“Timing is an important aspect of naturalist combat. A battle can shift dramatically even from small things, like being the first to draw arcana. Always set yourself up for success because expending your arcana too early can leave you completely defenseless. On the other hand, holding onto your arcana for too long can allow your opponent the opportunity they need to beat you.”

~ Bones

Daimyon

Chase tenses up and Pip’s face is full of dread. Getting Pip to safety comes first. Then we can deal with whoever this is. Daigo and I converse telepathically.

“Daimyon, you’re gonna have to control this situation as best you can. Chase can tell this guy is far above both of your levels.”

“How can you tell that?” I ask.

“Because for some reason, I can sense it too.” Taking the initiative, I begin to verbally poke the guy.

“It’s rude to walk in on other people's conversations.” The man chuckles while massaging Pip’s shoulders.

“Oh then excuse my interruption. I just happened to be nearby looking for a particular scientist capable of making certain types of trinkets.” He taps the tiara on Pip’s head and Chase’s jaw tightens. I turn to him and put my hand on his arm. It’s not in his nature to rush in, but when it comes to our sister I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the exception. With that bit of reassurance, he pulls the wrap from his head and lets his hair fall back over his eyes.

“Yeah, sure we know who that is. We’ll take you to him if you let go of the uncomfortable child you’re holding onto.” Chase says. The man puts his hand to his chin as if he were thinking about Chase’s proposition.

“Hmm… that’s a tempting offer but I feel the need to decline. See, you don’t often find academy naturalists off in the woods fighting. If I had to guess, and I’m not really guessing, I’d say you all know each other very well.”

A sickle made of ice smoothly forms in his hand as he brings it down from his chin back to Pip’s shoulder. A flame ignites in my chest and unconsciously my arcana starts to flare up until he brings the sickle close to Pip’s throat.

“Aht, aht, aht, now is not the time for battle. That comes later.” My arcana calms in response to the explicit threat. The fire in my chest, however, grows hotter. In my peripheral vision, I see Chase is somehow relaxed, which means he must be planning something. Okay, we’re going to have to keep this conversation going until we get our chance.

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“So, then what do you want?” He smiles as if this is a perfectly natural situation for him.

“It’s been a while since anyone’s asked me that. Hmmm…. I want a giant bag of gold phoenixes and a whore house with whores from all over the world and of course, I want to finish this job so I can go back to the north where the food tastes good and it isn’t so hot. That's enough playing for today so I’ll make this simple; if your name is Daimyon, stay seated and if your name isn’t Daimyon, stand up.”

Daimyon? He’s looking for me...why? Chase and I exchange looks and then stand up. We don’t need to say anything to understand that giving this guy what he wants is probably an overall bad idea. The look on the man's face turns devious, his smile a sinister grin.

“I’m not a big fan of liars.” He moves Pip to the side and a cold front springs forth. Small twisters of biting white wind form snow, then sleet, then sharp pieces of ice. He motions his hand and before any of us can do anything, she’s encased in ice. That triggers Chase.

“NOOO!” Chase tries to take a step towards them, only to be met by the man's fist going into his chest. The force of the punch echoes through the whistles of the swirling arctic wind. Chase would have been blown away entirely, but at some point that my eyes couldn’t track, the man grabbed Chase to hold him in place. Chase slumps over his fist, knocked unconscious by a single punch.

If I don’t act now this is gonna be it for all of us. I stop holding myself back and fully draw, cutting through the cold front with a twister of wind from my own arcana. He lets go of Chase’s limp body, allowing him to be blown away by my power. The trees and rocks nearby start to levitate off the ground but his sadistic grin only grows. He puts his hands together clapping at my display.

“Impressive, for an amateur. Unfortunately for you, it’s nowhere near enough.” He draws again and his power cuts through mine entirely. My twister subsides, the objects near us crash into the ground and the air itself becomes tense as if it's being held in place by our powers tugging at it in opposite directions.

He directs his hand at me, shooting a spike of ice in my direction. Instinctively, my hand reaches out and sends a pulse of arcana deflecting it and in the moment it took me to do that, he somehow closes the gap between us. His hand barely grazes me, sending me flying into several trees. Dramatically, he flaps his coat behind him and then runs his hand over his hair.

“Since I don’t want to be rude, let me introduce myself. I am Sable, an advanced naturalist from North Gaia. Sid hired me to find and hurt you along with a few other important duties. You see, he doesn’t want you to get too complacent in your training and he figured the easiest way to light a proverbial fire under you would be for me to break you and whoever’s close to you just early enough for you to recover.”

My body is still slumped into a tree as my eyes make their way over to Sable. All of this to motivate me to be better? All of this so I won’t slack off? His original reason is irrelevant to me now. Now it’s about how he hurt people I care about and how he pissed me off. I boost myself out of the tree while still making eye contact with him.

“At this point, all Sid did was send you to your death as far as I’m concerned.” Daigo must be sensing what’s going on in my head because he starts to warn me.

“Daimyon, I know what you’re thinking, but Bones specifically forbade you from using that technique.” I’m not going to bother with responding. I’ve already made up my mind. It’s a foregone conclusion at this point. I’m going to take him out with the Skywave Cannon.

~ End