First Arc's epilogue: Winds of change

I don't own Arknights or type moon content.

Ursus empire's city of chernobog / year 1088 / sunny

Neon calmly walked through the Akhmatov mansion ruins, overlooking the various people going about their business as they shared drinks and took to cheering after another successful victory over what must be one unruly gang or another.

She saw a few men and women tending to the gardens outside, while others were put to good use in clearing the debris and making the place slightly more fit as shelter for their group.

As usual, her steps took her to the grand hall's entrance, finding a particularly tall and bulky ursus man, easily rivalring her father's stature, instructing the people around him while another man was going through some sort of documents.

Once her presence was noticed, both of them were quick to greet her. their faces showing slight fatigue from their increasing workload.

"I see you two are working as hard as ever."

"It's no issue, Neon, we're just dealing with the aftermath of our boss's little 'outing'."

"You should have seen the poor idiots, Neon, they didn't even know what hit them. We're just a bit pressed because we didn't think they'd press Ivan's buttons so recklessly, so we're doing all we can to tie up all the loose ends."

"I only got a small heads up from Ivan after he told me about the graffiti he found on the mansion walls."

Neon sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. She advised Ivan to remain calm and just continue with their steady advance, and he all but bashed through the opposition. Keeping tabs on the other gangs and potential enemies is going to become a lot more problematic.

"Where is that idiot anyways?"

"He's doing some lessons with lady Rose in his usual room, she wasn't very enthusiastic about the news either."

"Her smile gave me the creeps to be honest."

Coming from a fearsome gangster, Neon couldn't help but snicker. Leaving the two men to their work, she crossed the great hall and found Ivan dutifully studying from a pile of books, while an elegantly dressed feline woman dutifully stood in front of him with a serene smile on her face.

Lady Rose's pink eyes turned to Neon, a welcoming smile adorned her beautiful face, further accentuated by the beauty mark under her left eye, as her slender body moved in a strict and elegant pattern. She humbly bowed to the girl, lifting the hem of her simple white dress.

"Welcome, lady Neon, it's always a pleasure to see you."

Her voice, sultry and pleasant to the ear, shook Neon from her momentary stupor. She was embarrassed to admit that seeing Rose in something other than her usual maid outfit was so surprising that she was momentarily shocked.

The woman giggled, likely understanding the reason for the blushing girl's embarrassment. Her hand gently brushed against her short brown hair.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rose, I didn't mean to stare. It's the first time I've seen you in such attire."

"Worry not, I am very flattered by such a reaction, lady Neon. The great lady once told me this dress suited me, so I've taken a liking to wearing it."

Neon's blush deepened as she found herself once again under Rose's teasing. She could see Ivan smirking at her from his place, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Rose simply smiled as she turned once more to the sarkaz boy, chills running down Ivan's spine under the combined glares of the two women.

"I must ask that you continue to study, sir Ivan. It is imperative that you improve in much more than combat if you wish to be useful to the young lord. Your etiquette is subpar at best, and your noble arts are nothing to even speak of."

"Your recklessness in regards to the gang you annihilated was uncalled for, and it placed the group under some stress. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Ivan could only take a deep breath and concentrate on studying, keeping his own opinion on the matter to himself.

'I regret nothing.'

His thoughts drifted as he allowed his pen to float, casually practicing his arts while he listened to Rose's lectures. He wondered how Edward was doing.

Ursus empire northwestern tundras / year 1088 / clear weather

The gentle spring breeze washed over a certain camp in Ursus's northwestern tundras, although to the newly formed Yeti Squadron, such a thing was easily overlooked thanks to the rather harsh strikes they've suffered for the last hour at the hands of their big brother.

Edward casually twirled the reinforced wooden sword in his hand as he looked over the numerous bodies on the floor, groans of pain heard across the training grounds.

"Big brother, is this punishment for us not ratting out the fact that Viktor took a sip of uncle Lazarus's beer a week ago?"

"Oh? He did that, did he?"

Silence fell on the place as Viktor glared daggers at Nikolai, the betrayal striking him hard. The yetis sympathetically glanced at Viktor, a silent prayer was all the help he received as they made way for Edward as he walked towards him.

"...Mistakes were made."

"Yep."

"Should we draw lots to see who gets his portion of food now or later?"

"You traitors! How could you?!"

