The red side was peaceful. A shocking change from the blood soaked battle.

  The sounds of swords and death were replaced with the sound of gentle wind rushing through the air.

  Compared to the dim blue side, the red side was clear as a sunny day. It was oddly beautiful.

  From their seated positions, the three members of Landsknecht didn’t notice at all.

  Viviana’s eyes were locked on the battle that now took place directly above them, but upside down. Like heavenly figures fighting in the sky.

  Viviana watched as The Hunter toyed with his prey. She watched as The Hunter made his team circle Selenne and her remaining lackey, not bothering with attacking at all. The Hunter was making sure that Selenne wouldn’t escape after he returned from killing everyone on the red side.

  Even now, he was shifting. Viviana didn’t count the seconds. She took stock.

  She used a lot of mana very quickly, which meant mana fatigue. But the effects were fading now. What wasn't fading was the fact she was at half tank.

  She was bleeding from her foot. Thankfully soulbound regeneration was busy patching that up. At least it was a shallow wound.

  She also had another unallocated point to use. She wasn’t going to run out of mana any time soon, so she put it into DEX, hoping that it’d improve her [dash] by enough to make up for it.

  Thomas was heavily injured. He wouldn’t bleed out because of regeneration, but he was far too injured to be of any help in the fight. Viviana considered bandaging him up, but red side grass didn’t have the healing properties blue side grass did. Healing his injuries would take too much time.

  Lucian was slowly but surely recovering from his mana fatigue. He was worse for wear, for sure. But he couldn’t be counted out of the fight. Not yet. “I levelled up,” he said, breathing through the blue hound organ on his own. Viviana wasn’t spending the mana for him anymore.

  It was a minimal amount of mana, meaning it didn’t trigger fatigue, but it certainly built up over time.

  Perfect. Lucian would help her fight.

  Viviana looked up. The Hunter began his shift. Only one of his lackeys followed, the other staying behind to watch Selenne.

  Selenne’s alone now. They’ve killed her lackeys.

  They didn't move to finish the job. It looked like The Hunter had something to prove. Viviana was grateful. If, somehow, they killed The Hunter, they had the chance to regroup.

  If.

  Ten seconds to shift, she estimated. Viviana took stock of her team’s situation.

  Bena was dead. It was hard to look at her body. Viviana knew she would be revived soon, but everything would be over before she came back. It was just whoever was alive left now.

  Five seconds to shift. Viviana pulled herself to her feet, taking up a stance. Lucian stood up as well, taking a stance next to her.

  Thomas grunted, his voice obscured by the blue hound organ in his mouth. “I’m sitting this one out. Barely have enough mana to shift back. I’ll try, but if I don't make it, take the flags off me.”

  Viviana nodded. It was all or nothing now.

  The Hunter was in front of them, sword already drawn. His mask seemed to swirl and ebb, pulling inwards like a white vortex. Beside him stood a strange looking man holding a blue hound organ in his mouth.

  He stood even taller than Lucian, but his figure was strange. Thin, gangly limbs that seemed too weak to support his weight. But Viviana could tell he was strong.

  The Hunter spoke, his voice modified by the mask. “It’s a great view from here. You can see everything. But it’s all fake. You should be able to see the walls.”

  Viviana looked around, in spite of herself. The Hunter was right. You couldn’t see the massive walls that towered around Central. She offered a simple nod in response.

  “Exile. I love this place. Do you?”

  Viviana thought. “I’ve only been here a day.”

  “I love it already. The academy is free. Nothing matters here but the strength of your sword.”

  Viviana shook her head. The academy was not free. It, like all things in Central, was tied down by the guilds. By people like her father.

  “Do you know who you are to the people of Central, exile? I don’t mean the people of corporations-that-call-themselves-guilds. But to the people who struggled in the mud.

  “You’re an inspiration. A dangerous flame. One girl, barely soulbound, rips through Adler-Stern forces like butter. Your feat that day caused three different Under-Central rebel groups to rise up. Every single one of them was slaughtered, down to the last man. My mother and father were part of those groups.

  “I should hate you. But I don’t. It’s a shame I have to kill you. No hard feelings, right?”

  Viviana didn't understand his sentiments. She had no relation with any of this. Still, she nodded, addressing his strength and taking up a stance. She began to circle slowly. Lucian did the same. It seemed like he would take the gangly-looking man. Viviana would take The Hunter.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Without a sound each combatant sprung into action.

  Viviana’s blade flowed like water, swiftly parrying The Hunter’s techniques. Neither of them were pushed back in the initial exchange, but Viviana could feel the weight of each of his blows. He wasn’t using his full strength.

  She could tell he wanted a good fight. She didn’t feel insulted. They were feeling out each other's abilities, in an exchange that was beyond words.

  Viviana wasn’t used to this sort of thing.

  She immediately pulled back in strength, causing The Hunter’s blade to fall a little further down her blade. She activated [dash], surging forward and extending a leg to kick out his oblique.

  In that split second he raised his leg in a fraction of a second, causing Viviana's kick to only land on solid ground. They immediately exchange sword swings. Parry, dodge.

  They didn't come out unscathed. Viviana was cut just under the eyes. The Hunter had a nick in his mask.

  The Hunter surged forth, activating a [dash] of his own. Viviana had to spend the mana to respond in kind, just barely dodging his fast blow and trying to counter attack. It was parried.

