Daiden experienced a breakthrough when he toppled the Sand King’s mount. He felt a rush in his veins, invigorating his body. His confidence bubbled into tremendous growth, and it absolved him of a portion of his anxiety even. But as he walked towards the dismounted Monarch, armed with a sword on either hand, he felt a sense of finality, a conclusion. A mistake. As his adrenalin waned, Daiden noticed his vision blur.

“Damn it…” thought Daiden, watching the Sand King rise. He shook his head furiously and urged the fours merge into one. With a deep breath, he cleared from the dizziness and raised his swords.

The Sand King rushed as a monster would – jaws wide open – and unhindered by the weight of its heavy greatsword. It attacked with greater variety, using the breadth of its eight limbs, pushing Daiden onto the defensive once more.

“Will I be able to escape in this condition?” wondered Daiden, preserving his only verse in Takshakan Swordsmanship. “No…not yet. I can afford to wait for second wind.”

Daiden gulped and marked some distance from the Sand King. He fell into a quiet stance, barely awake. Despite the light from Ehedus, Daiden slowed in the face of something more psychological. He had lost momentum for the first time in this battle. His mind held to its sanity nonetheless, with patience. All he needed was more time. And in poetic effect, his luck answered.

Drop.

With the first, Daiden raised an eyebrow when the clouds collected for a downpour. He cocked his head skywards to find the nimbus in a circle, across a short radius. At the centre, drawing lightning from the clouds, a woman descended to strike at the Natural Monarch. The ground tremored from the impact, causing Daiden to stumble onto a fall almost.

“Glad we managed to make it in time!” a voice declared, steadying Daiden to his feet. “Good job with the mount, but stay back for a bit.

“I’m Skunk, by the way.”

Lightly attired, the large figure shielded Daiden from the unfolding battle.

“Keep it going, Carla!” yelled Skunk, with a clear voice. He positioned his fingers to shape an aeter-made box. With a flick, the large man tossed it towards the lightning, causing it to expand and plummet with greater force. Daiden gaped at the result.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” whispered another voice, unstrapping Daiden’s armour without consent. “Skunk is a very rare Nis with a second attribute of magnification. He can extend the range of damage, beneficial effects, and even harmful effects with great skill.”

With an abrupt pause, the strange yet gentle-looking woman then gasped. “Wait, oh my! I appear to have undressed you!”

“…” Daiden blushed through the explanation, when the woman brushed her hand against his chest, his injuries.

“Lina, you’re doing that thing again…” scolded Skunk, with a loud sigh. “Importantly, don’t go around explaining my abilities to people. And introduce yourself when doing anything that might be misconstrued as weird!”

With a puzzled expression, the fair-haired woman covered her mouth, embarrassed by the situation she had created. Daiden noticed her break into a laugh immediately after and smile at him. He turned his face away, noticing more than was necessary in her serene, beautiful features and soft, green eyes.

“Yes, yes!” said Lina, happily. “I’m a Combat Healer. I should be able to fix you up while the others buy us some time with the Monarch.”

“We’re the ones who fucked up!” another voice declared. Daiden trailed to find another man, tall and muscled to function with a spear. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, person whose name I do not know yet. You may call me Slide. Let’s work together on this, no charge whatsoever.”

Daiden eventually managed to introduce himself.

“In truth, we accepted a strange quest a few days ago,” explained Lina. “It involved capturing and holding two Sand Spiders alive until we received a kill order. We cleared the quest without issue, but then stumbled onto a haggard blacksmith at our camp, near Multana City. He had the strangest story to tell.”

“We put the pieces together,” added Slide. “Easy bloodstones aside, we didn’t want our actions to cause the death of another.”

In that moment, Daiden felt a burden lift from his chest. “So Kir made it to Multana City…that’s a relief.” He noticed his strength return at an absurd pace, pressured from Lina’s aeter and Ehedus’ light.

“Hah?” blurted Lina. “I know I’m fast, but you’re healing a lot faster than most people!”

Daiden ignored the comment and rose to his feet, rejuvenated and fresh. He touched the residual scars on his body and nodded at the result. He strapped his armour back on, checked his swords, and hurriedly returned to thank Lina. At a distance, as the clouds receded, Daiden noticed the Sand King extend another sandstorm.

“I appreciate your support!” said Daiden, to the entire group, with a deep bow. “Can’t help but trust them for now. They did pull me out from the jaws of death, after all.”

“We wanted to restrict this to a search and rescue,” admitted Skunk. “But you managed to dismount the Sand King on your own. It would be a shame to miss this opportunity.”

Daiden nodded again.

“Carla, switch with Slide and Daiden when I give the go-ahead!” commanded Skunk. He turned to Daiden and smiled. “It would be great if you could consent leadership to me for the remainder of this raid.”

“I work with two swords,” said Daiden, simply, conceding the role without hesitation.

“Do you have any skill to improve your abilities during combat?” asked Skunk.

“Yes, for about five minutes…” admitted Daiden, cautiously.

“Perfect!” exclaimed Skunk. “I’m going to magnify the duration of that effect, just as Lina had previously explained. I won’t complicate things too much since we’ve only just met. I’ll align Slide to your position, so act as you normally would.”

Skunk quickly turned to Carla and pointed at Slide. Dressed in the robes of a magician, the short-haired woman floated towards her group in a chant. Her eyes shimmered, trailing a strong aura of elemental lightning. She raised an arm and swiped at Slide, striking him in effect. “Armament: Lightning Soldier!”

Daiden watched as the lightning surged to take the form of its wielder, an aura that crackled in short bursts.

“Awesome…” whispered Daiden, in a moment of sincerity.