Abby, Silvern, and Cyrus all stared down at the young knight, he had taken a seat on a waist high wall that bordered a small park. There were a few well cared for trees and a small fountain in the middle of the area. Cyrus honestly wondered why the only people here were themselves and a couple of guards, it was such a nice day out. Though with the face one of his friends were making, the spear fighter couldn’t be too surprised.

The beastwoman didn’t hide her aggravation over their guide being such a young knight, Silvern had seen her like this before and just hoped that Collin would get away with only a shouting. The spearman on the other hand could only speculate why the now shaking boy was sent, perhaps he was skilled beyond his years?

“P...please forgive me Lady Abby!” Collin suddenly shouted as he looked up at the muscular woman.

Cyrus pulled back his thoughts and prayed that Abby would make her tirade quick.

“Abby, calm down.” Silvern finally said as the woman began to growl. “You’re going to make Collin think you’re going to eat him.”

“I won’t!” Abby barked at the short elf. “I didn’t ride in that stupid wagon for nearly three days just to be told our ‘skilled knight’ was just a knight who’s so fucking green I could call him a cucumber!”

The pair began to bicker again, with the beast tamer saying they should just focus on being productive with what they have and the beast woman accusing the knight of being an imposter. Cyrus looked over at the blonde boy and saw he held a face of both fear and confusion.

“I’m sorry I’m not who you expected but…” He looked at his reflection in his spotless shield. “I don’t see that I’m green anywhere.” The pair immediately stopped their arguing and Silvern sighed to himself, he always wondered how people under a royal’s employ didn’t know common phrases. He let Abby simmer down as he spoke to the knight.

“She doesn’t mean that literally, she means you’re a novice. Excuse her, Abby tends to let her emotions do the talking.” He thought back to that poor man she left out cold on the road before pulling Collin to this part of town.

“How about we all just calm down?” Cyrus offered, wanting to move on from this uncomfortable situation. Two of the town guards had been staring at the four of them for a while now and seemed to be stifling laughter. The tanned man was glad to see that no one else was around to see the display.

After a couple of deep breaths, Abby finally calmed down and looked back at the knight. Whipping her head around so fast that her thick braid swayed in a wide arc, though her face still held a look of irritation. Collin looked up at the white haired warrior and clearly fought the urge to run, not that the spear fighter or tamer could blame him.

“Alright, so I’ll believe you’re our mediator for now. Not that I really have a choice.” Abby said, a stoney calm coming over her voice as her face still held her anger. “But you need to toughen up a bit first, you’ve been shaking in your armor the whole time.”

As Abby and Silvern began talking to the knight over what the travel plans would be like, Cyrus turned his head back to see the two guards from earlier speaking to a traveler who appeared to be lost. Cyrus could tell the man was from out of town by his clothes, they looked nothing like what citizens were wearing. He couldn’t have been very old because from what little voices the tanned man could hear, the travelers sounded young. Not only that but his body language showed him being a little overly friendly, he guessed young travelers felt comfortable around guards.

“Cyrus!” Silvern shouted, snapping the spear fighter’s attention back to the guild duo and knight. “Are you listening? I said we should go meet back up with Doran. He’s cranky enough when we don’t keep him waiting, I don’t want to see him when we do.”

“He’s not always…” Cyrus paused and thought for a moment before chuckling. “Yeah, cranky is the word I would use for him.” Collin stood up and moved a few steps away from Abby and closer to Silvern, he found the dark elf to be a safer option. “Let’s get back and-”

“Excuse me, could I trouble you folks for a moment?” The four travelers turned their heads to see the same man Cyrus just saw talking to the town guards, looking at him closer now he could see that the young man was well traveled.

His clothes were fairly worn with well made traveling boots and a coat that went down to his calves. The man’s face was young looking, Cyrus guessed he had to be close to Collin’s age and his dark brown hair hung messily down by his shoulders. The spearman also caught the familiar sensation coming from the man and his attention was locked on the traveler.

“I’m looking for some friends of mine, we came here together but we got separated. We’re supposed to meet at a tavern but I don’t know this town very well. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help me out?”

“Sorry, we probably can’t help.” Silvern said curtly as Cyrus wondered what happened to the two guards from before, surely they’d be able to help better.

