Chapter 1

It's just a job...

"Ugh, this sucks, no television, no internet, there won't even be any outlets to plug anything up at!" The short girl sat across from me in the back of the convey. She kicked her feet up in the air her striped socks showing ever so slightly.

It was odd that she didn't wear something a bit more practical, her ears were pierced, and she was wearing a metal choker. Her normally black hair had a single red highlight down the side.

Despite asking myself that question I already knew the answer.

"Ivan what is with that look?" she sat up glaring at me.

"Nothing...it's just that, don't you think you should have worn something that you wouldn't mind getting messed up?" My eyes scanned her body noticing the leather jacket that she was sitting on.

"Meh, we are only looking around for a little bit. Plus I want to wow all the locals; they probably haven't seen a true blue metal head," she laughed as I looked out of the window.

Nothing but trees and rivers, I knew the world we were currently in didn't have too much technology, but it was still somewhat unsettling. There were still a couple of natural forests left from where I came from, but most people had to go out of their way to see one.

"So what are you going to do when you get back? I'm probably going to shut myself in my room and listen to all of my CDs," she laughed.

"I don't have any plans Char," I sighed thinking about it I just wanted to get everything done so I could relax.

"Geez, if you don't have any plans you could always hang out with me," Char giggled.

"Ah, maybe..." it wasn't like I disliked spending time with her. It was just that it was a rather draining experience... not only that, but it was evident to me that she had a crush on me. I wouldn't even be against the idea of dating her if there was a good moment.

As our conversation drew to a close, the conveys stopped moving. It seemed that we arrived at our location as the driver finally walked to the back. He was wearing full body armor, a standard for non-modified human soldiers.

"Are you two ready?" That was the only thing that he said as Char scoffed.

"Of course," she shot up as I followed her out of the convoy.

It was a small village nothing too significant; I scanned the buildings noticing the residents all looking at us. A few other convoys arrived ahead of us, many carrying armed soldiers, though it appeared that me and Char were the only modified humans in the group.

Char took out a small visor and placed it over her eyes. With a single swipe of the glass, she quickly scanned all of the bystanders. "Elves huh? Well I guess the pointed ears gave that away,"

Char chuckled before looking back to the soldier that was escorting us.

"Hey worthless idiot, why are we even here anyway?"

I groaned realizing that Char didn't even bother reading the briefing notes that she was given.

"We are here to investigate a rebellion that has been cropping up near this location..." I knew that he was trying his best to hold back a grumble.

"So those Dark Lord guys are still at it, I guess the old saying was wrong about the snakehead," Char tapped her lip.

"Actually, you are not investigating the retirements of the Dark Lord,"

The moment he said that my eye twitched. The Dark Lord was an evil overlord that was causing trouble for the land for years...that was until we showed up and erased most of his forces and brought peace back to the land. In fact, that was the only rebellion that I could think of.

"W-what do you mean by that?" my eyes narrowed as the soldier put his hands up.

"Do not look at me, both of you rank higher than me. If anyone should have that information, it's you two,"

Char sighed before dismissing the soldier. "Great, how do we even do this shit," she groaned.

I only crossed my arms my eyes slowly staring at the locals; they looked at us fearfully. Their clothing could only be considered dated, but then again considering what Char was wearing I had no reason to talk.

"We could talk to the locals," I stated as Char grumbled.

"You can do boring stuff like that; I'll be setting up my room for now. If I am going to have to stay in this backwater hellhole I want to at least be comfortable," Char waved before walking back to the convoys.

I sighed, I didn't mind going alone, but me being the first one to start the conversation is what made it kind of awkward. Then again considering how Char could act it might have been for the best.

I steeled myself before walking up the natives.

"Hello, my name is Ivan Jacket, and our convoy is here investigating something I hope you do not mind our intrusion," I knew that was probably going to be impossible considering how much noise we were making.

Most of them just remained silent, I couldn't tell what they were thinking. The masses slowly parted as an elderly man came walking up to me.

"I must apologize for their rudeness; they are rather weary of outsiders. Particularly those who aren't from any of the known kingdoms," the man smiled which made me feel even worse about the entire situation.

"N-no, it's our fault, but don't worry once we figure out what we are looking for we will be on our way..." I decided to keep the fact that we were looking for rebels under wraps. Mostly because I didn't know what kind of rebels we were looking for, to begin with.

The elder nodded before turning his attention back to the crowd. "Please treat our visitors with the utmost care and kindness,"

There were a few whispers, but it seemed that they weren't going to go against their village elder. Still, I had to wonder what could have caused such fear from them to us.

We were the saviors of their world, we killed the evil, and the only reason we were still there was to investigate the phenomena known as magic. Once we got the information, we would probably end up leaving their world and going on our way.

"Well, I should be heading back to the convoy, our men will likely be roaming the village, but they shouldn't be causing any of you trouble,"

As I said that I walked back to the convoys. I kind of wanted to explore the village a bit more, but I also knew that I needed to talk to Char if I get the chance.

I walked back to the convoys entering the largest one. The blue and white wires and lights that aligned the interior clashed harshly with the trees and foliage of the world around us.

In the back room was Char sitting in a small bed with what appeared to be a music player in her hand. She had her typical wireless headphones on as I scanned the room. She didn't waste any time setting it up.

There were posters of long forgotten rock artist hanging around with a few other electrical devices just hanging loosely off the side of the small bed she was forced to have. Despite me saying it was small, it was also clear that she probably had the biggest room in the convoys.

"Eh, did you find out who we have to kill?"

"No...but I did talk to some of the natives; they seem kind enough..." I stated as Char chuckled for a moment.

