In a small section of the woods, deep in the forests of Southwest Fiore, a girl with white hair and blue eyes chased the echoes of violence.

Good...

She was getting close enough to distinguish the cool clack of wood hitting cold steel, which weapon belonged to which particular combatant was a mystery, but nevertheless.

He's still fighting.

Mira wasn't too late.

I can still make it.

Mira picked up the pace as she dashed towards the sound in the distance, her legs burning as she jumped over a log and through a brush.

"Eh?"

At the exact moment, a young man with black hair, a bloody arm, a cut forehead, narrow eyes, and a white coat over a green shirt jumped through the same brush but in the opposite direction. Mira blinked in surprise as she landed on the opposite side of the small wall of leaves and turned back in confusion.

"Was that..."

Mira's brain took a few seconds to connect the face she had just seen to the man approaching them in the middle of the woods at the start of the ambush.

"Shadow Magic"

The same one that Vera had been fighting.

"Shadow Knuckle"

Mira cursed as a storm of shadowed knuckles shot through the wall of leaves and shattered the foliage. The green curtain fell apart to reveal the shadow mage behind it with a nasty snarl as Mira's breath rose and her instincts took over. The muscles in her leg tensed as she jumped over a flurry of punches and arced toward the man with her fist raised back.

"Shadow Magic"

The man didn't move; his shadows rose in a dome meant to protect him.

"Shadow Gaurd"

Emphasis on meant.

Like, that's going to stop me...

Mira barreled forward with a grin as she came crashing down on the dome, her fist connecting with the impact of thunder and shattering the dome like a rock thrown at glass. Her eyes were wide open and eager as she met the shocked gaze of the man who fell into the ground just as her fist dropped like thunder.

The ground caved in on itself as her fist impaled the earth, leveling the area and sinking a few trees into the dirt as she stood alone in a new crater. Her eyes flicked towards the man who had jumped out of his shadow a few meters away. His eyes were comically wide as he turned back and spoke with a disbelieving chuckle, "What the fuck is wrong with you kids."

Mira took a deep breath, focusing on the man as he stepped back towards a tree and spoke with a bitter smile and pensive eyes.

"This was supposed to be easy."

Mira gnashed her teeth as she dug her demonic arm into the ground and removed a chunk of rock. Her arm reared back like a pitcher as she held her breath and threw the stone with the velocity of a bullet. Her eyes bore into the snake-like pupils of the man as he sunk into the tree behind him and circled away from the rock as it punched a hole into the trunk.

He has Vera's magic... no, actually, it's a little different. He doesn't have a Sho.

The man controlled shadows directly, while Vera had a shadow creature made of his magic. It was a little different—a lot different—but the medium was similar enough that she could adjust. Besides, she was confident he wasn't as strong as Vera.

"Sorry for not keeling over for you..."

Mira knew that haggard look anywhere.

"If you want, you can always leave me and my family the fuck alone," Mira muttered with an icy glare as she watched the shadow mage walk out of a nearby tree and slowly circle it with his fingers running across the bark. His snake-like eyes zeroed in on her without any of his previous bafflement on display.

"No can do, girly."

Mira blinked as she watched him walk behind a tree. The second he vanished from her vision, shadowed snakes carving around the trunk followed. Mira could barely get out of the way as they cut past her thigh and pierced the ground where she once stood. Her head whipped back to the tree to see the man standing on one of its branches.

"You might be tough, but I can handle you."

Mira settled her breathing, her body tense as she sharpened her gaze at the shadow mage, who tilted his head with a crafty smirk, "As for your crazy ass bodyguard, I'll admit he would probably kill me."

Mira took a deep breath, lowering her center of gravity as the tension in the air built to a high.

"Thankfully, I don't have to deal with that psycho."

The tension snapped, and Mira shot forward as the shadow mage jumped back, his eyes alight with glee as she charged through the tree, he was perched on a second prior. Her face was laced with concentration and determination as she chased the man who jumped across the tree branches above. He peppered her with attacks while leading her on a wild goose chase she couldn't ignore.

"Erigor's fighting him now..."

If she ignored it and headed to Vera, he would follow her, and Mira couldn't let that happen. Based on what the guy told her in conjunction with the sounds of clashing weapons, it sounded like Vera was fighting a singular opponent.

