A splattering sound that suited nightmares hung upon the air, but as the moments passed, there was no pain. No burning sensation. Instead there was a rushing of wind and the sounds of melting organic matter, causing Argent to open his eyes in panic, searching frantically for Gauge. The rogue was right where he had been, entirely unscathed. Confused, Argent slowly turned his head to the side, finding the acid slung along the ground in a long line across the clearing as though it had been intercepted by something.

“Don’t just stand there!”

A new, yet familiar voice rang out as the Faewitch began to wail with the hatred of the damned.

“...Kotomi?!”

Gauge shouted her name in disbelief, hesitating for a moment as if he had barely remembered. The girl somehow found the time to pause and make a cutesy expression, sticking her tongue out in both confirmation and greeting as he called out to her, even as she conjured up a striking gust of wind which sent the monstrous hag flying. Despite the flowery and vibrant style of her movements, they carried in them the poise of a martial artist, and the power of her arts was clearly refined. Using this opportunity to recover, the two exhausted boys fought to find their footing and grouped up with their new ally. Both readied themselves to fight, but it was plain from looking at them that they had little left to give.

“Fancy seeing you two here~”

Kotomi chirped, the cross in her diamond patterned eye glowing intensely as she smiled. Across the battlespace, the Faewitch’s wild tumble was finally brought to a stop by her fetid nails sinking deep into the earth. The claw marks trailed through the muck as she ground herself to a halt, the command words for an art angrily guttering forth in her rasping voice to unleash a torrent of fiery projectiles on the trio. Before the flames could reach their targets, Kotomi’s eye flashed, her hands moving through a series of signs at a speed difficult to follow. A surge of water pulled forth from the riverbank, whirling and snapping through the air like whips, protecting all three of them as it intercepted the incoming flames with incredible precision.

“Well, thank Lilith for it! I’ve never been happier to see someone in my life!”

Argent shouted in between heavy breaths, struggling to raise his tired voice over the sounds of hissing steam which sprung up as the Faewitch’s arts surged against the defending tendrils of water, dissipating in quick bursts. The Faewitch shrieked in outrage, calling out in a language forgotten to most. At her behest, infected wolves began to appear from the treeline behind the trio.

“More of her thralls.. They must have been the ones out in the forest.”

Argent muttered, and Kotomi nodded, keeping her attention fixed on the witch.

“I hate to ask, but can you two handle them?”

The boys looked out at the mob of enemies, Gauge taking a quick count under his breath. There were seven wolves skirting the edge of the treeline. It seemed like a stretch, but Argent was fabricating a plan.

“Can you give us some cover to work with?”

“What did you have in mind?”

As Argent detailed his intentions, Kotomi nodded with a gracious sparkle in her expression.

“Too easy~”

In a burst of mist, she pulled another surge of water from the river. It ran along the ground, pooling around their feet for a moment before gathering into a swell that surrounded them in a wall about the height of Gauge’s waist, then freezing solid. The result was a defensive barrier they could easily fire over, and a slick mirror of ice between their position and the advancing foe.

“Stellar.”

Gauge breathed, very happy with the defensive advantage that had been provided. Though at first it did not seem to impede the wolves in a meaningful way as the creatures kept their footing and lurched forwards, the value became apparent as soon as the rogue loosed his first arrow. The slick terrain made it all but impossible for the thralls to maneuver from side to side without losing control of their momentum, forcing them to choose between sliding off balance or catching an arrow to the face.

This was fortunate, as the rogue had few physical arrows remaining and very limited kai to expend manifesting an art like [Soul Weapon]. Necessary though it was given the situation, Gauge could not help but frown as he was forced to dip into his reserve of armour piercing arrows, of which he only carried ten… But, they were all he had left.

Argent barely possessed the strength to stand. His swollen leg showed a deep black discoloration where the hex venom had taken hold of his flesh. The pain was enough to make him dizzy, but the alchemist pushed himself out of a desperation that was two parts the will to survive, and one part refusal to be useless. Slumping to his knees, he propped himself up against the short wall of ice, practically hanging his weight over its edge as he used the last of his scatter shells to engage any wolf that managed to close the distance. The un-channeled shells rarely killed the wolves outright, but at least knocked their targets back enough that Gauge could finish the job. The attrition was tight, but with their combined efforts they managed to fell the infected pack with what little ammunition they had left. During the engagement a single thrall had managed to reach their barrier in full, sliding up against the ice wall only to be greeted by Argent’s seax as it attempted to scramble overtop.

