My eyes darted back and forth to the directions of the voice but…it wouldnt stop moving. From the left, then the right, above, no it came from below me? No matter where I looked, I couldn’t track that voice.

It resonated a light timbre around me, much too sensual or high for a boy, meaning whoever attacked me was a girl–no it was a woman. She sounded like an adult, one that had done something like this before.

The calm and collected register of her voice put my shaky tone to shame.

“Where are you…come out!”

She remained calm and ignored my desperate screams. Still outside my vision, she continued to throw taunts energetically.

“Why ruin the fun, you still haven’t even shown me the best part?”

The best part–fun–what is she talking about? This is just some game to her, isn't it? She’s not taking me seriously!

As my rage boiled to the surface and my grip tightened, the stinging sensation of another cut appeared on my cheek to bring me back to my fearful self.

It was like she had cut me down anytime my anger showed itself, constantly bringing me down to a pitiful state, no more than a weakling under her blade.

I didn’t think about it, my mouth just moved on its own. I needed to protect myself and every alarm in my head rang at the same time.

“Iron Body!!!”

My scream roared out of the alleyway and erupted into a flash of mana and light that surrounded me in less than a second.

I was enveloped in its protective shell, a large golem silhouette that offered shielding but not much comfort. I knew that the skill I acquired from the golem would shield off any attack weaker than its defence. I knew I was protected and yet…

Why won’t my nerves settle?!

Clank!

The intense clash of sparks in front of the shell erupted before my very eyes. She had just attacked.

Clank! Clank! Clink! Clank!

Blow after blow, the attacks came from every direction in a relentless spree of slashes and strikes. I tried my best to keep up with them but my eyes still weren’t fast enough to track her movements. I still had no idea what she looked like.

“This really is something, it feels like I’m hitting a real golem!” She celebrated.

Her voice was filled with joy, almost as though she had waited for that very moment. Even though she couldn’t get through, she celebrated, her words grew happier the more her blade bounced off my skills defence.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clink! Clank!

Small cracks appeared around me, slowly drawing in closer to the core where I resided. My eyes grew wider as the worry that it would all crumble any second grew larger.

“What are you gonna do once I break it, huh? Another monster skill? Your blades? I can’t wait to see!”

“Tsk! I don’t have a lot of…time?”

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Before I could finish my thought, the silhouette broke under the last hit of her blade. Suddenly the sharp cut of its edge reached my neck and I sensed its cold sharpness hugging my throat.

My eyes jolted wider as I screamed the skill I needed to activate in my mind. Never before did I need it to work as much as that moment.

SHADOW STEP!!!

Sure enough, I made it out alive and slammed into the side of the alley a few steps in the air. I dropped to the ground and stumbled back into a roll. My body tumbled across the ground but I quickly flew to my feet in an attempt to get my bearings back.

My body was shaking, still frightened by how close I came to death. I placed my fingertips gingerly across my throat where the sensation of her blade lingered.

Even after that, I felt it hanging on my skin. The cold, soulless touch of a murder weapon. She wasn’t just playing around…she wanted to end me with that strike. Could she have known I’d run? Did she plan to kill me there if I couldn’t use Shadow Step?

Too many questions flooded my mind but only one seemed to take the forefront of my thoughts.

What the hell can I do to survive?!

“There’s the skill, just as I predicted! That was a Shadow Howler skill, wasn’t it? So do I get a prize for guessing right…no? Aaaaw~”

She complained out of the abyss like a child who was denied a new toy. Her voice carried an elegant, almost sultry tone to it and yet her words were the complete opposite. It threw me off completely, I couldn’t match a face to that voice at all.

My face contorted into a rage-filled glare as her taunts reached me at my core.

I looked down at the small droplets of blood that remained on my fingertips. My hand squeezed into a tight ball and my eyes drew forward to the dark end of the alley.

“You look mad…Seriously scary!”

I found her. It definitely came from there!

A foot emerged from the shadows, her maple brown skin reflected a smooth gleam under the moonlight's elegant glow. As her leg stepped out from the darkness, a portion of her curvy figure came into view.

I didn’t know what to do with my anger, suddenly I was filled with another emotion, something equally as strong. I swallowed it down to regain focus and gave my head a quick shake.

Focus–focus–focus!

Once my head came right, the slender hips and curvy thighs of the attacker had vanished once more. Before I could voice my confusion, it was put to rest.

A pair of lifeless purple eyes, like violet marbles, shot into view. The full range of her beauty was forced in front of me as her face was no less than a breath from mine.

Her hair which illustrated the same pure colour as cream, flowed freely beside her ears as she flew in front of me. Her hair was short but not much more than the general shape and colour came into view as most of it was hidden under her black hood.

I should’ve attacked, I had the perfect moment to. I wasn’t fast enough to react but I knew I should have, the only reason I didn’t was because of those eyes.

They drew me in and once it had me…I was trapped! I took in her beauty, staring blankly at her face like a freshly hung portrait done by my favourite artist. Even with that, I wasn’t fast enough. It was taken from me all too quickly.

The violet marbles, creamy hair and lightly tanned skin all disappeared behind the curve of her dagger. It rushed to my face and shot between my eyes before I could realise it was there.

Suddenly a wave of wind forced me back and I was pinned to the wall.

I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. Or rather…what I hadn’t been able to see. It all happened so fast that I felt more like a passenger in her assault.

She had pinned me with only the force of her strike, without needing to land the finishing blow! The wind generated by that wind up had enough power behind it to cut down a tree in a single strike, no doubt in my mind.

“Looks like I win, Mr. Unique-Skill~”

The blade drew away from my throat and all the air that escaped my lungs returned in one large breath. I finally felt like I was going to live again when the blade, as well as the mysterious figure, disappeared into the shadows.

The remnants of her voice surrounded the alley before it fell back to silence.

“Here I thought you’d be as strong as Mills talked you up to be~”

I collapsed to the floor with my back pressed against the side of the building, my breath still shaky. I looked at my hands, they trembled to no end.

“Did she just spare me?”

I examined myself once more to make sure I was still alive.

“She mentioned Kana…what did she have to do with this? No–better yet–just who the hell was that?”