The swordsman retreated with every step Edward took towards him, until he bumped into Yelena. He believed Yelena of all people would be compassionate enough to save him, but reality proved to be cruel, as she pushed him towards the walking catastrophe headed his way.

Viktor took his stance, even as everyone could clearly see his body trembling. He gave the smiling Edward a shaky grin.

"Now I know what you're thinking, "How should I punish him?", and the answer might surprise you."

"Do tell, because from where I'm standing, you're going to be in need of a thorough colonoscopy to find all the splinters of the sword I'm about to stab in your ass."

Viktor glanced around for any escape routes, but found none that were viable. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the approaching figure.

Defeat was inevitable, but if he's going down, it's not going to happen without a fight.

He charged towards Edward, his blade poised to strike his neck. Just as their swords connected, Yelena suddenly gave an order, the yetis attacking with sonorous war cries.

"Attack!"

"Take him down!"

Edward was legitimately surprised, not expecting them to be this cunning. He parried Viktor's strike and proceeded to slap him with the wooden sword, sending him tumbling to the ground. He reached out with his arts, the boy's body floating and abruptly slamming into many of his brothers and sisters in arms.

He moved swiftly and efficiently as three different thought processes worked together in his mind. It was always surreal for him to fight using the thought acceleration and thought partition spells practiced by Atlas's alchemists, it helped particularly well when dealing with a lot of enemies while also using magecraft.

His limit was that of three partitions, just the average for a standard student at Atlas if Eden was to be believed. It was easy for him to reserve one partition to manage his arts, a thin layer of invisible armor protecting his body from harm.

While the second partition handled his magecraft casting, curses flew stealthily from his fingers as he evaded the strikes hurled his way, allowing the last partition to focus solely on the fight itself.

Multi tasking has never been easier.

'And to think this is just the bare minimum for an Atlas student.'

His hand caught Petrova's kick while his foot lashed out and struck Ofnir square in his chest, and then proceeded to throw the poor girl at the incoming Zack, the boy's dull sword striking her back.

"What the hell, you idiot!"

"It's not like I meant- incoming!"

Petrova ducked out of instinct, a standard Gandr shot sailing past where her head had been. Zack deflected the red orb before he helped Petrova and returned to the fray. As more and more of the yetis fell, Edward's eyes continued to search for the frosty rabbit, his arts soon covering the training grounds, allowing him to read the flow of the battlefield.

He moved to the side, dodging the snowballs hurled towards him, before throwing his wooden sword at the source. The sword harmlessly bounced off the ice shield protecting Yelena, and she immediately backpedalled as Edward's hand touched its cold surface.

"Gehen."

Shining lines appeared on the ice shield's surface, before it broke into several pieces. Edward's hand reached out, an invisible force pulling Yelena off her feet and towards Edward.

Not to be deterred, Yelena conjured a sword of ice and prepared to strike with the newly formed weapon, only her sword was blocked by her brother's wooden one, the weapon remotely manipulated by him through his arts.

Caught off guard, Yelena was grabbed and forced on the ground by Edward as his knee trapped her arms, his sword against her jugular and her body completely paralyzed by an unseen pressure.

"I yield."

"Nicely done, all of you."

Groans of annoyance were his only answer. Edward was amused by the scene in front of him, although his tone shifted to a bit more sinister one upon noticing something.

"Where do you think you're going, Viktor?"

The sneaking boy froze in his steps, not daring to turn around. He felt sweat move down his cheek as his heart raced in terror. There was neither escape nor victory in sight.

All that's left is one single option.

"Mercy?"

"Denied."

Edward gently patted the boy's shoulder, his hand carrying the same weight as a mountain for the terrified young warrior. Finally surrendering to his fate, Viktor dejectedly followed Edward without a word.

"Edward, thank you for the distraction."

Edward turned to the approaching Buldrokkas'tee. The wendigo, wearing an honest to god pink apron, brought his freshly baked cookies. As one, all the yetis charged at their father with blazing passion and took a bite out of the cookies.

"Thank you, dad."

"You're the best, daddy."

As Edward approached, he couldn't help but frown at the praises the wendigo was showered with compared to him, the one who did all the effort to keep this a surprise.

"Why do you get all the good credit?"

"In one word brother, cookies, how does he not get all the good credit?"

Patriot simply continued to distribute the cookies without many words, the smiles on his children's faces was more than enough reward than he could have asked for.