“Please don’t say that!” The traveler said with a panicked face. “I’ve been wandering for hours and I’ve come back to this spot three times!”

Collin stepped forward, his meek face becoming more confident as he spoke to the lost man. The young knight said he knew the town a little better than Cyrus and the others on account of being in Moran for a few days. As Collin began to offer his assistance, the trio of adventurers each took note of odd happenings. Cyrus could still feel a familiar sensation, it reminded him of being hunted.

Abby turned her head to see that the guards from earlier were seated on a bench that faced away from the group and their heads were lowered, she raised an eyebrow in slight confusion.

Silvern caught a glimpse of a figure darting around a corner before hiding from the edge of his sight, he slowly moved his hand to his waist to where his whip rested. The helpful knight missed all of these as the traveler looked at him with a relieved smile.

“I see, thank you so much, sir knight.” Collin smiled at the traveler as the man reached into his coat. “Let me just write that down so I can-” The next moment happened in slow motion for the knight.

Collin watched as the traveling man lunged forward, the thankful smile still planted on his face as the hand that was under his coat was freed from the garment. The traveler moved unnaturally smooth after a surge of aura flowed through his body for an instant, as if he was able to move without any hint of hesitation. Collin caught the glint of metal from underneath the now flowing cloak as the traveler quickly moved forward, the knight’s eyes went wide as he finally realized what was happening. The Traveler’s arm shot from under his cloak to reveal a large, recurved knife in his grip and the sharp blade was aimed right for Collin’s neck.

The knight let out a cry as the swinging blade approached him, only for a metallic clang to interrupt him. Collin and the traveler both looked at the large knife to see that Cyrus had managed to thrust his polearm right between the frightened knight and the hostile weapon, the young assailant immediately pulled his blade back and hopped back a step before Cyrus could mount a counter attack.

“Damn, you have some great reflexes.” The assailant said with a coy tone, he adjusted his stance to a more relaxed one with his large knife resting on his shoulder. With it still, Cyrus could tell it was a Kukri, he had only seen a few of those weapons in Earth Realm. “You’re certainly quicker than those guards.”

The traveler glanced over to where the city guards were seated, he was able to knock them out cold same battle art he tried using on Collin. Of course he had to hide the bodies quickly and knew they’d be found sooner than later, but the man only needed a few minutes to deal with these four do-gooders. Cyrus kept his eyes locked on the hostile man, he finally realized what this familiar sensation was.

“And you need to do a better job of hiding your killing aura.” Cyrus replied snarkily. “I can almost smell blood on you.”

The hostile man gave a modest shrug as the three adventurers and scared knight looked at him, Abby could tell the knife wielding man was still on guard despite his relaxed stance. Silvern wanted to deal with the attacker before any other towns folk came to the park, but he also made sure to stand in front of Collin. The young knight had stumbled to a seated position after nearly being beheaded. Cyrus, on the other hand, was in a relaxed stance as he stared down the attacker.

“Well, this was exciting.” The dark skinned man said as he lowered his spear head. “I was kinda hoping I could talk to you and see why you took a swing at my new friend. But I guess I can’t help this.”

“Oh?” The knife wielder cocked an eyebrow. “Are you that scared of me? I don’t blame you.” Cyrus rolled his eyes at that statement as Abby noticed the same figure darting in and out of frame that Silvern spotted, the elf and beast woman relaxed for a moment as the spearman replied.

“I ain’t scared of you, it’s just that Doran has this covered already.”

The confident smirk on the knife wielder left and was replaced with a look of confusion, and wanted to ask who the tanned man was talking about. But within a single moment of Cyrus saying his piece, the attacker felt a strong sense of danger and quickly turned his head to see the pale skinned face of Doran only a foot away from him.

Doran swung at the man with his sword drawn after using his aura to strengthen his legs before leaping from his hiding spot, the swordsman’s aura left his legs and traveled through his arm as his blade sliced through the air and was sent towards the knife wielder’s neck. The hostile traveler was barely able to position his kukri to meet the pale man’s sword before his throat was slashed.

There was a loud clang of metal striking metal before a sharp snap echoed in the air, the hostile man looked shaken as he stumbled to the side from the force of Doran’s strike. He looked at his knife and saw that the swordsman managed to break the blade on his kukri, the assailant recognized Doran as the man he saw at the tavern but didn’t realize he’d been followed.

