In the middle of the night, two shadows were rushing through the empty and poorly illuminated streets of the civilian area of Valm and heading towards the noble area.
"You're surprisingly fast." Akari noted while following Nagisa with ease.
"I could say the same about you." Nagisa answered, he was using the speed boost part of his Shadow Walk to its full extent, but Akari seemed to have no problem to keep up with him, in fact, it looked like she was doing it with ease. "Alright, since we will be working together for this mission, I think a proper introduction is needed."
"Hmm? Sure, like I said you can call me Akari and I'm…" Akari started to talk with a slight hint of confusion.
"Ehh no, that's not what I meant." Nagisa quickly stopped her, "When I said introduction I was thinking of introducing our combat styles, of course, you don't need to tell me your Unique Skills, but knowing if you are a mage or a combatant and how you fight will be useful."
"Oh, I see." Akari nodded, "Well… my case is a little special. Technically, I'm a wind mage. But due to my Unique Skills, I'm more of a close combat fighter. Of course, I can still use some basic spells"
"So a mage who fights like a combatant?" Nagisa asked a little bit unsure, "How does that work?"
"I guess I'll show you." Akari said after thinking for a bit and placed her left hand on the back of her right hand where her scale would be if not for the gloves she was wearing. After a dim green glow, two short daggers appeared in her left hand.
"How did you do that?!" Nagisa asked in awe, it would be extremely convenient if he could do that as well.
"Are you a mage or a combatant?" Akari asked calmly.
"A combatant, why?" Nagisa asked.
"Then you'll still need a while, our scales have a natural storage space in them, basically another tiny dimension. For mages, it unlocks around stage 3, but for combatants, it's usually around stage 5. I've been told it unlocks depending on how strong your mind is." Akari explained. "It's a unique kind of magic."
"Huh, I see. How do I know if it's unlocked or not?" Nagisa asked.
"You'll feel it when it does, it's a strange feeling of having a room connected to your scale, kind of hard to explain." Akari answered.
"Hmm… thanks." Nagisa nodded after trying to sense a connection to his scales, but there was nothing yet, "So is this sort of magic to our kind only?"
"No, it is kind of weird, really. While space and time magic can't be mastered by any living being, it is naturally existent in some rare magic crystals and of course, our scales. In order for humans to have a storage like us, they have to get their hands on a crystal first… or... a scale." Akari's face quickly darkened while saying that.
"Wait, what?!" Nagisa's eyes widened in horror, "But that would…"
"Kill us, yes." Akari finished Nagisa's sentence, "But they don't really care. To them we are just like any other animal, animals they can skin for fancy clothing or accessories. To them, our scale is everything we are. Slave markets will try to sell us alive to maximize their profit, but if any of us tries to resist, they won't hesitate for a second to kill us and remove everything they see as valuable from our body, let it be our veins, eyes or whatever they find interest in."
Nagisa was taken aback by Akari's tone. He could hear the deep hatred and resentment in her voice, her usually warm and soft amber eyes were so cold that Nagisa could feel a shiver running down his spine, "What happened to you?", Nagisa muttered quietly.
"Huh?" Akari suddenly raised her head and looked at Nagisa in shock, "I'm sorry I was spacing out a little, please just forget what I said." Akari quickly shook her head and avoided looking Nagisa in his eyes.
"Right, weren't you going to show me your combat style?" Nagisa reminded her to change the subject.
"R-right, here, watch." Akari quickly calmed herself again and took a deep breath. "Air Blade." Akari silently muttered her spell and two long wind blades appeared in front of her. She then closed her eyes and started to concentrate on something else which Nagisa assumed to be her Unique Skill. When she opened them again, the wind blades started to take the same shape as her two daggers in her hands. With a swift movement Akari stabbed both her daggers into the wind blades and to Nagisa's surprise, the wind blades seemed to be stuck on the blades of the actual daggers.
"That's quite amazing." Nagisa noted while raising his eyebrows, "I believe it takes quite a bit of control to match your spell with your own movements.".
"That's true." Akari said in a soft tone after dissolving her wind blades, "My daggers are made from a metal that attracts mana which makes it a lot easier, but even then, I can only keep this up for about 15 minutes before I would pass out due to mental exhaustion.".
