21

In a desert far, far away from the continent was a valley.

Large rocks were scattered across its ground which was dry as a bone owing to the hot sun shining with all its might above it.

Its aggressive rays had drained every single drop of the narrow stream that used to flow through that valley decades ago and nourish the grass that grew on its banks.

It was all dry and barren now; neither a patch of grass nor a single animal could be found there.

In the center of that deserted valley opened up a gray magic circle and out came three young people, dressed a little too fancy for the venue and the weather.

Alicia blinked, her blue eyes getting clearer as she broke out of the trance she had been in. She seemed confused as to why they were standing in a valley when they were supposed to be at the Academy.

Rin suddenly grabbed her by her arm and pulled her behind him. She looked up and gasped upon seeing the knife that was stuck in his forearm. Had he not stopped it, it would have hit Alicia.

"Rin!",she cried, holding his arm, fresh blood oozing from the wound and staining his dress coat,"You are bleeding!"

She pulled out the knife and Rin gave out a cry of pain.

"Sorry, sorry",she cried before raising her palm and casting HEAL UP.

Her hand began to glow with a black radiance and she moved it over his stab wound immediately healing it up.

But the boy was focused at something other than his injury. His blue eyes looked around the valley for the presence that he was feeling but could not locate. Beside them, Thor summoned his spear.

A gust of hot wind swished past them, surrounding the three of them with a curtain of dust. Rin saw Thor leap forward just before a fist collided with his spear.

There was someone else there beside them.

Thor looked around, his vigilant gold eyes searching for the attacker but the dust and wind were hindering his vision.

"Behind you!",Rin cried and Thor instantly turned on his heals, hitting the attacking fist with the body of his spear. It retracted once gain, vanishing behind the dust.

Rin ducked and dashed forward, intending to grab that person by their waist instead he stumbled forward, hugging nothing but air.

He felt someone grab the back of his coat before he was pulled back.

"FIRST ACT: SHADOW VEIL", he heard Alicia whisper before shadows began to surround them.

He looked over his shoulder to find Alicia with her index and middle fingers crossed; an act of casting her spell whose original form was a large dome of translucent shadows that enclosed those three mages.

"There he is",Thor whispered and Rin turned his head to find a man standing outside the dome.

He was dressed in black from his head to toe. His shirt, trousers, boots, cape. Everything was a shade of black. The only color he possessed was that of his eyes and short hair but that too was gray.

His expression was indifferent and his eyes cold.

He began to move towards the dome and Rin summoned his sword. A blue magic circle opened up in front of him and he pulled out the blade, the blood from his hands staining the gemstone in its handle.

TELEPORT. Thor casted the spell but it didn't work. He cursed and pointing his spear at the man, he cried,"Were you the one who brought us here?"

Ignoring the question, the man continued to walk. It was when he was right outside the dome that he stopped and raised his finger, pointing at the girl standing in between Rin and Thor.

He spoke for the first time and said something that they could never have magined,"I want her core."

"What?",all three of them cried in unison.

"You are joking, right?",Rin cried,"You can't just ask for someone's core like that!"

Once again that indifferent man gave no response to them.

"Give me that core and you two boys can leave",he whispered.

"You are insane, old man!",Thor cried and summoned his kemono.

RUNA.

He saw his bird appear in the sky above the man. Eyes locked at its prey, Runa dived towards the man.

A sigh escaped the man's lips and the bird was sliced into two halves. All it took was a single cut and that man did not even need to turn around for that. The bird vanished, its pure white form fading away behind his back.

Thor felt his core burning inside his chest and he bent over, coughing violently. Teeth clenched, he looked up at his fellows and found them petrified. There eyes were wide and sweat trickled down their temples as they stared at the man with fear etched on their faces.

Undoubtedly, the three of them were thinking the same thing.

That man was a monster.

Seeing him place his palm on the dome, Alicia hastily put together her hands. SECOND ACT: DARK WINGS.

Huge wings made of dark shadows grew out of her back, tearing her white dress and rising high above behind her.

She grabbed the boys by the back of their coats and flew up into the bright sky mere moments before their dome shattered. Hundreds of black glass shards rained on the dry ground, piling up beside the man's feet before vanishing.

That was a close call.

The man raised his head, looking at those rebellious kids. It would have been a lot less painful for them had they listened to him.

Young blood. Why do they love being so bold?

He gave out a sigh before snapping his fingers.

The man vanished. They couldn't see him on the ground anymore. Alicia's knuckles were turning white with how much force she had to use to carry the two of them and the sun shining above their heads was only making the things more difficult for them.

"Good job, princess", a voice said from behind her and her breath hitched into her throat.

The man lifted his hand and dug it into her back.

