"So did you get us some good seats for Jurghdak's final performance?" a girlfriend asked her date.

"Huh? It's a live broadcast in the open air, we don't need seats." he told her with a shrug as I moved onto another table so I could wipe it down.

"But why? It's Jhurghdak's last performance here! Just imagine how romantic it would be, just the two of us on a quiet rooftop as his music played..." she swooned blissfully before she lost herself in her daydream.

"Honestly, this girl." the boyfriend breathed out with an exhausted sigh before he was assaulted by his giggling date.

"Idiot." she scoffed before she put down her knife and fork and grabbed her bag and coat.

"Thanks for the food, Liadanann, it was great as always." he told me as he got up to leave as well.

"I am glad you liked it, safe trip." I told them before I followed them to the door so I could lock it behind them. Then, with a final wave sent their way, I walked over to their empty plates and picked them up so I could pop them out back. Yet, I found myself stopping before I had even gotten far from the table. My mind was a bit full of jealousy at the moment and it was distracting.

But, I could only sigh as it was such a distant dream that I had and it vanished a long time ago. For now, at the very least, I would never be able to find something like that and because I... Because I kicked Nin out of my house, I lost the last consistent face in my life. A face that I was intimately familiar with, anyway.

"I wonder what it would have been like, would I even have opened this place up? Or would I be on some far-flung adventure, looking for my people like how Einervaene went off looking for a way to help her mother?" I pondered with a voice that dripped with sadness and regret.

But before I could lose myself in those thoughts, I shook my head and I focused on the plates. I had a lot of washing up to do still, as I had been waiting for those two to finish their meals. Yet, with my sudden train of bad thoughts, now was as good a time as any to be doing it. I just needed to keep my focus and not let my mind wander elsewhere whilst I did this mundane but necessary task.

"Is someone back there?" I called out all of a sudden when I heard what sounded like a magic screen turn on.

"Welcome, people of Thrurstradtur, welcome to my final dance!" a man cackled clearly through it.

"What the..." I muttered after I came rushing into the front of my shop as right in the middle of it was a screen. It shouldn't have been there and it was a discovery that worried me moreso than confused because I recognised that face... It was not a face I could forget as Nin's room was still plastered with it all over the place. That disfigured face was his obsession as much as Larishazza was.

"Now, I am still waiting for my beloved partner to come, but, let me establish the rules for everyone in the meantime!" he cheered as he tapped his walking cane joyfully as that hideous smile covered his face.

"Oh no..." I let out as I raised a hand to cover my mouth, and as I did so, the streets filled with noise. These screens were everywhere, within other businesses and even in isolated rooms and they decorated the streets as well. That face was everywhere and there didn't seem to be a way to get rid of it.

"Now, as you probably all know by now. I do love to come out when a very famous friend of mine is performing, and well, he's about to perform for the very last time here in this city, isn't he? So that presents us with a bit of a conundrum, doesn't it? If he's gone, I go with him. Now, under normal circumstances, I might have let the streets run red with the blood of ignored murderers. But, no... No, no, no! Someone has caught my eye, can anyone figure it out?"

"Nin..." I impulsively answered after I had brought down a stall to sit on.

"Exactly, people of Thrurstradtur, it's my dance partner, the one you have recently taken to calling the Dark Crow. See, he's a very good learner, but I feel like he won't learn properly without an exam that has no margin for error. Tch. So, here's what will happen, he will get one final chance to stop me, do you hear me, Dark Crow? One final chance!" he explained before he exploded into a cackling fit.

"No... I'm not watching thi-" I started to mutter in disbelief before the screen suddenly repositioned itself in front of me. It made me jump in fright and I tried to shake my gaze free of it but it wouldn't stop following me. As such, it became clear that I had to watch this fight, everyone in the city had to watch, this final fight between them both... We all had to watch it.

"So come for me, Dark Crow, it is time for your final exam." he cackled as he turned around to face an approaching arcane fireball.

"There you are..." Nin shivered eagerly before he quickly glanced around at his surroundings, screens were everywhere there too.

"Here I am, Dance Partner, but first, let me make something clear to you and to everyone else. But I will make it clear to everyone else first... There shall be no interfering. NONE! And you, Dark Crow, let it be known that I shall fight simply this time. I will not encourage you to better yourself, I will fight you as an equal and we shall see who comes out on top, yes?"

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Very well." Nin answered relatively quietly as he spread his legs out and raised his arms in preparation.

"No, he's lying..." I let out as I continued to try and look away from what was most certainly going to be Nin's death. How could anyone believe that it wouldn't be, was he trying to kill himself!?

"Well, then, shall we begin, Dance Partner?" Smiling Jhurack asked him as a sword started to slowly glint in the dying light of the day.

Nin's response was immediate and swift and a blast of his magical power quickly dominated the view. With a single slash, however, Smiling Jhurack vanquished the magic and we were left with a clear view of their fight. This was my first time ever seeing Nin in action and it felt alien to see him like this, he seemed to be almost like a blur. It was only because of the distinct trails his magic left that I could even follow his movements and where they were even headed!