"He's as good as dead."

The last thing Mira wanted was to drag another enemy towards Vera's ongoing battle.

Two figures clashed back and forth in the dense overgrowth of the forests. Their weapons crashed against each other as they tried to draw blood.

Whoever trained this kid...

Erigor swung his scythe, eyes wide open and skin tingling in anticipation. He saw the kid take half a step back, calmly letting the blade graze past his nose before he snapped forward with his sword upright. The trajectory was reminiscent of a swift sledgehammer aiming for his skull.

Trained him fucking well.

Erigor grinned as he twirled his scythe, spinning with the weight of the cold steel blade as he smacked the weapon off course. Then he threw a kick towards the boy, only for the kid to twist under it. In a show of quick thinking and flexibility, he planted the tip of his covered sword in the dirt before using it as a fulcrum to vault right back into close range.

He won't let me use my scythe to its fullest.

Erigor chuckled at the thought as he moved his hands toward the center of his scythe. Levering it more as a staff with a weighted end than a bladed weapon, he blocked the boy's incoming assault. The clacking of wooden beams echoed through the woods as Erigor was pushed back under the relentless pressure of quick and fierce blows.

He's making sure we stay in close range.

Erigor's scythe was best-used medium to long range, where he could get a full rotation with each swing. Close range was horrible for his weapon, and the kid never once strayed too far from that safe range. The idea was simple, but the execution was easier said than done. One wrong move and a life is gone. It took carelessness or courage to rush head-first into that sort of gamble since hesitation would mean a swift and untimely demise.

"Hey, kid..."

Erigor was confident the kid was the latter.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Erigor asked between his swift and swooping blocks as he tried to kick the kid in the stomach. The brat twisted his body so his foot grazed past his side and delivered a swift elbow to his extended shin. Erigor could barely bite his lip to stop the pained hiss as he retracted his foot and continued the defensive.

"Why's that important?"

At least the kid was talking back, though.

"It's not," Erigor replied instantly, clicking his tongue as he swung his scythe. The kid slammed the hilt of his sword into the wooden staff, cutting off the momentum as Erigor dropped his weapon and shot forward with a fist that was as quick as unexpected. "Call it morbid curiosity."

Erigor's fist slammed into the boy's nose, snapping his head back and flinging him away as Erigor tried to pursue, only for a foot to wing upward into the bottom of his chin. The force snapped Erigor's head upwards as he stumbled in his approach and nearly fell to his knee before he caught himself, biting his tongue to clear the bells in his head as he grabbed his scythe and flourished it with a sharp smile.

"I wanna know who taught you to fight."

Erigor flicked his gaze towards the kid, who had vaulted back to his feet after the sudden straight had sent him flying a few meters back and was reaching toward his bloodied and broken nose. His finger was pinching the bridge as he readjusted it with a loud crunch before blowing the excess blood from his nostrils and settling back into his stance.

"I wanna know why you have so much blood on your hands already, kid."

Erigor watched as the boy stiffened at his words before giving a huff and a sort of roll of his eyes, "Of course, a crazy bastard like you noticed."

So the kid had killed before, Erigor figured with how vicious he was, but it was best to double-check.

"His name's Jose dickhead."

Since that would mean the game changed a bit.

"Now shut up and-"

"How was it?" Erigor asked as he leaned on his scythe and waited patiently for the kid to answer. His head tilted curiously as he watched the kid stall in confusion before shrugging, "Fuck if I know. I only kill if they deserve it or I need to, and I haven't had to do either since I joined Phantom Lord."

The boy tilted his head as if it were a question he hadn't considered.

"As for the robed bastards I did kill, I didn't really feel anything one way or the other..."

Erigor watched with growing interest as the boy's face fell for a second, his face becoming a blank canvas that reflected nothing yet everything.

"Well, except for one."

The boy's eyes had fallen into a deep pool of glossy red that idly gazed at a dark, twisted memory.

"I probably enjoyed killing one of them."

What an exciting answer.

"Are you sure you don't want to join Eisenwhalde, kid?" Erigor said with a growing smile as he picked his scythe up and spun it in his hand while the wind whistled sweet hymns in his ears. "You're more suited for a dark guild than a light one."

