Resolve

Interrupting Will's perusal of the icy heart, listed as a [Glacial Soul Core] within his Inventory, Alaiph, forcing himself to stand tall despite his many injuries, approached to say, "A moment, Serva...I would hear the name of my benefactor..."

"Aiden...Aiden Ward..." responded Will, turning and directing his gaze to Alaiph's charred and mangled right arm as he asked, "Can you take care of that on your own?"

"I will be able to receive treatment at the fortress," confirmed Alaiph. "To that end, I ask that you accompany me. Able hands are in short supply at the moment, and yours are abler than most. Lend them, and you'll not find yourself wanting for glory and coin..."

"I seek neither, only answers," maintained Will, flourishing and resting his spear on his right shoulder as he asked, "That said, was that masked man the sole perpetrator of this incident?"

"I know not how many they sent, but that man bore the mask and garb of the An Lámh Bhán..." stated Alaiph, his expression hardening into a deeply set frown as he revealed, "There are typically two ranking members of the organization present alongside their subordinates. But this is the first time I've heard of a Saighba'an appearing and granting its power to another, so we are alike in our desire for answers..."

"Then I will continue to scour the city and render aid where I see fit," said Will. "I wish you an expedient recovery, Unaraj Bhiran..."

Though he ordinarily wouldn't permit Will to leave without subjecting him to a battery of questions, Alaiph bowed his head slightly and stated, "May the winds and sands of Deisceart blow at your back and shepherd you to glory and gold..."

Responding with a curt nod, Will turned away and leaped high into the air, departing the scene in a single bound. Alaiph watched this, but as he had more pressing matters to attend to than investigating Will's identity and the purpose behind his arrival in Bhiran, he shook his head and made his way over to where Denam's body had crashed, staring at his old friend's corpse for several seconds before unleashing a burst of flame-like Aura to reduce it to ashes...

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Using his Aura to influence his trajectory through the air, Will landed atop a two-storey house with a sloped, red-tiled roof. He was initially planning to venture somewhere private to analyze the Glacial Soul Core, but as he was leaping through the air, he glimpsed a group of well-equipped people racing over and changing directions to intercept him.

Though Will was standing in place, the presumed leader of the group, a burly, vested man with bronzed skin, tattoos across his shoulders, arms, and pectorals, and matted, shoulder-length crimson hair set into a loose braid, landed heavily atop the building across from him, bellowing, "Stop and identify yourself!"

As the other members of the group moved to surround him, Will glanced to his left and right before raising his hands, meeting the man's gaze, and responding, "My name is Aiden Ward. I'm a B-Rank Adventurer journeying to the Capital by way of Tempahsta. If you travel beyond here, you should be able to meet up with Unaraj Bhiran. He is injured but alive and well."

"B-Rank...?" repeated the man, looking skeptical despite witnessing Will bound far higher and further than he could. The latter looked quite a bit older than he was, but most assumed he was in his mid to late teens. The average age of a B-Rank Adventurer was far older, so the motley group of Adventurers, similarly B-Ranked, found his words suspicious.

"See for yourself," said Will, reaching for and producing his B-Rank Guild Token, holding it up between his right index finger and thumb. This wasn't sufficient to get the predominately male group to lower their guards, but after staring at it for several seconds, their leader nodded and stated, "We are the A-Rank Party, Crimson Fang. I am its Captain, Wahl, son of Ghaith. Given the circumstances, I must insist you accompany us until we confirm your claim of Unaraj Bhiran's safety..."

"I'm usually not one to retrace my steps at another's behest, but I can understand your concerns," responded Will, offering a nod of his own as he added, "But, as your identities are just as suspect to me, I will not be handing over my weapons or subjecting myself to a search."

"Nor would we ask you to..." lied Wahl, having fully intended to detain, search, and potentially kill Will before learning his identity and apparent association with the city's second-most influential figure.

As time was of the essence, Wahl made a two-fingered cutting gesture with his left hand as he exclaimed, "Crimson Fangs! We move to aid the Unaraj! For glory and gold...!"

"For glory and gold...!" repeated the members of Crimson Fang, followed by compelling Will to lead the way. The latter was confident that he could have broken through the encirclement, but since the situation was already fairly complicated, he decided not to exacerbate matters and simply have Alaiph confirm he wasn't responsible for the current chaos before moving on...

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'Well, fuck...' thought Will, his expression deadpan as he returned to the site of his brief encounter with Alaiph and found the man's torso being worn like a glove by a young-looking boy with earth-brown skin covered in line-like markings, spiky, ash-grey hair, and amber eyes. His body was garbed in loose grey robes with a matte, sand-colored sash and a lighter shawl around his neck and the lower half of his face, and his forearms and feet were wrapped in bandages.

"Willaim Aladfar Oirthear...you should not have returned..." said the boy, his expression and tone devoid of emotions as he removed his bloodied right hand from the now-deceased Alaiph's chest.

"Oirthear...?" repeated one of the two women within the group, causing the already exceptionally tense atmosphere to become palpable as the members of Crimson Fang eyed Will as if he were their mortal enemy.

"This boy just killed one of your city leaders, and you're more concerned about my identity...?" questioned Will, raising his right brow and resisting the urge to scoff.

