The morning came, the Cloud Sea was as beautiful as ever. He could never complain about the view from a boat, even one small like this. He glanced to the side to see Akhos walking forward. "We'll be arriving shortly. They managed to capture a small Ardainian vessel that was carrying the core crystals. A shame it wasn't taken better care of."

"Some kingdoms are so big, they can struggle to keep up with the amount of resources they have. In a time where every single resource is needed, it's not unexpected for cracks to form."

Akhos smiled "Quite. Our goal will be to take the core crystals harbored in the ship. Once that job is complete you will get your payment when we get back." Akhos said turning back to the giant ship, scanning it as he continued, "As long as everything goes according to the script I've laid out, there should be no worries"

And so it was just a matter of waiting.


Victory Condition: Obtain the Core Crystals

Defeat Condition: Akhos or I am defeated.

It was a strange way to structure battles in his mind. He had done that for so long that he couldn't remember a time where he didn't view battles in such simple manor. The opponents were nothing but a bunch of thugs. Even so they were still powerful, drivers are nothing to scoff at. The halls of the Ardainian vessel were cramped and didn't allow for Elcrest to swing his weapon so he largely relied on stabbing to get through fights. The close quarters combat did favor Elcrest however, he was a hunter and these drivers were the prey. They were used to life on this stolen ship in a certain way, and even people are easy to hunt if you exploit their habits and how they lived.

"Stand by," He said, putting an arm in front of Akhos. Eyes darting around the corner of yet another cramped hallway. Another driver was coming, the trap was laid and the moment the driver got into striking distances

CLANG

"WH-WHAT?!" Shouted the driver as Elcrest disarmed his weapon causing his blade to rush in. It was to no avail though as Akhos and Obrana moved forward to intercept the blade and knock it down. Akhos smiled at the now downed blade and turned to Elcrest.

"That's the fifteenth one so far." He said as Elcrest knocked the driver out cleanly. "I must say your insistence to not kill them is problematic, but who am I to question your methods when your results are so favorable."

Elcrest shrugged "They're wanted. Better to put them away and get a slightly bigger cash reward when Bana scoops them up and hands them over." It all seemed too easy, it wasn't that Elcrest thought something was wrong… It's the fact that Elcrest had a truly powerful ally. Does one driver really push what would normally be a difficult job alone, to a walk in the park? Even when he fought alongside allies from his past.

"Battles are never one on one vs a driver, more often than not I'm at a disadvantage" He said as they continued to walk through the cramped halls. The scrapping of machines filling the silence while Akhos spoke back

"The correct assumption to make, however, that only matters in your case. Say you awakened a blade," Akhos gestured to Obrana, "Obrana has an ability that specifically disrupts the Ether flow, depending on the ability of a blade even a three against one can have the three be at the disadvantage."

"I see"

"You do? Tell me, why have you not awakened a Blade?"

"You assume I have the aptitude for it. For all you know I could have tried and failed" He smiled while Akhos chuckled.

"Very true, but somehow I don't see that being the case… You're like me, not in personality. You are far more simple minded."

"No offense taken"

"None intended. You have a straightforward way of fighting due to the lack of a blade, but I have no doubt you could awaken one."

"And how could you be so sure?"

"Call it experience, drivers with the aptitude are… Unique, like you and me."

"You can find someone like me all across the globe, I'm not unique in the slightest." The sound of footsteps alerted them both as when they turned the corner more drivers were coming. Without a moment's notice Elcrest swung his sword wide x formation, cutting through the air itself as the walls of the ship were torn through like butter.. Akhos raised a brow. That didn't feel like ether energy, yet it made his theory all the more likely.

One final stab in the center of the x caused some resistance as the energy still left in the air sparked with the energy on Elcrest's sword. This did not last long however as the sword quickly broke through the energy firing a large beam "FLY AWAY!" The rapid speed at which it approached the driver and blade surprised them both, ripping the very metal from the ship as the driver's eyes reflected the golden energy perfectly. With not enough time to react they both took the brunt of Elcrests attack, being knocked clean out. The blue crystal on his chest having its glow reduced once again.

"Yet with each feat I see from you, the doubt I have grows," Akhos looked down the previously narrow hallway. The cloud sea was now fully visible. "I see you took into account the blade protecting the driver with its own Ether energy" Elcrest took a few breaths as Akhos continued "But using power like that… Are you certain it was such a wise decision?"

