‘I remember our first assignment, the first time we met, the time when we were officially brought together and told that we were now a team. Of course, like most average and stereotypical teammates, we hated each other's guts or at least… that is what we both thought at the time.’

 

‘Over time, we eventually realized we sort of had a need for one another’s cooperation. Our first job together was… rough, but we were a new team so there was leeway for a mistake or two. After that, however, we began to get close and after several jobs… were more or less inseparable.’

 

‘I miss her, you know? It’s funny though, the first time we actually talked to one another was when she was doing this thing, she was putting different bullet types in one single clip, armor piercing, explosive, incendiary, you get the picture I am sure. Anyways, seeing this I just had to ask why she was doing that, and the response was just so damn stupid that I loved it so very much. She told me, “They will never know what’s coming… and neither will I. When I pull this trigger… It will be as much a surprise for me as it will be for the other guy shooting at me.”

 

‘I think… Even if I was supposed to have a comrade the first time I got ‘enlisted’ into this group, I am pretty sure I would not have expected to have such a strange partner, but at the same time… I wouldn’t have wanted to have had anyone else watching my back.’

 

‘I hope that one day that myself and she could possibly reunite, maybe even work together again… but I guess it’s all in the hands of the Commander now.’

~~~~

9:00 AM, Thursday, Red Veil City:

While seated at the workbench he placed himself in a little under an hour ago, Kingsley picked up the final arrowhead from the container it was laying it, he used the enchanting tool effortlessly, yet skillfully. He injected just enough mana into it so that it might bring about the greatest performance from the enchant on the arrowhead. After completing this, he then gently attached it to the shaft and used mana to seal them together, finishing the last arrow and completing the task assigned to him by his dear mother.

 

All in all, the entire process took no more than 45 minutes.

 

The young Wolfkin picked up the arrow and gently packed it into the quiver, along with the rest of the ones he enchanted. He stretched as he picked himself off the chair he had been sitting on throughout the entire process, it was as if his body was singing as he stretched.

 

“Oi!” Suddenly, the familiar voice of his dear mother filled his ears, “Kingsley, Breakfast is ready… Are you finally done with those arrows?! It’s never taken ages like this to have you finish them!”

 

She walked over to the workbench where Kingsley was working and picked up the quiver filled with arrows.

 

“Yeah, sorry, but I am done now… *yawn~*...  completely finished.” Kingsley spoke while rubbing his eyes.

“Hmm~...” She inspected the arrows with her discerning eyes as if she were inspecting some sort of work of art, she slowly began looking over each and every engraving made to the arrowhead and shaft. The technique that was used could be seen with how gracefully this was done. It was as if some sort of ‘Master Enchanter’ had done this work himself.

 

Needless to say, Kingsley’s mother was quite… surprised.

 

“Kingsley,” She said her son’s name while she held the arrow, “When did you learn to inscribe runes like this?”

 

Kingsley’s weary-looking eyes glanced over the arrow and then went up to his mother. He noticed she appeared to be very interested in the arrows he enchanted… It was at this moment he realized something; He shouldn’t have enchanted those arrows the way he did. This might not be something he can easily handle with a half-hearted explanation or something.

 

Suddenly, his eyes wandered away from his mom and to the clock on the wall… He noticed the time and thanked God for what time it was.

 

“... Oh, fuck!” He exclaimed while running over to the stairs and grabbing his backpack and books. “I’m going to be late!”

 

Before his mother could even get another word out, he used that innate agility of his and quickly made his way out of the store.

 

He ran down the sidewalk until he was a little over a block away from his home before he slowed down and slowly began walking towards the academy. The panicked expression he had on his face disappeared and was replaced with one of partial relief.

 

‘Good thinking Kleo, thanks for the help back there.’

 

*Think nothing of it… after all, it was partly my mistake for having you use your own personal method of mana inscription for those runes. Whoever is getting those arrows, however, will most certainly be surprised by their performance, I am sure.*

 

‘Heh… Yeah, no shit.’ He raised the collar on his jacket as the wind blew harshly for a few moments. He glanced over the streets and took note of all the cars which were driving up and down the street. He looked over all the people from all different races. Humans were the most common from what he could see, but they are quite a number of other races.

 

He also took note of the style everyone was in, it was fairly modern with a mix of medievalesque armors here and there. Nothing like steel plate or chainmail, but a more modern take of them really. It was fairly intriguing for him to see something like this.

 

After making his observation, the wind blew against his body yet again. He shivered slightly as he exclaimed internally: ‘Fuck it’s cold…’

 

He raised his eyes and looked to the sky, just in time for a raindrop to hit his cheek.

 

‘...Yeah, this weather sucks.’

