Chapter 2

I've been wandering for three days. I left the forest a few hours ago and now I walk through plains of tall grass. My feet felt like I was walking on needles. I am ravenously hungry and I'm beginning to slow down. After a few more minutes of trudging along, I finally collapsed. The soft grass caught me and before long I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

"Do you think he's alive?"

"I think he's breathing, look closer"

…

"What do you think we should do?"

"Bring him with us of course,"

"What! Are you crazy? I'm not going near him,"

"He's just a kid, what are you so worried about?"

"Whatever he is that is not a normal kid, look at the grass around him,"

"All the more reason to bring him. Erigor is gonna love a find like this,"

"I think it's a bad idea, how'd he end up like this? Where did he come from? Don't you think someone is looking for him?"

"We're a day away from town and it looks like he's been out here much longer than that. If someone is looking for him he won't be alive when they find him."

…

"So what do we do?"

"As I said, bring him with us,"

I awoke in a soft bed, immediately I tried to sit up and was met with a head splitting pain. I took in my surroundings. I seemed to be in some kind of infirmary. The walls were a dark gray stone and there were only a couple beds. Minimal decorations covered the walls, only a few banners all consisting of a rectangle under a tree with no leaves. I didn't recognise the symbol. A single window sat at the end of the room but no light shone through. There was an end table with a single wilting flower in a pot. Immediately I was on edge. They must have gotten to me, I need to get out of here. I slowly got out of bed, my head hurt like a vulcan was standing on it. I staggered to the door using the wall as support and pushed it open. What I saw was not what I was expecting. A bunch of people sat at tables, to my left was what appeared to be a stage with a massive chair in the middle. It was really more of a throne than a chair. At the end of the room were two massive doors and above them were large rectangular windows. The ceiling was high and a large black chandelier hung offering a glow from its many lit candles. I tried to hug the wall and move towards the doors, hopefully nobody will spot me. A massive power source hit my senses. A shirtless man with tattered pants and many tattoos snaking around his torso hovered down in front of me. His power was far above the robed man from before. If he attacked there would be absolutely nothing I could do. I tried to run but a wave of vertigo caused me to crash to the floor. This got the attention of everyone in the room.

"Awake at last," the man said

"To be honest I didn't think you'd make it. But Kageyama assured me you'd be worth the trouble."

"Who are you? What did you do with my sister?" I could barely see through the pain, this was a feeling unlike anything I've felt before.

"Just woke up and already making demands?" His foot lashed out at breathtaking speed, it struck me in the chest and I crashed into the wall. Pain shot throughout my body, my vision darkened as stars danced across my eyes.

"I took you in, child, saved you from the brink of death. You will treat me with respect." I could barely breathe let alone form a response.

"My name is Erigor and this is my guild, Eisenwald." he gestured around the room.

"A couple of my men found you nearly dead in the grasslands. And I decided to see if you're truly worth anything."

"My sister," I gasped out. Erigor frowned.

"Whoever your sister is, I don't know who or where she is." His aura was dark but I sensed earnesty coming from him.

"You were brought here so that you could be of some use to the guild," he looked me over suspiciously.

"I don't see what's special about you, for your own sake you better prove me wrong."

"Well he won't be much use to us dead." A young black haired man walked up beside Erigor. Erigor stared me down for a second longer.

"Fine, bring him back to the infirmary." he turned his attention to me.

"Don't disappoint me." with that he turned and walked up on the stage to sit on the throne. The other members, seeing that nothing else interesting was going on, went back to talking idly.

"Come on," Kageyama lifted me up and helped me back to the infirmary. He helped me back into bed and sat down on the bed next to mine.

"Don't worry about Erigor, he's like that with everyone. He seems cold hearted but really just wants what's best for the guild." I lay in silence for a minute. I felt so powerless in my situation. In just a few short days my life had been upended, I didn't know the direction I was going or if it led me to my sister.

"You're the one who found me, did you find anyone else?"

"Just you. You were starving and dehydrated past out in the grasslands. We found you alone and…"

"And?" I pressed. Kageyama studied the wilting flower on my nightstand.

"What sort of magic do you use?" he asked. The question wasn't what I was expecting.

