The woman ran slower than she usually did, trying to gain the attention of the animals that surrounded them. She wanted to appear as the weak link for them to follow her. Unfortunately, the wolves were smart. Out of the five, only three followed Rose, while the others ran after her companions.

'Should have known that it won't work' she scoffed.

She then silently cursed and sped up only after a minute, when she could feel the three predators were near her feet. With a burst of strength she jumped ahead and created a gap between her and the wolves, surprising the pack. Still, they followed her restlessly, knowing that it was too late to chase her companions.

'Those things are faster than I anticipated', her breath remained calm, having learned after years on the job to not show any weakness.

The three wolves barked at each other and the split. One was following Rose, while the other two went sideways.

'Trying to surround me and then attack? How cute' she gave one of them a foxy grin, despite knowing that the animal will most likely not understand it.

At one point, Rose stopped, deciding that she created enough distance. In that moment, the wolf that was behind her jumped, but she quickly dodged it. She raised one of her Kukris and the clang was heard loudly in the forest. The fang clashed with the blade with a bone crushing strength. Was it another human, their arm would have shattered, but Rose no simple human.

She quickly spun around and dodged the other two wolves that suddenly jumped from the sides, trying to ambush her. While mid-air, she grabbed her other Kukri and threw it at the first Nehringi, who recovered from their previous encounter. It hit its muzzle and made the predator stumble back a few steps.

'Aren't you just cute?' she grinned, 'I just want to leash one of you guys and keep you as my puppy' she gave a sad sigh, knowing that it was a near impossible feat.

Meanwhile, Rose tugged at the chain attached to her blade and made it fly back to her under an angle in order to attack one of the other two wolves, all the while throwing the second Kukri at her third opponent. Her two weapons were tied by a thin chain. It was custom made, just for Rose and special magic was laid upon it. The chain could become longer or shorter according to its user’s will.

Many often underestimated the female assassin whenever they saw her weapons. But Rose wielded those two blades like they were extensions of her own body. The chains moved like snakes, often making it seem unbelievable, as the magic allowed them to change trajectory whenever needed.

She swung her Kukris trying to cut or harm the wolves whenever they got to close. Her body was also surrounded by the extended chain, that was stretched to its maximum capability. Rose used the chain as an additional armour, making sure to tangle her enemy in it whenever they got too close and then swing her blade to cut them.

She played with the three predators, to drag out time, easily dodging them and attacking back.

"Do any of you wants to become my puppy?" she then happily shouted at her three opponents and apparently, her mood angered them, if the furious growls were anything to go by.

Many people feared those animals, often choosing to rather flee for their life than attempt to fight. Yet Rose seemed to keep them at bay with ease.

The snow that previously covered the ground was mostly gone. Either swept away by the chains and Kukris, or stomped upon by the wolves.

“Well this was fun”, Rose then suddenly said with a wink, “But I think its time for me to head back”.

As she said those words, shadows gathered at her feet. One of her speciality skills, Shadow Puppets, was about to be activated. The Shadow Puppets skill was one that many assassins dreamed to get their hands on. Just like the name implied, the skill could create puppets, or clones, out of the user’s shadow. The puppet can be used in multiple ways, some chose to use them as additional force in battle, to either guard their back or attack their opponents from multiple angles. Others chose to use the skill for its ability. The user is able to switch places with the puppet whenever they wish, only downside was that it would disperse the shadow. The distance is equivalent to the skill’s level. Each level gave the user 100 meters distance that is allowed to exist between the shadow and the main body.

Rose never loves this skill much. She considered it a gateway for cowards. Those who are weak can strengthen their power, while those who fear can escape. While she could not lie and say that she never used it herself. Rose would only chose this skill as a last resort, which didn’t happen often.

Proof of her lack of usage was the skill’s level. Many assassins often trained the skill to make it reach maximum level, 10. In Rose’s case, the level was at a measly level 4.

In that moment, the female assassin did not think twice when using the skill. While she knew that her friend was strong, being the apostle of Harym, but she still could not help but worry. She cast her shadow while she run and the moment she considered that enough time passed, she activated her skill and switched with her puppet that was 400 meters behind.