“Crap… Susan is going to kill me for letting my guard down.” He grumbled as he looked at the group of five staring him down, the man figured he could deal with the knight but he doubted he could fight the other four. Not to mention someone would be coming and would find the slaughtered guards any moment now, he didn’t have any other choice but to launch his plan B. The man grimaced as he pulled a single ruby from one of his pockets before turning tail and running off.

“Susan! Roy! I make some noise!” Doran and the others quickly realized that the man spoke into an Echo Ruby once the cries of distressed people shot through the air, the swordsman took after the escaping hitman as Abby swore at the situation.

From the sounds of it, the cries of the townsfolk were coming from two different directions as the assailant ran. Doran called out, saying he’d capture the young hitman while Cyrus and the others should go to the aid of the townsfolk. Abby almost reluctantly bent over before grabbing the still seated Collin’s arm and hoisting him up to his feet.

“On your feet greenhorn.” Abby grunted before pushing him over to Cyrus. “You two handle the commotion on the east, Shortie and I will go West.”

“Gotcha!” Cyrus responded before running down the streets, Collin close behind with a look of concern plastered on his face. Silvern didn’t wait for Abby to say anything else before they took off in their own direction. The heroes knew they had to hurry, people could have been hurt even if it was only a diversion.

“You really fucked up this time, Reagan!” A woman’s voice chuckled through the rudy in the assassin’s hand. “We’ll meet at the alley near the rear wall. Don’t get caught you cocky shit!”

Reagan wanted to shout back at the woman, but he was more worried about the Fioran knight that was chasing him down with a look of disdain with his sword still drawn. The young man tucked the Echo Ruby back into his pocket as he rushed past several confused townsfolk, even pushing over a few people to try and slow Doran down as he panicked.

The follower of Velina weaved through the crowd and leapt over any person that was pushed down, suppressing his urge to help them up so he wouldn't lose his target. Reagan looked back once again to see that Doran was closing the distance more and more before looking up, the young hitman saw that some of the surrounding buildings were low and decided the streets weren’t enough to escape his pursuer.

Reagan leapt into the air before planting his foot on the shoulder of a startled man, the young man used the poor townsperson as a springboard as he leapt off the man’s shoulder and grabbed onto one of the low rooftops before climbing up and running along the top of the building. Doran momentarily stopped his pursuit as he looked up as his target began to leap from rooftop to rooftop, the swordsman noticed that the buildings were steadily getting taller as his target fled and swore under his breath.

Not wanting to use a townsperson as a step stool, the swordsman decided to exert some extra energy as he ran to the same building Reagan climbed up as he channeled his aura through his legs. The clear haze coated his legs as Doran leapt high into the air and just barely managed to grab onto the side of the shingled rooftop. The man’s arua flowed through his right arm and gave him the strength to launch himself upward to resume the chase.

It didn’t take Doran long to catch back up with Reagan, the long haired man looked beyond him as their footsteps clattered on the clay shingles of the rooftops and was wondering what it would take to shake off this stubborn swordsman. The hitman looked around as he ran, the pair had jumped to several rooftops and had climbed higher. He could tell that falling from this height would lead to serious injury, luckily for him he was used to fighting in this kind of situation. The assassin stopped running and skidded to a stop, chipping away at some of the clay tiles as he did.

Reagan reached under his coat as Doran continued to charge at him, the assassin smiled as he pulled out a second large knife from behind his back. He knew better than to bring only one weapon to eliminate a target, you never knew what would go wrong. The charging swordsman saw that his opponent had finally stopped running and picked up his pace, making longer strides as he saw the assassin keep a low stance with his new kukri ready to be used. The two channelled their auras into their blades as the distance closed, Reagan shooting forward once Doran was a few feet away.

There was a loud clang as the blades crossed, the auras strengthening the metals and locking the two in a momentary stand-off. Reagan smirked as he angled his blade and slid down the man’s short sword before repositioning himself to the right of Doran, the holy man didn’t have any time to react before the next flurry of strikes began.

Battle Art: Flow. The assassin thought, a surge of aura quickly flowed through his body before dissipating.

