1 AM, Forest Outskirts...
Oberen dropped from a tree branch, landing silently in a crouch. Moonlight filtered through the canopy above, casting everything in silver and shadow. The forest was alive with sound, crickets, rustling leaves, distant animal calls.
Kayuro leaned against a tree, arms crossed. "Where's Ethen?"
"I dunno," Oberen said, brushing dirt off his dark brown cloak.
Kayuro raised an eyebrow. "If you were here the whole time, why didn't you come down faster?"
"I'm a Spy."
"Goddamn Spies."
"Guys!"
A head popped up from the ground between them.
Ethen grinned. "I'm here."
"WHAT?!" Oberen stumbled backward, hand instinctively going for the knife at his belt.
"ARE YOU HIS SOUL?!" Kayuro yelled, taking a defensive stance.
Ethen's entire body emerged from the earth like he was climbing out of water, soil sliding off his green tunic. "Calm down. Magic."
Kayuro's eyes narrowed. Without a word, he raised his hand.
Ethen's body lifted into the air, telekinesis, and Kayuro slammed him into a nearby tree with a deadpan expression.
"Ow! What the hell?!" Ethen groaned, sliding down the trunk.
"Don't scare us like that," Kayuro said flatly.
Oberen sighed, shaking his head. "Can we focus? We're here for experience, remember?"
The three of them started moving deeper into the forest, boots crunching on fallen leaves. The trees grew thicker, older, their trunks wide enough to hide behind. The air smelled of damp earth and moss.
"Ogres first," Kayuro said, rolling his shoulders. "Then Savages if we can find any."
"And if we're lucky, a Demon," Ethen added, a hint of excitement in his voice.
Oberen shot him a look. "Lucky? Demons are intelligent. They use Demon Skills. They'll actually try to kill us, not just swing wildly like Ogres."
"That's what makes it fun," Ethen said.
"That's what makes it dangerous," Oberen corrected.
Twenty minutes later...
The first Ogre came crashing through the underbrush, eight feet tall, gray-skinned, muscles rippling under thick hide. Its yellow eyes locked onto them, and it roared, raising a massive club made from a tree trunk.
"Mine," Kayuro said.
He stepped forward, hands igniting with orange flame. The Ogre charged, club swinging down with enough force to crater the ground.
Kayuro sidestepped, fast, fluid, and drove a flaming fist into its ribs. The impact cracked, and the Ogre staggered. Kayuro followed up with a spinning kick to its knee, shattering bone, then finished with a fire-coated punch to its skull.
The Ogre collapsed, smoke rising from its charred face.
"Too easy," Kayuro muttered.
They moved on.
An hour in...
They'd killed 45 more Ogres and 21 Savages, hulking, fur-covered humanoids with crude weapons and no sense of tactics. The forest floor was littered with bodies.
Ethen was practicing his wind manipulation, lifting himself a few feet off the ground. Oberen moved silently between trees, scouting ahead. Kayuro stayed in the center, ready to respond.
Then they heard it.
Voices.
Not animal growls. Not mindless roaring.
Laughter.
"—pathetic thing couldn't even scream properly—"
"—bet the next one lasts longer—"
"—flesh is so tender when they're young—"
The three froze.
Kayuro's jaw tightened. "That's not an Ogre."
"Demon," Oberen whispered, eyes scanning the darkness.
The laughter stopped.
Silence.
Then, from the shadows, a voice, smooth, mocking, almost conversational.
"Oh? More little students? How delightful."
A figure stepped into the moonlight.
The Demon was humanoid but wrong. Pale gray skin, too smooth, like polished stone. Black eyes with no whites, just endless darkness. Long limbs, fingers ending in claws. It wore tattered robes stained with old blood. In one hand, it held the half-eaten remains of something Kayuro didn't want to identify.
It grinned, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth.
"Three of you. Oh, this will be fun."
The Demon moved.
Not fast by their standards, maybe sonic at best, but smart.
It launched a shard of bone from its free hand, Demon Skill: Bone Shard, aimed directly at Ethen's throat.
Oberen's knife flashed, deflecting it mid-air. "Spread out!"