Erigor had always loved the sound of the wind.

"You know not all of our jobs are on dumb little kids. Most are on corrupt officials and politicians."

It had whispered sweet melodies in his ear since he was a kid, beckoning him to ascend to the clouds.

"You can kill whoever you want whenever you want for as long or as little as your heart desires."

Ever since he was a kid, the wind had told him where to go and what to do, but now it was distorted.

"So what do you say?"

Ever since he started fighting with this kid, the wind had been whispering a new tune he'd never heard before, a distorted one he had yet to learn.

"I'll even spare your little quarries in return."

A message he had to find out on his own.

"Well..."

Maybe the kid was the key to understanding it.

"Whatever's left of them, at least," Erigor offered with a confident smirk as he watched the kid's face for a reaction. He was idly wondering if it would make the dull noise of the wind sound a little louder, maybe even clearer, to the point that he could comprehend it.

"Fuck off, Erigor."

He wasn't disappointed.

"Quit wasting my time," the boy scoffed with a scowl as he shot forward, closing the distance in a matter of seconds as Erigor licked his lips and dashed to meet the boy head-on. His eyes opened fully to catch every second of the incoming conflict because his ears were busy listening to something else.

I'm starting to hear it...

A gust, a slight sound, a fleeting breeze carried a gift. Enough to make Erigor's entire body light up with joy even as his scythe connected with the boy's covered sword and was parried. The boy's timing was impeccable as he slid under it and into the range of a mere inches from Erigor's body.

That's what you're saying, isn't it?

Erigor laughed loud enough that it looked like it startled the boy for a second, but it didn't stop the kid. No, he was too good for that. Instead, he swung his sheathed sword into Erigor's liver, sending a jolt of indescribable pain that would have brought him to his knees if he wasn't so absorbed in the wind.

This is a gift, right?

The wind that blows freely, more than anything else, was now playing a soothing tune. As if telling him to bask in this gift of chance and coincidence.

You're telling me...

To fight freely for the first time in years.

To enjoy this!

Erigor grinned from ear to ear as he dropped his scythe and pinned the boy's sword between his elbow and his liver, basking in the shock that flashed across the boy's face before he slammed his other elbow into the kid's nose. Then he released his pin on the boy's weapon and reached out, grinning at the boy's collar and yanking him closer.

"This is fun, right?" Erigor yelled with reckless abandon as he attempted to snap his head forward into a headbutt, only for the kid to do the same and throw his aim off. The two's foreheads clanged like bells as Erigor hissed in pain. He tried to let go, only for the kid to latch onto his wrist and smash his head into Erigor's nose, eliciting a pained cry from the assassin that instantly fell to crazed laughter.

"SEE!" Erigor roared triumphantly as he lifted the kid into the air and slammed him into the ground before kicking him away like a soccer ball. The boy skipped across the ground for a few meters before he vaulted to his feet like he was used to it.

"You're enjoying this too! Aren't you!"

Erigor was certain whoever this crazy kid was had been taught to fight over and over and over again. He'd probably been raised to do it. That's why he could shrug off his blows like they were nothing.

"Isn't this the best!"

This kid had gone through hell to get this resilient.

"Fighting without having to worry about shitty witnesses or assassinations! A battle where I can finally forget about killing quietly!"

Erigor never would've imagined he'd get this lucky.

"It's the best feeling in the world, isn't it!"

Erigor laughed joyfully as he grabbed his scythe before a green magic circle formed beneath his feet, and he watched the boy stiffen. Erigor was uncaring as he rode the high he felt; his feet were ever so slowly lifted off the ground. The wind billowed under his feet and around his scythe as he soared forward in an eager frenzy spurred by glee.

"Let's kick it up a notch, kid!"

Erigor grinned freely as he watched the kid huff and tilt his head challengingly, his shadow slowly pooling under his feet as he burst forward in a sudden blitz.

"Wind Blade"

Erigor reacted swiftly, his eyes wide in eager anticipation as he swung his scythe upwards and released a blade of mighty wind at the exact moment the boy's hand went to his hilt.

