“So, that’s the Blood Hunter?” A man stood far from the battlefield, but he had witnessed it all go down with his right eye.

  His left eye was completely gray, scarred from the hundreds of lacerations that he had received long ago.

  “Yes, that would be Ega.” Another person stood beside him, his sunken eyes standing out to anyone who could look under his hood.

  “Hmm…” A smile began to form on his lips. “It looks like I have some competition.”

  “It should be okay sir, we can take care of him once he’s—”

  “No, no, there’s no need. Just let him gather the blood for us, and once he’s fattened himself up, we’ll go in and take our harvest.”

  Despite his boss’ words, the man with sunken eyes didn’t quite seem to agree with that plan. Still, he stayed silent, trusting that things would play out well.

  “I liked him, Olian. It’s a shame to see him go like this.”

  “I tried to help him but…”

  “I know, we couldn’t have you reveal yourself just yet. But, we got what we needed from him. Come now, let’s go.”

  The one eyed man turned away and began to walk. He started to whistle as the rain poured down; a little rain song that he could still remember from his godforsaken childhood.

  “Ega…” He repeated the Blood Hunter’s name. “I can’t wait.”

  And soon, he disappeared, leaving behind only the remnants of a small song as it drowned in the rain.

  …

  The sound of waves washing upon the shore pulled Ega deeper into his dreams. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by a clear blue sky. Sitting up, he swept his gaze across the glistening ocean, stopping for a moment to appreciate its beauty.

  ‘Ah, how is this going to become a twisted nightmare?’ Ega wondered.

  Would the sky suddenly turn black? Maybe the water would suddenly be replaced by blood? Maybe the shoreline would be littered with skulls and Outers?

  He waited and waited, but the scene before him never changed. It was strange. Usually gathering Mithril Blood into his body would guarantee a horrid vision of the future, a nightmare, but not this time.

  Was this another, more peaceful vision of the future? Was it telling him that what he was achieving would eventually lead to this? Was there some sort of change which had finally gotten rid of his nightmares? Ega didn’t know, but he really didn’t care much.

  He felt something by his side, but no matter where he turned, he couldn’t see that figure. It didn’t bother him, not when their presence felt so comforting. And so, he simply relaxed beside this comfortable presence, watching as the waves waxed and waned against the shore.

  It was nice here, a moment of peace before he had to wake up again and push himself to the brink of death for a few drops of blood. But that was all this was, a fleeting moment, a dream.

  Picking himself up, he savored the sound of the waves, the grainy feel of the sand, the warm blanket that the sun and the sky enveloping him, and he began to move forward. The waters were by his feet, then they were at his waist, and soon, it was drowning him.

  Still, he moved forward. If he wanted to see this dream again, no, if he wanted to make this dream a reality, he had to move forward. There was still much more to be done, and maybe after all of that, Ega would finally have his moment of peace.

  Opening his eyes, Ega was greeted by an unfamiliar stone roof. There was something lightly latching on to his arm. As he turned his gaze to see what it was, he saw Ella sitting in a chair by his bedside, asleep.

  ‘Why is she…’ What could be so comforting about holding such rough hands? Was she just that concerned for him? More than anything, he was more concerned about Ella than he was for himself.

  Getting out of bed, he swept his gaze across the room he was in, finding it all too familiar. It had been years since he saw a room like this, the ones given to the knights of the Order.

  Standing beside Ella, he scooped her up into his hands. Her breathing was stable, and there wasn’t any pain staining her sleeping face. Heaving a sigh of relief, Ega gently tucked her into bed, and as he did, he noticed something strange on his hand.

  It looked like a glove of bones, an exact copy of what Olian had been wearing. Bringing it closer to his face, he instantly recognized what it was. The bones of Yolu.

  ‘Did I accidentally take it from him?’ He had only tried to extract the Mithril Blood out of Olian, but it seemed like he had taken the bone glove as well.

  He curled his hand into a fist, finding no hindrance in terms of mobility or flexibility. It was almost like the bones were constantly twisting to adjust to his own movement. Opening and closing his hands a few more times, Ega remembered a story about these bones.

  Imagining the bone glove on his other hand, his imagination quickly became a reality. The bones crawled across his body and wrapped around his other hand. Imaging it over his chest, it moved itself just over his heart. He moved the bones around to his face, legs, back, anywhere he wanted it, the bones would follow.

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  “This will be useful…” He mumbled, trying to think of all the use cases for these bones.

  Shifting the bones back over his heart, he was just about to take his leave until he felt something tugging at his hand again. Ella was tossing and turning, having gotten a hold of Ega’s hand again.

  Not wanting to wake her up, he waited until she fell deeper into the realm of dreams. However, before she did, there was a knock at the door.

  “I’m coming in.” Hela was on the other side.

  Not wanting his voice to wake her up, he stayed quiet. Hela opened the door and was met with Ega gesturing at her to keep silent. Noticing why he was doing so, she couldn’t help but crack a smile.

  “You really are like father and daughter.” Hela whispered as she stood by the bed.

