Jasmine's waist length brown hair and soft hazel eyes stayed on Sage's face for a moment as her lips curled up slightly.

"I remember opening the door late at night and seeing you in the basket wrapped in blankets. Now the little child I knew is now a grown man." 

Sage smiled wryly as he avoided Jasmine's soft gaze. 'I swear, if any man marries this woman, they'll be lucky.'

Jasmine stood at five feet eight inches, with perfectly proportioned curves. Along with her gentle and mild demeanor, Sage couldn't help but think back to when he first saw Jasmine as a woman, rather than his parent.

'If she knew I saw her as a woman, I bet she'd just laugh it off.' Sage sighed as he sipped his tea, looking off into the distance.

"Sage, are you done with the military? A letter came in yesterday for you with confidential information listed on the outside."

Sage focused on Jasmine's supple skin and shook his head. "The military decided to transfer me away from the battlefield, so I left as soon as my time was completed." 

Hearing his words, Jasmine lightly shook her head and placed her warm hands over his own.

"I'm glad they transferred you away. The battlefield is dangerous, and your unit did a lot of risky missions which could have costed you your life!" Seeing Jasmine's eyes turn watery as if she were about to cry, he hurriedly started to comfort her.

"You're right. If I did die on some confidential mission, I'd have been angry if I didn't get to see you again." Sage said with a serious face, and Jasmine's beautiful eyes rolled endearingly.

"You only know how to sweet talk ladies." Hearing her tone which became slightly blaming, he grabbed her hands and smiled confidently.

"If I could get a wife as beautiful as you, I can die a happy man." Hearing his words and his dark brown eyes gazing into her own, Jasmine's face flushed as she quickly took her hands back and lowered her head in embarrassment.

As Sage sat across from her with a curious look as she handed him am envelope before excusing herself and hurrying to her room with a slightly enamored look on her flushing red face.

Sage missed the gentle look she gave him as she silently closed her door and got on to her bed, her heart thumping while a small smile graced her beautiful face.

After opening the letter and reading it, his face turned  strange.

'Hunter Division? I've never heard of this department, so why are they sending me a job application?' He read over the contents and shook his head.

'It's way to vague and sounds suspicious as hell. Even during my time as a Shadow Operative, I never even heard of them.'

He took out his lighter and lit a corner of the page and watched as the flames consumed the paper slowly.

"I'm done with military affairs. I'll head to Mist City and try to find a job and a place to stay." He took out his phone and searched online for cheap apartments.

Even after considering his savings, he realized he could at best afford a small one bedroom apartment. Sighing is resignation, he tapped his screen several times and confirmed his credit card.

He got up and left the orphanage and headed to the small building, a motel that had definitely seen better days, and unlocked his door and started to pack his stuff away.

'I should get some sleep once I'm done with packing. I still have to head to the Luminous Forest and retrieve 'that' before I leave.'

His commanding officer, and the head of Shadow Operations, Elijah had given him something and told him to guard it, even as he lay dying. Despite still nothing able to figure it out months later, he still hoped to decode it.

Sage zipped his bags shut and plopped down on the bed and slept until the morning came.

...

Sage got up early and showered before putting on a thin shirt and a baggy pants. The Luminous Forest wasn't dangerous, however Sage always liked to be prepared.

He said a dagger into his boot, and concealed his pistol in his waistband. After throwing a shirt over, the pistol couldn't be seen at all.

'I'll need at least an hour to reach the place where I buried it. I'll try and hurry so I can catch the twelve o'clock bus.'

He left the motel and jogged to the outskirts of the town, ignoring the local girls who gawked as he quickly vanished into the woods.

The Luminous Forest got it's name because a special moss that emitted light that lit up the forest. In the crisp morning air, he steadied his breathing and started to head to the center of the forest.

He had explored the forest before, and found a secluded clearing where he buried the 'thing'. 

After an hour and a half, he came to a dense cluster of trees and maneuvered around them until a grassy clearing with waist high grass was in sight.

He made his way to the center and looked around, pushing aside the grass. After a few minutes, his foot hit a rock and he smiled lightly.

'It's still here. If it had been gone, I don't know how I'd even try to search for it again.' His eyes narrowed as he removed the stone and dug his hand into a small hole.

After a moment of grasping around, he retracted his hand and held a metal ball the size of a golf ball.

His hands ran over the many small words and runes that he had searched for online, however he couldn't even identify one rune.

He was about to turn and leave when he heard a voice. He immediately ducked down and listened as the voices stopped outside the tree line.

"Do you really believe that this man has the blood of the Original? Our head even sent him a letter to see if he could find a way to get the blood out of his hands."

"Even if he doesn't, the fact the Elijah was his leader is more than enough to kill him off. Elijah was just the remnants of a dead lineage."

"You hate him because he bested you in combat. Ha, you talk so big, yet your skills were inferior. We tracked him this far, be prepared as he was once a part of the Shadow Operatives, he's extremely dangerous."

"Just kill him, I can't be bothered with you guys." A man wearing a black sweater holding an assault rifle vigilantly stepped into the clearing.

"Wait! Why did you even enter withou-" A gunshot sounded and the man fell to the floor, a hole in his chest dripping blood on the soil below.

"Shit! Get him behind cover if he's still alive!" The leader, a man wearing a cap took out his weapon and his behind cover.

Aside from him was a female with her hair done in a ponytail, holding a pistol with her eyes trained on the clearing.

Her eyes scanned the clearing, however aside from the breeze blowing the grass, no movement was captured. If it wasn't for the gunshot previous, they'd have thought the clearing was empty.

"Sage! I have orders from my superiors to bring you in for questioning. If you resist, you'll be charged for treason!" Hearing the man's words, Sage tilted his head and slowly aimed in the man's general direction.

"And those people at the orphanage. If you're charged for treason, imagine what would happen to them. Torture? Maybe even a firing squad."

Hearing the man mention the orphanage, Sage originally careful countenecance turned cold. His eyes narrowed and he leapt into the air.

Hearing a rustling sound, the lady turned, however what met her gaze was Sage aiming at her leader, and he leader collapsing, a bullet hole in his forehead.

She started to fire at Sage, and two bullets out of for landed on Sage's chest, making him hiss in pain.

'How did he do that? I didn't even have time to react when he shot the captain! Is he a monster?' Her hands which would remain steady even after killing countles foes shook.

"Leave or you'll end up like them." Sage's cold voice made the woman shiver, however she didn't withdraw. She stepped out from behind the tree and rushed for another tree when she felt something slam into her chest.

Looking down, she saw a hole in her chest, right above her left breast. Blood flowed from the wound as she hit the ground, her body already shuting down.

Sage killed the three of them quite easily, however he was also in a miserable spot. Two bullets had lodged themselves in his chest, however none were fatal.

However if he continued to bleed out, he'd die of blood loss. He inhaled and held the ball with bloodied hands, wondering what they meant when they said the ball is the blood of the Original.