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Record 1: Welcome to The Nightmare

"Mum, can I be a werewolf?”

Pausing as she closed the curtains, moonlight briefly illuminating her rich, dark skin, Eve turned to her daughter with an eyebrow raised.

“...A what-now ?”

“I wanna be a werewolf!”

“...why?”

“We learned about it in history class today, and it sounds really fun!”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Eve began tucking her daughter into bed.

“Not a chance, bug, not a chance.”

“Why not?? Anita’s uncle is one, and he can do all sorts of things!”

“It’s not gonna happen, bug. Now get some sleep, okay? It’s been a long week for all of us.”

Seven year old Aishi pouted at her mother with green eyes, refusing to lay her black little head against the pillow, as her mother finished tucking her in for the night.

“Why not??”

Rolling her eyes, Eve gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

“Trust me, you do NOT want to be a werewolf; you’d attract fleas, have a much tougher time with your allergies, and that’s not even getting started on the silver…”

“...I wanna be able to howl at the moon…” Aishi muttered, pouting.

Sighing lightly in exasperation as she reached the door and put out the lights, Eve gave her daughter a look.

“You can do that tomorrow after class, alright? Get some rest, now.”

“Please??”

Aishi put on the best puppy dog eyes she could. About to roll her eyes again and close the door, Eve paused as an idea formed in her head.

“Actually...some time this week, how about we pay Anita’s uncle a visit? You know, ask him what it’s like to be a werewolf?”

Aishi’s eyes lit up instantly, and Eve gave a small smile of satisfaction.

Bingo.

“Really??”

“Yep! That way, you can ask him all the questions about being a werewolf that you want, and you can decide if you still want to be one after that, okay?”

Aishi happily nodded.

“And then I can be a werewolf?”

“I’ll...think about it. Now, how about we get some shut eye, okay?”

Seeing Aishi finally rest her head on her pillow, Eve gently closed the door.

After being let go from the fishery, her father had searched tirelessly for another source of income until he had been offered a job caring for some beasts owned by a wealthy entrepreneur, though Aishi herself still didn't know what that meant.

Happy that she was had a permanent bed after those days being dragged from one place to another, she drifted off dreaming of racing on giant dogs with her new friends in the building.

It was a fine space: Two beds (hers a separate room), a small kitchen and dining area. Perfect for their little family of three. And Behind it was acres of trees, some of the woodland creatures up and about, while others settled in for the night. To the right and left of the cabin were other buildings: stores, inns, other abodes, and she could still go fishing at the lake!

The streets outside were a small bustle of activity: the soft hoot of owls as they hunted mice; music from the local tavern played, the inhabitants laughing as they drank and sang in merriment; a soft banging was occurring a next door, as a newly-wed couple made love. No sound, however, reached young Kimiko’s ears, her innocence preserved by the walls around her.

It was in the dead of night when it struck.

Sleeping in her bed, Aishi was blissfully unaware of all around her, when her closet door opened with a muted ‘creak’. For what seemed like an eternity, not another sound was heard. Then, it began to open, the same muted sound echoing in the room.

Three, hand-length fingers, dry, and withered as a corpse, slide out, and gripped the edge of the door frame.

Small splinters broke off instantly as the digits fractured the wood.

Four eyes, red as the brightest blood, peered through the closet opening, eyeing little Kimiko, and narrowing in anticipation. The creature, mouth dripping with hunger with its meal so close, began slowly opening the door again.

This time, the sound of the door opening was more than audible.

Waking up, little Aishi barely missed the sickly digits retreating back into the closet. Blinking a few times, she rubbed her right eye, the lack of sleep causing her eyes to droop. They eventually settled on her closet, noticing the open door.

"I thought I closed you..."

About to dismiss it and go back to sleep, she noticed what appeared, in the dark, to be the sleeve of a sweater sticking out of her closet.

Yawning a bit, Aishi got out of bed and groggily walked over to the closet, eyes still on the sleeve. With each step, however, she began to hear something; , and as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she realized her mistake.

“That's...not a sleeve…”

Rubbing her eyes with the sleeves of her nightgown, she blinked once, her vision finally clear.

They snapped right back open, wider than they had ever been.

Lying before her was a long, beastial tail, the skin corpse-like, with blackened flakes strewed here and there.

