Carried by the wind, the ashes of the smouldering campfire whisk past. Grey fleck accumulate on my black trousers and white shirt. Brushing them off, the flakes crumble, staining my clothes as they do.

Though sleep escaped me, I did manage to purge my body of the gathered corruption. Wandering dangers in the forefront of my mind, at no point, could I fully let go and submerge my consciousness into the depths of meditation.

The Dread Mother had been true to her word. When I passed through the spatial distortion, I had safely returned to the Oswald region. It was only after I returned that my safety became compromised.

Depositing me in the midsts of a horde of beasts, I was forced to expend the remainder of my Arts just to escape. Retreating from the planes into the forest, I succeeded in eluding most of my pursuers. From there, It became a matter of expelling the corruption of my Tension use and getting some rest. Only one of the two did I manage to accomplish.

My time may have been largely undisturbed, but as Father would say, "when you sleep in the presence of enemies, you'll sleep forevermore." Today is not the day to rebel against the wisdom of elders.

Though fatigue nags at me, I dismiss its call, rub focus into my eyes, and stand. Retracing my steps, I find my way to the edge of the forest. With a forward march, I cross the threshold and reach the planes.

Recalling the maps of this region, it should be no more than a nine-day walk from where I am now to the academy. Though the Tension Beast suppression effort is doubtlessly ongoing, now that the higher-tier Clansmen nearby have been recruited into the effort, the situation should be resolved by the time I return. There's no need to report to base camp. Without question, this region will remain infested, but once the suffering is relegated to the problem of the weak, the crisis will be declared over and the Peace-Keeper's authority to compel assistance will end. Let the heroes take up arms; I will be the one to walk away while all the heroes die.

Beginning my journey, I walk through the black grass terrain. I pass hills and the gory remains of what's left of a terrorised village. The sun bearing down on me from above, I wipe beads of sweat off of my brow and continue walking. Hours pass.

Ember forsakes this region. In the "infinite wisdom" of those with power, not a single train station graces these lands with their convenience. Though the dwelling place of a great academy and the location of an earthbound Tower, the Oswald region was never considered significant enough to invest in the infrastructure. Why would it be? After all, only the "unimportant" are afflicted by this lack of amenities.

Travel between Areas and regions has never been difficult for those with access to the Towers. Methods for Tower jumping abound in the hands of the powerful. With the consent of the five ruling Clans, the mid-tier and high-tier students enrolled in the academy need only request assistance from an escalade in their Clan for them to be escorted through the Towers and taken wherever they mean to go.

As for those without the luxury of origins, naturally, we walk. If we're lucky, some of the journey can be travelled by rail. In times of abundance, the pilgrimage can be supplemented by beast-drawn carriages. But the reality for most is that they walk.

Today, I walk.

Atop a hill, I see them.

Though the distance blurs their definition through my unenhanced eyes, I see them. Charging frantically towards me, two, no, three people tumble down the hill. Behind them, monsters.

Spurred on by relentless pursuit, the three draw closer to my location. The distant sounds distil into voices. The voices clarify into pleas for help. Their faces come into focus. Two girls, seemingly in their early twenties, and a man of the same age. As they close their distance from me, the monsters behind close their distance from them.

'Help us!' One of the girls shouts.

'We… we can't fight anymore!' The boy in the group yells out.

Why are you turning your problem into my problem? Biting the inside of my lip, I circulate Tension throughout my body, draw my sword and sprint in the direction of the oncoming horde. Passing by the strangers as I do, I confront the beasts headlong.

Leading the assault, a spider-wolf churns the earth between its thirty-two claws and leaps into the air. With a wave of my arm, I amputate the eight legs of the beast and continue my way into the mob. Carving through flesh and bone, I sever arms, legs, and heads in my unrelenting assailment against the swarm.

The ground quakes and I look up.

At the top of the hill, they pull into vision.

Colossal bodies of muscle and fat. Tusks the size of my legs protruding from their bottom lips. Standing five times my height, two Corpulent Ravagers shake the ground with their every step. With a voracious roar, they make apparent their intent...

To eat.

To keep on eating.

To eat what they find; what they can. They've seen me now, so I suppose I'm on the menu. Bounding down the hill, the two giants charge towards me. Waving their arms as they run, they scoop lesser beasts into their hands and greet them with saliva and teeth. Defying the appearance of lethargy their bodies ought to proclaim, the Corpulent Ravagers close the distance between themselves and me at an unsettling pace.

Pooling Tension to the corners of my lower back, I summon four tentacles of translucent energy. Whipping one appendage outwards, I smack the face of a Ravager. Unmoved and seemingly unharmed, it grabs hold of my limb and begins to pull. Unable to free myself from its grasp, I waste two-and-a-half Arts and dispel my tentacles.

'Retreat!' I hear the man yell. Retreating denotes a level of consideration and planning. I don't retreat; I run for my life.

