril stepped back, then, he torqued his body, slamming an armored fist into her shoulder. As soon as the blow landed, he unleashed a brutal uppercut into the girls protected head. Without breaking stride, spun on his heel and delivered a roundhouse kick straight into the cleft of her neck.

It was perhaps a testament to Ril’s weakness that nothing broke in the girl from the perfectly executed combo. Despite that, she stumbled forwards, her arms falling from their defensive positions.

Lightning fast, Ril jabbed her nose. Blood rushed out, and she finally opened her mouth, desperate for air. Almost sorrowfully, he grabbed her face with his free hand and summoned a shard of ice inside of her mouth.

Her eyes bugged out as the ice forced her jaw to open wider. All her defenses useless against a skilled combatant. Time seemed to stop as they came face to face.

Tears welled in her eyes. Begging him for mercy.

She wouldn’t get mercy. She was complicit, just like the others. She didn’t deserve the power she lorded over others.

Still he hesitated, his own words unable to convince himself.

Follow the plan, Ril. he thought to himself. That’s all you need to do.

Ril took a deep breath, centering himself.

Then he twisted his entire frame, leveraging his meager strength to unleash a brutal uppercut into the girl's chin. Her teeth cracked on the hard ice. Bone fragments shot out of her mouth as her eyes rolled up into her skull. She was unconscious before she hit the ground, her smile ruined.

He let her fall. Checking once more that none of the kids would die. Then he turned to the final enemy.

Alex was sweating, he hadn’t shifted during the entire fight, even though he could have if he had wanted to. Instead he chose to hunch over on his knees, his eyes bulged, veins standing on his forehead as he tried to force the mana in his body to move. To flow into the sword that he held in his hands.

Like moving a mountain or stopping the wind he failed.

Ril stood implacably over the boy, the anger from before had long since faded. The emptiness that replaced it began to fill. Not with rage, or satisfaction. But with a deep exhaustion. Suddenly, Ril wanted nothing more than to go home, eat dinner with Eren and Hauke, and pretend that this day hadn’t happened.

With a sigh, Ril kicked the boy. Alex fell backwards, dropping his sword in the process. He glared at Ril.

“How?” he asked, “give it back!”

Ril cocked his head, “Your power? You don’t deserve to wield it. As easily as you gained it, I can take it away.”

Anger, disgust, hate, and fear warred across his features. “You are just a pawn. That noble hired you to do this! Despicable leeches, destroying anything that they can’t control.” Alex spat.

“You are wrong. I will strip all those unworthy of their power.” Ril intoned emotionlessly. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the fallen sword to his hands with a deft use of Telekinesis. He didn’t care anymore, just following the steps of the plan to the letter. A worried look passed over Alex’s face.

Then, with one quick motion Ril snapped the sword over his knee.

“You bastard!” Alex screamed.

He climbed to his feet then lunged at Ril, throwing a desperate punch aimed for Ril’s face.

Almost mournfully, Ril sidestepped the sloppy strike.

Compared to Zed’s lightning fast punches, this was almost pathetic.

Evenly, he stepped into the kids guard and jabbed the kid twice in the stomach. Alex coughed, but bulled through the hits and tried to knee Ril in between his legs.

Not this again,

Frowning, Ril leaned away from the telegraphed strike. His strength was holding him back.

Ril centered himself, then he explosively twisted his hips, rocketing his right gauntlet into the kid’s solar plexus. Alex stumbled back, folding over and wheezing, his mouth flopping like a beached fish. While Alex was incapacitated, Ril repeated the treatment that he had done to each of the other kids.

By the time he was done, Alex lay senseless on the floor. His smile ruined.

Ril straightened. Looking around at the carnage.

Beyond the ring of bodies, the rest of the students of the school stood frozen. It had barely been more than a minute since the fight began, and most of them hadn’t had the time to fully register what was happening. Some where only just now lowering their wooden weapons, turning away from their spars to watch the beatdown with incredulity.

Ril’s body ached. He was cold all over, his muscles unable to warm up because of his Frost Armor. In addition, his mana reserves were low. A headache creeping past his temples, a sure sign of mana exhaustion. Hiding all day coupled with this short but intense fight had nearly drained him dry.

The plan wasn’t finished though, so Ril pushed down the exhaustion, thinking about the next step.

While he stood over the bodies, Ril sent his invisible clone to stand behind Hauke.

“Damn, does this happen every day here? Who is that guy?” He whispered to Hauke through a modified Muffle. Before Hauke could answer the clone took off running. Sprinting as far and as fast as it could to escape the training hall.

That’s done, what was the next step again?

Hauke jumped, momentary confusion racking his features before he whispered back, “I don’t know, I thought it was you...” he trailed off, a look of adoration on his face.

Just as Hauke said this, Sin’s tired voice pushed into Ril’s mind.

[And, that’s it. He noticed you, good luck getting out.]

Ril nodded to himself. Now the final stage of the plan.

He turned his visible body to the young kids, flaring Flames in his eyes one last time, as he intoned in a forcefully deep voice, trying with all his might to prevent his exhaustion from showing through.

“Hero’s elevate others. Not the other way around. Remember that.”

Hauke and his two friends looked up to him, one pair of eyes adoring, another admiring, the third looking slightly horrified.

Just then, the doors to the training hall slammed open, the torches along the walls flared, making the room uncomfortably bright.

“AHA! I found you, you little wench!” The Professor roared from the doorway. His body was wreathed in flame, like a human torch. When he saw the bodies scattered around Ril’s feet, his eyes bugged out, the fires around him intensifying.

Ril turned to the Professor, “You raise rats, not lions. I am disappointed in you.”

The Professor let out an unintelligible scream, it was unclear whether he had heard him or not, but Ril was beyond caring.

Follow the plan.

The Professor squatted down, the action out of place on his old withered frame. Fire gathered in each of his palms as a manic grin showing too many teeth lit up the old man’s face. Then with a roar, he jumped, his body rocketing across the nearly fifty meters of intervening space.

With one last glance at Hauke, Ril dismissed himself, turning his attention to his clone which had just managed to jump out of one of the School’s windows. Out of habit, he resummoned another body at his side.

In the distance he heard a crash of breaking stone. The torches behind him flared, growing to ten times their usual size. Waves of heat billowed out through the open window. Hopefully, the Professor didn’t harm any of the students in his rage.

Ril quickly dismissed his Frost Armor, cloaking himself in comfortable Shadows with the last of his mana, then turned away from the building and raced to the training hall where he had received this mission.

Only once he was safe within the walls did he suck in a deep shuddering breath. After catching his breath, he stepped deeper into the building.

Siorraid was waiting for him inside.

“So? How did it go?” Siorraid asked, a merry smile on his face.

The git knew that the Professor would react like a madman.

Ril threw his mentor a dirty look, pulling out his notebook and handing it to him.

“The Professor is insane, like completely. His school is just as crazy. There was this ice dude who beat up a couple of kids. When that happened the Professor went insane, I left before I saw the conclusion to the fight. Oh, but I managed to scout the place before things went of the deep end, and I wrote down in this notebook a bunch of kids who might be a good match for the White Lily.”

Siorraid raised an eyebrow, “Really? It seems like you had a productive morning.”

Ril rubbed the back of his head, “Uh, yeah. Is that everything. I mean regarding the test. I was wondering if I could have the rest of the day off.”

Siorraid smiled waving the notebook playfully, “If you are satisfied with the information you have collected then you are free to go.”

Oh, I am not going back there..., Ril thought internally.

Externally, he just nodded. “Bye! See you tomorrow!”

Siorraid waved absentmindedly, his attention focused on the notebook Ril had left behind.