The room around her seemed to come alive at that moment, and little Aishi’s heart began to rapidly pulsate, quickly becoming audible in the dark, silent room. The door now mere feet from her, she let out a gulp.

With a twitch, the tail slithered back into the closet.

Then, she heard it.

Breathing.

Wet chains rattling within a humid cave, the air a bloated carcass, floating in a filthy river underneath a blazing sun.

Pure terror gripping her, she slapped both hands to her mouth, and let out a muffled shriek. Tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, she slowly began to retreat, too terrified to even consider running.

The door began to open once more.

Had she not been so focused on the monster before her, she might have realized how loud her own heartbeat had become, easily eclipsing the breath of the creature. Soon hitting the bed frame, she became paralyzed once the monster completely emerged. Out of context, the ordeal almost sounded like a story, told to misbehaving children to keep them in line.

Towering over the little girl, most of its body was concealed beneath a massive cloak, its blood-red eyes the only things visible parts of its upper torso. Long, ghastly fingers belonged to and the tips of its clawed feet, as well as its tail, were the only only things not hidden away. While vaguely humanoid, its posture indicated that the monster was hunched over a bit, like it was leaning forward.

Stalking closer to its prey, one of its claws stepped on a music box on the floor, causing a brief burst of strangled music to erupt from the toy. The sudden noise snapped Kimiko of her terrified paralysis, and letting out an incredibly shriek of fear, she immediately dashed for the door.

A resounding ‘crack!’ filled the air as the monster immediately sent her flying against the wall with it’s tail, before she could get close, and let out a piercing roar when she smacked against the wall, blood now pouring from her head, a blank look in her eyes as she slumped against the wall. The sound of rushing footsteps in the hallway signaled her parents rushing to Aishi’s cry of distress. The monster surged forward, a very long, scythe-like claw emerging from the cloak, as it prepared to deal the final blow and finish her.

Only to find it’s claws blocked.

Standing over an unconscious Aishi, a young adult- likely twenty, twenty-two at the most- stood before the monster, blocking the claws with a long and wide, two-handed sword. One hand was on the grip, and the other pushed against the blade itself. Most of the young man was obscured in shadow, though the trace amount of moonlight illuminated his now grinning face.

“Aaaand gotcha~.”

The monster’s eyes narrowed, and it let out a frustrated roar as it quickly ducked and leapt out the now-destroyed window, creating a bigger exit in the process. Briefly glancing at Aishi in concern, the young man forced himself to focus in the task at hand, dropping a note onto the floor before racing after the monstrosity, just as the mother and father burst into the room, weapons at the ready, shaking with a combination of rage, fear, and hope. Spotting the retreating figure, the father started after him with an axe in hand, while Eve immediately began treating her daughter, panicked tears streaming down her eyes in the process as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Then, all of a sudden, a bright light faintly illuminated the room, causing Eve to turn around and spot the note they had initially missed. Snatching it, Eve quickly read it before widening her eyes in understanding. Calling out to her husband, Eve handed the note over to him once he had returned, already taking deep breaths. With quick glance, his eyes widened as well, understanding the situation, and gave one last look out the destroyed wall.

“...Abater better bloody well kill that monster...c’mon! There’s a Mender not too far from here!!”

The young man, meanwhile, was having a blast.

Shortly after giving pursuit, the young man had rounded after the monster behind a building, barely managing to leap out of the way as the beast tried to slam its tail into his midsection. Dodging the barrage of scythe-like claws immediately following the sweep, he wasted no time in beginning his parry, the adrenaline starting to work it’s wonders.

As a witness to this display, radiance still bathing the area in a pale grey light, was the moon itself, illuminating the night’s dew and dust as it was kicked up in the flurry of motion down below. Perhaps unusually for this time of year, not a single gust of wind blew as the clash of metal against claw echoed in the night. One by one, the other abodes in the area lit up to investigate, immediately holing themselves up once the danger became apparent; none, not even the smallest of gnats, made a sound, lest they drew the ire of the monster.

Unseen, however, yellow eyes gazed at the scene, hidden atop a roof.

