Tomoe lay in bed, staring up at his ceiling in its abyssal emptiness. The rain dripped from the nearby window, forming into clear blobs on the ground outside and building up steadily. He had retired to an inn room for the night, but he wouldn't make money that way. Earlier in the day he'd received a request from a local in Dahlia to once more take care of culling the werewolf population within Aldenwald. There was apprehension stewing in the man's body and soul alike - or maybe it was just bad heartburn. Either way, something made him hesitate. Without Aegis around, he could go wild to his heart's content. Such a thing gave relief to Tomoe, but at the same time, immense dissatisfaction. The same emptiness as the dark void swirling around his room as midnight approached.

Midnight approaching, though, meant that it was time for the job to begin. Normally by now it'd be time to have already ventured forth into the woods, but Mr. Tanaka was taking things slower tonight. Rushing out with his conscience as conflicted as it was would only prove fatal, as even the simplest of beasts proved deadly against the hesitant. He'd progress forward at a cautious place, taking care to even avoid the thugs and scum as he exited Dahlia and headed towards the outskirts, bound for Aldenwald.

Upon standing at the entrance to the encroaching, demonic woods, the Joyan felt no fear; he did, however, feel as if there would be something he'd need to face by himself tonight by stepping in. His normally selfish and brazen gait was halted, statue-like feet refusing to set foot on Aldenwald's soil. Aegis' words flooded back into the Joyan, and he would absorb them into himself. Thinking on them, there was nothing else to be done about it.

Ugh, this is annoying., Tomoe thought, pulling his ever so comfortable and consuming cloak tight against himself.

As he stepped forth with false bravado, he raised the cloak's hood over himself, obscuring his face as he stepped further into Aldenwald's dark grasp. Disappearing beneath the dead trees and rotting branches into the pitch black void beyond, the lone swordsman would become someone else entirely once again.

---

WC: 365/2,125

Disguised as Lei Cervantes:

When the hood came off, Tomoe was a different man... or could he be considered a man? Could anyone who changes faces so freely and becomes other beings so frequently be considered a man, or something much different? Was he a demon, a beast, some kind of eldritch being? It was unclear and quite frankly, it didn't matter much. Tomoe's sense of identity had long since faded away and all that was left was a shell of a person; a human who had discarded what made him an individual in favor of becoming the many. The masses were stronger than the one, after all, and to become the spirit of the majority in and of itself was a strength few possessed in this world.

The wind blowing through the hair of the recently revealed individual was no longer that of the crimson cutthroat, but instead a completely different person with wavy white hair and a pale freckled face. He wore a ranger green cloak, and his eyes gleamed a devilish yellow gleam. Tomoe was no more for the moment.

The man retreated further into the forest with his sword drawn - or rather, a sheathed sword held in both hands. His mind was now only focused on the mission, not thinking about whatever primitive or 'emotional' turmoil that was on the mind of his predecessor. Knife-like teeth formed a sinister smile as he walked towards the location of his job. No beastly creatures would escape his gaze this night, and anyone who tried would be met with a much worse end than those who simply stood by and accepted their fate.

His eyes darted to and fro, ensuring nobody would sneak up on him as he progressed forward. He was a hunter, and his objective always lay ahead of him. Warriors stood stalwart and protected the weak, but a hunter was the kind that advanced with aggression and hatred in their heart. Observant, elusive and selfish. A hunter would move with the intent to carve and spit their foe like a wood chipper. There was nothing honorable about it. Despite that, and realizing that the mentality of a hunter could be considered cowardly, it didn't bother the green swordsman.

Just how I like it., he thought to himself, ready to slaughter his prey without hesitation.

---

WC: 744/2,125 [15% reduced]

Spells used:

Disguised as Lei Cervantes:

Rushing forth, the green-shrouded wanderer known as Lei Cervantes danced through the branches and bushes of Aldenwald. He knew that beasts were about. His eyes could see just fine in the dark. There was no amount of darkness that could obscure the vision that Mr. Cervantes now had. His golden eyes glowed and shone through, piercing the darkness. His bestial rage was plain as day on his face as his sword, still sheathed, was armed and at the ready in his hands. The first swing came down with the scabbard attached as he took one more step and slashed at his victim, clear as day. An unsuspecting, hapless werewolf was smashed backwards and crashed into a tree from Lei's presumably weak weapon. It seemed so shoddily crafted that its blade couldn't even be let loose from its sheath. Even so, the impact from a combination of the man's skilled swing, momentum and the quality of the scabbard itself, resulted in the werewolf's body crumpling to the ground. Before the beast could even respond with a howl to warn its comrades, a follow-up boot to its head left its neck with a sickening crack like a starved child discovering the meat inside a crab's shell.

