“So you’re telling me that we’re currently in a village of beast-men?” Leon rubbed his eyes while Celeste sat down, still dazed and confused. Eve had mostly recovered and was staring intensely at Kurumi.

“Waaaa,” Celeste tried to hug Rachel while Rachel held her shoulders, preventing her from making any drastic movements.

“How is kitsune fur different from normal fox fur?” Eve asked.

“Ours if much fluffier, of course!” Kurumi exclaimed.

Eve continued asking questions to sate her curiosity while me and Rachel tried to help Leon and Celeste out.

“I need to actually do something to get my blood flowing,” Leon groaned.

“Wanna go out for a walk?” I suggested.

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Rachel, you’ll be fine with Celeste, right?” I looked over.

She nodded reluctantly and motioned me to go away.

When me and Leon stepped outside it was still dark. Like Kurumi had predicted, we would have an early start to the day.

Leon closed his eyes, adjusting to the mixture of light and darkness outside. He walked sluggishly as we walked across the town, venturing upon a field with what seemed like training dummies in the field. Both steel and wooden equipment rested by the fence. Leon walked in without saying anything and I simply followed. He looked around for a moment before turning to me.

“Wanna go for a spar?” he asked eagerly.

“I wouldn’t mind.”

We both picked up a wooden sword, and walked towards an area where there were little dummies so that we could have more space. Leon twirled his sword around with finesse. I knew that he was a strong warrior but I hadn’t spent enough time with him to truly understand what kind of person he was.

I held my sword to my side, silently waiting. Our two personalities were on display already. I was more reserved, and chose to speak with my actions where he was more carefree. Although he was larger and taller than me, I acted more stiff and stationary than him.

“A year of training, how did that go for you?” he asked.

“It was alright.”

“Were they strong?”

“The strongest I knew at that time,” I answered honestly.

“And how about now?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it.”

He held his sword up with both hands, a stance I had not seen before. Typically he would use a shield, so I was curious as to how he would fight when he only had a sword. His legs were wide, and planted firm on the ground. It looked like if he didn’t use a sword and shield he would use a larger, two handed sword.

I placed my left food ahead of my right, extending my wooden sword outwards to the right. My left hand was raised, typically I would use it for magic. I found that a sword was redundant. I had a high pain tolerance, so I didn’t care about taking blows or suffering wounds. Being able to grab the enemy or cast magic was a more important luxury if you ask me.

We exchanged simple blows. It looked like he returned to his usual pace, and he began to speed up. There was nothing special about what we were doing. We simply practiced the basics of our form, over and over again. But I noticed that even though his form was simple he left very little openings. And every time there was an opening it took just a moment for him to re-adjust. I had only seen him fight monsters, but it seemed as if he had experience against fighting humans as people.

This continued for half an hour. Basic slashes, stabs, lunges and parrying, deflecting and redirecting.

“So what kind of training did you do with them?” Leon asked, lifting his sword from below, leaving his stomach exposed for a second.

“Which one of them?” he deflected my stab towards his stomach.

“The one you called Ivan,” he answered, his wooden sword came at me from the right.

“Why him?”

“He sounds like the one that taught you how to fight with a sword.”

“You’re right to think that.”

We lowered our imitation weapons, returning to our initial stance.

I continued on. “He was the one that taught me how to fight. Like I said, he fought with the spear but his strength was that he had been fighting ever since he was a child.”

I sunk into my memories once again.

* * *

I remembered how Ivan threw me to the ground by tripping me and tossing me down with one hand. I stood up, frustrated.

“You aren’t supposed to use your hands!” I shouted angrily.

“And why’s that?” Ivan picked his nose without concern.

“Because that’s not right.”

“And who taught you that?”

“My teacher.”

“He must have been a pretty shitty teacher,” Ivan squatted down to my height.

“He wasn’t the greatest, but there are rules to a fair fight.”

“Tell me, what’s so important about having a fair fight?” he didn’t even give me an opportunity to answer. “Once you’re on the ground, it’s over. Once that sword goes through your heart or cuts off your head, nobody is there to record whether it was a fair fight or not. So quit your whining.”

He stood up.

“Again. Until you can at least get a scratch on me. I underestimated you the first time. If that were a real battle I would have taken some severe damage. So I’m taking you seriously now,” he swung his spear, this time he chose an actual weapon that wasn’t around to break, spinning it skillfully. “Don’t disappoint me.”

