"Orion." A voice calls out to me; their voice is soothing, and I feel at peace. This voice calls out to me, like I want to hear more of what they say. I wonder what Orion is, though.

"It's a mysterious star, neither hot nor cold. Yet it contains a power beyond the heavens." This voice called out to me once again. I saw a tree in the distance with white branches that looked like it never stopped. I walk towards this tree.

"Whoever reaches Orion gains the power of God." The person's voice changes from tranquil to harsh, and as she said, God, I heard a lightbulb smash.

The tree I was looking at is distorted; its once blue branches are now twisting into a putrid red. "What was going on?" I thought to myself. I ran towards the tree, hoping that something would change, but nothing happened.

"Your journey… Will be soaked in blood." The voice sounds angry. Then I heard screaming, and then...

"Beep…Beep…Beep" Miyuki woke up after what could be only summed up as a nightmare; she dreamt about a magical orb known as "Orion." It was a popular fairytale within the world that is Vesta.

She sits up from her bed, her long, dark blue hair swaying with her movement. She rubbed her groggy eyes and followed with a big yawn.

Miyuki was a young woman in her 20s—23, to be precise. She lived with three other friends: Asher, Elijah, and Itzozu. They have all been friends for a few years. As she comes back to terms with reality, she suddenly hears the shouting and screaming of her friends.

Recent situations have made life much harder for them, with them fearing that they may lose their house. The fact was that they were utterly broke; they feared checking their bank account to see the dwindling amount of their money.

Apart from that assassin side gig, she lived a semi-normal life.

Miyuki took a long sigh. The sunlight seeped through the gaps in her curtains. Giving the room an orange tint. Embarrassingly for her, the light made the absolute state her room was in clear.

Just by a single glance, you could tell that not one effort to be tidy was made. Piles of worn and clean clothes scattered across the floor, and the single desk in her room was littered with trash.

Suddenly, Miyuki could hear the fast footsteps of someone. "Get your ass out of bed. It's brekkie time," Itzozu shouted as he stormed into my room, kicking the door wide open.

His hair was pure red. His outfit was unusual. Itzozu wore a pale green jacket (no shirt) and brown jeans. He was carrying a frying pan that had an egg inside of it.

"And why are you carrying the pan?" Miyuki asked while rubbing her eyes. After all, yesterday was a long night.

"The beauty of fire magic! Ovens are pointless if you have essence." Itzozu bragged to Miyuki. She couldn't use magic, and Itzozu never gave Miyuki a rest from the wrath of his endless teasing.

Everyone in this world can use techniques; so far, one of the only exceptions is Miyuki, who has an extremely bizarre condition that makes her incapable of utilising her own essence.

"Ah! Itzozu, get over here!!" A male voice shouted from downstairs; their voice was on the higher-pitched side. Miyuki sighed, knowing that it was Asher, and if he's shouting, something went horribly wrong.

"Coming, What's wrong?" Itzozu questioned, wondering what had just happened.

"The oven is on fire!!" Asher shouted once again. The moment the words left Asher's mouth, Itzozu dove down the stairs at what appeared to be an impossible speed.

"Now what to wear..." Miyuki pondered for a moment and decided to slam the wardrobe open. Revealing not many different things for her to wear, due to Miyuki's distaste for fashion. She chose a black jacket and pants with a red shirt—nothing too fancy.

The other items in the wardrobe were not too interesting either, apart from an armour set she wears during missions. Her armour was red, orange, silver, and dark grey. It was a fiery palette of colours. This amour also had a pattern of a dragon across it.

Miyuki turned her phone on, "January 2nd, 2020" was the date on plastered on the screen. She checked the weather app on her phone. The city she lived in, Mezoryn, was not going to see any bad weather. She took a sigh of relief as she stepped downstairs.

Downstairs were the living room and the kitchen. Not much was special about the living room, with three couches and a cheap TV placed in the centre. That room was ordinary, but the kitchen was far from normal.

Recently, the group pooled together their money for a remodel, and the results show, which is also partly responsible for why they are now so broke.

Everything you could expect from a luxury kitchen was here. An island in the middle is made from marble. Cupboards are made from the finest wood. It was worth the money to them. Or, well, Elijah wasn't a big fan of the remodel, as he had to (like everyone else) give three months of his salary to pay for it.

Quickly, Miyuki ran down the stairs, passing by photos of the group since they moved in; the oldest photo was about 3 years old. She arrived at the kitchen to see Itzozu, Elijah, and Asher plainly staring at her, the thought of "you're late" painted over their faces.

