Nico stumbled out from under the trees into the now familiar rotten air. The night usually left a cool smell of morning dew, but he ended up falling asleep at some point. He slept right through it. Now this late in the afternoon the sun was cooking the plants around him.

He took a few steps forward. He held his face in his hands, hoping it would calm the grogginess. A skull shattering headache made him wish he hadn’t woken up for a few more years.

There was a lot to take in after whatever happened yesterday night. Some trees lost most of their branches or had their silver skin scorched black, with some losing whole chunks of their body, leaving their wires sticking out like intestines. It was an easy comparison to make because of the actual intestines lying just a few feet away from him.

Urgh. He counted 6 corpses, most separated from each other, with Kara being one of them. It looked like she bled out again.

The squad she fought wore black from toe to head. Night Hunters.

Night Hunters were a type of squad mainly employed by Houses by virtue of their rarity. All of them had some sort of sensing skills in combination with combat skills suited to fight in the dark. At night they were neigh unbeatable assassins.

Unless you’re fighting the blind. The irony of it almost made Nico laugh. There was still the question of how she fought blind, and how she lost her eyeballs in the first place.

Nico set it aside and brought his attention to something more important—why Kara didn’t kill anyone.

If she wanted to deal a hefty blow to the House of Iron, then she should have killed them. Since she was letting them recover their injured, though, he didn’t think that was the case.

Most of the cuts were too clean. They were decapitated or cut in half at the waist. Half a potion, though expensive, would bring them back to life in minutes. Maybe for the fame? The world is probably buzzing at the sheer amount of destruction she could do. If not, then they were likely shaking in terror.

Nico went through their weapons. It was daggers and axes. He went through them, then picked the best axe he found.

He checked the Deep. It looked like it stopped a Zone away. Maybe Kara’s attack attracts the Deep for a Zone or two? Last time the Howl was used, it agroed just about every single monster in the world. The one Kara used yesterday must have been a weaker version.

Speaking of the devil. Nico made a health shell. He cracked it against Kara’s head. The yellow gel seeped into her skin then spread to the rest of her body.

He couldn’t tell when she regained consciousness. She just stood up. Her right hand rested on the scabbard. She had it reattached to her hips.

He was right—even in death she held on to it. When he recalled the fight, he realized she never once let go of it. One hand always held the sword. The only exception was when she unsheathed it, but even then she held both parts.

She fetched one of the axes lying on the ground. The one she chose was the sister of the one Nico took for himself.

Heh. He caught up to her and leaned forward to peek at her face with a wide smile. “I’m Nil, by the way. So do you know how the Locust works?” He explained, something he hoped she would learn from him. “The Locust has a chance to make Memory Cards out of corpses. I can put one in the Locust as a Base, and then use two others as ‘Enhancers’ to improve the effects. So I have Fungai growth as a Base, and Kinetic Burst and my 1st skill as Enhancers. My 1st skill is a bit complicated; it lets me Heal, turn other corpses into Energy, and makes me immune to pain, all for the low, low price of 1 Energy.” He breathed out. “That’s what I can do—what can you do?”

She didn’t answer. Nico stepped in front of her. “Now that we are going to work together—” She walked around him. He caught the hem of her suit, thinking he could at least hinder her, but she kept walking. She was a Rank higher, but most of the difference came from the difference in leg length. “Working t-together will—"

She stopped.

“You’re stopping because you want to talk, right?” Nico whispered, looking past her. “No, of course not. Why would you do something so reasonable?”

A short distance away a squad of Fairies flew above the tree line, some 10 meters from the ground. Nico stepped behind a tree. “Faries, two Ranged and two Rogues, both two stars. Where do we—oh come on!”

She walked straight for them.

“Wait, why are we fighting them?”

She broke into a sprint. Half-way through her sprinting turned into long one-meter leaps, where only her lower body moved. Her upper was straight as a pole. Yellow beams traced her path with holes. Each one came within a hair’s breadth of her. Her suit would have burned if it hadn’t been such a slim fit.

The Sky Fairy flew toward her, one directly from the front, while the other hooked around from the left side.

Kara tossed the axe in front of her, catching the hilt of her blade with her left hand, and catching the axe with her right.

