Deep within the forest, inside a small clearing, 2 lone figures could be seen. One was a young lady, wielding a massive sword larger than her person, while the other resembled a man with an eagle head. Within each of his hands, he held a green dagger with chains wrapped around his wrist. Aside from the rustling of the leaves as a gentle midnight breeze swept through the canopy, nothing could be heard.

Scattered on the ground around the 2 figures were an uncountable number of leaves, each one having been sliced exactly down the spine but not all the way through, causing the leaves to fold down the middle, each side barely attached to the other.

Another leaf fluttered down due to the wind, and the silence was quickly broken as the sound of metal chains clanked through the forest clearing. Rose had swung out his dagger, letting it leave his hands while pulling on the chain to make it swing in a wide arc. The leaf that was originally beyond his reach twisted and turned unpredictably as it fell, and yet under the exquisite control of his fingers, the very tip of the dagger traced the leaf, cutting it the whole length down the middle and yet not all the way through.

Precision training. That was what the 2 of them were doing currently. Even with the amazing display of accuracy and precision by Rose, Kina was not the least bit phased as she swung he sword at another falling leaf. Given the cumbersome size of the sword, one would expect it to be difficult to control. However, the blade sliced through the air gracefully without resistance, slicing the leaf in the exact same manner. Such a huge blade was swung effortlessly and quickly, and yet not a single wisp of wind was kicked up in the process.

Since she started the new training regimen with Rose, her swordplay had improved yet another step. At first, she did not get the purpose of some of the training such as this precision training. Others such as fighting blindfolded or with ear plugs made sense since she learnt how to fight while her senses were deprived, but this sort of delicate work seemed pointless. With her strength, she argued that there was no need to be that precise, just swinging full force would achieve much better results. That was until Rose pointed out that she was not fighting alone, and instead had her fellow squad members to watch out for. Even the width of a hair could make the difference between injuring your allies and saving them. Besides, Rose pointed out that it made for a good trick to show off with.

Kiefer approved of Rose’s training as he himself was not the best at swordsmanship. As a mage, wielding the sword seemed pointless. But he wanted Kina to have something to fall back on in case she could not use magic. Especially since she was in possession of some skills that could drain her mana instantly. However, what he did not understand was Eril’s training. Eril focused on teaching Kina how to read people, their behaviours and even how to control their thoughts so that they would act in a way that benefitted himself.

Most of Eril’s training involved long slow strolls through the streets of Mayheir, observing people while at times laughing at their misfortune. He would see a couple quarrelling and snicker as he devised a plan with Kina on how to manipulate the couple from the shadows. The most common occurrence though, was entering bars and taverns and instigating people to fight himself or Kina.

Kina seemed to enjoy his lessons the most, becoming unnaturally skilled at provoking people and making them act rashly. She could read a stranger’s personality with a heartbeat, and would come up with the most annoying way possible to irk them, causing them to rage at her. Then, she would quickly escape, only to make them feel even worse. Of course, she did this without her carrying her blood sword in public while wearing a wig. This way it reduced the chances of people discovering her true identity as the blood maiden.

Kiefer was not particularly pleased with Eril’s training, but he did not stop them. He trusted Eril was doing the right thing and knew that every skill his daughter picked up would have the potential to save her life. She was, after all, going into the war without his or Isana’s back-up.

Kina returned to her mansion just before sunrise. The clouds on the horizon were already tinted in a warm red glow even though the sun had yet to show itself. When she returned, she was surprised to find that her squad was already up and preparing for the day. Right now, her SCU consisted of a total of 5 members including herself.

The first was the tiger half-giant who towered over the rest at 3m tall. Shouldering several large tree trunks he had acquired from the nearby log house, he was restocking the mansion’s firewood. His body was covered in fur that seemed so soft one would sink into it forever if they laid down on him. Wearing only his pants, the tiger yawned lazily, his red tongue dropping out and licking the top of his snout while he walked effortlessly across the front yard towards the storage shed. Despite his light footsteps, the soil sank in deep where he stepped, showing just how much weight he was carrying. His name was Kalimax.

The second member was a draconian who was sitting idly on a stone bench as he filed his nails to a sharp point. At this point, it seemed more appropriate to call them claws instead of nails. His wings were folded neatly on his back and he was dressed in a suit, giving the impression that he was a butler in the mansion. His name was Morcilius.

The third member was sitting next to Morcilius, combing her large overflowing tail. Her name was Arina, a member of the fox tribe and also a mage that specialised in offensive and illusory magic. She was one of the 2 original mages that started to study under Kina long before the war started. She had a human face, but two large fox ears protruded from the top of her head. In her lap was a small grey fox curled up into a ball and sleeping soundly.