Shamefully, she grabbed a chair and sat down at the table. "You woke up at 11 a.m.?!" Asher questioned, surprised that someone could even wake up so late. Asher is usually up at 6 a.m.

"I sure did. I had a long day; you know, Asher, I fell asleep at two in the morning." Miyuki snapped back at Asher. She takes a long sigh as she grabs a plate of breakfast.

"Happy to know you aren't just lazy," Itzozu remarked, listening to the conversation.

"The festival is only in a few days. It's cool to see this town so lively." Asher intervened, changing the subject. The festival was a yearly tradition across Edessa, though it was popularised in Mezoryn.

Breakfast today was traditional Edessan food (from the country they live in). The breakfast was soup. It had thin noodles, vegetables, chicken broth, and an extra ingredient that added a higher umami flavour. This ingredient was an Eddow flower, which is grown in the Seven Peak Mountains.

While they were eating breakfast, the room shifted to an awkward silence; it looked like everyone was in deep thought. Until Miyuki spoke up, She had been waiting for Itzozu to pick something up for her, but after a week, it doesn't seem like he wants to.

Itzozu fell silent, and his gaze shifted down to his plate. He stirred his soup while thinking of a way to weasel himself out of this situation. Although he was defeated, he let out a long sigh.

"It's ready for collection. Been too busy for me to pick it up," Itzozu told Miyuki. As Itzozu expected, she was not happy with this news; her face turned to a sour expression. After a sigh from Miyuki too, she leaned back in her chair.

"Ah… Fine, I'll get it myself. It's only a couple minutes away after all," Miyuki responded.

After downing her soup in one gulp, she slammed it onto the table. It was a common breakfast for people in Edesia; it was one of the country's national foods.

Inside the living room was a button behind the worn cabinet; upon pressing it, it revealed the house's most secret room. A full armoury is located in the house, only accessible by pressing the button.

After the button was pressed, it revealed a room decorated with katanas, guns, and any other illegal weapons the group could get a hold of. The wall of swords belonged to the blue-haired woman, Miyuki.

She had gained an impressive number of swords in three years, totaling 13. All of these were so Miyuki could make the perfect katana. She had already thought of a name for them, both "Temper." and "Wrath." In her eyes, these two swords would be the magnum opus of weaponry.

Miyuki grabbed a sword from the collection; its hilt was blue and yellow with a purple undertone. Unlike some other swords in her stash, this one had the feeling of sturdiness, as if no matter how hard she swung it, it would never break.

"Uhuhu, this will do." Miyuki laughed with a menacing smile.

Reluctantly, Miyuki swung the front door open. Her eyes took some time to adjust to the light, and the sun seared into her eyes. For a few months now, she hasn't been outside in the daytime. If she needs to go out, it's usually around 11 p.m., and then she comes back home between 1-3 a.m. Her thoughts were simply along the lines of "Great, here we go."

The blue-haired woman stepped out of her house in broad daylight. The blistering heat made her immediately want to retreat back inside, but then how else would she get her package? She went back and forth between the front doors.

"Guess I have to do this." She muttered before quickly stepping back out and locking the door behind her.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Inside the package was a new dagger; she had broken her last in a fight. Miyuki was eccentric about weaponry; without even seeing her ridiculous katana wall, you could tell. Miyuki always carries her katana and dagger with her when outside, and even sometimes at home when she's in an episode.

From the house, the shop was about a few kilometres away. Pristine was the word to describe the shop; its clean katanas were neatly hung across the wall. Each katana would've glistened if the sun shone on them. As Miyuki made her way to the counter, she was greeted by a familiar face.

"Ah! Welcome back, Miyuki! We've finished preparing your dagger." The man at the counter disappeared into a backdoor. A noise of rummaging and things falling erupted from the door, and then nothing. Then he slammed the door wide open and said, "Here it is."

Clutching it in her hand, Miyuki examined every inch of the dagger. The handle was marble white with a gold ribbon pattern embedded into it. This dagger was very elegant in her eyes.

"Thank you. I'll treat this finely. Hah." Miyuki laughed.

She heard her stomach rumble and glanced at the time displayed on the clock. Miyuki looked bored; only two hours had passed, and she was out of things to do. Her stomach groaned.

"It wouldn't hurt to stop by at the store." She thought. It took a while to walk to the shop; after all, it was on the other side of the house. You go right to the weapons shop, and going left will take you to the convenience store.

