Kaiz shot up and quickly scanned his surroundings. The two chameleons pressed against his side, one with its tongue extended. He didn’t need to guess why, he could see. Three men were skulking around the houses he boarded up. He ducked low, his heart thumping in his chest. Not because one was lurking just outside his window or because they evaded all the traps, it was the fact they all glowed green.

Green titleds were the worst. Without knowing their specialty, fighting one was as dicey as it gets. They could do anything; sink you into the sand below, summon lightning from thin air, melt your own weapon out of your hands. Enchanted gear could accomplish similar things, but their activation was easy to read. For Kaiz, that made the world of difference.

Thankfully, all three of them showed their cards without Kaiz having to do anything. They stood around the houses, equidistant from one another, and extended their arms forward. The tell-tale signs of spell emerged. It was clearly one spell shared between the three of them. Kaiz had never seen group casting in the flesh, but he had read about it. Whatever they were about to do, it would be magnitudes stronger than if an individual cast it.

He weighed his options. The opportunity to preemptively blitz them seemed appealing, but he wanted to know what their spell did. Plus, if he waited until after, they would have less mana and be more complacent. That assumed whatever water spell they were casting couldn’t be redirected towards him, though.

The major downside to group casting, besides obviously needing a group, was its incredibly slow cast time. They progressed at a glacial speed, giving Kaiz a perfect view of the spell’s workings. Unfortunately, he didn’t fully understand the way mana transformed into physical phenomena. He knew some of the patterns and shapes the mana shifted into, like the symbol that marked the spell as some water variant, but most eluded him. He ultimately decided it was best to at least see what they were capable of, before he made a move. It may just sway his decision to attack them at all.

That proved to be a wise choice. The spell spawned a pool of pure water and then morphed it into a massive twenty foot tall dome. It only stood stagnant for a second before twisting into an accelerated whirlpool. The speeds it reached was devastating. Kaiz had never seen water move that fast, even along the waterways. Hells, he wasn’t ‘seeing’ it now. It moved far too quick for his sight to register anything besides a white spherical object. His mind could fill in the gaps though and the the thought of being caught inside it made him shudder. He, with everything else, would have been ripped to pieces. The possibility the men weren’t hostile vanished. He didn’t seriously consider it, but it was vaguely present in the back of his mind. The effects of their spell erased any possible doubt.

For as destructive as the spell was, it must have been just as taxing. One of the three men fell to his knees soon after they finished casting. One rushed to his side, while the one closest to Kaiz stood staring at their creation. Kaiz took that as his cue to begin.

He activated the spell in his boots and flew towards the one still standing. The combination of their close proximity and Kaiz’s speed left them no time to react. His outstretched foot crashed into them before they could even process they were under attack. For a brief moment, he met resistance. The man had a protective barrier of some sort. It shattered within a second, inviting his boot to a feast of flesh and bone. His kick sent the man careening across the ground, taking multiple face fulls of sand and smacking into a building fifteen meters away.

Kaiz trusted that the kick was lethal, but the fact the man had a barrier concerned him. He had to be prepared to meet a similar shield with the others. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t also have magic protection, but Kaiz wasn’t naïve enough to count on that. He turned in their direction, but within half a stride he halted and glided to his right. Six lances, made entirely of water, whizzed by his shoulder and into the air he previously occupied. To his credit, he took less than a second to breathe before he renewed his sprint. He had to stop again though. Ten more lances flew. This time, they spread out to catch him as he glided to the side.

Quick reactions.

He just ducked instead.

The status quo couldn’t continue, though. The closer he got, the more likely they’d catch him with a lance. He didn’t really trust his armor to withstand it. Without ranged attacks of his own, however, keeping distance was only to his disadvantage. He could pull out his trump card, but he didn’t know if Red was watching and they’d shown her enough cards already.

He took cover behind the largest building around. They clearly didn’t have any detection abilities, or he’d be long dead. He just had to stay out of their line of sight as he approached. Simple. Hopefully. He broke into the building through a window. Whatever it was before it was abandoned, it was a large, empty space now. Kaiz quietly dashed through it. When he got to the other side, he peeked through the window, then immediately broke through.