The brief moments where his fists met Smiling Jhurack's sword were rare, but it was always Nin coming at him. I was starting to feel like Nin could win this, were it not for my knowledge of the past five years. I was excited and eager to see him win, but those five years had to mean something. There was no way that he couldn't see the danger he was now in, any moment now he'd be...

"Good, good!" Smiling Jhurack let out as he leapt away onto another building only to be instantly followed by Nin. With an inferno following his right fist, Nin then swung upwards and a fireball blasted its way up into the sky. He roared ceaselessly to contrast Smiling Jhurack's laughter but it was all drowned out in turn by his explosive blows. But each time, Smiling Jhurack seemed to come out of them unharmed and all the more ready to fight.

Before Smiling Jhurack could escape again, however, Nin reeled back his arms and flung them in the direction of a high-rise's roof. He then suddenly accelerated towards the building and caught the mad killer against his feet as rocket engines burst to life behind him. Glass and debris began to rain down behind them and Nin forced him up the building until they suddenly busted their way past the top. Yet, rather than scream or cry in pain, Smiling Jhurack just slashed his sword once and a sudden string of yellow appeared.

Nin roared in pain but he kept on going and the two clashed once again on the tower's roof before it collapsed under them. The screen then stopped following them and instead it focused on the crumbling structure as it began to collapse around them. With an explosion of debris, the pair then reappeared into view and slid along an increasingly scarred street road. Before the momentum could even be taken out of them, they then forcibly dashed towards each other and a shower of stone shot away from them.

Yet as Smiling Jhurack laughed, he slipped under and away and vanished into a nearby street. With a pair of magic circles then igniting under his feet, Nin rocketed into the sky and for a second-lasting moment, he observed the sprawling maze. When his prey was then found, he redirected that magic towards the ground and he caught him before he could leap away again! The sound of crashes then filled the city's ears as they tumbled past and through some more buildings.

"Are you not meant to protect them, Dance Partner?" Smiling Jhurack asked Nin after he had escaped with a few well-placed slashes and thrusts.

"I am here to kill you!" Nin answered firmly after he had impacted against the street. Then, with a sudden burst of arcane might, the seemingly narrow strip of the city lit up with his magic.

"Live up to those words, then." Smiling Jhurack told him before he slimmed his form down by turning onto his side with his sword held aloft just before him.

"I've waited five years to!" Nin snapped before he went for Smiling Jhurack in the blink of an eye. With a jolt, I then shut off my gaze only to open them again when a sharp, ringing sound suddenly appeared. For a moment that seemed to not exist, I watched as Smiling Jhurack's blade went wide in the wrong direction. A wet slap then resounded out into the city as his head suddenly turned at the whim of Nin's colliding fist.

"Oh, how I have not been appreciating how well I have taught you, Dance Partner." Smiling Jhurack chuckled once he had recovered from the blow. With quick, precise parries, he then kept himself safe from Nin's wrath as he backpedalled through the city. The crowds they then suddenly found themselves in screamed and panicked, but neither of the two made a point of going for them. It didn't mean, though, that they were safe and many seemed to be hit by debris or by Nin's explosive magic.

For a moment, when I heard explosions outside my bakery, I turned to look and breathed fearfully at my windows in anticipation. Thankfully, it just seemed to be the screens outside of my bakery that was making the noise and I returned my attention to the insistent magic. The fighting continued to be destructive and far-reaching, but the city-guard was now getting involved. They might have refrained from fighting, but they were essential in keeping people safe.

But if they could keep up with those two I could not figure out, I could only pray that they could!

"Make sure to keep following, Dance Partner!" Smiling Jhurack cackled before he leapt through the gaps between the buildings near him.

"STAND AND FIGHT!" Nin roared as he tried to follow him once again, but Smiling Jhurack proved himself to be a liar. As he was suddenly going far faster than he had ever done so before and the two met up once again on a frighteningly fast-in-rotation Sundial. Yet, whilst they were on it, it didn't seem that fast, but I could tell that the monolithic building was going far faster than it should have. The screens even gave us a clear view of a vortex that started to form as the great building spun and spun!

"No more tricks, just us two." Smiling Jhurack seemed to repeat as he drew sparking blood from the metal structure with a couple of taunting slashes.

"I will see you crash against the streets below!" Nin hissed before he climbed up to meet the mad killer. With a somewhat awkward upwards strike, Nin then met his blade and he pushed on upwards. More explosions and bursts of force appeared in the sky and even the Sundial seemed to shake as they went upwards. But Nin was clearly struggling to compete against Smiling Jhurack's superior position and he took thrust after thrust from that sword.

"NIN!" I couldn't help but scream as my heart pounded and my body trembled. I might've just thrown him out of my home days ago, but he was still my friend and I couldn't turn a blind eye to this. But what could I do? What did I have that could help him?

It was then that I remembered his final words about my talisman, he had left it somewhere safe. But where!? WHERE!?