As Soral got deeper into his routine he began to notice something strange. The way he acted and thought as Mr. Dehd Lee began to naturally differ from his usual self. Dehd Lee become obsessed with experimentation, and he found he slowly grew more patient. What surprised Soral was that none of these things seemed to affect his normal self. He figured it was probably not normal, so he didn’t mention it.

That wasn’t the only thing he had to worry about, though. Mr. Dehd Lee also seemed to be drawing attention from the neighbors. Insanity had warned him of a presence watching in the distance almost daily. Whoever it was would watch for hours before they would leave. Whenever he asked for more details, all she would say was that his magic reminded her of a well-managed storm.

How could a storm be well-managed?

With no answer to his unasked question, he decided to ignore his spying guest until it became a problem. A couple of weeks passed, and Dehd Lee almost forgot about his watcher. Almost. It was still morning when the guest suddenly approached at incredible speed.

‘Dodge,’ Insanity warned, showing him the motions he needed to take rather than using words.

He quickly followed her instructions, narrowly missing what would have surely been a killing blow. The guest lowered their knife slowly, turning to face him.

“You dodged me,” he noted, “I thought you might have noticed me.” He was still perfectly calm despite having his suspicions confirmed.

The man was unlike anyone Soral had ever seen. His hair was silver, but not in the way of aging. It had a bright shine to it that perhaps even real silver did not have. He was tall, and slim, but the strength he had propelled himself with earlier was no joke.

“A storm,” Dehd Lee muttered, taking in his appearance. He somehow understood what Insanity meant now. If anyone could fit the idea of a well-managed storm it would be him.

“A storm?” the man repeated.

“Yes, Storm. Why are you here?” he demanded. He doubted the man would give him his name so he just decided to use his own to call him by.

The man paused, then a smirk grew upon his face. “If you can beat me, I am here to offer you a deal,” he told him, “You see, I am an assassin who has been hired to kill you, but I have no actual interest in doing so.”

“So if I beat you, you will leave me alone?” Dehd Lee checked.

“If you beat me, I will offer you a deal that will ensure you are never targeted by my employer again,” Storm promised.

That seemed suspicious, so Dehd Lee did a little eavesdropping.

‘I can use this chance to get rid of that idiot ruler once and for all. If he can defeat me, no one will be able to accuse me of going against the laws of Qilin.’

The laws of Qilin? Where was that? He must have skimmed over it in his studies, but it was probably close by. He would probably have to comply to find out more, and he didn’t see any harm in beating him.

‘I will help you,’ Insanity promised.

“I’ll play your game, but not here,” he agreed, “I won’t allow you to damage my future orchard.”

Storm glanced at the trees, and other than the trystalis, the others were still tiny twigs. Not much of an orchard yet. Dehd Lee didn’t have to listen to his thoughts to feel the judgment. “Where would you like to challenge me, then?” Storm asked.

“I hope you are good with poison,” Dehd Lee told him, “Otherwise I will have an advantage in the open.” He stepped outside the comfort of the poison-free bubble the trystalis had created, the ground gaining an unpleasant crunch accompanied by a puff of toxic ashes.

“Mild poison like that won’t affect me,” Storm promised, following without a sign of concern. He was an assassin, after all. Some level of poison immunity was expected. Once they had travelled an appropriate distance away, Storm stopped. “I will allow you the first move.”

Dehd Lee tensed. That definitely seemed like a trap, but he did not know enough about his opponent to offer him the first move instead. “Very well,” he agreed. Luckily he had been doing some other testing while he waited for his beloved faerutil to grow. He had a few tricks up his sleeve, surprisingly literally, because of it.

‘He is fast,’ Insanity warned, ‘but he will likely toy with you at first. Use this to your advantage.’

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Rather than waste time thinking up strategies that wouldn’t work, Dehd Lee sprung into motion. With magic flowing through his muscles, he moved at an inhuman speed, but not fast enough to surprise his opponent. Storm casually blocked the attack, raising his arm. The sleeve of the assassin’s shirt felt oddly hard all of the sudden, and Dehd Lee noticed it had taken on a strange sheen as well. It was like finely woven chain mail, while the rest of Storm’s clothes remained ordinary cloth.

Distracted, Dehd Lee struck again, watching Storm change his clothing at will into the strange material. This time he felt a familiar sensation when he came into contact with it. A sort of magic resonance. Again, this time he aimed for one of the few parts of the assassin’s body that remained uncovered, his hands. Storm moved his hand, and his arm to block the blow again.

So cool! Having already forgotten his original goal, Dehd Lee continued his attacks with a smile on his face. He soon discovered that this power was not limited to Storm’s own clothing. Storm used it on his, to slow and stop his movements. Unfortunately, that quickly proved to backfire as Dehd Lee’s innate magic fueled the crystilium threads lending his attacks even more strength.

“I told you to defeat me,” Storm reminded, “Why are you playing around like this?” As an assassin with high pride, he couldn’t allow himself to be beaten easily. Whoever gained his favor had to be worthy of it.

