image [https://i.imgur.com/Rrttn9W.png]

Two days quickly went by as the last of the written exams finished for first year students. Carmen exited her class with a yawn as she stretched her arms and back, feeling exhausted from the multitude of mental exercises she just endured. As she made her way outside, the sun had already set for the day and the early evening wind chilled her to the bone.

Carmen rushed back to her dorm, gripping her arms tightly to keep warm. Once she made it inside, Carmen noticed that Elise wasn’t home yet.

‘Hmm, that’s odd. She’s usually here by now.’

Carmen shrugged off her thoughts and proceeded to take a much needed bath, refreshing herself after such a tiring day.

After many hours passed by, Carmen began to nod off to sleep. She tried her best to stay awake as she waited for Elise to come home, but her fatigue was fighting her every step of the way. Carmen’s head eventually dropped onto her pillow and within a few short breaths, she was out cold.

As the night continued on, Carmen heard a subtle shuffling noise coming from her side of the room. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a silhouette of someone exiting her closet, gently closing the door.

“Elise, is that you?” Carmen asked with a groggy tone, barely looking over to see who was there.

“Yeah… Sorry, I’ll try to be more quiet.” Elise replied with a whisper. “Go back to sleep.”

Carmen nodded and began to turn over, allowing Elise to continue on with whatever she was doing. Elise let out a sigh of relief as she walked over to their door. She gently opened it and quickly exited the dorm, her hands tightly gripping a large, tan colored sack.

As the door closed, the sound of multiple coins dropping on the marble floors rang across the room. Carmen raised her head and looked over as she rubbed her eyes.

“C’mon Elise, what are you doing? It’s late.”

Carmen groaned with a heavy yawn, but noticed that the room remained silent, signaling that Elise was no longer present. Carmen then turned her attention towards the door and saw five Volairen gold coins littering the ground.

‘Why is my money on the floor?’

Carmen pushed her sheets away and stepped onto the cold floor, walking over to pick up the currency. As she examined the coins, a wave of worry and concern rushed over her like a raging torrent. She rushed towards her closet and cut on the light.

Carmen rummaged around and noticed that her money pouch was missing. She tossed her clothes, books, and bags in every direction, but to no avail, she could not find the large tan pouch. Carmen stood there with a blank expression as her heart raced, trying to figure out how this could’ve happened. However, it only took a few seconds for her to realize who the culprit was.

‘Did Elise seriously take my money!? Why the heck would she do that!?’

Carmen quickly got dressed and sprinted out of her room, quickly heading out into the dark and chilly night. She looked around aimlessly until she noticed some suspicious movement in the trees, far off in the distance. Carmen began to run in that direction, hoping she could catch up with Elise before losing her trail.

Unbeknownst to her, Tiaran was on an evening run nearby. She briefly caught a glimpse of Carmen’s silver hair swaying as she entered the nearby forest.

‘Carmen? What is she doing out this late?’

Tiaran ended her exercise session early and proceeded to follow after her little sister, feeling curious as to why she would be breaking curfew like this.

Carmen trekked through the sharp, piney shrubbery for what felt like an eternity. She wandered aimlessly and just as she thought she lost Elise, Carmen stumbled upon an abandoned sawmill.

There was a large open area with multiple downed trees sitting off to the side of the main building. As Carmen approached, she noticed a group of eight people standing out in the open. She quickly ducked behind a bush and observed from a distance, wondering what these people were up to. She couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but she could tell that something major was taking place.

Moments later, Elise arrived with the large bag gripped close to her chest. Carmen sat quietly and watched as the group of men seemed pleased to see Elise, cheering her on as though she just accomplished some great feat.

“Well I’ll be damned, you actually pulled it off!” Elise’s father exclaimed with a large grin. “I’m so proud to call you my daughter!”

Elise gave no response as she tossed the bag onto the floor, causing multiple coins to jingle and roll across the ground. Her father quickly picked up a coin and smiled. He turned around and held it up to someone sitting on a tree stump behind him. The man had messy, dark green hair, a fairly toned physique, and chiseled jawline. His tattered trench coat barely covered the fact that he had no shirt on.

“See, Leon! I told you she’d come through for us!”

Eric did a little jig to show just how excited he was to see this much money. Leon nodded and got to his feet, slowly walking towards the bag while wearing a devious grin.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

He squatted down and ran his fingers through the sack, sifting through the hundreds of golden coins sitting in front of him.

“Hot damn, there’s enough money in this bag to start a small village. Where the hell did you even find this much cash, girl?” Leon asked, his deep voice echoing across the open field as he looked up at Elise.

“What does it matter? You got what you wanted, right?”

Elise shot him an annoyed glare, clearly wanting to be done with this job. Leon snickered at her response and began to stand, looking over towards one of the other men standing nearby. He motioned for him to come over and ordered him to take the bag away. As his subordinate did so, Eric walked over to Elise.

“Phew, you have no idea how much of a lifesaver you are!” He said with another smile.

“Whatever… Anyways, you better keep your end of the bargain. Give me the deed and don’t ever bother me again.”

Her father simply nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He slowly handed the document to Elise. However, before Elise could take it from him, Leon blocked the exchange with his hand and knocked the paper to the ground.

“Woah there, I think it’d be an incredible waste of your talents if we ended things here.” He said with a dark grin, his crooked yellow teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

“I said I’m not interested. Give me what I’m owed!”

Elise quickly reached out her arm to snatch the paper up from the ground. Once her fingers touched the parchment, Leon gripped her arm tightly. Elise frantically tried to shake him off, but his grip tightened with each movement.

