Matsumi Segawa kept a soft, professional smile on her face. A tray with finger food was precariously balanced over her hand and she glided across the floor, offering her bounty to the students wandering Fontex Dome’s First Dance Hall.

All of the attendants wore the same uniform, a long-sleeved black coat, a white vest underneath, and tight, but stretchy pants. It allowed her ease of movement, which was essential for the evening’s plans.

The Hall was a large circle, with the dome above covered with runescript lines that projected the evening sky. It was close to the Half Moon, which meant the Chaos flows were bright and dominated the night skies.

A band played upbeat music, with a bouncy rhythm that she struggled not to move in time to. If she tapped her foot or bobbed her head, the grace she exhibited would be lost, and the jarring would break her Form.

It was still early in the evening, with the festivities barely starting. The centre of the hall was for dancing. It was sunk lower into the floor by a small step, all the better for the ones in the outside shell to watch. Tonight wasn’t formal pattern dances or couple dances, but a wild, unstructured, gyrating, and chaotic thing that she instinctively disliked.

Discreetly, she scanned the students for the target, then huffed in annoyance when she didn’t find her. Instead, she noted where her backup was located. Silent Ralph was peeking over the balcony, but otherwise keeping himself hidden. Jillie also roamed the floor carrying a tray of fizzy drinks, offering it to the students. The current batch of Aneurin students was getting a bit rowdy as the liquor flowed and music soared.

With her tray empty, Matsumi returned to the service area and waited at the counter for a refill. The Bark Shambles was one of the premier restaurants on campus and the majority shareholder was the Orgilles Family. Her own clan, the Segawa, had a tiny share too. Aside from a single prominent Knight Dominus, the Segawa clan was… well, weak. They had a dozen Knight Captains and no Knight Commanders, but at least they had hundreds of Knights. The Orgilles, the Abrigo, the Cheval, the Garderon, and the Leon clans each had at least a Knight Dominus, if not a Knight Imperius. Dozens of Knight Commanders, and hundreds of Knight Captains. Nobody bothered to count Knights since that was the level each clan member was expected to grow up to.

Matsumi was an unassuming Knight of the Segawa clan, but her Heritage had gone off tangent from the traditional one. No matter, she would find her way by herself. Well, now she was hired muscle, and she had a job to do.

As she returned to the dance hall, she noticed a change. Where before, the students had formed clumps with their cliques, now, they focused their attention at the entrance hall. The two Mishala clanswomen were incredibly beautiful, but having both of them in the same room dampened the effects of their auras. Instead of one aura dominating, two clashed and were made lesser in the process.

It wasn’t something to be seen with the naked eye, but Matsumi could feel it with her Anima and she could see how the other students, and even the wait staff, reacted. As for her, she kept her Facet running, which had the side effect of distancing her from her own emotions. Still, there was something there affecting her, despite the dual protection of her Anima and her Facet.

The younger Mishala, Yuriko, made a beeline for the cocktail tables where she was promptly served with appetizers and given a flute of wine. Her escort had a rueful smile on his face but accompanied her. The two chatted and laughed, and in the process, the thin miasma of annoyance and irritation hovered over everyone around them. The boys wanted to be the one she spoke with, with the girls, some of them, wanted to be with him instead.

It was funny, Matsumi snorted, because most of the time, it was his hi…Finan Agalmar who was the centre of attention and the object of avid pursuit. As for the other Mishala, Miya had joined her own flock of admirers and erstwhile lovers. It would be hard to catch Miya alone, but thankfully, she wasn’t the mark this time.

Matsumi returned her gaze to Yuriko Mishala. She was tempted to stare since one more gaze wouldn’t be noticed with the plethora focused on her. Well, she must say that the young woman was quite different from the others of her clan. Still, that enthralling aura was just as potent.

Ah, if the Mishalas didn’t want people trying to kidnap an heir to force, er, persuade, a union, they should stop making every horny teenage boy fall in love with them. It was time to perform her work.

After they finished eating, Finan Agalmar persuaded the girl to the dance floor where they instantly became the focus of more attention. Such a nice couple. As expected, the boy was a graceful dancer. Yuriko was too, much to Matsumi’s surprise. Their file on her noted that Yuriko didn’t attend many social events. Well, it was hard to judge, really, since the music wasn’t suitable for pattern or pair dancing. The current trend now was the freestyle gyrations that mimicked Chaos.

They didn’t stay on the dance floor for long, at least not together. Dozens of boys attempted to get a dance out of Yuriko while an equal number of girls tried for Finan. Both accepted a few, and soon enough they were separated.

After a while, Yuriko excused herself from her current partner and made her way back to the cocktail tables. But now, without Finan beside her, she was continually approached. At least the boys had the decency not to flock on her, though Matsumi could see that they were getting close to that point, by the impatient expressions on their faces. No sooner had one attempted conversation and been shut down than another approached to try their luck. As Matsumi expected, the continued attention had worn the girl’s patience thin. She excused herself again and headed out of the dance hall, presumably to refresh herself in the ladies’ room.

