Welcome to Gaia! ::

Joe threw his hands up. "Well, what the hell! Any idea what they'd want with me, enough to blatantly come out and start killing civilians? I'm just some guy!"

Marco wandered through the market, finally coming to a stall full of assorted jewelery. He was about to move on, when his eyes caught on a mana signature.
Well, no. Something...else.
He looked at it closely. It was a small, red, gilded amulet, about the size of his thumb. The energy within it looked...familiar, but he didn't know from where.
"How much?" he asked the vendor.

She had the distinct feeling he didn't mean dogs, so she told him the truth.

"Nothing. I mean, there's the whole in the movies thing but I get the distinct impression that things from the movies are very wrong."

Legion laughed. "To be sure. Vampires lose their supernatural capabilities in direct sunlight, but under an umbrella or tarp they're as strong as indoors, and they certainly don't burn in sunlight."

He sat on the table and nodded at the Duchess.

"A Bloodhound is a human bound to a vampire; the Bloodhound must drink the vampire's blood at least once every 11 days, but in return has no abnormal external mana signature and most of the benefits of the vampire with none of the weaknesses.

"There's a mildly insane vampire of ours, named Gertrude," she continued. "She's powerful - she's drunk enough mage blood to be able to operate at full capacity in sunlight, like myself and the Duke. Unfortunately, she's uncontrollable. We have been considering having Takeshi become her Bloodhound and act as a sort of handler for her. What would you think of this?"

Joe sighed. "All right. Whatever. So, the delivery went all right, although we ran into a bit of trouble with the Tyrg at the airport. We managed to mislead them, then we escaped. I think I might have killed one, I dunno."

Marco raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

((I'm waiting for at least two people to be ready.))

Marco opted to spend the 4.

Joe nodded. "Thank you. And there was one other thing I was wondering..."

"Ever taken a student?" Joe asked, not bothering to bandy words. "I have no skill at Earth, and you seem pretty proficient. I'm getting a mana focus soon, and after I get it I'd like to come and learn from you."

Marco shrugged and walked out of the market. Once he was in a relatively empty area of town, he slid the chain over his head.
Instantly, the runes on the backs of his hands flared bright, began to smoke, and disappeared off his hands in a puff of colored smoke. His eyes flashed, and for a couple seconds he had a heightened magical sense.
Then, just as suddenly, things settled back, and the amulet was so light that it was like it wasn't even there.
Marco got a feeling of being...attuned to it.

Joe grinned. "All right, sounds good to me. I'll be back, just as soon as you post some new jobs for us. Catch you later."
He launched into the air and took off. Next stop, Linda.