Chapter 1: Fools To An Unfair Fight

 The stranger was just a few inches short of Enda, who was already practically a giant amongst human women and surprisingly, she knew exactly what this stranger meant.

 "Red?"

 She spoke up while lowering the illusion around us by turning off the stone that sat in the middle of our table. This startled the receptionist, as she must have thought we left.

 'Illusion Magus' was right, I didn't even notice she had hidden everything, from the smell of food, to our conversation and visual presence.

 "We need to leave, now"

 "A few minutes earlier would have been nice"

 His eyes narrowed on Arisu and her peculiar sleeping position.

 "No, this one seems personal"

 Swearing under her breath, she quickly prepared to run, folding her hat into her cape and picking up Arisu. I got the feeling she was so exhausted she wouldn't wake up without some sort of stamina potion.

 "Fine. Grab him, is Ru nearby?"

 "Upriver. Sorry kid, but you're probably caught up in this too"

 "Irmin, grant us cover"

 The Witch dispelled the illusion of her staff while the copy ate the remaining scraps before taking a deep breath, lowering her hood, and hiding by casting a moving camouflage across her cloak.

 If all copies inherited Enga's memories, then they'd know how to blend in and hide with ease.

 "They're pulling up in a chariot down-river. Best use thunder and fog once we get out"

 "Irmin can prevent them from taking off, but nothing more. Do you have numbers"

 "Damn twig. Seven, two Trinities and a general by the looks of it"

 Red picked me up on his back and we dashed out of the Guild Hall. A loud thump cracked their low hanging door thanks to the Phoenix Witches two-inch heels. She gritted her teeth in pain, but didn't flinch, prioritizing getting out as soon as possible.

 Her thoughts lingered on protecting the small Kitsune at all costs, worried by the fact something so small and fragile was in her arms. 

 "If they follow us, we'll have to fight"

 "Figures, hold on Kiddo"

 "I'm trying!"

 With no time to think or get comfortable, I clung to the strangers back fearing the worst, although his weapon made it hard. It alone was hot enough to fry an egg, barely being suppressed by its sheath.

 Relics had a nasty habit of punishing people who tried to wield them that did not share their will. You'd be lucky to walk away only burning your hand after grabbing one.

 Rider taught me many things from my time in her workshop, including how to distinguish between normal weapons, strange artifacts and powerful relics. And in terms of power, this thing was fowl, like it was cursed.

 As we exited through a gate heading upriver, much to the stationed guards surprise, I could see Enda's legs start to glow with mana and she picked up speed.

 The magical energy within her veins had been lit ablaze, forcing her into overdrive with a blue glow. Red somehow matched the Witch moving over ten meters a second.

 Clouds rumbled overhead as we ran, followed quickly by a sudden wave of near deafening heavy rain.

 "Who are you people!"

 "You got a name?"

 "No?"

 "Then call me Red, and I'll stick to Kiddo"

 Just like my mentor, he wouldn't give me his true name unless I gave him mine, something I simply didn't have.

 I couldn't tell if he was a maniac, or just happy to run in the rain, whatever the case, it was unsettling. Up and over the small hill, the bellowing water faded into an increasing thick wall of fog.

 The 'Stupid Twig' known as Irmin had listened to the man, or shared his expertise. 'Ru' was probably hiding further up in an area out of sight, by the old fishing wharf if I had to guess.

 "Hey! How come you didn't have scouts out?!"

 "I did! They had to hunt a wild Wartorah nearby!"

 "Shit! That could mean they planned it!"

 "Tamed?"

 "Probably! I think we're still being followed!"

 "By wha-"

 Enda was hit through her heart by a semi-transparent glowing yellow javelin, barely missing the sleeping Kitsune she carried in her arms.

 Blood spewed from her chest and out her mouth as she tripped and fell, turning to ash before it came into contact with anything. Prior to hitting the ground, she passed Arisu upward.

 Red knew exactly what and launched himself to catch Best-kin before she hit the ground. He came to a stop bySliding sideways across the wet grass.

 "Looks like we're fighting Kiddo. Here, feed her this"

 Red let me off his back and gently sat Arisu down before handing over a small white pepper. A berserker fruit, normally used as a core part of any healing potion, just a quarter was often enough to achieve its desired effect.

