*Down by the harbor in Bludwood, two boats carrying members of the Syndicate arrived. Each boat carried five people who were a mix of humans, elves, and demihumans*
(Syndicate Grunt #1): Over there. There’s the boat.
*The Syndicate grunts ran over to the boat Jin and the others used to escape only to see that they were nowhere to be seen. However, they saw footprints in the ground and snow that was leading to a factory*
(Syndicate Grunt #2): That’s Lady Diamanda’s weapon cache factory. Not a lot of places to hide in there.
*The grunts ran up and entered the factory which was pitch black. One of the grunts went to flip on the light switch*
(Syndicate Grunt #3): AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
*As soon as the grunt touched the switch he was electrocuted. After a few seconds, he falls to the ground unconscious. All of a sudden a screeching sound can be heard across the PA system*
(Jin): Good evening gentlemen. Thank you all for coming into this factory. I must say, I’m quite impressed with the weapons you created here. I’m very happy we chose this place to hide. You see, for the longest time I’ve been running into roadblocks in creating an all-purpose weapon for myself. But thanks to this factory I’ve finally managed to find the answer I’ve been looking for and you guys get the pleasure of testing it out with me. I would like to take this time to thank you for your cooperation and wish you the best of luck during this testing phase. Because you will get hurt a lot.
*Jin stops talking over the PA system. As Jin was talking the grunts used this opportunity to make it to Diamanda’s office where they forcefully kicked down the door. One of the grunts shoots three fireballs into the room. One of them destroys the chair at the desk while the other two destroy the window. The grunts see that Jin is nowhere to be seen in the office and spread out to look for him*
***
*One of the grunts who had short yellow hair with black streaks in it was walking down a hallway filled with suits of armor looking for Jin. Using his light magic he entered the hallway slowly looking for Jin but finding no trace of him. When the grunt was passing by a suit of armor, the armor lunged forward holding an umbrella-like weapon that was open, and slammed the grunt into the opposite side of the wall. Inside of the armor suit was Jin*
(Jin): Impact Shield.
*Jin unleashed the built-up power of the Impact Shield onto the grunt creating a loud sound that echoed throughout the factory. The other grunts heard the sound and rushed to the area. The first one to arrive was the fireball grunt who had spikey orange hair. He looked down the hall and saw Jin removing the armor all while standing over the unconscious grunt he just took down*
(Syndicate Grunt #4): He’s over here!
*The grunt then shot off a fireball at Jin who quickly shielded himself with his new umbrella-like weapon. Jin then charged at the grunt who continued shooting fireballs at Jin but had no effect on the shield. The grunt dodged Jin as he came charging through and was about to shoot another fireball at him, but Jin quickly turned around and threw a small bomb at the grunt. When the bomb went off it extinguished his fireball. The grunt tried to create another fireball but had no luck*
(Syndicate Grunt #4): What the hell did you do to me?
(Jin): It’s called carbon dioxide. Look it up after you regain consciousness.
*Jin fired off his hand cannon to blast the grunt in the face. Four of the remaining grunts arrived and were about to attack but Jin dropped a smoked bomb to release a white fog in the area and cover his escape. When the smoke cleared, Jin was nowhere to be seen. The four grunts stood there puzzled about where Jin could have gone not noticing one of the floor grates beneath them was slightly higher than the others.
***
*Crawling through the floor grates, Jin came across two grunts who were passing above him. Seeing an opportunity to attack, Jin waited for the second grunt to pass over him and then he jumped out of the grate to attack. Using the hook handle of his weapon, he tripped up the second grunt, jumped on his back, and then leaped into the air with his weapon*
(Jin): Hammer form.
*All of sudden Jin’s weapon turned into a hammer and he struck the first grunt down. When he landed the second grunt attempted to get back up but Jin rolled an iron ball at the grunt which released dry ice in the face of the grunt*
(Syndicate Grunt #5): AHHH~! AHHHHHH~!
*As the grunt screamed out in pain, another grunt appeared with brown hair tied into a bun holding a shotgun. Jin put his hands into the air surrendering knowing that the grunt wouldn’t shoot him. He needed to know where Chief and the others were so they needed to capture Jin alive. As the grunt began walking toward Jin he walked over the grate where he tripped off a wind mine planted by Jin which launched the grunt into the air. Jin quickly picked up his weapon and ran toward the grunt all while manipulating the metal of his weapon*
(Jin): Polearm form.