The young man, however, simply had a grin spreading across his face, adrenaline now coursing through his veins. Ducking under the latest slash, he brought up his blade in an uppercut, tearing off a portion of the monstrosities mouth and cloak... and leaving a nice slash across the fiends chest. Rearing back, the creature bellowed, the sheer force of its roar pushing Lucas a good meter away from it, before fleeing from the scene, a small trail of blood following it

Slowly getting up from his knees after a few seconds, the Abater simply smirked as he saw where the monster was heading, and absentmindedly wiped away some blood from a few shallow cuts he had received About to give chase, he frowned as he remembered what the uppercut had done

‘Hmm...that looked deeper than it should’ve been...if it really was a class ‘C’ Stalker, I should’ve only chipped off the mouth...if it’s the other kind, though...Ha! Keiko owes me forty phares!’

Grinning, he dashed off in pursuit, then scowled as the Stalker, now a fair distance ahead of him, abruptly turned a corner, trying to head him off at the woods...and then smirked when he heard a roar of pained surprised, and the Stalker came back, a fresh hip-wound now bleeding out. Seeing the Abater rapidly approaching, the Stalker growled in frustration before bolting off, narrowly avoiding something that buried itself in the ground. Swiping it off the ground as he passed, the abater glanced down at the crossbow bolt in his hand before pocketing it, focusing back on his target.

And now, much to the young man’s delight, the Stalker’s wounds were finally showing their effects:

It was beginning to slow down.

Feeling the advantage, the Abater ran as fast as he could, and, little by little, began to close the gap. Making sure to keep the Stalker away from the nearby wells, he smirked as it was pushed farther and farther, non-the-wiser as to its impending death. Rounding the corner of a stone arch-way, he blinked in surprise before scowling.

The Stalker was nowhere to be found.

“...And it’s a game of hide and seek, now. Great.”

Resting his sword on his shoulder, he casually strode forward, taking into account his surroundings; A wall of stone and timber stood proud beyond the acres of trees encircling the houses and stores of the area, built taking advantage of the existing wells. Striding atop the wall were a few patrolmen, always on the lookout for disaster, sparing him a nod when they glimpsed him; they knew who he was, and what he was doing. There was no need to interfere.

‘Hm...no roughed up grass path, or any stone fragments...!’

The corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly, he kept strolling forward…

...Pretending to ignore the very faint outline of claws on a wall shadow.

“Eh...Maybe this way?” he wondered aloud, taking a turn around the general goods store to his left. He was a fair distance before he heard it: the faint sound of something big shuffling across the grass, and towards the trees. The grip on his sword tightening, he peeked over his shoulder...and grinned as the Stalker roared in pain.

‘And it took the bait!!’

Watching as the Stalker backed away from the unseen barrier keeping it from escaping, the Abater slowly began walking towards it, and snickered as it tried rushing to the right, getting several meters away, only to let out a snarl as it was shocked by the same unseen force.

“Heheheh...finally, time for some action!”

Whipping around, the Stalker bellowed in rage as the Abater began speeding up, and met him head on. It began to hammer away with vigor, fury blurring it’s blows. The young man parried them in turn, attacking just as vigorously, finally dodging a particularly vicious one. Grappling its claws to the side using his sword, he brought it up with both hands, and stabbed right into the wound from before.

“

Raising his blade, the Abater prepared to deal his finishing blow

"This is all you got - seriously? I could do this on one foot! If this is you giving it your all, then I coulda done this job all by my loneso-"

Whether it be in the heat of battle, or in the process of executing a task, a multitude of things can occur without one’s knowledge, a great number of them faster than the human mind can process them. In this particular instance, two things happened. One: Something small, soft, and four-legged had chosen that moment to land on his head. And two: whatever had landed had very sharp claws, and was very, very angry.

Almost instantaneously, the abater began to curse and flail about as he desperately tried to pull off the hissing, yellow eyed cat currently sinking its claws into his skin with a vengeance.

"-*&#$ @#%$?!?!"

Just as he succeeded in relieving himself of the clawed menace, another, far more dangerous, one used the opportunity presented to slash at the young man’s side before sending him flying with its tail, right into the electric barrier. Yelling agony for the brief moment he was in contact with it, he collapsed to the ground, the cat landing next to him almost fried to a crisp, whiskers crumbling to dust in a manner of seconds.

His head spinning, the Abater grimaced, hand shakily hovering over the large gash he was now sporting.

