*3rd Person POV*

A few minutes before night fall when Evan was heading back to the lake where he first woke up, he is not alone.

A little distance away from him, in the dense forest that was completely filled with trees, a womanly figure is sitting on top of a thick tree branch near the top. The woman has not noticed Evan’s actions in the forest since she was distracted waiting for someone else.

As she waited, she admired the setting sun which was turning the beautiful golden sky into a dark and broody night. The woman is fiddling around with a silver-coloured short sword, making sure it’s well maintained while constantly stealing glances at the gorgeous sunset.

The woman had black lush straight hair that reached below her shoulder, accessorized with a golden pin on the back of her head which was supporting her long hair. She has a slim body and honey-brown eyes. She is wearing a skin-tight black outfit which favoured mobility that makes her disappear in the darkness of night, almost like she is cosplaying a ninja, but without a mask to hide her beautiful face.

But all of this is not as noticeable as her ears which were longer and pointier than an average human. She is an Elf, and her name is Tifa.

*Tifa POV*

I sighed and stopped playing with the sharp sword in my hands. I was trying to waste time until sunset, but I am no longer in the mood to swing my sword like a child as I sat up.

I could nearly see the whole forest from the top of the tree, but it was starting to get boring and I didn’t want to accidentally lose my sword, so I sheathed it back into the scabbard hanging from my belt.

I stared at the setting sun that gives me a warm feeling. The sun rays didn’t hurt my eyes and all I can see is an orange ball slowly setting down while painting the sky gold.

I was lost in thought and before I knew it, the sun hid itself behind the large mountains in the distance, turning the golden sky into a dark-bluish one.

As the sky turned dark, the visibility has lowered, and the only things I can see were the trees and numerous stars that started twinkling in the night sky.

Since there was nothing to think about, I was reminded of all my problems and I could not help but sigh unconsciously.

Why did it all become like this? Maybe if I had more mana then things would be different, but I don’t. Elves have an abundance of mana since birth which separates them from other races. Because of this, they have heightened ego and hate most of the other races.

Despite being an elf myself, I’m shunned by my own people because of my inherent low mana. It’s impossible for elves to have low mana which only means one thing. I'm not an elf, I’m a half-elf. Not only that, but an elf with human blood.

The human race is hated by elves the most due to many conflicts in the past. Because of the elves’ long age, they don’t let go of their grudge that easily. All of these made me sigh again. I saw a flock of white birds flying into the dark distance and I felt envious of them.

Due to my inability to project a lot of mana, and the fact that everybody somehow hates me, the only occupation I could take was the assassin occupation. An occupation that keeps me away from everyone else and also the most dangerous one since you have to act alone.

I don't mind it all that much since I get to stay away from that hypocritical place. But, it’s not a well taken job, because of which I had to teach myself on how an assassin actually works. Unlike what most people think, assassin occupation is half about spying for information and the other half is assassinations or sabotaging, though I’m never trusted with those missions.

I don’t like elves, but there are still people among them who are not so bad. My big step-sister is one of them. Her name is Sarah and we’re both orphans, but even though she’s a pure elf, she still takes care of me like a bigger sister.

I'm waiting for her like always, since we partner up every now and then when the job is too hard or… when I’m not assigned a job. She would take a job and then we would do it together and split the rewards afterwards. We could meet up back at the kingdom, but that makes trouble for both me and her. And at this point, I don't want to increase any more of her burden.

I closed my eyes and relaxed, wasting some more time until I finally felt a presence below me. I opened my eyes but before I could even look, I heard her same familiar greeting.

“Hey Tifa! How's my little sister doing!” She said enthusiastically. I looked down and she was standing straight on a thick branch with one hand resting on the tree.

She had blonde hair styled into a twin ponytail and is about two heads smaller than me. She looks like a 15-year-old human girl but she's actually older than me. She never tells me her age even though I’ve asked her a number of times. She wore black clothing like me but I'll bet it's only for the mission we’ll be doing right now. She also has a golden bow hanging from her shoulder and a quiver filled with sharp arrows.

I smiled and greeted her back. “Hello Sarah, I was starting to get a little lonely.” I didn’t match her enthusiasm but she doesn’t mind.

A playful grin formed on her face. “Ohhh, is my little sister worried about me? Hehe, I'm flattered.” She said that either to lift my mood or because she is feeling playful. Either way, it made me chuckle a little bit.

Noticing the improvement in my mood, she smiled and started talking. “Well before anything else, you remember the rules of working together, right?”

I nodded my head and responded. “Yes, captain.”

