Din Kai still remembered the first time he’d taken a life.

It had been self-defense. A man, whose situation was perhaps even worse than his own, tripping over Kai’s body as he lay in the street, half-dead, and shivering from the cold. Kai was only ten years old, but that didn’t stop the man from beating him in “retribution”, bringing him within an inch of his life. When Kai saw the weapon on the man’s belt, his body took over, guided by self-preservation instincts he’d been unaware of, taking the blade and ramming it into his stomach.

That was all it took, a simple thrust of the stolen blade. Warmth had seeped out onto Kai’s fingers as it leaked out from the man’s body, sticking to the grime that was caked onto his hands. Compared to the cold of the winter, the man’s blood had been so warm…

Soon, Din Kai discovered the one talent the spirits had deigned to grant him. A talent for killing. He was taken off the streets by the captain of a bandit group, The Black Scythes. The man had raised him like his own son, and the group had accepted him as one of them. He honed his edge as he stole, pillaged, and murdered with the rest of them.

At the age of twenty, he killed the captain of The Black Scythes, taking both his weapon, and his place at the head of the group. Some of the men didn’t appreciate the change in leadership, but he dealt with them appropriately. Since then, two decades of bloodshed had passed as he terrorized the Grass Sea and its surrounding areas. At one point, a group of knights were even sent from the capital to stomp them out, but their unfamiliarity with veldstriders and overconfidence had let him lay a trap and kill them, though it was still a close thing.

He wasn’t a fool though. When word came that a spirit knight would be coming to The Grass Sea to deal with a young colossus that had sprung up, he and his men had fled like roaches before the light of a fire. If he ever came across a real spirit knight, he knew they wouldn’t stand a chance. For all the power, skill, and influence he’d gained over his life, the most important thing he’d gained was a keen sense for judging the strength of others, to know exactly who he could kill.

Yet in all his time, he had never faced opponents quite like these. The first boy with the white hair had fought ferociously, his instincts seemed razor sharp, and his reflexes and speed were unbelievable. He had the same power as a more experienced channeler but lacked the skill or knowledge to have learned how to mantle. And there was a certain feeling to his attacks that was unlike any other channeler he’d fought. What aspect was he?

The black-haired boy was interesting as well. Unlike his friend, who seemed to purely rely on his intuition and experience to fight, the taller one moved methodically. Every attack, parry or dodge used the minimum possible amount of movement. It was like every technique had come out of a book, but each was executed with a certainty that could only be gained from tens of thousands of repetitions. He was the less powerful of the two without a doubt, but there was no doubt he was the most technically skilled fighter on the battlefield.

Individually, these children were strong. A single exchange told Kai that they were wells of untapped potential waiting to be released. For the moment though, he was still stronger than either one, enough so that he should’ve been able to fight both together… but he was wrong.

The boy with raven hair drew a second sword, wooden, from his belt, and it ignited in a flash of violet. Without meaning to, Din Kai took a step back.

Mantling! With visible condensation? But I was certain he wasn’t a channeler!

No, it wasn’t possible, it must have been something else.

If he had reached manifestation. I’d already be dead. What then, a spirit blessing? An artifact?

The boys spoke to each other briefly, but he couldn’t pick up what they said. A moment later, they approached. Something wasn’t right though. The white-haired boy, the faster of the two, didn’t charge ahead.

Kai’s chains crashed through the air and across the ground, digging up the earth as they flew towards their targets. He was running low on mana, but he took a deep breath, feeding a trickle into the chains. He needed to end this quickly. How the seemingly metal links held the power—he didn’t know, but without that property that allowed him extra influence over their movements, they wouldn’t have been worth using as weapons.

His main scythe whipped towards the smaller boy, who somehow didn’t seem to notice it coming.

Lucky me. That’s one.