 However, normally that would be grinded in a mortar and pestle with other ingredients, not ingested raw.

 Clouds gave way and opened for three heavily armored knights. Beams of sunlight engulfed both them and their Pegasi in a holy Aura from gaps in the storm.

 All three had drawn their longswords that seemed slightly smaller than normal thanks to their bulking armor. As their winged animals hit the ground, a chill ran down my spine to the sound of distant bells, yet there was nothing to be seen.

 "The whole thing?!"

 "Yes, I can't protect both of you"

 His caution was born from experience, and he knew his greatest strength was fighting on the offense. It was an intent I was familiar with, far more potent Captain Morrow of the Tyrants Rest Guardsmen.

 As the three armored warriors stepped off their mounts, Red did the last thing I expected.

 He started stretching his arms and legs, groaning as loud and annoying as he could, clearly taunting the enemy.

 "So, you pyrite protectors enjoy waging war often?"

 "Name yourself warrior, so I may carve it to my boot"

 The blonde young man with short hair and blue eyes stepped towards the man in black and red. By his demeanor, laurel and markings on his shoulder, this was their leader, a somewhat seasoned Paladin.

 His companions however, didn't share his thirst for battle, letting themselves lag behind his lead.

 A much younger black haired girl with equally dark eyes, around my age, and another young man with swept back brown hair.

 "And what would you write down of the Orphan you almost killed and his new foster mother? Will you kill him before he is granted a name?"

 "Silence! Die with dignity while you still have it"

 Faith gave them power, and if it wavered, so did the one thing needed to sustain their armor and strength.

 Red gripped his greatsword with zeal, waiting for his opponents to get a little closer.

"Don't!"

 All three turned to the Phoenix Witch that lived up to her name once again.

 Unlike other heroes that boast in their own glory, she let her actions speak for themselves. However, their response would show themselves to be a rather sheltered bunch.

 "She isn't human…"

 "So you don't know who I am? Oh, you stupid little Paladins"

 Enda stood up, shattering the spear with her arms and took a deep breath.

 She faced her attackers, then unclipped her sword and threw it behind, a sign of utter disrespect. 

 As red approached them, they changed formation. Two against him, one against Enda.

 None of them wore helmets, instead, glowing metal halos of differing design. The young blonde man facing Enda had an elaborate wreath brimming with holy energy, whilst the other two, a fairly young female and male, wore simple chain circles.

 Snapping back to the fruit in my hand as its pungent smell violated my nostrils, I quickly shoved it in Arisu's mouth and watched. Despite being out cold, as if her body knew exactly what to do.

 "Fledgelings that fly to far from the nest may see themselves swooped up by puissant prey"

 Their leader twitched at her choice of words, regretting pursuing the woman that had been impaled by holy power. It was more than a deliberate ploy to send several signals in a single sentence that Red seemingly understood.

 Receiving the young blonde man's annoyed reaction meant he was well educated and unaware of who they attacked. If I wanted to understand her, I would need to bring a Dictionary.

 "Well, looks like you three get the good ending"

 Arisu's ears twitched to the sound of Red's voice, the next thing I saw was a glowing red line followed by a loud crack that made my ears ring as she reappeared in front of the pair of Paladins with an odd single edged curved blade in her hands.

 Too long for close quarters combat, too short to be a soldier's primary weapon, a Relic all the same.

"What!?"

"Why do you have that blade!"

 Enda's veins began to glow blue with mana across her body and she changed her stance, waving her fists and bouncing on her feet, ready to punch her opponent out.

 "They say Paladins wear golden armor to hide when they wet themselves, is that true, or are you matching the carpet to the drape on your head?"

 Infuriated, he stepped forward to strike, yet his intent was to flee at the first chance he got..

 Unfortunately for him, his fake out would be met by another.

 A piercing whistle came from high above Tyrants Rest, parting the rain as it approached at incredible speed towards Enda, too fast and thin to identify until it arrived.

 "Fool!"

 She twisted her body, catching Irmin and spun in a full circle, using the momentum to hit the senior Paladin in his chest with a booming gong. He was sent tumbling down the hill and into the nearby river.

