No Assassin

La Madre Mountain Wilderness

"No," Anna's flat answered.

Yoh somehow expected the answer. "Please! I really want to get strong. Learning from you will help me," He bowed again.

"Why will I train someone who will kill me someday. What will I gain from you?"

"I will do anything you want. I can be your slave during this training," But Anna remained bored, looking at him with no interest. His mind started to find ways to make her say yes, but he could not find an answer. This was his only chance, and he should give a plausible answer.

Suddenly, a ring was heard. He looked at his bag and fished something. The oracle bell was ringing, and on the screen, 'New Information' was written.

"What's that?"

"An information has been shared," Yoh said, then bit his finger. He pressed his bloody thumb on the back of the oracle. "It says, 'Tics will be gathered in Moapa, a week from now.'"

Anna's expression changed, "I haven't seen an oracle which gives information. Nor someone told that the oracle shown info."

"Of course, each oracle is designed to be used only by their owner. The moment we received info, we can only acquire this by scanning our fingerprints and fresh blood here," he pointed at a circle on the back of the oracle. "This is not just some ID to show that we are members of Patch. Once the owner is dead, the functions of the oracle will be inactive."

"Interesting… So, if I kill you now and cut your thumb, I can't still use it…"

Hearing the blonde mumbled to herself and having a deep thought, Yoh smiled mischievously. "The info's we get from Oracle were shared by other members. The main facility will check its authenticity before sharing it with others. I believe you are looking for information about some Tics. Maybe I can help you with this?" He waved his oracle to emphasize his words.

Anna frowned.

"Train me, and I'll share all the info from Patch."

The blonde remained silent, before sighing and said, "The info, and be my slave."

Yoh sweatdropped. He should not say that earlier. "Deal."

A thousand sit-ups, a thousand push-ups, a thousand squats, and a 50-kilometer run. Was he competing with someone? Why would he do such things as training? Hopefully, Anna was not mocking him.

Yoh plopped himself on the grassy land as he finished his set of 'training' that afternoon. He took a deep breath and looked at the darkening sky. The moon will rise soon.

A smile suddenly escaped from his lips. He found it amusing that he was doing this thing without complaint. His old self, who always ran away from training for Kendo, will surely be proud of him.

Changes really are inevitable…

"Done with a warm-up?" The blonde, who finally grace Yoh of her appearance after being gone for hours asked as she set a chop of wood on top of an old dry tree trunk stomp.

"Yes," he quickly rose.

"Hunter, what do you know about Tics?"

There was a pause before Yoh gave Anna an answer. "Tics are… a group of assassins who kill mercilessly their victim and anyone on their way. Even innocent kids. They are clouded in mystery and had been here more than the years of my life. They like hiding in the dark, that is why it is so hard to find info about them. But based on previous fights I learned how incredibly strong and fast they are…"

"Being fast is just a basic ability we Tics have," as Anna said the last word, she suddenly vanished from Yoh's sight and appeared behind him. The blade of her sword already pointed at Yoh's neck. "We do not rely much on our sight. Every movement should be synchronized with our minds…"

Sweat rolled in Yoh's face.

"That is why you need to strengthen your instincts." She finally released Yoh and sheathed her sword. "You need to learn how to 'act' fast. You need to learn more about your body and strengthen it."

She removed her necklace and clicked the button on the middle of the wooden pendant. It began to extend and soon became a bow.

"I only have eight arrows. Your goal is to reach that wood on top of stomp before I shoot it with an arrow. The seven arrows will be shot onto you as a distraction."

He looked in the direction of the wood. Estimate ten meters away from him. "That is not so hard."

"Indeed, but how fast can you do that?" Anna then vanished once more. "You may bleed, but it's your choice. It will start as soon as I release the first arrow," her voice echoed from the trees.

Yoh prepared himself, he did not know when Anna will attack. The goal is to get the wood and to avoid her attacks. As soon as he made a small step, an arrow flew towards him. He had a little time to react and a cut left on the side of his brow. He ran towards the wood, but another arrow flew towards him making him halted and jumped sidewards. The cycle continued and before he can even get near the stomp, an arrow was stuck on the wood.

"Your slow," Anna said behind him with those mocking expressions.

"That's just a warmup…" Yoh defended.

"There is no warmup in a battle with Tics, hunter…" she vanished again along with the arrows.

The training started once more, and again and again, but Yoh could not defeat Anna. There was always an arrow stuck on the wood before he could even touch it. The wounds on his body were increasing. He's also getting tired.

"I think you're not serious with this training," Anna coldly said as she appeared once more, arms crossed, scowling at Yoh.

"I am! It's just that… you're really fast…" he answered between pants.

Anna's frown deepened. She still cannot forget his actions during the battle with Pan. "Maybe what you need is motivation…" she vanished once more.

Yoh fell on his butt as he tried to catch his breath. Anna was not shooting her arrows for quite a while. Did she give him some time to rest?

But his question was answered immediately as she emerged beside the stomp, back facing him. She was tying something on the wood… a brown wild rabbit. Yoh's eyes widened.

"W-why did you put that rabbit on there?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Try to fail and the rabbit will die," Anna's short answer before disappearing once more.

The first arrow was shot and Yoh quickly dodged. He grabbed his sword at the right time to deflect the incoming second arrow. He quickly ran towards the wild rabbit, but the third arrow was shot, making him sidestepped. The fourth arrow grazed his cheek, but he did not have time to think about the blood. The fifth and sixth arrows were shot simultaneously from different locations, and he jumped to avoid them. The seventh came in surprised and he had no choice but to halt and deflect it with his sword.

Soon, Yoh heard the kyudo for the eighth arrow and he's still far from the stomp. He mindlessly jumped and covered the rabbit. The arrow sank on his left shoulder.

"So, you will always choose to die to save someone," Anna said nonchalantly, appearing once more.

"Why are you involving an innocent rabbit in this training?" Yoh angrily shouted, looking at her in dismay.

"I'm a Tic, Yoh…" Anna reminded before vanishing once more.

The training continued until Anna was satisfied when in the 15th round Yoh managed to capture the eighth arrow with his bare hand before hitting the rabbit. "Now, release the rabbit," he angrily stated and broke the arrow in two. Anna slowly emerged from the shadow of trees, sighed, and shrugged.

Yoh took her actions as a confirmation and he slowly untied the rabbit. He smiled as the small mammal jumped from him.

"Yoh, there is one more thing you must learn." As Yoh looked at Anna, an arrow flew past him. He heard a cry from the rabbit. "Don't let your guard down."

The brunet suddenly fell on his knees, horrified at the scene of the rabbit slowly losing its life from the arrow thrust into its body. Yoh throw-up, releasing the content left in his stomach.

"W-why… why did you do that?"

"Tics are no mere assassin, Yoh. We do not kill for money nor fame. We kill because we want to see blood. We're no assassin… we're monsters…"

Yoh coughed, finding himself having difficulty breathing. Anna began to walk to acquire her prey.

"Learn from this experience. You cannot save everyone. There will be more disappointments along the way. People you know may die in front of you. This is what awaits you in this path against Tics."

Anna pulled the arrow, along with the bloody rabbit.

"Are you ready for this?"

The brunet clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. He slowly rose and looked at Anna with burning determination. A stream of tears was visible on his cheeks. "Yes. I'll make sure I'll defeat you one day."

Anna smirked. "Now then, cooked this for dinner. You're my slave, remember?"

Chapter 8: The Lone Wolf

Sorry, rabbit-chan… Next, someone is lurking in the dark, following Yoh's scent.