Water dripped down from the stalactites that hung on the ceiling of a large cavern. Darkness covered every inch of the area, but despite this the two individuals comfortably walked through the cavern, unimpeded by the lack of lighting. A thick smell of earth and musk filled the cavern, and a slight aroma of mold entered the nostrils of one of the individuals.

“We’re close to the surface,” a deep male voice uttered. His red face looked up at the ceiling as he clenched his chiseled jaw. Two large horns protruded out of his head, whilst his pitch-black eyes gazed about the area.

“Master Xipil, I thought we had already finished our job. Why are we still here?” a female voice said. From the high-pitched tone of her voice it was clear that she was much younger than the man. Similar to Xipil, she had red skin from head to toe, but two smaller horns. Both of their horns coiled around once, similar to that of a ram.

The two wore rather heavy looking armor, with the male having a shield strapped to his back and plate armor on. The girl had similar armor, however it was much more breathable because it didn’t cover her whole torso like the man’s armor did. Despite the heavy armor, Xipil moved both swiftly and quietly.

“It seems that the bosses have changed their mind. We are to take him in with us for interrogation, by whatever means necessary,” he said in a regretful tone. He gave a long sigh, before continuing, “I did not wish for this either. But we must complete our task. As members of the Clan of War, our orders are absolute, and you know this Pia.”

“Yes, Master Xipil,” she replied as she lowered her head.

The two proceeded to make their way out of the cavern, and after about an hour they finally reached the exit. A cold breeze of air touched Xipil’s bald head as he walked through the large hole that acted as the entrance to the cavern. His eyebrows furrowed as he shifted his head around until he saw what he’d been looking for. A half-moon shone down onto a desolate patch of land. Only brown looking grass was visible, however, underneath it Xipil was able to see a tunnel network that moved and squirmed around as if it were alive.

“There, we’ll take the Earth Wyrm until we reach a couple kilometers outside of Restok. The same as last time,” Xipil said with his arms crossed.

The pair moved to the brown grass leisurely without any conversation. Once they reached the grass, a huge amount of mana burst forth from within Xipil. The deathly silence from the surroundings was disturbed by a low groan from the ground. A large brown beast that looked between a gigantic snake and a worm shot some of its body out of the earth. Its true size was similar to that of a dragon, Xipil knew. The beast slowly opened its mouth.

Without hesitation Xipil and Pia walked into the mouth of the beast. A rancid stench invaded Xipil’s nostrils, similar to a mold infested piece of chicken. Despite this, he stood calmly inside the beast, and after it closed its mouth it darted back into the ground. The insides of the animal were sticky and wet, however through the use of a red barrier, the two individuals were able to protect themselves from the filth.

After approximately half an hour, the Earth Wyrm stopped moving, and shot out of the ground. Xipil and Pia walked out of the mouth of the beast, after which it went back into the ground. Xipil quickly used some magic to push back all of the soil and earth that had been flung about back into the ground.

“The coast is clear. Prepare yourself fully. You’ll be the one taking on the hybrid, alone. I will not interfere regardless of what happens. This is also part of your training, Pia,” Xipil said in a stern tone. He glared at the young girl, mixed emotions apparent in his eyes. “Do not forget. We are soldiers of the Clan of War, failure is not an option.”

The girl bowed down after Xipil finished speaking, and then rushed off into the distance. Xipil stared at the silhouette of the girl, before mumbling to himself, “Vice, you better defeat that student of mine, or else I won’t be able to protect you for any longer.”

He then sat himself down in the middle of the forest, which was a couple kilometers away from Restok, before meditating under the moon’s glow. A bright red aura was released from the man, and the mana from within his body burst out into the sky before flying toward Restok.

.…

It had only been a couple hours since Vice had fallen asleep, yet he woke up with a weird gut feeling. His insides felt like they were being constantly churned like a stew in a cauldron.

‘Ahh man, why can’t I sleep today?’ Vice wondered as he got up from his couch and walked to the fridge in the kitchen. He took out a glass from one of the cupboards, and poured himself a drink of apple juice. The sweet flavor from the juice soothed his insides, but he continued to feel a sense of urgency, of danger.

‘What is this feeling?’ he pondered whilst sipping on his drink. As the time ticked on the feeling of danger intensified, upon which Vice realized something truly was wrong. Without second thought he left the villa because he could sense that something was tracking his movements.

‘Can I not get a single fucking day to just rest already?’ he thought. Vice made his way out of the city as fast as he could, and continually looked over his shoulder to try to see what was following him.

‘Hmm, that Second Sense is really coming in handy. I mean, you wouldn’t need it because of me, but then again, I wouldn’t have told you that you’re being followed in the first place,’ Favian said before cackling.

‘Shut up,’ Vice replied. ‘If they are following me, it’s best that I get out of here so my Mom and Anne won’t be attacked too.’

‘My dumbass of a student pays good money for guards, yet doesn’t allow them to do their job. Go figure.’ Favian sighed.

Vice finally made it outside the borders of Restok, but continued to run into the wilderness until he was a couple of kilometers away from the city. He found a tall oak tree and perched himself up on its thick branches before letting his mana circulate around his body. The purple wisps of mana burst forth into his hands until it took the shape of a double bladed polearm. The weapon was slightly bigger than Vice’s height, and the two sharp blade ends were separated by a padded area that Vice could easily hold onto.

‘What the heck is this?’ Vice thought to himself when his Chaotic Roulette didn’t stop with materializing a weapon. The mana coursed through his body until it reached his brain. A weird feeling came into Vice: it felt as if he had been thrust into a new dimension. His vision was colored with lots of purple specks, which he realized immediately that he could interact with.

‘It’s like you’ve been living in three dimensions this whole time, but have been flung into fourth dimension,’ Favian commented. ‘Your mind’s eye has been widened recently. Anyways, you don’t have time to wonder about this new power, and it’ll probably activate at random as well, I think.’

Just as Favian said those words, the arcana in Vice’s surroundings surged greatly. Vice could sense a blood thirst coming directly at him, only a couple dozen of meters away.

Vice concentrated on the purple specks that he could see all around him, and expertly picked them up and threw them towards the figure that was racing at him. Hundreds of tiny rocks, branches and other small items torpedoed toward the figure, and a loud clang of solids hitting against heavy metal rang out into the area. Vice didn’t let up. He leapt off the tree he had been perched on and slashed in a downward motion at the enemy.

CLANG!

Vice’s double edged polearm struck against a metal shield. The amount of force he’d put into that strike created a gale of wind which briefly caused his short hair to fly around. Before Vice was given any time to react, a fist as tough as metal hit him in the stomach and sent him hurtling back almost twenty meters. Vice was able to control his body midair and landed on his feet, however he clutched at his stomach momentarily as he gathered his breath back.

‘What the fuck? How strong can a single punch be?’ he thought in awe.