"Aaahhh!",her loud cries pierced the silent sky. Splitting her flesh, he wrapped his fingers around her crimson red core.

"I'll be taking that core",he whispered in her ear.

"Let go of her!"

The man went up in blue flames making him release his hold on the girl.

Her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed, her grip on Rin and Thor getting loose but she didn't let go of them instead she subconsciously wrapped her large wings around her friends, hugging them close to her bleeding torso as they fell from the sky.

The man stood hovering in the sky as he watched them crash into the ground. Thick clouds of dust rose up around them.

He looked at his hand which were stained with the fairy's blood. He was too close to getting her core.

"Tch",he clicked his tongue, whispering,"What fools!"

The wings unwrapped from around their bodies before vanishing with a black spark. A spell lasts only as longer as its caster stays conscious.

Rin was the first to open his eyes. His body was aching and he could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

He turned his head and felt his heart sink in his chest.

"Alicia!",he cried, crawling to her side. He held her lifeless shoulders in his trembling hands, giving them a shake.

"Alicia! Hey! get up",he cried and she groaned before coughing out blood on her already bloody dress.

Thor too sat up beside them, his white hair drenched in blood but he couldn't tell if it was his own or Alicia's.

He snapped his head towards the man who came down from the sky, stepping on the ground, his hair fluttering in the dry wind that blew past him.

A gold circle opened up on the ground and Thor pulled his spear out of it. He sunk the tip of its blade into the hard ground.

"Stay away, you monster!",he cried, holding the spear's body to stand up on his shaking legs.The tip of the spear began to glow with a bright gold spark.

"Resistance is futile", the man said, his face still as expressionless as before.

"Shut up", Rin cried and a blue crystal ball rose up behind his back which enclosed a sleeping Alicia. HEALER'S CONFINEMENT.

Rin clenched his fists, bright blue flames engulfing them.

I will make him pay for hurting her, he thought.

"Such arrogance",the man whispered.

"I said shut the heck up!"

Rin leapt at the man, his burning fist ready to hit him in his expressionless face but the man caught his fist, the flames instantly dying out.

The boy threw another punch only for it to be caught as well. He raised his knee but the man kicked him in his stomach and he stumbled back, spitting out blood.

Rin bent over and Thor stepped on his back, jumping up and swinging his spear. With the sun on his back, Thor's form casted a shadow on that man.

The spear's tip began to glow. FOURTH FORM-

The man disappeared from right in front of his eyes and Thor landed beside Rin. They looked around, searching for that gray haired man.

They were suddenly gripped by the back of their heads before being smashed into the ground face first. The earth cracked open beneath their faces and the fresh blood tricked down the side of their heads and soaked the dry ground.

They groaned and that man brought his mouth near their ears, whispering,"Stay down if you know what's better for you two."

A cold shiver ran down their spines.

They struggled under his strong hold only to be pushed deeper into the ground, the cracking sounds of their bones echoing inside their heads as blood stung their eyes.

"SECOND STANCE : INFERNO",Rin whispered, his bleeding lips barely moving.

The man saw two magic circles open up on either side of him before they shot hot blue flames at him. He released the boys in order to shield himself with his arms.

Rin and Thor crawled away from that man on fire. Their breathings were feeble, their bones broken, their faces bruised and their heads bleeding.

GENKI.

A black panther stepped down on the ground beside Rin, its sharp blue eyes locked at the enemy. It was Rin's kemono, the beast residing in his sword. It walked around its master, coming to stand guard in front of the two injured boys.

They looked miserable and their dresses were in pitiful states but with that man in front of them, they couldn't care less if they were in rags. All that mattered was that they had to survive. Somehow.

"You alive?"

Rin looked up at the hand that Thor was offering. Seeing his bruised jaw and broken nose bridge, Rin raised an eyebrow, saying,"You look worse."

Rin grabbed his hand, getting up on his feet.

Eyes locked at ball of blue flames, Thor wiped his bleeding nose with his thumb, saying,"I'm just getting started."

Rin steadied his grip on his sword. Both of them knew what they had to do.

Protect Alicia.

The panther snarled, showing his razor sharp fangs before bending its forelimbs. A boot stepped out of the flames followed by the whole body of that person. Their eyes went wide upon seeing him unharmed.

There was not a single burn on him and for the first time in their lives, those Kages felt what one would call the fear of death.

They realized something. He was a monster and they themselves were his preys.

The man raised his head, looking at them with those cold gray eyes of his. They heard a loud hissing sound before a snake appeared beside the man.

It was a huge snake with shiny black scales and bright yellow eyes.

It hissed and raised up behind that man's back, its colossal form casting a shadow on its master.