Idra gawked at the level of swordplay. She had never seen anything like it. Her partner brushed off his shoulder as he stood there, unfazed as his opponent stood in a readied position.

The veiled warrior then pointed a sword at Razar. "Make me tell you my name, fellow warrior. Defeat me, now."

Razar's grin had been wiped off his face and it suddenly got very serious. "In fifty seconds, I will know your name." Razar lunged forward once more, swords trailing behind him as he sprinted low against the ground at his opponent. He slashed his swords up again as another cloud of dust erupted. Suddenly an object flew out of the sky and struck the ground next to the fight. Purple particles flew from the cloud and the quad swordsman coalesced where the object impacted.

What?!

He brought one of his swords back and threw it into the cloud of dust directly at Razar.

The sword entered the dust cloud and a sharp clang accompanied by a yell, rang out from it. As the dust settled, Razar stood in the midst of it. He was breathing heavily and stood in a pained position. Idra's eyes widened in shock. There was a sword piercing his hip in the gap between his chestplate and leggings. The quad-swordsman delivered a direct hit! Idra gawked at his prowess and skill. Despite how great of a blow it was, one fact still stood...Razar was still standing.

Razar spoke in pain. "You bastard. I didn't even see you throw an enderpearl." He chuckled a bit. "You got me good but I'm still on my feet. I may have underestimated you a bit. I won't make that mistake again."

The moon had begun to rise in the cloud dappled sky. It was a cool night as rain was going to set in soon. A storm was coming from the east.

The quad-swordsman tilted his head to the side. "You do not surrender?" He drew one of the swords from his back, replacing the one he just threw.

"Nowhere near." Razar let go of one of his own swords and grabbed onto the hilt of the sword impaled in him. With a horribly loud yowl, he pulled it straight out, blood sprayed all over. He screamed more in pain as he shot his hand in his pouch. Seeing what was happening, Idra's partner dashed forward and aimed for Razar's arm which was reaching in his bag. Seemingly impossibly, Razar ducked, blood spraying from his mouth and wound. He was holding an enchanted golden apple. In one swift movement, he consumed it.

The quad-swordsman, flying past him, shot one sword into the ground, using it as an axle, and using his momentum, swung back in the direction of Razar, kicking him straight in the face, sending his foe flying. Razar tumbled through the wheat, spraying up allergen filled dust. Idra's partner sheathed his third sword and picked up the one completely covered in blood, the one Razar had just pulled out of his body.

Razar stood up slowly. The golden apple seemed to be doing its job healing him completely but hadn't finished yet.

The quad-swordsman ran forward and slashed at Razar who parried as he stepped backwards. Idra's partner kept pushing forward, swinging from the left and right, not giving his opponent a moment of rest. Their swings and parries were fast. These combat hacks far surpassed Idra's.

Idra's partner ducked a side slash and spun with his swords out, scraping against Razar's armor, cracking it slightly. That's sharpness five for you.

Looking at the skill of the combatants Idra could only assume one thing. Her thoughts nearly drowned out the clanging of gear. Idra was an A- fighter. the quad-swordsman beat her in nearly an instant. And this man...Razar...is putting up a hell of a fight against him. Idra had only seen a handful of them in her life...they were legendary but she could only put up one conclusion...these guys were S rank fighters. Idra took another step back, realizing that the magnitude of this fight was greater than she had initially realized.

Idra's partner dealt another hard blow to Razar's leggings, cracking them more, delving deep scratches into their surface. He then threw a sword high in the air. Seeing the opening, Razar jabbed at the quad wielder who stepped forward quickly, dodging the sword by a centimeter. This movement caught Razar off guard. The quad wielder grabbed a loose chunk of Razar's broken enchanted leggings and ripped it straight off, shattering it all. In the same motion, Idra's partner spun his sword in his hand in a stylish fashion and swung it at Razar's completely exposed knee. Razar's eyes widened in realization that there was nothing he could do. Razar's was too close to his opponent to block. He was still recovering from his own attack and the quad-swordsman was so fast, he couldn't dodge. The sword went to deal the disabling blow...a flash of blue shot in-between the two fighters. Idra's partner flew backward, losing his sword in the process. He tumbled through the air and landed hard on the ground. He quickly drew his back swords and stood up, ready for a second attack.

Confused, Idra, looked back the the cause of the commotion. The axe-wielder was standing directly in front of Razar, facing the quad-swordsman who was ten blocks away. He had his axe drawn. Idra looked down at her partner's sword which had flown from the fight and stuck itself in the ground by her feet.

