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body div#devskin0 hr { }

It was a very far-fetched belief for Zackus to grip on to.
A whole country that existed right under everyone else's noses.
Well, more like above, but nobody ever used that figure of speech.
Zackus was aboard an airship heading up to the strange place in the sky, Hemel, as they called it. The Ninetales stayed silent as he turned the translator, a much-needed tool that would definitely alleviate the difficulties presented by a language gap, in his hand.
Zackus stopped himself after about five minutes. “I should probably stop messing with it before I drop it or something,” he reminded himself. “I’m definitely going to need this for the mission I was given.”
Zackus was employed to take care of a little thief problem the place had, and needed to gather some information first.
Ten minutes later, Zackus stepped off the airship into the makeshift docks. He only took two steps on solid ground before an Oricorio approached him, taking him somewhat by surprise.
“That was fast,” Zackus commented. “Anyways, I guess you're here to tell me where to look?”
The Oricorio nodded. “That is correct. Follow me, I'll take you to the station so you can track down some artifacts.” The bird was a tall, red female. She looked like she had a considerable amount of strength. She kinda looks like she could strike me down without much effort, Zackus thought to himself. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to get on her bad side.
“This way.” The Oricorio motioned for Zackus to follow her. After about ten minutes, Zackus found himself inside a clean room, populated by three chairs, a desk, and a Flygon behind the desk.
“Another student of the Academy, Venna?” the dragon inquired, sifting through reports.
The bird, who was apparently Venna, nodded.
“Yes, I'm Zackus. I heard there was a problem with stolen stuff,” Zackus replied.
“You heard right, Zackus.” The Flygon put down the folder he was holding. “We’ve been employed to keep track of any potential offenders. We've been having to spread our forces out very thin, so any assistance would be appreciated.”
“We’ve recently gathered some information on a small group of Pawniard making off with a crate full of precious objects,” the dragon continued. “You look capable enough to handle it.” He handed Zackus a folder. “This should be everything you need to know.”
Zackus wasn't sure how to take that statement, so instead took the folder. “Shouldn’t be anything a second-year student can't handle.”
“Excellent. Venna, can you take him back down, now?”
Zackus looked back at Venna, who was still standing tall. “Right.”
Venna turned to Zackus. “By the way, if you find yourself overwhelmed, don't be ashamed to retreat. Your life is more important than those trinkets. I feel the people of Hemel would agree with me on that.”
Zackus had a response to that, but decided it was best left unspoken.
Twenty more minutes passed, and Zackus was back on the ground. He opened the folder to see just what he was looking for. “The Pulinski gang, huh?” Zackus thought aloud, after reading a bit. “That’s an awfully strange name.”
Bold words coming from an individual named Zackus Aurelius.
When he looked up, he saw a nervous-looking Bisharp scanning his surroundings for a bit before entering a tavern. Zackus looked up to read the sign. “Hakim…” he read aloud. “Gonna have to investigate there.” He took a step, then stopped himself.”…But first, I should probably prepare a bit.” His spear was on his back, like it usually was, but Zackus needed to grab a more important thing.
It took ten minutes to reach his dorm room, and another three to fumble around for his room key. After pulling it out he said to himself, “Mental note: organize your pack.”
He opened his door, and the first thing he saw was his large unmade bed. It was a very compelling thought to just climb in, wrap up, and cuddle with a pillow, but Zackus had work to do today. Pillow cuddling would have to wait.
As Zackus grabbed the small orb he used for honing his spells, he saw something glint in the corner of his eye. Upon turning his head, he saw a red crystal - the Firium Z the Academy gave him. Lydia had told him not to use it because of how it could react to his affliction, but he grabbed it anyway. He wanted to know firsthand what it would do. Perhaps it would come in handy as a secret weapon.
The Ninetales stuffed it in his coat pocket without another thought.
Zackus later found himself staring at the front of Hakim’s Tavern, remembering being in there once. He remembered the overpriced alcohol, and how their sandwich buns tasted vaguely chalky. It always seemed like a viable front for a criminal operation.
It seemed that every head turned toward him when he opened the double door. Zackus saw several pairs of eyes follow him as he made his way to the counter.
At the counter was a Wartortle with an eye patch, who was, like everyone else, giving Zackus the evil eye. The fox tried his best to look intimidating, but fell short, having visibly winced in pain after trying threateningly slam the bar with his forearm. Trying to pull himself together, he tried talking tough.
“So… I heard you had a few… trinkets.”
The guy at the counter didn't audibly reply, but instead nodded and walked away.
“That… was surprisingly easy,” he said to himself.
Just then, he noticed that people were leaving in large numbers. Zackus wondered what that was about.