One of the boys turned to look straight at Matsumi’s eyes, then nodded.

It was their only chance. Matsumi tried, and failed, to keep her grin to herself. She waited until the girl left the chamber and into the hallways. The ladies’ room was some distance away, and it would take her at least five minutes to walk there, plus however long she took inside. There were a few other students doing the same thing, but Matsumi couldn’t make her move on the Mishala scion yet. No, first, she had to take care of their hidden guards.

She’d spotted one of them already, using the shadows to watch the girl away from view. Matsumi wondered if they watched Yuriko while she bathed or used the water closets too. Must be a treat for the obviously male guard, hee hee hee!

Ah, no, he didn’t enter the restroom but took a position where he could watch the entrance. She assumed that another guard was outside, but another one of hers would handle that.

So. Using the shadows to hide from sight? It would have worked, but Matsumi had touched upon the Ennoia of Concealing Shadows. This close to her, it was like the guard was using her own Animus to hide himself. Ah, he hadn’t even noticed her yet. She was almost within striking distance.

Animus, dark and shadowy, flickered over her fingers. It arced like lightning between her index and middle fingers and created pseudo-runescript symbols as it did. The hidden guard didn’t wear anything more protective than forceweave, though maybe he had metal plating underneath his clothes. It wouldn’t matter anyway.

She jabbed her fingers into a node at the back of the man’s neck. He wasn’t that incompetent not to notice someone attacking him. But it was too late. Her fingers tapped his bare skin and the Animus charge sank into his body. He stiffened for a moment but wasn’t paralysed as Matsumi hoped. But then again, they were both Knights. The few seconds he couldn’t move was more than enough. She jabbed him several times with more of the same, and the continued assault eventually overwhelmed his Anima’s resistance and he collapsed bonelessly at her feet with a nearly silent thud. The entire altercation lasted all of ten seconds.

A student walking towards the ladies’ room nearly four paces away walked past them. The girl didn’t look, and since Matsumi determined the student’s Anima strength to be at First Order Journeyman, there was no way to pierce the guard’s stealth technique, much less Matsumi’s superior version.

Matsumi briefly debated entering the room behind the other student but decided to wait for the Mishala girl to come out instead. A minute later, a dark messenger crane flew above her, circled twice, then departed. The other Mishala clan hidden guard had been taken care of too.

Matsumi sighed. It was too easy. For all their power, the Mishala Clan was small, relatively. They had less than a dozen Core members, though they had thousands of attendants. Being in their thrall wasn’t really conducive to proper advancement or honing. She was of the opinion that the Mishalas leaned on their Matriarch too much. Their individual combat strength was low.

Of course, they didn’t need it. Once Miya Mishala had grown, there was no doubt that she could rustle up an army just by smiling. Chaos, she’d probably be able to turn the enemy army into her thralls too. Or, she could just order them to suicide, as Sadeen Mishala liked to do.

A shudder of mortal terror ran up Matsumi’s spine. And here she was plotting to kidnap Sadeen’s daughter.

It didn’t take long for Yuriko to walk out of the ladies' room and start strolling down the hallway back to the Great Hall. Matsumi admired the girl’s grace, and up close, she was somewhat alarmed to feel her aura start to seep through her Animus barriers. Proximity, huh?

The hallway was clear as the other girl had left earlier. Silent Ralph was down the corridor, waiting for her signal, and Jillie prevented other students from entering the hallway. They had a small window of time to act, and if Matsumi was successful, it wouldn’t take any longer than it took her to take down the guard.

The shadows boiled around her as she readied her Facet. It was the one she unlocked with her Knighthood and coupled with the empowerment from her Ennoia: the technique was potent enough to easily defeat a Knight Captain. The Ennoia Seed had been a gift from her granduncle, and through a stroke of great fortune, she had managed to comprehend it. Now, it permeated her Anima and Animus, making her original techniques take on an aspect of Shadows. If she could form an Essence Seed, she would be well on her way to reach Knight-Commander. For now, she remained a Knight since she still hasn’t evolved her Heritage. She also had to create a new Facet to go with it.

Silent steps. She crept up behind the girl.

Eh? Yuriko was taller than her, so it was hard to call her that instead of a young woman. Ah, she has so much exposed skin. All she needed was to brush against it and her Paralyzing Touch would take care of everything.

As her fingers came ever so closer, she saw the girl startle. She started to turn her head. Started to move to a sidestep, arms raising in a defensive pose. But, it was too late. With an easy stretch, her fingers touched the back of the girl’s neck, and the Animus technique discharged.

Yuriko stiffened. Then she started to fall forward. Matsumi took a step to catch her, grabbing her by the arm. The charge on her left hand struck, making sure that there would be no mistake.

Ah, the Mishala Clan was too arrogant, to not even provide proper and competent protection. But then again, no harm would come upon the girl. Neither she, nor her employer, could stomach that very thought.

She swooped in to carry the girl in a princess carry, with her arms beneath the shoulders and knees. Yuriko’s eyelids weren’t closed, but they were glazed. Such pretty golden eyes. Huh? Weren’t they blue before?