"Are you sure that this is something you should tell me?" Nagisa raised his eyebrows and asked, "You know I might just exploit that weakness if we get into a fight."
"Or you might help me since you know that I'll run out of stamina." Akari giggled quietly to Nagisa's reaction, "You know that I'm perfectly capable of using daggers without applying any magic to then?".
"Oh… right." Nagisa felt like hitting himself, just because she showed him how she could apply magic to her blades, Nagisa subconsciously assumed that it was the only way she could use her daggers, but that would be ridiculous.
"You combatants use your aura to enhance your basic strength, defense and some even their attack range. In my case, I use magic to enhance my speed, weapons and attack range. My advantage is that I can combine the usual mage combat style with my own making me unpredictable, for example, the wind blades I just showed you. I could suddenly fire my wind blade from my daggers like a normal mage midbattle and catch someone off guard."
"Which gives you a lot more choices in battle, but at the same time it makes you a glass cannon." Nagisa frowned at Akari's explanation, "Unlike me, your mana doesn't enhance your defenses at all. While it looks like you have everything a combatant has and even more, all it takes it one hit to take you out. When you go all out, your attacks may be stronger than mine, but you lack the endurance to make this an efficient way of fighting."
"Pretty much, yes." Akari shrugged nonchalantly while putting her daggers back into her scale, "But I can somewhat cover my weaknesses with good equipment.".
"VERY good equipment." Nagisa rolled his eyes, "That's a ridiculously dangerous way of fighting! I can't believe the dusk is fine with one of their princesses adapting such a fighting style."
"Which is why they're not." Akari chuckled a bit sadly, "You're awfully perceptive you know that?"
"Thanks? I guess?" Nagisa just shrugged, "But it also brings me to my next question, based on how well you could control your Air Blade before, you definitely would make a splendid mage, why would you insist on close combat?".
"You're awfully well informed about mages as a combatant…" Akari frowned a bit suspiciously.
"I started off as a mage." Nagisa explained with a half lie. "And I had a good teacher." Nagisa added a bit sadly.
"Had a teacher?..." Akari silently muttered to herself before talking to Nagisa again, "I guess people do say I'm an exceptional mage for my age, but that just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't feel right to sit in the backline and cast spells while others are risking their lives in the frontline protecting you." Akari answered.
"I see…" Nagisa nodded, "But have you ever thought about it in a different way, us combatants can go all out on the frontlines because we know that you mages have our back." Nagisa asked.
"Sure did… but there's only this much protection a simple mage can give." Akari simply shook her head in denial.
"Well, it's your choice." Nagisa shrugged and suddenly stopped, "Alright, now that I know a bit more about you we can start strategizing." Nagisa took cover in a dark alley.
"Mhmm."
"So, our target is a baronet, we know where the mansion he's living in is, but we have no intel on the inner structure of that building." Nagisa started, "So the first thing we have to do is to infiltrate the building without getting noticed.".
"How do we do that?" Akari frowned slightly.
"Leave that to me, I'll do that on my own first and when I have things figured out I'll come and get you." Nagisa answered.
"No way! I'm coming with you!" Akari's frown got deeper as she protested.
"Your outfit Akari… You're going be like a shining star when we're indoors and the room is illuminated." Nagisa sighed and reminded her, "And on top of that, I'll need you to secure my escape route, in case I mess up." Nagisa told her.
"…Jerk." Akari pouted slightly.
"…" Nagisa deadpanned at Akari's reaction.
"Fine, so I'll be on guard duty and then?" Akari sighed and asked.
"Once I have the structure figured out, we'll try to enter the room he's in, preferably, without him noticing. If we're lucky, he'll be asleep." Nagisa explained. "If he's asleep, I will use one of my Unique Skills to instantly freeze his bloodstream and make his system stop running for a while. It will look like a natural death when they find him."
"What if he's awake or if he wakes up?" Akari asked.
"Then we'll take one hit, and if it fails, we run." Nagisa answered.
"We run?" Akari frowned slightly disturbed, "What about the baronet then?"
"Nothing, if we can't kill him instantly, we've failed the mission. Remember Akari, ONE try. If we fail, we run instantly. They won't need more than a few seconds to corner us if we stay in one place. If you stay, I WILL leave you behind." Nagisa warned her in a serious tone again.