While the boys faced off against the mob of beasts behind them, Kotomi and the Faewitch remained locked in an exchange of arts. A battle of powers in which neither had yet gained ground, but the bright-eyed girl was beginning to slow. Not by much, but any onlooker would see that the monster she was dueling appeared to have the upper hand when it came to arts capacity and endurance. Fire and water, ice, acid, and wind. Variants of arts both elemental and arcane spanned the gap between the two casters, until the Faewitch deigned to up the ante. Kotomi had cut the creature’s breath short in the middle of an art, halting the witch’s casting by locking her in a sphere of wind arcana which sucked the air right from the Faewitch’s lungs. Unable to break free of the powerful cyclonic orb, the monster shifted tactics.

Grasping one of the many carved sigils which hung from her adorning vines, she squeezed it in her bony hands until it snapped, crumbling to dust beneath her gnarled fingers as a wave of dark kai rose up. The energy spread into the air, taking on the form of skulls as it separated into a mass of twenty or more missiles. The ghostly forms chattered their empty jaws in silent laughter as they turned their hollow eye sockets towards Kotomi, Argent and Gauge.

With the wolves slain, Argent looked to Kotomi, but the expression on her face told him she did not have an answer for this unholy attack. Her wind magicks faded as the unique diamond and cross of her right eye shone with inner light, assessing this new threat. The shapes rotated periodically as colours shifted within the depths of her iris, but her hands remained still. Whatever her vision was searching for, it would seem she was not finding it, as she let out a slow, defeated breath from between her teeth. Gauge also glanced over then, his attention drawn at the sound of her sigh before his eyes drifted upwards towards the jeering skulls hovering above.

“...Oh, come on..”

He uttered in an arrant yet resigned groan, his attitude bordering on sarcasm despite the lingering tone of defeat in his words. Strung to their limits, there was little he felt either He or Argent could do to assist their would-be saviour now that she had also run short on options. Argent appeared to feel differently, biting his lip as the situation turned itself over in his head. There was an urge in his mind, a inkling of instinct.

“Gauge.. Can you manage a cast of [Shadow Spew]?”

“What? What good would that–”

The skulls started to move, their essence taking on a deeper light as their chattering jaws set into open mouthed glares.

“Can you?!”

“Y-yeah.. I think so.”

Argent reached out and locked his hand around the rogue’s left forearm. Grasping him tightly, he pointed towards the skulls as the dark projectiles began their descent.

“Do it now!”

“I don't understa-”

“NOW!”

[Kai Mirroring]--[Shadow Spew]. Argent could feel the inner workings of the art as it channeled through the rogue. Tracing the energy as it initially began to path from Gauge’s center and flow towards his outstretched arm, before suddenly it shifted, lurching backwards as it was drawn into Argent instead. Gauge’s energy surged through him like a repeater, magnifying as it changed form, its essence splitting and expanding as it shifted from dark to light. The altered kai circulated through the alchemist and back into his companion as quickly as it had entered, rushing through Gauge’s casting hand to complete his art. Or, perhaps more specifically, complete AN art. [Luminous Mist].

A shroud of bright golden power projected itself from Gauge’s outstretched palm in much the same way that [Shadow Spew] would have, seemingly identical in form to the base art despite its alteration in type and potency. The rogue himself was taken aback by the sheer power of the art which manifested, as it surpassed the expected output from [Shadow Spew] by over two times. The cloak of empowered light hung upon the air and surrounded them in a wide breadth, creating an expanding barrier which engulfed the oncoming skulls. The deathly shaped bolts shot into the mist with great plumes upon impact, being engulfed and extinguished as the art continued to flow from Gauge. The rogue laughed out loud, surprise and elation clear on his face as the gambit kept them all alive. He didn’t understand exactly what was happening, but it was clear that it was working, and so he poured everything he had left into channeling the art until his strength gave out.

