Lights illuminated every building on the city block, with the path coalescing into a vibrant mix of dark blue and orange. The city's citizens passed by him, looking at him in awe and whispering as they did. He purposely neglected to wear his army badge, but by now, he was almost as recognizable as the grand officers.

Yasuke turned down a dark street, utterly devoid of any people. Yasuke thought back to his eastern homeland, Nippon, and the warriors he trained under. The last words from his master rattled in his head as he walked down the pitch-black street, "It’s okay for you to live, so don’t be so eager to die."

Her face had nearly disappeared from Yasuke’s memory; the only things that remained were her aged features and her assertive tone.

A figure stood defiantly at the end of the dark street, directly in Yasuke’s path. Yasuke stopped just short of running into them. He stood and stared at their figure for a long time, trying to discern any of their features.

After a while, Yasuke attempted to walk past the individual. They placed a small hand on his back, causing chains to explode from his back and connecting his body to the floor and the nearby buildings.

Yasuke grabbed the chain and let each individual link in the chain fall between his fingers. He grimaced as the heavy metal weighed his entire body down. Yasuke looked directly at the figure, now possessing a vague idea of who it could be, "Grand Officer Forever? I didn’t expect to find you here…”

The figure put down their hood, revealing a young woman with juvenile features. Her long dreads covered her eyes and her black dress dragged across the ground as she approached Yasuke.

"Officer 3rd Class Yasuke. Report your current situation now."

Yasuke immediately dropped to one knee, "Yes, Grand Officer Forever. King Esa has assigned Red, the King of Crimson Blood as the new Grand Officer to replace Grand Officer Leon."

Forever clenched her fist and paced around, as Yasuke tugged at the chain attached to his back.

"What are these chains made of? I’ve known about Forever’s ability, but I didn’t know it was like this!"

Forever bit her lip as she continued to pace, "Surely Olo didn’t agree to this! Leon was one of his first apprentices!"

Yasuke kept his head bowed and did not answer.

Forever got close to Yasuke’s head, still bowed down and nearly whispered, "Where is he?"

"You can't -" Yasuke stammered as he lifted his head.

"WHERE IS HE?" she grabbed him by the collar of his tunic and wrapped a chain around his neck.

Yasuke spit out blood between his words, "We’re in the old brick building in the residential area. I don’t know if he’s still there but Forever, you cannot fight him. Forget anything to do with the king or Olo; he’s too strong."

"You forget your place, foreigner," Forever waved the chain away from Yasuke as he gasped for air, "I’m nothing like you. I’m not weak, and I don’t shy away from danger. I don’t ball up in fear when something challenges me; I face it head-on. So I’m going to talk to Red. You run off and go tell Olo what’s about to happen."

Yasuke walked down the alley with his head held down. After a few seconds of walking, Yasuke turned around and ran back up to Forever, clutching his sword, ”Forever, I’m not letting you fight Red. That isn’t what Olo wants, that isn’t what King Esa wants, and that isn’t what I want,”

Forever laughed heartily, staring up at him now, "And who are you supposed to be? Yasuke, who do you think you are compared to me? Do you think your opinion matters?"

Yasuke grabbed his sword and got into a ready position. Black smoke billowed from his body as he gritted his teeth and dug his feet into the ground.

Chains erupted from the ground, bursting through the concrete and grappling for Yasuke's feet. Yasuke moved instantly, shattering the ground beneath his feet as he appeared in front of Forever before she could react and held his broken sword at her neck.

Yasuke pulled the sword back slightly, ”Forget about Red, Grand Officer. I’ll watch over him, and I’ll report back to you."

Forever kept her eyes on the sword, ”Not only are you threatening your superior, but you have the audacity to order me around as well?" Forever laughed aloud, “Unfortunately, I already used ‘Neural Link’ and connected with Baal and Dogma so they’re heading to Red as we speak. I guess being a Patron mage has its perks, huh?"

Yasuke cursed out loud and threw his sword. He held his head in his hands for a moment as he thought about what to do. A million thoughts rushed through his head as he began to tune out the world around him, even Forever’s taunting became nothing more than white noise. He thought back on the hours-long conversation he held with Red a little while ago, and specifically, his mind seemed to repeat the last statement that Red said to him before he left.

“The difference between dreams and reality is action.”