They were trying to run! And even worse, he could spot their chameleons in the distance.

Ernst?

The chameleons were what led Heldermann’s men to assume they were one of Ernst’s number. They attacked as soon as they saw them.

If they have a ‘kill on sight’ mentality, there must be some cause.

He stepped up his pace. They wouldn’t necessarily get away if they got to their chameleons, but it would make getting both of them near impossible. Especially considering Kaiz fought bare handed. Thankfully, with his upped speed, he’d catch up way before they reached them. It didn’t take long for them to realize that as well. One peeled off to face him directly, launching a plethora of lances his way.

Kaiz immediately recognized what their plan was. The one that turned back would be a sacrifice to let the other get away. If these lances were the extent of his arsenal though, he’d fail.

Kaiz zigzagged. With the speed boost, he moved too quickly for naked eyes to keep track of him. The maneuver wasted a great amount of mana, but it kept the lances chasing after shadows. The titled, would-be assassin kept hurling them anyway, seemingly unbothered by the fact none of them came close to connecting. As Kaiz got closer to him, he switched up his tactic. Water burst forth from his hands, reshaping into a greatsword.

Ahh. You weren’t specialized in ranged combat to begin with.

It made sense. The man was quite large, taller and far more muscular than Kaiz. Nothing like Josslyn, but that was rarely a fair comparison. His posture reminded him of one of Josslyn’s party members, though.

Must be well trained.

His training probably never accounted for someone that could move like Kaiz, however. Kaiz leapt forward, aiming a kick towards his lower torso. He grinned, swinging his sword with remarkable speed. In that moment, Kaiz realized a weapon made of water would move much quicker than a true greatsword. It didn’t matter. Kaiz, whilst midair, jumped up, two miniature clouds forming below his feet. Then he somersaulted. The same two clouds emerged again, on the other side. He kicked off them and planted a foot on the base of the would-be assassin’s neck. He met resistance, again. This time much greater. He didn’t have enough force to send the man flying, but a kick to the spine was crippling no matter how far it launched the body.

Or so he thought.

The man staggered forward a few steps, but then swiftly turned to face him. He didn’t waste a second. First sending out two lances before following up with his greatsword. Kaiz evaded each, gliding around their edges.

He had a dilemma. Should he take this fight, or should he ignore the bulky one and chase the other? Letting them go didn’t come with major downsides. He wore a helmet that protected his identity and they hadn’t seen him use any rare or trackable spells. His speed may have been remarkable to the average titled, but it wasn’t rare amongst those Level 25 and above.

Kaiz sighed. It was better to let them go. It was the least dangerous option. He was sure he could still catch up, but he wouldn’t be able to fight both of them if the other’s barrier was just as strong. His boots would run out of mana. It was a shame, but at least he wasn’t in the middle of a whirlwind..tsunami..tornado..water thing.

Resolve renewed. He faced his opponent with full focus.

“Who are you?”

Kaiz almost smirked, “You ask now? After you attempt to kill me in my sleep?”

“This village was abandoned years ago, we thought you were a brigand. I can clearly see now that we were mistaken.”

“That was a powerful spell for a mere brigand. It’s still going now.” It was oddly silent for how destructive it looked. “Why don’t you introduce yourself first?”

Silence.

“Don’t have a good lie for me? Shame.”

Kaiz knew they were merely stalling. The longer they were locked in battle, the easier their partner’s escape would be. If Kaiz wasn’t operating under a time-limit, he would have obliged. There was much to learn from an enemy that was stalling for time.

Then again, if I wasn’t operating on a time-limit we wouldn’t be facing each other right now.