But the blade never reached its target. Instead, it was deflected by the boy with the flaming sword, a coincidence. Din Kai struck again, and yet the same thing occurred. In those two brief exchanges, he realized something. The white-haired boy wasn’t defending himself at all, relying on his friend to keep him unharmed.

To attempt something like that… it was insane.

Kai jumped back, keeping his spacing as his scythes began to thrash wildly, like a wolf ensnared in a hunter’s trap. As the boys approached, he had to loop more and more slack around his arms, lessening the force of his blows.

The taller one nodded, “I’ve got it now. Go.”

With a grin more crazed than Kai’s own, the ashen-haired boy shot forwards—not at his top speed—but at the pace of a true charge. Kai turned, dashing to the side as he lashed out again and again with the scythes. Each one failed to connect, deflected by either steel or wood.

That’s why he pulled out the second sword, so he could handle both chains at the same time.

They gained speed, growing closer as the battle reached fever pitch. The maelstrom of chains and scythes tore through the ground, shooting dirt into the air as they attacked like a hurricane. But the blows broke against the boy’s defense, like waves crashing against a steady stone cliff.

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Completely unimpeded by a need for defense, the shorter one dashed forward and slashed, forcing Kai to twist out of the way to avoid his attack. Each time he tried to parry or strike back, the boy ignored it, forcing Kai to retreat, dodging and twisting away from each strike.

How is he moving like that? The two were in perfect sync, each moving without impeding the other in the slightest as they continued their relentless assault. He’d have to be trickier.

As he dodged away from yet another attack, Kai kicked up some dirt at the boy, temporarily blinding him. He tried to counter, but the boy with black hair was already on him, bringing his own sword down. Of course, offense was a defense all its own, and they were inside his effective range. Kai raised his arm, catching the edge on the chains which snaked around it. The sword bit into his shoulder regardless, but his aura prevented it from cutting too deep, and helped to dull the pain.

He spun, whipping the back edge of his scythe towards his head, it was easily deflected, but the boy left his side open. Kai grinned madly as his foot swung towards the boy’s ribs, aiming to crack them.

Steel flashed and the limb flopped to the ground, detached from the rest of his leg just above the ankle. Din Kai blinked, his head slowly turning to the right to see the white-haired boy beside him, his sword tinted with red.

Kai’s face twisted into a pained grimace, “You—you bastard!” He lashed out clumsily with his shorter chain-scythe, but the boy easily dodged it.

He lost his balance and fell to his knees. “I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you both!” He abandoned defense, channeling all his aura to his arms as his chains rampaged around him. At their fullest length, they tore through the wooden carts of the caravan like paper. “You won’t have me! I’m stronger! I won’t die here to whelps like you!”

The boys jumped back to avoid the blows, respecting them even now. But after a moment they stalked towards him again, calmly deflecting each wild blow of his scythes as they flailed.

“You’re getting sloppy,” The taller one said, his voice icy calm. Only now did Kai see the violet flames burning behind his eyes. For the first time in many years, Din Kai felt fear. Their intent bared down on him, pressing against his aura and smothering it, choking him like thick smoke in his lungs.

He dropped his chains and began to turn and crawl away.

He felt a hot pain in his gut, and his strength failed him, he collapsed to the ground, blood tinting his vision. Slowly, his body began to grow numb, and his vision began to dim as the warmth seeped out, spilling onto the dirt.

So this is death. It’s so cold…

***

Corrin didn’t look away as he pulled his sword out of Din Kai’s back, making sure to witness his final moments in battle. Though he couldn’t help but avert his eyes as the lifeless body fell to the ground. Horrible a person though he may have been, Kai was strong, and Corrin respected him for it.

“Corrin, are you alright?” Wyn asked, walking down the hill.

Corrin rubbed his chest, taking in a shaky breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. These wounds look worse than they are. It hurts like hell though.”

Wyn smiled. “That’s good, you’ll be able to keep going then?”

“Of course… Not bad for our first win huh?” Corrin held out his fist.

