1. First mission
I stand in front of the massive glass doors of the Guardian Guild. Its name glows above, a symbol of hope and order in a world that often teeters on verge chaos. Every aspiring hero dreams to join their ranks— but no one ever talks about how much paperwork it takes to get there.
In theory, becoming a hero is about courage and strength, but here I am, clutching a stack of forms and wondering if I’ve already failed step one. Still, this is the first step toward something bigger. The Guild connects heroes across the globe, assigning missions, offering training, and keeping the balance in a world filled with villains, disasters, and endless challenges.
I take a deep breath and push the door open. There are a lot of people…
I’m almost sure that none of them possesses superpowers like me—for better or for worse, the number of people having them remains very insignificant—but they have their role in this big mechanism of human protection. Owlino, my mentor, mentioned once that without them, an actual intelligence couldn’t exists and, what’s worse, heroes would have even more paperwork.
The young harpy at the counter smiles at me and asks what question I have. I give her my rookie hero form with all related documents. She widens her eyes and phones someone.
After a few minutes, a tall blue lady with small horns goes down the stairs and heads towards me. Oh, I recognize her. She is one of the heroes who protect this city, but she usually just patrols and helps the police. After all, there are not many criminals.
“Hey, rookie! You are just in time.” Her loud voice echoes through the hall. Without hesitation, she grabs me and heads towards the exit.
“What? My registration…” I’m honestly confused.
“Later. We need heroes to find an fugitive criminal. A superpowered criminal. You will join the patrol.”
She opens the door of her car—a moderately armored SUV—and pushes me inside. A bundle of clothes comes flying after me. “Your uniform. Get prepared.” Again, not wasting any time, she closes the door, takes the driver’s seat and starts the vehicle.
Oh, right, she is “Thunder Voice” or just Miss Vox. She can be so loud that even rocks crash. That’s why she doesn’t usually fight with villains inside the city - it’s for the town’s sake… Compared to her ability, my telekinesis is way safer for the city. During my training, every police officer whom I helped to catch criminals praised me that there were no casualties.
“Erm, miss Vox, what criminal are you talking about? What superpowers do they have?” I ask politely while changing into my “hero uniform” - sadly, it’s just a common rookie kit without any cool stuff, but with a bulky helmet that covers my face. Oh, there are also my weapons - several knives and a bag with a bunch of small ropes for detention.
“One from the Natural Disaster group. Water-controlling one, very annoying. Very long blue hair, torn light clothes with open shoulders. Undina. Thunderbolt fought her, but the fight was too rough, so she managed to escape into alleyways. The block is cordoned off, but the police are too much of pussies to send their people to check, so they called us. Your job is simple: see the villain - call the help and run. No personal heroism; she is way above your level.”
After ten minutes, we arrive at the place. I see police cars along the street, as well as some reporters.
A sudden realization hits me. “Wait, Natural Disaster? Aren’t they supposed to be located in like the other part of the country?”
Miss Vox answers me with a frown. “Exactly. We don’t know either what they are doing here. Anyway, here’s your walkie-talkie with a red button for help request.” She passes me a small transmitter. “Please put it somewhere accessible. Your sector is C.”
“How many other heroes are here?” I don’t remember such a big commotion in our city for a long time.
“Only Tailblade besides us. Thunderbolt is in the hospital now. We asked nearby cities for help, but they are still on the way.”
Oh, Tailblade. A lizard man with the ability to convert his limbs into sharp metal. Our main town hero, even if he is in kind of middle power range compared to Thunderbolt from the capital. I wonder what is he even doing here…
“Enough questions. Here’s the map. Check your first aid kit and flashlight and go.” She slaps me on my shoulder, which instantly starts hurting. Is she doing that intentionally, or all oni can’t measure their strength?
I sigh and slide into the nearest alleyway, checking the map. Apparently, there are only three sectors, and mine is the farthest one. The block seems silent. Looking around, it seems to be some industrial part of the city, with long labyrinthine streets—a perfect place to hide and ambush someone.
I spend a whole ten minutes wandering around, trying to find anything besides trash. A sudden rat jumping out of the garbage can almost gives me a heart attack. With a squeak, it skitters to the sewer hatch. Wait, sewer? Oh my gosh…
I quickly open the hatch and turn on my flashlight. Jumping in, I easily slide around broken fences and piles of trash. Being a lamia is quite helpful in investigating such places…
After another turn, I bump my head into someone. Ouch! The person also falls down on their butt.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I automatically try to excuse myself, giving my hand. A small hand grips mine, and I pull it, helping them to stand up.
I finally look at the stranger and freeze. Long blue hair, dirty torn clothes, ears that only water-living people have… Crap.
