His mission was a difficult one.

It was normal to meet unexpected obstacles during a mission, it was almost an unspoken rule.

Yet he never expected to meet a young monster in a village you wouldn’t be able to find on a map unless someone pointed you to it. Up until now, despite having to fight people who could be qualified to be adventurers, he’d been continuously holding back, for his target was someone a great realm above him.

He knew he’d need to be at his peak condition to get the job done, despite possessing a trump card.

Against that grandma, who despite her age was quite nimble and seemed to know some profound techniques he’d never seen, aside from the surprise, he never felt threatened. It had nothing to do with her not having a weapon, for once you reach the Tempered Essence realm, a single punch can be lethal if executed with control and practice. No, it was just the natural consequence of there being a minor realm of difference between fighters.

Yet now…

Against someone who seemingly had just advanced his first great realm…

He nearly died four times.

He thought that young-man's technique would be subpar, and that he’d only excel at one thing, yet his perception hadn’t been more mistaken. For starters, there was no hesitation in his movements, and that was probably the biggest issue a rising disciple of the Domain of War encountered during their first decade of training.

No hesitation meant no stray thoughts, or the presence of mind to wonder without it affecting one’s performance. That was something that could only be acquired through experience, and it was definitely not something a young man like him should possess. Keiner was already approaching his forties, and even he had acquired such a state only a few years ago.

But if it were only that, he wouldn’t be having so much trouble.

The second factor was his spearmanship. For some reason he couldn’t quite understand, it was incredibly versatile. Why would someone strive to master a weapon meant for adventurers who are inadequate for melee range, yet incapable of using a bow, and whose main purpose is to thrust from a distance? As such, his weakness should be close range, where it can’t make use of its full potential, yet in that brat’s hands it felt like he was wielding a sword and a spear at the same time.

He could freely change stances in the most fluid way. Keiner took decades to reach such a skill level.

And that throw…

That throw made no sense. Or shouldn’t, for discarding one’s weapon in the middle of a fight was utter foolishness. Yet…

The brat was also adept at spellcasting, and could somehow recover the spear without the need of touching it.

“I can’t believe this…” He muttered, then anger burst from his lungs, “I can’t believe I’ll have to go all out!”

How…?

Keiner refused to ask himself the same question over and over, regaining his peace of mind, opting for a decisive solution. If holding back would only endanger his life and mission, then adjusting his strength slightly would result in nothing else besides wearing himself out. If he wanted to finish that young man with a minimal waste of energy, he’d need to use the strongest skill at his disposal.

Of course, the trump card would remain sealed. It had one purpose, and one purpose only.

Once his mind set a course, his body reacted, and jumped backwards, increasing the distance between them to twenty steps, puzzling Avaln in the process. Then, he leaned against the ground, the sword behind his back, one leg extended backwards, while his free hand touched the ground.

There was one thing Keiner was absolutely confident about: his speed.

And so he developed a skill to make use of it, earning the praise of his master. It was an incredibly simple attack taken to its fastest possible execution, and after being corroded by the demonic Essence inside the mountain range, retaining his sanity and life through the use of a secret technique they were given just for this mission, it had evolved further…

His past attribute had been earth, and so speed wasn’t his forte.

But now…

Now he could cover twenty steps in a missed heartbeat.

Avaln was puzzled at Keiner’s sudden retreat, and he wondered, for an instant, if he’d been backed into a corner and was about to use the artefact meant for Alary against him.

He had long inferred such an object existed, otherwise, he couldn’t imagine how an adventurer of Keiner’s level could ever fight, let alone kill, someone a great realm higher than him. It had to be a rare artefact, with some requirements for its activation, otherwise they wouldn’t need to kill an entire village just to set an ambush at the perfect moment.

As such, he dismissed that first thought; despite their previous exchange, Avaln wasn’t fooling himself into believing the wound he managed to inflict on the swordsman to be the product of superior skill; rather, it was of surprise, a surprise of him exceeding his expectations, a surprise Avaln fully weaponized.

And even then, all he achieved was a superficial cut, little more than a scratch.

Frustration and pride crept up from the depths of his heart, trying to dendril their way into his mind, but he soon dismissed them as well, together with the attempts at justification and self-assurance.

Right then and there, he forced his mind to focus on the present.

