I could tell at once that Kanda was not treating this as a game. Between the murderous look in his eyes and the evil look of those flames that coated his weapon, I felt mortal fear for the first time in my life. Not even the discovery of my future as a killer could touch the ominous feeling that radiated from Kanda like a physical presence.

“What do you mean?” I asked him, clutching my weapon tighter. “You know that I am?”

Kanda didn’t answer me. Instead, he clutched his spear with two hands and dropped into a low crouch. Sensing that I couldn’t dissuade him, I too prepared for a fight. To say that I wasn’t looking forward to this was an understatement. This went far beyond the Crucible, farther even than that of a rival. I don’t know how I knew it, but he wanted to kill me.

Letting out a guttural war cray, he sprang forward with blinding speed and slashed at me. It was only the combination of my own reflexes and Tomas’s help that allowed me to jump back in time, narrowly avoiding the flaming spear’s tip. I couldn’t fathom why he was so adamant about hating me. I parried his next strike with the staff of my scythe and slashed back.

It was as he knocked my attack away that I fully realized what it meant for someone to have the Martial specialty. He’d parried my attack with such casual ease that I felt no real resistance, and stumbled forward in the follow-through. He got me with a well-placed strike with the blunt end of his spear, right between the forehead. It was so fast that I couldn’t get my defenses up in time.

This is not good, Tomas said. This boy’s no amateur.

Well, I could have figured that out for myself. My own anger rising to my defense, I blocked, parried, and sidestepped frantically, my own attacks making no more impact than a gentle breeze. When I’d fought against Mikel and the others, they had purposely kept their own power limited to avoid injuring me. Here, Kanda was so obviously out of my league, and he didn’t bother with such niceties. He moved in a blur, the silver point of his spear slashing and jabbing with perfect control.

Damn, Tomas cursed. I should have taught you how to channel instead of using those moves. I had no idea that someone like him could exist.

Well, teach me it now, I thought quickly. Or else I might die!

Tomas went silent as Kanda and I moved around each other, attacking and countering with obvious ferocity. I could see some other apprentices nearby, waiting for a chance to enter the fray, their eyes wide as Kanda pressed me for space. He darted around me like a wolf, biting and retreating to attack from another angle. Somehow, he was getting even faster, while I was beginning to slow down.

Any time, Tomas, I thought, letting out a shout of pain as Kanda’s spear slashed my ribs, cutting through the robes and opening a deep wound.

Too late. Kanda’s foot hooked around my leading leg, and with a strong jerk, he knocked me prone. His spear sent my own weapon flying out of my hands, and before I knew it, I was flat on my back with the point of his spear at my throat. The blue flames had faded, but the weapon was no less threatening.

“Any last words, killer?” Kanda growled. At this range, I could see the faint silver light of his eyes more clearly. They gleamed with hatred.

“I’m not a killer!” I protested indignantly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Let me handle this. Tomas’s voice sounded in the back of my head. For a split second, I felt my mind go foggy again and knew he was attempting to take control. I surrendered and let him, hoping that he could get me out of this situation. But as quickly as the sensation had come, it faded away again.

“No!” Kanda spat, his foot pressing on my stomach with near crushing force. “You will face me yourself, without his help!”

I blinked up the length of the weapon at Kanda’s face. “Wait. How do you know about Tomas?”

His face was positively feral now. “I know the presence of the original killer when I see it! He helped the other slaughter my father!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Your father? But Tomas is my ancestor. He hasn’t been around for a long time.”

“You know nothing!” Kanda shouted, clearly goaded beyond reason. “You are the descendant of a long line of killers! I will stop you before you resume your heinous acts!”

Part of my mind, doubtless that part which Tomas occupied, did not feel anger or fear. It felt great sorrow, the emotion running as deep as the biggest ocean. Tomas carried guilt about something he’d done in his past, and somehow, Kanda not only knew about it but was a victim of it. I could feel him withdrawing into himself, and I felt alone once more.

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I probably would have died then and there, but one of the other apprentices apparently saw this as his chance to attack. He ran at Kanda with a long thin blade, striking while Kanda had me pinned. Kanda batted the kid away like a fly, then turned his glare on him.

“Do not interfere!” He yelled. “You will wait!”

But now another apprentice was attacking, his aura slamming into Kanda with brutal force. It was Matthias, with one of his barriers! This barrier was smaller, but it was also moving along with the burly man. He drew level with where I was standing and kneeled down to help me up.