The rules she's referring to are only two. One, call her captain during the whole mission. And two, I can’t disobey her orders. I agreed to these rules because the first one is only there to protect our identities somewhat, and the second one is because compared to her, I lack experience.

“That's a good girl.” Sarah nodded happily.

She suddenly jumped up and landed her nimble body in front of me. I looked up to her and started thinking what she was trying to do but she started caressing my head.

“Don’t worry, your big sister will take care of you.” She said while smiling like a mother sending her kid off to school.

It felt weird.

...The good weird.

I gently pushed her hand away from my head. “Geez, please don’t treat me like a child, captain.”

She didn’t mind me pushing her hand away. “Aww, you’re still a child compared to me.” After she said that, she turned around and looked in the horizon.

“So,” I said as I stood up. “What are we doing today captain?”

“Jeez, do you always have to be the serious type?” She said in mild annoyance. “We're meeting after quite a long time too.”

While I do want to talk to her for a little bit more because it’s already been a month since we last met, the mission takes priority.

I don't really know what she's up to most of the time. Actually, I still don't know which occupation she's in. She sometimes uses her bow and sometimes magic. It’s really hard to discern what her job is and she doesn’t tell me either. But whatever it is that she does, it takes a lot of time.

However, this time I knew why she was away. She was training since the festival is going to happen pretty soon. "The Night of the Dryad" festival, which happens every year at the exact same time the very last dryad died.

The dryads were an important faerie for our forest kingdom. They could protect and control the entire forests that we lived in. They also protected all the elves from outsiders and took care of us like mothers of nature. We all show our capabilities during the festival to show the souls of dryads that we're capable of protecting ourselves from now on so that their souls find peace.

“I'm always happy to see you,” I said as I made a playful smile. “But I also know that you like lazing around a lot. Which, I'm not going to let you do.” As I said that, she looked back at me while pouting.

I looked at her pridefully with my chest puffed up and asked again. “So, what's the objective today, captain?”

“Jeez, you're no fun. Anyway,” she said as she looked back at the dark horizon. “This is a request from the archery quartermaster.” She took out a parchment from her pocket and handed it to me.

I looked at it and,

Help wanted:

This is Ralston, from the archery department. I am in need of lens from demon eyes to try and create goggles for the upcoming festival. It's to shield the archer's eyes from any kind of damage to their eyes.

Reward: for every undamaged lens, 2 silver coins.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Duration: 3 days before the festival.

3 days before the festival. So, the deadline is tomorrow.

“Did he find a way to make the goggles?” I asked Sarah as I put the parchment into my pocket. “I heard that it's pretty tough to make things out of monster materials.”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “Well, he said he wanted it to be at the festival, and I doubt he knows how to make them. He probably just wants the lens for practice.”

I nodded understandingly, “Well, the demon eye scavenges for food at night time so it's best to prepare for them right now.”

By food, I mean mana. Specifically, animals who possess mana, whether harmless critters or a lone innocent person who chooses to take a stroll during night time.

I started looking at the dark and blue sky hoping to see any eyes flying around but Sarah turned around and asked me with sadness in her voice.

“...Are you really not going to join the festival again?”

I sighed. “Yes, you know how they are.”

“But,” she was going to say something but shook her head. “No, nevermind.”

“Thanks.” I said apologetically.

“It's alright, whatever you wish for, I got your back.” Sarah said as she smiled and slammed her fist on her thin chest.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, captain.”

“Alright, get ready.” Sarah said as she took the bow golden bow hanging from her shoulder. “Those eyes will be coming down soon.”

I nodded and took out my two silver shortswords from their scabbards, before waiting for the eyes. Sarah and I can both maneuver fine on top of tree branches, which is why we stayed on the trees so we don’t have to face the zombies roaming below and fight the demon eyes with no distractions.

“We're going to try and get 10 lenses before we leave.” Sarah quickly said as we both spotted some demon eyes coming down from the skies above. “Remember, if you spot anyone that is not an elf, don’t make contact or help them. We cannot risk witnesses.”

“Understood.”

Sarah nodded and then pointed above the dark sky. “Lesser Flare.” A small white ball of light lit up above us. It illuminated the area up a little bit but the main reason for this is to attract the demon eyes to us. It could still be seen by any wandering people below us so we quickly spread out from the small ball of light.

Noticing the small light and the fluctuations in mana, a horde of demon eyes came right after it. “Alright! I'll shoot them down!” Sarah yelled, “You deal with any who gets away!”

“Understood!”