It was a duel after duel, trying new things with the environment. Flipping loose flooring with my sword in an attempt to throw it into his face. Using clouds of dust to throw him off. Using shields and changing the length of my sword to change the pacing of the fight. Nothing worked. For he was the most flexible man I had ever seen. No matter how long your weapon is, no matter how far away you were, he could see it coming. Ivan the Invincible. He had eyes like an eagle’s, the reflexes of a cheetah, and the raw strength of a bull. When in battle he truly embodied the stereotype of the warrior. Young, brash and impulsive.

* * *

“I see,” the two of us sat down by the grass, watching as the sun came up. “Were you two close.”

“You could say that,” I said softly.

“Lemme guess, we’ll get around to it at the end of your tale.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm,” Leon breathed out loudly. The lingering scent of flowers flowed about in the air, along with the fresh forest air as the sun rays finally rained upon us.

I closed my eyes, laying down on my back. It was becoming warmer and warmer now, in a comfortable sense.

“Hey,” Leon suddenly called out.

I opened my eyes and turned to him. “Yeah?”

“What do you want, Magnus?” he asked, looking as serious as ever.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m asking you, what do you want.”

“Well, some breakfast would be nice soon,” I shrugged.

“No, I mean at the end of all of this. After all of the fighting you’ve done, after all of this running, after all the crap you’ve been forced to endure, what would you want at the very end?”

“I guess… a normal life.”

“And what does that mean for you?”

I thought about it. What did it mean to me? Before, I thought that a normal life would have meant spending the rest of my life peacefully with someone else, doing chores, starting a garden, hunting for food, doing odd jobs and occasionally going to town. And now that vision was slightly different. Because once I thought about spending it with someone else my mind wandered to a particular individual.

“I just want to settle down… and live out the rest of my days peacefully,” I whispered.

“Is that really what you want?” he asked.

“You don’t believe me?”

“I don’t.”

“Why is that?”

“I think that the reason that you’re so unstable, so volatile as a being is because you haven’t recognized what you are yet. You say that’s all you want, but that goes in opposition of what you are. You’re someone that can do so much, but chooses to do so little. And if the powers you are given believe you aren’t capable of being their owner, then that might be the cause of their rebellion and now your downfall.”

“That’s assuming what I have even has sentience.” it was an interesting idea.

“Well, yes… but I think that with how things are turning out. How you’ve been forced to return to parts of your old life, to once again become the thing that you’ve been trying to avoid… that your inner self has been falling apart.”

“Since when did you get so philosophical?” I chuckled.

“Nah, it's just what I’m thinking,” Leon smiled. “Just wanted to see if I could help.”

“It’s an interesting thought,”

“Perhaps it’ll help you clear your mind,”

“Strange how at the beginning, you’re the one that was confused and needed to clear his head.”

“Hey, just doing for you what you did for me,” Leon stood up, dusting the dirt off of his pants.

Kurumi walked down the road, in fresh new robes. She wore a gray one this time, decorated with black wrappings around the edges. I thought that she looked better with the white robes. She waved at us while coming towards us.

“Good morning, you two,” she greeted. “How are you doing, Leon?”

“Better, thanks for asking,” he nodded. “And you are?”

They introduced themselves to each other and afterwards continued onto a different topic.

“So, is there anything we can do to help out?” Leon offered. “I’d feel bad about having to stay without doing anything.”

“Hmm,” she put her finger to her chin.

“In that case, would the two of you have a moment to spare for chopping wood?” she exclaimed.

* * *

I carried a small woodcutter’s axe alongside Leon. Kurumi took us to a small area near the village, over the hills following a small road-like path. Down below was a small group of beastmen that were chopping trees down, and another group that were planting saplings while chanting blessings. Me and Leon had changed into lighter clothes, as per Kurumi’s suggestion.

“We cut down trees every new moon, and today we’re trying to get some timber for the month. Do you mind helping us?” Kurumi requested.

“Not at all!” Leon answered without skipping a beat.

“Sure,” I didn’t sound as enthusiastic. The three of us began walking down to where a small group was slowly hacking away at the trees.

“Hey,” Kurumi tapped the shoulders of one of the men busy chopping away. He turned around, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “These two are going to help you out.”

“Eh, these two humans?” the burly bearded man asked. “I can see this one doing work… but the other looks like a dried up fruit,” he looked at me as he described the latter.

“You don’t have to worry about him, I’m sure he’s more than capable.” Kurumi assured me before turning to me. “Aren’t you?” she tilted her head with a smile.