The words resonated with Yasuke, and they reached into his soul. The concept seemed so simple, yet Yasuke never thought of it in that way.

Yasuke lifted his head immediately, grabbed his sword and walked past Forever without acknowledging her. Slipping into the shadows further down the dark street, he vanished without a sound. She peeked her head down the street and around the corner and saw no sign of Yasuke.

----------------------------------------

Red sat along the wall in the decrepit building and meditated for a long time. He listened for a long time at the nostalgic sounds of the busy city streets, children playing, couples arguing, until it slowly became nothing. After a while, he could no longer feel the floor underneath him, or the stale air against his face; instead, he could only sense the flow of arcana around him. The arcana looked and felt much different now, however. Rather than being homogenous waves of water, they resembled mountains of sand that engulfed everything around him.

Red took some in his hands and focused his gaze on it. Red could easily identify each grain of sand he held in his hand.

I’ve been meditating for over fifteen years, and not once has arcana ever looked like…sand. What in the world did Valafor do to me?

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Red let the sand flow through his fingers, he let it drop and then picked it up again. He did this for a long while, before picking up a few grains and holding them between his fingers. He focused for a long time on them, twisting and turning them, squeezing and pulling them, and after a while, Red discovered he was able to manipulate the arcana like clay, changing its size, shape, and density with complete ease.

Unbelievable! So he vastly improved my control over arcana. It appears that I can give the arcana infinitely more complex instructions, so in theory, I should be able to expand my spell variety significantly.

Red thought for a while, frowned and then attempted to activate his ability Sensor to no avail.

Damn! I thought he was over-exaggerating, but he really did take all of my Patron support abilities. I can’t even do something simple like sense who’s near me; there could be somebody next to me right now, and I wouldn’t know!

As Red continued experimenting, a booming knock shook him out of his meditative state. He raced from the top floor down to the front but stopped just short of opening the door.

"Who is it?" He shouted lazily.

"Hey, it's Olo, I'm -" the voice replied in a familiar tone.

Red cut him off abruptly and readied a spear of blood in his hands, "I’m not opening the door until you start being honest!"

Before Red could even finish his sentence, the door was split in half and two figures stepped into the room. The first figure, a tall and slender man draped in fancy clothes and an ornate mask, blasted Red with fire without a word of warning.

Barely acknowledging the man, Red summoned a beam of ice, overpowering the fire and blasting the man backward into a wall.

"No, Dogma!" The second figure shouted as he raised his hand up and seemingly raised skeletons from the ground.

Red waved his hand as if smacking away an insect, instantly causing the skeletons to vanish in a cloud of smoke. At the same moment, Red grabbed the second figure’s throat and slammed him against a wall.

Red gasped for air between words, "Illusion magic? That’s a decent trick, but it’s a little weak for my tastes. Tell me who you two are and why you came here?"

The figure only stared back at him, smiling. They stared at each other for a few seconds, until Red let him go and began grasping at his neck.

The figure, grasping at his own neck, shouted out, "Dogma, go now!"

From just out of Red’s view, a voice shouted out, "Flames of Ogun!" as a torrent of flame began to engulf his body. Red couldn’t help but scream out as all of his attempts at defense faltered against the heat of the fire. He attempted to combat the flames with his ice once again, but Red was unable to concentrate as an unknown source began to choke him.

Red continued to scream out as he struggled with the individual choking him as well as the torrent of flame continuing to grow hotter. After a few moments, Red took a breath and slowly examined his environment. He noticed that the figure casting illusions had completely disappeared from where he last saw him. Looking around, he easily saw through the invisibility spell of the individual choking him.

“This must be the illusionist…” Red thought to himself

Red took another breath in, much deeper this time, and shouted out, "Diamond Dust!" A fog began to fill the room, and ice spikes began to form into a tornado and spin around the room.

Both of the assailants stopped their assaults and attempted to stop the ice spikes. Red moved to the fire mage Dogma, and kicked him into a wall, subduing him. Red walked slowly back over to the illusionist and waved away his cloak spell. He grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, calmly stating, "Now, would you mind explaining who you and your colleague are and why you are trying to kill me?"

