Chapter Text
En, head of the En family. The most powerful and prominent group of sorcerers in the magic world. En being the most infamous of all. His mushroom magic is unparalleled in all aspects.
Everyone knew of them. Except those who didn't care. You, falling into the latter category.
In the small sorcerer town you live in, you're very well known for your magic. Using it to help those who can pay for it.
It has many uses; your magic. The dark smoke that emanates from your fingertips contains Decomposition Magic. A fairly uncommon magic type.
What sets you apart from other decomp magic users is your ability to reverse its effects.
In example: if you were to use your magic on a rotting, dead body, you could reverse the decomposition, turning it into a fresh corpse. Of course, you're also capable of the opposite. If you were to use it on a living person, you could turn their insides into a rotting mush, killing them from the inside out. Or you could rot their arms and legs off. If you wanted, you could also just rot their entire body, which would inevitably cause their demise.
Your magic is also very useful for disposing of trash by turning it into ash or mush. Lol
Those who seek you out hire you for many things. Assassination and/or disposal (of organic and inorganic material), Partner contract disposal (for those in undesirable sorcerer partnerships), and corpse identification (by reverting decomposition) are the most prominent reasons people may contact you.
You're sort of a stickler when it comes to the price of your services. An equal or greater trade of money or something of value must be made in exchange for your powers. Because of this, you have amassed quite a large sum of money and valuable magic items, making you somewhat of a target for thieves. Not that they are ever very successful.
Another way you use your magic is something you call "Bog production". A useful thief, pest, etc. deterrent. You put a bit of highly concentrated smoke in a spot an intruder is likely to step and whatever makes contact with the spot rots on contact. But since this ability uses a lot of smoke, you use it very sparingly.
A loud knock at your door interrupts you from your evening routine. Wrapping a fluffy robe around yourself, you prepare to answer the door with an attitude.
A tall man with red cross tattoos over his eyes is standing in the entryway. His marks prompt you to roll your eyes exaggeratedly.
"What do you want now?" You say in an annoyed tone.
The Cross-eyes frequently request your services. Be it as a bodyguard, as a hitman, or other, they always seemed to be at your door. And always at an inconvenient time, like in the middle of the night.
"We have intel that En's cleaners will be coming to our hideout. We have it covered but our boss wants you there as backup if things go south."
This guy saying "hideout" makes him seem like a kid in a secret club. You inwardly cringe. These guys are so pitiful.
"How much you got?" You get straight to the point.
"Enough." He replies seriously.
"Better be. Send me the details and the payment later." You say as you swiftly shut the door in his face.
Every time they employ you, you think to yourself how counterintuitive it is that they use a magic user to help them when their whole deal is all about not using magic.
These guys aren't really the brightest though, so as long as you get paid, you couldn't care less.
The next day a note and a parcel containing your compensation arrive at your door.
Feeling satisfied with the amount given you read the note attached.
The Cross-eyes seemed to assume the cleaners would come tonight. Shin and Noi are their names. Shin's magic can slice any material into bits. His mask looks like a heart and he usually wears glasses and a plain black suit. Noi has healing magic coupled with insane strength. Her mask is blue, resembling a lucha libre. She wears a navy blue tracksuit. Together they form a formidable duo. Never leaving survivors.
You shrug as you finish the note.
"Should be an interesting night." You quietly think to yourself.
That evening, you let out a small sigh as you don your mask. Personally made by the devil Beelzebub, your mask enhances your magic. It fits perfectly over your face, covering your eyes and nose, although its magical properties still allow you to see out of it. The dark material resembles the shape of a raven's beak, almost giving you the appearance of a plague doctor.
Walking out the door, you grab your satchel and coat. You swing a leg over your old broom. Filling it up with a bit of your powerful magic, it quickly sputters to life.
Arriving at your destination, that same Cross-eyes guy is waiting to lead you inside.
It seemed to be a regular office-like building, but with giant, snaking, vines covering its entirety.
You walk into the warmly lit room where several other Cross-eyes are gathered. One sitting on a patched up sofa in the front of the room seems to be the boss of things.
You sit on the floor in the corner of the room as everyone waits for the action to begin.
Soon enough, En's cleaners arrive, with two others trailing behind them.
Staying quiet and out of the way, you watch the scene unfold. Quickly, the fighting erupts as the main Cross-eye fires a shot at the guy you assumed was Shin by the description you were given. The large woman who must be Noi suddenly leaps in front of Shin, taking the bullet that was aimed at him straight through her head.
You raise your eyebrows in surprise as the girl with purple hair makes some weird comment and the boy in the hat yelps.
Shin then leaps into action incapacitating several of the Cross-eyes. Noi, using her healing magic, jumps back into the fight, killing the rest.
At this point you felt you probably should have stepped in by now but honestly it was kind of too late.
Standing up and brushing yourself off, you start to casually walk off before you're stopped by Noi grabbing you by the shoulder. Effectively stopping you in your tracks with her iron grip.
She looks at Shin, motioning to you.
"Oi, Shin-senpai. This one doesn't seem to be with them, should we take it to En along with the other one?"
You glance over to see the last Cross-eye still alive shaking with fear after seeing his comrades massacred.
Shin shrugs as he sends the two tag-a-longs to grab a pair of black trash bags. Assuming this meant he was going to use his magic on both you and the other guy, you roll your eyes, annoyed, as you prepare to use your magic to avoid the situation.
While the duo are idly distracted, you quickly release a bit of your smoke to cover Shin's lower leg, effectively rotting it to the bone. He hisses in pain as the skin and muscle bubble and melt away and he falls to the floor. Casting a murderous glare in your direction, he sends a dark cloud of smoke at you. Noi quickly catches wind of the situation as she exhales a puff of her healing magic onto his wound.
In a moment she's towering over you, exuding palpable killing intent. You evade her grasp by a hair's width, not expecting someone of her stature to possess such speed. Now by the window, you attempt to make your escape but as you jump from the balcony, your descent to the ground is promptly halted as a strong hand wraps around your ankle. Shin then releases smoke from the fingertips around your leg, enveloping your entire body.
The experience is excruciatingly painful as your pieces fall to the concrete below and you fade into unconsciousness.