Finally, after walking through the sweltering heat, When Miyuki arrived at the store, a cool breeze swept over her. She wanted to bask in the cool air, but then again. She was starving.

She stood still in the entrance, thinking of all the things she could buy. After a long thought, only one thing was on her mind.

At the back of the store was a one-of-a kind aisle for luxury goods. These were imported from across the world. Miyuki picked up one of the chocolate bars from this aisle. It originated in the country of Sora.

She rummaged through her pockets, and he pulled out a few loose coins. The price was 12 silver coins, and the amount Miyuki found she had was 13 silver coins. She gave a sigh of relief for the good news; the bad news was that buying luxury chocolate did not help their financial situation.

As she grabbed the chocolate from the shelf, feeling the softer material it was packaged in, she hoped it was going to be worth the price.

Out of the corner of my ear, the sliding, automatic doors of the shop dinged as multiple people walked through. There was nothing to be concerned about, so Miyuki continued shopping.

She didn't find anything else that was good enough for just a single silver coin. You could get a lot for one, but the problem would be quality. Miyuki didn't want to risk buying cheap food at the time. The aftermath of last time was food poisoning for a week.

Suddenly, Miyuki jumped in shock as several gunshots were fired at the front of the store. "What the hell?" Miyuki thought, not wanting to turn the corner to see what was going on.

Slowly, she peeked around the corner of a shelf and saw three people dressed in all black; they were wearing masks that were painted like clowns. "Give me ALL YOUR FUCKING MONEY!" one of them shouted at the cashier, shoving a gun to their head.

The cashier fumbles with the register with tears flowing down their cheeks, pleading to the man that they have a family and don't want to die. "If you don't want to die, then GIVE. THE. MONEY." The masked man shouted, pushing the gun into their head.

Miyuki looked down, the chocolate in one hand and the dagger in the other. As she looked at her dagger, it reflected into her eyes, and then she knew what to do. She wasn't doing this out of heroism, and it was quite the opposite.

The cashier dumped out the contents of the register, the cash stained with her tears. Suddenly, she saw a blue-haired woman pull the masked man down and stab him in the throat. Blood leaked out as her dagger made a clean cut through like butter.

In a flash, the man felt a blade pierce through his chest. Miyuki had unsheathed her sword, gliding it through the man's stomach. Within a few seconds, Miyuki had killed the criminal.

She gave a triumphant expression.

"Nobody can beat the great Miyuki!" She laughed, inflating her own ego in the process. Her hands were covered in blood as she put the chocolate on the counter. Fully expecting that the cashier would move on from the events and scan her item.

Instead, what happened was the cashier looking in horror with blood painted across her face. Then she violently threw up and fainted, smashing her knees on the cold, tiled floor.

"Well, if there's no one here... Then it's technically free!" Miyuki thought to herself, walking out of the door. The sliding doors took longer than normal to open. "Agh!" Miyuki shouted in pain as a fist connected to her face, causing her to fall onto a shelf.

Dozens of tinned foods slammed down onto her skull, leaving her disoriented. Suddenly, the perpetrator attempted to punch Miyuki again; she was still dizzy, but she managed to dodge, throwing a tin of soup at the person's face.

Once she regained her bearing, she realised that there were two more masked people, one in front of her and another waiting behind. The one behind looked noticeably more armed and deadly.

The first one lunges at Miyuki, swinging both fists at her. The air compressed from the sheer force and strength. Miyuki grabbed one of the soup tins from the floor and threw it at the person's face. It impacted them directly, leaving a red mark across his face as it bounced off.

Not wasting this chance, Miyuki got up and kicked him in the stomach, then grabbed and threw him into the ground. He gasped for air as he felt his back shattered from the impact and then was knocked out.

Miyuki took a deep breath; all his fighting had made her tired in terms of fighting. She was past her limit. Three years ago, she could've easily fought ten times more people without needing a breather.

She looked at the final person.

Something was different about them, however. They quickly lifted their ski mask up and swapped it for a samurai mask; she couldn't get a good look at their face. On top of the samurai mask, they were also wearing another to hide their identity.

"So, who are you?" Miyuki questioned but was stopped as the samurai reached down for his blade.

With an unsheath of their sword, they sprint towards Miyuki. Thrusting their metallic blade towards her. The sword narrowly misses her, cutting off loose strands of hair.

She kicked the samurai in the shin, making him grunt in pain.

They dodged each other's attacks, resorting to throwing a dozen items off the store shelves. Miyuki grabbed a hair dryer from the appliance section and threw it at him. With reflexes never seen before, he stabbed through the hair dryer. Avoiding impact.