Finally, the last member of the SCU was curled up not far from the 2. It was a reptile that resembled a large 4m tall featherless raptor. Its body was covered in black and purple scales. The interesting thing was that it had 4 pairs of eyes on its head, and with every shallow breath it took, a thin purple cloud of toxic gas escaped from its slit nostrils. This was the Tyrant Bandit dragon Kina had picked up in the jungle. It had evolved to be considerably smaller than what it used to be, but it’s strength remained uncompromised. With improved agility, intelligence and loyalty, Kina seemed most attached to this member of the SCU.

During the process of hunting down the morphling spies in the city, it turned out that Ryuga, the elf mage that joined alongside Arina had been compromised, along with several other members of the private army that Kina had hired. Now, the private army was no more, since the first step she took was to fire the entire lot and keep as few people next to her as possible. Aside from the various maids in the building, the only other people living in the mansion were Kiefer, Isana, Rose, Eril, Jielin and members of the SCU. Given the size of the mansion and the lack of manpower, the SCU members had to partake in the chores as well, hence why Kalimax was doing manual labour.

Kina’s little party of odd ducks may have been the face of the SCU and the pride of Mayheir city, but they knew that the true force to be reckoned with were the others living within the same mansion. Over the course of time living in the mansion, there naturally had been conflicts between the SCU members and other residents. But that was only when they had been young and naïve to let their pride overrule their logic.

Morcilius had been part of the proud draconian race. They had been thought to be the ones closest to the pinnacle of all existences, the dragons. He looked down even on the lofty elves, much less the humans and other demihuman races. How was he to know that when he deemed the child elf unworthy to share the same roof as himself, and in his arrogance challenged the elf to a duel, that he would have challenged a true dragon instead. The members of the SCU came to watch the duel deep inside the forest away from prying eyes, lest the public accuse them of bullying a child. Of course, Kiefer’s identity was made known to the members of the SCU immediately. However, under his threat, no one dared to leak that information out.

Seeing Kina return to the mansion, Morcilius quickly stood up and bowed, as did Arina. Kalimax was at the back of the mansion so he had not yet noticed Kina’s arrival. Kina smiled and nodded, before laying eyes on the still snoozing reptile. Her gaze softened like a mother looking at her child. By then Arina had already arrived in front of Kina, her hand stretched out and handing Kina a piece of parchment.

Kina retrieved the parchment from Arina before reading through the contents. It was a report from one of Finnel’s scout divisions. Classified to the highest level, it was more of a plea for help from the SCU. There was a threat that the army could not handle and thus the responsibility had come to rest on the SCU. The message was as follows:

Blood Maiden,

Over the course of the past week, the army had been progressing on expanding our patrol perimeter as per instructed by the council. However, a new threat has risen and till this date, we have no way of confirming what it is, so we are completely helpless against it.

From what one of the survivors reported, it was just one enemy, a female at that. He did not see her, only heard her voice. She had sent him back as a warning. He reports that her attacks were swift and she uses some sort of cursed blade type weapon.

When wounded by the cursed blade, no matter how light the wound was, even a scratch would lead to the death of the victim. The flesh of the victim would start corroding from the wound very rapidly, eventually turning the victim into a crumbling pile of ash.

This is a new type of enemy we have encountered since all previous demonic beasts we’ve encountered did not have the cognitive ability to speak. We suspect she might be an important member of the demon god’s army instead of just a pawn like the beasts.

Do what you will with this information, but I hope I will have your support at the next meeting when I try to convince the council to temporarily stop the expansion.

Regards,

Finnel

“Arina, tell the team to prepare their equipment. Clean your weapons, make sure there will be no incidents out in the field. Be ready at the gate by sunset today in Full Battle Order. We will set out to find this mysterious attacker,” Kina ordered before quickly heading inside the mansion while simultaneously storing the letter inside her PD.

By now, Kalimax had returned and was already made aware of the instructions from their leader. Arina was the second in charge of the team when Kina was not around as assigned by Kina herself. In most cases, a team led by 2 women would have been looked down on by most adventurers. However, this was most definitely not the case with the SCU as both women had proven their abilities.

Kina reported this mission to her parents, after which they agreed to tag along. By sunset, Kina was making her way to the gate of the mansion where 3 members of the SCU were already assembled. Naturally, she was riding on the Tyrant Bandit dragon like a proud general. Kalimax had a black tower shield as tall as his body hanging from his back. Arina was dressed in robes that covered her whole body, hiding her feminine features. The hood occasionally twitched along with her ears. Morcilius had on him a set of light leather armour and a crossbow. The tyrant bandit dragon was carrying Kina along with a large luggage that was affixed to its saddle.

“Let’s go then,” Kina ordered as she led the way, the members of the SCU following closely behind.