He was about to find out soon, because he heard a short “whish” and saw a dart where there wasn't a dart before.
“That’s not a good sign,” he remarked. “I should get out of here before things turn ugly.”
Two more darts sailed past him as he… well, darted through the door into the side alley.
“Don’t let him escape!” a voice called out.
“I definitely said something wrong,” Zackus said to himself. Sighing, he continued, “Guess I gotta fight my way to the lost valuables. Would they be in the kitchen?”
He re-entered the mostly empty tavern, and as quickly as he could, he leaped over the bar and ducked behind the counter, under the beer taps. Zackus never really had much of a taste for beer - he preferred harder drinks, especially if they were mixed.
Knowing the blowdart guy was still there to give him a faceful of needles, probably poisoned, Zackus mentally prepared himself to rush into the kitchen as fast as he could. All he had to do was position himself just right…
He picked a dropped bottle up from the floor, and threw it over the counter as hard as he could to create a diversion. After he heard another dart hit something, he made his move into the back of the tavern.
The kitchen was quiet, mostly. Just quiet enough for an ambush. Zackus pulled his spear out, ready to turn a criminal into a shish-kebab if needed.
Zackus had stood at the ready, slowly walking around the room, for about ten minutes when suddenly he accidentally knocked over a dented pot. Under it appeared to be some kind of switch. Zackus instinctively flipped it, causing a trap door to unlock and open upwards.
“Boy oh boy, is that some dumb luck,” the Ninetales remarked.
Zackus slowly made his way down the ladder that led to what he thought was the cellar, with a kind of premonition on his mind, like he was being watched.
Not much time had passed after he hit the ground when he had felt a sharp pain in his thigh.
He looked down, and saw a knife where one wasn't ten seconds ago. It was precisely where he thought one would be - which was, to be exact, embedded in his thigh.
In short, he was stabbed.
It took all of Zackus's self-control not to scream at the top of his lungs and give himself away, but he did let out a few strained breaths, which were sort of loud themselves.
He heard the shadows condescendingly laugh at him. “So you came looking to turn us in, huh?”
There was a pause.
“Well, it seems you've come to the wrong place if you wanted to do that. Hope you're not alone, because we have you severely outnumbered.”
“Dammit…” Zackus muttered under his breath. “Just when I let my guard down…”
About thirty humanoid figures emerged from the shadows, all looking ready to put the poor fox six feet under. Three stepped forth, and Zackus found himself being knocked senseless by a mace, and lying down on the floor.
While down, he tried to create a ball of electric energy to hurl their way. It wasn't totally reliable, but maybe it'll work this time…
A bright-purple ball of crackling light appeared in Zackus’s hands, ready to do his bidding. He sent it sailing toward the three assailants, where it exploded into a circular field of electricity and stunned them.
It was at this point where things were going to turn ugly.
A voice that sounded like it came from a younger individual called out, “Okay, that's it! Now you’re, like… double dead!”
A rock the size of Zackus's hand came flying through the air, and smashed into Zackus's eye.
More importantly, it hit the one on the wrong side of his face.
Zackus immediately lied back down on the ground, trying not to die. The pain was that immense. It felt like Zackus’s head was being slowly sawed in two with a rusty hacksaw.
Ouch.
He was nowhere near getting his composure together when he was bludgeoned in the stomach, sending him back another ten feet, hearing the distorted laughter of who he assumed was one of the Pulinski brothers.
It took everything he could to crawl away and hide behind cover, which wouldn't do him well for long.
In between the surges of immense pain, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the red crystal.
“This might be my only chance…” He knew that it would most likely have adverse effects, but he had no choice at this time.
He pulled himself together for long enough to stand up, and held his Z-Crystal up into the air.
“In… Inferno… Overdrive!”
Just then, a collection of large swords made of fire appeared before him. Something was off about the fire, though. It was… black.
The black fire soared through the air, and made its mark. Zackus could hear screams of agony as the dark fire sapped away their pure life force.
However, some of the screams of agony belonged to Zackus himself. The spell ate away at his life force, too, draining him physically and mentally. It hurt. A lot. Zackus's vision blurred, and his hearing dulled. He thought he was going to die, right then, right there.
It was at that moment that he knew he didn't want to die. Not yet. Maybe after he returned the lost trinkets, but not now. He pleaded to whomever was listening to let him live, and he blacked out right then.
He woke up later, still having severe pain in his head, and a dull ache everywhere else, but he was alive. Maybe everyone had fled. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but he started looking for the stolen trinkets, which he found after twenty minutes of searching. He grabbed a sack full of them and headed home. He’d have to rest up before returning them.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

It was a very far-fetched belief for Zackus to grip on to.