"Simple…" Finally catching his breath Elcrest smiled "Most of the people here aren't here because they want to be thieves, they're here because they have nowhere else to go. If they see three extremely powerful opponents that were able to cause something like this? They'll run off."

"Such optimism, were this a better time I'd sit you down for a script unlike any other. Unfortunately I do not believe that is how they will view it." Akhos said while continuing down the hallway, Obrona and Elcrest following. "These core crystal hunters would never pass up a profit, if anything I see this making them want to grow their own army even more. When it comes to beings like us, our power is sought after to the point they'd even turn to Indol to capture us."

Elcrest raised a brow, "Aren't Indol supposed to be peacekeepers?" Akhos shook his head.

"A front they place upon themselves in order to fool those like us, when the moment comes they hunt. Very little survive… Myself including" Obrona quickly caught up to Akhos, placing a hand upon his shoulder and smiling.

"But because of you escaping you awakened me Akhos! Then you came up with all those great play ideas!" Akhos smirked then sighed as he put a hand up while walking.

"Well genius does need action to spur it." He said while chuckling. Obrona turned around to Elcrest. Floating backwards she giggled.

"What about you? You must have tons of stories of what you've done"

"Can't say I do" Elcrest shrugged "I come from a far away place so… I haven't really had to deal with the kind of things you two have gone through. I can only offer you my sympathy."

"Really? That's not what Bana told us. He talked about your accomplishments, how you defeated multiple drivers so easily. Looking at the results you've given here" He looked at the giant tear in the hallway thanks to the attack. "An Ether attack like this, I must say I'm impressed by how you've hidden this strength." Suddenly Akhos ducked to the side, sweeping a driver who'd just gotten back up off his feet and kicking him off the ship.

"I told you they wouldn't stop. Come on, our destination is up ahead." Going down a corridor the ship had split up into a few pathways, one going towards the main hall, one towards the pilots, and one that led down stairs to what Akhos described as their goal. He placed his right hand out stopping Elcrest and Obrona from walking forward anymore as he used one of his twinblades to slash through a piece of ice that had come flying towards them. Two blades came from the main hall and rushed the three.

Quickly Akhos clashed his twin blades with the ice blade, yet his attack would be turned against him when the blade used an art which allowed her to shift the momentum and narrowly dodge Akhos' attack. Right before the blade could strike Akhos, Obrona had grabbed Akhos and dragged him over to the right wall. Boxes laid behind the two as he looked over to Elcrest who was now fighting a blade wielding a megalance.

Dodging the flurry of attacks coming at him, Elcrest moved back to find space yet to no avail. His back now against the wall she took a another stab with her lance causing Elcrest to spin to the left in order to dodge another attack and gave himself some space, sadly for him this blade has tricks as she concentrated her power into the tip of her lance and fired a jet of water at Elcrest. Hitting him directly he found some grip on the floor and slowly got back up.

"Let's make this a quick one Theory!"

"Got it." The Chroma Katana wielding blade known as Theory charged again at Akhos and swung her blade left and right at the driver. Dodging Akhos finally found an opening and with Obrona concentrated his power into his blades before tossing them to Obrona allowing her to get in with a Blade Special. Slicing up using the Shred Special Obrona attempted to give some leeway to Akhos. Looking upwards he ran forward signaling to Obrona to throw back the twinblades. Before she could, Theory had cut her off, instead forcing her to lock her twinblades with Theory's Chroma Katana. With no other options left Akhos scaled the boxes in the middle around the middle walls of the room and hopped onto an upper deck.

Meanwhile Elcrest was dealing with his own set of problems as the water blade barely gave him room to breathe. Strike after strike she thrusted her lance towards Elcrest barely giving him any ground to counter attack. The mega lance was a tricky weapon to deal with when a driver had it, but this blade used it without a driver in sight. It was as if they were their own driver. "Obrona!" he shouted as he turned and ran towards her.

Suddenly as Theory was backing Obrona into a corner; Elcrest rushed over to her and kicked Theory out of the way. With the water blade not too far behind he used the momentum she was gaining against her, side stepping her attempt to attack him, he grabbed her lance and attempted to take it, with the struggle she was putting up however it was hard. Yet it gave Obrona enough time to swoop in and tackle the water blade to the ground.

"Looks like we're switching!" Obrona said cheerfully as she tossed one twin blade to Akhos. With the blade in his hand he cut chains keeping the bridge up causing it to fall and damage the room. Running down he had joined Obrona in the fight against the water blade.