“....****ing cat…”

Body still reeling from the electricity, he heard the Stalker bellow triumphantly, and spat out a curse as he scrambled to find his sword, the Stalker now charging him with it’s claws looking to kill him. Finally finding the hilt, he struggled to lift it in time, his grimace furthering as his arm protested, as the monster swiftly closed the gap. His arm giving out, he shut his eyes just as the Stalker got him...and heard something close shot past by him.

Opening one eye, he blinked in surprise...then let out a pained grin at the sight of the Stalker, frozen mid stop, swayed in place, a bullet-sized hole now in its head, and a few sparks dancing around the entrance.

As it collapsed, the Abater took survey around him, and spotted the culprit, another crossbow bolt, soaked in blood, bits of the Stalkers brain skewered on it, a good few meters away from the corpse, in the grass.

Roughly a tenth-of-a-mile away, ‘Keiko’ let out a sigh of relief, before jumping down from her tree branch, placing her crossbow on her back, her long silver shimmering in the moonlight, and red coat flapping slightly as she raced over. By the time she got there, her fellow Abater had managed to get up, and stab the Stalker several times in the head before seating himself against the general store wall, clutching at his bleeding side.

“Cutting it kinda close with that last bolt, don’t you think?”

Taking a medical pack out of her bag, Keiko gave him a sheepish smile, handing over the pack to her partner, who immediately got to work on his injuries.

“Eh-heh...Sorry about that, Lucas. It’s just...it’s not everyday that you see your partner get ambushed by a cat. Though, maybe you should’ve just let me take the shot earlier, instead of trying to kill it yourself…”

About to issue a retort, Lucas paused, and looked down at his still bleeding side.

“...Point. Can’t take all the blame, though; just look at the recently departed over there.”

They both glanced at the smoldering feline corpse nearby.

“...I guess, but that just makes me wonder where it came from. Did you accidentally step on its tai-?”

“-NGH! Girelds moon!”

Snapping her head back to Lucas, Keiko’s eyes widened as his tweezers dropped to the ground, his arm shaking mildly.

“Gotta hand it to you; those crests of yours are freaking potent.”

“Oh, right; I should probably disable those!” Keiko exclaimed. Hastily getting up, she began to sprint, only to grind to a halt and look back.

“Do you think you’ll be able to help me take the corpse in when you’re healed?”

“Eh, sure, just give me about fifteen minutes! But let’s stop at the inn on the way; we’re a bit low on suture!”

Nodding, she was about to continue when, suddenly, the air was alive with something utterly guttural; it seemed almost primal in nature, recognizable to all forms of higher life, but a select few; it spoke of urgency, of desire, of the most basic of instincts.

It was...Keiko’s stomach.

“...He he hehe...Do you think we can, uh, get something to eat while we’re there??” she asked, lightly scratching her cheek.

“...Okay, yeah, that sounds nice.”

….

“Hey, forty-five phares says we get a new assignment the minute we get back.”

“Mmmph...Make that thirty phares.”

Lucas and Keiko sat inside a large inn , known as The Drunken Furnace, waiting for the chance to communicate with their boss, equipment either under the table or set to the side. A two-story, it’s recent violet paint shone even brighter in the cloudless sky . Patrons were seated about, enjoying drinks, quietly chatting away the night , with a few Rysing; some for show, and some for actual practice. Lucas had gotten a local liquor, “Moonlight”, and some apple crisps to eat, as he applied some disinfecting balm to his wounds, no longer shrouded by the moonlight night.

Somewhat rough in appearance, Lucas could’ve been easily mistaken for a troublemaker, what with his devil-may-care attitude towards the fact that he was, essentially, performing self surgery in the middle of a busy tavern, his shirt lifted up to his armpits. Of course, that may have been why a few women (and even fewer men) in the tavern were ogling him, or at least the parts that didn’t have blood. Green eyes rolling slightly at their lack of subtlety, Lucas clicked his teeth as he finished applying some sutures, swatting away a fly from his short, unkempt brown as it began to circle him curiously.

“Can you angle it a bit to the left? No, your other left-Gah, that’s downwards--Left! ...Okay, good; right there!”