'Click'

Their two attacks met in the middle, the blades clashing against each other until they imploded in a sonic boom that blew the casters in opposite directions. The two disappeared into the nearby foliage after being launched by the raging wind before, not even a second later, one shot above the trees and hovered over the green forest. His gray hair whipped in the wind as he yelled with a manic excitement that rose with his magic.

"Where are you going, kid!"

Erigor licked his lips as he watched the boy dash under the treetops, dragging his attention towards a section of the woods where the treetops became thick enough to blanket the forest in a dense umbrella of green leaves and branches.

"Come back! We aren't done yet!"

It was obviously a terrain where the kid would have the advantage since Erigor couldn't see him from above the treetops.

"Let's enjoy ourselves a little more!"

Erigor didn't care though.

"Let's keep fighting!"

An assassin didn't battle; they killed quickly and quietly. They killed when they accepted a job; otherwise, they never bothered with it. It was a thrill. Don't get him wrong; he wouldn't do it if he didn't get satisfaction with every completed mission, but even Erigor missed the recklessness of a fight.

"I haven't had a job in months! I haven't had a mission like this in years! I haven't felt like this for so long! So don't ruin it, kid! Not yet!"

Erigor was so desperate for a good match that he could taste it. Something stirred in the wind, and his stomach begged him to let loose and push himself against someone who could keep up with him.

"Don't you dare run away, kid!"

Erigor felt like he was on the edge of discovering something new. His entire body was practically shaking with anticipation at what it would be.

"Until one of us dies!"

Erigor knew this kid was the key—the inspiration to a part of himself that had grown stagnant. He just had to pry it out of the brat piece by piece.

"LET'S FIGHT!"

That's the tune that the wind was singing in his ears.

Mira swore she heard a deranged laughter echoing in the distance as she chased after her slippery foe.

What was that? No, forget it. I need to focus.

Mira had been hounding after him for a few minutes, and so far, she had come to her own conclusion, courtesy of the two shadow mages she knew.

He's nimble, so I'll give him that.

Fighting shadow mages was the worst.

Stupid hit-and-run tactics.

Mira scowled as she charged ahead, batting away stray shadow punches that she had quickly realized weren't stronger than her demonic punch before she closed the distance. Her teeth ground against each other as she threw a hook, and her fist scattered the air where his head had once been. A curse escaped her lips as he sunk into the ground and jumped out a few meters away with a single, heavy breath.

"Shadow Magic"

Before using the most dangerous spells, he seemed to know or show at least.

"Shadow Snakes"

Mira clicked her tongue as she was forced to dive out of the way of razor-sharp snakes that shot out like bladed ribbons—taking inches of her skin as they raced past and left lines of blood in their wake.

They're so fast...

She was already covered in passing grazes like those. The attack was sudden and sharp. She always seemed to leave with at least one new cut or scratch on her body.

I need to hurry this up.

They didn't hurt, but eventually, they'd become a hindrance. A hindrance that might even become a detriment with the blood she was slowly but steadily losing with each passing attack.

I can't let him wear me down.

Her eyes tilted with irritation as she saw the man already continuing his run. The game of cat and mouse would seemingly be endless if she didn't do something about his near-incessant running.

He won't stop running...

Mira didn't really have the time to devise a big plan.

So I'll make sure he has nowhere to run to.

She would have to brute force it.

"Come on," Mira murmured with a self-encouraging plea as she dashed, dug her heels into the ground, and skied to a stop. Her demonic arm latched onto a nearby tree trunk at the end of her drift as she sunk her claws into it and took a deep breath, her muscles tense and her body trembling with force as she instantly ripped the tree out of the ground.

"Don't miss."

Then she leveled it like a spear and threw it straight through the path the man was taking. Her eyes narrowed like a cat's as she watched it barrel through the forest like an overgrown arrow and carve a straight line into the ground, with her target muttering a disbelieving curse as he turned back and saw what was heading his way.

"What the fuck."

Mira nearly grinned as she saw the man sink into the ground, and the tree flew past him and crashed into the path ahead. Leveling the nearby trees and creating a natural wall of wood and broken leaves in his path, a facet Mira took immediate advantage of as she launched into the air, her eyes never leaving the shadow as she watched it curve away from the straight path. Taking time to curve around the barrier of destruction she put in its way.