"GET TO THE CORE CRYSTAL ROOM"

"ON IT!" Elcrest ran down the stairs only to find a long corridor with a door at the end. His goal now in sight he dashed down the corridor to the room only to hear footsteps following. Quickly sidestepping, he narrowly dodged a piece of sharp ice tossed at him.

That ice blade again. He didn't have time to deal with her. He ran as fast as he could. Quickly filling his sword with that same energy, he jumped ahead at the door breaking it down and sliding in only to find himself surrounded by drivers. Gritting his teeth he clashed blades with a driver, that was short lived as another came down with a shield hammer forcing Elcrest to move back. He took in the surroundings and attempted to figure out how to use them to his advantage.

In front of him were five drivers and that ice blade called Theory wasn't too far behind. To his left and right were shelves filled with core crystals from top to bottom in containers. There were no hangers or whatever to bring down and his back was to the wall. No exit in sight. Due to how the shelves were carved into the walls he couldn't knock them over but due to the room's circular shape there had to be something he could do.

Another driver with some sort of gauntlets that he'd never seen before came charging at Elcrest with intent to punch him. It was easy enough to dodge until yet another one came at him, this time throwing some ball at him that he was forced to deflect with his sword. Finally with that blade called Theory in the fray he jumped back again, hitting the shelves of core crystals his back was now against the wall. Looking behind him he realized he only had one choice out of this… He would have to use that…

"It's over!" One of the men said "You're all but finished!"

"No" Elcrest smiled, putting his left arm out a bit, his palm facing upward as if it was holding a ball "This is just" suddenly his open palm was formed into a fist as a huge amount of energy rocked the ship "The beginning!", staggered by the sudden force Elcrest produced, the stone on his chest started to glow.

In the blink of an eye Elcrest had gone from his back against the wall to behind two of the drivers in the front, he rammed his leg into the first driver, sending him flying into the second driver as the two then violently crashed into the wall shaking the core crystals as they fell down on the two drivers.

"Th-this ain't a normal guy-"

"What of it?" Theory chastised "We can still take him down"

The drivers quickly glanced at each other, deciding that one lucky hit wouldn't deter them.

Elcrest raised his sword, glaring down the last three drivers and Theory. "This is your one chance, run and live with pride, or fall here and rot in prison." Even if they ran, Elcrest was going to make them choose the second option. These Core Crystal Hunters, they were criminals who stole blades from good people and then used said blades to repeat the cycle over and over. He wouldn't let them get away.

"You're not getting in our way!" Theory dashed at Elcrest, using an art the art Eclipse Blade to both dodge Elcrest's attack and attack him. Quickly Elcrest sidestepped the blade and readied himself for a counter attack. Swinging his sword in the flash of an eye Theory only had the option to form ice underneath her feet sending her flying into the air and allowing herself to gain some distance by jumping

"Set- One!" He swung his sword quickly, at such a speed it felt like the air itself moved slower than he did. For Theory it was a close call, but she had thankfully dodged the attack thanks to her art making her mobile when using it "TWO!" Yet one dodge would never be enough as Elcrest's sword suddenly struck Theory's stomach sending her flying back. Now on the ground Theory attempted to get back up, calling upon the ether energy to give her more strength. When she tried no energy came through from her weapon, as if it was completely disabled.

More footsteps, a lance was thrown straight at Elcrest, dodging he realized the intention wasn't to hit him but the core crystals themselves as the lance slowly glowed before producing a large amount of water which quickly flooded the room. Before he could process it the drivers and Theory were grabbed by that water blade and he was back first against the wall due to the amount of water that suddenly filled the room.

He looked up, only one core crystal was damaged but that didn't chance the fact they were retreating. He took a deep breath as the water subsided and got back to his feet. With the amount of energy he had left was it right to push it and chase after them? He moved forward, arriving at the door in an instant only to see one driver held up by Akhos. Easily overwhelmed by Akhos, the driver hit the floor and Akhos shook his head. "To think this is how a grand starting act turns out." Turning his head, Akhos saw Elcrest and waved him over. "We have one to interrogate. Elcrest nodded as he breathed even heavier. Obrana took note of the breathing as Elcrest approached her and Akhos

"You look tired! Were you fighting on thin ice or something?"