“I am sorry for your misfortune, Silas,” he said with calm but determined eyes. “His behavior is quite unacceptable.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, pulling the scythe back to my left hand. “What is wrong with him? It’s not like he can kill me while I’m wearing this talisman.”

Ten feet away, Kanda was getting back to his feet. The apprentice that had tried to stab him attacked again and Kanda knocked him out with the butt of his spear. Then he reached forward and pulled off another of the cloth strips, leaving two remaining. There weren’t any flames to coat his weapon this time, but the weapon did seem to shine a bit brighter, as if it had been sharpened even further. That would seem to contradict my statement.

“That is a Runist’s Pact,” Matthias said with narrowed eyes. “But that art has been lost for centuries.”

“What is a Runist’s Pact?” I asked nervously, taking a step back. “Is it bad?”

“It is very bad,” he said, stepping in front of me. “And it also cannot be ignored. He has sworn himself to be restless until the spear tastes blood.”

“Meaning,” I finished the thought, “He either kills me, or it kills him.”

“Correct. It is an old art, where he places his own soul as collateral. Unless he succeeds in killing someone, he will die by his own choice.”

A little help, Tomas? I thought in my head. How do I stop him?

Strangely, Tomas’ voice sounded clear as day, the emotion gone from his voice. He was ready to tackle this challenge. Let Matthias deal with his first attack. I will take care of the rest.

Gratefully, I surrendered control to my ancestor. Somehow, I felt certain that he would manage, in one way or another, to end this. I no longer cared how it was done, as long as it happened. Tomas and I simply switched places, and I took a back-seat role, able to watch him pilot my own body.

“Welcome back, Master Tomas,” Matthias said. “I am pleased by your return.”

Tomas put his hand on Matthias’ shoulder. “It is good to be awake again, Matthias.”

In my spectator’s seat, I watched the byplay between Tomas and Matthias. How did they seem to know each other? They were certainly more cordial than Kanda had been. Matthias actually seemed more confident now that I wasn’t the one he was dealing with.

“Murderer!” Kanda snarled, his eyes locked on Tomas as he piloted my body. “You will pay for your crimes against my family!”

Kanda dashed forward, his spear point aiming true in his lunge for my controlled body. Matthias stepped in front of Tomas with his barrier raised, but it didn’t do any good. The point of the weapon pierced through the barrier as if it hadn’t existed, and punched right into Matthias’ chest. I let out a cry of shock and fear that nobody but Tomas heard.

“There,” Matthias muttered. “Now the pact is complete.”

Tomas put his hand on Matthias’ shoulder. “Thank you for your sacrifice, brother.”

“It is my pleasure, Master Tomas,” Matthias said. “I hope you can continue your work, and that we may meet again.”

“As do I,” I heard Tomas mutter. It was strange to see my own face twisted in such a powerful emotion as guilt and sadness. A single tear escaped and rolled down my cheek.

Kanda, whose weapon was stuck in Matthias, looked horrified at the end result of his attack. The anger was forgotten in his fear, and he seemed to be occupied with trying to sort through what had just happened. In any event, he never got the chance. Tomas closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, they were no longer my light brown, but a violently bright blue.

“Kanda Okoye,” he said, his voice sounding far more ancient and powerful than anything I’d yet heard. “You have killed an innocent soul, and all for the sake of revenge. You will now pay the price.”

Aura burst out from my body like a breaking dam. Ten, twenty, even thirty times the amount I possessed now sprang into being around Tomas. Even his body began to change. He grew slightly taller, gained more muscle, and the robes became dark as night, with a more elaborate wolf heraldry. Finally, the scythe grew a few inches, and it changed to the scythe that I’d seen in my dream. Bone handle and a shining long blade.

Kanda seemed to realize that he stood no chance, and tried to relinquish his weapon and run away. Before he could make it two paces, Tomas swung his weapon. It was so fast that I couldn’t even see it move, but I was aware of a faint silver trail, like a slow after-image. It cleaved through the air, striking Kanda. In one instant, he fell to the ground, unmoving.

There was something unique about Tomas’s scythe that rang in my mind. It was both ancient and completely familiar to me like I’d seen it somewhere. Then I realized what it was, and the shock was enough to disrupt my connection with him and put me back into my own body.

Tomas, with his robes and scythe, was identical to the largest statue in the courtyard of Death’s Castle. It was a monument to the first and greatest Reaper of all time, the man who had sealed away the Gray Clan.

Tomas was the one called Death.