Chapter 46

“Thanks for waiting for me.” The Exorcist that got out of the mustang that had pulled up wasn’t one Henry recognized. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d never seen this individual before in his life. The man had dyed green hair, pulled back in a ponytail with streaks of silver, and wore a hoodie from the Anime My Hero Academia.

“Any thing to help out a fellow Exorcist.” Henry said with a shrug. “Besides, it won’t pact with me, so might as well give you a shot at it if it means I can benefit as well.”

The unknown exorcist looked Henry up and down. For a second his smile waivered. “Aren’t you the new Exorcist being trained up by the Reaper?”

“You mean Jewel? Yeah that’s me.”

“Interesting.” The man looked Henry up and down once more, but simply shook his head before he said anything. “Well, we can talk more later. Don’t want to keep the little one waiting.” He motioned towards the Kitsune, which was watching all of this with a somewhat bored expression on its face. Henry nodded, and the man walked up towards it. Surprisingly, Henry noted the individual didn’t pull out any of his own D.E.D., and simply walked up to the Kitsune, uncaring of the icy air around it.

“Hey there little one.” He said softly, as one would a child. “Care to tell me a little about yourself?” The Kitsune cocked its head sideways, it eyes focusing on the man in front of it. It seemed uncertain. It was definitely caught off guard, as was Henry. This was…new.

“Don’t worry.” The man reached a handout towards it. Henry saw his hand seem to shake for a moment, though from the cold or nerves, he wasn’t sure. “I’m not here to hurt you, and I know you won’t hurt me.”

Icy winds pushed around the man, and it was all Henry could do to react to keep his D.E.D. from attacking. The moment the winds had hit the man, his Bladed Drakeling had begun to move. Luckily, Henry stopped him just in time. Meanwhile, the strange exorcist before him seemed uncaring. As if that attack had done nothing to him.

“I know you’re scared. But I promise you I’ll give you a new, welcoming home if you join me.” The Kitsune seemed ready to blast the man with ice again but paused. A few additional words, whispered from the man, and Henry noticed the familiar swirl of essence. A pact had been made, and now, the Kitsune was turning back into essence, which would be stored within the man and recorded in his app.

Henry tried to fathom what he’d watched and realized something else was strange about this individual. He didn’t have any D.E.D. out around him. While Henry was the odd one out normally for flaunting multiple D.E.D., this guy didn’t have any out. Which was just as weird.

“Alright, now that that’s over with.” The man grinned towards Henry, and it was just then that Henry could tell the man’s skin was tinged slightly blue. And yet, as he watched, the remnants of the cold attack began to fade away into a steam. “I suppose we can chat a bit, yeah?”

“Sounds good with me.” Henry motioned towards his car, and they started walking towards it. “I’m off shift anyways. Was heading home and saw the rift opening. Figured I’d come check it out.”

“I’m glad it was you and not Reaper. She would have murdered it the moment it appeared.” The man shook his head. The moonlight caused his dyed hair to seem to shimmer. “Really, I appreciate this.”

Henry reached his car and half sat, half leaned against the hood and passenger side door, looking the man over even more. His eyes definitely seemed kind, behind his slightly stylish glasses. If Henry ran into him somewhere in town, he would just think of him as a stylish anime nerd. Which, there was nothing wrong with, considering Henry enjoyed anime quite a bit.

“So, who are you exactly?” He asked the green haired man. Henry had just let a level 17 rare D.E.D. pass him by. Experience alone, that would have been a big bump for his D.E.D. And he’d done it, for someone he’d never even met. Which was slightly counter to his, growing strong as quick as possible plan.

“Oh, right.” The man chuckled and held out his hand. If Henry had to guess, he was maybe mid to late 20s? So not much older than Henry himself. “Officially, I’m a Knight with Strike Team Charlie. Code Name Tamer.” He shook Henry’s hand, and Henry couldn’t help but notice it was rather warm to the touch. “Unofficially, my name is Caleb.”

“Nice to meet you Caleb.” Henry responded. “I’m a Knight with Strike Team Alpha, but I don’t have a codename yet.” He shrugged. Apparently, codenames were common, and he was wondering how people acquired them.