It was then Argent’s turn to return the favour Gauge had shown him so many times throughout the day, steadying the rogue as his legs began to sway. Both of them nearly toppled under the strain as Argent’s wounded leg was barely able to keep them upright, but between the lingering strength of the two of them they found the will to remain standing. Kotomi released the baited breath she had been holding, glancing at the boys with a smile filled with relief. Unfortunately, their victory and reprieve were short lived.

The Faewitch, visually displeased by the turn of events, cursed in her guttural tongue and reached into her tangled vines to retrieve two more kai-infused fetishes to evoke her wretched arts. Clearly intending to bring this all to an end as she shattered the objects and filled the clearing with arts, ghastly manifestations of power swarming the air above. With pained resignation, the trio stared up at their impending doom in unified silence. Argent and Gauge panted with exertion as they struggled to keep one another from buckling at the knees, while Kotomi solemnly lowered her gaze with a shake of her head. It was a bitter sensation, after the many times they had scraped together their resources and surpassed the borders of their limits to succeed. Faced at last with a final problem for which they had no solution, nothing left to give, Argent's heart stung with a stubborn sense of pride at coming so far; Overshadowed by an aching disappointment and resentment for their unlucky draw of fate.

“Kotomi, you should run.”

He said flatly, as the energies above began targeting. The girl turned her head to look at him incredulously, refusal already clear in her eyes. It didn’t stop him from repeating himself.

“You should pull back. You have a chance to get away in time.”

“Don’t insult me.”

“He’s right. We aren’t going anywhere. I’m too thrashed to run, and Argent’s leg is done for.. But you can survive. You’re pretty fast, and you’ve got the strength to retreat… Let us pull the targeting while you get the hell out of here. You already saved us once, consider this a return.”

Kotomi puffed up her chest defiantly, looking like she was one step away from punching Gauge in the mouth when suddenly, from behind their small fortification of ice a blur of movement swept past. It positioned itself between the group and the witch, and Argent questioned his vision as the form took on the familiar appearance of Izadura. It was a very convincing toxin induced illusion– the apparition seemed authentic to a point– minus the absence of his ever-present sword from its place at his hip.

Izadura soon asserted his position as part of reality, however, as he held his hand to the side and calmly spoke a single word, directed towards their group.

“Kotomi.”

“Mhm!”

At Izadura’s gesture Kotomi cartwheeled forward into an acrobatic leap, as though she intended to roll to his position; But somewhere along the way she vanished from sight, and Izadura’s blade materialized in his outstretched hand. The swordsman shifted naturally into his stance, closing the indigo pools of his eyes as he breathed deeply, taking in the flow of energy and tightening his grasp upon the sword. His feet spread as he readied himself, unmoving despite the many manifestations of dark-type kai above selecting him as their target. As they descended upon his position in a hail of death, a series of whispered words hovered on the edge of his lips.

“Kyotan second style: Silver Soul… [Silencer].”

In the moment of fatal impact, Izadura drew his katana in an iai style strike. Cutting through the first skeletal projectile in a flash of energy, it ceased to exist beneath the pressure of his blade. So too did all the other vestiges of dark energy, as he flowed through a blindingly fast series of cuts to strike them all. Argent watched in amazement as the katana devoured the energy, releasing some part of it from within as Izadura completed his technique and resheathed the weapon. The laquered wooden scabbard taking on a subtle glow for just a few seconds after the blade came to rest.

The Faewitch hissed in violent disdain as she began to raise her arms. Whatever art the creature intended to unleash was unclear, and it would remain forever unknown; as in the time it took her to lift her grizzled hands, Izadura spanned the gap between them. Crouched low in an assault stance directly in front of the accursed hag, he unleashed a finishing blow.

“Kyotan first style: Witch Hunter. [Flashing Fang].”

Though similar in form to the previous iai attack, this technique came in a single strike. Powerful and fast, splitting the space between them so quickly that the sound of vibrating steel hung on the air even after the Kyotan swordsman resheathed his blade. For the first several moments after the execution of the cut there were no visual consequences other than the splatter of blood which painted the ground behind the witch with a foul, greenish-black gore. Gradually, as the seconds passed, the full path of the blade revealed itself as the Faewitch’s body slid apart; Split into pieces from a diagonally upwards slash which severed her forearms, tricep, torso and wrists. It was a clean line. Efficient, and deadly.