Dehd Lee suddenly remembered his true goal and paused. This battle was better suited for his normal self. It was risky, but the distance should be great enough it did not matter. He removed the hat, glasses, and coat, stowing them in his pocket.

Soral stretched. “This is probably a terrible idea, but if I am going to take this seriously, I shouldn’t distract myself by pretending to be someone else, right?”

“All of that before was an act?” Storm asked, somewhat amused, “I look forward to witnessing your true self then.”

The battle resumed in a way very similar to how it began, but Soral decided he would pull out all the stops. Pitfalls, teleportation, he even threw in a mine snake or two that he had collected to guard his treasures. Storm navigated them all with ease. It was clear both of them were still playing. But Soral could only play. He knew he stood no chance against Storm in a normal fight.

‘Challenge him to attack you instead,’ Insanity advised, ‘Prove that you are untouchable.’

Soral stopped, and smirked at his opponent. “You are pretty good at dodging. You must run away often. I bet you can’t even land a strike on someone who knows you are coming.”

“Oh? If you are betting, what do I get if I win?”

Soral thought, “A faerutil fruit,” he offered, “It is the most delicious food in Althaedor.”

“Are you suggesting that if I fail to land a strike then you win?” Storm asked, trying to gauge the rules.

“If you are willing to see it that way,” Soral told him, “We weren’t getting anywhere the way we were fighting before.”

Storm chuckled. “Do I have a time restraint? Or do you just have to know I am coming?”

‘Finish it now, while you have his interest.’

Insanity seemed wary, and while Soral did not share that wariness, he did want to get this over with. It was cutting into his precious time as Dehd Lee were he could be researching or experimenting for his future grove.

“There has to be a time restraint or this will never end,” Soral told him, “I’m pretty busy so I would like to get this over with sooner rather than later.”

“Get this over with?” Storm asked with a small laugh, “I see. Since you have so graciously offered your time to challenge me I will give you one hour. If I cannot land a single strike within that hour I will admit my defeat. However, during this hour I will not give you a single moment to rest, recover, or retreat.”

“Sure,” Soral agreed. If that was what it took to shorten things to an hour, that worked for him. Besides, in a land filled with constant toxic fumes, his magic was being continuously recharged. He doubted he would even get tired within the hour no matter how much he moved.

The moment he agreed, Storm shot into motion, the ashes swirling around where he had been moments before. He had moved at a speed where Soral hadn’t even been able to see which direction he had gone in. Only the flow of the ashes gave him any clues. He moved, just in time to dodge a strike from the assassin. It had only been a second, if that, of the promised hour and he had almost lost.

Time to cheat.

Soral listened in to Storm’s thoughts to gain the advantage, finding the assassin both hyper focused, and enjoying the challenge.

‘He dodged the first attack? How fun! He might actually win. It is hard to give up on that faerutil, though. I can always find someone else to give my Favor too.’

Favor. It had such a deeper meaning in the thought that went beyond Soral’s comprehension, and he didn’t have time to worry about it either. He was able to use Storm’s thoughts to stay one step ahead, but he couldn’t get distracted even for a second. Meanwhile, the assassin seemed to be feeling a whimsical sense of amusement as the hour continued.

Despite his earlier confidence, Soral barely made it through the hour without Storm landing a single blow. As it went on, he lost track of time and a sense of desperation took over him. If it wasn’t for Insanity calling the time, Soral would have stabbed Storm with a special needle filled with Howler’s special sleeping mixture.

Both Storm and Soral froze as the hour mark arrived, and both were breathing heavily from the exercise. Soral slowly stowed away his needle as Storm similarly pulled back and collected himself.

“Congratulations, you have won,” Storm told him with a bow, “As promised, I will see to it that my employer is never able to bother you again.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Soral said, “If you still want that faerutil, come see me later. I think I have another deal we can make.”

Storm smiled. “See you soon.”

==========

After parting with Soral, Storm headed back to the audience chamber in the castle of Qilin. The ruler was delighted to see him.

“Is it done? Of course it is. You would never fail.”

“I would not,” Storm agreed. And he hadn’t. Not in what he had actually been trying to achieve.

“Go on, tell me how you did it!” the ruler commanded, leaning forward with eager excitement.

Storm took another step forward with a confident smile. “Well, you see, the moment he saw me, he gave me a name.”

The ruler’s face froze, becoming stiff and uncomfortable. “Silver Devil? You must be jesting, right?”

“That is a title, one I have never accepted,” Storm corrected, “I will not tell you my name, since you will not live long enough to use it.”

“Surely he did not beat you! You can only give someone who defeats you your favor!”

“Of course I know that,” Storm told him, “He was untouchable. I couldn’t even land a single strike, much less kill him. Don’t you think someone like that deserves to be the true ruler of Qilin? Not that a coward like you would understand. I doubt you could even reproduce the fluke that landed you on this throne.”

The ruler stumbled back, searching quickly for his loyal assassin, the one who had given him his Favor, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Don’t worry. I don’t shed blood uselessly. His Favor will be null once you die,” Storm promised. It was strange for an assassin to be speaking about sparing lives, but it only served to make the slowly approaching Storm more intimidating.

And so, the ruler of Qilin fell.