 Simultaneously, Arisu appeared behind the black haired girl and whispered something into her ear. The moment she turned to strike, her armor fell into small chunks, leaving her uncomfortably close to Kitsune's face, who now sat crouched on top of her longsword.

 She freaked out as Arisu somersaulted backwards, landed, then met the Paladins next strike with a single parry that broke the sound barrier. Disarmed with a likey broken wrist, she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

 The black haired girl stumbled back, tipping over the pieces of her armor that lay in the wet grass and watched as Arisu let her Relic reflect the world back into her eyes.

 Next thing I knew, the Kitsune had pinned the Paladin against the ground, blade against the holy warrior's neck, smiling and baring her fangs up close.

 Meanwhile, Red chose a plan of attack just as brutal as Enda, while as efficient as Arisu, if not more so.

 "Your leaders dead, she's about to die. Are you going to just stand there and watch it happen like a coward?"

 "AAARGH!"

 The last man shouted at the top of his lounges and performed an overhead strike against Red, who didn't even move. No, this man wasn't stupid, and weapons were not the only tools of war.

 Making a cross with his arms, the strange man caught the rookie Paladins glowing longsword in between the forearms of his black plate gauntlets.

 "Sorry, but you're strong enough yet,, and that shout? Well, that'll stay between us"

 "Wha-"

 Not to be outdone by Arisu, he knocked the blade back with a loud *ding* and chopped the golden warriors' exposed neck with the tip of his fingers, then headbutted him.

 If collapsing his windpipe didn't knock him out, the brain damage would.

 "F-F?"

 "Yeah yeah. Make sure Ru keeps me dry"

 "Of course"

 Rapidly running out of energy, the Kitsune got off her target that had fainted, walked over and sliced through the last 'Pyrite Protector' as he finally fell backwards.

 Her blade moved faster than a swooping dragon, through torso and limb, yet only his two inch thick armor was cut, leaving the young black haired man in padded undergarments.

 Arisu simply yawned, curled up in a ball and fell asleep in the pouring rain.

 I turned to look at Enda, but all I saw was a blue cloak, thigh high boots, long socks, 'thigh-quivers' and a single stone with intricate runes glowing extremely brightly.

 Enda had run off down to the waterway to fish up a man stuck to the riverbed thanks to his absurdly dense protection.

 "Here Kiddo, throw this on her"

 From the inner breast pocket of his tailcoat, Red passed me a small black rectangle with two holes in it. It was made of heavy metal with a slight blue tinge and some sort of pattern carved into the edge.

 "Uh, thumb cuffs?"

 "The more energy, the tighter it gets. Ever tried holding a sword without thumbs?"

 "Not really"

 "Pray you don't have to. Not many healers can grow back a thumb, let alone an organ if your unlucky"

 As I rolled the unconscious lady over and restrained her arms behind her back, a Waterborne woman walked up the hill from the river. 

 Ru?

 She wore a strange dark green skin tight suit with various metal fins over her calf and forearm, on top of her natural water stabilizers.

 The little exposed skin she showed on her back and hip flowed from a light tan to brown with many darker dots all over in a pattern, similar to a land-serpent's underbelly to hardened scale back.

 Quickly assessing the scene, the elegantly curved Beast-kin. Slim, modest and clearly taken. 

 She kissed Red on the cheek while hugging him from the back before kneeling down to ease the unconscious brown haired man's breathing by using elemental water magic.

 I knew Waterborne were naturally talented with such magic, but not that it could be used to heal.

 Guess I barely scratched the surface…

 "We shouldn't linger, unless you want to risk spear in your back as well"

 "Think I'll pass on that one. You heard the boss, time to Kiddo"

 Enda walked back up to grab her waterlogged boots, soaked socks and everything else while urging us to leave. After throwing another pair of thumb-cuffs on the other rookie Paladin, Red hoisted both over his shoulder to carry down hill.

 Adjusting her thick dark brown to the side, Ru used magic writing to introduce herself with floating words before picking up Arisu.

 'Hi, I'm Dr. Ru Blitz, feel free to call me whatever makes you comfortable'

 "Ahh, is just 'Ru' okay?"

 'Yes, now follow me, we have a lot of water to cover'