The Guild Of Shadows

Clash Of Two Beasts

In a dark and eerie room, three silhouettes could be seen. 

One of them seemed to be addressing the other two, who were on their knees. 

"Your brother has been spotted in Ernia; you know what to do.". 

"Yes father" 

The larger of the two spoke first, followed by the other.

"What if he chooses to resist?"

"You could take away his artifact."

A devious smile could be seen on their faces as they vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.

'It's time you embraced your birthright, Seth'.

He spoke in a cold, dark voice that had absolutely no emotion in it. 

"Let the hunt begin!"

Vladmir shouted and charged towards Krystal with a hard knuckle, only to be met with a foot to the face. 

"He got him!". 

Grover, who was still trapped inside the spherical mass of electricity, was cheering on his partner. 

Krystal quickly retreated from his feet, seeing that it didn't even daze his opponent, and readied another attack, not letting the momentum go by.

"Shadow Bind!". 

He summoned his shadow to bind the behemoth in front of him while hitting a couple of punches in the face.

Vladmir grinned, not so much as a flinch; he channeled his Anima and broke free from the bind.

"Is that all you've got?"

He grabbed Krystal by the head and slammed him to the ground. 

He then jumped high into the air and called forth his hammer, which he slammed at the dazed Krystal.

"Krystal!!".

Grover seemed worried about the resulting explosion from the last attack.

But this battle was far from over. 

Krystal got back up, her eyes looking like those of a wild beast, ready to pounce on his target. 

He was like a wounded animal in an isolated place. 

Krystal formed a blade with his shadow moving even faster than ever, using it to cut forward. The blade flashing in the sunlight, Vladmir screamed upon getting damage this time, his chest bleeding excessively from the wound. With bare teeth, he attacked again.

The two kept exchanging blows, and the people around them were dazzled by this display of strength and tenacity from the two. 

"They're both monsters.".

"Are we safe here?". 

The aura these two were exhibiting was enough to drive a normal person mad if they were to be exposed to it directly. 

"Hahahahahahahahaha! Kid, what's your name?"". 

The excited man had developed a level of respect for this opponent, who had equally exchanged blows with him for half an hour now, with none of them taking the fall just yet. 

"Huff... Huff". 

Krystal was trying to catch her breath. He looked at the foe in front of him; he was bloody and bruised from head to toe. Both of them were.

"Hasn't he got enough?". 

He asked no one in particular, as he was sort of responding to the earlier comment.

"My name's Krystal Shadows, and I'm going to solve the Primordial puzzle!".

The goal of every guild was to find clues leading to pieces of the primordial artifact. 

Whoever can solve this 'World Puzzle' will be granted anything they desire. 

"Hah! I like your guts, kid, but this fight is coming to an end! Here I come."

Krystal and Vladmir circled each other, each one grinning at the tension they had caused in the area. 

Suddenly, Krystal lept forward, charging his foe. 

Unprepared, Vladmir recoiled from a punch to his jaw with a wince. In retaliation, he made a strike of his own.

"Thunder Slam!" 

His hammer was crackling with electricity as he struck Krystal on the chin, sending him flying. 

"Krystal!!" 

Grover was devastated at the sight of his friend making an attack like that; he wished there was something he could do. He even tried the technique he saw Vladmir use to dispatch Shadow Bind earlier, but it was in vain. 

Vladmir followed with repeated hits with the hammer, only for Krystal to block the last with his hand, not letting go. Vladmir, for the first time, was shocked at this development.

""You still have that much fight left in you, eh? Sorry, kid, but this fight's over.""

A huge jolt of electricity coursed through Krystal, making him wince in intense pain, but he still wouldn't let go.

"Haha! You never cease to amaze me, kid. Give up now. I don't even want to hurt you anymore. You've satisfied me enough. Anymore, and you'll drop dead.'"'

Krystal opened his eyes; they were cold blue, like the calm seas. His aura flared up beyond any level it had reached before, blowing away some of the bystanders that were spectating this brutal exchange. S

He raised his hand.

''Shadow, take all my Anima; let's end this with one blow!'

""So much energy. Kid, just what are you!?"". 

Vladmir was looking worried for the first time. 

He had never experienced a ferocious display of Anima before.

"This is for my lasagna!!!" 

The shadow was rapidly increasing in size and blending with Krystal's aura; it looked like a giant fiend sitting on top of Krystal's hand as he dropped his hand to end the fight. 

"Shadow Arts: Kill Switch!!".

The shockwave from the last attack blew everyone away except for Krystal, Vladmir, and Grover. With the latter being free from his prison.

"Y-yo, YOU DID IT!!".

"Vladmir was knocked out by some stranger with a shadow artifact!"

"I am so posting this on my blog.".

Krystal gave Grover a thumbs-up before finally giving in as he started losing consciousness.

He was about to fall forward but was caught by his partner.

"Easy there; I've got you, buddy; let's get the heck out of here.".

Krystal was taken to an inn to recuperate; he slept for two days straight as a result of using up all of his Anima.

Grover was talking with Kurt, and the latter reached out to the duo after reading about their battle on the internet.

He had also brought with him the finished emblem.

It was about the size of a shield and had the inscription of the letters A, E, G, and S sitting atop a carving of a star.

It was made just as Krystal requested.

"If he were awake right now, I know he'd be jumping up and down like the baby he was.".

Grover sighed, worried about his friend. Kurt hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

""Don't worry about Krystal-boy; he's fine; I can feel it. He's just tired from exhausting all of his Anima."".

Back at the Regrah Library...

"Arghhhh, you witch!"

A bandaged Vladmir was causing an uproar.

"What do you mean you can't sense his anima?". Your range can reach up to the next three districts; they couldn't have traveled far.""

""That is what it is. I guess he exhausted all his anima during your fight, or he might have dropped dead; whatever the case, I can't sense him. And don't you dare forget about my payment.""

Irene proclaimed as she flipped a page in the book she was currently reading.

Vladmir angrily walked out of the library.

'I have to find that kid'

He looked desperate with all the casts and bandages around his body.

'No matter what it takes, I will find him'.