Senshi darted forward once more, cshing fist against Matus's right arm.

  Matus knocked him away, springing forward and kicking Senshi directly in the gut. Senshi fell backward before hopping back onto his feet, his eyes beginning to glow again. Matus' next attack was a hook to the nose but was stopped by wrists, allowing Senshi for a counter.

  "Guys, stop! One of you may get killed!" Cindy yelled from the entrance of the building, slowly moving towards the forest area.

  Senshi hit Matus with an uppercut directly under his chin, knocking him into the air.

  Matus was bleeding viciously, blood pouring from the top of his head.

  "Just give up, Matus. You've lost," Senshi yelled. They were standing directly in opposite positions, facing each other in their respective fighting stances."You got heart, kid. Fine, I'll give you the win." Matus said, rubbing the blood off of his face.

  "Senshi beat… Matus?" Cindy thought to herself, standing in shock. "I knew he was strong, but this strong?" She continued, moving closer to the two.

  Matus walked over to Senshi, repeatedly stumbling and taking mispced steps. He eventually stood before Senshi and raised his hand to shake Senshi's.

  "Good game, kid," Matus said, holding his bloody hand.

  Senshi shook his hand and nodded his head.

  "I enjoyed that, thank you," Senshi added before letting go of Matus' hand.

  "Now that you're a part of us, I have a room for you on the higher floors of the building. Come with me."

  ***

  "This mission is already a drag. I don't have a ride, but I have to search around an entire district for one guy. Ugh." Shaikatsu thought, walking down a narrow path in a forest, holding the katana sheathed on his waist.

  He stopped.

  A sharp feeling of fear and shock struck through his veins, looking directly at one point over the tree lines.

  "No way.." Shaikatsu whispered, staring directly at the figure.

  Over the tree lines was a beast, seeming to be over ten feet tall. It was huge, its muscles pulsating in the moonlight.

  "How could a Nocturne get beyond the guards? How could this be possible.." Shaikatsu thought, unsheathing his sword.

  The monster stood utterly still, its eyes glowing in the dark, simir to an Aestari.

  Shaikatsu stood still, awaiting its first move.

  "Bring it, you animal."

  Suddenly, the monster's arms swept through the trees and pummeled over multiple, each step shaking the ground near it.

  Shaikatsu moved quickly, vanishing from sight and appearing on a nearby tree. He leaped off of it and attempted to slice its head off but was smmed back onto the pathway, tumbling into a frenzy.

  The monster roared, its loud screech sending chills down Shaikatsu's spine. It rushed forward with disturbing speed, eventually reaching the pathway and attempting to sm its fist into Shaikatsu.

  With ease, Shaikatsu rolled out of the way and sliced through the monster's right leg. His sword went through quickly, and the monster fell to its left knee.

  The monster roared in pain, locking onto Shaikatsu. It raised its right arm and swept it against Shaikatsu, sending him sprawling into a tree.

  "Annoying brat," Shaikatsu thought before bouncing off of the tree and quickly throwing three kunai into its neck. The poison imbued into it immediately decayed its neck.

  It put its rge hands onto the kunai's, attempting to pull them out before Shaikatsu stabbed his sword into its heart, piercing it. He pulled the sword out before backing up, watching the beast fall to its chest and die.

  "That one was a little tough, I'll admit." Shaikatsu sighed before sheathing his sword and cracking his back.

  "Well, my kunai's are probably crushed beneath it, and I don't feel like attempting to lift it, so oh well. I'll have to restock at some point." Shaikatsu thought before walking down the path without a care of its corpse lying in a public pathway.

  "I can smell your bloodlust, Senshi."

  ***

  Later that day, the sun had already gone down, and it was dark outside. Senshi was preparing for bed in the room he had been given while admiring the comfortable mattress.

  "You have never seen a comfortable bed before, have you?" Matus said, leaning against a drawer. The room had a singur window, a bed, a mirror, and a drawer across from the bed. It was simir to Matus' room but a tad smaller.

  The furniture was well-cleaned and organized, showing Matus' passion for cleanliness.

  "I haven't, no. It's much better than the prison beds, so thank you." Senshi added before lying down on the bed's pillow.

