The first stab landed on Aio’s shoulder. His Johrei shield shimmered under the bright yellow light of the cavern. Vera was carrying a strange, needle-like blade with strange serrated protrusions on it.

  He fended off a second blow with his bow, splitting the two halves of the bow into makeshift blades. Vera raised her eyebrow at this.

  Activating his Johrei, Aio’s senses sharpened. He tried to minimize its moments of usage, as Johrei stores should be managed frugally. With enhanced perception, he noticed Vera’s next strike, aimed at the same shoulder, the speed of the strike appearing to move slower than last time.

  Instead of sidestepping the attack again, he called out the feint, stepping into the strike, ducking at the last moment until he was right underneath Vera. With his right hand, he attempted to stab upwards into her face, which shimmered slightly into a smile.

  His eyes widened as a knee connected squarely with his solar plexus. His shield ate the brunt of the force but he was sent flying backwards onto a patch of flowers, which were crushed under his weight.

  Even with the shield, the pressure from that kick was enough to knock the wind out of him. It wasn’t particularly strong, but he felt the preciseness of it. Getting to one knee, breathing a little harder, and attempting to stand, he turned his face towards her only to find her blade darting towards his shoulder again.

  This time it landed, causing a streak of pain to shoot through Aio’s arm as his shield broke from continual stabs in the same location. He attempted to swipe at her but she stepped back…no, she seemed like she glided back from his attack, smiling that same smile of hers. It was unnerving.

  Ignoring the cold feeling of blood in his stab wound, he could feel the remaining Johrei shards segmenting away from nearby areas, attempting to provide minimal coverage where the wound was. That needle must have been sharp indeed to have already broken through portions of his shield.

  Targeted, precise strikes like that often broke shields more easily than blunt force of a similar nature, as there were less Johrei shards to protect those smaller surface areas. Hunters who preferred such tactics were often of those who preferred quick, decisive battles with the intent to kill, rather than capture.

  An assassin then? Aio thought. Vera was no Songbird, that’s for certain, and as this fight went on, he attempted to glean more information from his opponent. Cyr always mentioned that battles are part instinct and part awareness. The person who could discern the other’s weaknesses first would always be the one who held the advantage throughout the fight.

  Aio thought about his injury. The upside of being stabbed in one precise spot, if there was one, was that unlike blunt force, which shattered large areas at once, precision weapons often left the integrity of the Johrei shield intact. The rest of the shield retains its protective qualities, and nearby Johrei shards attempt to cover the gaps left behind by the destroyed shards. Though too much damage of such would spread the shards too thin, for now, Aio’s armor was mostly intact.

  Fingers feeling weak as blood trickled down his upper left arm, he reattached his two blades into a bow, pulling back to fire a crystalline Johrei arrow at Vera. She dashed towards him, weapon ready to strike. However, right before she reached him, he pulled back the bow. Sensing danger, she attempted to sidestep and that’s when Aio smelled the empty smell again.

  Johrei activation, he thought, training his eyes on her. It was then that he noticed how unusually quick her sidesteps were, almost inhuman, and he managed to deduce the nature of her abilities.

  Vera’s eyes widened when she realized he feinted the arrow shot. At this distance, most would have been confident about the shot. Instead, he waited for the right opportunity, analyzing her at the same time. He probably realized she was an agility type and part of her smiled at the prospect that this freshly-minted hunter might have been more skilled than she had previously given credit for.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Aio finally released the arrow, and Vera, unable to quickly stop her sudden burst of momentum, walked right into its newfound trajectory. It hit her, damaging her arm’s shielding. However, her shield remained intact, though she could tell another hit like that would break it.

  “Not bad,” she said, surprising Aio.

  “Who are you really?! You’re not a Songbird,” Aio retorted, priming another arrow. Stepping back further and further, he released a sequential volley of arrows at her. This time, deciding not to play around any further, activated her Johrei, speeding up her movements. She swatted away each volley of arrows with her thin blade, running towards Aio at lightning speeds. As she approached once again, she expected Aio to break his blades and defend, but was mildly surprised to see him tilt his bow to the side.