He’s coming.

There had been only two warnings.

Under his seventh sense, even if twenty steps away, he perceived how Kiener’s demonic Essence roared like a beast out of its cage, swelling his leg’s muscles as if they were walls to be felled. The second warning, however… had been the light of the sun reflecting on Keiner’s edge, when it was about to split his torso in half.

The sound of his steps, came after.

Avaln sweat ran cold, and his arms raised the spear as quickly as they could, while his legs kicked the ground to make some distance…

Steel met bone, then flesh.

Despite his best efforts, Avaln failed to block the slash in its entirety, and the tip of the sword sunk a half a finger deep into his left shoulder, grazing the bone, sending a sharp needle of pain through his consciousness.

All the while, as Keiner met the ground, a cold sweat ran down his spine.

That brat… was a monster.

His step technique was so fast, his master told him it’d be unrivalled within the Tempered Essence Realm, and so it became his sure-kill card… yet as his body and mind instinctively sought to ready their stance and repeat their attack, he couldn’t but realize just how much he’d underestimated his opponent.

Yet, at the same time, a stubbornness unlike him surged.

That step technique was his greatest achievement, he’d developed it himself, cultivated it, improved it, honed it until it became what it is today. If that wasn’t enough to kill a greenhorn like him, how was he supposed to continue living as an adventurer with his head held high?

And so, he realized he had no choice.

You shall fall. He thought before kicking the ground.

By the time Avaln regained his balance and wits, Keiner was already twenty steps away behind him, his Essence swelling, his posture low like a predator about to pounce. With a glimpse, Avaln saw a slight notch on the shaft that met the blade, which talked of the might behind the blow, for until now nothing had been able to leave even a trace on his modified demon boar bone spear.

Only then he realized his arms were numb.

Yet his mind didn’t have the time to process anything else.

Once again, the sound of Kiener’s steps came after his attack.

This time, the slash was horizontal, at neck height. Turning around, Avaln had no time to crouch, nor to jump back, for he had barely regained his balance after his reaction from before, so he made use of his already lifted spear to deflect the sword along its shaft upwards, then tried to hook its edge inside the chakram-like figure the spear had right beneath its blade, yet Keiner somehow kicked the weapon, and Avaln, with such extreme momentum it sent the latter rolling against the ground.

Avaln didn’t count the times he rolled, nor wasted time. He had to stand up, to face his opponent, to remain alive.

The last kick seemed to have served Keiner to land safely, yet Avaln couldn’t quite discern if he himself had rolled twenty steps away, or Keiner had increased the distance between them again.

“You… you are something else. I’ll give you that.” Keiner said, his voice high enough to be heard despite the wind and Avaln’s own breathing, which albeit not erratic, was still trying to recover. “But now I’ll have to kill you regardless, just to erase my shame of having been blocked by a brat like you.”

The posture, low. The demonic Essence, restless. Avaln saw it all, yet he still barely managed to avoid death, receiving another cut, this time right on his forehead. Shallow, yet profusely bleeding.

It got into his left eye, closing it against his will.

Once again, before Avaln could discern it, Keiner made twenty steps of distance between them. His movements were fast, so fast they could not change directions easily, nor could he attack before killing his previous momentum.

Avaln chuckled then.

This is just like that time.

Keiner rushed again, halting his thoughts. Another notch was added to the shaft of his spear, and the sword, despite it, managed to slash his chest.

Indeed. Just like back then.

Through his mind, he remembered the day he awoke his Tower of Babylon, and was sent by Sgithe’s soul fragment into the demon boar mountain range. There, the first thing he found was a demon boar who had set him as prey, while completely in the dark. At the time, he’d been forced to roll around in order to avoid its charge, for his hearing was the only way he had of measuring its speed, and due to his lack of strength, he had almost no way of fighting back.

Of course, this is an entirely different level. He thought then. My hearing doesn’t help, he is too fast. I don’t have time to roll around either… So I’ll just have to block.

Another charge, yet this time Avaln braced himself, digging the spear into the ground and shielding his figure behind it as Keiner kicked the ground. Another wound, regardless, was creviced on his forearm, barely avoiding losing it all together.

However, this time, he kept his wits and awareness, and so, he pulled the spear out, ready.