Red stared into the man’s eyes for a few moments, and before Red could say anything else, Yasuke burst into the door, eyes pointed to the ground. Red examined him closely, looking him up and down for a long time. He could sense the arcana flowing and gravitating around his body, as it did for all humans and even though he couldn’t sense emotions anymore without his Patron abilities, it was obvious that negative emotions poured out of him like a waterfall.

Red dropped the illusionist, letting him hit the ground hard, and shouted out to Yasuke, "Who are these two, Yasuke?"

Yasuke did not respond; he just continued to look around at the room. He looked over at Dogma, slumped over and unconscious, with ripped clothes and patches of ice over his body. He looked around the room and walked over to the burn marks, placing his hand on one.

After a few moments, Yasuke turned to Red and shook his head, "Sorry, Red. I know you put your pride to the side and joined the army of the enemy kingdom, and this is the welcome you’re introduced to."

Red laughed lightly and placed a hand on Yasuke’s shoulder, "Unfortunately, Yasuke, this is one of the many consequences of the lifestyle you want to adopt. This is the price of having freedom. And the only way to pay it is to have strength above all others."

Yasuke looked at Red, and then looked down at the illusionist for a long time. After a long pause, Yasuke spoke, "This person is Commander Third Class Baal. You probably noticed his impressive illusions, but his innate ability is what really makes him stand out. He can alter the perception of time for anyone who touches his skin."

Red backed up suddenly, and looked around while pondering the revelation. He looked around and examined the same areas that Yasuke was looking at, and he immediately noticed it.

I thought this battle only took a few minutes, but some of these burn marks are hours old.

Yasuke continued to speak, "I can tell you noticed it too. I left over five hours ago, in the middle of the night. It’s very nearly morning now,” Yasuke lifted Dogma up and looked at his fingers. They were completely frostbitten and nearly ready to snap off.

"This unfortunate guy is Commander First Class Dogma, one rank above me and the direct subordinate to Baal. Besides the amount of mana he can command and his ability with fire, he’s nothing to write home about. And both of these individuals report to the most serious threat, Grand Officer Forever."

"Forever. Forever? “Why…” Red thought to himself.

He immediately asked out loud, "Why does that name sound familiar?"

Yasuke propped Dogma against a wall and sat down himself, "You recognize her, huh? She brought it up a few times when we began the operation to search for you, during the Battle of Gunga Waddi, she was able to trap you for a few seconds."

Red tried to recall that happening, but as the years passed, his memory of the events became foggy at best and completely blank at worst. As Red placed a hand on his chin, he vaguely remembered being wrapped in layers of chains that constricted him like snakes. Red sat down next to Yasuke and shook his head, and as he moved to say something, another memory flooded into his head.

He remembered being wrapped in tight chains that burned his skin to the touch as Oldum's soldiers surrounded him with weapons and spells pointed. He remembered the young girl holding the chains like a leash and yelling out something indistinct. He couldn’t make out any of the words, nor did he try to, but a single phrase cut through the white noise and pierced his memory.

“Always remember my name, Maria Forever!”

A moment after these words were emphatically shouted, spikes erupted from the chains, stabbing into Red’s body and directly through it in a hundred places.

Red closed his eyes and held his head in his hands. He quietly asked, "Forever? Does her ability have something to do with chains?"

Yasuke nodded his head and looked at Red. Even with his face in his hands, Yasuke noticed something deeply affecting Red, causing him to shake slightly, "It does, but that’s just one aspect of her ability. I'll go over it further later, but for now, just know her ability is called Link."

Yasuke stood up and dusted himself off. He grabbed Dogma and hoisted him over his shoulder, then walked over to Baal and grabbed him by his tunic, "I’m going to take these two idiots back to the castle and talk to Olo about this. I had a conversation earlier with Forever, it didn’t go exactly as planned, but I think we came to an understanding. I hope that she isn’t planning to attack you anymore, but if she does come here herself, then I’ll provide one tip; don’t stay in her line of sight. Focus everything on your speed and don’t let her lock you down. I’m sure you can handle anything else."

Yasuke saluted Red and walked out of the door, into the pale early morning.

Red stood up to close the door behind him and as he did, he noticed something strange. No matter what he did, he could not stop his body from shaking.

"Why can’t I relax? Am I scared of Forever?" Red thought to himself as he tried for a little while longer to calm down. After a few seconds, he slammed the door shut and slid down the adjacent wall, closing his eyes and grasping his head again.