A whole country that existed right under everyone else's noses.
Well, more like above, but nobody ever used that figure of speech.
Zackus was aboard an airship heading up to the strange place in the sky, Hemel, as they called it. The Ninetales stayed silent as he turned the translator, a much-needed tool that would definitely alleviate the difficulties presented by a language gap, in his hand.
Zackus stopped himself after about five minutes. “I should probably stop messing with it before I drop it or something,” he reminded himself. “I’m definitely going to need this for the mission I was given.”
Zackus was employed to take care of a little thief problem the place had, and needed to gather some information first.
Ten minutes later, Zackus stepped off the airship into the makeshift docks. He only took two steps on solid ground before an Oricorio approached him, taking him somewhat by surprise.
“That was fast,” Zackus commented. “Anyways, I guess you're here to tell me where to look?”
The Oricorio nodded. “That is correct. Follow me, I'll take you to the station so you can track down some artifacts.” The bird was a tall, red female. She looked like she had a considerable amount of strength. She kinda looks like she could strike me down without much effort, Zackus thought to himself. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to get on her bad side.
“This way.” The Oricorio motioned for Zackus to follow her. After about ten minutes, Zackus found himself inside a clean room, populated by three chairs, a desk, and a Flygon behind the desk.
“Another student of the Academy, Venna?” the dragon inquired, sifting through reports.
The bird, who was apparently Venna, nodded.
“Yes, I'm Zackus. I heard there was a problem with stolen stuff,” Zackus replied.
“You heard right, Zackus.” The Flygon put down the folder he was holding. “We’ve been employed to keep track of any potential offenders. We've been having to spread our forces out very thin, so any assistance would be appreciated.”
“We’ve recently gathered some information on a small group of Pawniard making off with a crate full of precious objects,” the dragon continued. “You look capable enough to handle it.” He handed Zackus a folder. “This should be everything you need to know.”
Zackus wasn't sure how to take that statement, so instead took the folder. “Shouldn’t be anything a second-year student can't handle.”
“Excellent. Venna, can you take him back down, now?”
Zackus looked back at Venna, who was still standing tall. “Right.”
Venna turned to Zackus. “By the way, if you find yourself overwhelmed, don't be ashamed to retreat. Your life is more important than those trinkets. I feel the people of Hemel would agree with me on that.”
Zackus had a response to that, but decided it was best left unspoken.
Twenty more minutes passed, and Zackus was back on the ground. He opened the folder to see just what he was looking for. “The Pulinski gang, huh?” Zackus thought aloud, after reading a bit. “That’s an awfully strange name.”
Bold words coming from an individual named Zackus Aurelius.
When he looked up, he saw a nervous-looking Bisharp scanning his surroundings for a bit before entering a tavern. Zackus looked up to read the sign. “Hakim…” he read aloud. “Gonna have to investigate there.” He took a step, then stopped himself.”…But first, I should probably prepare a bit.” His spear was on his back, like it usually was, but Zackus needed to grab a more important thing.
It took ten minutes to reach his dorm room, and another three to fumble around for his room key. After pulling it out he said to himself, “Mental note: organize your pack.”
He opened his door, and the first thing he saw was his large unmade bed. It was a very compelling thought to just climb in, wrap up, and cuddle with a pillow, but Zackus had work to do today. Pillow cuddling would have to wait.
As Zackus grabbed the small orb he used for honing his spells, he saw something glint in the corner of his eye. Upon turning his head, he saw a red crystal - the Firium Z the Academy gave him. Lydia had told him not to use it because of how it could react to his affliction, but he grabbed it anyway. He wanted to know firsthand what it would do. Perhaps it would come in handy as a secret weapon.
The Ninetales stuffed it in his coat pocket without another thought.
Zackus later found himself staring at the front of Hakim’s Tavern, remembering being in there once. He remembered the overpriced alcohol, and how their sandwich buns tasted vaguely chalky. It always seemed like a viable front for a criminal operation.
It seemed that every head turned toward him when he opened the double door. Zackus saw several pairs of eyes follow him as he made his way to the counter.
At the counter was a Wartortle with an eye patch, who was, like everyone else, giving Zackus the evil eye. The fox tried his best to look intimidating, but fell short, having visibly winced in pain after trying threateningly slam the bar with his forearm. Trying to pull himself together, he tried talking tough.
“So… I heard you had a few… trinkets.”
The guy at the counter didn't audibly reply, but instead nodded and walked away.
“That… was surprisingly easy,” he said to himself.
Just then, he noticed that people were leaving in large numbers. Zackus wondered what that was about.
