Kato’s freshly inlaid Knight-level Animus technique activated almost as fast as he could think. He breathed out Animus, condensed liquid Animus that only stayed that way because of his Will. The technique demanded he release the pressure, however, and it burst into a cloud of gaseous then photonic Animus that quickly mobilised to his need.

The cloud of Animus surrounded his body and arrayed itself in a crystalline pattern. They reflected the light away from Kato, though that essentially turned him into a mirror. That was only the first part, however, and the next altered the way the light reflected against this screen, bending it around Kato’s body such that it looked as if he wasn’t there. Unlike Jaqueline Yoran’s technique, however, the light bent around to enter his eyes but did so in such a way that they weren’t visible either, handily getting around the problem of being unable to see while invisible, as well as preventing his eyes from being seen, too.

Unfortunately, the barbarians had already seen him before he managed the feat, so they yelled and rushed down the slope. Kato leapt away from where he sat, nearly collapsing as the sudden influx of blood made his limbs tingle and twitch. Cursing silently to himself, he scrambled away, all the while imposing his Will quietly.

The screen of Animus not only prevented light from reflecting upon his body, but it also prevented the sound of his footsteps from radiating out. He would have been worried about footprints, but the technique also included a lightening effect. As long as he wasn’t stepping on mud, sand, or something equally impressionable, he wouldn't leave tracks. That left scent as well as an Animus signature, both of which were solved by that same screen. Normally, such a technique would be prohibitively expensive to maintain, but since it was an inlaid Facet, he could bear the cost in lumens for hours.

Trying not to stumble into bushes, dried leaves, and twigs, Kato moved away from his breakthrough spot and briefly considered killing the mongrels before he left. It wasn’t as if they could see or detect him in any way…so.

His hand lingered on his Plasma Lancet before shifting to his combat knife. The weapon was pretty basic, with one sharp edge and the back filled with serrated teeth. The blade was about five inches long and the grip was comfortable in his hand. Kato had the feeling that he’d grow more familiar with bladed implements than he’d ever expected.

He moved out of the way as the lumbering barbarians crashed into his former secluded nook. They were taller than he was by a couple of inches, at least, and were nearly half as wide. There were six of them, though only half of the were bulky. The other half were slender, gaunt, and even taller than the usual barbarian. The slender ones had antlers stuck to their helms while the bulky ones had greyish skin.

Kato circled around the bulky ones, knowing that their skin was tougher than iron. He might need to saw their necks in order to cut their throats…

As for the antlered…it would take quite a bit of reaching if he wanted to slice their necks, but perhaps he’d be better off targeting a lower vital point. Like their kidneys or their armpits. A strong enough stab ought to sever the arteries and kill them quickly.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know how strong their Animas were. A fatal blow might not be so fatal if their Geists were up to snuff.

Still, he needed to make the attempt…if only to winnow away the dross. Fewer barbarians in camp to fight or run away from.

Carefully channelling Empowered Strike, he crept up next to the rearmost antlered barbarian. Then, with a sharp inhalation, he stabbed the knife straight into the fellow’s lung. There was a strained gasp of escaping air, then Kato wrenched the knife away, widening the wound, though he was careful not to get hit by the spray. Then he plunged the knife a couple more times to ensure his kill before he leapt away.

His Animus screen nearly broke, but it didn’t hit the threshold. His reserves drained a bit from maintaining the screen, but it was only a few lumens. Actually, it was precisely three lumens of liquid Animus, one for each strike.

The attack went unnoticed for a few moments before the thud of the lanky antlered barbarian’s fall alerted the others. The uproar was loud enough to deafen, but Kato was far enough away to be unaffected by their Geists’ manifestation.

Shadowed figures appeared above and around the barbarians, a manifestation of their Geists. The grey-skinned barbarians had bicorn silhouettes which reinforced their bodies to be tough enough to resist superheated plasma. Reinforced knives were another matter, Kato thought, but even so, it would take considerably more power to cut through their protections.

The antlered barbarians sported different Geists. Belatedly, Kato realised that the antlers themselves were each different. The one he stabbed only had a few branches and points, while the other two had significantly more points. Whether that meant power or age, he wasn’t sure, but maybe…

Lightning flickered between the varied points as the two antlered barbarians summoned their power. One of them rushed to the stricken one, hands going to the wounds. Sparkles of lightning touched the holes in the barbarian’s back, and the fallen one twitched and shuddered. Kato held in a curse when he saw the wounds begin to close. If he couldn’t deal lethal blows then there was little reason to stay.

Decisively, he spun on his heels and crept away, only for the other antlered barbarian to howl and fling lightning bolts all over. One of which was headed directly for him.

Face paling, Kato activated another feature of his Animus screen. He made it flow around him, spinning quickly enough that the illusion of invisibility wavered and broke. But as soon as the lightning struck him, it followed the flow around his body and into the earth instead of going through him. As soon as the danger passed, he leapt away and stilled his screen.

