First Battle

Four men sat inside a dimly lit yurt, their expressions solemn. They had originally come with six men—two more men than currently seated—but the other two had not returned after a scouting mission, twelve hours late, now.

A gray-haired elder in a dark-red coat stood beside the other three, a long spear—one close to a glaive—standing beside him. He looked towards the others with a scowl, with the fiercest and most disturbed expression of all inside the yurt. "Why have they not returned?"

The others turned their heads away from the elder, drawing from him an even sharper grunt. "We're going to drag them back."

The three others grudgingly got on their feet and grabbed their scimitars. They scuttled out of the tent, and the elder followed behind.

They were not far from the ancient ruins, but due to the intense snowstorm, they could hardly see, especially at night. The sky remained black, and because of this—and the snowstorm—it was only possible to see two steps ahead.

The men got on their horses, all of them holding lit torches that flickered from the cold winds. The elder remained behind, his glaive-like spear in hand pointed up, and his vigilant gaze moving around in every direction besides behind.

Ten minutes into their journey, the man riding ahead pulled his reins and turned his horse. "Shouldn't we wait for the weather to clear, Elder Baye?" But riding behind were mere silhouettes on horseback with an orb of orange light floating besides. The vision was not great.

"The weather here never clears," said Elder Baye's voice from behind. "Push forwards."

The man nodded and pulled back his reins, continuing to spearhead the journey. The three others—including Elder Baye—followed behind. And this time, for some reason, their horses' hooves struck the ground much more confidently, and they moved faster.

An unknown amount of time passed, and the man riding in front stopped his horse. "There is a wall here." He turned his back and found Elder Baye approaching, his silhouette turning clearer as he entered the two-step-boundary where he was completely visible.

Elder Baye extended his torch closer to the wall and turned his horse, riding beside it to find a way inside. The others followed behind.

A short moment later, he found a gap large enough to fit them. He looked in, squinted, and held up his hands. He pointed his spear forwards as he entered.

Inside, they were greeted by stone ruins, big and small, barely visible in the dark. The snowstorm seemed to weaken inside, and their vision expanded to five steps.

Elder Baye opened his mouth and turned around, wanting to give an order, but he saw that two men had disappeared. Only the silhouette of one rider stood behind. But the rider's pupils seemed to shine in a yellow hue, even visible through the storm.

Elder Baye squinted and pointed his spear towards the silhouette. "You aren't Yael."

The silhouette stepped forwards, and a white-haired youth was revealed, his eyes glowing yellow.

Elder Baye grimaced. "Asul!" He pushed his feet inwards onto his horses' ribs and it dashed forwards, his spear extended outwards pointing towards Asul. "You're a fool for not hiding!"

Asul extended his scimitar outwards and his horse, too, dashed towards Elder Baye. Just when Elder Baye's spear was about to stab Asul, his hands flashed. He parried the strike with his scimitar and slashed the elder's neck as their horses passed each other.

Feisu slowed down and turned around as Asul gripped its reins. He spun his scimitar, sending blood splashing off. Elder Baye's horse slowed down too, but remained walking as the elder's body dropped on the ground with a thump.

Asul's body began to weaken, his energy feeling as though it was seeping out. He wiped his fingers through his cheek. A red residue covered his fingers. 'Was four too much…?'

The glow from his eyes dimmed, he passed out and fell, but luckily not off his mare. His head rested on Feisu's mane.

For the past few hours, he had been trying to increase his mastery of the Guardian's channeling technique. And, to some extent, he had succeeded. If it was before, he would never have been able to dispatch three men—albeit weak men—without making a sound, and doing so right under the nose of an expert.

A few hours ago he had killed two men and almost passed out just from that, and just now he assassinated three men and dueled an expert and won. It was nothing short of incredible, but even Asul himself knew how much he was lacking. His stamina fell short. He had technique, but he was still physically weak.

He won because he had an edge. The Guardian's bloodline had given him abilities to see through the snowstorm, through mist, or any other obstacle that restricted vision.

This was why he knew Elder Baye and his three men would come—he saw them coming from afar. He had used their limited vision to his advantage and killed them one by one before killing Elder Baye.

Asul's eyes shot open as shafts of light shone through the gaps and cracks of the ruined structure he slept inside. Feisu stood not too far away, its nose digging through the snow to find grass to eat.

"Feisu!" Asul whistled and the mare approached. He tidied his clothes before jumping onto the mare's back. Starting with a neigh, the horse trotted out of the ruined building.

The storm had cleared, though that did not matter for Asul who would have been able to see through it even if it was still there. Elder Baye's corpse sat not too far, surrounded by red snow, but his horse was long gone. The other three corpses were also close by, some of them headless as they sat on the cold ground.

Asul pulled the reins and pushed his feet inwards. Feisu galloped out of the ruined walls, leaving deep footmarks on the thick snow underneath, neighing.

In the distance—around two kilometers ahead—was a medium-sized yurt. 'Must be the camp they left behind.'