"One down.", Lei muttered to himself, his jagged voice letting loose the idea of satisfaction and craving - he wanted more.

As he moved towards the feral beast's body, ready to inspect its corpse and determine what would be good, he reached out and then quickly retracted his hand backward, followed by jumping back, when an arrow flew towards the distance between the werewolf's body and the hunter's hand, zipping past at a speed beyond regular human comprehension.

"Holy shit!", Lei cursed under his breath, taking cover behind a tree.

Lei would ensure his gear was intact and nothing unexpected had found its way onto his body - magic was, after all, a horrifying and eldritch thing with a myriad undiscovered techniques and secrets. If the arrow had any properties on it, who would be any wiser to it with its mundane appearance? After confirming that his body was unharmed and his equipment unscathed, and that his dodge was successful, he peeked out from behind the tree.

Twenty meters in front, also peering over around the same time, was a werewolf. The beast was less muscular than the others that Mr. Cervantes had eradicated in the past, but it remained alive. Alive was a problem. In its hands was a longbow, and surprising even to Lei, the creature could wield it proficiently. It let loose a blast with its arrow, hurtling towards Lei and meeting thin air instead. The lycan's ears drooped in surprise and fear, and it continued dashing backwards, knowing its opponent would be going on the offensive soon; it was an animal instinct, primal and fearful.

Lei would climb and ascend the trees, his vision keeping track of the archer lycan, the creature not aware of its hunter's heightened altitude. It would look back while darting forward, panic in its eyes. Lei, fast yet patient, would await the correct moment to strike before descending. As a hunter, he would await a moment of weakness or perhaps hesitation - rangers were the sort of combatants to be treated with respect and attention no matter what the difference in actual power and skill was. As a sword user, Lei knew he was at an inherent disadvantage.

---

WC: 1,308/2,125 [15% reduced]

Spells used:

Disguised as Lei Cervantes:

An arrow would be aimed and fired from the lycan, whisking through the night air and bringing a sharp yet faint noise through the otherwise quiet forest. As Lei jumped from tree to tree, he stopped abruptly in order to avoid the surprisingly accurate projectile – stepping to the side on a branch, the arrow still managed to graze his right ear regardless. Warm blood trickled down the side of his head, but it didn't stop him from his pursuit. He would take a leap larger than his previous ones, ascending higher into the sky, and as he descended he would grip both hands firmly on the handle of his still sheathed sword. Swinging it downwards in one motion, a harsh and slashing gale followed with it as if a titan had exhaled a held breath.

The wave of wind would slam into the grass and bushes next to the fleeing archer, and then nearly instantly expand into a 16 meter wide vacuum of air blades. It was a potent magic held within Lei's sword, yet did not require its unsheathing to be cast. Blood poured out from many open wounds from the bow-wielding beast, yet it still kept a jogging pace. Much slower, but still required effort given the decent distance between the hunter and prey now.

As Lei sped up, he was met with arrows to avoid, but more importantly he was met with reinforcements. Three werewolves clawed their ways out from behind trees and bushes, assaulting Lei from three different directions. The one in front was parried and repelled backwards by the swordsman, but the ones to his right and left flank were a different story. While Lei was busy smacking away the hungry lycan on his right side, the one on his left bit into his armor, taking a chunk out of the leather.

“Well thanks for ruining my gear, jackass!”, Lei shouted without a care in the world, more alarmed for the money it'd take to patch his armor up afterwards than anything to do with the mortal peril he could very well be in.

The werewolf expected to bite a chunk out of Lei, not realizing the leather armor was as thick as it was, and in that brief moment of confusion it went from alive to dead as the hunter's sheathed sword descended on the lycan's skull with a blunt crack. It fell lifeless like a puppet with its strings cut, becoming a crumpled mass of fur in the muddied soil. The archer shot again, this time with the advantage of numbers on its side, continuing to flee. Still dealing with the two predators directly in front of him, Lei took the arrow to the right side, his armor still holding strong and preventing any serious injury. He grit his teeth, becoming angry at the mongrels before him. There was nothing more to be done about it – he would need to bare his own fangs.

