Somewhere in the woods

I barely slept last night because of Anne. Her last words tickled my mind that caused me to think more than I used to.

I took the vintage wallet that my mother once owned.

How did this end up in her hands?

I have so many questions that is still unanswered but I don't think I will meet her again when I come back in the company.

I took a long shower to ease my mind and ordered some comforting food.

I have to finish my mission now so I can go back to Aspiera. I am worried about what John told me. If the culprit is living comfortably in that fortress, the lives of the villagers might be in danger.

After finishing everything, I went down and took a cab.

"Can you bring me here" I hand the address to the driver,

"The fare won't be very friendly, ma'am. Will you still go?" I opened my wallet and stare at the black card for many seconds.

"Yes" I quickly responded and he started the car.

It took us more than two hours to arrive in our destination. It is not that far but the road hindered us to arrive there quickly.

I can already see the village where Jose is staying at so I told the driver to drop me near a big tree that is twenty meters away from the village.

I am just being cautious. I am not certain about my safety because he might find out that I am invading his private life and he might attack me. and John did not tell me anything about how he fights or what kind of mage he is.

I'm glad Andy told me about tornado so I have a hint about his magic.

I started walking towards his house while keeping my guard up.

His house was covered in trees so you can say that he is living in a forest not so far form the village, however, those trees are already damaged because of the tornadoes.

I noticed that there are only few people living in here and some houses are locked. I asked some of the residents and they just told me that some of them are afraid that they might be killed by the weather's abnormalities so they decided to leave the village.

I can't blame them. Based on these damages, I can say that it is really deadly for the normal people.

I took some pictures of the damaged houses using my phone. I also tried to take pictures of his house from this direction but it is too far and you need to zoom in but it will just ruin the quality so I decided to go nearer.

His house is locked so I thought he might be out there doing his own things so I went nearer to take another picture.

I think this will do. I took pretty decent shots so I guess it's fine.

If my mission is to only take pictures of his house and know his whereabouts, why did John sent me to accomplish this? There are more young mages who can pull this off.

Is it because he is a Caeli? Or there is something more that only John knows?

After making sure that the pictures are fine, I decided to go back.

"All done." I said to myself. My first mission is quite easier than Avah's. I should be glad that I have no wounds as a trophy to bring home.

"Are you done taking pictures of my semi-shattered house?" I suddenly stopped and slowly looked at the person who is now in front of me.

This is bad.

I never sensed his presence. I was on my guard and my sensum is working but why did I not sense him? how was he able to conceal his presence.

What should I do?

Think, Freya!

"You must be the owner of this house?" I said while smiling.

I just hope this will work.

"Yes, why?" he seemed like he is ready to devour me once I do something wrong.

He is like John when we are training.

"Some people told us about this village and the peculiar things that are happening here such as the tornado. I am working in a news company; however, I am still an intern so I was only tasked to take some pictures of the villages and also the damages." I explained. His gaze did not change so I am starting to get nervous.

I guess I will be lucky if I will come back with only a wound as a souvenir.

"I asked permissions to the owners of the houses but I thought yours is just one of the unoccupied ones. I am sorry for trespassing. If you want, I can delete these photos."

Please say no. Please say it's fine.

His gaze softened so I guessed he believed my alibi.

"No need." He said and continued walking towards his house.

That was close!

I sighed as a relief. I thought I have to fight my way out.

I sensed some sharp object coming towards me in a very fast motion so I tilted my body to avoid being hit. I didn't see any object but just a gust of wind at a very high speed.

Uh oh.

I quickly faced him and blocked his attack using my crossed arms.

The weapons he is creating with his magic is so sharp that it made my arms bleed.

That hurts!

"Come on! I know you can fight!" he said while throwing wind daggers at me.

How can I possibly fight in this situation? He is in control!

He stopped attacking me so I gained some time to ready myself.

Instead of fighting me using powers, he used his brute strength to punch me in the areas I could not protect.

He moves so fast!

I can feel pain all over my body. I think I might have broken some ribs.

He is barely using enough strengths, yet, I am utterly on the defense and can't even throw a single punch.

Come on, Freya! John will kill you once he will know the result of this fight!

I jumped back as much as I could and luckily, I was able to evade his punches.

I cleared my mind and focused myself on the fight. I can't possibly lose on my first mission!

I took a deep breath and positioned myself.

The heavy bracelets that I am wearing since the training felt like an ordinary bracelet.

He punched me again but I blocked his fist using the bracelet on my right hand. Visible in his face that he felt a pain when he hit the bracelet.

He stepped back and now; he is using his magic.

He formed a scythe out of the wind. If that thing hits me, I'll probably be cut into half.

He suddenly attacked me but I was able to jump as high as I could. I kept jumping and jumping whenever he swings his scythe but I wasn't able to evade his last attack so I was hit on my shoulders. I was lucky that only the tip caught me. That could kill me instantly if it were the whole blade!

I glared at him and I can feel the steam coming out of my body. I healed my wounds using my blue fire.

"So, you are an Ignis." He seemed amused.

"Yes, and you are going to pay for what you did!" I covered my fists with deep-orange flame.

"The wound or your family?"

At that moment, my vision went dark. The flame that is covering my fist turned into dazzling white flame that is now covering my whole body.

The grass and everything on my feet was burned into ashes.

I rushed to his direction and threw a punch at his face. Blood came out of his mouth but he regained consciousness and he grabbed my arm.

He was about to break my arm but his hands were burned with the flame that surrounds me. I threw another punch and hit his ribs making sure he will leave this fight with broken ribs just like mine.

I kicked his leg causing him to fall and a chance for me to finish him off. I was about to create a whip and strangle his neck but then I realized something.

This is not on my mission.

I can't let my emotions get ahead of me.

I calmed myself and took my bag. I covered myself with my spare jacket because my clothes were burned too.

I really need to train hard not to burn my clothes in the process.

"Why won't you kill me?" he asked while trying to stand.

"That is not part of the mission" I simply said and was about to leave when he called my name.

"How did you know me?" I angrily asked him. I did not introduce myself!

But what shocked me the most was the fact that he was able to heal his injuries quickly.

How…?