"They should; we saved their worthless asses when they were waiting for some stupid prophecy to work everything out. I wonder what they would do once they figure out all their 'gods' are nothing but numbers and energy,"

I ignored Char's words; I wasn't there to hear her ranting, but rather..."Come on; we are going around th-"

Before I could finish my statement, the entire convoy rumbled. The sound of an explosion echoed through our ears as we shot got up.

"An attack?!" It was just so random; I opened up my shirt making sure I had my Meta Shard, Char did the same.

We ran out of the convoy noticing one of the cars in smoke. My eye twitched as Char grinned laughing to herself.

"Finally, if we didn't get to take anyone apart it would have been too boring!" Char, undid a bit of her shirt before pressing the crimson marking on her chest. At that moment, in a red flash, the Char's clothes were replaced with pieces of metal and thin spandex. Her once amber eyes turned blood red as the whites of her eyes turned pitch black.

Large metal wings appeared on her back as she laughed.

This was the power of the Meta Shards, only modified humans like me and Char were capable of using them.

"Char, isn't doing that right off a bit much?" My eyes looked over the residents of the village who stared at us like demons.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She ran her fingers in front of her eyes as a visor appeared in front of her. Her eyes widened for a moment before laughing.

"Found the target, now you can sit here being worthless, or you can catch a ride with me!"

I sighed, I wasn't going to use my Meta Shard just yet, mostly because they were only supposed to be utilized in a dire situation. The truth of the matter was, even if the enemy was capable of using magic we didn't need to go so far to transform.

Still, I wrapped my arm around Char's waist trying my best to avoiding her sharp wings. With a single flap, she flung herself into the forest while I tried my best to hang onto her.

The top of trees was split and broken as I covered my face. Char jumped from tree top to tree top, the only movement I was capable of seeing was her head quickly shifting trying to find her target.

"Found you~" with one swift move Char kicked off a nearby tree before landing on..something.

Despite it being the ground there was a strange squishing sound. We probably landed on something that was living.

I got off, not bothering to look at what we landed on. I looked forward to see a group of people wearing clothing capes with short swords and staff. There were both women and men in the group as I glanced at their ears.

There were normal and rounded; they most likely weren't a part of the village, which made the attacks on us even more confusing.

I looked at their face, what could only be described as horror could be seen.

"Oops, I guess I landed on one of your friends, sorry~" Char lifted her foot before walking forward. I scanned them; there wasn't any more than about five or six of them. It would be rather simple to eliminate them, though that probably wouldn't have solved the problem.

"Let's hurry up and kill them, I want to get home and listen to some music," she put her hands behind her back before tearing off the metal wings. At that moment they wrapped around Char's arms turning into giant claws.

I sighed, she was always so pushy. "No, not yet, we should at least talk to them..."

"Bastards, you're talking like we aren't even here," one of them finally spoke, I looked him in the eye. One of the female members was standing close to them, causing me to wonder if they were lovers.

"You say that, but you were the ones that attacked our convoy...may I ask why?" I was being blunt as they all were shaking. I guess they were still shocked by the fact that we killed one of their own. "Did you think it was alright for you to attack us unprovoked? Did you think there would be no consequences for that action?"

"You...you say that, but you go to out towns and cities looking at us, staring as if we are less than you," one of them replied as my eyes twitched.

"Is that the only reason, after we saved you from the dark lord? Tell me, did we enslave any of you? Did we capture or torture any of you? Or are you just doing this because of paranoia?" That sounded about right; they probably wanted to avoid another situation such as that.

"I-It's only a matter of time before you start, you must have gotten what you wanted it, so go back to your own world!"

They were starting to get on my nerves, "anyway, one of you must come with us. The rest of you will be free to leave," it was a generous offer. They clearly weren't major threats and like Char I wanted to get it over with.

"And if we refuse that offer," the man in front was breathing heavily.

"Then we will kill all of you!" Char laughed, I wasn't going to disagree with her. If it came to that, I would let her rip them apart.

We didn't have time for games, if they were smart they would agree with the offer.

"D-do you think we are afraid of your demon?"

They thought Char was an actual demon...I wanted to laugh at such a silly idea. Though considering the face Char was now making she was relishing the fact that they were clearly horrified of her.

"Demon huh? Well, I guess to lesser minds I would be considered one...now," Char's eyes darted around as if she was about to pick a target. Her eyes then locked onto the woman that was standing next to the main. "Tell me, is she your girlfriend?"

"W-what?" the man flinched as he slowly moved between Char and the girl.

It seemed that the conversation was about to be over. It was a shame, but it wasn't like there was much we could do. There was the possibility that we could stop them without killing any of them, but I didn't feel like putting in the effort nor was it worth the risk.

Char was about to pounce as a voice rang into her ears.

"S-stop!" One of the women walked out, she was slightly older than the rest. Most likely in her mid thirties. Both me and Char turned to face her waiting for her to continue.

"If you wish for someone to go with you then I offer myself up,"

"B-but Sasha..." the man in front stuttered as the woman closed her eyes.

"No, this was my fault, I should have never allowed such a pointless attack," the woman glared at us. "You promise not to harm the others if I go with you correct?"

Char was about to respond as I quickly cut her off.

"That is right; we have no use for the rest of you, one will do,"

The woman nodded as she split from the rest of her group. She stood in front of us as Char scoffed. In a single motion Char knocked her out, the woman collapsing on the ground.

"Y-you bitch," one of them growled as Char flung the woman over her shoulder.

"Be happy that this ended here, you already have one body to bury after all," that was the only thing I said as Char placed her claws on her back transforming them back into wings. Once again I wrapped her arms around her waist before she took off, carrying both me and the woman.

I couldn't help but wonder why they wanted to attack us. In the end, it didn't matter, we would get the information from the woman that we had captured.