He was about to find out soon, because he heard a short “whish” and saw a dart where there wasn't a dart before.
“That’s not a good sign,” he remarked. “I should get out of here before things turn ugly.”
Two more darts sailed past him as he… well, darted through the door into the side alley.
“Don’t let him escape!” a voice called out.
“I definitely said something wrong,” Zackus said to himself. Sighing, he continued, “Guess I gotta fight my way to the lost valuables. Would they be in the kitchen?”
He re-entered the mostly empty tavern, and as quickly as he could, he leaped over the bar and ducked behind the counter, under the beer taps. Zackus never really had much of a taste for beer - he preferred harder drinks, especially if they were mixed.
Knowing the blowdart guy was still there to give him a faceful of needles, probably poisoned, Zackus mentally prepared himself to rush into the kitchen as fast as he could. All he had to do was position himself just right…
He picked a dropped bottle up from the floor, and threw it over the counter as hard as he could to create a diversion. After he heard another dart hit something, he made his move into the back of the tavern.
The kitchen was quiet, mostly. Just quiet enough for an ambush. Zackus pulled his spear out, ready to turn a criminal into a shish-kebab if needed.
Zackus had stood at the ready, slowly walking around the room, for about ten minutes when suddenly he accidentally knocked over a dented pot. Under it appeared to be some kind of switch. Zackus instinctively flipped it, causing a trap door to unlock and open upwards.
“Boy oh boy, is that some dumb luck,” the Ninetales remarked.
Zackus slowly made his way down the ladder that led to what he thought was the cellar, with a kind of premonition on his mind, like he was being watched.
Not much time had passed after he hit the ground when he had felt a sharp pain in his thigh.
He looked down, and saw a knife where one wasn't ten seconds ago. It was precisely where he thought one would be - which was, to be exact, embedded in his thigh.
In short, he was stabbed.
It took all of Zackus's self-control not to scream at the top of his lungs and give himself away, but he did let out a few strained breaths, which were sort of loud themselves.
He heard the shadows condescendingly laugh at him. “So you came looking to turn us in, huh?”
There was a pause.
“Well, it seems you've come to the wrong place if you wanted to do that. Hope you're not alone, because we have you severely outnumbered.”
“Dammit…” Zackus muttered under his breath. “Just when I let my guard down…”
About thirty humanoid figures emerged from the shadows, all looking ready to put the poor fox six feet under. Three stepped forth, and Zackus found himself being knocked senseless by a mace, and lying down on the floor.
While down, he tried to create a ball of electric energy to hurl their way. It wasn't totally reliable, but maybe it'll work this time…
A bright-purple ball of crackling light appeared in Zackus’s hands, ready to do his bidding. He sent it sailing toward the three assailants, where it exploded into a circular field of electricity and stunned them.
It was at this point where things were going to turn ugly.
A voice that sounded like it came from a younger individual called out, “Okay, that's it! Now you’re, like… double dead!”
A rock the size of Zackus's hand came flying through the air, and smashed into Zackus's eye.
More importantly, it hit the one on the wrong side of his face.
Zackus immediately lied back down on the ground, trying not to die. The pain was that immense. It felt like Zackus’s head was being slowly sawed in two with a rusty hacksaw.
Ouch.
He was nowhere near getting his composure together when he was bludgeoned in the stomach, sending him back another ten feet, hearing the distorted laughter of who he assumed was one of the Pulinski brothers.
It took everything he could to crawl away and hide behind cover, which wouldn't do him well for long.
In between the surges of immense pain, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the red crystal.
“This might be my only chance…” He knew that it would most likely have adverse effects, but he had no choice at this time.
He pulled himself together for long enough to stand up, and held his Z-Crystal up into the air.
“In… Inferno… Overdrive!”
Just then, a collection of large swords made of fire appeared before him. Something was off about the fire, though. It was… black.
The black fire soared through the air, and made its mark. Zackus could hear screams of agony as the dark fire sapped away their pure life force.
However, some of the screams of agony belonged to Zackus himself. The spell ate away at his life force, too, draining him physically and mentally. It hurt. A lot. Zackus's vision blurred, and his hearing dulled. He thought he was going to die, right then, right there.
It was at that moment that he knew he didn't want to die. Not yet. Maybe after he returned the lost trinkets, but not now. He pleaded to whomever was listening to let him live, and he blacked out right then.
He woke up later, still having severe pain in his head, and a dull ache everywhere else, but he was alive. Maybe everyone had fled. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but he started looking for the stolen trinkets, which he found after twenty minutes of searching. He grabbed a sack full of them and headed home. He’d have to rest up before returning them.