In the northern sky of the Kingdom of Vale, a leaf flew through the air towards the mountains. Weaving through countless trees where dense forests resided nearby. Reaching the end of the forest line, a snowflake landed on it; stagnating slowly and slowly, the leaf landed at the feet of a certain figure.

This figure was wearing a cloak with the hood shadowing their face. It bent over to the leaf, a light shining to reveal a young man. His face was covered with bandages and the bloodstains surfaced around his mouth and chin. A gust of wind unveiled the cloak, revealing a tattered-up, bloody black thermal jacket and khaki snow pants with pistol holsters on the sides. The hood fell back to show a long crew cut and gray hair.

After picking up the leaf, the young man stared at it in contempt before begrudgingly putting it in his coat pocket. Afterward, he journeyed onward, dragging his feet on the ground; leaving a trail from his right leg limping slightly. His breath was heavy with each step and in the distance, a settlement was ahead.

Near the settlement entrance, two guards noticed the young man and cautiously had their rifles readied. Then one of the guards analyzed the young man more carefully and his eyes popped.

"Oh, god, Daniel!" The guard exclaimed while holstering his rifle.

Afterward, he ran over to him with the other one following suit. The staggering Daniel noticed the two guards running towards him before his legs gave out.

"What happened, sonny?" One of the guards cautiously asked as he gave Daniel a shoulder.

"W-We got swarmed… By Grimm…" Daniel coughed.

"Your wounds… Wait, where are the others?!"

"...They're in a cave…! Treated them as much as I could… Gerald took a hit for me…" Daniel was about to pass out. "S-South of Forever Falls…"

After losing consciousness, the guards hastened themselves back as they realized the weight of the situation.

"I'll go to Dr. Maple to get Daniel treated. Report to the Guild about the info!"

The guard cried out for the doctor before a woman opened her door wide open. She was wearing a large gray coat and motioned the guard to come inside. He entered the house as the woman's face winced at the bandages all around Daniel.

"It's a miracle that he s-survived the way back here." The woman stated in a shaking ton.

They rush him over to a bed and the woman swiftly ripped open his cloak to reveal blood-soaked bandages underneath multiple gashes on the jacket.

"He at least knows his basic first aid and the will to survive…!" The woman said while she used a pair of medical shears to cut through his jacket.

"Do you need anything else from me, Dr. Maple?"

"No, you can go back to your post, George. This shouldn't take too long."

"Alright, take care, doctor. But do tell him we're already contacting the Guild to where the Huntsmen he was with are."

George exited the house and shut the door to prevent the frosty winds from filling up the clinic. Dr. Maple then placed her hands on the wounded areas and a glowing flame engulfed them and an Aura from Daniel assimilated with it. Drips of sweat fell from Dr. Maple's face while struggling to keep the fire going. After ten minutes, the doctor had stopped the flames, dissipating as fast as they came. Frantically, she breathed to catch herself from not passing out too. Taking the shears off the medical stand to cut off the bandages.

Right as she was beginning to cut, Daniel jerked his body to stand up while breaking out in a cold sweat,

"Gerald…! Are you-! Wait, w-where am I…?!" Daniel said as he frantically analyzed his surroundings.

"It's alright! It's alright!" Dr. Maple attempted to calm the anxious and bewildered young man.

After listening to her words, he began to calm himself immediately as the familiarity of the room sank in.

"Dr. M-Maple?"

"Yes, Daniel, you're safe now. I can't believe you traveled back here in your condition. You may have an absurd amount of Aura, but your semblance is unsuited for combat. And if you're going to ask, George already has someone reporting to the Guild of those Huntsmen." Dr. Maple said while cleaning her shears and preparing bandages.

"I still made it back, didn't I? Plus, I'm probably one of the best Huntsmen out there!"

"Big fish in a small pond is what you are." Ms. Maple said as she prepared a cotton ball soaked in alcohol.

"I said one of the best! Ow!" Daniel exclaimed when she harshly pushed the cotton ball on the cuts around his face.

"My point still stands as you haven't met enough. Including the fact, that you should be in school like every child your age! For crying out, you're only 16!"

"15 and stop acting like a moth-! Hey! I'm a patient!" Daniel smacked on the back of the head.

She got huffy before stating, "I'm not old enough to be your mother! And stop moving around!"