The Samurai grabbed a rice cooker from the shelf on the opposite side; he charged up his arm and threw it at an incredible speed, directly impacting Miyuki and making her fall into a shelf.

Like dominoes, all the shelves of the store fall over one by one. Causing a massive thud as each one slammed into the ground with the force of an elephant.

"You didn't answer my fucking question." Miyuki told the samurai with a slight rage in her voice.

"You don't know what you're getting into. This isn't business for little girls." The samurai finally spoke; his voice was cold and monotonous. His words sounded almost robotic.

Miyuki stood at a stature of 5' 1, below the average height of an Edessa woman (which is 5' 5). She couldn't accept that, however. Her anger boiled over, and she was more than ever determined to rip this person to shreds.

"Im 20 FUCKING TWO!" She shouted with a burning rage.

Quickly, they both got up. Determined to kill the other. Miyuki lunged at them, driving the full force of her fist into the samurai's helmet. Several fractures cracked around her fist, and it barely withstood the force.

Clearly dazed from the punch, he stood still for a moment before he slashed at Miyuki. She was caught off guard, and the sword grazed her skin. Making a small

smear of crimson across her face.

To the horror of the samurai as his sword cut through a small part of her skin. She smiled like a crazy person, and that's when he realised... He lost.

Miyuki grabbed him by the arm; her grip alone could crush his bones. Then she laughed like a psycho before throwing him above her head and throwing him into the ground. He felt several bones in his body snap as he impacted the ground. Making a loud gasp for air.

As she walked towards the samurai, he threw a smoke bomb and started running. She coughed, getting a massive inhale of the smoke before she scanned around, trying to find him. By the time the smoke cleared, The samurai was nowhere to be seen.

She takes a sigh, wiping the blood away from her cheek with her sleeve and staining it red. All she wanted was a quick snack after picking up her new weapon, though. At least she got to give her weapon a test run.

Thankfully, the cashier made a recovery and stood back up. They look around the shop, notice the two dead bodies, and remember what happens. She holds her head.

"Tch, that samurai guy never told me what his problem was!" Miyuki shouted, and the cashier overheard and thought they would answer for the samurai. As Miyuki approaches the desk, the cashier puts something down.

It was a piece of plastic, and written on it was "Edessa Issued Government Identification." It was a mouthful to read. Miyuki held the card in her hand. In the picture was someone who vaguely resembled the cashier, albeit younger.

"It was over a decade ago, but I used to work under the government shadow group. The tensions kept building, and my entire squad was wiped out while we were on patrol. We were called Nova Extremists and traitors to Edessa. They fed themselves their own lies to use as an excuse to kill loyal people." The cashier vented, trying to hold back tears. They took a deep breath and continued to talk.

"I thought I was free. I left that stupid job, and yet those people are back! Their group is called the "Edsa Protectorate Group." They are all crazy about protecting this dump of a country from a goddamn non-existent threat!" The cashier shouted frantically.

"Huh. That's a shame. Goodbye!" Miyuki shouts as she storms out. Assuming that from her heroic activities, the chocolate would be free.

2.

Asher sets his breakfast down, and the warm lighting seeps through the kitchen curtains. Inside the house was Itzozu sitting down on the couch, watching some drama videos, and Elijah was upstairs on the balcony.

"ELIJAH!! Where did you put my flowers?" Asher shouted from downstairs; he heard a bunch moving around upstairs with heavy footsteps. Asher jumped in shock as he heard a loud thud hit the floor, followed by mutters.

Asher quickly moves his chair back and sprints up the stairs, storming into Elijah's room. Upon immediate entry, he notices how clean it is, a stark contrast to Miyuki's room. Elijah was on the balcony, lighting a cigarette.

"I swear all you do is smoke," Asher claimed, sliding the balcony door open. Elijah let out a little laugh as he took another puff.

"I have no clue where your flowers are. Just buy new ones." Elijah sighs. Having to deal with Asher's antics every day. He thought the flowers weren't that big of a deal if Asher had somehow misplaced them.

"It isn't like that! I need them." Asher shouted as he reached for Elijah's cigarette, picking it up between his fingers and throwing it off the balcony. "I was smoking that," Elijah muttered, defeated.

"Look. I really have no clue where your flowers are." Elijah told Asher. They both took a long sigh and looked out of the balcony. Dozens of buildings past where you can see the light of the sun shining onto each one. Asher had wondered why Elijah was always on the balcony, and he now knew why.

3.