Furrowing her eyebrows as she managed to angle the mirror in hand, to ensure Lucas had a better view of his gashes, Keiko bit her tongue. Try as she might, it was, frankly, more than a bit tricky to establish communications with their headquarters using just one hand; the smell of some tea and cooling ham was not helping manners.

At a glance, most would assume that her choice of attire indicated a ferocity, perhaps a desire to prove herself

Rysing. Ask anyone these days, and they’ll tell you that it’s just something that’s always been there; sure, most civilians have never given it much thought beyond: ‘It’s always just sort of…’been’ there.’’

“Tch. I’ve been doing this for years now, and it's a freakin' CAT of all things that nearly get me killed.”

“Yeah, I wonder about that. Are you sure you didn’t recognize it?”

“It was fried to a crisp before I could really get a good look at it! I was kinda occupied with making sure it didn’t claw my face off! Didn’t you catch a glimpse of it through that scope?”

“

Keiko absentmindedly acknowledged, putting some finishing touches on her crest.

Taking a small scale from her pocket, Keiko placed in in the left corner of the crest before using the one on her glove to shock the paper. Instantly, the scale turned into a red mist, spreading out over the parchment and caused the lines to glow light blue.

“...Hello, This is W.I.S.S, Wolfgang’s Incarnation Slaying-”

“-Yo, Fāng! Guess who!” Lucas grinned at the crest, before turning his attention back to his wounds.

“Oh, Lucas! Keiko, you there too?”

“Yeah.”

“I take it the job was a success?”

“There was...a small incident , but we successfully killed it. Like the reports said, it was a Type-C-”

“Nah, nah, that thing was a Type-B if I ever saw one.”

Said Stalker’s corpse was currently rotting outside the inn near the back. Lucas wasn't certain what was he was dreading more - Draining it, or people complaining about the smell.

Keiko raised an eyebrow, giving Lucas a somewhat baffled look.

“...I definitely the reports saying it was a Class-C. You’re positive it’s otherwise?”

“I got up close and personal with it; trust me, it was a Class-B.”

“Well...alright, but I think I’ll examine it myself, just to be sure.”

“Eh, knock yourself out.” Lucas replied, stretching a bit.

“Aw, no petty argument over the technicalities? Killjoys...”

“Bite me, Fāng.”

“Careful, love, she might just take you up on your offer.” casually warned a third, softer, female voice, accompanied by the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Oh, I’m tempted, but I’m in too good a mood right now; still riding the high from the song I heard a few hours ago!”

“See, Mils? Don’t worry about it; everything’s good between the two of us.”

“H-hi, Millie-Neesan! We just called in to report the Stalker’s death, though we’re not sure if it’s-” Keiko stated, straightening her back and trying to appear as professional as was possible.

“I already heard, Keiko; It’s not like it matters, though; Pay’s about the same. By the way, have either of you two gotten around to draining it? Old Nick’s been waiting for some new blood for a fortnight.”

“I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it. I just need to patch up first...Gireld’s Moon, it’s been TOO LONG since I last fought a Stalker.”

“So, anything else to report?” Retreating footsteps indicated the third female was walking away.

“Ah, the kid got, well…”

“The other target survived the encounter, fortunately. However, they sustained some injuries in the process.” Keiko stated as professionally as possible.

“Ooooh, I can hear the parental outrage already. I do not envy you two right now…Goooood luck~!”

“...You’re a regular bleeding heart, Fāng, you know that?” Deadpanned Lucas

“Anything new on your end?” Keiko asked, ignoring Lucas.

“Hmmm, we just received a letter from Walter and Jules, dated back about a few weeks. They managed to finish the job in Burrow Haven earlier than expected, and they should be here by the time you get back, if not sooner.”

“Those two? Good to hear; The den’s been getting too quiet lately, and Jules usually keeps the place from getting too boring-! OH, SH*T-!”

“…did you say what I think you just said?”

“No, wait! L-let’s not do anything hasty, Fāng!”

Pleading, Lucas forget his wound for the briefest of moments in his panic, reopening it in his panic.

“Oh-ho, oh-ho-ho-ho, it is FAAR too late for that, Luke; it’s already in motion. Watch your step when you get back~!”

Noting that Lucas was too horrified to react, face frozen and jaw dropped to an almost comical degree, Keiko sighed.