The sudden change startled the wolves. They looked confused for a moment before starting to sniff the air. When Rose reached her hiding spot, she could hear the angry and frustrated howls. For a moment, she feared that it was not far enough and she will have no choice but to fight for the kill. Not wanting to remain and find out, Rose quickly turned around and started running in the direction of her companions.

Knowing that she also had to catch up, the young woman used a skill that was rather unusual within her profession. Wind Steps, a skill that increased the user’s speed, but in exchange decreased their defence. As an assassin, Rose was rather lacking in the department, her clothes offered little to no defence when it came to being attacked. An assassin would always forsake defensive items that are usually heavy and concentrate on agility. Wind steps was also a wind skill, as the name implied. While it was not as rare, since there were assassins who knew magic other than the shadow one, wind among them was a rare attribute.

It was a skill that she learned from Deryam during the short time that she travelled with him. Rose would always fondly remember those few years. Their meeting took place under unfortunate circumstances, left orphan by the war as a small child, Rose mostly grew up with other children. Their village was burned by an enemy nation. With little food, nobody from neighbour villages wanted to take in stray children and so, they were left to fend for themselves.

The group that Rose remembered spending her childhood with was led by a fourteen year old boy. His mother used to be a healer, so he knew various plants and taught himself how to fish and hunt small prey. There were nine of them in total, Rose being the youngest, at the age of five. She could remember two other children, only two year older than her, die one winter from a sickness. Another two were caught by thieves when Rose was seven. Their fate was not something that she knew of. They might have been killed, or raised by the bandits. It was not a thought that Rose liked to dwell upon.

'Pity that I don't remember their names' she would often think, whenever she would dream of that day. Her resources were now more than enough to find almost anyone in the world, as long as basic information was provided.

Their number over the years decreased from nine to five. The most horrible summer in her life, when she was left alone, was perhaps one of the darkest memories for Rose. The boys left one day to hunt for rabbits, leaving her with an older girl to fetch water and gather some plants. But nobody came back, a day passed and still, the boys never came. With worry, the two of them went to search for their companions, venturing deep into the forest and away from their small hut. After a restless night of searches, the two girls went into the neighbour village and begged for help.

Just when the men of that village finally sighed and agreed to help them, some other people came from the forest. From them, they heard horrifying news, about the corpses of three boys being found mauled by wolves. It was the day when their small group remained with only 2 members.

At first, out of pity, the villagers allowed the two of them to remain. But it didn’t last for long. Not even a month later, the two of them were chased out. There wasn’t much food to go around, resources were sacred. Nobody wanted to take on the burden of taking care of two outsiders.

Her friend was offered to marry into a local family, allowing her to remain. Her friend was a beautiful young girl, who would grow up to become a beautiful woman. While Rose... she was not as pretty, nor was she fit to live in a village. She lacked compassion for other people. She seemed strange to them. Rose could look at a corpse with a straight face and stab it with a knife, regardless if it was an animal or a human. It made the villagers fear her. And so, they chased her out.

She remembered that day, looking her friend in the eyes and asking.

“Why did you come with me? Why didn’t you stay?”, her small voice shaking.

“Because they were petty”, she replied with a scoff, “They wanted me to stay because they liked the way I looked.”

Despite those words, Rose knew the truth. Her friend would have gladly remained, if only she could have stayed as well. Deep in her heart, Rose knew that she should have told her friend to remain there. But her selfishness kept her mouth shut. She couldn't say it, because a deep part of her feared being left alone. What a childish fear that was.

“Don’t worry ■■■■■” her friend said, “Just like those people don’t need us, we don’t need them”, her voice was cheerful.

■■■■■, it was a name that Rose left behind a long time ago, along with her past. Yet it seemed to hunt her to this day.

That summer, while alone in the forest, the two of them were caught by the most horrible people that there could be. Slave traders. Rose’s friend was pretty, she would fetch a good price, she remembered those people saying. But looking at Rose, they couldn’t say the same. ■■■■■ was supposed to be sent to the far South, to be used for labour. And that is how, the two of them parted ways, in the most horrible way possible.