“I guess,” I walked up to the burly bearded man. He had thick facial hair and was drenched in sweat. “Where do I start?”

“Try chopping this tree,” he motioned to a thick tree behind him. It was massive, at least two meters in diameter.

“So, what are you waiting for?” the burly bearded man crossed his arms.

“I’ll take this tree,” Leon pointed at a smaller one.

“You sure you don’t want this one?” the beastman kept asking.

“Oh, I’m sure.”

Air circulated through my lungs faster. I grasped the handle of the axe even harder, breathing in deeper than before. Black matter crawled up my skin and onto the handle of the axe, extending and reinforcing the simple axehead. More people turned to watch me as I raised the axe up and with as much raw strength as I could muster I smashed the entire tree sideways, crushing the base of the tree. It began to slowly fall to the side, the ginormous branches swaying under the morning breeze.

“Get out of the way! Now!” the man next to me shouted. As the rather large tree began to collapse I extended out a hand. Branch-like limbs silently crumbled out of the ground, extending up and wrapping around the tree like gentle fingers holding up a newborn child. The hands hardened and stiffened, suddenly turning into pillars that slowed down the fall. Slowly, the hands returned back into the ground, slowly descending with the massive tree. I made sure that people got out of the way before it reached the ground, dust slowly rising as I gently placed the cut tree down.

As I had thought, magic became much easier and painless to use since whatever Green had done to me.

“I told you so,” Leon shouted from his side of the tree.

The burly bearded man had a surprised look on his face. “I guess humans have changed since I last saw them,” he scratched his head.

“Where to next?” I asked, swinging the axe onto my shoulder.

“Right on here!” the burly man slapped me on the back, and pointed at another rather large tree. “Go on ahead!”

The rest of the morning continued with me and Leon helping everyone out chopping down trees. We fell about a dozen more trees, and I plowed through the forest like a hurricane. My strength had almost fully returned as well, as I saw. Sweat dripped down my hands as I leaned on the handle, using it as a cane-like tool.

“That all?” I asked.

“That’s about it!” the burly man sounded quite happy. “We finished up much earlier than we anticipated, all thanks to you!”

Leon walked over, even more drenched than me. “Everyone else just got here.”

Celeste, Rachel and a group of other women were kneeling at the ground, planting saplings. Once they were done they put their hands together and began chanting. I could see bright green colors encapsulate the saplings as it twisted and planted itself into the ground. As the chants continued the green aura faded, marking the end of its forced growth.

“It’s time for breakfast boys!” I heard over the hill. We looked up, a cart of baskets and a few girls riding atop rolled down, leaving behind a small trail of dust. It came to a stop in front of us, and everyone approached, taking a sandwich alongside a drink. I took one for myself, walking under a tree. Celeste and Leon went off on their own, making me wonder just what they were up to.

“You have room for one more?” I heard a voice behind me. I tilted my head up, meeting Rachel. She was wearing light blue clothing. She looked good in it but I didn’t think it went well with her eyes.

“Feel free,” I moved a bit to the side. She sat down where I had made space and we both silently began eating.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Fine, why do you ask?”

“Anything strange since that night?”

“No, not really. Actually…”

“What?” she turned to me immediately.

“I haven’t been able to talk to Asura that easily. He’s also very quiet, even more so than usual,” even now, it didn’t seem like he was talking.

“I see.”

“Is something bothering you?”

“War is coming,” she reminded me.

“I know.”

“So why is it so quiet?”

She was right. It was rather strange that nobody had caught up to us, and even stranger that nothing had happened so far. I wanted to pretend that everything was fine, but obviously the cautious part of me was telling me that I should move on instead of staying here. Without saying anything else we finished our breakfast.

“You've been busy?” I felt the urge to start a conversation, suddenly.

“They’ve asked me to bless the soil, but otherwise not very,” she chewed on her sandwich. “You?”

“Been cutting trees all day,” I closed my eyes for a moment.

“Tired?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then wanna do something?”

“Depends.”

“Come with me,” she wiped the dust off her clothes, standing up. She didn’t even tell me where we were going, she just started walking assuming I would follow.

I scratched the back of my head, getting up and catching up to her. She was going back up the hill, moving in a different path that didn’t lead back to the village.

Rachel was carrying another basket, I wasn’t sure what was inside it. Her movements were smooth and fast, we had only been here for a short time but it seemed she already knew her way around the place. Perhaps her hobby was to explore places while nobody was watching. Maybe elves were just more attuned to nature and the environment.