She turned towards the side, throwing her axe using her entire body, from legs to hips to shoulders.

The Sky fairy used a Kinetic Burst on its left wing, causing it to jerk to the right. The axe missed its body, but it did cut half of its left wing. Off balance, it struck the ground.

Kara left her side unguarded to the other fairy. The fairy in front of her must have realized that, as it used a Kinetic Burst on both its wings three times in a row, bolting for her with an out-stretched claw.

Kara launched off the ground, doing a cartwheel without moving any of her limbs. It was as if someone just swiped her off her feet. When she was upside down the fairy was directly below her, and her right hand held the scabbard. The moment her left hand caught the hilt a long green tracer went through the fairy’s body, causing it to split into two pieces. When she landed her momentum took her forward in the new direction she was facing, sword back in its scabbard, and dodging the second set of beams from the other ranged fairy.

She jumped directly into a tree. When her shoe touched it she bounced off towards the opposing one, then back again, zig-zagging her way up until she was in the maze of branches. She reached out with her left hand or foot towards them. The moment she touched them her direction abruptly changed. It was a small alteration, maybe a few degrees, but that much was more than enough to dodge the projectiles coming her way.

She moved through in sharp, momentum defying angles, but it didn’t feel rushed. She never paused, never retraced her steps, and never moved away from an attack further than the bare minimum. It was as if she knew where every branch and yellow beam was. He could have sworn she dodged them before they even fired.

And she has an infinite amount of Energy to use her Deviation with. Even without the Locust, Kara was still the Nightmare.

The injured Rogue that Kara had left was half running, half flying towards Nico. Her cut made a clear line three quarters down its left wing, causing one side to flap forward and the other backward. The snarl on the fairy’s face made it clear it felt pain.

Rogue Fairy ★★

Energy: 3/4 (+1/minute)

Trait: Rubber Flesh (Common)

Class: Transmuter

1st Skill: Kinetic Burst (Rare II)

2nd Skill: Transmogrify (Rare II)

Urgh, what do I do against that? The axe was hard to use against something so quick. He thought about circling around a tree, then hitting it across the face when it used one of its Kinetic Bursts to turn, but that wouldn’t do enough damage. He’d already traded his Frag shell for his Healing shell, completely removing that skill from his arsenal.

Nico did run towards a tree, but instead of circling it he popped his Kinetic Shell below him. He felt the wind from the fairy as it zipped below him, crashing into the tree and causing it to shake slightly. He grabbed onto one of the branches and pulled himself without much effort—yet another reason why being tiny was a superior tactical advantage.

The fairy sunk its claws into the trunk, causing sparks to fly everywhere as it climbed up. While he snuck and weaved his way through the maze, the fairy roughed its way up. Even the thinnest branches were made of strong metal. It wasn’t enough to hold the fairy back individually, but when they clumped up they became a real hassle. The fairy could only struggle around, or constantly use its Kinetic Bursts to break through, all while damaging its body.

It was clear that this terrain wasn’t suitable for it.

He made it to the top with seconds to spare. He looked around for Kara, and was not disappointed to see the Ranged fairy’s torso sticking on one tree while the other laid on the ground, some twenty meters away. Purple stains connected the two. The fourth fairy was cut in half besides her.

Perfect. Nico’s only powers right now were healing and mobility. Until he gets some offensive power in his kit, supporting his teammates was the only thing he can do against most monsters higher than Rank II. In theory.

Kara was walking away from him.

“I switched—” he sensed the fairy sneaking its way up to him. He acted like he wasn’t aware until it made its leap. He jumped down. He landed on his feet and rolled forward, running as the fairy made its way back down. “I switched my offensive skill to heal you!”

She shrugged. “Learn from your mistakes.”

“I saved your life—and don’t you—”

“That was a mistake.”

The fairy had a much easier time coming down than coming up, worst yet, its wing was slowly reattaching itself.

He ran towards Kara with a Kinetic Shell in hand. “You agroed them, you kill them!” he yelled, but the fairy already pounced on his heel.