She also looks at me, realizing who I am. With a sharp movement, she pulls back her hand and forms several water blades around herself. Suddenly, some of them break into pieces, and she, with a moan, leans to the wall. Oh, she is covered in wounds and blood…
Even though she is badly damaged, her blades are still too close. What should I do…
Well, I guess I have one job. I quickly grab the transmitter, smoothly evading the water blade, which only tears my jacket sleeve. When I’m almost ready to press the button, I feel a stabbing pain in my neck - another water blade is floating right in front of my throat. I gulp, looking at the enemy. She’s preparing more of them, and slowly, the water blades surround me.
“Think twice, " she threateningly says to me. “I don’t need your death here, nor more heroes. Give me that thing, and I’ll explain what I need. I swear I never wanted anyone’s death.”
I slowly raise my hands, dropping the transmitter. The girl swears shortly, and one of the swords transforms into a hand that catches it and brings it to her. She releases a breath and puts that thing on a fragment of a slab nearby. While she is turning back to me, I concentrate and push the button with my mind.
“You are that stupid?! I said GIVE it to me, not to drop it, you idiot!” She grabs me by my jacket. Right away, she leans toward me, recovering her breath. Immediately, she throws an angry glance at me. “Don’t think that I’m weak. But… I need your help to get out of there.”
I look at her, confused.
“Oh, wasn’t I clear enough? You’re a lamia. That sewers are like a home for your kind. Just help me get out of here, and the town will stay intact.” She looks into my totally uncomprehending eyes and continues: “The leader of our group will destroy the city if it captures one of our members. This already has happened once in the past, but thankfully, its citizens managed to evacuate. I guess it was quite far away from here, so you haven’t heard of it.” She grins at me. “So, hero, will you save the city?”
I sigh and nod. I need to stall for time until the help comes, so I should not make any suspicious movements, so let’s agree on this..for now. The villain smiles and removes her swords.
Right when I just turn around to “guide” her into the sewers, she crawls on my tail and grabs me from the back. “What are you doing?” I complain, looking at her.
“You see I’m not very mobile right now, so I thought it would be faster if you carried me.” She connects her index fingers and makes a pitiful look.
“First, I’m not your personal mount. Second, you are heavy…” I try to pull my tail from under her, but she grabs it quite firmly.
“I’m sorry, what?!” Auch, she yells right into my ear… “You know that you shouldn’t say that to a pretty girl.”
“I’m a girl too, and I’m not as strong as you imagine…”
“O-oh…” She releases a surprised sigh and suddenly pulls my helmet off me. Hey! “Wow, really.”
“Give it back!” I try to cover my face and get back my helmet, but it’s hard when the light from the helmet is directed right into my eyes.
“Bo-o, don’t be so shy. Anyway, let’s go!” She finally returns it to me and squeezes my tail with her legs. What a nasty girl…
Luckily for me, a lot of pipes are blocked by random trash or heavy metal grates. So I slowly proceed inside a pipe, discover it’s blocked, and return. The villain is very annoyed by this, but she seems to understand that it is not intentional.
For a long ten minutes nothing happens, but then, after another corner, I suddenly notice a dark figure blocking off the passage. Confused, I stop, as the figure doesn’t look like anything similar to what I expect from reinforcement.
I feel the villain’s grip on my back tightening. Is she scared? Well, I’m too. “Phantoms,” she whispers. Please, run back. Now.”
“Oh, no, young lady, you won’t go away.” The figure approaches us and waves its hand. With a rumble, a piece of concrete falls from the ceiling and blocks the way back.
Phantoms, huh… Another criminal group focused on espionage and contract killings. It’s a big problem…
“Hey, little snake, don’t be afraid. My order is that young undine only. Help me, and you will get away alive.” The figure grins under its skull mask.
It’s a lie. Even I know that they never leave witnesses alive. The girl gets off my tail and comes to stand in front of me, facing the new enemy, preparing her water swords. Huh?
Is she trying to protect me? She told me before that she doesn’t like to kill, but she’s a villain. I shake my head, focusing on the battle. How could I help? Maybe she recognizes that phantom, so she can understand his superpower?
I concentrate, and the phantom’s mask moves away from his face, pulling on an elastic band.
“Hey, put it back!” He frantically tries to catch it.
“As you wish.” I stop concentrating, and the mask returns on his face with a loud clap, making him scream.
“Heh, you have your style. But I haven’t seen that guy before.” She shrugs and sends out her swords. All three of them pierce the target and explode, making him fall back.
With a yell, he stands back up and, while still holding the mask, waves his hand to the side. A pipe comes off the wall with a grinding sound and smashes into the opposite wall, thankfully, without hitting anyone.
“You… you will regret that you were born…” He finally readjusts his mask and raises both of his hands with a threatening laugh.
With a quick sweep, I send a rope flying towards his arms, focusing on it. Like a snake, the rope wrap his hands, tying above his head.
“Good job!” The undine concentrates, and three more swords appear around her. So, she is not so fast…
At the same time, the phantom tries to free his arms but trips on some stone and falls on his back.
Another snake-like rope is coming, now binding his legs.