After a long walk, Asher had arrived at where he believed this flower would be located. Asher wasn't just after a regular flower; he wanted a rare type of blue Eddow flower. This would help Asher and Miyuki manage their energy levels.

Asher goes around the back of the mortuary, stepping over unknown fluids and a disgusting buildup of trash and body parts. As he reached the back of the mortuary, he wiped a window with his sleeve. Making his pink top stained brown with grime and muck.

He peeked into the window and saw something horrific—a disgusting goopy creature moving around the room. Its flesh is black and slimy, pulsating like a heartbeat. This creature started chasing somehow. The lights flickered while he heard screaming, and then nothing.

"What the fu--I really don't want to do this now." Asher thought, feeling sick to his stomach.

Unfortunately for Asher, he has to get it. Swallowing all of his fears. He slowly opens the door and peeks inside. The hallway was pitch black, and the only illumination was a flickering light above.

The air inside has a heavy, deep feeling. It was as if the air itself was warning Asher of what was going to happen if he stepped inside. He jumped at every little scuttle and thud. His heart was beating at an incredible pace.

"Essence spell, spirit summon," Asher whispered to himself while interlocking his hands.

Spirit Summon is an advanced-level spell that summons a spirit. Asher had chosen a flame spirit, which would give him light and heat as he continued down the pitch-black halls. He jumps in fear as he realises that the walls are decorated with skulls and smears of blood. Something a mortuary should not be.

Asher was walking through the waiting room hall when suddenly. He heard police sirens outside, and people were tuning their radios. He heard a long knock before they busted the door in; it flew out and hit the floor.

Quickly, he put the spirit to sleep, making the dark room even darker without the spirit's light source. Slowly, he carefully took every step. Making sure not to blunder. "Why does this always happen?" Asher quietly moped and complained.

He approached a door whose handle was rusty and damaged. The window in the door looked into darkness. Slowly, he reached for the handle. It was cold to the touch. Shivering, he pressed down. Opening the door.

After he shut it behind him, his flame spirit awoke again, revealing the horrors of the autopsy room.

Inside contained a table with a person laying on top of it; their skin was a pale blue. To make it even worse, they were rotten, with large colonies of mould, deceased flesh, and maggots from the foot to the chest. Large chunks of meat were bitten off them, revealing the ribcage in horror.

Slouched against the wall was another person, whose blood leaked out of their stomach and was painted across the walls. Asher thought he was dead, but as he walked past, they grabbed at his ankle, making him jump in fear.

"H-Help..! You've got to help me! The-...The body storage! ...Dave… He's…Dead." The man stammered out, taking long breaths in between. Asher couldn't do anything to help him, and he could only watch as the light in his eyes slowly faded away.

Asher approaches the body storage, his hands trembling with fear. He takes a deep breath and slams the door wide open. Suddenly, he sees someone in a black hoodie opening a drawer, and he spots Asher.

"That's my flower!" Asher shouts.

"Essence Technique, Frozen Barrage." Asher loudly shouted, throwing his left arm out.

Frozen Barrage summons up to a thousand magic arrows, made from ice. The ice is immune to heat and will not stop until each arrow has a surface or it is somehow destroyed.

Hundreds of ice arrows appeared in front of Asher, and with a mutter of "Release," they all began to fire, and the masked person, while most of them missed, several of them punctured through their knee and ankle.

This masked person, short of breath, managed to utter out a spell that caused a large flame, and then it hit Asher, making a small cut on his face.

He stood still, and the masked person began to feel an overwhelming sense of fear from the aura.

"Hey now. Don't you dare ever ruin my face again." Asher laughed as he sliced the head off the masked person, killing them immediately. Like nothing had happened, Asher returned to normal, picking up the flower.

"I'll be taking this!" Asher laughed.

Asher grabs the flower out of a skeleton's eye. He needs this flower to help regulate this essence; otherwise, it would go haywire and he would be unable to use magic. In a better sense, this flower is the reason he can fight.

Fruitful was the word to explain Asher's success; he had managed to reclaim another Blue Eddow Flower, which was extremely rare.

He opened the door to his now-warm house, shielding him from the frost of the night. He entered the house at an awful time, just in time to see a drunk Miyuki rambling on.

"So, tttthat's why I killed that guy!" Miyuki stated that her words slurred and hiccupped after only a couple of words. "You should've seen his face! Hahaha!" Miyuki began laughing uncontrollably. Until she crashed and fell asleep on the couch.

Asher set his flower down in a vase filled with water and then went to bed.