Again, Argent observed as some semblance of power was absorbed by the blade and fed into its sheath, a dull glow spreading along the lacquered black wood and glinting in the mottled pink sakura blossoms which were depicted acrost its surface. Izadura turned to face Argent and Gauge for the first time, walking towards them with quick and purposeful steps.

“Are you injured badly?”

“I’m running on fumes, but otherwise intact.. But Argent needs healing arts, and soon.”

Izadura turned his eyes towards the alchemist at Gauge’s response, moving swiftly past the many small wounds and stings from the jellycaps, his gaze immediately rested upon the infected rot creeping through Argent’s leg. He nodded his head solemnly.

“He has been afflicted by a hex. You will need a priest.”

“Or a strong potion.”

Argent added on, though he nodded in affirmation in regards to the nature of his condition. It was a different way of wording it, perhaps, but it was the same consensus. As an alchemist, Argent preferred to classify the condition as a variation of kai-affecting poison or infection rather than an actual curse or hex. But functionally speaking it was the same either way. Light-type dispelling arts were the solution, whether they came from a bottle or a man in a temple.

“Arts will be cheaper than antidotes.”

The swordsman replied, and Argent knew that much would prove true. While casting came with its own limits and requirements, it was generally a much more renewable resource than potions or tinctures. It was not uncommon for wandering healers to provide services for very little in return, and even the organized churches often asked only for donations in exchange for their blessings.

“Well, thanks for the assist, but.. Not to sound ungrateful– but I have to ask– where did you come from?”

Gauge looked at Izadura pointedly. In all their time at the academy, the rogue had probably heard Izadura speak two full sentences, if the swordsman even chose to interact with the rest of the class at all. Now he came out of the woods in the nick of time, to save the girl who had saved them? Speaking of;

“And what happened to Kotomi?”

Izadura frowned, bowing his head slightly in apology. He explained that he and Kotomi had arrived in Thrylld during the previous evening, but had immediately sensed their movements being watched by creatures lurking in the edges of the forest. Deciding to gather information to hunt the witch the following day, they had only learned after speaking with the locals that other students from the DCA were present in the Eve'lln forest. Before anything could be done with this realization, a group of the enemies surrounding the town had broken away in pursuit of something. As the swordsman spoke, the weapon at his side shimmered and dematerialized; Taking on the form of Kotomi as the girl bowed her head to match her partner.

“Sorry! What are the odds that the job you took happened to be in the same forest we’d been tracking a witch? I’m glad I got to you in time~”

Anticipating that the departing enemies must have been in pursuit of their classmates, Izadura deployed Kotomi forward once they broke through the remaining thralls guarding the outskirts of town while he stayed behind to clean things up. Piecing together the timeline, Argent agreed that the group of enemies Izadura had sensed leaving must have been the pack of infected wolves which pursued Gauge all the way back to their camp. The creatures had been there waiting for Izadura and Kotomi, not the rogue. Somehow the two teams had crossed overtop of one another without interacting directly, and he had simply gotten caught up in the fog of war.

Still, all this meant that somehow, the Faewitch had immediately known about the swordsman’s arrival and had acted against it. It also meant Kotomi was.. A sword? There was a lot more that needed to be clarified here, but they would have to take it from the top. Gauge folded his arms acrost his chest and started with what he felt was the least complex question.

“You knew there was a witch?”

“Of course! Why else do you think we came?”

Receiving looks of visible confusion, Kotomi was prompted to continue. As she spoke, Izadura motioned for her to help him with Argent. The swordsman and his partner tucking themselves under the alchemist’s arms as they began to walk him towards the edge of the destroyed fairy circle.

“Do you know what the Kyotan bloodline is famous for?”

Argent was ashamed to admit that he didn’t. He remembered from their time in class that Izadura was one of the last survivors of his people, if not the very last, but he had never delved into the history surrounding his classmate. It burned him a little, reminding him of how poorly he had understood Seren until the extreme events which brought her situation to light. Forcing him to realize that despite the time they had all spent together in class X13, so many of them were still strangers to one another.

