Ting.

Sayed threw off his opponent, his mind wrapped in a haze as he fought off the attack. He parried the weapon to the side with his blade, but he didn't call on his blessing. He had no desire to see his opponent killed in this fight.

Thud.

Sayed held up his blade, keeping an eye on the opponent across from him on the long, flat deck of a ship he didn't recognize. The man across from him held a long metal pole in his hand and was dressed in a long dark coat. He held out one hand toward Sayed, but Sayed could not read him because the man had no face.

However, that didn't matter to Sayed. It was like he was playing a role in a story. He did not need to know where he was or how he got there. He knew what he should say and feel, and though he had no idea what would happen next, his body and mind knew precisely what to do.

"You are getting better, brother." Sayed smiled as he raised his blade above his head and took on a wide stance. "But you are too defensive in your moves, too safe in your actions. You will never truly push an opponent if you never extend."

"I think the problem is neither of us using all their toolkit," the man said, and Sayed imagined him frowning.

"Do you want us to go all out?" Sayed asked, his heart racing faster at the thought.

"Think we can do it without wrecking the ship?"

"Of that, I can assist." Another person stepped in from the side. "In fact, I do insist."

This figure wore chain mail and carried a sword and shield. His face was equally black, the same as the other man, but Sayed thought he would like to fight him as well. They were all clearly sparring in a match, and he was not among enemies.

"What do you think?"

"I say we let him, brother." Sayed closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "But he should only interfere if we might damage the ship. We should be able to handle ourselves."

"Hear that, Artur?" the jacketed figure asked the knight. "Worse to worse, we'll have Erin patch us up if we get hurt."

"I'm sure she'll think about that when you ask," the knight quipped, holding up his gloved hand. "But regardless, I will begin my task."

Blue light flickered at his fingertips.

"Safeguard us all. Shield Wall.

Bzzt.

Long walls of blue light rose high into the sky around Sayed and the other man in the square. Even Sayed's feet shifted below him as a floor popped up beneath them. In seconds, a blue box encased him and the other man.

"Now, let us see what we can really do." Sayed smiled as he opened his gate. "May we show glory worth of God's fire!"

A raging drum beat in his chest, two flaming sticks lighting up his heart with a steady, strong beat. It ignited a path through his arms, sending a blaze racing through his limbs. Sayed embraced that heat, funneling it into his sword. Orange light shone above his head as his blade heated, and in moments, he was ready to take on the man's attacks.

"Might." The man's muscles bulged as he brought down his staff on his knee.

Crack.

A deafening sound filled Sayed's ears, and the man held up two separate pieces of the metal staff in his hands. Forsaking the length of his staff, he instead chose to fight with two weapons. Sayed did not think it was a good idea, but he wasn't in the man's position.

"Are we ready?" Sayed asked.

"Yeah."

"Demon's Thrust!"

Sayed took the initiative, channeling aether through his legs as he thrust his sword. He crossed the distance between them, his blade cutting through the air, aimed directly at the man's heart. Sayed would have been horrified but knew the man could take the strike. Even without knowing who he was, Sayed trusted that man in that moment.

Ting.

One of the man's metal bars struck Sayed's sword at the last possible moment, deflecting it up and to the side just enough to miss piercing through his flesh. Sayed raised his arm, expecting a second strike toward his head, but it never came. Instead, the man threw the second bar away and behind Sayed.

"Foolish, brother." Sayed grabbed for the man's throat, his fingernails burning bright. "Demon's Claws!"

Thunk.

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A hard object slammed into the back of Sayed's skull, rattling his concentration and sending him falling to the ground. The man backed up as Sayed hit his knees, and when Sayed looked up, he caught the spinning bar that had blindsided Sayed.

"You think so?" Sayed imagined the man was smiling from his voice alone.

"Oh, I will get you for that." Sayed grinned wide as he stood up, grasping his sword. "I think we should go to the next stage."

He drew in a deep breath, pouring more power into his blessing. Sweat trickled down his back as his gate poured more heat through his muscles. Steam rose from around his body, and the air around him wavered.

"Desert Mirage."

Sayed embraced the second level of his blessing. Two blurred figures appeared on his left and right, shaking images of robed desert warriors. Because they were in the box, the steam from his body began to fog up the walls, but it didn't matter. He could see the man in front of him just fine.

"Alright." The man sighed, closing his eyes and taking in a breath just as Sayed had.

Bzzt.