"More like… hah... They were… I was outnumbered… hah… and had to use a lot more strength than… hah… I wanted" Akhos frowned.

"An ambush was an unexpected addition to this act, but if you push yourself to an extent like this-"

"I'm fine… hah… Just needed more energy…" Elcrest turned to the driver who was held against the ground thanks to Obrana's twin blades "What hah… Do we do with him?"

"It's quite simple" Akhos picked up the driver, tearing him away from the twinblades that held him in place "He will answer every single question and we will proceed to take all the core crystals that the Hunters abandoned."

"I- I AIN'T TELLIN NOTHIN!"

"Heheh!" Obrona chuckled "Akhos we get to have fun!" Elcrest raised a brow "Come on~ Come on~ Let's do it!"

"Not yet Obrona" He held the driver up high "Tell us where exactly your base of operations is and I may consider letting you live. Though it is up to you, my orders are to deal with everyone here as I see fit."

"I-"

"I hah … recommend you talk… The more time you waste hah… the less time he has to spend throwing you off the ship…"

"A perfect deduction" Akhos cheerfully added "So what shall it be? Getting thrown off the ship into the expansive cloud sea, or talking and having the chance to continue your meager life?"

The driver sweat, he opened his mouth when suddenly the ship shook, Akhos turned to Elcrest and seethed. "It seems we have some uninvited guests. Quickly, Obrana, grab as many core crystals as you can with Elcrest. I'll go and see what is happening up above!"

With that Akhos grabbed a now screaming driver as Obrana turned and started collecting as many core crystals as possible. Putting them in a bag that was on her back. Elcrest followed suit. His mind raced with thoughts of what could be happening above.

"Wh-" He picked up one of the core crystals, it was pitch black. The blue light that once shined had vanished "How did-"

Obrana turned to see what had caught Elcrest's attention before filling her eyes with sympathy. "It's… Died… How did-"

"In the battle, I must have hit it…"

"It's alright, we got to continue though! We'll zap those bad guys later!"


Akhos ran back down the hall, no longer holding the driver. This was the worst time for THEM to show up. How were Elcrest and Obrana doing? Were they already done? They only had a limited amount of time. Looking at the routes they could take, only three would have them intercepted but they would need to get moving NOW. He slid into the core crystal room to see Elcrest and Obrana just finishing.

"We need to go, a Mor Ardain ship is here!"


Elcrest sat down on the small ship, looking out at the cloud sea while still holding the broken core crystal. Akhos joined him, sitting down as he looked at the core crystals in Elcrest's hand.

"I see."

"I wasn't strong enough…"

"The hero always falls to the abyss before transforming into their stronger self. Don't let that weigh on you."

"It's still a life I couldn't save again, even if there are trials I'll overcome in the future, this is still a life I could not save…" Elcrest looked down at the core crystal, gripping it gently.

"I know what it's like to not be able to save someone… But you must go on, there are plenty of other blades you can save…" Akhos looked at the cloudsea as his eyes lit up. "You could join my group, I suppose you have already met Malos, Jin, and Nia. They are good people, I'm sure you would find yourself welcomed with others like you."

Elcrest turned his head to the side, "I don't do that. I'm sure you're all very nice, but I'm better off on my own. Less people will get hurt for my failures that way."

"I see." Akhos stood up. His footsteps trailed off, only to stop for one brief moment. "Just know if indol ever comes for you, we'll always be willing to lend a hand."

Elcrest was left alone, staring at the cloud sea as the blue crystal on his chest glowed faintly.


They docked, they turned in the core crystals to bana, and Elcrest got paid. They went their separate ways as Elcrest went back to the Lemour Inn. He paid for his room, he walked to the door, to be called over to the receptionist desk.

"Friend Elcrest! You have been sent letter while you were gone!"

"Hm?" Elcrest went to the desk and took the letter. "I'm tired… I'll be going to sleep now…"

He closed the door, placed the broken core crystal on the shelf, and flopped on his bed. Rolling over he cleanly opened the letter and placed the envelope on the shelf. It was from the garfont mercenaries. They kept writing to him recently for some reason. As he read the letter he noticed something familiar… This writing- Who exactly was this letter from? Why were they so angry at him-

When he got to the bottom, he saw it…

"Millicent-"


AN: For some reason this chapter was bugged when I posted it last night despite the doc itself not being like that at all in fanfic dot nets doc manager. Don't know what happened, don't really care now that it's fixed