“(Fantastic. One more thing to look forward to when we get back.) I don’t think there’s anything else to report, so we’ll talk to you when we get back.”

“Wait! Jus-Just hold on a tick!”

“Nee-san? Is something wrong?” Keiko asked, waiting for her to catch her breath.

“Y-yeah! Lu-Ha, ha-Luke, you still there?”

Snapping out of his stupor, Lucas deadpanned “I’m going to be paranoid as Zorin’s horizon for the next few days, but yeah, I’m here. What’s up?”

“Splendid! (Ahem) Guess what arrived in the mail~!”

Lucas’s eyes blinked in confusion, before narrowing as his pupils looked to the side in thought. Shortly after, his eyes popped open in realization, before beginning to glimmer with glee, as his mouth formed a grin.

“Wait – Millie, are you serious?? The Changeling finally arrived?!”

“Yep~!”

Lucas clenched his fists and closed his eyes as joy and anticipation welled up inside him, before throwing his hands up and down in quick succession in the air and letting out a big “YES!!”

“I’ll make sure the training grounds are ready for practice when you get back. I can’t wait to see that thing in action!” Millie exclaimed, letting out a squeal of anticipation. “It’ll be fantastic to see how it measures up to some of the other weapons –maybe it can even give the Luthorn spear a run for its money!”

“All that hard earned Rill – it’s sooo gonna be worth it.”

“Maybe afterwards we could head down to Ray’s Tavern and we could have a bite to eat, just you and me…?”

“...Uhm, maybe some other time.” Lucas muttered, turning his head to the side and averting his gaze from the rune, a bit of sweat appearing on his brow.

Sighing a bit in disappointment, Maddie replied “…Yeah, another time. Still wanna head down to the practice room?”

Perking up immediately, Lucas eagerly replied “Zorin’s Horizon yeah!” About to return attention to his wound to finish it up, Lucas realized something and sharply turned his head back to the rune, just as Keiko was about to shut down communication.

“Oi, Fāng! You even think of doing something to the Changeling, and you’re dead! You hear me?! Dea-!”

The seal abruptly stopped glowing, signaling the communications had been cut off from the other end. Stunned, Lucas had his left hand midway formed to pointing angrily at it, incredulous rage frozen on his face.

Several moments passed before Lucas was able to fully register what had happened, and he began to shake with indignant fury, only noticed by Keiko.

“In the name of Gireld, this isn’t over, Fāng. I swear, when I get back there, I’m gonna grab those stupid glasses, and shove em right down YOUR-”

“Um...I-I think the Changeling will be safe, Lucas! Fāng’s never been the kind of person who sabotage someone’s work... o-on purpose, I mean. N-not that she’s caused any major accidents!...At least not that I’m aware of...Though I’m pretty sure that we’ve got a clean record!”

“Okay, I got it, THANKS!” Lucas proclaimed, placing his hand on Keiko’s shoulder to stop her from digging herself any deeper. Taking note of the eyes that were now staring at them, he gave their audience a mildly annoyed look. “What are YOU staring at?”

Everyone in the inn promptly resumed minding their own business.

“...yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Satisfied, Lucas redirected his attention to a downcast Keiko, her forehead on the table. After about half a minute had passed, Keiko lifted her head.

“...Thank you.”

Lucas simply sighed.

“It’s fine. Now, can we get back to the conversation at hand?”

“That sounds good.”

“Okay. I hear you, alright? But I’m gonna take those words with a grain of salt.”

“Fair enough. So...do you plan to stop teasing this relationship with Millie-neesan any time soon? Even I can see the attraction, and I’m ME.”

Scowling, with a slight blush on his face, Lucas glared at Keiko.

“Mind your own business. You know d*mn well why not.”

“Unless I’m mistaken, it's only happened twice, so there’s some concern, but it’s hardly worth-“

All talk ceased as an enormous explosion shook the air.

Keiko and Lucas snapped their heads in the direction of the sound, and saw pillars of smoke begin rising from the east.

“Well, that can’t be good.” Lucas muttered. Getting ready to investigate, he was halfway up when Keiko thrusted her hand in front of his face, halting him

“You’re still injured; I’ll see what’s happening.”

Standing up and giving Lucas a firm look, Keiko briefly glancing at his wounded side.

