Knock, Knock, Knock.
Rinzeling his brows lightly, the silver-white strain dripping over his right eye, shifting a bit confusedly.
Was no one there?
"Did I go to the wrong place?" Noctis muttered under his breath, a bit perplexedly.
How could he? The second district was basically more of a straight bridge, separating the abyss from a gigantic cliff, than a real living area.
As he started doubting his sense of direction or even reality, considering how impossible it was to miss the place, he lifted his arm, planning on knocking once more, this time with a bit more force.
However, just as Noctis' fist was about to hammer against the metal door, it suddenly gave way before he made even contact.
"Uhhagh…?"
Almost losing his balance as a result of the sudden motion, pulled forward by the force of his punch. Noctis let out a gasp, just barely holding his balance, a shadow taking root above him.
Fallen into a peculiar position, Noctis quickly moved his left leg back an inch, as his body moved into a quickly improvised bow.
Then once he had regained his bearings, he took a quick, subtle glance upward to spy who he had made himself a fool in front of.
First, his gaze spied a darker colored pair of leather pants. As his eyes travled further upward, a large belly barely hidden behind a bulging brownish shirt. Finally, two red-flushed cheeks, paired with a certain dazedness in the man's eyes, the entirety of the large build surrounded, enwrapped by gold, half-translucent strings only visible to Noctis alone.
The man had a strong fate tightly enraptured by the strings, not comparable to the man of the royal guard, but to Darron, who was very strong.
Hearing the deep, labored breaths of the one standing above, a certain stench encompassing every sound, Noctis felt the situation extremely uncomfortable.
But at the same time, he was so incredibly thankful all the same.
Thank the gods, the man was drunk out of his mind! With a bit of luck, he would forget how Noctis had shown himself.
Watching Noctis with a scrutinizing gaze, swaying lightly, the man watched as the youth in front slowly rose from his bowing position.
"Hello, my good sir—I was sent…"
"What… has brought… Uharg, wait, wait, wait… a fellow such as you here?"
Ignoring the interruption and taking a step back out of the splash zone, the man seemed on the brink of puking all over Noctis.
Not discouraged by the first interruption, Noctis began anew, this time speaking more quickly.
"Ahm—As I was saying, I was sent by Captain Darron of sector fou—"
"Captain Darron?"
Noctis's left brow twitched slightly at the interruption, but he somehow managed to keep any venom from dripping into his voice as he began speaking anew, with a forced sort of vigor.
"Yes—yes, that's correct, Captain Darron… He—
"He has a stick up his ass. I can't stand that guy."
Taccidly deciding to ignore the comment, but noting down to find out the name of the guy, Noctis spoke once more, not letting himself be interrupted this time.
"HE told me you have a task for me. Please tell me what I was sent here for."
Falling silent at the sudden, quick string of words, the man seemed to mull over what was said.
"Task, what task?"
Hearing those words, Noctis had to do his best not to show any reaction on his face, internally cursing him out. To know that is your job, not mine! He truly hated to deal with drunk folk, the only reason for him not having exploded all over him being that the man might have been a higher-up than him.
How did it come that such people always climbed the ranks?
Preparing himself to speak once more about the message he was supposed to deliver, Nocits was interrupted, this time before he could even speak.
Suddenly hitting his palm with a balled fist, he spoke again as if enlightened.
"Ohh right, the lunatic! Ha ha ha. I feel for you, kid."
Not liking the sound of his words, as he watched the man wipe away tears building in his eyes, the man's laughter barely contained, Noctis tried to speak, wanting to question.
Sadly, the man did not give this chance, promptly turning around and gesturing for Noctis to follow.
Trotting in a not-so-stable way, Noctis felt the need to stand a few steps away from the colossal man, fearing that he'd fall at any moment. To be more precise, that he would fall on HIM at any moment.
That might have been a relief to sore eyes.
Stopping himself from fantasizing any further, Noctis mustered up the courage to speak once more.
"Ahm… if I may, what am I tasked with?"
Turning his head slightly, the man's dark-haired chin came into view, a mocking smile placed above it, his steps not slowing in the slightest.
"That crazed bastard will eat you alive. You'll help out our researcher for a while.
From one man to another…"
He leaned over, planning to wrap an arm around Noctis, maybe to stabilize his wobily self or whisper something into Noctis' ear. Either way, Noctis dodged a bit to the side, not wanting to come too close to the drunk fool.
Seeming to not mind the dodging motion, the man walked on, wobbling to the side and stabilizing himself by holding onto the metallic wall to the side.
"Dont let the guy near your body, and dont fall asleep while near him."
"Wait—What?"
Unable to understand the warning words, they reached another metal door, the man's laughter ringing throughout the surroundings.
Gesturing for Noctis to open the door, he hesitantly obliged.
Boom!
The door exploded outward, with a cloud of smoke engulfing Noctis instantaneously.
Immediately on alert, luckily Noctis had the reflexes to dodge back and not get squashed by a heavy metal door. He started looking around, a blue light glowing at his gloved hand.
"Be cautious out there…."
A hesitant voice spoke out.
"Was anyone there?"
