“You’re mine!” Arthur swung his sword downward. He had jumped into the air, creating an awkward angle of prediction for Amarok.

The sword collapsed toward the ground. However, halfway through the form, the sword was repelled upward. Amarok’s foot had made contact with Arthur’s hand through the use of a front kick.

“What?! Such flexibility…” Arthur was shocked, considering the angle of the front kick was so close to Amarok’s torso that he had not thought it possible. The sword was sent flying. Suddenly, Amarok’s foot balancing foot began to sink into the ground. In the corner of his eye, Jalen chanted words while touching the ground with open palms.

“Quick sand…?” His foot became encapsulated in the soft soil. Before he could react, his calf was completely buried in the dirt.

“Don’t lose focus.” Jamie advised while observing the action.

Knives soared toward Amarok’s body. Terry had launched the attack. He narrowed his eyes while discerning the targeted areas- left shoulder, right arm, lower torso… in that order.

A small bead of sweat rolled down Jamie’s forehead while he could not contain his thoughts. He took another swig of his mead.

“I knew it… this bastard…”

Amarok’s body bulged. His arm hair lengthened as his face stubble turned to a full beard. His eyes quivered as he swung his arm in a cl0ckwise motion. His outer bicep caught all three blades.

“You’ve gotta be kidding…” Jalen instinctively took a step back. Amarok ripped his leg from the earth as easily as a baby would rip a dollar. Arthur’s eyebrows lowered as his cold strong blue eyes remained.

“I see… A Werewolf from the Thorne clan. Now I understand why Captain Freyja insisted that you participate in the mission.”

Jalen pushed his glasses up with his finger. He informed Terry of the situation.

“Werewolves are Daemon that are allied with mankind. While they are generally friendly with humans and unaggressive toward other daemon, they are considered to be among the strongest of species. Their only natural enemy is one shared by the Night Guard- Vampires.”

Amarok charged. With each step, he covered meters of distance. Before Arthur could properly analyze Amarok’s physical improvements, Amarok kicked his body. His forefoot, which had broken out of his fur boot, now resembled that of an aerodynamic and wild animal.

“Gah…!”

His body soared threw the air. It tumbled in the white, finally landing face-down in a pile of snow. Amarok took flight. His jump was abnormal- distance aside, he jumped 15 feet into the air. His clawed fist reared back as his body twisted in the air. As his fist collapsed toward Arthur’s back, a barrage of needles pierced the space between them. ‘Not knives? Are they poisoned?’ Amarok spun backwards, successfully slowing his descent and avoiding the weapons. Terry removed the daggers at his hips from their sheath and charged toward Amarok’s landing zone. Amarok observed the quickly advancing rogue and drew air into his mouth. His chest enlarged, preparing to unleash an attack, but was halted by a rope around his neck. He instinctively cancelled his plan and gripped the rope that was tightening around his throat. Suddenly, the rope whipped toward the ground, slamming Amarok into the snow and causing white powder to fill the air in the training ground. As the dust settled, a dagger was pointed at Amarok’s face- which had already reverted back to normal.

“Not bad, rookie.” Terry sheathed the pointed blade. Amarok, while still on his back, looked back to see Jalen holding the rope. The rope evaporated into the air as Jalen spoke.

“Binding magic. It’s my specialty.” The two men helped the behemoth of a man off the cold snow.

Jamie chuckled as he took another sip of his mead. The leader had been casually drinking while his subordinates were hard at work- something that he had found long ago he had a deep enjoyment of.

“A Thorne Clan member, huh? Now I’m starting to understand why you would join an organization like this.”

Amarok pat the dust off of his pants while Jalen threw a cloak over his shoulders. The back of the cloak donned the Night Guard crest- a wolf’s head with a snake caught between its fangs.

“Welcome to the Night Guard, Amarok of the Thorne clan. As you can see, despite your special circumstance, our squad is full of powerful and trustworthy allies.”

Arthur, Terry, and Jalen stood proudly. All men of the Night Guard had pride in their profession. Amarok remained silent for a few more moments before Jamie spoke.

“You look like you have something you want to ask. Spit it out.”

“How strong is the vampire we will be hunting compared to us?”

The question was directed toward Jamie. Despite his refraining from the combat training, Amarok could feel that he was the strongest in the squad. ‘After all, he is the Squad Leader, right?’

The whole squad waited for Jamie’s answer. This was the first time that they would face an Elder vampire, and they were also curious about the strength of the famed species.

“Hmmm… If I had to say…” Jamie touched his chin in thought. He purposely dragged out his thought process, as if he enjoyed leaving the men waiting.

“Even if all four of you were to attack it at the same time, it would probably slaughter you all within thirty seconds.”

The face of Jalen sunk. Terry snickered nervously. Amarok and Arthur showed no noticeable reaction.

“But?” Arthur continued Jamie’s sentence to pry out the rest.

“But…” Jamie flashed a handsome smile. He snapped his fingers as he struck the pose of a hero.

“No need to worry, for I, the famous and handsome Jamie, will be there to protect you all!”

Amarok blinked. The rest of the group sighed and spoke in unison.

“We’re screwed.”

.

.

.