Richard's Pov I watched the silver haired boy walk out of the room after addressing his friends. Even without saying much, it was obvious that he was the team leader and they respected him. I looked at Conrad who was still on the floor shaking. Be it from anger or fear, I didn't really give a damn right now. "You always speak before carefully observing who you're speaking to." I said looking at him. "I hope you learned something today." I turned away from him and went to the bed I had picked earlier when we arrived. I was putting away my sword and shield when I heard someone walk behind me. The sound of someone seating on my bed followed and I turned around to see who the person was. Ursula sat on my bed with her legs crossed and her arms folded. I had known her for quite a while and she usually did this when she wanted to talk. Stopping myself from taking off my shirt as I was about to hop into the shower, I jerked my head towards the door and walked out of the room with Ursula at

Kiri's Pov No longer able to withstand the urge, I dropped out of the shadows in front of Richard and his two teammates. The moment my feet touched the ground, I lunged at Ursula with my blade at the ready. I reached her long before her panic could fully set in. As my blade was coming down, I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stand and all my senses screamed danger. With my momentum, it was already too late to stop myself. My blade clashed with a katana the force knocked me back as a wave of current went through my arm. Dammit. "What is going on here?." A pissed-off Tora asked. I released my control over the shadows, instantly freeing everyone. Just as I was about to answer, I saw Tora's muscle twitch before he was no longer in front of me. The sound of two blades clashing behind me made me turn around quickly. Richard was being pushed back by Tora. A vengeful expression was clear as day on his face. "That guy is dangerous and unhinged." He yelled. His teammates, however, didn

Tora's PovI raised my hands just in time to block a punch that was aimed at my abdomen. The force of the blow sent me flying deep within the gathering of trees outside of the clearing. I felt pain climbing up my spine and spreading throughout my body like wildfire. What on earth was that? When I finally came to a stop, I fell on my knee and looked ahead. It took great effort to channel and enhance my sight as my mind was reeling from the pain. Moving was hard and painful, a spot on indication that bones were broken. "SHIT!." I exclaimed. More pissed off than anything else. Concentrating, I began walking back to the clearing while tapping into my pain receptors and dialing them down to almost nothing. I had picked up this trick during one of my meditations some time ago. My armor was dented, but my headband and bracers remained intact. Healing internal injuries required precise focus, so finishing this battle quickly was the only acceptable option left for me. By the time I made it

Ame's PovThe walk back to our quarters was uneventful. Richard, Ursula and Conrad were taken to the infirmary. Cecil argued against it when the medics tried to take her and insisted that she was alright. Now, the rest of us walked back as Kiri briefed Tora on the rest of the platoon's condition. "You know what you did wasn't necessary." I said to him. He paused what he was saying to Tora but didn't break his stride. "What do you mean?." He asked. "If you hadn't provoked her in the first place, this entire fight could have been avoided." I said to him. "I'm never able to understand what goes on in that head of yours." He didn't reply but he offered a smile instead. "If I didn't do that, a repeat of what happened when we first Tora could have occurred." He said to me. "Not that it's any different now, but if we had allowed this matter to drag on any longer than necessary then it could cost us our lives during our missions." I turned my gaze to Tora, he remained quiet as usual. As al

Tora's PovHaving your sight taken in just an instant can be very unsettling. Especially when you are not expecting it. Everything suddenly went dark but years of training helped me reign in the sudden panic that would have overtaken me. Gradually, light began to return starting from behind me. On closer inspection, I realized that the light wasn't returning, but the darkness was being sucked into one spot in front of us. It continued to gather and swirl until it formed a hurricane about twenty feet high. The speed of the hurricane slowed down until it finally dispersed leaving a figure crouching where it previously was. Letting out a deep breath, the figure stood up and looked around. He stopped when his gaze landed on me. His eyes were pure black with no hint of color. They seemed to suck in and swallow the light around, creating a shadow effect around them. He was dressed in a pure black kimono with red trimmings at the edge of the sleeves and the bottom. One of his shoulders was