14/07/2026, Spain

“C’mon, Paola? Why are ruining my day like this?” Javier groaned theatrically.

“The client did that.”

“They pulled the offer?”

“Oh no. It’s still open. They just said no to you specifically after they got your details. They didn’t think a Wand Fighter could get the job done.”

“That seems to be a recurring thing…”

“Yeah, but don’t worry,” the Guild clerk smiled, “you just need to prove yourself.”

“I can’t do that if no one will give me a Quest.”

“Perhaps… a few pro bono…”

“I cannot feed myself on charity.”

Paola raised a brow.

“I cannot feed myself by being charitable.”

“Well, you won’t be able to feed yourself at this rate.”

“Damn soldiers guarding all the stores,” he muttered.

Paola’s eyes widened darting over to the soldiers stationed in key areas of the Guild’s front lobby, which was once a luxury hotel.

“It looks like I’ll be sneaking into a spawn zone again. Thanks for that, Paola. You are a pretty woman, but you have just sent me to my untimely death.” He solemnly made the sign of the cross over his chest. “I wonder… what would Jesus do in your position?”

“He’d feed you fish and bread, then turn your water into wine. But, alas, I am no Jesus and so I shall have to tell you to move for the next person in line.”

Javier glanced back, then looked down.

The next in line was a dirty, disheveled girl, 8-ish, maybe 10? Hard to tell with how malnourished the street urchins always looked.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

Yes… he had to remember that there were those less fortunate than him.

He smiled at the girl and got a two-fingered salute in return.

That only made him smile wider.

He nodded his head in respect before dipping out the front door before the soldiers really paid attention to him.

“What to do? What to do?”

He sat down at an empty table a short distance from the Guild entrance. The broad umbrella provided a welcome respite from the sun’s heat. Black was perhaps not the right clothing to wear at such a time. Something lighter would’ve been better. Or would it? He remembered that there were competing theories. Ah, to go back to the simpler days when people worried about pointless things.

He had been young in the days before the spires. On this kind of day he would’ve been pondering what flavor gelato to get. Now, he was braving a monster infested area against going hungry for the third consecutive day.

“Damn soldiers… I don’t care how hungry I am… I’ll never sign up just for some canned soup,” he muttered.

His eyes scanned the area. There were a lot of soldiers and fighting-type people around, but one could never be too careful even this deep in human-controlled territory. Much like the Inquisition, monsters could pop out at any time and in any place.

Vigilance dictated that he keep a hand on one of the wands holstered at his hip.

He spent several minutes mulling over his anti-starvation options when the girl urchin came stomping out of the Guild and right up to him.

Brown eyes that seemed over-large for her gaunt face stared at him through a curtain of matted black hair with an intensity that actually caused him to lean back in his chair.

“You don’t look like much,” the girl said after a long moment.

“Pot,” he pointed at her, “kettle,” he pointed at himself.

The girl blinked.

He faltered.

“What I mean to say is that you shouldn’t be throwing stones in your glass house, young miss. Also, that is very rude. Please, apologize.”

“The lady said you were weird, but that you could help me,” the girl growled.

“I’m sorry, but the lady is a terrible liar.”

“She said you needed money.”

“Or gold, silver, cash, coins or a bag of food. Although, Universal Points is the best… as always.”

“If you help me I can give you that.”

He wanted to laugh but something in the girl’s stare made him believe.

“Well then… what is the job?” he decided to humor her for a bit. It wasn’t like he was going to be able to sneak into the nearest spawn zone during the day.

“The Ultras killed my family. I want you to kill them. I want revenge. I need to avenge them.”

Javier blinked.

Something tickled his senses.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a… Quest?”

The girl nodded.

Opportunity!

The girl looked around before leaning forward and opening her tattered jacket.

He stared at the handful of jewelry she quickly took out of her pocket.

“Put that away. I’m not too interested in that anyway. Points are the best. Tell me more about this Quest.”

“Okay, but you have to tell me what your class is first.”

“It is a deal.”

He stuck a hand out.

The girl spat in hers before shaking his.

“That part was entirely unnecessary,” he grimaced.

15/07/2026

The girl, Iria, led him through a series of twisting alleys.

Vagrant-types eyed him with a mixture of fear and hunger.

Oddly enough, they ignored the tiny 8 to 10-year old.

They stopped at a rather dank and dirty dead end.

It occurred to Javier that this was the perfect ambush spot.

“You know I’m poor, right? And no one else will be able to get my wands to work? Maybe if they have my class, but I’m pretty sure it’s really rare. Haven’t seen anyone else using wands in the entire city.”

“How will you make them pay?”

“Well, assuming you can prove to me that they are the ones that killed your family… I will set them on fire. Enough fire kills most things.”

“Show me.”

An imperious child.

He shook his head and drew the wand from his left hip. He pointed it at a pile of detritus. “Gasoline.”

A small globule splashed over the garbage.