*When Jin was done manipulating his weapon it became a polearm that he used to slash diagonally across the chest of the grunt as he was coming down. Jin’s slash also cut through the shotgun of the grunt. With that grunt taken down, there were only four grunts left for Jin to face and he was ready to face them. Heading toward an open area where the remaining grunts could see him Jin waited for them to surround him*
(Jin): It’s funny. A few months ago I would have been terrified of this situation. But now, I feel nothing but confidence.
*All four grunts charge at Jin from different points as he manipulated his weapon and turned it into a zanbato. The grunts laughed at him mentally believing that the sword would be too heavy for him to lift let alone swing. However, Jin proved them wrong when he spun around with ease hitting each of the grunts with his sword. The grunts attempted to use their magic which was wind, lightning, dark, and electric magic to block the blade but their attacks were instead reflected back at them thanks to Jin’s counter dial he fused with the sword. So along with the sword slash, they also got hit with their magic. With the last of grunts defeated, Jin reverted the sword back to it’s original form which was an umbrella*
(Jin): This worked out better than I expected.
*Jin could sense an attack coming behind him and quickly jumped out of the way to avoid it. He saw that the man who attacked him was the grunt who got his face burnt by the dry ice. His eyes were black with a blonde goatee and a classy quaff haircut with spikes. He stared furiously at Jin with his hands turned into stone mallets.
(Syndicate Grunt #5): No more tricks this time you little punk.
(Jin): Then how about a tactic?
*Jin tosses his umbrella into the air where it opened up and began shooting out metal needles that rained down on the grunt and stuck to his body. Jin then activated the glove on his left hand and pulled his arm back. The needles that were stuck to the body of the grunt came flying off of him and gathered around Jin. They began to glow as Jin concentrated on them and returned them into small marbles which gathered into a pocket on his utility belt. The umbrella came falling down and Jin caught it just as the grunt overcome with pain fell forward to the ground unconscious. With the last grunt defeated Jin walked out of the factory happy with the results of his new weapon. He still had to make a few adjustments but for the quick work he did this weapon was a success*
***
*Once Jin made it outside he was spotted by Alita who was flying over the factory. Alita quickly landed by Jin to check on him*
(Alita): Jin! There you are. What are you doing here?
(Jin): Just taking care of a few Syndicate grunts.
(Alita): Where is Chief and the others?
(Jin): They’re safe. I led them to the safehouse and have my spirits watching the place. They’re fine. No injuries as far as I can tell.
(Alita): Excellent. Ryuuji and I were successful at the mansion. We are to head to the palace to subdue the rest of the Syndicate.
(Jin): Right. Let’s get going.
*Before they could move Jin’s phone started to ring and he answered it*
(Jin): Hello?
(Hibana): Howdy, Jin.
(Jin): Hibana?
(Hibana): Got a second to speak?
(Jin): Not really, kind of in the middle of something big.
(Hibana): It can wait. I’ve been doing a little research into The Golem and I’ve discovered something you may find intriguing.
(Jin): I’m all ears. What! No way! You’re positive?
(Hibana): I wouldn’t be telling you this if I wasn’t 100% sure. Pass the message along to Dust and the others.
*Hibana hangs up*
(Alita): What was that all about?
(Jin): I’ll explain on the way. We’ve got to get to the palace immediately and tell the others.
*Jin and Alita quickly rushed off to the palace. Along the way, Jin explained to her what Hibana told him and she was just as shocked as Jin when Hibana told him what she discovered*
Author’s Note: How’s that for stealth play? Going into this arc, I didn’t have big fight planned for Jin, but still wanted to give him a moment to shine. During this fight, we see a bit of Dust’s teaching come out of Jin as he gets the grunts spooked up. While Ryuuji may be the ideal version of a knight he wants to be, he’s learning that Dust’s flare and tactics aren’t so bad either. When it comes to stealth, I’m neutral. I don’t mind it, especially when it’s done well and you give me multiple ways and tools to take down the enemies. Coming up with different ways for Jin to take out all the grunts was fun. While some aren’t the most creative, he’s just getting started and will only get better as time goes on. Jin’s new umbrella weapon was inspired by the King’s Avatar. The main character uses an umbrella-like spear weapon that can morph into a gun, which I thought was cool. So I figured, why not give the guy who can manipulate metal a similar weapon, except he can turn it into various other weapons. It’s going to be fun seeing how Jin uses this weapon and what new ideas he comes up with down the line. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.