It had been sometime since the boy had been within the comfortable confines on Kikka. In fact it was Shinya who used to take him when he was a child, exploring the vast landscape and impregnable defenses gave the growing Kasai an excitement that instilled itself into his very psyche. The first mission given to Hinokami upon his initial enrollment into the proud squad would be simple, patrolling the luscious yet deceitful markets of Kikka, it was odd to hear at first since he could never remember Kikka being a bandit ridden area, though in actuality Shinya did shield the negativity and harshness from his son during their visits.
With a clear goal in mind and head set straight Hinokami left the grand headquarters in a hurry, hastily jumping onto his broom and zipping off into the azure sky.

After a few moments traversing the captivating, free world of the skies Hinokami began his descent onto the nostalgic town. Coming in to a swift landing beside an elderly fellow displaying a plethora of magical trinkets and supplementary items. Hino took a moment to allow his gaze to shift over the array of objects in this man's possession. A certain dragon shaped pendant took his fancy the instant he locked eyes onto its golden shell, though the urge to purchase such a fine piece of jewelry was burning within him, the fact that his mission needed to be carried out burned brighter. "Excuse me sir, could you hold onto that pendant for me? I'll be right back I promise" Hinokami's voice coming out strong and determined showing no signs of treachery in his words, the older man simply laughed and nodded his head waving off the Lion as if he had more customers waiting.

Hinokami's cloak fluttered brilliantly in the faint winds that blew through the towns market district, various inviting scents and colorful amnesties littered his view; these were the sweet memories that couldn't be forgotten. Though seemingly entranced by the life this town seemed to exert, his attention and observational skills were active. It didn't take him long to figure out the potential attackers. Though in the brief it mentioned four Hino could only make out two shadowed figures sticking exclusively to an alleyway. Even so, with this new information present he still couldn't act on it due to not having the proper grounds to detain or incapacitate them. So for now he'd have to continue on with the facade he was playing. 

After a few more seconds of recon Hino decided it best to fully immerse himself, in hopes that any suspicion of him would dissipate. Turning his attention to a stall that sold a large collection of differently sized and designed bags, a style choice never considered, often denoted by his thoughts that baggage is a detainment of the body. Yet still the Kasai did his best to ooze out interest. Picking up a darkened red backpack, with a roaring lion's mouth on the base, lemon yellow flails on the tail ends to complete the tone. He smiled to the shopkeepers, in all honestly the backpack wasn't a terrible creation looking like a handmade Crimson Lion homage of sorts. Even if this wasn't his go-to in terms of style, still a latent attraction to the item was in question. There was hope for him yet. Hino chuckled slightly to himself before approaching the couple that were seemingly the owners. The man was small, standing at what the boy assumed to be five feet on the dot, with the woman towering over her counterpart and possessing a much more cold, dismissive aura about her as opposed to the warm and welcoming vibe radiating off of him."Good morning Sir and Madam, I was wondering whether or not you had a bigger version of this?"Hinokami pulled up the emblazoned bag letting it twirl loosely in the air for a moment, his gaze floating between the two sellers not sure if they had heard him correctly due to their mirrored expressions. "Good morning oh our savior! I didn't think we'd be graced by the heavenly presence of a wondrous magic knight on such a random occasion!" This loud, overbearing statement came from the woman this time as she straightened up her posture and placed her palms on her cheeks in an exaggerated swoon. It was clear to the Kasai that despite her hyped wording she was mocking the very staple that Hinokami had worked so hard to become a part of, though the Magic Knights were plentiful as well as honorable it now looked as if their presence was more so a hindrance than a helping. "Excuse my lovely wife child, there's just been quite a lot of things happenin' around here" The short male exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his balding head taking a glance at his heated wife, whom simply scoffed and turned her attention elsewhere. "What do you mean? Has anyone been hurt?" HInokami's voice shook with determination and vigor, though he knew the reasoning behind these statements he still needed some sort of useful information to go on with this specific mission. "Well...you didn't hear this from me alright? But, there's a lot of bad eggs that have suddenly made their way into our livelihood. And not in the good way, these damn delinquents haven't opened up a stall or started selling goods like the rest of us no, they've been ransacking the smaller stands and thieving from the elderly or the young" Rage began to swell up within the tranquil soul that inhabited the male, his face was scrunched up as he folded his arms; watching his right and left just in case people were eavesdropping. The sheer fact that these bandits were robbing children and old people left a horrible taste in his mouth, taking from stores was one thing but the younger generation did not need to succumb to such wrongdoings. "I see...have you by any chance seen or heard where these delinquents go to after their despicable acts?" The cub showing pure signs of his caring nature, wanting to apprehend the thugs before things escalate, Hino had no way of knowing if the old man did in fact have anything more concrete to go on other than his sightings but nevertheless through his pain and anguish Hinokami decided to hang onto those very words. "Hmm...well to be brutally honest. No. But, I've heard that they like to hang out around the black market, remember you didn't hear any of this from me" A few beads of sweat had started building up across his forehead hinting to his nervousness breaking out already. "You've been more help than you know Sir, do not fret over these things, my name is Hinokami Kasai and I will bring these hoodlums into justice. I promise you that" Hino's fierce gaze never left the elderly man's inciting a flame of newfound hope that had long since been snuffed out. The Crimson Lion went to shake hands with his elder to fully enforce his promise, in that brief moment of ataraxy Hino felt a buzz in the air; two basketball sized orbs of water were blasted out of a near alleyway just over twelve meters away from the twosome's position. Hearing the swirls and whizzing coming from the orbs Hino acted instinctively, still holding onto the hand of the man he pulled him backwards and to the side, rapid thoughts skated across the boy's mind as the orbs honed in; with little time to save the heavily built woman Hino's grimoire floated into view opening to the burning pages he required. The infernal hilt of Grisha's sword pushed itself through the fires that lit up his grimoire. Hastily reaching for the hilt he unsheathed the blade in turn letting out a single swipe which nullified the incoming orbs releasing a wave of steam from his placement.