He charged. The assassin reacted. Nine lances, in clusters of threes, hurled at Kaiz. Each cluster flew a meter higher than the other. Kaiz deftly tucked his knees in and jumped through that meter long gap. A greatsword greeted him on the other side. It swung from above, cutting off his easy retreat path. Kaiz angled his right leg to the side and kicked. His foot hit the familiar cloud and pushed him to the side. He rolled out of the strike’s reach and swept his left leg low. He aimed for the ankles. As expected, the man hopped over the outstretched leg. Kaiz kicked off a cloud again, generating enough momentum to spin. His other leg came around and smashed into the side of the man’s thigh. Kaiz felt the now familiar resistance, but it only held for a moment before he felt the kick land. Again, it didn’t seem to do as much damage as it should have. The nuisance stumbled when it landed, but he was otherwise unharmed.

What the hell is going on?

Kaiz’s confusion didn’t dull his senses enough to miss the sword edge coming his way. It didn’t look like it would reach, but Kaiz knew never to assume the length of a magically created weapon. He rolled to the side and jumped backwards as a lance hit the sand.

Can’t afford to keep wasting mana like this.

He was thankful he didn’t bite more than he could chew. If the other guy was on par with this one, he’d have been in serious trouble by now. He glided to the side as more lances flew. There needed to be a change of tactics. He’d lose anyway if he kept this up.

Hmm...maybe.

A potential solution popped into his head. He just had to set about laying the groundwork. He ran in a zig zag, quickly darting from one foot to the other. Soon the lances stopping coming. Their sender understood that launching them when he did so was pointless, but Kaiz was more concerned with whether they realized what he had in mind. If they did, they did nothing to stop him from positioning himself.

Once Kaiz was in the right area, he began the charge anew. A different pattern of lances met him this time, but it was similarly ineffective. Once past the lances, he again confronted a perfectly placed swing. This time a diagonal one.

Perfect!

Kaiz glided midair. His opponents always locked themselves into the idea that he could only glide while his feet were on the ground. He avoided showing them differently unless it was to administer a killing blow. Hopefully, this would be just that. With the greatsword missing its target, the man left himself wide open. He quickly released one hand from his weapon and positioned it to protect his head. Water burst from his knuckles and formed a small shield. It was a shame Kaiz wasn’t aiming for his head.

Kaiz tackled him. Instead of heading for the ground, though, they sailed through the air. Kaiz continually kicked off clouds as he carried them forward. Before he could realize or react to what Kaiz was doing, it was done. Kaiz released him and watched as he fell helplessly into his own spell. He gasped, then disappeared into the maelstrom.

If that doesn’t kill you, I’m hoping on a sand chameleon and getting the hell out of here.

Kaiz refused to believe anyone under level 35 could survive in there for even a second. If some way, somehow the man did, he’d just accept the fact he ran into some undying god and be on his way.

Would have been better if I caught one.

He landed and shrugged. He was alive. They weren’t. Hopefully. That was enough.

Sleep ca—

Kaiz pivoted, a green glow emerged in his peripheral.

He came back?!

It turned out to be two glowing green bodies. One was Red, the other was a man she dragged behind her. She threw him in front of Kaiz.

“He’s alive. I’m gone sleep.”

Her second statement didn’t make sense, but Kaiz was too lost in his disbelief to notice. Even as she walked back to her house, he was still stuck, staring in shock.

Since when could she fight?!

He looked at the man she dropped. It was definitely the last of the assassins. Seeing him up close, he was definitely older. They all wore masks, but Red seemed to have ripped his off. He had none of the muscular physique the other guy had. He seemed thin and brittle by comparison. That was, of course, a completely accurate observation and not Kaiz trying to explain why he found his fight so difficult.

No way this guy survives a kick to the spine. Look at him. He— wait. Did she say he’s alive?

The next day, Viz returned. He looked at the thoroughly pulverized buildings, then looked at Kaiz, then looked back at the empty, flattened piece of land, “Is that blood? What happened here?”

“Well. You left. I set up some traps. People came. And we dealt with them.”

Viz just shook his head, “Did you figure out who they were?”

“Well, I can make a pretty educated guess, but the guy we captured hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Hasn’t woken up yet? It’s 16. When did they attack?”