"I don't know exactly. I know I can sense things around me and, when I was attacked something weird happened."

"Weird like what?"

I stayed silent.

"If you don't want to tell me that's fine but you shouldn't hide from your power. Erigor says power is what makes us stronger, only the powerful can change things."

It wasn't that I didn't want to tell him what my power was, more that I didn't understand it myself. I had stolen that man's power. There was so much of it and when I tried to release it…

"Tell me more about this sensory thing," he said. This was far more comfortable to talk about.

"I can sense things that are nearby, the range seems to be thirty meters or so. But only living things." I neglected to tell him that I could also sense dead things, that fell under the umbrella of 'things I don't understand'.

"Strong mages are able to sense nearby threats, it's not uncommon."

"Not exactly," I said.

"I sense all living things, regardless of whether there is a threat or not." Kageyama took a second to process that.

"That includes?"

"People, animals, plants, bugs. If it's within range I can sense it." Again I failed to mention that I could also sense auras around some of those things. This ignorance umbrella is quite large.

"That's definitely interesting. Anything else?" I thought for a moment

"No, I think that's it." Kageyama sat there for a minute. I was comfortable in the silence. With everything that had happened I was happy for a moment of peace.

"I'll talk to Erigor about your sister," he said after a while. This caught my attention.

"It's possible with his connections he may be able to find her. But in return he'll expect you to work hard."

"I'll do it," I said. If it meant getting Tinka back I was willing to work with him.

Kageyama stood up and turned to leave. Before he left he looked back at me.

"It won't be easy, what we do is dangerous, and if you can't keep up you'll be left behind."

"I'll do my best." Kageyama nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

'Only the powerful can change things.' I looked down at my hand. They were dirty, and recently bandaged. "I will become powerful. I will find you Tinka."

X774 December 20

Eisenwald Guild Hall

"Weak," Erigor looked down at me impassively.

"This guild has no place for the weak." His voice was cold and I could feel the anger behind his eyes.

"I-I'm not weak," I gasped out. I stumbled to my feet. My vision was blurred and I tried to keep my hands up to prevent another hit like that.

"Then prove it!" Erigor shouted. Faster than I could react he had closed the distance between us and landed a kick on my stomach. I was sent tumbling back crashing through a table, all the drinks that had sat upon it fell and drenched my clothes. Laughter echoed out from around the guild hall. I felt a sharp pain every time I inhaled. This man is my only lead to finding Tinka, I have to make him accept me. Again I slowly rose to my feet.

Erigor had a gleam in his eye.

"Not done yet? You've got spirit, I'll give you that." Erigor disappeared from my vision, a fist crashed into the side of my face sending me back to the ground. He stood over my prone body and addressed the guild.

"I don't need spirit, I need power. It is power that will get you far in this world. Power is how you take the things you want, in this world power is everything." He glanced down at me before putting his foot on my chest.

"And you have no power," he said, glaring down at me. I felt his power rise within him and knew that this might be my last moment alive. I wasn't going to find Tinka. I grabbed Erigor's leg and pulled as hard as I could. I need to do something, anything. I pulled with all my might despite my body screaming in protest. I grit my teeth and gave it my all.

Shocked gasps rang from around the hall. My hands were pitch black, the skin on Erigor's leg was turning black and withered centered around where I was gripping him. More than that, the feeling that came with it was immense. My vision cleared and my bones cracked back into place. I could breathe easily again. Erigor yanked his leg away and stumbled backwards. His eyes narrowed and fists clenched, but he didn't make a move. Slowly I stood back up, this time with less pain. The guild was dead silent watching our standoff.

"Kageyama," Erigor called out without taking his eye's off of me.

"Yes boss?" Kageyama responded from a few tables away.

"Take the kid on a job. If he survives then he might have what it takes."

X774 December 22

Oshibana Station

I grew up in a small village. Everyone knew everyone. The market was small, If any of the vendors had kids I most likely grew up with them. So when I say I'm completely out of my element walking around Oshibana I truly mean it. It was just so big, so much stone, so many people. Even during festivals in Lorent it never approached the amount of people that pass through here on a given day.