  "Don't mention it. Have a good rest." Matus replied before slowly closing the door.

  "Wait, what happened to your body exactly?" Senshi asked, suddenly sitting up at blinding speed.

  "Well, I had a mission with a few other employees. We ended up fighting an entire group of soldiers; they killed everyone but me, and since I was the captain, they tied me up. They um-" Matus said before tearing up; the bandages covering his face became wet, slowly going down onto his chin.

  "They tied me up, poured gasoline on me, and lit it," Matus said before looking away.

  "That's terrible; I'm sorry that happened to you. How did you even survive?" Senshi added.

  "I barely did," Matus replied before unstrapping his hand from the bandages. His hand was scorched entirely, any resembnce of skin now charred.

  "Enough fighting has allowed me not to feel extra pain when they touch things. I cover them up to reduce the risk of an infection." Matus continued.

  "I don't wish to talk about this anymore, so goodnight," Matus said before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

  Senshi looked at the door for a few seconds before standing up and sitting on a nearby chair. A desk containing paper and an ink pen sat below the window in his room.

  Let's see what I can remember.

  Percival Scredmore, Talia Swimnits.

  Hmm, that's less than I expected. I hoped for more names, but those are the only people I know of. Maybe the longer I'm in this job, the more names and faces I can find.

  Senshi began to sketch faces below both names, keeping a loose image of them.

  My first target is going to be Percival, he's too cocky. But, to get to him, I'll have to bypass an entire castle's worth of guards. But he likes me. He's seen my strength and knows what I'm capable of. I could sign up to be one of his royal guards. After I gain a bit of money, that'll be my mission. I need to be able to stay in the Common area, so I need a good flow of cash.

  ***

  The night had gone by, and morning had arrived.

  "You said WHAT?" the King yelled before smming his bottle of Whiskey onto his desk. The King had long bck hair, a bck beard, and a white royal cloak around his bck vest. His cloak, which was tied with many medals and rewards, showed his honor.

  "Nocturnals have seemed to breach the Driftmore District, sir." said a guard standing before his crew.

  "How could this happen? Our sharpest shooters deeply guard the walls; you'd have to beat all twenty guards at the district entrance!" Yelled The King.

  "Lord Aldric, we thin-"

  "SILENCE." yelled The King.

  "I want this handled immediately! I want guard divisions one and two to patrol all four districts and figure out what exactly conspired!" King Aldrics shouted before taking another sip of his Whiskey.

  The guards nodded and paid their respect before marching out of the King's office.

  ***

  The King marched down into the underground parts of the castle, passing through the prison and into the scientific building. He then walked down the hallways, passing gss rooms with test subjects in corners, lying down, barely surviving the harsh conditions of the Doctor. A man with sunken eyes twitched in the corner of his cell, his skin cracked like old parchment.

  "Valtieri!" King Aldrics shouted before kicking down the door of the Doctor's office. Valtieri sat in his chair, his stringy white hair covering his face, circle gsses, and bck cloak stretching over the floor.

  Valtieri got out of his seat immediately to salute before Aldrics hand was pced upon his neck and was choked.

  Aldrics smmed him against the wall and gazed into his eyes, only an inch from his face.

  "DID YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, LET YOUR NOCTURNAL TEST SUBJECTS LOOSE?" Aldric yelled as he tightened his grip. Aldric's guards struggled to keep up with his furious pace as he stormed through the castle, all arriving te and standing guard at the office door, waiting for him to finish what he was doing.

  "Oh, Your Majesty, what a grip you have," Valtieri wheezed, his lips curling. "But no... I don't recall setting my pets free. Unless, of course, they set themselves free..." Valtieri croaked, his voice struggling as he was being choked.

  Aldrics sighed and released his neck; his tall figure had Valtieri far in the air, making him fall onto the floor, holding his neck in pain.

  "There's no way they could've gotten loose; they'd have to go through the entire castle," Valtieri said as he rubbed his neck.

  "You better hope some sort of incident happened at the walls; if not, I'll make sure you're dead by tomorrow." Aldrics threatened before storming out of the room and stepping over the destroyed door.