The young man finally took the hint, laid back on the bed, and allowed the doctor to continue her work on him. Multiple snippets of gauze and bandages later, any remaining wounded areas were covered. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat up from the bed. Reaching his hand out, a small spark of lightning summoned a large book. It was covered in a black leather cover with gold-plated words, "Yeshua's Journey".

"That fairy tale book again? Aren't you getting too old to read that book?"

"Ummm, as I said before, it's saved my life multiple times…?!" He sarcastically said in a snobby manner.

"Yeah, you go and continue your 'children's book' to be your good luck charm." She responded in kind.

Not long after, a woman opened the door to the doctor's home clinic and called for the doctor to examine her sick child.

"Alright, REST, Daniel. I'll be back-" She stopped before sighing, "Just don't stay up so late…"

Dr. Maple then closed the door and Daniel's face had an unwavering focus on the book as he sifted through multiple pages.

"...With branches of the tree… Allow a mighty tree… Oh, hero of Valentine and across many heed this as a warning…" Daniel whispered, "'Oh, how the mighty have fallen…' The power of The Voice shall end your terror…"

This immersion in reading led to nightfall as Daniel felt someone shake his left shoulder.

"...OH! Sorry, didn't notice you there, George." He said as the book he was holding disappeared with a spark.

"Don't you worry, kiddo. I wanted to check up on you and tell you the good news."

"A-Are they okay?" Daniel worriedly said and waited with great anticipation.

A long pause ensued, making the young man tremble in fear and shaking.

"They're all fine and they managed to get a bullhead to pick up those Huntsmen. But…"

"'But'...?"

George stroked his beard gently and placed his hands on Daniel's shoulders before muttering,

"Gerald… He's in a better place now…" George solemnly said.

Tears formed around Daniel's eyes before lunging towards George for a hug. George comforted the young man and he wept away into his chest. Half an hour passed with Daniel lying on the bed, dead asleep, where George had already left, with Dr. Maple keeping an eye on him. After confirming that Daniel was fully asleep, she checked the inventory of medical supplies.

"Ah… Crap, Daniel needs to dump out all the supplies from his semblance… That's a problem for the Mary of tomorrow."

She sluggishly walked over to the other half of the clinic and entered her bedroom. Meanwhile, rising from the bed slowly, Daniel sat up on the bed with the pillow supporting his lower back. A look of sadness fell on Daniel's face while he placed his hands together and recited a saying,

"'For it is in passing that we achieve heaven's light. Through this, we become children to an awesome Voice; A Child of the Light and praise glory to all His voice, infinite in distance and unwavering of greatness.' Please… Voice… Answer my calls… I submit myself to the Voice of the Lord."

Gripping his hands even tighter, until a thought intruded his mind,

"Oh, my son, what may you need from me?"

He instinctively looked around himself despite the clinic being pitch dark as the thought was faint but noticeable.

"You need not be afraid, my son. Reacting like that already gives me joy that you can finally hear me."

"Hear you!" He whispered loudly, "How can I trust you?!"

"Remember, my son's name… Ask me His name…"

He contemplated the strange request thinking hard and long on what the voice meant. So far as to scratch his head desperately. Before he remembered a saying from the book,

"'Is Yeshua the Lord…?'"

"Yes, Yeshua is Lord…"

"...It really is the Voice… Oh, please tell me Gerald is with you…!?" Daniel strained his voice.

"...I'm sorry, my son… He could not join us in the kingdom, for he has not found me…"

The straight answer only prompted Daniel to have tears form around his eyes.

"I-I'm so s-sorry, Gerald… I'm so sorry…!" He wept as the tears flowed even harder.

"Be strong, my son… Listen to Remnant's spirit and you shall know…"

He clawed the back of his neck; leaving fingernail indents on his skin. The weeping transitioned into hiccupping as he buried his head into the pillow. Dr. Maple could faintly hear the squirming and a pained expression crept up.

After an hour, he cried himself to sleep and seemed to soundly. He dreamt away through the night as he appeared in a forest, seemingly familiar to him. It was all so blurry before a pack of giant black humanoid wolves with skulls on their face and bones protruding out from throughout their bodies. Daniel tried to reach out his hand in front of him, expecting something to appear, but nothing did. Panic ensued and he started to book it away from the creatures to feel a sense of motion staying at one point of time.

