Monsters rush forward, charging across the field as Miller swings his sword, cutting it in half. Behind him, Sam battles with a mutated beast with twin heads, and in the air, Tan fights with a flying creature. He takes a breath as another beast charges towards him, only for a flaming sphere to hit it, knocking it away.

            “You're late.” He says, looking back. “Where did you two go this morning?”

Glyn and Mila walk forward through the battlefield as Mila stares at the monsters. Miller looks at her in her agitated state and moves over to Glyn.

            “What happened?”

            “She sensed the monsters and then started acting up. It’s likely whatever is affecting them is affecting her now.” Glyn says.

            “Is that possible?”

            “Depends how sensitive she is to Mana Anomalies.”

            “Mana Anomalies?”

            “It’s when the Mana in the air is disturbed, causing monsters to act up. People who are sensitive to it as well also have various side effects. I’m assuming this aggression she’s showing is one of them.”

Mila turns to Miller. “Brother!”

            “Mila.”

            “I’m sensing something ahead. I’ll take care of it!”

            “Mila!”

Glyn sighs as he charges forward. “Don’t worry, we’ll deal with this. Tisha and Ivar will hopefully catch the culprits before it’s too late.”

            “Wait, is this your plan?”

            “I don’t have time to explain!”

Miller shakes his head as a corpse crashes down from above. Tan lands on the monster’s body as she claws at it with her feet.

            “Tan, head to the dungeon and find Zanrit. Rufus can hopefully take guarding the place himself for right now.”

Tan nods. “Roger that boss!” She yells before taking off to the sky.

Miller shakes his head as a monster rushes toward him. He stabs it as a series of metal spikes erupt from its body.

            “Hopefully that’ll be the end of this mess.” He says to himself.

 

Mila rushes ahead through a thick brush and into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, a large wolf-like monster covered in spikes comes from the opposite side. The two stare at each other as Mila draws her sword and the wolf bears its fangs. She leaps into the air as her body is enveloped in flames. however, when she swings her sword, it bounces off the monster’s hard shell hidden underneath the layers of fur.

The wolf's claws at her, knocking her to the ground. The beast pins her with its claws. Glyn arrives in time to see Mila erupting into flames that burn through the monster’s flesh.

            “Okay, I need to find that device fast before she loses control over herself,” Glyn says.

Mila forces herself up as she points towards a nearby bush. “Over there. I feel something strange from over there.”

            “Right. Are you okay?”

            “My head hurts!” She screams.

            “Yeah, definitely the Anomaly. Try to keep calm and don’t explode. I’ll deal with the cause.”

She nods as she grabs her head, staring down at the monster. It growls at her, bearing its fangs only for Mila to charge toward it. She swings her sword, only for her attacks to bounce off its body. As she attacks, it gnaws and claws at her as she struggles to dodge the attacks. Before long, flames burst from her tails surrounding her body as she shoots fireballs out at the monstrosity. It dodges her attacks only for a figure to charge forward, smashing into the monster.

Zanrit appears, swinging his sword and knocking the monster back with his strength. Mila fires off a fireball, burning the monster as it cries out in pain. After a moment, a wave of energy spreads across the area as Glyn emerges from the bushes carrying a small, round object.

            “That was close. Good thing they made us study these things.” He says.

Mila collapses to her knees as the monster stops. It turns away from the group and rushes back into the forest, leaving the group behind.

            “Zanrit, what’re you doing here?”

            “Tan flew in. She told me the situation.” He says.

Mila takes a breath as the two stand over her. “That was exhausting.”

            “The Mana Anomaly did a number on you. I’ve heard of people being sensitive, but I didn’t figure you’d be so compelled by it.”

She nods. “I wanted to smash the thing.”

            “I’ll let you break it later. I might need it for something later first.”

She sighs. “Just don’t use it near me, please.”

            “I won’t.”

            “What do we do now?” Zanrit asks. “The perpetrators are not here and they are likely to attack again. And with five days left, we don’t have time for a cat-and-mouse game.”

            “Don’t worry. I gave them a nice juicy target they just could not resist. And put our best people on it.” Glyn says with a smile.

 

Back at the port, Irwin looks over the ship as he sketches out a design. Behind him, two men in black creep forward through the shadows. One pulls out a rag, and the other readies a rope as they approach Irwin. In the corner of his eye, Irwin spots Ivar, rising his hand out of the water and holding out two fingers.

As the men draw closer, he holds up one finger and Irwin rushes forward. As Ivar leaps out of the water, Irwin jumps in with Tisha leaping off of the boat and firing an arrow. The arrow lands behind the pair as a wall of plant matter grows behind them, trapping them. The two look ahead as Ivar and Tisha glare at the men.

            “Damn it. This was a trap!” One man yells.

Tisha smirks. “You two wrecked my boat. And for that, you're gonna pay!”

            “Come now, you can’t escape and you have a lot to answer for. Just give up so we can have a relatively peaceful end to these events.” Ivar says.

One man yells, drawing a knife as he charges forward. He swings his knife at Tisha, who dodges his strikes and hits the side of his head with her bow. As he collapses, the other man rushes forward as stones gather around his hand. Ivar launches himself forward and delivers a powerful blow to his stomach.

The man collapses over Ivar’s fist as he throws the unconscious man to the ground. Tisha takes the rope and wraps up one of the two with Ivar, using the vines from the plant wall to trap the other. Irwin comes out of the water and the two finish shaking his head as he looks over the two.

            “For as much trouble as they were, the pair are awfully weak,” Ivar says.

            “They’re not paid for combat. Just for stealth and sabotage. They don’t have to be strong, but it’s a good thing we dealt with them here. Should they be left alone, it could bite us in the ass later?”

            “Noted. Anyway, I’d call this a successful mission, wouldn’t you?” Ivar asks.

Tisha nods. “Yeah. But we shouldn’t let our guard down in case they’re more, or in case that asshole sends more goons out.”

            “Also noted. This war is going to be tricky, is it not?” Ivar says.

Tisha nods. “Yeah. No one alive has ever experienced a full war. There’s going to be a lot of chaos now that I think about it. Must be the reason they wanted to use these isolated islands.”

Irwin sighs. “Can you two hurry up and take those goons out of here? I’ve got five days to finish this job, and it’s going to be a doozy.”

            “Sorry,” Tisha says.

            “Don’t be. It’s almost fun.” Irwin says with a grin.

Ivar bows. “Be well Uncle.”

            “You too kid. And don’t get yourself killed with all the fighting.”

Tisha and Ivar grab the men and take down the plant wall as they leave the pier. “Next stop's interrogation,” Tisha says with a smirk on her face.