The man's wife could do nothing but gawk at Hinokami, taking in the flaming sword he now possessed and the cool, calm nature that was present. Hesitant to make any moves that would disable him from fighting or making smart decisions Hino waiting within the steam for the slightest movement. His eyes closed as he steadied his breathing, exerting his mana around him as to 'feel' what was incoming and outgoing. Then he felt it, the pressure of mana coming from two foreign sources. As they moved fast towards Hino he simply grinned, it had been sometime since he had been given the reasoning to go on the hard offense, spotting the masked individuals as they came into clear view standing a few meters from him in the dissipating smokescreen. It was clear to him that these opponents weren't entirely capable nor intelligent enough to not attack such a knight head on. Despite this fact however, Hino would feel no way in decimating them. Taking in their appearance one appeared to be female whilst the other was male, both wore scarves that masked everything but their eyes and gauging from the ocean blue levitated book beside the girl it was evident she threw the previous spell. "We are--" Before the masked man could even get a sentence out Hinokami appeared in front of him in an instant, bringing up Grisha in an upwards slice combining the motion into a diagonal right slash to his midsection. The beautiful display of flames that came from his actions were mesmerizing, burning through his fabrics and causing minor second degree burns across his chest and stomach; through the force and speed of the attack the man was sent into a nearby stall that sold numerous fruits and vegetables.

The female audibly gasped in shock of what just happened to her supposed ally, without so much as a second thought she bolted back in the direction they came. Even though she seemed to be going quite the distance it didn't take but two seconds for Hino to catch up and deliver a devastating combo; two strikes coming from a diagonal left and right respectively, coupled with a slash at her ankles causing her to fall to the floor then finishing with a thrust through her back which burned as it contacted her skin. Her screams lit up the murky alleyway, Hino sighed then turned his attention to the man who had crumbled into the stall, he had appeared to have resurfaced and attempted to make a getaway albeit at a slower pace. Picking up the crumpled body of the girl he threw her onto the floor beside the couple he had spoke with prior. "Watch her for me. I'll be right back."] Hino's voice holding an almost dark undertone to it, was he getting joy out of hurting these thugs?

Hinokami blasted off in a blur of flames as he clutched onto Grisha, catching sight of the masked assailant gripping his ribs and hobbling into another one of those connected alleys. "Leave me alone!" The gruff voice of the man came to, bringing about his grimoire that held a dark brown coloring to it. "Earth Magic: Rising Strikes" With that incantation being said several large spikes of earth manifested themselves from the ground in the hopes of skewering the magic knight in place. Unfortunately for him Hinokami wasn't new to battle nor fighting and had spent year after year perfecting his poise, strength and agility. Utilizing the adjacent walls close proximity, Hino lurched himself upwards using both walls as trampolines essentially, which allowed him to narrowly evade getting pierced. Whilst he was airborne the earthen mage realized his predicament and went to protect himself via another spell; however Hino's maneuverability and physical prowess was incredibly prominent. Using the downward momentum Hino sliced down across the same burning chest as he landed, the blow caused the masked man to recoil backwards in a roll. Just as Hino was about to give the final blow to his attacker a yell of "OI" was sounded just above him. Then came a ghastly blast of wind taking Hino off of his feet and onto his ass, the sudden disorientation was mind-boggling, especially since there was no forewarning no exertion of mana was sensed. As his view began to fix itself he noticed the now fleeing figures of the burnt man and a new accomplice, one whom Hinokami guessed was number three on his left which just left out number four.