She looked back up at the powerful man who had intervened. He stood with his axe nearly scraping the ground. His face was dead serious.

"Multi-swordsman." He spoke. "Stand down. This battle is now over." Idra's gaze drew over to her partner who stood battle ready for a few moments longer. After a few seconds he stood down and sheathed both of his swords. Suddenly, there was a flash of blue in the air above Razar and the axe-wielder shot his hand back and caught it by the handle. Ooh's and aah's went around the circle of spectators. The axe-wielder held the quad-swordsman's sword out in front of him at arms length and admired it. His face was still stone cold. "Fine craft." He tossed the sword back at Idra's partner who caught it with ease.

"I suppose we're not going to hear your name?" The axe-wielder asked.

"I don't give it away easily." Her partner said stoically.

"I see. Well I underestimated you, multi-swordsman. What shall I call you?"

"You do not need to call me anything. I would just like to go-"

"I want to ask you something." He looked straight at the quad-swordsman. "I am creating an elite unit. I'm scouring the land for S- rank fighters or above. You fit the description of that perfectly. I want you to join us."

Idra's thoughts spun. He wants him to join them? That's crazy! They just attacked us!

Her partner was silent for a long moment. He looked at the ground, thinking carefully. "What is the intention for this elite unit?"

The axe-wielder who Idra had determined to be the enemy leader, huffed. "It is the first step of many in a larger...much grander plan of mine to completely stop the flow of newsucks...forever."

This peaked her partner's interest as he raised his head slightly. "How so?"

"Join us and find out. Now, I'm sure, Multi-Swordsman, you have your own agenda and I assure you, you will be able to continue it, just as long as you just do a job for us every once in a while."

"What about my partner?" The quad-swordsman asked as he waved over to Idra. "I will join you only if she is allowed to join also."

Idra's throat tightened in apprehension.

The enemy leader turned to her. "Look at me in the eyes, girl." Swallowing, she did as she was told. His stare was cold and hard. He stared solemnly as if looking into her soul. To this day, she still doesn't know how to explain it but in that moment...she felt cold...and lonely. As if his gaze itself was enough to strike her down. Never before had she felt such disparity.

"She doesn't have the coldness in her eyes. Girl, what is your combat rank."

She gulped and looked over to her partner for help.

Suddenly, an incredibly strong force plowed into her, sending her through the wheat. A heavy force landed on top of her. Shocked, spit flying out of her mouth from the force, she regained her bearings to realize she was on her back. The axe-wielder was on top of her, his axe was at her throat. His spare hand had grabbed her sword out of her sheath and was holding it against her right wrist. She tasted blood in her mouth. Confusion and fear swept over her. He had been twenty blocks away! She didn't even see him move! How did he do this?!

"You can't even see that slow attack. Tch. An A ranker...a low one at that.

"Get off of her." Idra hear her partner speak calmly but firmly from where he was standing. The enemy leader stood up off of her. She gasped heavily and sat up, spitting blood onto the trampled wheat.

"Your sword." He spoke behind her. Idra, on all fours, turned to see the axe-wielder holding her sword by the blade end, offering it back to her. This surprised her...this gesture of trust. Idra took it with some anger and stood back up, sheathing it. The leader turned to the quad-swordsman. "She can join also, under your direct supervision but only under one condition."

"What is that?" Her partner asked.

"She needs to be at least S- rank in three months. If she isn't...well...let's just say it won't be good for her. We don't need dead weight in out group. Speaking of dead weight, you all are free to go."

The diamond-clad people around them all stood up, nodded at the axe-wielder and ran to their horses and rode off into the distance in all directions.

The axe-wielder walked back over to Razar. "Those mercenaries were just A rankers who worked for us to help us comb spawn over the last couple days in exchange for...specific forms of payment. So. Man of shadow. Do you agree to our terms?"

Her partner raised his head and looked straight at the enemy leader. "Before I answer, are you who I think you are?"

The leader chuckled for a moment before sheathing his axe. "Yes. I am Fit. The previous leader of the Valkyrian empire."

Idra audibly gasped. Leader of Valkyria?!

The quad-swordsman bowed his head. "You can call me Shadow. I accept your terms, Fit."

"Great to hear. Now Razar, Shadow. Shake hands."

Without hesitation, Razar marched, legging-less, over to Idra's partner and grabbed his hand with great enthusiasm. "You are a fantastic fighter, Shadow. I underestimated you. And to think you didn't even draw your fourth sword to beat me. You are truly impressive."

The quad-swordsman shook wholeheartedly back. "And unto you, fellow warrior, Razar. I will admit, I expected you to be a bit easier. I look forward to working with you."