Edward decided to give pointers to the yetis as they enjoyed their meals, while Viktor flailed around helplessly midair as he tried to reach for the cookies floating just out of reach.

Once they were done with that, Edward left with Viktor as the rest returned to their training while Patriot kept them company. As the feline munched on his cookies, the two approached one of the tents in the camp.

"You know, drinking won't fix anything, Viktor."

Viktor stopped walking, his face downcast as he remained silent. Edward sighed and said nothing as he leaned in the covered entrance.

"Miss Amelia, it's Edward, may I come in?"

"Of course, Edward, do come in."

Edward and Viktor stepped inside the modest tent, greeted by the smiling, albeit slightly gaunt face. Her oripathy took a turn for the worse during the past year, even with help from Edward's medicines. Despite being only in her late thirties, she looked to be easily in her late seventies.

Edward calmly walked and sat next to Amelia, his hand reaching out and gently grasping her thin wrist. He analysed the woman's internals, frowning at the amount of originium infesting her digestive system.

'It's still progressing aggressively even with all we do.'

'The originium has become too dense to be countered by the medicine, I'm afraid we can only numb a rapidly approaching death at best.'

Edward gritted his teeth, his eyes shut as he released the woman's hand. Viktor bit his lip as his face betrayed his helplessness, his eyes desperately moving between his mother's weak smile and Edward's frowning face.

Amelia hand gently caressed Edward's head, the woman sighing but still maintaining a serene face.

"It's ok, Edward, just tell me how much time I have left."

"Two months, possibly less, have you been eating well?"

"I'm afraid not, I'd vomit anything other than soup and water these days."

"Please be more careful, Miss Amelia."

Amelia nodded, Viktor was about to say something when Lazarus entered the tent, carrying food.

"Hey Amelia, I brought lunch, all diced and ready."

"Oh my, it seems I've inconvenienced you, Lazarus."

"Nonsense, it's always a pleasure."

Edward decided now would be a good time to leave. He stood up and gave Viktor a knowing look.

"Please take good care of her."

"Don't worry about it, Hero."

Edward walked through the camp, lost in his own thoughts as he greeted the people he passed by. He stumbled across a particularly cheerful Yelena, the little rabbit walking in strides with a bright smile on her face, joyfully humming along the way.

"Well, someone's enjoying themselves, I take it the old man liked the gift?"

Yelena nodded enthusiastically, and Edward let out a laugh. He suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Yelena, do you know why the fighters are preparing the camp?"

"Yeah, daddy told me that today's the anniversary of the founding of the guerilla fighters, and they celebrated it when they had the chance."

"I see."

Edward decided to take a rest for the day, spending most of it sleeping. When the sun set and the stars shone in the night sky, bonfires were lit and everyone began to enjoy themselves in full.

"Okay boys! Let us sing when we're drunk, and let us laugh together when we're sober!"

"Cheers!"

Laughter and cheers echoed throughout the camp as everyone shared their stories and lives with each other. Igor and his men took to playing arm wrestling contests as well as drinking games against the fighters.

So far it seems that Igor's carrying his team through the arm wrestling competitions at least. Edward was certain there's not a single person in this camp that can contest against Lazarus's alcohol tolerance.

All in all, the festivities were pretty cheerful, and everyone seems to be having a great time. Edward found the atmosphere to be almost intoxicating in a way, it was his first time seeing a celebration quite like this one.

Truly few things in the world can compare to brothers in arms.

Edward sat in the middle of the gathering, and as soon as people saw him take out his flute, the noises around diminished bit by bit until the only sound left was that of the flute.

Lazarus sat next to Amelia and Viktor, the man taking casual sips of his drink. He noticed the boy giving Petrova glancing looks, clearly thinking about something. Lazarus couldn't help but grin when he noticed Amelia trying to contain her giggles.

The sarkaz decided to give him some help.

"Hey Viktor, why not ask Petrova to a dance?"

"I don't know how to dance."

"You think those two know how to dance?"

Lazarus pointed to Patriot and Yelena, as the father-daughter pair struggled through the steps, even though the smiles on their faces couldn't do justice to the happiness they were in at the moment.

Lazarus noticed a silver chain decorating Buldrokkas'tee's left horn, a motif of a rabbit and a demon hanging from the chain.