Another sigh escaped the Kasai's lips as he picked himself up and ran down the alleyway in search of his newfound enemy. Once he reached the mouth of the alleyway Hino's eyes danced around the area trying to find some sort of information that they came through here, in his peripheral vision he then noticed the fleeting figure of a tattered cloak heading into a misshapen shack. The build looked old and weathered threatening to dismantle itself at any waking moment, the use of volatile magic in here would most likely be detrimental for those inside. Still holding Grisha in his hand, the flames licking at the air around it. Hino zipped off causing many bystanders some confusion. Once at the door of the shake Hino sent his foot into it causing it to shatter in splinters on impact, the shocked faces a man and beautiful woman were seen some ways away from the main entrance, taking quick note at the pile of squashed up scarves and robes Hino instantly realized who these people were. That same hold of darkness gripped hold of him as he ran full force at them, this time the earthen mage wanted another attempt at taking Hino's life as his grimoire began fluttering its pages, though the female shook her head and held up her hand in a surrendered fashion.

Hino slapped on the brakes as he was inches from evisceration. A scowl formed on the beaten man making his grimoire slip back into it's pouch, the woman hung her head in shame. This seemed like such an unlikely event Hino wasn't sure what to believe. "This isn't what I was expecting, you're giving up?" Hinokami sighed once more then began chuckling, which turned into a wave of maniacal laughter. "You seriously think for a moment, I'd even trust the actions of you two. You stole from children...you disgust me, you're nothing but vermin that needs extermination!" Hino yelled out in a creepy smile that fully brought out his latent nature. Letting the flames of Grisha burn brightly he gave the same upwards strike he performed last time, however this attack was a one handed version. Once the flames touched the skin of the woman she too screeched out from the intensity of the fires, gauging a reaction out of the man his book opened again but was cut short from the burning blade licking at his abdomen. Hino had dispatched of two bandits at this point with the third being with reaching distance. The woman's green grimoire floated beside her unbeknownst to the sorcerer, still this wouldn't do if she couldn't focus on mustering a single spell. Hino elbowed her in the solar plexus, forcing the breaths of the woman to fall short as she dropped to the floor, writhing around in agony gasping for a chance at oxygen. There would be no mercy shown to such savages even in their time of need, Hino thrust the burning blade into her back akin to his previous enemy, then swiped at the back of her legs to inhibit her movement, with the final strike lacing her neck; the sheer pain and surprise of the move shocking her system into passing out.

Hino was seen hurling the two bodies across his shoulders mustering the physical strength to proceed with his mission, carefully heading back in the direction where he first came from. "What the hell are you doing!?" A younger more spirited voice made itself known behind the magic knight. As he turned around he took in the appearance of a smaller person behind the garbs that the trio wore prior. Before was the face of anguish, then came fear as the younger assailant stared wide-eyed at Hinokami not realizing that he was in fact his worse nightmare. "Oh shit!" The voice quivered as he span on his heels, reddened grimoire exposed then lighting his feet on fire as he and tried to dash back through the shack. "Come back here swine!" Hino's voice now tinged with irritation, it was never going to end if these bandits kept popping up and distracting him. Dropping the limp bodies on the floor Hino burst off towards the swaying building catching sight of the younger opponent. "I'll never forgive you! We weren't doing anything wrong, we were starving...we just wanted to--" In that moment of sincerity Hinokami's crimson grimoire fluttered through its many pages as Hino thrust his arm out behind him clenching his fist. Flames cascaded down his arm and erupted in a violent spin taking over his appendage, then came the punch. Hino had brought back the force and momentum from the thrust and sent the flames and his strength barreling into the face of the bandit sending him into the holey wall of the shack, this of course causing the chain reaction in the shack's dismantling. Hino however had knew this occurrence was bound to happen and prepared himself to dash out the window before the building crumbled down in a sea of wooden beams and planks. "Bad things come to those who go"

---

Hino laughed at his own quote before sighting the hand appearing out of the ruins, heading over to the limb he gripped the hand and pulled with his might. The mask had fell off the younger person's face in the wreckage and showed the face of a child. These animals were recruiting children and stealing from them, these atrocities were only getting worse. Nonetheless, Hinokami had a job to do and knew that these four needed to be brought in. If he could only get to these four then at least four would be taken from many. Hurling the boy across his shoulder he then walked over to resting twosome from before then sighed for the last time. "Looks like I'll be getting my workout from today then" Hino shook his head and lifted the girl atop his other shoulder and grabbed the broken earth mage's collar dragging him along the dusty floor. They would atone for their crimes and with that in mind Hino felt more at ease as he made his way back to the couple's stall to pick up his order of one defeated water mage. Life was good but Hino felt it was only going to get better, thus starting his escapades within the Clover Kingdom bringing light to his name as well as the Crimson Lions.

- End

Stats and Health:


Spells Used:

---