"The boy is right..." said Wahl, suppressing his own urge to separate Will's head from its shoulders as he glared at the mysterious youth across from them and shouted, "Identify yourself, Dakshin! For what reason have you come to Bhiran!? What grudge do you have against these people!?"

"I harbor no grudges..." responded the youth, his body casually rising a few centimeters off the ground as he casually stated, "Our purpose is to liberate those whose lives have lost meaning, for those who have strayed from the path of Providence can never know true fulfillment..."

Spreading his hands near his waist, the youth generated two spheres of blinding white light. At the same time, the etchings in his skin started to glow, shimmering a faint but noticeable gold against the backdrop of his earthen skin.

"Crimson Fang, spread out and attack...!" shouted Wahl, his thunderous bellow stirring the members of his Party to action. Then, after a cursory glance at Will, he unsheathed the swords flanking his hips, one long and one short, and charged forward with a crimson aura surrounding him. The resentment between the people of Deisceart and the Oirthear Duchy was deeper than most oceans, but it was apparent that the mysterious youth before them was the greater threat.

"Such senselessness..." stated the youth, gesturing with his left hand to make the spheres of light revolve around him at high speeds. Instead of chanting, he then began performing various seals with his hands, his hair going from grey to a luminous white as he remarked, "All this effort when the only prize awaiting you is oblivion...killing you is a mercy..."

"We'll see who kills who...!" bellowed Wahl, meeting one of the rotating spheres of light head-on with the longer of his two swords. To his surprise and moderate confusion, there was no notable resistance when the blade appeared to slice into the sphere. When it emerged, however, he quickly realized this wasn't the case, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinholes as he and the members of his Party noticed that nearly half of the blade was missing.

"Bathe in the Light of Destruction and begone..." said the youth, pushing out his hands and causing the spheres to move away from his body while maintaining their RPM. Wahl managed to leap back just in the nick of time, but the spheres weren't the only thing he had to contend with as a quintet of Magic Circles materialized behind the youth, four approximately thirty centimeters across, linked together and encircling a much larger circle, all formed of luminous white light.

"Extinction Ray..." stated the youth, his voice reverberating in much the same way as Will's when he used his Innate. At the same time, causing a wave of existential dread to wash over the members of Crimson Fang, a sixth Magic Circle formed in front of the youth, indicating he was at least a Sixth-Grade Magus. Fortunately, while the laser-like beam he produced traveled at the speed of light, it changed trajectories considerably slower, allowing Wahl to preemptively evade and dodge the beam as it attempted to follow and slice him in two.

In an attempt to help his Captain, one of the two women, with fairer-than-usual bronze skin and a red diamond on her forehead, clasped her hands together, shouting, "Talamh Lann...!" after a lengthy chant. In response, a singular but colossal spike of earth erupted from beneath the mysterious youth, forcing him to shift his focus but not cease his attack as he evaded to the side and directed the beam of light to arc toward the woman.

"Don't you dare...!" bellowed Wahl, slipping past the two rotating spheres of light and reducing the distance between him and the mysterious youth in less than a second. Unfortunately, despite channeling all his power and Aura into a single decisive thrust, he only managed to puncture four of the six barriers the youth had erected.

"Are these people important to you...?" questioned the youth, seemingly confused by Wahl's actions as he extended his left hand and used a form of Telekinesis to grasp and restrain him. Emitting large quantities of Aura left the user in a weakened state until more could be enkindled or ignited, so the youth took advantage of that to raise Wahl into the air and squeeze him tightly.

Before Wahl could answer the youth's question or tell him to fuck off, the latter was slightly surprised when a lance whose tip resembled a silvery-white greatsword penetrated his remaining barriers and nearly pierced his head. Had he not sensed it, released his hold on Wahl, and tilted his head back at the last moment, it might have.

"Damn...it looks like I need to work on my Throwing Skill..." remarked Will, wearing a toothy grin as the youth slowly turned to stare at him with cold, shimmering eyes.

Seeing how angry the youth was, Will couldn't resist raising his right brow and quipping, "For someone who doesn't harbor grudges, you seem pretty upset."

Extending his right hand with his fingers spread, the youth responded to Will's provocation by coldly stating, "Penitence Spikes..."

Sensing numerous spatial fluctuations around him, Will's body appeared to flicker as he narrowly evaded several nail-like spikes formed from light. One managed to pierce the back of his right calf, but instead of wounding him, it caused a potent numbness to permeate the appendage.

Believing that Will's mobility had been impaired, the youth aimed at where he had appeared, repeating, "Penitence Spikes..." with a hint of smugness in his expression and tone. This time, Will's body was penetrated like a pin cushion, leaving him prostrate with more than a dozen spikes sticking out of him.

"I will deal with you later..." declared the youth, returning his attention to Wahl, who had retreated a short distance away, staring back at him with a grim but resolute expression. True Deisceartian warriors were defined by their pride and vehemently refused to be indebted to others. Thus, as Will had saved him, or at least attempted to, Wahl and the remaining members of Crimson Fang felt obligated to repay the favor. A few had escaped after realizing their opponent was a Magus, but the majority remained, knowing full well that if they didn't defeat the mysterious youth, many more of their kin would die at his hands...

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