Really?! Idra thought. How are you looking forward to this new relationship?

"Good." Fit said. "Your first job is to go find an old friend of mine." Fit pulled a small book out of his pack and threw it at Idra's partner...Shadow as he asked them to call him. Idra decided that that's what she would call him for now until she learned his real name.

"In there is everything you need to know." He said to Shadow.

"Razar!"

"Right." Razar responded as he whistled their horses down to them.

Fit mounted his white horse once it arrived. "We will be seeing you both soon." He took one last look at Idra. "How insensitive of me. Girl, what is your name?"

She took a deep breath. "My name is Idra."

He smiled."I will be sure to remember that."

She wasn't sure if she wanted him to remember.

"Oh, Shadow." Fit called down to him from his horse.

"Yes?"

"Those three newsucks back there who you attacked. You interrogated one of them. He had signs of torture on him."

Idra squinted her eyes. Damn, Fit is good.

Fit adjusted the elytra on his back to be more comfortable on his large horse. "What did you get out of them?"

"The one we interrogated said he came from a hideout thirty-thousand blocks south and sixteen-thousand blocks west from this location. He said its deep underground and is run by a man named Chigo. Idra and I were going to check it out ourselves."

Fit waved his arm in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. You two go complete that job I assigned to you." He smiled devilishly and his eyes got filled with a gross darkness that made even Idra sick. "We'll go give our new Rusher friends a visit."

With that, Razar threw a speed potion onto their horses and they peeled away in the direction of the rising moon.

The duo watched them in silence as they rode off at an astonishing speed, disappearing behind a large sandstone pyramid.

Idra turned her head toward Shadow who hadn't moved. He still had the leather bound book closed in his hand. She opened her mouth to speak. She assumed everything he had just agreed to was just to help them get out of that situation alive...most likely if they denied the request to join Fit's group they would have been killed. "Shadow, we don't-"

"Do not call me that!" he snapped, catching Idra off guard. He plopped down onto his butt in the wheat, holding the book over his knee. His enchanted diamond armor gave the sides of their stalks a slight bluish glow. He bowed his head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Idra." She was surprised again as this was the first time she had heard him use a conjunction while speaking. She sat down next to him.

"That is a name that I reserve for those I wish to keep my distance with."

Idra hid a small smile. For some reason that made her really happy.

He rubbed his thumb over the book cover. "I just did what I needed to do to save ourselves."

"I know." Idra confirmed.

"But...this may be our chance to help out the natives on a greater scale. That man...Fit...he is a legend, Idra, as I am sure you are well aware."

Idra nodded. Known only as 'Fit', he was the leader of the most powerful group in the land's history; the empire of Valkyria. The riches of their bases and cities were immeasurable. They possessed armies of tens of thousands of mobs and had thousands of people under their sphere of influence. They rose to power half a century ago when their first leader, another legend, Sato, strategized and initiated the third incursion of spawn, where natives flock to spawn to try to quell the flow of newsucks entering the continent. They shut down a large invasion of people from a far away land. Their crest of an eagle can still be seen in ruins all over the continent. They fell from power almost thirty years ago when internal conflicts and betrayals tore them apart.

"Idra." His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Just call me Al for now. Is that alright?"

Idra nodded. "Okay, Al." She was just happy to have something to call him by.

He took another breath in. "I think Fit is trying to start the fourth incursion. It only makes sense."

Idra nodded in realization.

Al continued. "Fit is a dangerous man. His combat skills are unrivaled. I've heard some regard him as a S++ rated combatant. The way he dove between me and Razar...I didn't even know what happened. He was too fast for even me to see."

"Even for you?!" Idra exclaimed.

"Yes. Up to this point, only three people have ever been able to knock my sword out of my hand. Idra he is on a whole different level."

Goosebumps ran across her body, hearing her powerful partner speak of this. Idra ventured to guess..."So although he's dangerous, since we have common interests you want to ally with him?"

"Correct." He nodded. "Plus..." His hand squeezed around the binding of the book. "I do not want to be on his bad side. I want to keep him close enough to the point where we can keep an eye on him. Do you agree?"

Idra nodded.

"Good. Sorry I could not include you in the negotiations. He would not have had anything you said."

"I understand."

"Alright. Let us see what this job is." Al said as he undid the cover and flipped the first page. He stared at it intensely for a long minute.

"What does it say?" Idra asked. He didn't answer immediately. He seemed to be processing what he was seeing. "What is it!"

Al's head slowly raised from the book and looked at Idra. "Get ready for the fourth incursion, Idra...we are going to go find Sato."