"Captain couldn't dance to save his life, and if he's happy despite that, I'm sure you stand a chance."

That seemed to have given the boy the courage he needed. He walked up to the little kuranta, and by the looks of it, he succeeded. The two of them held hands and began to dance about as elegantly as the rags he used to clean his blade.

"Thank you for helping him, Lazarus."

"I'm a sarkaz, miss, I don't do things for free."

Lazarus gave Amelia a cheeky grin. As the feline's eyes turned to him, he noted the hesitation she was in, but he wouldn't give up so easily now.

Especially given what he heard earlier.

"And what reward do you desire?"

Lazarus extended his hand to the lady, while imitating the actions he'd heard nobles do in their extravagant balls.

"I would like to dance with you, if you'll have me."

"Oh my, are you sure? I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."

"I would have no other reward."

The woman stood up, her hand holding Lazarus's own. She smiled as the fearsome warrior awkwardly tried to appear as elegant as possible, like some noble.

It was honestly funny.

"I accept."

The two moved closer to the tune, they were joined by other members of the yetis who danced together and other fighters who were invited by some of the other soldiers, while others took to reminiscing together about the families waiting for them back home.

Lily watched the scene unfolding before her with a faltering smile, looking relaxed and immersed in the tunes Edward was playing. Eden appeared next to her, watching the celebration with the same unreadable expression he always had.

'The atmosphere is joyful, yet why are you sad, little one?'

'I don't have anyone to dance with, Shirou's being grumpy again.'

'...'

Eden gazed at the woman next to him with a critical eye. Although her smile was genuine, he could tell that her happiness is incomplete. He couldn't help feeling pity for her saddening state. It didn't take a second thought before he acted.

Even now, the motivations for his actions are still the same. But he has surpassed what he used to be, and came to his own answers long ago.

He reached out his hand to the lady, and although she seemed surprised in the beginning, he saw her eyes brightening even more.

Was such an insignificant thing truly able to bring such happiness?

'I still have a long path ahead of me as well.'

Lily didn't understand what he meant. She took his hand, and the two joined the other dancers. Lily let out a hearty laughter, as her steps were guided by the man in front of her.

In the darkness of the hellish wastelands, a light of happiness lit up the horizons with tunes of joy and faith.

A demon continues to grow in his savior's ruined mansion, his ambitions fueling his drive, while the guidance of others showed him the way.

An emperor within his domain, his pieces ready and waiting for the right opportunity for the final act of the first phase of his plan. His swords were poised and ready to execute their orders and protect their homeland.

The serpent continued his plots and preparations for the future, his clashes with the ruler left him shaken and with a damaged foundation. His only hope resides in his ultimate tool. The grey haired draco immersed herself in the tales of the reaper and the rumors of the vengeful spirit haunting the tundras while bidding her time.

The winds beckon change, turbulent times are approaching still, and the outcome may be critical for the infected of Terra.

Only time will tell.

Name: Ahkmatov Edward Viktorovish. (Formerly Edward Miles)

Race: Ursus.

Age: 21 years old.

Element: Fire, Air, Earth.

Originium-Cell Assimilation: 6%.

Originium blood concentration: 0.4 u/L.

Arts: Telekinesis.

Current condition: Healthy.

Inventory:
-" Introduction to the field of Alchemy. "
-" Intricacies of Transmutation. "
-" Advanced Bounded Fields. "

-" Advanced Runes and the engraving process. "

-" The paths of Healing magecraft and Spiritual healing. "

-" Puppets. "

-Ursus weapons and Equipment.

-Food and Rations.

-Flute

-Class card( Archer class heroic spirit designation: "Nameless" )

-Holy shroud.
-5000 LMD.

Points: 8000.

AN: Well, I'm must state that any future updates will most likely take a long time due to a number of factors among which are: working on this story alone (something that's I find super hard personally, as this first arc took about 6 months in total, most of the time was me trying to find the words to put and how to write stuff to be honest ('^_^), once again I'm very grateful to all the help I've got from awesome people and authors in both plot development and opinions on the chapters), the upcoming Uni studies and the fact that my policy is to only post when the next arc is finished. I hope you all enjoyed the story up until now nonetheless, I will try my best to find help in this project or pull through it on my own and bring you the next arc as fast as possible.

Thank you for reading.

Have a nice day and stay safe.