He drew the wand from his right. “Fire.”

A small orb flew out not quite as fast as a bullet.

The garbage pile ignited.

No sense in using up mana and wand charges for a tiny demonstration.

“That’s not enough.”

“Well… obviously I can make a bigger one. I can do a wide-angle spray, a mist cloud, high-pressure stream and others.”

“How big?”

“Really big.”

“Those are weird weapons. They look like someone just cut them out of tree,” Iria squinted, “kinda like pirate guns…”

“Technically they are wands.”

She looked at him expectantly.

“You know, like in Harry Potter. When I was still a mage and a fighter I thought that here I am doing magic… why don’t I have a wand like Harry. It was one of my favorite stories from before.”

She looked at him blankly.

“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

She shook her head.

“What about wizards? No? Okay, well, they do magic spells, but they sometimes use wands… or staffs. Anyways, I really wanted it so one day I leveled up went into the spires and was a Wand Fighter. No idea how that happened. Spires barely gave me anything to go on, but enough that I knew to carve these babies,” he twirled his wands like a gunslinger, “and put the spells into them.”

She regarded him dubiously.

Javier threw his hands up. “Whatever. Don’t care about my origin story,” he muttered. “Well… your turn.”

“I’ll share the Quest.”

Congratulations!

You have been offered a Quest.

Aid Iria Soldado in her Quest to avenge her murdered family.

Success Parameters: Kill the Ultras Members Responsible.

Failure Parameters: Any Ultras Escape. Your death. Iria’s Death.

Reward: 10000 Universal Points

Bonus Rewards: 50 Universal Points for each Ultras Member killed.

“Jesus… that’s dark. The spires can’t lie. I believe you and I’m sorry for what they did to your family. Okay. I’ll do it.” A chime and subsequent notification accompanied Javier’s acceptance. “Where was the last place you saw them at?”

“My home—” Iria’s eyes turned misty, but she fought it off while he looked on uncomfortably. “It doesn’t matter. I can track them. They can never escape me… I’ll follow them until they’re all dead.”

“I guess I’ll follow you then.”

19/7/2026

It took longer than Javier expected.

Iria led him to the northern section of the city. There were a few close calls over the days with soldiers and monsters, but they managed to avoid them all.

The girl seemed to have an uncanny sense that led her to take the perfect routes. To know when to stop and remain silent and when to dash from one alley to another.

A thought occurred to him as they followed the trail.

How did a large, loud, violent group like the Ultras evade the soldier patrols?

An unfortunate answer greeted him when they finally caught up.

At least some of the soldiers were working with the Ultras.

Thick as thieves the two groups drank, brawled and whored in the courtyard of a mansion.

Huge bonfires lit the entire space up and left little to the imagination.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t be watching this?”

“No. I need to see them pay. Go… avenge my family!” she hissed.

They crouched behind overgrown bushes in front of another mansion on the opposite side of the street.

“No monsters in this area,” he mused. “They’ve been working with the soldiers for some time… probably.” He regarded the girl. “When they— uh— attacked your family. No soldiers came?”

The girl looked at him like he was stupid.

“Of course… I know that, but what I’m trying to understand if the soldiers knew about it and purposefully turned away.”

The girl gestured at the partying groups.

She definitely regarded him as a moron.

“And you said your house was in the northern part. Maybe not all soldiers are complicit then,” he sighed.

It sounded like a mess.

Then again he never liked the soldiers.

It made sense that there was an overlap between them and the gangs.

“Okay… what about the… uh… ladies of the night?”

The girl shrugged.

“They might not be doing that by choice.”

“Don’t harm them.”

“Yes, thank you for the advice. It didn’t occur to me until you voiced it,” he scowled down at the girl. Then felt bad and tried to smile. “Fine… you hide here. I’ll sneak around and get up on the roof. Then I’ll burn only the bad guys.”

“I’m going with you.”

“Nope.”

“I have a Skill… it might keep the ladies safe.”

“You have a— you’re only 8 to 10 years old.”

“I got it when my family—”

He raised a hand. “Got it… let’s go then.”

He took the lead this time.

It was ridiculously easy.

The bad guys hadn’t set a guard.

Everyone was getting drunk and having their fun.

It didn’t take long for them to get to the back of the house and climb up to the roof.

The tiered structure made it relatively easy even for the girl with his help.

“Okay, I’m ready. Do your Skill,” Javier aimed.

“Mark of Vengeance,” Iria growled.

An angry red symbol appeared on each Ultras’ forehead.

It hurt to look at.

Despite how brightly it glowed he couldn’t have copied it had he tried.

Something about the marks rendered them incomprehensible to his normal human eyes.

The women remain unmarked. As did the soldiers.

The latter would be a problem.

“Kill them! Avenge my family!” Iria roared.

“Shit!”

Javier said the magic word.

A wide spray erupted from his left wand drenching everyone in the courtyard as he swept it over them.