"Stop gawking, you're going to draw attention to yourself," Kageyama hissed. My eyes snapped forward and I focused on being inconspicuous. Kageyama glanced at me before chuckling.

"Relax, we're not even on the train yet. This part doesn't even count as part of the job."

"I'm sorry I'm just nervous, I don't know what I got myself into." I was under no delusion about the type of guild I was embedding myself into. I'm going to be expected to kill, I don't know what I should make of it. I know it's wrong, legally and morally. A hand on my shoulder shook me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Kageyama smiling.

"You're gonna do fine," he said. "I knew from the moment I met you that you'd be a good fit for the guild." he said, still smiling. I smiled back at him, little did he know that's precisely what I was worried about.

Soon we had taken our seats and the train was underway. I was still amazed by the size of it all. I was sitting on a train! A real train! We flew past trees and buildings and scenery faster than even the fastest horse. Dad would have loved to see all of this. I sobered at that thought, I was reminded why I'm here and just how much was at stake.

"The job is simple," Kageyama spoke up

"Someone's been running their mouth about one of our benefactors. Turning over stones that should best be left untouched and the such. Our benefactor decided that this person needs to stop digging. And we are being sent to ensure that happens. Understand?" I nodded my head still conflicted about being made to kill.

"Kageyama I don't know-"

"I know," he cut me off.

"It's a lot, you're new to this. Honestly I don't expect you to go through with it. I don't think Erigor does either." he said.

"Then why? Why am I here,"

"Because I wasn't lying before. I think you'd be good at it." Kageyama leaned back in his seat and studied me for a minute.

"When you came in you were shouting something about your sister?" Those words drew my attention.

"My sister, her name is Tinka. Back in Lorent, the town was… she was kidnapped." Thinking about the town was still difficult. The sound of hundreds screaming, the fires, the smell.

Kageyama's voice again snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Kidnapped?" he paused to think for a moment "Yes, I do remember hearing about quite a few kidnappings as of late. And Lorent, that's the small forest village just south of Mt. Hakobe." I nodded in confirmation.

"I can't say I know who was behind the kidnappings." he said. I felt myself deflate, I thought for sure that I'd learn something

"However, Erigor might know. Dark guilds and such talk to each other. Well brag to each other is more like it. It's possible that he picked something up." I perked up at that.

"However, I can be sure of one thing." he said.

"Oh? What's that?"

"He will only help you if you're doing something for him. If you don't prove yourself you won't be finding your sister."

We didn't speak much after that, he had left me with a lot to think about. Before long we had made it to our destination.

Oak town was fairly large. It looked to be a large castle settlement that sat atop a hill.

"That's Phantom Lord's guild hall." Kageyama said, pointing at the large castle that stood proudly at the top of the hill.

"Phantom Lord?" I asked.

"They're a legal guild, granted a shady one," Kageyama shrugged, "but legal nonetheless."

"How do you know so much about them?" I was curious about what type of connections Kageyama was referring to.

"Erigor and Master Jose of Phantom, nevermind," Kageyama said evasively. "Now let's go, our target usually hangs around the library at this time." I followed Kageyama through the street. I had to focus on staying close to him, there were so many people and the town was so big that I was afraid of getting lost.

We approached a large circular stone building near the center of the town and Phantom's guild hall. Entering we found a large desk facing the door with an elderly woman behind it.

She smiled at us as we entered.

"What can I help you boys with today?" she asked.

"We're looking for professor Linneus." Kageyama answered. "Could you point us to him?"

"Why of course." The woman pulled out a thin folder and rifled through a few papers.

"Ah yes professor Karu Linneus, you can find him on the fourth floor, take a right and his study is just down the hall." She said as she replaced the folder.

"Thanks very much," Kageyama gave her a warm smile.

"Of course, let me know if you need anything else." Kageyama and I left the receptionist and followed the directions that she gave us.

We ended up at the last door in the hall on the fourth floor without any difficulties. A plaque with the name Karu Linneus hung next to the door.

"Ready?" Kageyama asked. I bit down my anxiety and nodded.

Kageyama pushed open the door and entered the room, I followed closely behind. Inside the room were many sculptures of magical animals, with diagrams and research papers littered around each display. I turned to close the door and stopped with a shock. Where my fingers had made contact with the door I noticed black marks roughly the size of my fingers.

