Claus rides a brown horse, the first beast he found available in the stables. The strongest man in the kingdom, if you remove his gaudy golden helmet, would look like a mere squire next to the knight riding to his left, on a white mare. Axiel wears ornate scarlet armor, a style rich in lines and reliefs that matches with his preferred weapon: a white steel rapier with a hilt resembling a rose.

An attractive armor, ideal for a handsome young man with golden hair, white skin, blue eyes, and a confident smile always adorning his expression. Although Claus is the strongest man in the kingdom, Axiel is the man most acclaimed by the people, especially by young girls in marriageable age. Fame accompanies strength, hence his well-deserved place as King Marc's second sword. If you ask anyone in love with Axiel, they would tell how soon he will surpass Claus.

Both men were talking, Axiel concentrating on the road, Claus looking at the blue sky with a carefree look as always. Neither seems to notice the shadow lurking in the bushes. The elf smiles and draws his bow, ready to shoot. Marcus, seeing that, reacts instinctively, jumps from the tree and falls on the assassin.

The arrow is accidentally released by the assassin's fingers. The projectile whooshes. Claus and Axiel bring their gaze to the noise. The arrow grazes the cheek of the first captain, causing a few blood drops to slip.

Marcus and the elf turn and struggle through the vegetation. The human is stronger, but the assassin's flexibility is superior. In addition, the studded leather armor under the hood is coated with oils whose main function is to minimize the noise when moving, but also to be able to escape more easily in case of a grab.

The elf comes out from under Marcus, rises with a graceful twist, and in one leap disappears into the trees. Marcus gets to his feet much more awkwardly, sees the assassin become a distant silhouette. Panic startles the soldier, who without a second thought utters a word power.

-[Max Power]!

-Technique: Max Power.

Requirement: None.

Cost: 20 Ki.

Description: Doubles for 60 seconds the physical strength of the user.

Caution: A healthy physical condition is recommended to withstand this technique.

The soldier channels the inner ki, just as Captain Lynel taught him. Veins and muscles bulge. Blood rushes to head and his vision blurs. Marcus takes a deep breath, mediating between the rush and the need to use the technique correctly. As soon as the blur is gone, the soldier delivers a heavy stomp that pushes him forward like a cannonball.

Branches snap. Bits of wood leap from the tree trunks as they are brushed by Marcus' blurred figure.

The elf arrives at a small clearing in the forest. Hidden in the bank of a stream, is an aperture half a meter wide to a dark subway route leading down into the underdark. An adult human would perhaps have trouble getting through, but elves are usually more slender than humans.

The hooded man was about to flee, when Marcus lands two meters ahead, causing the water in the stream jump. The assassin covers his face with a forearm to avoid being splashed and jumps back about five steps.

Marcus wields the sword with both hands.

"Drop the bow and surrender!"

The elf's expression turns sour at the request, though it doesn't take two seconds before he gives Marcus a smirk. Instead obeying, the elf brings a hand to his lower back, under his hood, and draws a new plenilunium arrow from the quiver. The assassin's movements are calm, confident.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You should have attacked me from behind, rookie"

"Who are you calling a rookie?! And a knight never attacks from behind!"

"You're not a knight, you're something much worse, a soldier. And besides, for us, that nonsense that you guys are so fond of, the honor thing, it disgusts us. But at least we can take advantage of that stupidity"

Marcus, enraged by such words, rushes forward with his sword raised, determined to end the encounter with one blow. He has to hurry, knowing that in a few seconds his strength will be drained and begin to pay the cost.

The blade comes down and cuts the elf's figure from the crown of the head. A victory gleam crosses Marcus' eyes, but it is instantly extinguished when the blade comes down without resistance and the elf darkens and vanishes like a ghost.

The sword strikes the earth. The 60 seconds of [Max Power] end, Marcus' muscles return to their original size, leaving him bathed in sweat and fatigue. Between gasps he releases the sword from the earth and hurriedly looks for the elf figure.