  “Is she alright? She looks fine but…” His eyebrows furrowed as he recalled the long gash on her back.

  “Don’t worry, we had a doctor tend to her. Thankfully the wound was shallow, so she’ll recover in just a couple days.” Hela began to stroke Ella’s hair.

  Looking over to Ega, she suggested, “Why don’t you stroke her hair? I’m sure that’ll help her sleep.”

  “How are my rough hands going to help her?” Ega threw her suggestion aside. “At least you seem to have some experience with kids.”

  Hela couldn’t help but smirk at seeing how unaware he was. He was good at reading his opponents with those eyes of his, but he was never good at reading those close to him with his heart.

  “Come on, let's let her sleep.” Ega drew his hand away. “I need something to eat.”

  The two of them left for the cafeteria, striding down the stone halls until they were greeted by the smell of food. The cooks standing in the kitchen noticed Ega and Hela entering, and seeing their commander’s gesture, they got to work.

  “You know, that kid likes you a lot.” The two of them sat down in the nearly empty cafeteria.

  “Huh?”

  “Despite just having injuries of her own, she was worried about you, wanting to stay by your side the entire time. We tried to tell her to rest in bed, but despite how she looks, she’s a stubborn one.”

  “That's strange… There’s nothing to worry about. I even showed her the powers of my salamander soul.”

  A dumbfounded expression crossed Hela’s face for a second. Just how was he this dense?

  “Anyways, how has everything been going with Olian? I assume you’re going to start interrogating him very soon.”

  “That’s right. After all is said and done, he’ll probably be executed alongside his children.”

  “Right…” Ega couldn’t help but feel a tinge of bitterness. Although he didn’t know the entire story, he could tell it wasn’t very pleasant.

  He had heard of those types of chimera creatures before, but never had he seen a chimera care so much about their own creator. Usually it was anger or hate, but both Lily and Lliam seemed to love their father above all.

  Food had finally arrived at their table, though, there was only enough for one person. As the cook placed the plate on the table, Hela stood up, ready to leave.

  “Aren’t you eating?”

  “I’ve already had lunch, and besides, I have a lot of work to attend to.”

  “I see…” Just as she started walking, Ega spoke again. “Do you mind if I stay here for a bit? I just need some time to—”

  “Do you even need to ask?” She turned back for a second. “Of course, take your time. I’ll be stationed here for a while anyways.”

  There was a moment of silence as she walked off. Ega wasn’t sure what else to say, but he found the right words in time.

  “Thanks, Hela.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at his words. It was a simple expression of gratitude, but to her, it meant a lot. Ega used that word sparingly, and he wasn’t just using it for the help he was receiving this time, but for everything that she had done.

  From accepting him into her squadron, training him, guiding him, teaching him, fighting alongside him, the way he spoke carried the weight of the past. Their paths would part again, so before it was too late, he wanted to say at least that much.

  As Hela continued to walk away, Ega turned to his meal, a simple steak and potatoes. As he began to dig into his meal, he started to plan his next course of action. After yesterday’s events, he had begun to realize his own weakness.

  What once were criminals on the run had suddenly twisted into much more organized and stronger groups. With Vulf and now Olian, there was only so much he could do as a single man. He needed more strength, he needed to overcome that wall that he had run into years ago, but just where would he start?

  As he pondered the question, someone unexpected entered the cafeteria. “Look, see? Your dad’s right over there.”

  Helm had entered the cafeteria with an unexpected guest by his side: Ella. The moment she caught sight of Ega, she sprinted off toward him. There was worry and fear on her face, but those emotions quickly melted away as she arrived at his side.

  “Ah,” Helm had approached the table, wanting to explain the situation, “she was—”

  “What did you do to her?”

  “What?” He was completely stunned at the question. “Wait wait wait, I didn’t do anything. She just came out of the room looking for you sir and I—”

  “Sir?”

  “I… apologize, but were you not Hela’s second-in-command.”

  “Was her second-in-command.” Ega was about to continue further, but decided not to. “Whatever, I know you didn’t do anything. You can be on your way now.”

  Helm quickly left, still a little shaken by his encounter with Ega.

  “Is something wrong?” He turned his attention over to Ella, wanting to know why she seemed so scared earlier.

  “Ah…” Just as she was about to say something, she stopped herself.

  “What? You don’t want to tell me?”

  “I… sorry…” Ella’s gaze fell down.

  “Oh come on, what are you apologizing for? You didn’t do anything wrong. Here, let's get something for you to eat, I’m sure you're starving.” Although she wouldn’t tell him what the issue was, he guessed it was a bad dream or something.

  Looking over to the cook, Ega received an expression of pain and reluctance as the cook had just finished doing the dishes. However, knowing that the person he was cooking for was a special guest, he shouldered on the pain of having to do more dishes later.

  As Ega finished his meal and Ella started on her own plate, he couldn’t help but stare at her while she ate. He felt relaxed, even if just for a moment. He savored that feeling knowing that the road ahead of him would hand these moments to him very sparingly.