  Viviana counted three skills. [Scout], [dash], and the howl from his mask. If he truly killed The Follower, he should have more.

  And more he did. Viviana’s eyes widened as his sword flared with energy, causing each of his attacks to hit twice as hard. Probably an advanced version of [strike].

  Desperately she parried attacks, but the onslaught wasn’t stopping. Her arms were getting tired from the constant parries back and forth.

  He has to start running out of mana, Viviana thought. The flurry didn’t stop. If anything, it got harder and harder. She needed to make a play.

  Intentionally she let a blow smash into her non-dominant arm, just enough to justify not using it. She quickly activated [dash] backwards.

  The Hunter seized this opportunity to push forward. She couldn’t use her left arm anymore, and her parries were beginning to get more and more unstructured, her singular arm not faring well against his pressure.

  Even so, she struggled and tried to keep her left arm still; still so she wouldn’t disturb the lightning sigil forming there.

  Her mind threatened to give out on her. Mana exhaustion. She pushed through it, just barely conscious. Somehow alive.

  Another swing was coming. The strongest, fastest of the lot.

  With no other choice, she caught the blade with her non-dominant hand, activating [lightning trap] at the same time.

  Lightning surged through her hand, into the blade, and into The Hunter. Viviana rushed forward despite the pain, hoping the momentary stun caused by her skill was enough.

  But it wasn’t. The Hunter recovered in a split second, surged forth, and cut through Viviana’s left arm. His blade whirled back into an attacking position, swinging at Viviana’s head.

  Lucian parried.

  Lucian counter-attacked amidst Viviana’s surprise, causing The Hunter to jump back. Viviana looked around.

  It was good that I kept him alive, after all.

  The gangly man was dead. It was now a two versus one. Viviana was missing an arm.

  Still, she was more than faithful in their current situation. They would win.

  Wordlessly The Hunter, Lucian, and Viviana jumped back into combat. Viviana was close to fainting, but the end was inevitable. Lucian’s and Vivana’s combined might was enough.

  It felt wrong. They were winning too easily. The Hunter killed The Follower, the level 14 monster of terrarium four. If they truly did, they would be at a much higher level. A higher level to start with, to even manage killing the monster, and an even higher level now once they got the experience points from it.

  Viviana kept counting skills as they fought, but no more came out.

  Lucian slashed his sword forward, just barely catching The Hunter’s wrist. Viviana surged forward to capitalize, smashing his weakened blade arm upwards. Lucian followed up with a swift strike to the chest. Viviana opened with rapid swings, and with flowing cuts pierced his arms, chest, and neck.

  Wordlessly, The Hunter was defeated.

  [You have slain a level 3 Soulbound.]

  [+3 exp] [shared]

  It was all wrong.

  Viviana walked forward to The Hunter’s body, grabbing the mask and pulling it off. Kassan, he was called. His amber eyes were frozen, watching the heavens. He would regenerate, but stuck on the red side would mean an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Well, until orientation was over. Which should be soon.

  “You want the mask?” Viviana said.

  Lucian shrugged. “Not my style. My sister would like it, though.”

  Viviana looked over the mask, revelling in the fact that she was holding a system designated item. An artifact.

  Incredibly rare pieces of equipment that the system granted powers to. It was even rarer that it was naturally dropped by a creature, and not some man made item.

  [Quiet Company - Rare]

  [Active - Howl - Activating this ability stops the consumption of mana of all creatures in a twenty meter radius for one second. Consume an extreme amount of mana. Can only be used twice.]

  [Uses - 1/2]

  Viviana placed the mask on her face, marvelling at how easy it was to see through. It was like it wasn't even there. On top of that, she could tell that the mask had the same functionality as the blue hound organ. It was an incredible item.

  Lucian passed Viviana her left arm. The one that was cut off. “Did you forget?”

  Viviana blinked, gratefully receiving the offer of her severed arm. Thomas, apparently, still carried around some blue grass. She used it to tie her stump and arm together, effectively holding it in place for soulbound healing to kick in.

  The adrenaline wore off then. Viviana’s arm hurt. She was tired, both physically from fighting, and mentally from using mana. She collapsed, lying in the red grass.

  Lucian was already sitting. Thomas was snoring. He looked nearly healed now. He was heavily injured before getting on the red side, but it looked pretty mild now, despite not using the blue grass on himself. It was pointless. He didn’t have enough mana to shift back to the blue side, so even if he was healed, he wouldn’t participate in the final battle.

  Viviana took the flags off of Thomas, gently moving his arms to not disturb his slumber. He was going to die, now. Humans couldn’t use mana while they slept. He’d stop channeling mana into the blue hound organ, and his clean air would run out.

  Viviana thought about the nasty gurgling sounds she would have to go through, as Thomas was killed by the toxic air. Not very high on her bucket list. So, she stepped in and did it herself.

  Viviana’s eyes wandered upwards, staring at the blue side from here, wherever everything was upside down and clear.

  There, she saw the previous battlefield. Selenne sat alone, cleaning her blade.

  Her enemies were all dead. Selenne looked upwards at Viviana, unknowingly locking eyes. The sun was only a few minutes away from setting. Three people remained, representing three teams. Selenne, Lucian, and Viviana.

  It was time to end this.