Wyn bumped it, but grimaced as he did so, “We should’ve been faster, maybe we could’ve ended this without so many dead.” He glanced over at the body of a bandit nearby. “Most surrendered or ran, these guys weren’t soldiers, they weren’t ready to give their lives.”

Corrin placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. “They were ready to take them Wyn, ours included. We did what we had to. Don’t spare them a thought.”

“I guess you’re right.” He didn’t sound convinced, but Corrin suspected that would never change. Wyn was soft-hearted like that.

A girl’s voice interrupted them. “Excuse me, may I ask who you two might be?”

Corrin turned to see the blonde merchant girl from earlier looking towards them. Her brown eyes seemed calculating as she approached them cautiously.

Wyn spoke first. “We mean no harm, we’re just travelers on our way to the capital. We came to help when we saw your caravan being attacked.”

“You have quite the skill for mere travelers,” she said humorously.

“We’re prospective knights Miss; it would do us no good to be entirely inept in battle.”

“Prospective knights on your way to the capital…” Her eyes widened, “You don’t mean—”

“We’re incoming initiates to the Royal Swordcraft Academy in Taravast.” Wyn said casually, and Corrin couldn’t help but grin a little.

The girl stiffened up, her face growing pale. “Please, excuse my rudeness.” She fell to one knee, “My name is Kei Am– Hayashi. Kei Hayashi my lords. Please tell me how I can be of assistance.”

Corrin coughed. “We’re not nobles, you don’t have to bow, please.”

“You’re not? But if you’re initiates, you must be—” she paused, thinking for a moment. “Ah I see, I should’ve expected as much considering your skills.”

“It wasn’t really anything that special,” Corrin raised an eyebrow. What an odd one she was. He realized belatedly he was still holding his sword, so he flicked it through the air and wiped it with a cloth before sheathing it.

“I—I see.” Kei bowed. “If there is any way we can repay you, we will. Name your price my lords.”

Corrin glanced at the wreckage of the caravan doubtfully. Sure, a couple carts were still intact, maybe they could spare some food or traveling supplies?

Wyn stepped towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched. “No please, let us help you with repairs. Are you headed towards the grass sea?”

Oh, never mind.

Corrin was momentarily surprised by how normal Wyn seemed. Knowing how spirit fire worked, Wyn must be burning it constantly just to keep from collapsing. But not only was he offering to help, he also seemed so happy to do so.

Corrin reminded himself though, that was just how Wyn was. He was pretty sure it wasn’t even out of being kind, his friend was just stubborn about helping people.

Kei looked up, a stunned look on her face. “Um, yes, we are… I’ll be crossing it on my way back to the capital.”

Wyn smiled warmly. “Fantastic, then we can make sure you get there without altercations like this one, all I ask in return is you help us across the grass sea.”

“Of—of course my lord,” She stammered.

“That sound good to you Corrin?” Wyn turned to him, placing his pack on the ground.

Corrin shrugged. Traveling with a bigger group would almost certainly slow them down, but if Wyn thought it was a good idea, it probably was. Though, if they could spend less time foraging for food or hunting, then maybe it would be faster. Even better, it would mean Corrin could spend more time training—or cooking. Suddenly it sounded like a much better idea than he’d originally thought.

“Sure, just let me oil my blade before I start helping out.” It would certainly be fine to let it sit for a couple hours, but the danger had passed, and it was a good habit. Besides, it would give him an excuse to relax for a bit.

Wyn shot him a dry look, but then sighed. “Just join us once you’re done.” He turned to Kei, pressing his fists together and bowing slightly. “Oh, where are my manners, I’m Wyn, this is my friend Corrin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Corrin waved over without looking as he set his pack down and set to work polishing the blade.

As the others started walking away, he thought he heard a nervous sounding laugh from behind him as Kei responded. “Of course… it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

That girl is way too anxious. He didn’t give it much thought; he had a sword to clean after all.