Nico swung around, leading with his axe. With its right wing injured the fairy couldn’t dodge to the side, but it didn’t need to. It just ducked below his swing and dashed forward, stabbing him with one claw through his chest and another through his ribs. It took him off his feet as it Burst forward, its arms sinking inside him. It rummaged around and yanked in opposite directions. It was trying to tear his bone cage apart.

Nico used a Heal. In its hands his bones began to push back. Before it sunk its teeth into his neck, he stuck the Locust’s palm against its gaping mouth.

Slime splattered his face and chest as he flew back. Midflight his leg hit a tree and sent him spinning in some direction. He staggered to his feet some distance away with his brain still bouncing in his head, feeling atrocious and dirty. Slime covered his front side, mud his backside, while blood poured from both. Another Heal closed both ends and removed the concussion.

When he spat the color was maroon with a hint of purple. Wiping his face made it worse. He swung his head, hoping to get some of it off. Stupid Rubber Flesh. It was the worst body type.

He made his way towards the decapitated body of the fairy. He Siphoned it and caught up to Kara. He could bear her walking away. If she ran it would have been an actual problem.

Another squad of fairies were coming their way. There were three Sky Hunters this time. They were like the Rogue fairies, except they were slightly larger and with the Flight skill.

Kara walked on as if they weren’t even there. She stopped in front of them and entered her stance.

Nico looked back to the fairies. None of them had ranged attacks, wherein the last squad did. I think I’m starting to get how she fights—she just murders everything in her way. It wasn’t a terribly smart way to hunt. “We can beat this squad, but what if the House of Iron finds us from the ruckus we’re making? What if we attract more monsters?” Nico said, standing in front of her. “Say, since you’re going to be stand here for a few moments, can I ask you a question?”

“I won’t answer it.”

“What are you doing?”

True to her word, she did not answer. Nico glanced behind him as the fairies noticed them. With a sigh, he walked away. He watched two of the fairies abruptly turn towards the left and right, while the one lagging came straight from the front, all while Kara did absolutely nothing.

The fairies reached her at the same time, and died at the same time too. Kara spun on her heels, her sword leaving two green circles around her, and turning the three of them into 12 pieces. Their bodies got smoothly cut from their waist and chest, and her body poured blood like holes in a blood bag. Cutting them in half didn’t stop their claws from stabbing into her. She stepped over them and kept walking.

Nico stared for a moment longer than he should have, unsure of what just happened. When his brain caught up he threw a health shell at her. She caught it without crushing it and walked away. She dropped it against the grass.

Nico held his stomach, feeling sick. Blood was just biology to him, a liquid that moved oxygen from the heart to the brain. He never thought it was disgusting until now. “I need—” one of the fairies wiggled on the ground. “—to Siphon… at some point…to…”

He axed its head and Siphoned it, quickly catching up to Kara, who died a short distance away. He picked up the health shell and struck her with it. She was too far away for the blood to return to her, so instead the shell made a new batch. Four seconds later, she stood up.

She motioned to her side with her chin. Surprisingly, that little gesture made Nico feel like she finally acknowledged his presence.

He stood beside her. She wrapped her right hand under his armpit and stood perfectly still with straight knees. Out of nowhere they were launched up, causing the ground to sink under them. It felt unlike anything else Nico experienced.

She caught one of the branches above with her left hand and swung around it. Neither Nico’s nor her weight seemed to matter to her. She let go, catching the one ahead of them. She did this a few times, building up momentum with each swing, until the fifth. Half-way through her swing she let go. She flew back where they came, catching the same branches in the same exact places one after another. There was a practiced fluidity to the way she moved.

If the Locust hadn’t told him she was Rank II, he would have assumed she was an Ascended from her technique.

At last, they landed inside one of the bushes that faced the fairy’s corpses some dozen meters away. She fell into a crouch, one knee against the ground, and her hand on her sword.

She Deviated the Kinetic Energy charged inside the sword to send her up. Neat trick. She probably couldn’t use it when her blade was out. “So what’s the plan?” he whispered.

Kara paused for so long he thought she’d gone silent again. Finally, before Nico’s last wits snapped, she spoke with a sigh. “You may heal me when I die.”

“Glad we sorted that complicated matter out—what are we doing now? Where we going?” he said, still in a whisper.

Kara placed her hand against his face and pushed it in the direction they came from.