Not getting an answer, a loud sigh of relief resounded a second later.
"Puh… I thought I messed up again."
Walking out of the room, a middle-aged man in a white lab coat walked through the settling dust and black grime, as he leisurely started picking up the heavy door that had collapsed outwards.
All throughout, he was whistling a carefree tune, completely engulfed by his current task.
"Ahm." A deeper voice rasped his throat, making the cheerful humming stop.
"Didn't we say to leave the doors… intact?" The bigger-built man's eyes glided over the wrecked door, his drunken bewilderment chased away by the loud explosion.
"Hm ha ha ha… Did we? I dont recall. Oh, who is the new arrival?"
Just as the lab-coated man seemed to find no way out, his gaze spotted Noctis, coated in some black dusty substance through the dissipating smog. Like a glimmer of hope, he jumped at the chance to change the subject.
"Oh, and what's that blue…" Before Noctis could even react, despite the fact that he was actively looking at the man's fate, his gloved right hand that was emitting a blue shimmer was grasped by the white-coated man.
For a brief moment, the impulse to shoot out the wave-like attack he had used to end the amalgamation of four arose within him. To the scientist's good luck, Noctis managed to suppress the sudden impulse and started to let the built-up energy gradually fade, as opposed to it being shot in a concentrated burst.
"This is quite a basic model. Maybe the stuff one gets from the government?"
Not having a particular desire to answer, Noctis' hand was firmly clutched, unable to free itself. It was true that the converter he used was still the same he had gotten at the academy, but it had steadily held its place at his side, and the other stuff was just so expensive.
No, to free himself, he could have freed himself if he truly tried, but the fear of hurting the guy in his attempt was not low. After all, his fate was so common and feeble, Noctis would see it wherever he went. The man in front was no Authority Wielder, just a normal man.
It wasn't too uncommon for such people to work at the government or even at special divisions, considering how few Authority Wielders there were within the city, but that he took a high enough position to be supported by an Authority Wielder was.
Watching as the man pulled out a screwdriver and started screwing around with it, Noctis could no longer hold it in anymore. He didn't want to have his trusted companion trashed by this overeager lunatic after all.
"Hey fat— man, can you stop… huh"
The other fat, drunk guy was gone.
Analyzing his surroundings, Noctis noticed that the drunk guy had left at some point, only a few strings in the form of afterimages remaining. If he followed those to their origin, he would have found the man.
He just left me alone with him? No, what could I have expected from a drunkard?
Feeling a piercing pain emanating from his gloved hand, Noctis instinctively pulled it back. This time, he achieved his freedom.
Looking up at the now distant glove, the man in front looked a bit apologetic.
"I might have activated the manual extraction of your glove. My bad.
My name is Sisyphus. Are you the one sent to help with my work?"
Stretching out a hand in greeting toward Noctis.
Noctis, in turn, glanced briefly toward his gloved hand, where a light pain was emanating, then stretched that same hand out to accept the greeting.
Actively striving for retribution would only lead to a stressful work environment. He had to work for the guy, so, or so, he thought it best to at least strive for the experience to be enjoyable.
"Noctis Raveth. That's correct, I hope for good cooperation."
Just as he spoke, and their hands met, Noctis was pulled back downward, the man pulling out a few tools and starting to tinker at his glove once more.
What kind of lunatic does the second division have?
After struggling some more, Noctis finally resigned himself to whatever Sisyphus was doing. The guy seemed completely absorbed with whatever he was doing to Noctis' glove-shaped converter.
Five more minutes passed before Sisyphus finally released the gloved hand with a satisfied expression.
"Sigh. That is better."
He brushed back his dark blue hair, looking towards Noctis with expectation.
"What?"
Noctis asked in return after the silence spun for too long.
"Channel your Notium already."
Confused by the sudden instruction, Noctis' gaze shifted between the glove that had been deconstructed and then rebuilt by the guy and now looked the same as when it had yet to be touched by Sisuphus, and the man himself who had done the seemingly pointless thing.
It wasn't going to explode into my face, right?
Hesitantly letting the Notium run through his body, then to the glove, which was held as far away from his face as humanly possible. Noctis was positively surprised to find the glove to be filled with energy far quicker than before, and the blue glow it usualy let out turned into more of a yellow-gold color.
"Puh, so your Authority is compatible with this kind of converter. That is perfect."
"What?"
Noczis muttered, more to himself than to Sisyphus.
Compatible? What would have happened if it had not been compatible?
Taking a short glance at the glowing-golden light emanating from his hand, a bit of fear and curiosity suffused his gaze.
"So I guess we can start with our work."
Wait, you aren't even going to explain?
Quickly wrapping an arm around Noctis' shoulder, Sisyphus started walking over the still knocked-down door, as if completely having forgotten about it. On that note, it seemed like he had completely forgotten about his tinkering with the glove aswell.
Leading him through a workshop where tools and small inventions built of gears and screws were scattered around, he spoke again with great enthusiasm.
"I need a living battery! And you can be that."
Noctis spoke without hesitation, not giving the words even a second thought.
"I'm honored, but no thank you. I enjoy being a living person."