Doran saw how the man’s movements began to flow like water as the knife wielding man took several swipes with his weapon as well as well placed footsteps, the swordsman recognized this technique as the same one he used on Collin. This battle art allowed someone to move their body with no hesitation and allowed movements to flow together, the assassin wasn’t a master of this art but Doran was at a disadvantage with the uneven footing of the rooftop.

The pale skinned man moved his body in response to each swipe of the blade, attempting to block the smaller blade with his own whenever he felt he would be cut. The swordsman made clumsy movements as the shingles of the rooftop broke under his sudden footsteps, every few strikes from Reagan gave Doran a shallow cut on his arm or face and the holy man knew he had to create some distance to regain his footing. The Fioran knight clenched his teeth before unleashing his own Battle Art, hoping his next move would make Reagan back off for at least a moment.

Battle Art: Saint’s Cross.

Doran’s left arm and short sword became enveloped in a more visible, white aura before swinging his blade in a cross pattern at a blinding speed. Reagan leapt back as he saw the white arua from a razor sharp cross in mid air, the assassin’s concentration of his own Battle Art broke as he felt the aura cut into his shirt and just barely scrape his flesh. As the coss lingered in the air and the assassin fel back a few steps, Doran infused another surge of aura into his blade before striking the white blade and sending it flying forward towards the now flustered hostile.

Reagan quickly raised his kukri to block the incoming aura blade, the cross hit his knife with surprising weight and began to push the young man back as his feet skidded on the rooftop as he was pushed close to one of the ledges of the building. In a panic, Reagan twisted his knife before redirecting Doran’s attack to the side but not without receiving a deep cut to his upper left arm. The assassin groaned in pain as his wound gushed blood while the swordsman’s Battle Art flew off before dissipating, he winced as his arm throbbed in a burning pain and gave Doran a spiteful look. He was happy that the arm that was injured wasn’t his weapon arm, but the cut would definitely prove to be a problem for his arm’s movements.

Reagan’s feet clattered against the rooftop as he shot forward, ignoring the pain in his arm as much as he could while preparing his next attack. Doran stood steady as he let his opponent come to him, holding his blade outright and preparing a counter to whatever the assassin had to offer. The young assailant readied his recurved blade for a horizontal strike with the intent of slashing the holy man’s throat, Doran almost rolled his eyes at how obvious the man’s intention was as he swung his short sword the instant Reagan was within striking distance.

The assassin smiled as he dodged to the left of Doran’s strike, happy to see the pale skinned man take his feint and be left open to what came next. Reagan threw a sharp kick to the swordsman’s head as Doran recovered from his missed strike, the assassin had managed to stun the holy man and proceeded to continue his onslaught. A flurry of kicks and knife swings pressured Doran backwards, the Fioran Knight was able to block all the knife strikes but the kicks pressed him closer and closer to the ledge of the rooftop. He was growing tired of this balancing act but he couldn’t find a chance to turn the tides again.

That is, until Reagan missed a blow that would have sent Doran over the edge. The swordsman was able to catch the assassin’s rhythm and dodged a knife strike, giving himself an opening to send an elbow into the young man’s chest. There was a cracking sound from the fierce blow and made Reagan fall back with a harsh cough.

“I’ll admit, you’re quite skilled for your age.” Doran said as the assassin took a knee. “But you're outmatched. I promise if you surrender and explain why you attacked my allies then I’ll simply hand you over to the guardsmen. Otherwise…” Doran pointed the tip of his blade to Reagan. “I’ll have to end your young life here.”

Reagan looked up at Doran with scorn, his eyes burning with a drive that the swordsman recognized as the will to continue one his own path regardless of the obstacles. The young man stood and readied his curved blade again, he looked behind Doran and saw how close he was to ending this fight right now… he just had to rely on the training his leader had given him.

“You Fioran Knights and Guild Members are all the same,” Reagan said as he slid his bloody arm out of his coat sleeve, his red blood had stained the garment and there was still a small stream of blood traveling down his toned arm. Doran looked confused as to why he would only remove one arm from his coat. “Just because you’re strong or serving a ‘greater cause’, you think you can’t be beat. I’ll prove you wrong!”