Think. What do you have that you didn’t then? His mind muttered, Think.

Keiner’s edge would always come from the left, yet it was so fast, knowing that didn’t help much. He could also twist his wrist freely, and so deliver a variety of slashes, one at a time, forcing Avaln to remain focused on defense.

Think.

Another slash, and this time… he lost the use of his left arm. The blade met bone, and the pain made him drop his gaze to the ground.

His seventh sense, however, kept tracking Keiner, who had again made a distance of twenty steps.

And finally, Avaln understood.

Rei, stirred awake by a sudden gust of wind, opened her eyes.

“Little Ri!” The voice of old man Jeff slipped inside her ears, yet it took her a few breaths to become fully conscious of herself. She was lying on the ground, and seemed to be inside some alley between the forge and old man Ji’s house.

It was the latter, or rather, the scene she witnessed with him at the centre, what brought all of her memories back. The blood, the screams, their laugh… her hands darted to her chest as she sat straight, her sweat cold, her heartbeat on her throat. Yet to her surprise, she found no wound.

Then, one last image surfaced in her mind: A pair of gentle purple eyes, kind even as her consciousness faded.

And so, her gaze looked around, only to find Jeff sitting against a wall, pale, his ankles badly dressed with some torn clothes that were once yellow. “It seems you are alright.” He muttered, his eyes heavy. “When the kid brought you… I thought…”

The wound on his shoulder was also bleeding again, and Rei quickly understood his condition was quickly becoming grave. “Uncle Jeff…”

He, however, lifted his hand, as if to stop her. “Don’t worry. I’m tougher… than I look.”

Her lips parted into a silent question, yet she soon realized she knew nothing about how to treat such a wound, nor did she have anything at hand that could help him. She felt helpless, frustrated… yet so, so happy to be alive.

“Just hang in there, uncle.” She reached for his hand, trying to comfort him. “Once Master Avaln returns, he will surely heal you.”

Jeff smiled, his consciousness now hazy. “I’m sure… of it.”

Rei was about to add something, but a sudden metallic clash resounded, and a familiar gust of wind called her attention. “Wait here, I’ll go look.”

“Don’t… “ Jeff muttered, but her ears failed to catch it.

As she made her way out of the alley, her figure sought refuge by sticking to the nearby house, soon understanding from which direction were those metallic clashes coming from. On the other side of the path, her gaze met another. It was a child that seemed amazed by what was happening outside. He smiled and lifted arms, making gestures resembling punches and cuts, yet soon a hand big enough to take hold of his head appeared, and shoved it down, out of sight.

Rei shook her head, not sure if annoyed by the child, who was putting himself in danger, or by the hand that seemed more worried about itself than the child.

She reached the edge then, and stole a glance of what was happening there, in the middle of Gale’s main road. Another metallic clash, another gust of wind. She blinked, then wiped her eyes with her knuckles, as if suspecting something was wrong with them.

She looked again.

But it was true.

There he was, standing, alive. The distance was too great for her, but she could tell by his posture that he was injured, and the man he was facing…

With a shiver, she recognized him. It was the man who took her hostage, and if she recalled correctly, grandma Mira had said he was on the Tempered Essence third stage realm.

How was it possible then, for Master Avaln to be fighting him? Even if overpowered right now, she understood despite her inexperience that their difference in strength should be so great, a blow should suffice…

Yet they traded four clashes in the short time she’d been watching. Keiner was fast, too fast. It was like blinking, yet Avaln was there, standing, alive…

A deep worry filled her then, aware of her impotency, aware of how her fate seemed to be tied to that young man right there, yet she lacked any way of helping him…

How…

How am I supposed to repay my debt tenfold… if I can’t help him when it matters?

The frustration was so great it gripped her heart and squeezed the air out of her lungs. She clutched her chest and hit the wall…

Then saw how Avaln’s left arm dropped, as if stringless.

She drowned a scream, not wanting to be noticed, but that very action brought an idea to her mind.

What if… what if I give myself up?

Would that man accept such a trade?

She stepped away from the wall, the idea too nascent to be called a plan, but her feet never got to the main road. Not because she lacked the conviction, but because a hand, on her shoulder, stopped her.

“Trust him.” Were the words Mira left her before disappearing in a cloud of mist.