~~~~

 

 

 

8:45 AM, Thursday, Red Veil City:

Cassie walked up the rest of the stairs very, very carefully and slowly. She proceeded through the hallway until she reached her bedroom door. She turned the knob and walked in and gently closed the door behind her.

 

After she did all that, she stood in a daze at the entrance of her room. Not moving, or doing anything. She just stood there. Slowly falling into a bit of a panic.

 

‘... Who?’

 

It was the only question on her mind as she made her way from the kitchen up to her room.

 

‘... Who is she?... Is she really Olivia? Is she really my cousin?’

 

She finally called out for her seemingly all-knowing A.I. assistant.

 

‘Stevie… You need to explain this… Explain this to me, right the fuck now, what did you make me hear? What was that conversation?!’

 

*Well, it’s reasonable to believe that she is in league with some sort of group or society, of course, that’s only speculation. There is no real proof. However, there is a reason to believe she has quite the position in the said group since the other fellow had quite a bit of fealty in his tone as if he was receiving orders from someone with authority.*

 

The words that she just heard made her bones shake. Her cousin, from her father’s side, someone who she is close to and loves like a sister is possibly a member of some sort of secret society which is currently trying to kill someone?!

 

‘We- Wha-... Well, uh… what do I do then? Should I stop her from doing whatever it is she is trying to do, or should I run and find dad? I mean I just can’t sit here and let her do this right? I need to do something… right?’ She voiced her thoughts as she began to start pacing up and down her room.

 

Her eyes landed on the black case on her bed.

 

*Cassie. After careful consideration and deliberation of the information, we have at this point in time. It would be best for you to wait and see. Statistically speaking, you are in no threat of being killed. *

 

‘... Statistically… speaking?... Are you fucking kidding me?! SHE’S CALLING HITS IN MY FUCKING LIVING ROOM AND YOU THINK SHE WON’T KILL ME FOR KNOWING THAT?! STATISTICALLY SPEAKING?!?!’

 

It took quite a bit of effort to contain herself, as well as those words, inside herself.

 

*Well, she doesn’t know that you know of her actions now, does she? Do also take into consideration that even if she wanted to kill you, she could have done so while you were sleeping, which she didn’t. Last night she just left the property and returned at a later time, as I told you. Meaning that if she was really interested in killing you, she would have struck by now, which as I told you, is statistically improbable.*

 

Even though Stevie was trying to speak sense into Cassie, it was rather clear she was adamant in her paranoia.

 

‘... I want a gun. If I am going to be forced to be near here from now on, I want protection. I want a gun... Stevie, open up the arsenal.’

 

*... Very well, as you wish.*

 

An orangish colored crack appeared in front of her, and out came a gun rack. Multiple types of assault rifles, shotguns, light machine guns, marksmen rifles, sniper rifles, and every kind of man-made weapon for killing which uses bullets and other projectiles were lined up on that seemingly endless gun rack.

 

Unfortunately for Cassie, she only had a small segment of this arsenal opened to her currently. She reached out and the gun rack, as if it was on some sort of wheel, began spinning. It was responding to her request. It spun for a bit until the whole rack was filled with just handguns.

Cassie reached out and grabbed a hold on that ever familiar hand-gun that she had spent so many years getting acquainted with, on Earth that weapon is known as the FN Five-seven.

 

She grabbed it, loaded a standard magazine of 5.7 mm rounds, and pulled back the slide, loading a round into its chamber.

 

*Cassie, I do not recommend having such a weapon on you. Should it be discovered, there could be repercussions. Although the populace on this planet have not made firearms yet, this is not exactly safe.*

 

‘No, Stevie... I can’t risk losing my life now… After all, this life is practically just getting started.’