After thinking for a moment, the undina sends a ball of water towards him. With a gurgling sound, the phantom starts suffocating.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” I turn to her, trying to stop it.
“Relax. I will knock him out, that’s all. He will be alright.” She looks at me. “I’ve done this several times without any issues, so trust me.”
A sudden sound of metal grinding, and a giant metal pipe flies towards the undine. I notice it in a corner of my eye and jump at the girl, grabbing her aside. The ground trembles slightly as the pipe crashes down somewhere behind me, but all I can think about is the instant it has been close enough to graze me.
“Hey, can you… erm… put me back?” the undina’s voice returns me to reality, and I realize that I hold her tight in my arms.
“Erm, sorry…”
“It’s okay. We both underestimated him.” Her water sword flies to the phantom’s neck. After the villain’s legs stop twitching, the water bubble is gone. I see his chest slightly moving. “See? He’s fi-i-ine.” She smiles at me, blushing slightly. “Anyway, let’s keep moving. I don’t want to bump into any heroes after such a commotion here.”
“Do you know where to go?” The undina is sitting on my back again. “Why so many turns?”
“No, do I look like I do? I haven’t been in this part of a city at all before.”
“Bo-o-o, lame. Use your heroic sense or whatever.”
“They don’t need to do so, Thalassra.” Suddenly, after another turn, I see a figure with a long crocodile tail, wearing leafy-looking armor. “Tailblade!”
I feel the undina’s grab on my shoulder tightening.
“Rookie, I’m glad that you are fine. You can go…” The Tailblade wants to finish his sentence, but suddenly, an enormous hand grabs his head and pulls him into the nearby pipe. I feel very cold…
After a moment, his body crashes into the opposite wall, leaving a huge crater.
“Thalassra…” I hear a hoarse voice and then see its owner - a massive figure in rimed old-style armor, more than three meters high, in a knight helmet with a closed visor. Each breath releases a puff of cold mist. “Here I am, your nightmare…”
“Gravechill…” The grab of the undina becomes painful. She is shivering, from either cold or fear. She whispers: “Please, run as fast as you can, I beg you…” Gravechill - rank B, one of the most wanted criminals in our country. Isn’t he supposed to be in the capital? Why the heck is that big villain here?!
I try to move, but is doesn’t go well. The wet floor is ice now, and my tail is frozen to it. I tense my whole body, but the tail is still stuck in place.
I hear a loud, hoarse laugh as Gravechill materializes his enormous axe. The undina tries to summon a water shield, but it almost instantly gets frozen and crashes down, breaking into ice pieces.
Next, I feel extreme pain …from a blasting yell. Gravechill’s axe gets cracked, and I get pushed back several meters.
“Run, rookie! We will handle him!” Through the ringing in my ears, I can make out Mrs. Vox’s voice.
I rise slightly on my quivering arms and see the undina lying nearby. I glance back to see Gravechill moving towards us. As a living creature, I want to live. As a hero, I need to protect the weak. I gulp and dash to the lying girl, grab her and slide to the exit as fast as I can.
My tail hurts from sliding on the uneven sewer floor, and my lungs burn from fatigue. After fifteen minutes of running, I decide to go up and exit the sewer. With a final dash, I remove the sewer hatch and jump out into some alleyway.
“Hey, are you … okay? Your tail…” I hear the undina’s voice, but the darkness in my eyes prevents me from looking at her.
“Give.. me.. a minute..” I can’t recognize my voice - it is so hoarse now.
“I’m going to wash your tail, okay? Please be patient a little…” I don’t care… Suddenly, a pain pierces my tail. I sit up and see the undine gliding a spinning bulb of water over a strange mess of blood and scales. Oh, that’s the bottom of my tail. Oh my gosh.
“It seems like you lost a lot of your scales in the sewer…” Her voice is strangely gentle. “By the way, I borrowed your stuff for a while…” She gives me back my phone. Huh?
“Why?” I’m confused. I’m too tired to think, and her actions stopped making any sense a long time ago.
“Why what? I called my friend to pick me up. Or why do I wash you? The dirt in open wounds leads to infections…” She giggles softly. “Or why do I act like this? You helped me, so I’m helping you. Reward good with good and return evil for evil - that is how I’ve been taught. That’s how our group works.”
With a sharp screech, the motorcycle skids to a halt right in front of the alley. The sound echoes through the narrow street, leaving a faint smell of burnt rubber in the air. The rider leans forward slightly, steadying the bike.
“Jump in!” The rider commands and starts steering the bike out of the alleyway.
“Raivyn!” The undina greets them with a wide smile, stands up and goes to the rider. At halfway, she turns back: “Don’t worry, I’ve already called the medics. They will pick you up.”
“Wait! What is going on in the town?” I try to get at least some answers.
She shakes her head and jumps on the motorcycle. “Sorry, it’s a secret.” With another screech, the bike races away.
Soon, I hear sirens getting closer. In a semi-conscious state, I get transported to the hospital.