You believe the sword to be a toy?

  Nonesense.

  You believe your life to be greater than another?

  Foolish.

  There will be no gods to save you no matter how hard you pray.

  You are too stupid to form a true thought, so why try to think? Why try to strategize? Sow chaos and believe you can choose what becomes of it?

  Delusion.

  Don't think. There is no strategy in a true battle. Planning for chaos is an illusion of the weak. Swing your sword if you must, but don't you dare allow chaos to go without consequence.

  Don't you dare allow two hearts to beat after a duel.

  “Five.” Agazoz told Magog as he studied the wooden entrance and surrounding area of the mountain base from the treeline. Their forms hidden in the shadows of the trees as the sun began to set. “One of them even has a rifle. I can't tell its source, though.”

  “So old-fashioned. You recognize their colors?”

  “Can’t place their orange and gray, they must be from outside the valley.”

  “Course.” Magog loudly exhaled through his nose as he leaned back against the tree trunk, arm resting across his chest. “Okay, so wait until it gets dark?”

  “Yeah, that boy with the nodachi will get here soon after nightfall anyway.” Agazoz moved his hand from his eyepatch. “Might as well use him.”

  “Wake me when he gets here.”

  “You're actually going to sleep? Right now?” Agazoz's eye narrowed at the man relaxing at the tree's base.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, field awareness and all that.” Magog waved him off. “Wake me when he gets here, Aggy.”

  Agazoz sighed, “I'm rolling my eye. Get your nap in, I can already sense him approaching.”

  Darkness overtook them as Magog lounged and Agazoz watched both the base and the glade where the swordsman would emerge. After some time four of the five people Agazoz observed earlier left the mountain to confront the approaching swordsman.

  It took them that long to sense someone not masking their qi. Agazoz clicked his tongue.

  “Moggy.”

  “I’m watching.”

  The slow blinks and raised eyebrows as they saw him weren't without warrant. They expected a rough-looking man to match the pressure they felt but came out only to see a boy.

  No more than eighteen, wearing a tattered, open white robe long since stained red. rolled at his wrists and ankles.

  Thin clear strings hung from his left hip and slid down to a long gray hilt that morphed into a curved blade longer than his body was tall. Bone white with scattered black spots along its edge—scraped along the ground behind him. Biting the ear of everyone near as its point met the gravel.

  No attempt at stealth, he boldly walked into the radiance of the lights of the glade. The sound of his blade was unmistakable in the eerily silent forest.

  “Don’t you move!” One of the men yelled as a ball of yellow flame appeared to hover over his outstretched hand. The boy didn't take his eyes off the grass before him, only his dark green hair visible to the guards.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Mercy?

  Stupid, but a personal choice nonetheless. Do what you want when you gain power, Boy.

  “Do you hail from the sky?” The boy questioned, his quiet voice echoed in the almost silent night.

  The flame grew brighter. “Did you fucking hear me!?”

  But don't you dare expect others to do the same.

  Heshima!

  The boy looked up, and the four men flinched. Their movement halted when they were able to make out details of the boy. How did none of them notice before he got this close?

  “Moggy.”

  “What the fuck.”

  To stay out of range and not risk the boy's ire, Agazoz made sure they stayed far out of reasonable view. They had no way to prepare themselves for such a sight. A young boy covered from finger to toe in scars that would rival a ship hull.

  “Do you hail from the sky?” The boy asked once more, his dark eyes absorbed the flames' light.

  A solitary breath passed. The air cracked as the fire user reached forward.

  The strings snapped. Four heads flew before they fell.

  The boy didn't blink.

  A red spark blew through the wooden door as the strings dropped.

  The white streak of his blade flew across the glade as the boy burst through the remainder of the door.

  The spark cut through the air he once stood.

  Agazoz clapped his hands together, forming a small water orb before he raised a hand to cover his eyepatch.

  [Third Eye]

  Magog shuddered as he watched the ball morph into a perfect replica of an eye.

  “Does it have to change like that?” Magog averted his eyes as they stepped onto the glade. The sound of explosions from the base boomed into the outside world as he jumped over to the bodies that laid in the dirt.

  His finger caressed one of the decapitation sites.

  “Could put it back on.” His admiration interrupted with a thundering boom along with a visible tremble of the mountain base. The odor of soot wafted out from the broken entryway.

  Agazoz’s third eye quickly floated into the building as smoke came out. The outline of the spiral stairwell was clear to the enhanced eye as it soared to the top, avoiding all manner of debris dragged along a constant wind current.

  “Whatchu see?!” Magog’s yell was met with a wave of Agazoz’s hand. His mind was too occupied trying to make out the scene that played out at the top of the mountain.

  Countless red sparks shot out of the rifle, each matched by a streak that cut the air, as two outlines frantically jumped around the wide oval-shaped room carved out of the summit of the small mountain. Broken wooden furniture and various supplies sprawled across the floor.

  Barely a moment to analyze the chaotic dance before the sniper dropped, their rifle hitting with a loud clang as it hit the stone floor. Their body hit soon after, bisected across the stomach. The last breath was forced out as the boy landed, foot firmly planted on their solar plexus. Agazoz couldn't deduce what the boy yelled as he stood over his kill. Sight was the only sense the third eye afforded him.

  The vision faded.

  Agazoz took his hand off his face with a gasp. “Woah. Hotter than it looked. Moggy, might wanna finish what you're doing.”

  “Already. He just went up there!” Magog laughed as he rolled his shoulder walking up to Agazoz.

  “You’re certainly energized.”

  “Crazy what actually sleeping can do, eh?”

  “I'm not even going to look at that grin I know is plastered on your face.” A long inhale to center himself. “I’ll be able to relax when we get to Kabba.” A slow exhale to center the world.

  Agazoz sighed. “You’re su—”

  “He’s coming with us.” Magog declared with a smile, not allowing him to even pose the question.

  Agazoz rolled his eye. “Of course he is, I'll leave the talking to you then.”

  Magog’s laugh filled the air. “You'd just confuse him anyway.”

  Time passed. The boy didn't come down.

  Magog’s excitement turned into frustration as a slow throbbing began to rise near his temples. “What the fuck?!”

  Agazoz made no attempt to hold back his laughter as he stood.

  “You.” Magog glared at him. “You knew he wasn't gonna come down right away.”

  Agazoz snorted. “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean.” Magog’s glare didn't waver.

  Agazoz side-eyed him as he shrugged. “But now that you mention it, I might've saw a door’s outline before my third eye dissipated. Silly me.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” Magog didn't look at him as he stomped towards the shattered entrance.

  “Good luck, Moggy!” Agazoz waved as he watched his companion enter the base. The returning silence was broken with a clap.

  [Toro Burst]

  Agazoz looked to the mountain summit as twenty water darts formed in front of him.

  “I’d probably call it a hill but…” Met with wet plops as he jumped onto two darts, Agazoz floated into the sky.