Twenty-One Years Before.

Seren felt the sun caress her face, trying to wake her up. Unhappy by the sudden light, Seren rolled forward facing her back to the sun.

Without a notice, Seren opened her eyes and sat up.

She looked at the wood above her and below before she recognized where she was.

This was the shack she lived when she was fourteen years old. Twenty-one years before she had joined the organization.

This hideout was her home.

The shed was run down and small, but it had a cozy feel to it. It was right behind the city, away from the guards' eyes, so she wouldn't be killed or forced into slavery. Unlike most of the homeless, Seren preferred to stay outside of the city, in her shed than inside the city, in the alleyways.

The good points being there were nobody who desired to kill you, for food or money. Moreover, no guards to hide from when they did the 'sweeping of the streets.' And the cons, well, some general things that Seren knew how to deal with. Like the wild beasts which would come near her shack for shelter. Plus the sudden weather changes, from rain to sun and back to snow in a matter of moments. Most likely from some magicians battling somewhere off in the distance.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she bowed her head repeatedly. "Thank you so much, thank you for this, I won't waste the chance you have given me." She whispered. Wiping her left cheek, Seren stood up and dusted her tattered clothes.

The second Seren stood up she could feel her ears twitch, an indication of something dangerous was coming near her. Fiddling with her squishy ears, Seren went out of her shed to see what it was. Teetering out of her small shed, Seren quickly got used to her child body.

The fiery sun met Seren's face, prickling it, most likely as payback for what she had done. Absentmindedly Seren's engulfed her body with mana as to not feel the temperature anymore.

"Ooh!" Seren exclaimed. "My mana is back!" Seren, who had been so overwhelmed by the fact that she had gone back to the past, she had forgotten about how the wisp said she would still have her skill from before her rebirth.

Her ear twitched again. "It must is something really dangerous, for my body to be reacting this way," Seren muttered to herself. Using a shadow spell, Seren scanned the area for anything that could hold a potential threat to her. "In the North," She heard the spell tell her. "Dangerous animals in the North."

"Dangerous animals," She paused. "Magic beasts? When were mana beast ever near the city?" Seren was confused. In her memories, such a thing never happen when she was this young.

Thinking hard, Seren looked through her memories again for anything having to do with Magic beasts. Magic beasts were nothing like the native creatures. More like humans, Magic beasts had their own civilization. They had their own territory and would never touch human society unless needed. Like humans, they had mana hearts that allowed them to grow stronger. Some even said that mana beast could turn into humans, however, those were all stories.

"Ah, found you" Closing her eyes, Seren let the magic take her into the flashback. This magic spell was something that was invented in the future by an old wizard who could never remember what his magic spell was and what magic circle to draw. The magic spell allowed one to enter their memories and locate what they forgot.

The person was like a spectator who watched what was going on but could not affect the story. In this way, they would be able to see what they had forgotten.

Seren saw herself, sitting around the fireplace with a man. His face was jagged and his clothes baggy. It gave him the appearance of a beggar. His face was covered by a straw hat. The man then lifted his face to reveal his scars which ran down his cheeks, eyes, and lips. Seren would always remember that face. The one who had invited her to the organization, Kalen. Her mentor, role model and the one who had died in order to protect her from her betrayers. Seren cliched her fist, this time he wouldn't die and she would also free him from the organization. She would save him in this timeline.

"Isn't good that we left the city before this happened. Your city has been overrun by mana beasts. " Kalen snickered, seemly happy at the demise of others. "I don't know why they were there, but you kid have some good luck." Kalen patted her head and he stopped moving.

The flashback had ended and Seren knew what was going to happen. "Tomorrow, two things will happen. First, the organization scouting, and second the mana beasts, I have to leave before any of these happens." Scratching the side of her neck, Seren wondered what she would do.

"Ah," Seren clapped her hands. She had created a plan. My first priority right now is to leave the city before tomorrow night because when the beasts come, I might not be able to leave unscathed. As for Kalen, I should be able to avoid him with my shadow magic.' Thinking carefully, Seren formed a checklist in her mind. 'One, steal one of those space distortion pouches from a merchant, they always have one, and a dead person shouldn't need it. Two, leave the city, pretty simple plan.' She considered.

Stretching, Seren looked for the hole in the city wall, which she used to get in and out of the city without getting found by the guards.

Clawing into the tunnel, Seren started to cough, dust got into her nose. When she reached the end of the tunnel, Seren quickly stuck her head out, taking in a deep breath. She always hated being underground.

Dusting herself off, Seren activated her mana sense again, looking for any type of space magic. Exiting the small empty alleyway, Seren entered a new world.

"Selling three packs of rice good deal, one silver; Better deal, selling two packs for just fifty coppers" The street vendors echoed around the streets.

Hairy men came in and out of the bar, which was down the street, with or without women in tow.

Children of all ages screamed and ran away from other children, playing, their mom followed after quickly them.

Crude wagons moved up and down the street, with different colored horses. The city was alive and happy. However, there wasn't where Seren need to be, it was the noble section in the upper part of the city.

"Space magic found in the area, follow the mana to get to the target. " The spell whispered.