Some of the liquid splattered through the bonfires catching those unfortunate enough to be nearby.

To his relief, Iria’s mark, or rather, the lack thereof kept the women safe.

They ran screaming into the night.

The ultras that hadn’t been ignited looked around frantically.

They stumbled and swayed in an alcohol-addled daze.

Always have a watch.

Even he knew that.

Unfortunately, the lack of marks had also protected the soldiers.

They grabbed their weapons and were already searching the mansion’s rooftops.

“Get down!” he urged Iria.

“I need to see! Hurry up and burn them!”

“Jesus—”

He aimed his right wand.

“Fire!”

Unlike the gasoline, the fire didn’t have quite the range to reach in spray form.

He went with a thin, high-pressure stream of flame that behaved more like a water from a hose than actual fire.

He swept it across the Ultras and the soldiers.

The latter remained safe.

The former… screamed.

“Iria! Can you stop your Skill?”

Indiscriminate gun fire raked the rooftops.

The darkness and the drunkenness helped, but all it’d take was one lucky hit. He didn’t have a shield spell.

“No! I have to avenge my family!”

“It’s done! The Ultras are burning! I have to get the soldiers or they’ll kill us!”

Iria closed her eyes and grit her teeth.

After a moment she swayed and would’ve slid down the roof had he not used his leg to hold her in place.

He cursed.

Though, that probably meant the Skill was off.

Such a powerful Skill… it made sense that it’d take a lot out of the 8 to 10-year old.

“Light!” a soldier pointed. “There they are!”

Javier squinted as the bright beam of light blinded him.

He aimed his fire wand in the general vicinity of the soldier and willed a wide spray of flames.

The soldier was close enough now and he was still drenched in gasoline.

The light cut out as the soldier screamed and dropped to the ground rolling around in vain.

Bullets sent chips of terracotta flying in Javier’s face.

A stream of curses flew from his mouth as fast as he blindly sent gasoline and fire pouring down on the soldiers.

He didn’t stop until the gun fire fell silent.

Iria came to. “You got them all,” she said with certainty.

They descended.

The stench of burning gasoline mingled terribly with that of cooked human flesh.

“This is no place for a little girl.” He looked at his handiwork with complicated feelings. He had killed before. People trying to kill him. But never this much and in such a terrible way.

Iria stood and stared at the burning flames.

Suddenly, a man of fire came roaring toward them.

“Get back!” Javier pulled Iria behind him and emptied his fire wand off everything.

The man finally crumbled a few feet before reaching them.

He pushed Iria back.

The girl was mumbling something.

He listened.

“Papa, Mama, Gael, Auntie Fatima, Uncle Antonio, Alma, David… you are avenged…” she sniffled, “did I do good?”

“Yup… you did.” He didn’t know what else to say.

They watched the fires burn until nothing was left but smoldering ashes.

Once people, now charred, unrecognizable.

Iria suddenly dashed toward a pile of equipment partially scorched by the fires.

“Hey! Careful! It’s hot!”

She ignored him as she grabbed and sifted through the equipment.

He rushed over. Saw her grimace and hiss with pain as she grabbed too hot weapons.

An axe, a machete and a knife.

“Gael’s, Papa’s and Mama’s…”

His magical sense was weak since he wasn’t a full mage-type and yet he thought there was something in those three weapons.

Something to do with the girl’s class that she had refused to divulge?

A legacy of vengeance?

The chime and spires voice sounded in his ears.

A Quest completed and plenty of Universal Points to eat well for a long time.

Now his only problem was getting away with killing a bunch of soldiers.

He was pretty sure that the rest wouldn’t care that they had been working with a violent gang.

In this case his relative anonymity worked to his advantage.

Hopefully, they’d attribute it to a monster or a turf war.

“What are you going to do now? I can take you to one of the—”

“No. My family has been avenged, but there are other bad guys out there doing bad things.”

“Wait? Do you still have a Quest? To… uh… avenge people? Like, an ongoing on?”

Iria nodded.

Javier went through moral and ethical considerations in a few seconds.

More Quests meant more points, more levels and a better life.

He’d be killing people, but they were scum and since Iria’s class took out the ambiguity on who is guilty and who is innocent then he should be in the clear, right?

He remembered school lessons from long ago.

Even the Church said that war was just, sometimes. It was, like, in the Bible. Probably?

He had seen Priests and Nuns going out and fighting monsters.

Hell he had heard the stories about how the Vatican guards got all badass with their pikes.

Apparently, they were keeping everyone and everything out of the Vatican City without problems.

Not to mention it’d be a dick move to let an 8 to 10-year old girl go out by herself on a Quest for avenging.

“Alright,” he decided, “I’m in.”

Iria blinked up at him in confusion.

“Your Quest. I’ll help you avenge… er… as long as they’re bad guys and they deserve it.”

Iria gave him a curt nod before heading out into the dark street.

Javier followed.

The acrid stench of burned flesh wafted after them on the wind.