"What can I help you two gentlemen with?" a gruff voice came from the back of the room. I spun around and put myself in between Kageyama and the door.

"We're here to discuss some of your work, we'd just like to clear a few things up with you." Kagayama smiled, although there was something off about that smile, almost predatory.

"Well I'd be happy to assist you with my works but as you can see i'm quite-"

"This matter isn't related to… whatever this is," Kageyama gestured around the room. "This has more to do with your refusal to cooporate."

"Ah you're one of them are you?"

"We offered you gold, power, even protection, and yet you went and ran your mouth."

I was still trying to keep up, apparently this job wasn't as black and white as it first seemed.

"I am a man of high standing," Koru said proudly. "And I'd never consort with the likes of you," He narrowed his eyes at Kageyama but seemed to notice me for the first time.

"And who are you? Some sort of child assassin? Do you even know who these people are?"

"He's unimportant, your business is with me." Kageyama snapped.

"Train them while they're young, we do the same things with some of the animals I study." Karu got up from his seat and walked around his desk to stand in front of a display case holding the bones of a six legged wolf-like creature.

"Calactic wolves," he said not taking his eyes off the display. "The adults are highly aggressive, more likely to attack as a base instinct rather than anything else."

Kageyama clenched his fists but made no move to stop Karu.

"The young however are more malleable, if separated from the pack they will seek out companionship with whoever is brave enough to go near them." Karu paused for a second as if lost in thought. "Dangerous thing, trust is." he said solemnly.

"Are you done?" Kageyama asked. I noticed that Karu's shoulders tensed. His aura that was flowing peacefully when we walked in had darkened and taken on the texture of thick mud.

"Kageyama!" I tried to warn him. Much faster than I would have expected from the old man he had spun and a magic circle appeared in front of his outstretched hand. "Sedate!" he shouted. A white beam lanced out and struck Kageyama in the chest. Kagayama stumbled back from the sudden attack clutching his chest. His eyes flashed in anger as he stumbled forward and threw a punch at Karu. Karu dodged to the side and tried to slip past Kageyama. "Shadow Orochi!" Kageyama shouted while dropping to his knees, A bright white and purple light flashed from where Kageyama struggled to stay upright. From the light sprouted dozens of black snakes. Kageyama with effort raised his head to stare into the wide eyes of Karu. "Kill," he commanded. The snakes darted forward, they traversed the floor walls and ceiling all converging on Karu. "Ancient Flame," Karu spread his arms wide and a wall of fire rose from the ground in front of him. This succeeded in stopping most of them as they dissolved upon making contact with the barrier. The rest went over or around the wall. Karu jumped backwards but not before being bitten in the leg. Karu collapsed to the floor, he immediately rolled over and blasted fire towards the remaining snakes. The snakes were gone and Kageyama's aura was getting weaker. Kageyama was now laying on the floor unmoving. My eyes darted back to Karu, he was standing up but with great difficulty, the snake had taken a decent bite from his leg.

X779 July 15

Forest, East of Mt. Hakobe

I stood high in a grouping of trees, my brown tattered cloak flapped slightly in the breeze. My hood was down letting the sunlight hit my face. Generally I keep it up while on missions, most of the other guild members couldn't care less if they were spotted, I however enjoy being able to walk down the street and not be recognized. I wore a basic white loose fitting shirt under my cloak, my pants were something special. It took a great deal of bargaining but I was able to get Rayule to make me pants made out of his cables. The stuff is slightly magic resistant, incredibly durable, and surprisingly breathable. All in all I had a look going, the tattered look of a beggar. People generally drop their guard if you don't look the part of an assassin. Speaking of which, three people were passing by underneath my tree. They matched the description that Erigor gave me, the two on the ends appeared to be hired guards. Reaching out with my sensory ability I didn't find much ethernano inside of them. Either holder types or just your average thugs. Both of them did carry shortswords on their hips though. And the middle man. He was a bit more interesting, dressed in a long blue robe covering his skinny frame, he had a satchel on his back and he was holding… an actual wand? Hm, don't see many of those. From the power he gave off, though not much, led me to believe that he was an ability type or a fairly powerful holder. So the wand must be a focusing point, I thought to myself. With my quick assessment done I decided on my course of action. I removed the thin gloves covering my hands and placed them in my pockets. I leaned down and gripped the tree branch, I felt my magic tug slightly at the tree's energy. I waited until they were nearly directly below me, and then I fell.