It immediately reminded me of how Alice had taken me up that tower back in town, how that small girl guided me and Isabella and surprised me. I just hoped that whatever had happened back in town, that the two of them were doing alright.

“Your head in the clouds?” Rachel asked.

“What?”

“You have a strange look on your face whenever you’re thinking.”

“Do I?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what does it look like?”

“A sleepy cat,” she giggled a little bit.. “On a lazy afternoon.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” I smiled, shrugging.

“And we’re here,” Rachel pushed aside some branches and thickets. I walked through, some of the plants brushing against my legs as I chased after her. And up ahead, was another one of those sceneries. It was atop one of the hills surrounding the village, and whatever path she had taken she managed to find one where you could see the entirety of the village. There was no mist this time, and now that we could see the grand scope of the place the small village didn’t seem so small.

“It’s nice up here,” I whispered.

“Knew you’d like it,” Rachel announced proudly. She sat down on a patch of grass that swayed in the wind. Where she had taken me to I could only describe as a natural treehouse. Thick, brown trees arched over us while thickets surrounded us, naturally caving in like a small balcony. Small insects buzzed away as I sat down next to her. To the left I could see the small bathhouse where-

I decided not to rethink that particular event.

To the right was where we had dinner with everyone in the village. The fire wasn’t lit now, but I could still see the pits where the spit resided. The house where we stayed was all the way in front of us, and to the upper right was where the river was. I leaned out to check my left. As I had thought, it was where the five of us had entered the village from.

A warm gust of wind swam across the air, blowing over my face gently.

Rachel’s hair moved with the wind, her yellow hair swaying slightly. It had gotten just a tad bit longer, just enough for me to notice. She didn’t have it tied up, at least not right now.

And there it happened again. Just the two of us, doing absolutely nothing. We came all the way here, commented on the scenery and not a single extra word. I laid down there, just staring at the clouds passing by as the morning passed while she gazed past the mountains, lost in her own little world.

Eventually she laid down as well, staring up with me. It seemed as if she had been waiting for all the insects and bugs to scatter before she chose to lay down.

A lot of time passed, just like that. I guess that’s what happens when two quiet people end up doing something together.

“Hey, Magnus,” she called out to me, all of a sudden.

“Yeah?” I had my eyes closed, and I was slowly falling asleep.

“Why did you stop telling us the story right before the war?”

I was positive she had caught onto something.

“You’re not going to answer me?” she continued poking.

“I feel like you already know the answer to that question, if you’re phrasing it that way.”

“So then,” she got up, and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Why didn’t you want to tell us about the war?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to… I was going to tell all of you regardless of your reaction. It was just that…”

“Does it hurt to remember?” the tone of her voice went quieter.

“I just don’t like to think of the person that I used to be.”

“What kind of person were you back then?”

“Quiet, cold, calculating, not so different from how I am now. But back then I was ruthless, merciless and unforgiving.”

“Do you regret what you did?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think we’ve had this conversation many times,” Rachel turned towards me, getting closer. The green gleam in her eyes brightened, and suddenly she became completely serious.

“Tell me everything,” she grabbed my hand. Her hands were slightly slim, and cold. “No more running away from the past.”

“How about everyone else?”

“You can tell them when you’re ready.”

“And what makes you think that it’d be wise to tell just you?”

“Because I’m not afraid of who you were, only of who you’ll become.”

It became quiet all of a sudden. I could hear myself breathing, and I could sense her pulse as I held my hands, my sensitivity to touch rising as different images ran through my head. She was right. It felt like I was carrying the sky up on my shoulders, running away from my past. Like I had promised myself, no more running. Yet everything that happens after, everything that I felt like I should tell everyone especially Leon and Celeste felt so wrong and personal. Whenever I sat down to recall what had happened, it didn’t feel like I was trying to help them understand who I was. It felt like a confession.

“It’s going to be a long story…” I looked at her.

“Then we should get started,” Rachel smiled.

I squeezed her hand softly. It was warm now, and comfortable. This singular moment reaffirmed everything I thought about her. Even if I couldn’t fully do it yet, I knew that she would slowly help me take off the mask that had sunk into my flesh after being worn for so long. I wasn’t afraid to look weak, nor was I afraid to reveal what kind of person I was to her. Something at the very back of my head told me that she would understand. It was time for my final confession.