Looking out for any guards, Seren sneaked around the city and followed the mana to the noble area. Entering a hidden tunnel in the wall that separated the rich from the poor, Seren could feel some kind of magic under the wall.

Looking left and right, she rolled herself to the nearest crate that was near the weapons building. She had entered the merchant section of the noble side.

The noble area was quiet. There were people, some on foot, or some hovering with magic. There were also carriages, wealthy-looking carriages. Instead of the street vendors, there were shops. The contrast was tremendous. Well, further down the section, in the slavery section, Seren could hear sounds of fighting and crying but here, nothing. Seren slithered around the district, following the mana to her target.

Night crept like a thief, and in a blink, the sun had disappeared and the two blue moons had come out from hiding.

"Target is in the inn, to the east of you." The mana suddenly whispered. Startled by the voice, Seren almost jumped, she had forgotten about it.

"Into the shadows," Seren whispered. "Out of skin." Mana enveloped her body submerging her into the shadow. "Uh," She groaned. "How I missed this feeling." She now was her shadow and her shadow was her. Moving the ground, Seren floated across the street without anyone noticing her shadow.

"The inn is closed," The signboard on the outside read. However, Seren could sense multiple humans in the building.

"Neigh," There were even horses attached to two pricey looking wagons next to the inn.

'Four adults, three without mana cores and one with, and six children all on the top floor.' Her spell whispered to her.

'Children? Why are there children in the here?" Seren thought. "All the slave trading is happening outside."

Moving up the stairs in her shadow, Seren arrived in the room's window.

"Get away from the area, unstable mana located," Mana abruptly whispered to Seren.

Her eyes widened in realization. "Witchcraft!" She murmured.

They had been twelve times when Seren had been out on a mission and her mana sense had told her to leave an area because of unstable mana. Most of them had to do with witchcraft.

"The Lunar Cult have already started growing!" She remembered the people who had dealt with witchcraft, in her time with the organization, she had received a loss of mission from or about them. "Crap, There are so many things that are happening already."

Slipping into the room from under the window, Seren got a clear view of what was going on.

All six children were chained to the bed to stop them from escaping. Magic potions were connected to their hands. Because of the high concentration of magic, that their little bodies couldn't handle, veins from all around their bodies popped out painting a horrific picture. The children lay on the bed, immobile, they haven't died but no longer had any type of hope in their eyes. To contrast, four men, three of which wore silver amour, sat on chairs and were playing cards.

"I have to kill the one with the mana core quickly, he must be the one with the space distortion too." Seren quickly determined. "I don't know how long those children could survive. I have to move fast."

"Sleep of eternity," Seren muttered. Sending the hex at the guards, Seren watched them drop to the floor. "Containment," She sent this spell at the man, who was without armor. Surprised by the sudden mana ropes that held him, the man tried to get up before being held down by the spell.

"Into the skin, Out of the Skin," Seren could feel her body return to normal. The ceiling which looked untouchable was now closer to her.

Rushing to the children, Seren started to quickly but gently unplug each needle from their veins. The sight brought great pain to her heart. After unplugging them, Seren scanned each child with her mana looking for any instability.

'They have no damage on the inside.' She analyzed. Slowly, the children sat upwards on the bed, their eyes, which were emotionless, now all looked at her in wonder and hope.

"Hope?" Seren thought. "Never seen when I was around." Seren was a killer, an assassin that worked for the organization. The sight of her brought terror and fear not to hope.

Slowly one male child wobbled onto the floor and bowed, following him the other children bowed too.

"Please great lord, take us in." The male child cried out. Seren tilted her head at the word lord. She looked nothing like a noble and even more she was a child.

"Why would you think that I am a noble?" She asked inquired.

The one who bowed first replied. "Mama Fran always told us that nobles were the only ones able to use magic."

Seren could feel herself get surprised at the fact, before remembering that it was twenty-one years back. "People still believed that only nobles were able to use mana." She thought.

"If so that you want to follow me, I will not accept weaklings who can not stand up by themselves and only hold me back. So kill the magician, behind me, don't worry he won't fight back. Take the dagger in my hand and stab the magician" Seren replied as she created a mana dagger in her palm. The children eye widened at the request, killing a magician, no matter what their backgrounds were, was like killing a noble.

"You can't kill me," The man finally spoke up. "Do you think you can get away from the magic association when they find out a bunch of orphans and a young lady from a ruined clan killed a rank, two magician."

One child wobbled over to Seren hand, and to her surprise, it wasn't the male child who had been taking the lead but one of the petite looking girls. Grabbing the dagger, the child scream before ramming the dagger into the magician's chest. Taking a deep breath she turned around waving the dagger looking for the next person to give it too. This time the male child stepped out. Taking the dagger from the girl's hand and stabbing it and giving it to another and so the cycle continued, some taking more than one stab.

When the last person plunged the knife into the chest of the magician, the dagger disappeared. The children stood in a row, their hand stained with blood. Their legs wobbling and their eye trembling to wait for Seren to speak.

"This reminds me of my first mission," Seren contemplated and sighed. "I have to change my plans again."

"You have sworn allegiance to me and no other and in return, I shall protect you and feed you and lead you to great heights." Seren paused scanning the children's faces that held expectation in their eyes. "Welcome to the Qigossi Clan." Soon cries erupted from the room.