The hunting of the demon eyes proceeded smoothly. Luckily, there weren’t any wandering people down on the ground so we could hunt quickly and efficiently.

Soon, the last demon eye charged towards Sarah. I got in its way and quickly swung one of my silver shortsword down to cut it in half from the side as to not damage the lens. After the eye ball was cut, I ignored the blood and quickly grabbed the mushy and viscous front half before it fell down on the ground below.

I nimbly landed on one of the many tree branches and carefully peeled the lens off of the demon eye’s carcass before throwing it away. “Annnd, that’s the 10th lens. A mission well done!” Sarah jumped to a tree branch near me and said excitedly. “Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without you because I only specialize in either completely obliterating the enemy up or making a large hole in one, which is why I needed your help.”

I nodded and placed the last bloody lens in my small pouch that was tied to my belt.

“Now that the mission is over,” Sarah said as she couldn’t hide her excitedness, “Let's go back and have some fruit juice. It’s on me!”

I chuckled. “Alright.”

We always share the reward money 50/50 so it's nice to work with her. That, and her company is the best. We both turned towards the direction of our home, the elven kingdom, and started making our way back by jumping from one branch to another.

I followed her from behind since she’s not as fast as me but I noticed a light amidst the darkness and stopped.

Sarah noticed that I wasn’t following her anymore and quickly asked me, “Hey Tifa, what's keeping you?”

“I see a light.” I said as I pointed at it.

Sarah looked towards where I was pointing at before she made a troubled sigh. “You know we can't risk contact, right? Remember the last time an elf made a contact with a human? The whole hunting ground was filled with them for several months.”

I quickly responded. “Yes, but this may not be a human, and what if it's a child lost in the woods? What if it’s another one of us?”

I looked at her pleadingly. She looked at me, troubled and a little annoyed. But my words had impact, she can’t deny me now.

“Ugh! You have a point.” She said as she raised her hands in defeat. “We'll go, but let’s scout the place first before making contact.”

I smiled and nodded before jumping from trees to trees in a really fast pace. Sarah couldn’t keep up with me. She has good strength in her arms to wield a bow, but she's not good with her legs, unlike me.

{Author Note: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) }

I finally found the reason for the light source. It was a young-looking demi human with lustrous silver hair and crystal-like blue eyes. He was fighting the zombies desperately, but I doubt he'll survive long with just a wooden sword.

He slashed away a zombie that was on fire, and his sword immediately caught fire too. No, He’ll definitely die if I don’t do anything.

Before I made a move, he screamed out, “Weapon magic enhancement!” Which stopped me.

At that moment, his big wooden sword that had caught fire turned into a Fiery Wooden Sword, which he started using to kill the zombies. I looked at the spectacle and his skills, and it all made me think of only one thing.

Impossible.

He can imbue a wooden sword with fire magic? That’s literally impossible, as fire mana eats away nature element just like how fire and water reject each other. But instead of the fire magic eating away at his wooden sword, it’s enhancing it, making it stronger. The control over the fire and nature element at the same time must be astronomical!

And while he’s doing that, he’s fighting zombies! This is literally impossible! I was going jump ahead and save him but I stopped and waited for my sister. I need her input before I do something recklessly.

Moments later, Sarah finally caught up to me and I looked at her. She had a difficult expression on her face, as if she also couldn’t believe what she was witnessing before she looked at me and said, “We can't interfere.”

I was going talk back but she quickly added, “We have our orders. Get the lens and go straight back. We can't risk exposing ourselves for a demi human like that, even if we’re on friendly terms with the Silver Daemons.”

I gritted my teeth in anger. Even if we’re on friendly terms? Does that mean we should just leave them here to die?

“This is weird though.” Sarah said she placed a hand on her chin. “They never leave their place alone, which can only mean that he’s either trying to prove himself or was exiled. We shouldn’t interfere either way.”

I nodded reluctantly and the words “It’s unfair.” Escaped me.

Sarah made a deep sigh and said in almost a whisper, “What am I going to do with you.”

I looked at her and called her name. “Sarah.”

“I already told you before,” She quickly said. “Call me captain while on missions.” As she said that, she held her temples as if it pained to think what is the right choice here.

“Ugh! Fine!” She said, annoyed. “I'm going to go back with the lens and you stay here to collect his corpse. He won't survive a night with a wooden sword on fire. The sword will probably meet its maker soon too and there's no telling what will happen afterward. At least give him a proper burial.”