I crashed through the leaves and branches, tumbling as I descended.

"Shit, fuck, god damnit," I muttered through gritted teeth, trying to surpress the urge to control my fall. I landed on the forest floor face down with a thud. Pain shot through my body as I tried to suck in air.

'Fuck that hurt,' I thought. I lay'd as still as possible.

"What the hell!" one of the men shouted. From my position I couldn't tell who.

"What the hell is that?" said a second voice. From the higher pitch I'm guessing that was the main target.

"Risho, go check it out," said the third. I heard a sword being unsheathed and slowly approaching footsteps.

"Boss, I think it's a person." The man apparently named Risho said.

"Well, is he alive?" I felt a foot prod my back. Finally, the moment I've been waiting for. I lashed out with my arm and grabbed Risho's ankle. Upon contact my drain spell activated. While ordinarily not an instant kill, non magic people have no resistance to it. His life energy flowed into me at an astonishing rate. Risho let out a pained and desperate cry but it was too late. I felt my ribs crack back into place, my leg straightened itself and power coursed through me. Risho collapsed beside me as I slowly rose to my feet. His body was shriveled, as if it had been decomposing for a month.

"H-he killed him," sputtered the other guard. The two looked around trying to figure out if they had time to escape.

"Not paying attention to your enemy in the midst of battle? What poor training." I mocked them with a slight grin.

"We can take him just don't let him touch you," the man with the wand said. The two rushed me, the second guard made it to me first. Once he was a few yards away from me I muttered "Pestilence" A black magic circle appeared on the ground beneath my feet. From it spewed a thick black mist.

"Ugh, what is this stuff?" The guard started slashing at the mist trying to fan it away but it kept pouring out of the magic circle.

"Ahh! It burns!" I watched as the mist reacted violently with his skin. Before long there was enough mist in the air that he was breathing it in.

"Ack! P-please stop," he fell onto his knees in front of me coughing up blood. I looked on impassively until his frantic struggles slowed and then finally ceased. Every second he spent inside the pestilence spell I felt my power grow. I was basking in the feeling until…

"Break" I felt the target's magic flare up from within him and then like a rifle it shot through his wand. What felt like a massive sledgehammer rammed into my gut and sent me flying and crashing through the brush. I landed on my side with my back against a tree. I sputtered and gasped, feeling my magic rush to repair my body.

"Way to eat your own words, Careon," I gasped out to myself. Some of the power I had recently gained ebbed away. I slowly stood up and gripped a small tree trunk tightly. My target was approaching, with a look of fury he was blasting the brush aside to get to me. 'Fine,' I thought to myself 'If he wants a real fight I'll show him a real fight'

"Drain" the tree I was holding onto shook and cracked, its width shrank in size and its bark turned black. While not nearly comparable to a human life it was enough to replenish some of what I'd lost.

"Do you have any Idea who I am? Do you know who you are messing with, kid?"

"Honestly no, and I don't care. You have something Eisenwald wants. I'm here to collect."

The man looked shocked briefly.

"Eisenwald? How could they possibly know? Know what it doesn't matter. You'll have to pry it from my dead hands." he said as he got into a ready position

"Yup, that was the idea." I said as I rolled the kinks out of my shoulder.

"Don't get cocky, Break," he jabbed his wand forward, what looked like a shock wave was sent flying towards me. I launched myself to the left. The shockwave impacted the tree I had drained just after I had moved out of the way. The tree exploded sending bits of black wood through the air like shrapnel.

"Pestilence!" I shouted. A black magic circle appeared between us. I forced my power into it trying to fill the area with the toxic fog.

"Gust," the target slashed his wand in front of him and just as quickly a strong gust of wind blew through the forest taking the fog with it.