---

WC: 1,794/2,125 [15% reduced]

Spells used:

Disguised as Lei Cervantes:

The sword would be returned to dangle on Lei's back, the man now being unarmed before the beasts. Seeing it as a sign of surrender, the two feral lycans pounced for the cloaked man. For a moment it was as if his eyes glowed crimson and pierced through the souls of the beasts, but this didn't stop them - nor was it intended to. That brief moment of reminder of who Lei really was, was all that he needed. In a blink, the beasts were repelled once again. This time as they gazed upon the green swordsman, they saw a shimmering blade in his right hand and fifteen more rotating around him and poised to strike. It was too late at that point, however. Seven pelted the one who had originally tried to strike the man from the front, and eight assaulted the other who had tried to scratch at his flank.

Poked full of enough holes to make wolf cheese out of - and a horrifying thought that was - the pair of beasts fell, deceased. The swords did not disappear, nor did they require physical effort to dig out of the corpses. Rather, like parts of a machine, they returned to their master and levitated around him as naturally as anything. He continued on his pursuit of the final archer, going at his full speed to catch up.

An arrow blasted forth towards Lei, and a sword intercepted to block it, breaking in the process. That was to be expected, and more could easily replace it. It was one nameless soldier among an entire squadron, after all. There was no challenge left to it once Lei felt like trying, because he had a squadron with him to share in the fight now. Caelum's armory was absolute in its efficiency.

Sword after sword sacrificed itself blocking arrows from the fleeing archer, allowing Lei to move without stopping, with unblinking resolve. It was by the time he had been reduced to twelve swords with a thirteenth in his hand that he had closed the gap. His gaze thinned to that of a wild animal, and allowed his remaining swords to go on the offensive.

Two swords slashed at the ankles and heels of the lycan, sending it stumbling to the ground and becoming engulfed in mud. Another would strike at the bow, destroying it. After the werewolf was unarmed and unable to fight back, it turned and looked Lei in the eyes pleadingly.

"Please... just don't hurt the rest of the tribe. The women, the children... they're the future, so please..."

Everything in Mr. Cervantes froze briefly. He hesitated. The creature could speak? That wasn't something he was aware of. Ignorant and unknowing of the wider world, it was a revelation to him. He was killing people. People with lives. The words of a person that Lei thought was unrelated to him echoed.

"You already made a choice that was positive. Don't degradate yourself by thinking you can't."

...

The words of somebody who should've felt close, yet who was it really? Was it somebody known to Lei? Were the words even directed at him? It didn't matter. It didn't matter, because with one final act of desperation, the lycan was now charging towards Lei who was thinking in two different worlds. One instant.

The next instant, the lycan was sailing backwards into a pool of mud now mixed with blood. The remaining swords held back by Lei all punctured the werewolf at once, sending it lifeless. All was quiet in the forest once again. Aldenwald's ominous nature was replaced by a serenity it didn't often possess, allowing Lei time to think to himself as he stood there before the archer's corpse.

Rain began to pour down after a while. There wasn't much to say; he didn't know anything about the werewolf, despite now knowing that the beast was in fact a thinking, feeling being. What positive choice was there? What was so positive about this? He was a hunter, and yet there was apprehension mixed in with duty. It wouldn't take much effort to find the remaining members of the werewolf's tribe and eradicate them. He'd probably receive a prettier penny than ever before by doing so. He could live comfortably for a while, and not have to worry about putting himself in danger. It would be so easy to wipe out the remaining members of the tribe, but...

"That's enough for today. Let's listen to Aegis, this time. Maybe... maybe things are fine just as they are, for now, y'know?"

Lei spoke aloud, but it felt as if the voice wasn't his own. As if someone within him was saying that to him. Who was Aegis? Did it matter? It was his own words, so it made sense that he should follow what he just told himself. He had to, because thinking further about what this other voice implied might give way to something far too dangerous to confront right now. A feeling washed over him that it would be better not to ask questions, and that maybe he wasn't in as much control of his own life as he thought.

That is, if this life was truly his to live.

---

WC: 2,125/2,125 (15% reduced)

Spells used:

- EXIT -