Lucas raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

“There’s no guarantee it’s an Incarnation; could just be an accident, or some moron with a matchstick.”

“Incarnation or not, helping will bring more clients for W.I.S.S. I’ll be quick.”

Holding a fist out in front of her, Keiko gave Lucas an expectant look. After a moment of consideration, Lucas relented and bumped the back of his fist against hers. Aside from stammering out an apology as she bumped head first into someone’s chest, Keiko sprinted out the inn, ponytail whipping in the rushing air.

“Alright, just-Hey, hey, watch yourself out there! If it’s a Torch Phantom, you’ll have to watch your step-!” His voice barely reaching her as he shouted, Keiko turned while running, and gave him a wave in acknowledgement

‘Eh, I’ll check up on her if she’s not back in an hour or two.’ Shrugging, Lucas turned his attention back to his wound, finished the patch-up, and began applying the gauze.

“Y-you really killed it…!”

“Who in the…?”

Lucas froze

Having most likely just gotten back from the local Mender, the family of three he had chased the Stalker away from, had entered the inn. Given the nightwear, they had thrown something on just before they had left, and run themselves ragged as they . For a few moments, they simply stared at him in disbelief,

Trying to avoid causing a scene, Lucas opened his mouth when he realized the corpse of the boogeyman had bleed from the hole in its skull. Said blood had leaked through his armor as he carried the corpse. Said armor was also leaning against his chair, a few drops of blood now on the floor beneath it.

“…cr*p.” Lucas muttered. ‘Reeeeally hoped this wouldn’t happen. Just play it cool, and let’s hope Keiko’s fast.’

“Aphyr’s graces...It’s you! I-I’m Charlie and this is Eve. T-thank you for killing that monster before it could…I don’t even want to think about it. You have no idea how grateful we are; the Mender said that she’ll live, but she’ll be bedridden for the next three or four months.” With that, Charlie grabbed Lucas’s free hand and shook it vigorously, tears welling up in his eyes.

“H-hey! Easy, easy, I just patched a wound.” Lucas winced. He could already feel the stitches loosening up.

Charlie paused as he realized this, and immediately withdrew his hand, stammering an apology.

“Look, it’s not that big a deal; I just happened to be passing through the area with my companion, heard the thing roar, and made the right call. I’m glad your daughter’s safe and everything, but no thanks are necessary!”

Lucas glanced around as he spoke. People were starting to stare again.

“Uh, you feeling alright, sir? Sounds like that Boogeyman might’ve given you some memory loss when it smacked you around.”

Muttering a small curse, Lucas whipped his head around his alarm and horror and looked at the speaker, the bartender of the inn, a freckled man with slicked back black hair wearing the formal attire expected of his position. Quickly putting two fingers in front of his mouth, Lucas wordless pleaded for silence the instant Charlie and Eve turned their heads to the bartender, confused.

“W-why would he be suffering from memory loss?”

“Well, him and his friend have been here about...oh, I’d say the past couple of days. Funny, though;they were asking around, mostly about where it’d been sighted, and how it seemed to operate.” Washing a glass as he spoke, the bartender was apparently oblivious to the panicked glare Lucas was sending his way.

Lucas promptly broke into a cold sweat, his mind filling with every profane word he could think of.

“W-wait a minute, you…you knew it was here the whole time?” Charlie’s eyes narrowed as his mind processed the information.

“Eh, not…not necessarily. I-I mean, Stalkers are hard to find when they want to be, so we had to wait around for a bit until it made itself known...”

Lucas held his hands up to his shoulder in a calming gesture, slowly trying to put some distance between himself and Charlie, nervous beads of sweat rapidly forming on his neck. Both of his eyes twitched slightly.

“But…if you were waiting, then the only way you could have known would have been to…!” Charlie’s eyes widened in horror and shock as he put the pieces together

‘Aaaaand there goes my peaceful recovery.’ Lucas cringed slightly, and braced himself for the inevitable as Charlie’s face became red.

“You b*st*rd…did you…did you seriously use our daughter as LIVE-BAIT!?”

......

‘Okay: Clatter Dust, some blast gel, a few surge stones…Please tell me it’s not a Searing Phantom.’