Kaiz thought for second, “Hmm. 2? 3? 23? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. Somewhere in the middle of the night.”

“So it’s been at least twelve hours. And he still isn’t awake. Did you accidentally kill him?”

“What? No. He’s very much alive. You can check for yourself.”

Viz walked up to where Kaiz left the old man, laying on the ground next to his door.

“You could have at least taken him inside.”

Kaiz scoffed, “He tried to kill me.”

He knelt down by their side and put his hand on their chest, “A heartbeat.” He then put a finger under their nose, “And he’s definitely breathing.”

“You really thought I ‘accidentally’ killed him?”

Viz shrugged, “You aren’t exactly known to hold back. But anyway. He’s alive, just not waking up. What did you do to him?”

“Nothing. Red got him.”

Viz raised an eyebrow at that, “Red?”

“Come inside, I’ll just explain the whole thing.”

There weren’t any seats inside, but sitting on the floor was better than sitting on the sandy earth outside. They both sat against a wall and Kaiz recounted what happened last night. He skimmed the specifics, but he gave a general idea of what occurred and his thoughts on who they probably were. Viz agreed with his assumption.

“When I rode towards the town, they fired on me immediately. It took a lot of shouting to get them to stop and even more sweet talk to get them to let me in. They were convinced I was a bandit. Apparently, only ‘bandits’ use chameleons around here.”

That raised quite a few red flags in Kaiz's mind, “Is this still sounding like a mission we want to complete?”

Viz didn’t budge, “Of course. The pieces are finally coming together. How will we become ‘big boys’ if we shy away from their presence?”

"By slowly building our foundation to the point that it is more of a hassle to break it than it is to just negotiate with us. But whatever. You’re not going to change your mind and we’re probably in too deep now, anyway.” Kaiz sighed, “Do you know how much of this Snake really knows? He’s bound to be more clued in than we are and I can’t shake the feeling this is an elaborate revenge trap.”

“Well, it’s a good thing he didn’t source this job then.”

Kaiz’s chin almost fell off his face, “Wait. You did? With Count Emmrich? How? You said he didn’t know it was us specifically.”

Viz smirked, “You’re going to be so shocked when you get back to Walddaun. But through Reel. He contacted her in need of specific services, and discretion, and our name came up. Well, actually, your name came up. I passed on it originally because I knew you would curse me for just bringing it up to you—”

“I would have.”

“—but then Red was added to the Blood Run equation and it became the perfect trial run. Snake signed off on it, but he shouldn’t know much more about it than we did. I doubt he’d have sent Red with us if that was the case.”

Kaiz chewed on those details for a bit, “There was a very small window for this to work. Bit convenient you got it just at the right time, don’t you think?”

“Maybe.”

“And wait. Didn’t you make the deal with Snake almost a month ago? Why was Red only added recently? At the perfect time to coincide with this?”

Viz smiled, “Ever the cautious one, eh? When we made the deal he said he wanted one of his people on ground with you. I didn’t want you to have some bum as a partner so I gave him a list of requirements.”

“You gave Snake.. requirements?”

“If you want to sit at the big table, you have to act like you belong.”

Kaiz rubbed his forehead, “That generally only works when they don’t already know you don’t belong, but whatever. It worked out.”

Viz stuck out his chest, “Boldness often does.”

“No, no it does not, but that’s a different conversation. It took twenty days for him to come up with Red?”

“Yes.”

“No alarm bells rang at that?”

“No. I had pretty high requirements."

I suppose Red is rather unique. Never seen magic like her's before.

Viz continued, "Look. I don’t believe this is a trap, it's too convoluted, but even if it was, I don’t mind either. We’ve got the deeds and this is looking like a fantastic opportunity for us as well. If our dealings with Snake ended here, we'd have done nothing but gain from it.”

Kaiz mumbled under his breath, “Fantastic he says.” He stood up, “Your complete disregard for the possibility of death is many parts concerning and a few parts admirable. Fine. Let’s go get Red and get on with it."

“That's the spirit! But wait a moment. I learned a few other things in Silberg.”