Rapidly, I catch up with the strangers that had guided this nonsense to my path. Tension surges into my legs, propelling me forward. Reaching to the side, I grab the wrists of the two women I'm running between. Tunnelling energy into the internal pathways below my shoulder blades, I harness the powers of a gryphon and spout wings. Fingers morph into talons; feet shift into paws. Without the time to appreciate my transformation, I beat my wings and lift into the air, carrying the two girls as I do.

Flying low, I hook my feet beneath the armpits of the man I had left on the ground and lift further into the sky. I ignore the shouts of bafflement and focus solely on the awkward task of flying in such an encumbered state.

While the gryphon's instincts guide me, they were never intended to aid in such a flight. Even still, as my hair lashes in the wind and the breeze caress my feathers, try as I might, I fail to prevent laughter from pouring out of my mouth.

With the beasts far behind, I descend. Releasing my hold on the man hooked onto my feet, I allow him to fall the short distance to Asparian soil. Joining him on the ground, I dispel my transmutation and revert to my human form. I release my grip on the bloodied wrists of the girls I had been carrying and start walking forward.

'Wait!' One of the girls yells. 'You saved us. I can't thank you enough, but…'

'But we can't get back to our carriage on our own.' The other girl finishes.

A carriage, you say?

Face hidden from my future benefactors, I smile. Transforming my grin into something resembling sincerity, I turn around.

'Do we not all fight for the same righteous cause? I am honour-bound to accompany you for as long as you need. My name is Sebastian Nightbreaker of the Nightbreaker Clan. What may I call you?'

Stepping forward, the young man I had carried with my feet holds out his hand for me to take. We shake hands, and he bows.

'I am Garrison Huntly of the Huntly Clan. The two ladies I accompany are Rosaline and Hanna. We are all of the same mid-tier Clan in the Oswald region. I must say, I haven't heard of the Nightbreaker Clan before this day, but considering your chivalry and might, I can tell that you are from noble beginnings. What horror befell one such as you that you are here travelling alone?'

Assuming a downcast manner, I apply the façade of grief onto my features and look into the eyes of the man standing before me.

'In a bid to rescue a mortal girl from the clutches of a horde of beasts, my party and I broke formation and rushed into battle before taking the time to determine the enemies' numbers.' Pausing, I look to the ground. I hold my gaze at the grass before "heroically" finding the strength to continue.

'We were overrun. Though I insisted on remaining to fight by the side of my brothers and sisters in arms, they convinced me to leave with the girl and escort her safely to the nearest village. I don't know if my party survived the battle. I have been stranded in the middle of this unfamiliar region, trying to return to the Peace-Keeper's base camp so that I might hear news of them.'

Rosaline or perhaps Hanna, for now, their only distinguishing characteristics are the different shades of their hair, places her hand over her mouth.

'Ember's Mercy! That's horrible. Sir Nightbreaker, I… I'm so sorry for… I'm so sorry.'

'Do not be disheartened. I am an acolyte of hope. This world is not so cruel as to take the lives of those who pursue the righteous path. I believe with all my heart that my comrades survived. When I return to them, I will see my faith justified.'

'Yes. I believe you will, sir Nightbreaker. If your comrades are nearly as powerful as you, I will not question their survival. Your faith is enviable. I do not believe that it will go unheard.'

'You mentioned a carriage. What makes you believe that it remains where you had left it?' The other girl steps forward. A sudden breeze causes her long, green hair to flutter in the wind.

'Before we arrived at our mission's location, we stumbled upon a cave on the way. There was nobody there, so we decided it would be best to leave our carriage hidden. That way, if the mission took a turn for the worse, our means of escape would not be placed in harm's way. Sadly, our precautions turned out to be necessary…' The girl blinks away a tear. Her friend takes her hand and gently squeezes.

'What happened?' I ask.

'As you saw, we were overrun. The Peace-Keeper who was assigned as our leader along with another member of our Clan sacrificed themselves to give the three of us a chance of escape.'

'Perhaps, they too managed to escape.'

'Impossible. The Corpulent Ravagers you saw back there were only two of an army that had surrounded us. By the time they arrived, we had already spent most of our Arts battling against a hoard of low-tier beasts. For the others to have made it out alive… It's not possible.'

'I apologise for your loss. Of course, I will do everything in my power to aid in your return to your carriage.'

'Thank you, kind sir. I assure you that your kindness will not be forgotten. From this day forth, the Huntly Clan and the Nightbreaker Clan are forever friends.'

Friends?

You wouldn't spit on me were I on fire if you didn't believe me as one of your own. What friendship could I possibly have with a high-born bastard? I saved your lives because it was nothing to me. Don't confuse my magnanimity for friendship. In fact, you'll be repaying my favour shortly.

With a smile, I gesture for my "new friends" to lead the way. As I follow from behind, my smile warps on my lips. I imagine if they were to turn around to see my face, they would have serious misgivings regarding our newly formed "friendship".