The man before him rose an eyebrow. “Already a knight? Didn’t you join at the same time as my sister?”

“You’re sister?” Henry started.

“Cassie. She’s the one running around in full cosplay.” Caleb said with a grin. “She likes to stand out.”

“Oh.” Well, the anime connection made sense, though he couldn’t quite see any familial resemblance. “I remember her.” He looked at Caleb and a realization crossed his mind. “You’re the one who gave her that D.E.D., aren’t you?”

Caleb’s eyes seemed to go dark for a moment, though not a cruel darkness. More one of sorrow as he shook his head in confirmation. “Yeah. She’s always loved cute little animals like them, and you know, fox and cat spirits in anime are pretty popular. So needless to say, when she became an exorcist, I gave her one of my fire kitsune to keep her safe. Sadly…she is a bit on the reckless side, and got it killed.” He sighed. “That’s why I messaged you. This new little D.E.D. is going to be given to her as a gift, to replace the one she got killed. She’s been nothing but tears since yesterday. Poor girl.”

Henry thought about the icy kistune. He had to admit, the fact the girl was just getting given rare D.E.D. kind of bugged him. Then again, he was power leveling his D.E.D. so it wasn’t a huge deal. Though, his pride did take a slight hit at the fact that arrogant D.E.D. was going to go to her, and not join him in his fight.

“Well, that’s awfully nice of you.” He said, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. He was jealous, no hiding it.

“Gotta take care of family you know.” Caleb’s shoulders shrugged weakly. “Though, if she gets this one killed, I’m not helping her anymore. D.E.D. aren’t just tools to be wasted, and I couldn’t sleep at night if I knew I was just handing them over to death.”

That comment resonated with Henry. Finally, someone who didn’t see D.E.D. just as tools. This guy, at the very least, seemed to care about them on a similar level to Henry.

“You’re the first Exorcist I’ve met to have that sentiment.” Henry replied, his mood improving. Sure, the kitsune was going to Cassie, who was likely going to get it killed, but at least her brother seemed like a good guy.

“Trust me, there aren’t many like me. It’s not a favorable mindset, and some call it foolish and cowardly. But my D.E.D. are more than just tools. So what if I’d rather keep them from a fight, than risk them for no reason?”

Ah…that could be a problem. Caring was one thing, but Henry could see a potential flaw within Caleb.

“But, you still do your job, right?”

“Of course. My codename is a result of me pacting with D.E.D. on a rather high basis. I give them a safe place, and as a result, I’ve become seen as a collector. As long as I’m taking care of rifts though, no one can question my methods. And when Greater Rifts appear, I still help. Just, I suppose my output isn’t what they’d want from someone who has been with the organization for five years now.”

Five years. Henry couldn’t imagine how strong his D.E.D. could be after five years. Hell, he was impressed with how quickly his D.E.D. had gained power in just a few days. Years though…

“Wait.” Henry looked at Caleb. “You’ve been an Exorcist for five years?”

The man nodded.

“And you’re just a knight?”

“It’s the highest I can go.” Caleb said simply. “My resonation maxed out at B-.”

“Oh. Sorry for asking.” Henry said quickly. The guy before him had been an exorcist for five years, but already Henry, technically, was more capable. Sure, Henry didn’t have the D.E.D. to fully utilize his D.E.D. points, but still. However, he had a feeling Caleb, at the very least, had combined himself with a D.E.D. Though, given his cap at B-…likely wasn’t all that much of a boon for the man.

“It’s all good. One team one fight right?” He chuckled. “Besides, I’m happy with my level. Not too much is expected from me, the pay is good, and I get to collect a bunch of new friends. So what if I’m not wielding unnatural godly powers.”

“Right, right.” The man before him could be a potential ally, but his resonation cap was going to keep him from being all that great when it came to actually, you know, fighting off powerful demonic hordes. But, at the very least, he had five years of experience, and D.E.D. pacts. Which meant, he likely had quite the collection of D.E.D. at his disposal.

“So,” Henry cleared his throat, trying to bring the topic back around. “What exactly did you mean when you said you could make this worth my while?”