Hunter always gained some smidge of knowledge whenever he dropped by Kratus's Laboratory. Kratus alongside Valdis and Emeraude were certified heroes; survivors of the 2o year war which was known to the people as the Lazarus War. It seemed to Hunter that those that were beled as heroes were also cursed with peculiar personalities; eccentric some would say. Crazy is how Hunter would describe them.

  Still... it's not like I can't learn anything from them. I just have to be careful to not let their personalities rub off on me.

  Hunter's attention was momentarily grabbed by the sound of the door to the boratory opening as he approached, the pce hummed with energy, such was the thrumming that it reverberated throughout his body; it was almost like a very light massage. At least that's what it felt like to him, the pce was entirely made around Kratus's own designs a mix of bleeding edge technology and magic.

  Sein ri-no that's not right.

  His mind was quick to remind him of the difference, it even mimicked Valdis's lecturing tone.

  Sein is the ability to harness the energy within, Magic is the ability to use said energy to influence and manipute the energy around the self. Not all Sein users are mages but all mages are Sein users.

  Hunter shook his head, Valdis had done his job well if he could recall the information without being reminded of his mentor. His gaze wandered a bit more, taking in the sights. The air itself shimmered lightly with residual energy produced by the machine's whirring and thrumming, gss cylinders lined neatly in the back wall each containing a specimen suspended in clear aquamarine liquid. Monitors connected to said cylinders dispying various readings.

  Where is he?

  He continued looking around, less focused on the actual contents of the boratory and more driven to find the owner of said boratory. His gaze finally settling on what could only be described as a pile of scrolls with a pair of very human looking legs. Without missing a beat Hunter made his way to the pile and pulled on the legs. Sure enough there was Kratus blissfully asleep, a fact made obvious by his snoring. Kratus himself was a tall and lean individual with pale skin and silver-grey hair which was often messy. His eyes were sharp grey though they always seemed to be fixated on a far off pce. Something which Hunter attributed to his obsessive personality.

  "Professor, you wanted to see me?"

  Hunter asked in a loud voice, attempting to wake Kratus.

  "Professor."

  His volume rose.

  "Professor."

  He was almost yelling this time.

  "Right then."

  Hunter proceeded to kick Kratus in the ribs. To which Kratus awoke with a yelp and jumped to his feet grabbing his sides.

  "What's the big idea you assh-! Oh Hunter! You should have told me you were coming here!"

  "....You told Valdis to have me come see you."

  "I did? When did... oh yes, quite right I did mention that didn't I? Hahahaha!"

  Hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Kratus and Wolf had simir quirks, Hunter had yet to decide if this made him like them more, or hate them for it. His position on the subject varied.

  "Hunter my boy how are you feeling?"

  The sudden question caught him unawares.

  "How am I... good I suppose? what do you mean by that?"

  Kratus motioned to the boratory.

  "No strange sensations? Urge to vomit? Feeling of dread? Nothing?"

  A spark of recognition flickered on Hunter's eyes.

  "Oh you mean... yeah I suppose I do feel something since coming in here. It feels like a massage? hmmm perhaps a more accurate way of saying it is that it feels like I am being bsted by sound frequency that is making my body resonate in kind. does that answer help you?"

  Kratus rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

  "Resonance you say? How very interesting, I will look into it. In any case, I asked for you because I finished working on your firearm. the revolver is ready for you. I have to say its an ingenious way of bypassing your ck of Sein. A caster revolver which uses its ammunition as catalyst and the target's own Sein to combust. Quite a nasty bite."

  He motioned for Hunter to follow to the far end of the Laboratory as he spoke.

  "That being said, the bullets themselves are hard to produce so don't get too trigger happy with it please. Here you go, one miracle of Magitechnology and twelve caster rounds."

  Hunter took the revolver and ammunition. He put the ammunition away but inspected the revolver itself. it was a six shot revolver that sported a long rectangur barrel, the weapon itself was very angur and heavier than its size would suggest. Hunter noted that it was a break action revolver too which was rare though not unheard of in simir style firearms.

  "Can it fire regur ammunition?"

  "hmm? Oh yes quite, the weapon is chambered for .454, it should prove sufficient when dealing with Magic Beasts, I daresay that it could also be used reliably against some abyss creatures. Though higher ranked creatures might pose a problem, but you wouldn't be using your side arms against those anyways."

  Kratus handed Hunter a box containing 96 rounds, which Hunter emptied into a pouch on his uniform and loaded the firearm before holstering it away. The Caster rounds having been pced on an adjacent pouch.

  "This one has been made with more resistant material, try to not to melt it in acid like the previous one hmmm?"

  Hunter grimaced at the jab.

  "O~k! for the st time. That. Was. Not. My. Fault. Naomi went berserk and Sage and I had to drag her back and in the struggle she kicked the gun away and it just happened to nd on a puddle of acidic bile the Hydra kept puking at us. "

  Kratus dismissed his plea with a shake of his head.

  "Yeah yeah, never your fault. It doesn't change the fact that no other Face Card has gone through so much equipment as you have. Do try to not destroy my babies please. Now get going before the elders sprout another ulcer from waiting too much on you."

  Hunter sighed.

  "Fine, I'll try my best. See you around Kratus."

  With that Hunter left the Laboratory and made his way out of the R&D building. Kratus observing him like a hawk as he did so, his eyes darted to the nearby monitors.

  "Come on in Yue, what did the readings show?"

  The sound of a sliding door was heard and footsteps announced the approach of someone

  "Master Kratus the rea-ugghh!"

  A meaty thud made Kratus look back to see what had happened.

  "Oh dear, I forgot to turn it off. Sorry Yue!"

  His right hand quickly entered a series of commands on a nearby keyboard, the whirring and thrumming stopped. He chuckled apologetically at his assistant who was still pnted face first on the floor.

  "Master Kratus I wish you'd show some consideration for me. In any case..."

  Yue rose to her feet, a tall slender physique becoming apparent. Long dark brown hair was styled in a braided ponytail and tied by a bck cloth. Her eyes were a deep red color due to her constant exposure to the condensed Sein energy in Kratus's Lab.

  "The readings show that Hunter's body was not affected by the Sein pressure being released by the generators. Even though they were enough to bring me down almost instantly. Readings also indicate that his body was somehow absorbing the pressure, though the amount absorbed was negligible ."

  Kratus nodded at her.

  "Thanks for keeping tabs on the readings."

  He handed her a handkerchief.

  "Your nose is bleeding."

  Yue took it and began dabbing her nose.

  "Strange, even void type magic beasts have Sein readings."

  Kratus nodded.

  "Yes, there is no being in existence that does not have Sein in their readings, even those that cannot use it have innate Sein within. Well, I suppose he is the exception that proves the rule."

  Kratos nodded thoughtfully.

  "No Sein, no aptitude for it, no memories. What a delightful puzzle you are my friend."

  Yue nodded.

  "Quite the zero some would say."

  "Don't say that Yue, you know that's what his detractors mock him as. He's got enough people barking that at him. Besides don't you have a bunch of photos of him in that binder of yours? You're not going to get anywhere with him if you call him that."

  Kratus ignored the murderous stare Yue shot him after that.