"Show yourself, coward!" demands Marcus.

The assassin's voice comes from all directions through the trees, like an echo.

"The graveyard is full of brave. Now you will join that long list for interfering with my mission. Tremble, human, for you are fighting one of Zerom's seven fingers"

The Zerom Seven Fingers. The name doesn't sound familiar to Marcus, but it's about the most notorious assassin group in the dark elven society.

Zerom was a skilled archer, and also the favorite lover of a past elder matriarch, but one day, when she caught him trying to steal her jewels, the matriarch had no choice but to punish him. Instead of torturing and killing in the usual way, the matriarch took a special liking to Zerom, and instead ordered seven fingers to be cut off his hands with a cursed knife, and then thrown into an alley. Crippled, unable to use a bow or satisfy a new mistress, the matriarch's hope was that Zerom would slowly rot in misery. But instead, the elf began to plot a conspiracy and use the secrets he had obtained in the matriarch's service and bedchamber to plan her downfall.

In fact, Zerom's goal was to completely destroy the matriarchal system that had ruled the dark elves for millennia, and to appoint himself as king. He succeeded in dethroning the matriarch and walled her up in the Parliament walls where she starved to death. But five years later, as it usually happens with every revolution, it ends up devouring its children and the Zerom kingdom had an early conclusion in the hands of the current elder matriarch and her allies.

In spite of the failure, some theorize that remnants of Zerom's crusade rest in the underground, nonconformity, secret projects, perhaps reforms that increase the rights of the male elves or maybe a second revolution. Although there is no credible evidence that Zerom's seven fingers were directly linked to that first revolution, the elves prefer to ignore the connection and limit themselves to hiring the services. The Seven Fingers are top assassins, and since all members of the group are kept in hiding, they do not risk punishment for using the name of an old traitor.

A hooded shadow emerges. Marcus prepares to attack, but hesitates and retracts the sword when dozens of copies, black as shadows, surround him from all flanks and point charged bows.

"Illusions...?" Marcus mutters, not believing his eyes.

"You can think that if you want. Comfort your mother won't have when she's given a hollowed-out lump of flesh to bury"

Marcus pales and takes a step back. He tries to use [Max Power] again despite the risks, but his heart is too restless for that and he only succeeds in hunching over in pain.

Before the 44 bows fire and end Marcus' life, a shower of flower petals falls on the stream. Both Marcus and the elf and his copies raise their faces to the rose fragments. Now it is the assassin's features that twitch with panic.

The petals are pushed by a sudden wind, so strong that Marcus closes his eyes. The flowers, acting like a rain of whistling blades, cross the shadow copies in thousands, making them disappear one by one, until only the assassin is left being surrounded by a floral tornado. The slightest movement of the elf causes a dozen cuts on his arms and legs.

Axiel appears walking from the trees. Marcus' expression lights up with hope. The second captain smiles at the soldier.

"Good job, soldier. I'll tell Hilda to give you a well-deserved rest," Axiel says. Then brings his face to the elf, and his expression hardens.

"Bastard, you'll pay for this!" The assassin says and readies his bow, but instead of pointing to Axiel, like if he was aware that has no chance, he points to the sky and mutters a power word. The tense sounds and the projectile moves away, disappearing into space within a shadowy fissure.

Axiel arches an eyebrow, confused by the action, but is unimpressed, and with a graceful wave of the hand, mobilizes the pestals.

Thousands of small blades increase their speed and reduce their radius around the elf, awakening loud screams that cease the moment they become a tornado barely half a meter wide. With another hand motion, the petals scatter and disappear. Where the elf once stood, now only a smear of blood remains.

Marcus stands with his mouth and eyes wide open. As soon as he gets over the powerful impression left by the second captain's power, he turns to thank him. But his words are cut off when a third man arrives at the stream.

Captain Claus only manages to take a couple of steps before he falls flat on his face.