The assassin and knight once again shot forward, their blades clashing again and again with Reagan throwing kicks to Doran’s legs with the swordsman choosing to take the blows. The assassin would often twist and turn around the holy man, his cloak flowing behind him and catching Doran’s eyes and distracting him for a moment before a new attack came. The Fioran Knight doubted that the assassin’s big play was a simple diversion maneuver but he didn’t have much time to think, a new slash of the young man’s kukri came each time his gaze was caught by the garment. Doran was able to catch a glimpse of each strike at the last moment most of the time, but the end of the fight came when the swordsman unleashed another Battle Art.

Battle Art: Three-Arc Slash

Doran’s aura concentrated in his left arm and sword once again before shifting, the white aura split into three sections with one lining the edge of the short blade with the other two forming white blades on either side of Doran’s weapon. The Fioran Knight slashed downward at his target as the aura elongated and widened, leaving what looked to be a giant white claw mark in the air. Doran hoped this wide hitting strike would leave no room for his opponent to dodge, but what came next surprised him.

The assassin charged his own aura into his legs and shot to the side, causing the Battle Art to harmlessly slash into the rooftop and shatter a larger chunk of the shingles. Reagan wasted no time in this opening and continued to circle Doran, stopping right behind the man and slashing into his unguarded back. There was a sharp pain and the familiar warmth of blood rushing from Doran’s back, he couldn’t believe he let his guard down so badly. He knew better than to underestimate any opponent and was paying the price for it.

The Fioran Knight turned to face the young man again but was met with another surprise, it was the dusty brown coat of the assassin being thrown into his face! Reagan smiled as he reached behind his back and his jacket flew to Doran, he took hold of three small daggers and threw them at the blinded man just as the swordsman raised his arm to cast the garment aside. The blades pierced both the coat and the swordsman, the three blades had pierced Doran’s shoulder and arm and left the man’s head covered. Reagan charged forward again before giving a single, full strength slash to the man’s throat.

The spurt of blood and sounds of a man choking was all the assassin needed to know he hit his mark. Reagan threw one last kick to Doran’s head and sent him over the edge of the rooftop, a smirk on his face as he did. He was happy all those twists and turns distracted the swordsman so much that he didn’t realize how close to the ledge they’d become. Doran’s body fell from the rooftop and slammed into a street merchant’s stall, the surrounding people all screamed in shock as Reagan looked down and gave a relieved sigh.

The young assassin reached into his pocket to retrieve his Echo Ruby to inform his allies that one target had been eliminated but panicked when he didn’t feel it, he looked back down at his defeated foe and realized his ruby was in his coat pocket. Reagan groaned as he looked up into the sky, the noon sun beat down on him and he realized he’d have to move quickly if he was going to meet with his comrades by evening. He decided staying on the rooftops would be a quick way to move around, the young man began running along the buildings again in a hurried pace as he realized the town guards would be coming soon.

Just as Reagan began to jump from rooftop to rooftop again, he was topped by a flock of birds. They were all either flying around him or perched on the building, the flock had to have been made of at least twenty of them. But what threw the young man off was how they looked, they appeared to be the size and shape of sparrows but they had no real features, no feathers, beaks, or even eyes. And what was stranger, they were a deep, blood red.

The assassin was about to run past them… when one dived past his face and slashed his cheek.

“What the hell?!” Reagan panicked as the flock began to fly around him.

Back on the ground, Abby and Silvern were running through the streets as they tried to find the suspicious woman they assumed to be the assassin’s ally. But their pursuit was halted when they heard a loud crash and the dries of people, the pair shot down the streets towards the commotion as they feared their target had injured someone. After rounding a few corners, they guild members saw a crushed stall and a bloody coat.

“Hey, what happened here?” Abby asked a townsperson as she kept looking around.

“We don’t know, a person just fell from the rooftops!” The woman responded. “The man was covered in blood and we offered to help, but all he did was wave us away before running off!” When Silvern asked what this man looked like, the woman seemed nervous to respond. “He was pale, he was wearing clothes with the Fioran crest on it and…I may have just been seeing things but… His throat was cut, he was holding it tight but he didn’t seem too worried about it.” The woman also mentioned how she thought some of his blood was moving on its own, but she once again wrote it off as shock.

The Blue Stars looked at each other and nodded, they knew only one Fioran Knight who could take blows like that and not be affected… and Silvern finally knew what Doran was.