I nodded sadly and gave her the small pouch of lens. She took it and reminded me, “And do not engage. That's an order.” It was an order with a small loophole which I think was what she was trying to tell me.

So, I can help him but not meet him. Fine by me.

I nodded one last time before she disappeared into the darkness.

I quickly looked back at the boy and he was fighting 2 elite zombies now. It didn’t take a genius to know that he wouldn’t make it. If it was only one elite zombie then maybe, but he's fighting two of them.

Should I really betray Sarah’s order and risk engaging? I was thinking of jumping in but suddenly his eyes turned blood red. It was a weird thing to see but what was weirder is what happened afterwards. He became insanely fast. He was having trouble just fazing the elite zombies but now he actually killed one of the elite zombies.

The more I see him the more unreal all of this seems. Not only has he incurred so many injuries, but on top of all that he’s controlling his mana so precisely that the fire on his wooden sword is not eating it away but rather supplementing it, and now he’s much stronger than before.

I saw him taking out a flask filled with red liquid out of nowhere and started drinking it. After that, I saw most of his injuries start patching up. It looks like he just drank a healing potion, which is rare but not unbelievable.

Just who exactly is he? Not only does he have healing potions, but he has great skills in sword and magic. As I ponder my thoughts, a bunch of zombies started coming out of hiding, probably thinking that he's an easy prey. No matter how good he is, he'll tire himself out and collapse sooner or later.

I can’t risk being seen by him but I can help him from the shadows. After I made up my mind, I jumped down from the trees and landed silently. I quickly took a glance at him and he's killing zombies as if he was born to do that.

I looked into the darkness and zombies have started digging themselves out of the ground. Before they dug themselves out, I started my onslaught so that he won't get surrounded.

As the night went on, there were a lot of times I thought of giving up from the exhaustion, but looking at his face who had no sign of resignation to his fate… I must say, it heated me up as well. If someone like him can fight off his fate then so can I. Those were my thoughts as I kept my onslaught going.

I killed zombies and stayed away from him. And killed, and killed, and killed. I was only one person, zombies kept passing me and targeting him, but he is like a god of death, collecting their overdue interest.

How long had I been fighting?

Minutes? Hours? It felt like weeks had passed by. My whole body was covered with sweat, some droplets were even stuck on my eyebrows. I can’t stop breathing heavily. It felt like my lungs are getting stabbed by painful metal spikes each time I breathe.

The second I saw the sun rising, I went up a tree branch and sat down. I wiped the sweat off of my face as I tried to control my breathing. Once I can breathe correctly again, I searched for any signs of him. The moment I saw him, I was flabbergasted.

A monster.

That’s the only thing I can think of. There was no sign of tiredness as he is staring at a zombie's arm before finally looking up and yelling, “DAMN IT ALLLLL! LIFE IS PLAYING GAMES WITH ME AGAINNN! AHHHHHHHHHH!”

After his scream filled with rage, he took a deep breath and walked up to the arm, and it teleported to his hand. He started to swing it around before the arm just disappeared.

Is he sane or am I hallucinating? Probably the latter since I have been fighting for the whole night with no breaks. I’m so tired that I would collapse as soon as I relax even a little bit.

I wanted to believe I was hallucinating, but what he started doing next made me question everything. He just casually walked over to the unfinished house and started to complete it. I pinched my face to confirm that I'm not dreaming and that he’s actually a monster.

I wanted to scream and demand answers but I couldn’t since I was already exhausted. Words refused to come out of my mouth, and I can’t risk meeting him because of Sarah’s orders.

I just can't believe it.

Wait. I thought to myself as I started thinking rationally. Maybe it's that red potion he drunk every now and then during the whole night. Yeah, it’s definitely because of that!

Now that the mystery is solved, I’m going to close my eyes and rest. Not sleep, just rest for a little while.

I think I rested for about half an hour. It felt so much better to breathe normally again. While the exhaustion is still there, I can at the very least walk around normally.

I opened my eyes and…

I can't believe it. He actually did it.

He just nonchalantly made a house after fighting for the whole night. I pinched myself just in case I might have accidentally slept when I was resting and this was some sort of nightmare I didn’t want to see. But no, it was all real. I felt so stupid to have been worried about him. I couldn’t see him anywhere so either he’s inside the small shack or somewhere else. But at this point I don’t care anymore.

I'm going back home. And I'm going to drink as much fruit juice I want.

I stumbled down the tree branch but landed safely. I slowly picked myself up and dragged myself back home. The reward of fruit juice beverages was the only thing in my mind as I slowly stumbled back to my kingdom, tired and defeated.