"There you are..."

Mira grinned as she descended like a falling comet, her feet cracking the ground as she landed on the other side of the wall. Her eyes flicked to the left as she saw the man dash out from the forest cover with his attention turned back, looking for a pursuer that had taken the quickest route forward.

"You're mine," Mira growled as she shot towards the man, catching him by surprise. He turned in her direction a second too late. His dome of shadows was erected haphazardly, and his feet fell to the ground, but his body did not make the descent as her fist swung through the shield like it was glass and into his stomach with the force of a freight train.

Shit.

Mira clicked her tongue as she felt her fist connect to the man's gut with a little less force than she had intended. The shield had taken the initial impact, hampering her peer enough that her attack might not be able to knock him out in one blow.

Oh well...

It was still enough to send him flying, though.

I'll just keep hitting him till he's out.

Mira grinned a little sadistically as she shit after the man, who tumbled across the ground before his back crashed into a tree. The man, apparently unable to move as he crumbled to his knees, lurched over and vomited the little lunch he had a mere moment before Mira had closed the distance and had her fist raised to knock him out in a swift blow.

One more should do-

"Wait! I surrender!" The man shouted in a pained gasp as he clutched his stomach and curled up in a ball. The sight shocked Mira to a stop as her fist hovered over his body, and she watched him spasm in trembling pain from her blow, "I'm sorry!"

Mira wasn't prepared to see her enemy crumpled up in a teary state of pain and suffering.

"I'll stop... just don't... don't hurt me..."

The disturbing and sudden sight brought a weight of uncertainty and unease to her stomach.

"Please..."

She didn't want to attack someone that had given up.

"Don't move," Mira ordered with a bitter taste in her mouth as she grabbed a few vines from some of the upturned oaks before walking to the man and tying him up swiftly. Her eyes never left his hands in case she tried anything, only to see him abide by his wishes and not resist. He just sat in his vomit as she tied him to the tree.

It looks like he really gave up...

The man couldn't even look her in the eyes.

Or his body did, at least.

Although, to be fair, she was pretty sure her punch rendered him incapable of trying to flee if she went off the shaky breaths he took and trembling muscles across his entire body, he was lucky to be awake.

Huh... I wanted to fight more.

Mira didn't know how to feel about that, so she shelved it for later, wiping her hands clean of the man as she finished the makeshift bindings. Her eyes tilted towards his crest-fallen expression.

"I'm leaving."

She didn't feel any sympathy for someone trying to hurt her family; she hated him, to be honest.

"Don't follow me."

She didn't want to be cruel, though.

"I'll beat you to a pulp if you do," Mira threatened with a dangerous finality as she turned to leave, stalling as she heard the man mutter in between his pained gasps for air, "Wait... I need... to tell you..."

Mira glanced back, ignoring the fatigue that laced her bones and slight tiredness as she watched the man gasp for air. His struggling breathing was followed by a sudden backstory she hadn't asked for nor really cared about, "My name... is Kageyama."

She didn't really know how to tell him that, though.

"I know... you won't... believe me... but..."

She was also kind of on a time crunch here.

"I'm not... a total liar... I can tell the truth..."

Yeah, it was better to leave.

"Like back... at the ambush... I didn't totally lie."

She wanted to get back to help Vera as soon as-

"oman..."

Mira flinched as she heard a sudden murmur from behind her, a loud grumble that sounded like it belonged to a gorilla rather than a person. Her eyes went wide as she turned around just in time to see a large, ape-like creature with green fur and a sleepy expression on its face that soon faded for a perverted grin that sent shivers down Mira's spine. The sudden appearance coincides with Kageyama's mocking chuckle, which paints a clear picture.

"I did get attacked by a Vulcan on the way there."

She had been played.

Shit.

Mira looked up with a dawning understanding, her eyes comprehensive as she ground her teeth. The monster's roar echoed through the forest as it raised its giant arm and reared back as if swiping at a fly.

"WOMAN!"

Her arm raised just in time to come between the meaty palm of the giant Vulcan and her head. Yet the force still knocked her off her feet and shot her deep into the forest as a new battle began.