No matter how hard he ran, he could not get away from the monsters; not even sparing a look at them out of his fears. Until the Voice called out to him,

"Will you let your failures and fears determine who you are… Or will you sprout from amidst the obstacles in your way? My son, the choice will be in your hands…"

As fear was about to overwhelm him, he thought of an older man with knightly attire pushing him away. He tried to remember the face, but it was too blurry to see. Anger would overwhelm Daniel, his face contorted from fear to a scornful and determined look.

"...Never again…" He said while reaching his hands out, glock 20-styled pistols appeared in each hand.

He started firing at the giant wolves with precise shots that stunned each of them, but they persisted toward him.

"Beowolves…" He stated with venom.

One of the Beowolfs tried to swipe at him, but Daniel deflected it with his left arm as a yellow aura surrounded it. He then used the same arm to chop at its thick neck before shooting it in the head. Two Beowolves tried to take the opportunity to pounce on him but he stood boldly to them. He flipped one of his pistols to hold the barrel and used the handle to hook the Beowolf on the right from their claw. With their momentum, he slammed the Beowolf into the other and swiftly dispatched them with a few bullets to the head. Afterward, he continued to fire at the remaining Beowolves until an even larger one appeared.

The sight of the larger Beowolf made Daniel shake in place to which it sensed the fear from a black smog that it could see from him. If only for a moment, he started to loosen his grip on his pistols before a wave of calmness surrounded his body.

"You shall have no fear in front of your enemies in spirit, but your flesh will still hinder you… You will overcome this…"

His resolve reinvigorated as he repositioned himself into a stance and expelled bullets toward the Beowolf.

"This Alpha is weaker than the one Gerald and I fought…"

The Alpha Beowolf took some of the shots while dodging the rest of them. Daniel tried to pull the trigger before realizing that he had run out of bullets. The Alpha had gotten so close that Daniel almost did not have the chance to dodge. The Alpha had grazed his chest, but he felt it had taken a chunk of his Aura. Holstering his pistols, Daniel reached for his side to summon a longsword.

The Alpha tried to attack again, but Daniel shuffled back while slashing at it to distance from it. He readied his longsword as he held it up so it was parallel to the floor while the handle was close to his head.

"...Basics… remember them…" He said to himself as took a breath.

The Alpha charged right back in to swipe at him and Daniel countered by deflecting a right claw attack. Afterward, he sliced across its chest which left a gaping slash on the chest. He tried to follow up with a stab to its neck, but the Alpha used its left arm to swipe away the blade. Its strong hind legs then pounced Daniel to the floor as it attempted to bite off his head at the same time. He dodged and summoned a dagger to stab it in the eye. Agonizing in pain, the Alpha jumped off him and Daniel took the opportunity to grab one of his pistols to eject a magazine from it. Quickly a flash of lightning revealed another magazine and he slammed the magazine into the pistol. When it recovered, the Alpha looked at Daniel as he had the pistol trained at its head.

"Bang…!"

Taking the shot, Daniel cleanly placed a hole through the Alpha's head and relieved when it turned into black dust while blown away from the wind. Despite realizing it was a dream, he still felt the pain from the attacks linger, even exhausted.

"Well done, my son… Now look over to beyond the trees…"

He instinctively turned behind to notice the scenery changing into a more luscious green forest. In front of him a slightly blurred face of a man wearing a short red cape integrated around the collar of a grey dress shirt teaching a girl wearing a full red cloak and a black dress.

Confused, he noticed the movements of the girl, who was sluggish and the footing off balance for a moment, as she swung a huge mechanical scythe. Multiple attempts to catch a glimpse of her face while an invisible barrier prevented him from moving around.

Not until the girl started twirling the large scythe around like a dance did he notice a peculiar color in her eyes.

"...Silver eyes?"

After she finished, what seemed to be a routine for her to practice with the man. She turned around to lock eyes, catching Daniel off guard and he stumbled back to fall onto the ground. Leading him to wake up from the clinic's bed on the floor.

"Daniel…?" Dr. Maple's tired voice echoed from the hall. "You okay…?"

"...Yeah…"

"Don't forget to…" She yawned, "drop off the supplies…"

"No rest for the bold…" Daniel said self-deprecatingly.