"Kid you're way over your head, and now you're going to die for that mistake" he raised his wand towards me and I felt his magic begin to rise from within him. I need to separate him from that wand. I dashed forward, taking a random path as I moved. "Break!" I leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the shock wave. I didn't have time to consider the close call. I took off running again, closing the distance with each step. The target began to backpedal trying to keep me at a distance. "Break!" he cried out again. This time I got as low to the forest floor as I could. My skin tingled as the spell passed just above me, ripping branches off trees in its wake.

"Stay back!" he shouted. He now looked terrified, likely he never expected to come across someone who was too fast for him to hit.

"I'm warning you! Stay back or I'll-" before he could finish his sentence I reached him. As fast as I was able to I reached out and gripped his wand tightly.

"Drain," I said grinning victoriously. The power held within the wand was absorbed into my body, the wand itself crumbling to dust in my grip.

"No!" the man screamed, he stumbled backwards and tripped over the root of a tree. He raised his arms at me "Break!" nothing happened. "Break! Break!" Each time he tried to cast his magic would rise and then sputter out.

"A holder type?" I was surprised.

"I expected that from brawny and stupid over there but I had hope for you," the man began to frantically scramble away from me.

"Don't kill me! I'll leave! You'll never see me again I promise!" the man begged.

"I'm after a map," I said

"You have it, my guild needs it."

"The map? Yeah sure take it just don't kill me." he quickly dug into his pocket and retrieved a sealed scroll tossing it towards me. I snatched it and opened it to verify that it's what I was after.

"Hm, everything seems to be in order then." I said stowing the scroll away in my pack.

"S-So you'll let me go?" he whimpered. I glanced at him dispassionately. I crouched in front of him. Basking in the man's fear for a few seconds longer.

"Of course not, what type of assassin would I be If I left loose ends?" I raised my hand and gripped his face.

"No no plea-" the man's plea was cut off as I activated my drain spell. It took considerably longer than the non magicals but the feeling of power filling me was worth it. When I was done his hallowed dry body stared emptily at the sky. Compared to some of the other mages I've come across like Erigor or even Rayule he wasn't that strong, but a meal's a meal.

X779 July 17

Eisenwald Guild Hall

I entered the guild hall without any fanfare, Erigor hated sudden interruptions. Currently Erigor was sitting slouched on the throne that looked over the guild hall, his women sat beside him chained to the throne by a link bind spell. I never learned their names, Erigor doesn't like us talking to them and they get replaced often. Erigor noticed me approaching and his eyebrows lifted a little.

"You've been successful?" he asked. That was a veiled threat as much as it was a confirmation. You don't return to Eisenwald unless you've been successful. Instead of answering I pulled the scroll I had taken from the target and tossed it to him. He deftly caught it and opened it. He smiled the longer he studied it. He stood up from his throne and glared down at his guild, they went silent seeing his presence.

"Careon has brought us a gift," Erigor announced proudly. He held the scroll high for everyone to see.

"What's that boss?" Asked a guild member I never met.

Erigor glared at the man who interrupted him and he shrunk back into his seat, regardless Erigor continued.

"This may be the key to the guilds' dominance over all guilds in Fiore." He announced, his eyes gleamed as he stared at it.

"This is a map to the location where one of the demons of Zeref is sealed. The Death Flute Lullaby." a shocked silence filled the guild. Kageyama's wide eyes looked between me and the master.

"No way, we can't control something like that," the same man from before muttered

"This is Zeref we're talking abou-" before he could finish his sentence it was cut off by Erigor's boot slamming him through the table into the stone ground, the stone cracked from the impact. The man lay whimpering in pain.

"With the power of the flute we will become the strongest guild in Fiore, none will get in our way." With that declaration he stared down each of the guild members. He lifted the broken man by his shirt and threw him towards me. He landed in a heap by my feet.

"Part of your payment, the rest arrives tomorrow." He said returning to his throne.

I looked down at the man, my cold blue eyes revealing nothing of how I felt.

"Please, don't do this, I'll leave the guild." he gasped out in pain.

Erigor taught me that you need power to achieve your goals, so far that has been true.

"Careon, I know you, you're a nice boy," he pleaded. I frowned. Do I know him? I don't recognize his face, but then again, I only really talk to Kageyama.

I placed my hand on his head, he closed his eyes as tears streamed down his face.

"Drain"