After recounting her current inventory, Keiko kept her eyes on the pillars of smoke in the distance, rushing over to a particularly tall tree and climbing it, intent on seeing the source of the smoke better. Reaching the top, she quickly looked in the smokes direction, now seeing that it was coming from a building that was likely at least 3 stories high – if it was any higher, then the smoke was obscuring the rest. Just as she was about to climb down, a fireball (roughly size of a small child, if she had to venture a guess) burst through the left side of the building, causing part of the structure to collapse. Following its trail with her eyes, Keiko saw the traveling inferno travel a fair distance southeast before crashing into a thicket of trees, setting the green ablaze. At that moment, a distinct sound came from the building.

A roar – the roar of a mindless beast, a beast born from fire.

Narrowing her eyes, Keiko swiftly returned attention to the building, grimacing as she reached a conclusion.

‘Searing Phantom it is, then...d*mn it.’’

Keiko immediately leapt down to the sturdiest branch she could stand on and whipped out a petite stone, covered in runes, from her alchemy satchel

‘So much for pay for more Crest lessons. Even Shouga might have to wait a bit longer for us to read that book.’

Grabbing her crossbow, Keiko took out a piece of string and quickly tied the stone to a bolt. Going above the treetops once more and aiming carefully near the bottom of the inferno using her sights, Keiko fired. Whipping out another stone from her satchel, she put down her crossbow, and held it out in the direction of the bolt she had fired, focusing hard as a large chunk of her Rysen dried up.

And with a flash..she became lightning.

........

The bartender inwardly apologized to Lucas, and prayed for his life, as he ducked behind the counter

“Answer me, you b*stard!!!”

Charlie had immediately rushed Lucas once realization hit him, throwing him out of his chair and smashing him against the wall. Gripping Lucas’s collar with one arm, he hoisted him high up against it, causing Lucas to cringe as his wound reopened. Charlie’s wife, Eve, was glaring murderously at Lucas as she held her daughter protectively.

“I JUST said ease up! You want blood on your foot-?! Gah!”

“ANSWER ME!!”

Eyes now bloodshot, and pupils constricted to the size of pinpricks, Charlie reeled back a fist.

“…I suppose you could see it that way (grunt), though we didn’t exactly dangle the kids here on a string.” Lucas averted Charlie’s gaze at first, before looking him dead in the eye

“You monster! I can’t believe an Abater could be so…heartless! Do children’s lives mean nothing to you?!” Eve cried, her glare intensifying.

“WE DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE!!”

“...W-what do you mean, ‘You didn’t have a choice’?” Charlie asked, his rage subsiding, glancing over his shoulder at his daughter.

“…First, put me down, now. You’re aggravating my wound.” Placing his left hand on Charlie’s, Lucas gently but firmly coerced him to do as he asked.

After a few moments of silence, studying Lucas’s face, Charlie slowly relented, placing Lucas back down carefully.

Sighing in relief, Lucas inclined his head towards the chair he had been occupying, causing Charlie to look intently at Lucas before reluctantly standing aside, though clenching his fists tightly at his side, and letting him return to his chair. Walking carefully so as not to aggravate his wound any further, Lucas sat back down in the chair, beginning to explain as he re-applied the bandages.

“Like I said, we didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter. The needed tools and recrafting to successfully track Stalkers down before they can attack are out of our price range. So, yeah, not really any other option there. Decoys, recrafted or otherwise, are also out of the question; they either don’t exist yet, or someone's not willing to share. Now, this is just from what me and my partner have gathered, and our sources are good, but Stalkers just seem to be able to tell if their prey is an actual kid or not.”

“So, then it wasn’t just Kimiko, then.” By now, by muscles had mostly relaxed

“I-I guess there wasn’t much choice then, I suppose. It was just bad luck that it went after Aishi…” A sad understanding reflected off Eve’s face as she hugged her daughter.

“...For what it’s worth, I AM sorry for not getting there sooner.” At this, Lucas nodded an apology at the couple, before returning attention to his injury.

Resigning his head a bit, Tory walked over to Eve and placed a hand on her shoulder as the two prepared to check into the inn for the night, before turning his head towards Lucas.

“Th….thank you for killing that thing.”

Waving a hand to them in acknowledgement, Lucas finished patching himself again, and got ready to slowly make his way out back to drain the boogeyman.

“…M…Mum? Dad?”