They scattered.
Kayuro went left, flames erupting around his fists. Ethen went right, wind gathering around him. Oberen vanished into the shadows.
The Demon laughed, dropping its meal. "Yes! Show me what you've learned, children!"
Kayuro charged, fist pulled back. The Demon dodged, barely, and countered with a claw swipe. Kayuro blocked with a flame-coated forearm, sparks flying, but the impact sent him skidding backward.
Strong.
Ethen attacked from above, wind-propelled, twin daggers glowing with magic. The Demon twisted, catching one blade between its claws and snapping it.
Ethen's eyes widened. "Shit—"
The Demon kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing into a tree.
Oberen appeared behind it, blade aimed for the spine. The Demon spun, impossibly fast, and backhanded him. Oberen flew ten feet, slamming into the ground.
The Demon straightened, brushing imaginary dust off its robes. "Disappointing. I expected more from academy brats."
Kayuro wiped blood from his lip. Think. It's fast, strong, and experienced. We can't win head-on.
"Ethen!" Kayuro barked. "Wind from the left! Oberen, shadows on the right! I'll hit center!"
"Got it!" Ethen forced himself up, gathering wind.
Oberen melted into the darkness, moving silently.
The Demon tilted its head, amused. "Teamwork? How adorable."
Ethen unleashed a compressed wind blade from the left. The Demon raised an arm, deflecting it—
—Oberen struck from the right, blade coated in shadow magic, slashing across its side.
The Demon hissed, stumbling—
—Kayuro came from the center, both fists ignited, and drove them into the Demon's chest.
CRACK.
The impact sent the Demon flying backward, slamming into a tree. Black blood oozed from its wounds.
It stood slowly, grin gone. Eyes burning with fury.
"Enough."
Its body shifted, muscles bulging, claws extending. Demon Skill: Berserker Form.
"Oh no," Ethen breathed.
The Demon blitzed.
It was faster now, much faster. It caught Kayuro mid-dodge, claws raking across his shoulder. Blood sprayed. Kayuro gritted his teeth, retaliating with a point-blank fire blast, but the Demon tanked it and threw him aside.
Ethen tried to retreat, but the Demon was already there, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground.
"Weak," it hissed.
Oberen appeared from the shadows, blade aimed for the Demon's neck—
—the Demon caught his wrist without looking and squeezed. Bones cracked. Oberen screamed.
Kayuro forced himself up, vision blurring. We're losing. We need Shoichi
But Shoichi wasn't here.
So we improvise.
"Ethen!" Kayuro yelled, igniting both hands. "Wind funnel! Now!"
Ethen, still choking in the Demon's grip, managed a weak nod. He gathered what wind he could, creating a swirling vortex around the Demon's head.
The Demon snarled, releasing Ethen to swat at the wind—
—Oberen, broken wrist and all, drove his blade upward into the Demon's armpit, severing tendons.
The Demon roared, staggering—
—Kayuro charged, flames condensed into a single point, and drove his fist into the Demon's knee, shattering bone.
The Demon collapsed.
"Now!" Kayuro yelled.
Oberen grabbed his second blade, the one enchanted for decapitation, and with his good hand, swung.
The blade cut clean through.
The Demon's head hit the ground, rolling twice before stopping. Its body convulsed once, twice, then went still.
Black blood pooled beneath it.
Silence.
Kayuro collapsed to his knees, panting. Blood soaked his shoulder, dripping onto the forest floor.
Ethen lay on his back, gasping for air, hand clutching his bruised throat.
Oberen sat against a tree, cradling his broken wrist, face pale.
"We..." Oberen wheezed, breathing hard. "We really needed Shoichi."
Kayuro let out a bitter laugh, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "He couldn't come. Said his mom wanted him home for dinner."
Ethen tried to speak, opened his mouth, then just gave a weak thumbs-up. Too tired to form words.
They sat there in the moonlight, surrounded by bodies, the Demon's headless corpse still twitching faintly.
"Next time," Oberen said quietly, "we bring Shoichi."
"Agreed," Kayuro muttered.
The forest went quiet around them, save for the sound of their ragged breathing.