  Suddenly, the light from the cavern caught onto the reflection of the bladed portion of Aio’s bow. The metallic shine blinded Vera for just a moment, and Vera, seeing a glimpse of another crystalline arrow forming in Aio’s hand afterwards, laughed in her heart. This kid was something else.

  Right as the arrow was about to loose she took her non-dominant hand, tossing a set of small needles at Aio’s damaged shoulder, forcing him to adjust his stance.

  The slight hesistation from Aio gave Vera just enough time to close the gap and she swiped her blade upwards. Aio felt she was still too far and attempted to step back, forgetting about the most basic lesson of Johrei weapons.

  Never believe your eyes when it comes to weapons infused with Johrei. Always anticipate the strike with your instinct, even if your eyes fail to see the threat, Caz would always say.

  Aio pushed his bow downward, barely managing to block Vera’s blade from swiping upwards at him. Her strange blade extended its reach, Johrei shimmering against its tip. He attempted to knock her blade aside, but just as he was thinking so, she retracted the extension of her blade, and it slipped from under his bow.

  Now fully retracted, she pulled back her blade and attempted to stab Aio again. His eyes perceived her blade’s speed and saw this strike as true this time. He lifted up his bow again, crystalline arrow still attached, and tried to parry the strike, but at this distance her blade connected cutting a line across his Johrei shield which shimmered and shattered across his chest.

  However, Aio, spotting a moment of weakness while Vera was still reeling from the deflection, poised his bow point blank attempting to fire at her. It was then he felt a sharp pain as he realized three needles pierced the reforming Johrei shields on his shoulder, puncturing his wound even further.

  It caused him to raise his bow too high and his crystalline arrow released into the sky as he bled profusely from his open shoulder wound. Dropping his bow from the pain, he looked up to see her foot and was knocked back onto the ground in an instant.

  “Well, that was more fun than I had imagined. You’re young kid, but I can spot a fighter in you,” she said, as Aio writhed in pain.

  “Why are you doing this?” he asked. “Cyr [cough]. Cyr isn’t meeting up with us in the village, is he?”

  “No,” she said. “I had a feeling you suspected me even before we arrived at this place,” she said, eyes trained at the location where Aio had heard the sound earlier in the village. “However, none of that mattered. I just needed you to lead me here until I confirmed what I needed to confirm.”

  “And what’s that?” Aio asked, attempting to reach his bow on the ground nearby. Vera kicked it out of the way.

  “You won’t live long enough to know,” she said, and raised her weapon. It was at that moment she heard a whistle in the air and looked up to see a crystalline arrow falling straight down towards her. Instinctually, she activated her Johrei and stepped back quickly, having to spend more than usual for an increase in speed, barely managing to avoid the arrow, which would have punctured her shield for certain at that velocity coming down.

  Aio noticed eyes actually looked surprised this time, but that surprise only lasted a moment. His attempt to redirect the Johrei arrow failed.

  This kid…he’s going to be a problem, Vera thought, realizing his potential threat in the future and raised her lotus blade, point facing Aio and swung down at him. His last ditch attempt to fend her off seemed all for naught when suddenly a bullet streaked right through Vera’s leg, clashing against her shield. Though it didn’t break, the impact of the bullet caused her to loose her balance, forcing her to readjust herself.

  “Who-“ she began, as she was drop kicked directly in the face, sending her flying a few feet away.

  “Aio? Are you okay?” a familiar voice said.

  Johrei?, Vera wondered, noticing a faint line of shards trailing from behind where the bullet had just been. How did she get here?

  “Calli?” Aio said, straining to stand as he picked up his bow again. His shoulder was in a lot of pain and he wasn’t sure if he could hold the bow properly like this. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ll explain later,” she replied. “First, we got to take care of this imposter from the Golden Order.”

  “Golden…Order?” Aio asked.

  Vera stood up and her face became stoic. No more of the laughing woman remained in her as she looked upon this new threat.

  “Calliope,” she said, glaring coldly at the newcomer with the short, navy-blue hair in front of her. “A little too many crows for my liking today.”