“You’ll get what you’re owed once I’m done with you.”

Leon’s voice cut through the air with a chilling tone, causing shivers to go down Elise’s spine. He tightened his grip further and suddenly, Elise’s body went completely weak. Her legs shook violently and the look of absolute terror came over her face as her eyes widened.

From the bushes, Carmen saw Elise drop to her knees once Leon let go of her arm. She had no idea what just happened to her. Carmen quickly stood from her spot and bolted towards them, hoping to save Elise from these seemingly dangerous individuals.

She summoned forth her Manifest and with great speed, Carmen slashed at Leon. Her attack, while fast, was sensed from a mile away and Leon quickly dodged out of the way with very little effort. Carmen landed in front of Elise and aimed her rapier at them, assuming a protective stance.

“So you’re the one that was hiding in the bushes over there. You should’ve just tucked tail and ran, little girl.” Leon said with another crazed smile. Carmen glared at him as her silver hair danced in the cold, autumn wind.

“Ah, I see. Now it makes sense how that brat got so much money. Pretty bold to steal from a Belouis Royal.”

Leon let out a hearty laugh after noticing Carmen’s unique features, piecing things together in his head. Carmen continued to glare until Leon held up his hands and exerted his Core Energy.

The burst of power shifted the winds around them and sent chills across Carmen’s body. She hadn’t felt Core Energy like this since her fight against the Holy Core Saints. Sweat dripped down Carmen’s forehead as she braced herself for combat.

“You boys chill out for a bit. I’m gonna blow off some steam real quick.” Leon said with a smirk, looking over at Eric and his henchmen.

They simply nodded and stepped off to the side, feeling excited to watch their leader fight.

Once Leon was finished exerting his power, a pair of dark green brass knuckles formed on his fingers. They glowed brightly as multiple runic symbols raced around each knuckle, lighting up his Manifest in a dangerously playful manner. Leon clenched his fists tightly and punched them together with incredible force, causing the ground to ripple and flex from the mere impact.

‘Just who is this guy!? He’s got to be middle Sapphire Class at least!’

Carmen began to weigh her options at that moment, wondering what her next move should be. She looked over at Elise who was still trembling on the ground, looking beyond terrified of something.

‘Hmm, with Elise still like that, there’s no way we can just make a run for it.’

She contemplated for a brief second before gripping her rapier tightly. Carmen started to slowly step to her left, leading the impending altercation away from Elise. Once she was a decent distance away, she aimed her palm at Leon and began to gravity manipulate him.

She applied an enormous amount of gravitational weight onto him, but to her surprise, it had absolutely no effect. Leon dashed forward with terrifying speed, his fist reared back and ready to strike. Carmen leapt out of the way just in time as his fists barely missed her, crashing into the cold earth below with devastating results.

Carmen swiftly pointed her Manifest at him and he was quickly surrounded by a multitude of black needles. They rained on him from all directions, causing mini explosions from each collision. The attack seemed effective at first, until Carmen noticed that Leon emerged from the dust and debris relatively unscathed. For whatever reason, he continued to be unphased by her abilities.

'What the hell? Did this brat just use another affinity?'

Confusion crossed Leon's face while he brushed dirt off of his shoulder. He stared Carmen directly in the eyes as he posed a question to her.

"Hey kid, how did you change your ability just now?" He asked with great interest. Carmen gave him no response, only angered glares of her own.

"Hmph, guess you don't feel like talking. No matter."

Leon smirked as he punched his fist outward, sending a fierce wave of compressed sound towards Carmen.

Carmen flipped away from the attack, but the sound waves radiated in multiple directions, clipping her in the chest and sending her backwards. The wave was incredibly loud as it continued to race past her, aggressively crashing into the sawmill and causing a large amount of destruction.

As she recovered from the attack, Leon was already on the offensive. He sent multiple swift punches towards her face, barely missing each attack as Carmen flipped and twisted her body in impressive fashion. However, after dodging the last punch, Leon's Manifest began to glow.

Suddenly, a loud whistling noise occurred right when his fist stopped next to Carmen’s ear. The sound was absolutely piercing as his Manifest generated an endless loop of sharp shrieks. Carmen quickly pressed her hands against her ears as she stumbled back, stunned by the sudden noise. This moment gave Leon a perfect chance to strike now that Carmen had completely let her guard down.

Leon sent a full force punch to Carmen’s jaw, launching her off of her feet and over into the opposite direction. She violently tumbled and rolled across the ground until she came to a stop a few feet from Elise. Carmen opened her eyes and saw double as her head continued to ring from the loud noise.

‘C’mon Carmen, get to your feet!’

She tried to stand, but the force of Leon’s punch had her completely rattled. Carmen wiped the blood from her busted lip and looked up to see Leon slowly approaching, his fist glowing a sinister hue. After a few steps, he quickened his pace and leapt into the sky while exerting his Core Energy even further.

Within a few seconds of charging his final attack, Leon blasted downwards with great speed. Carmen was the only thing he had his sights on, plummeting towards her as his fist reared back further and a whistling noise growing louder. She scooted over to Elise and spread out her arms, making one final attempt to protect her. Carmen closed her eyes and braced for impact.

A gust of wind and dust flew into her face, but after multiple seconds went by, Carmen noticed that nothing had happened to her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw someone standing in between her and Leon. It was Tiaran, effortlessly blocking Leon's attack as she gripped his fist tightly.

Curiously, her arms looked metallic and machine-like while runic symbols raced along them. It was as though Tiaran’s very muscles had been replaced by some kind of synthetic material. The scene grew tense as she stared Leon down with her terrifyingly vibrant red eyes.