“The ancient Kyotan people were renowned for their abilities in combating magick. Warriors of their clan became known as ‘Spellguards’, often sought out by casters to hire as bodyguards against other casters. Protection from mages from other schools, jealous peers or masters– you know, mage politics being what they are. After, ah.."

Kotomi hesitated, glancing sidelong at her companion. Izadura’s expression fixed itself into a subtle frown, but he made no attempt to scold or stop her.

"...After their clan was nearly killed off.. The survivors became mage hunters. Witch hunters. And they have continued on that way for as long as their bloodline has held.”

“Is there.. Some sort of criteria to that?”

Gauge questioned skeptically. The DCA seemed like a very strange place for someone who hated mages to take up residence, as the academy had no shortage of spellcasters.

“They have to be evil, of course. Duhh~”

Kotomi stuck her tongue out at Gauge, her eye glittering with playful power as the boy gave her an unimpressed glare. Before they could get into the weeds over what exactly that meant, and Gods forbid get into the entire ‘evil is subjective’ argument– something which [Scan Alignment] or [Karmaic Sight] could literally disprove– Argent’s eyes suddenly rolled back in his head and he slumped limply in his classmate’s arms.

The hex venom had taken its toll, and there were only so many times one could force past their limitations in a day, even with potions and stimulants. If anything, the hard crash brought on by the effects of the many concoctions in his blood wearing thin likely contributed quite heavily to the sudden unconsciousness which overtook the alchemist.

“It would seem we are out of time to talk. We must get him seen to quickly.”

“Right.. About that. Could I ask you two to take care of him?”

Izadura gave Gauge a puzzled look.

“You are not coming?”

“I will, I will be coming. But I was hoping to.. Well..”

He adjusted his weight on his feet, as though trying to avoid the admittedly guilty twinge that weighed upon him at what he was suggesting. Still, it was logical. Taking a breath, he reminded himself that Argent would likely agree with him on the topic. He wouldn’t want his condition to usurp the original reasons they had ventured out.

“There’s a lot to be collected here. I don’t know why you two came, other than to kill that witch, but Argent and I were here in the hopes of making some money. We put ourselves through a lot to get this far and barely scraped up the win, and there’s no telling if this whole place wont sink into a pit of sludge now with its creator split in two… I’d like to hang back and collect anything of value I can find before leaving.”

“Very well. We will take responsibility for him.”

The swordsman replied simply, apparently unphased by Gauge’s reasoning. Kotomi nodded her head as well, patting the unconscious Argent on the head.

“It’s the least we can do. He wouldn’t be this banged up if we’d caught on to what was happening sooner.”

“Thank you. Really.”

Gauge breathed in relief.

“Besides.. If i’m being honest, i’d probably slow you guys down in my condition. You should make it back to the village faster without me lagging behind.”

“You are likely correct, but are you certain you wish to remain alone? Even with the Faewitch slain the forest is dangerous in its own ways, and other creatures may make a return once they sense the source of corruption has faded.”

“It’s not as though i’m planning to set up camp, I just don’t want to waste anything after we fought and bled for it.”

He gestured towards his non-ambulatory companion as an immediate example of what that meant. Izadura and Kotomi seemed to catch the point, carefully adjusting themselves to support the alchemist in a more balanced manner. Weaving a series of signs together, Kotomi activated an art which surrounded the three of them in a dull green glow, a faint breeze lingering around them.

“Do your thing, then. We’ll make sure he gets fixed up.”

“Stellar. Thanks again.”

“Mhm~! Iza?”

“I am ready.”

“Lets gooooo!”

The pair took off like a shot, the effects of the [Aerodynamics] buff serving to decrease their active weight and enhance their movements using enchanted air currents. After they all but soared out of sight, Gauge turned his attention to the tattered expanse, taking note of the bodies. Groups of jellycaps, wolves, the corrupted myconid, and of course the Faewitch herself. Processing them all would have taken a lot of work under normal circumstances, but he hoped that [Awakening] could streamline the process. Looking up at the sky above, he noted the position of the moon against the horizon, taking a slow breath and thinking out loud to himself.

“Alright.. I can have this done before the sunrise… Just have to hope that nothing decides to make a move before then.”