"Fine…" Akari agreed begrudgingly while following him silently for the rest of the way.
"We're there." Nagisa suddenly came to a stop and hissed silently, "Just stay on guard here while I'm in there, what animal noises can you mimic? Doesn't have to be very accurate." Nagisa asked.
"H-huh? I guess I can make try a cat?" Akari answered a bit flustered and confused.
"…That won't do, I won't be able to hear you meowing while I'm in there, it's too quiet… something louder like a wolf's howl for example?" Nagisa shook his head and asked. "No, never mind that wouldn't work either… there are no wolves in the city."
"… You want a signal, for what?" Akari frowned and asked.
"In case our target isn't home." Nagisa explained, "We know that this is his mansion, but there's no telling if he's even in there right now. It would be really bad if he suddenly comes back while I'm sniffing around in his mansion."
"I see… so you will need a signal when I see him coming back?" Akari asked just to confirm.
"Correct, but we need a signal that's not too obvious but still loud enough for me to hear." Nagisa came back to the first question.
"Will a windstorm do?" Akari asked after thinking for a while.
"No, creating a windstorm big enough for me to hear inside will cost you too much mana." Nagisa shook his head.
"I can try to bark…" Akari suggested a little bit unwillingly.
"Won't do either… they have watchdogs patrolling around the mansions, hearing a dog's bark will only alert them." Nagisa shook his head in denial again.
"Fine… take this." Akari sighed and held one of her daggers to Nagisa.
"Huh? Ehh, I have my own weapon, see?" Nagisa turned a little bit to show her the pitch-black dagger fastened behind his waist.
"It's not that! My daggers are linked to each other, the blacksmith who crafted them is an earth mage and he added polarities to my daggers. Inside a certain range, the daggers will attract each other when I insert my mana into one of them." Akari explained while Nagisa finally understood what she was planning.
"When I see the baronet, I will do exactly that, when you feel something pulling at my dagger you have to get out of there. But don't you dare lose it!" Akari warned.
"I won't…" Nagisa nodded and took the dagger still a bit confused, "No offense… but you're too trusting for your own good for this kind of work."
"Psst!" Akari suddenly hushed him and pulled him down a little, "Look!" She said while pointing at the entrance of the mansion.
"Huh?... Wait, is that the baronet?" Nagisa's eyes widened in confusion, "Why is he leaving his house at this hour?"
"Who's that girl beside him?" Akari wondered with a slight frown.
"I think that's his sister… well, it doesn't matter, this will only make our job easier." Nagisa smirked a little while holding Akari's dagger back to her, "Thanks for the offer."
"Really convincing after you made fun of me being too trusting." Akari rolled her eyes while taking her dagger back.
"I wasn't making fun of you, I'm serious, you've only met me a little bit more than an hour ago, but I already know quite a lot about your skills and abilities. You're putting yourself in a dangerous position if you keep sharing information about yourself with everyone." Nagisa shook his head and answered seriously.
"I know…" Akari sighed and answered begrudgingly, - Why am I telling him so much?! Is it because he's my age? -
Akari was a little bit frustrated, back at the dusk she was known for being quiet, and like Crow has told Nagisa, she's barely spoken while being in the branch either.
"I'm not suggesting you to be paranoid all the time, but you'll have to hold back a little bit. You never know when your ally might turn into an enemy." Nagisa just shrugged it off and continued, "Well, we better hurry or we'll lose them." Nagisa suddenly changed the topic and gave her a light nudge before jumping over to the next roof.
"Jerk…" Akari muttered silently before following Nagisa.
A rather short chapter again, I'm getting into exam phase of the semester now, so I can't really find the time to write a lot. I will still try to get some updates out every now and then, but I can't guarantee it. The exam phase will last for about 2 more months, so I'll apologize in advance for the lack of updates.
So yeah, this chapter is more about getting known to Akari (Not Kaede) and her fighting style. And also letting Nagisa and Akari get a bit closer to each other.
Not a lot happened in this chapter, but I hope you still enjoyed it!
And as always, thank you so much for your support, please review and I'll see you in the next chapter! ;)