But the damage had been done. The grey-skinned barbarians had seen him, or at least, the blurred oddity that his fast-flowing screen had produced, and were already charging. Thankfully, he hadn’t hidden in flat ground, but near complicated terrain. With his feet pressing lightly on the dirt, he leapt up and kicked off a tree. His Animus was enough to boost his strength, even if only on a minor note. The Imperial Path was an easy route to Knighthood but went no further. Every level thereafter must be fought and clawed past. The boost that Ancestral knowledge was still useful however, and even though his physique-boosting technique would not have made him as strong as the bulky barbarians, it was still more than enough to aid him in getting away.

His kick-off allowed him to reach the branches above, and by shifting his legs, it allowed his momentum to flip him over. He leapt towards the next branch; again his weight lowered to the point that the tree limb didn’t even shake at his landing. Then, he leapt to another branch, at another tree, in a different direction from where the barbarians were running.

They made a mistake too, Kato, realised. They left the other two antlered men behind. The healer was focused on the stricken man who was on the ground. His three knife wounds were closing but at a slow enough pace that Kato felt there was a serious risk of bleeding out. The lightning thrower had followed behind the charging bicorns and was now a couple of dozen paces away from the others. Chance.

Kato silently moved closer to the healer and wounded, and this time, he pulled out his Plasma Lancet. He’d rather not come within melee range this time, and his previous Facets had been focused on shooting.

The buildup of power was slow by necessity, and it gave Kato the chance to think of which one he would actually shoot. He could finish off the wounded or he could injure or maybe kill the healer. In the end, he chose the certainty of death.

Guided shot. Penetrating shot. Explosive bolt.

Three Facet techniques drained nearly thirty lumens of liquid Animus from his reserves, leaving him at half. The brilliant purple plasma careened towards the injured warrior, plunged right into the closing wound, curving around the healer’s hands as it did so, dug into the centre of the torso, then…exploded.

There was a rather muffled thump. Smoke rose from the body, and unfortunately, it didn’t explode from the internal explosion. The barbarian’s body was too tough, but Kato was sure it was dead. He didn’t stick around to find out. As soon as he shot the bolt, he leapt away from the branch. He landed lower on the opposite tree, compressed his body, and then bounced off to another one. This time, he didn’t stop.

The brutal killing left a sour taste in his mouth, but he spat it away. Those swarm fodder had taken his girl and his people hostage, and no doubt intended the worst for them. There was no room for mercy.

And while he thought to circle back and finish the rest of them, Kato decided that his initial objective was more important.

He left the barbarians howling incoherently as they searched for him while he headed towards the camp. While his Animus screen protected him from being detected, he couldn’t keep it up forever. His reserves weren’t at full even when he was freshly Knighted. The Facet technique guzzled about a lumen every two to three minutes, and he had less than a hundred left. If he was going to infiltrate the camp, he’d need to be full. So with some annoyance, he looked for another place to hunker down and meditate.

He avoided the few abandoned farmsteads and opted to hide in another grove. He scaled up a tree and hid himself in the thick canopy. He tied himself to the branch using his belt and his coat. If he fell asleep, at least he wouldn’t fall. He made sure that he could easily release himself though, and kept the combat knife handy in case he needed to cut himself loose.

Then, he settled down to meditate. Sometime later, he nodded off, and by the time he jerked awake, the Luminous Moon had risen. It was only a few days until Dark Moon, however, so it was a little sliver in the sky, its light drowned out by the Chaos flows.

Shaking his head and bemoaning the feel in his mouth, Kato untied himself and shimmied down the tree. He proceeded to stretch the kinks out of his muscles before checking his Animus reserves. Almost full, with only the lumens used to sustain his varied inlays unavailable for use. Still, that would give him more than five hours of sustained Animus screen use. That was only if he didn’t have to fight, however.

He activated it as soon as he was out of cover and hurried towards the camp. He expected the night to be quiet, and it was at that. But it was too quiet.

The barbarians weren’t known to be ascetics. He didn’t hear screaming, of joy, pain, or anger. He didn’t hear anything other than the susurration of the wind and that made him far more nervous than he expected. If anything, the prisoners wouldn’t have been so silent, right?

The makeshift palisade and ditch weren’t much of an issue. There was no patrol and the wall wasn't wide enough to walk on. It was made of raw logs and rope, which had ample handholds. He climbed over the five-pace high wall easily enough, and once he had a head over the edge, he paused and took stock.

There were Animus lanterns set around the square evenly, and stockades to keep the prisoners. He couldn’t see past the structure, which was simply four solid walls, a door, and bars for ceilings. He’d need to check from above to find his Caera.

As for the barbarians, other than those on watch, every other individual was sleeping in their bedrolls. They were laid out in even rows, quite unusual, Kato thought.

Shaking those thoughts away, he proceeded to check each of the stockades, and by the fifth one, he finally found Caera. The only thing was, each and every last one of them was asleep. And with rising trepidation, he sneakily unlocked the door and crept inside.