Basilisk

The woman landed gracefully before Lin, with the gust settling after her feet touched the ground. Her dancing locks gently draped across her back. She had beautiful dark skin, and her eyes sparkled like diamonds. Her chest was protected by a chest plate the same colour as her gear and all her joints. Her curvy and alluring figure strode gently towards Lin. "I am surprised you noticed my presence. I guess she was right, after all. You are different from others" Her voice was soothing and made one feel calm after hearing it.

Another woman suddenly rushed to the scene, panting heavily. Seeing Lin's face, she quickly hid behind the woman in camo gear. "So, it was you." Lin was quite unhappy. With the emergence of the woman in camo and the sudden arrival of Dzifa, anyone could put two and two together. "Do not hold it against her", the woman said quickly before Lin further misinterpreted the situation. "She just cannot lie to me. No one can."

"So, why are you here? Are you perhaps here to claim the bounty on my head?" Lin asked in a grumpy voice.

"Unlike Bow, I do not have time for such useless things. I have better things to do than waste my time on trivial matters." She said and seductively took a step towards Lin.

"What do you want?" Lin asked.

"It is simple. You killed one of my party members, so, you will replace him. At the very least, temporally." She smiled as she spoke to him, but Lin could tell there was a mystery behind that smile; hence he had to tread cautiously.

"She is strong. I can tell just at a glance that she is a Hector. One wrong move, and she could kill me instantly." Lin folded his hands and did not waver in her presence. After all, he had experienced a battle that involved Aces. A mere hector would not scare him off. "So, you sent him then?"

"No. Bow had a habit of disappearing and causing trouble alone, but he was a member of my hunting party. I can not just overlook his death" She was straightforward with him. She did not waste any time beating about the bush.

"And her?" Lin asked shifting his gaze to Dzifa, who was popping her head from behind the woman. "Oh, she is a tracker. Just like you." Lin remained silent without a word. Seeing his expression, she could tell he had no idea what she was talking about. "Some call them scouts, and others call them trackers. They are the same."

"I am no scout or tracker…", she cut in before he could finish talking.

"No one survives here without a tracker to help them find their way around or find the specific elemental beasts they require. Unless those people have a bit of knowledge about tracking. I know you would want to lie to me right now, but I would advise you not to do that."

"So, she tracked me" Lin made it sound unbelievable, as though he can not be tracked. "Yes. Now enough chit-chat about all of that. Are you joining my party or not?" she was beginning to lose her patience.

"What if I refuse?" Lin asked bluntly.

"What do you think?" she asked with a serious expression. Anyone could tell what she meant from her tone, "Moreso since you were able to detect my presence, you should be able to tell I am not the only one here. So, make your decision quickly; time is running out."

"I hate to agree with her, but this seems to be the only way out. Of course, I could choose to run but for how long? With many Hectors crawling around here, I would not run for long before someone else finds me. And they might not be as accommodating as she is."

"I could use this opportunity to search more about this place and how to get out of here. I might also be able to visit arenas if there are any to prepare me for the ranking bout."

Lin sighed and responded, "Fine, but I have a condition."

"Let's hear it".

"You must not reveal my identity to anyone, including other party members. Once I change and put on my mask, it remains on. Under no circumstance would I remove it"

She remained quiet shortly and asked, "The guards are searching for you. Everyone must remove their masks once they get to town".

"That is none of my business. You find a way to deal with it. Would you take it, or should I walk away?" She hesitated for a bit but ultimately agreed to it. "Fine. I would leave you to get changed. Meet us at the foot of the mountain you two fought that beast on.

"Great but…" She gritted her teeth and glared at him, "What is it?" she asked. She found it annoying he was bargaining with her and thought he was about to make more demands. "It is nothing much. It is just; you have not told me your name."

"Call me Amina, and welcome to Basilisk." She said and disappeared in a gust of wind, taking along Dzifa as she went. "The name of their party is based on one of the most dangerous beasts ever recorded in history? Weird." Lin shrugged and pulled clothes from the space storage cube to change.

"Since they are basing the name of their party on an ancient beast, I should choose a name based on ancient gods too. I would go for Shango. The god associated with fire and Lightning, just like me, except he uses an axe, and I use a spear."

Near a mountain, Amina and Dzifa sat on a rock while a man stood in front of them. He was about 5'8 tall and looked older than Dzifa. Probably in his thirties. He wore a plant-patterned kimono and had a sword strapped to his waist. "What do you see in that guy that you are willing to risk just to get him on the party?" he asked in a displeased tone. He didn't seem to be on board with Amina's decision to add Lin to the team. "I understand how you feel, but both you and I know that Basilisk is on the verge of collapse and after losing one member, wouldn't it be better to have him be a replacement than to kill him?"

"He killed Bow Amina. He killed Bow. If anything, you should be taking his head. Since when did the captain of Basilisk become so soft?" He jabbed.

Amina did not take what he said lightly at all. Tiny blades shaped like tripartite leaves immediately surrounded his neck before he could unsheathe his sword. He slowly let go of the sword hilt and lowered his hands. "Listen very closely, Yu, I may be lenient towards you and the others, but if you dare insult me in such a way, your head would be rolling. Keep that in mind."

The blades retreated, but Yu felt something trickle down his neck. He rubbed the area and realised he was bleeding. "Sorry, but I cannot accept someone who killed a party member to join the party…"

"I have made my decision Yu; deal with it".

Dzifa was on the sidelines watching silently but finally spoke up after realising things were getting out of hand. "Enough, both of you", she yelled. "Why are you two squabbling like children?" they both went silent and glared at each other. "Why can't you resolve this like adults and are instead been all noisy over here."

"There's nothing to resolve here. It's either I leave the party or he does. We two cannot stay in the same party" Yu refused to back down. "Yu, are you angry because Bow was killed by him, or is it because you think he is not skilled enough to kill Bow? And rather used underhanded tactics?"

Yu remained silent without uttering a word. "I guess I am right then. He would be here in a few minutes. If you don't think he is skilful enough to be part of Basilisk, then you can test him when he gets here. No one with interfere, right captain?" Dzifa turned to look at Amina, who had already returned to being calm and quiet. "Do whatever you want. I'm going off to find some fruits for tonight." Amina said and disappeared.

"It's settled then. I would watch from up there." Dzifa pointed to a cliff and walked away. "Yu, you may not know, but that man, he is terrifying."

Yu pulled the straw hat strapped to his back over his long dark brown hair and sat to await Lin. "Sorry, captain, but this isn't going to be a test. I am going to kill that bastard."