Lines of blue electricity cracked off his back, slamming back into the blue barrier the knight had provided to protect the ship. Brief shadows of burns lit across the barrier, but they faded almost instantly. Like Sayed, the man was accessing the next level of his blessing.

"I do not mean to alarm," the knight whispered, his face scrunching up as he held the barrier steady. "But I fear further might bring us all harm."

"We'll hold back," the man said, extending one arm. "Junk Arm."

Bzzt.

Blue lights exploded across his arm, fading after the flash to reveal jagged metal pieces covering the limb. The arm extended out from the man further than before, ending in a large, jagged metal fist. Sayed lowered his blade, focusing on his own technique to answer the man.

"Mirage Blades," Sayed whispered, arms extending off his body as a second and third blade appeared around him.

Even his free hand gained a blade, giving him four in total. Each was an illusion, as that was the power of his curse. He opened his eyes, raising his blades across his body and leaning forward.

"I'll make it fair," the man said, closing his eyes. "My senses are too good for the illusions to work."

"Do what you must," Sayed said, frowning. "But I will not hold back."

"Then let's go," the man said. "Acceleration Piston."

"Mirage Cross!"

Sayed opened his eyes, sweat pouring down his brow as he returned from the land of stories and dreams. He still a moment, savoring the remnants of the dream before it would disappear, as all dreams inevitably did. However, to his surprise, this one remained in his mind, more like an old memory than a dream.

"A grand fight to greet the day," he sighed, pushing himself up from the sweat-soaked sheets and plopping his bare feet on the wooden floor. "A wish of a life left for new battles."

Ahead of him rested his blade on a wall display above his dresser. There was a time in his life when fighting was his purpose, where he drove the grand tale of a mighty warrior. However, that past was behind him, wrapped in the haze that marred his new life.

He needed to begin soon. His customers would not be long behind. After a small bath to wash away his sweat down the hall and a quick drying off, he quickly dressed, donning his uniform's long brown smock and small white hat.

Outside his window, the rising orange sun was peeking out of the white mists and through his window. He would need to hurry if he wanted to make it on time to open. He still needed to process the salted meats in his larder.

He paused at the window, kneeling and placing his forehead against the floor in a proper prayer. The floor was cool from the night, but his burning forehead made up for that. He concentrated on emptying his mind and focused on the coming day as he called the words he needed to mind.

"May I serve those who need me well today and find the answer to this malaise that wraps around my mind. I know you have a plan for me, but I do not see it now in this work. You have my trust, and I will find my purpose."

With that, he rose, going out through the hall of his apartment and into the street.

He was not the only person to rise with the morning sun. Many people stood out in front of their homes or milled toward their morning destinations. An old woman swept in front of her stoop with a frayed straw broom. A cadre of knights patrolled across the street, their metal visors watching the world through a cold red gaze. Children, thrown out of their homes and too early for school, ran through the streets, throwing stones at each other.

Sayed walked to the square, using his key to open his door as quickly as possible. He flipped his sign from closed to open as he stepped inside and quickly stepped behind the counter to get started for the day. Before he could begin his preparations, though, the door opened, and his first customer came inside.

"Oh, butcher, I'm here for the usual."

That was the pattern of Sayed's day every day. It was always the same customers, always the same time, and always the same amounts. He did not understand how it could be so consistent in Grim Aegis. His reason always told him something was wrong, but he could never place why. The malaise that gripped his mind like the mist around Grim Aegis made it impossible to answer.

After clearing out his usual cadre of customers, he set about his other work, cleaning the counter and desperately trying to get into the back to prepare for the next day. However, there was something he was waiting for. It was a particular event that happened every day at the same time. It was something he had come to expect, much like the various customers who came in at the same time every day.

"I have a story that reminds me of," Sayed raised his hands as he spoke to one customer, looking out the window for the figure he saw there daily, watching from the shadows.

However, today, the man wasn't there.

Sayed paused in his story, forgetting the customer for a moment as he peered through the windows and down the alley. It was impossible. Grim Aegis was as precise as a story from a book, as practiced as a play. By all Sayed had seen in his time there, the man had shown up outside his window. He couldn't recall a day where it hadn't happened.

Yet, as he looked outside, the man was nowhere to be seen.

Sayed frowned, looking down at the customer as they held out their dolers for him to take. He had forgotten his story, and the customer didn't seem to mind. After a brief exchange, the customer left.

Sayed looked out the window again, but the man hadn't come.

"I do not understand," Sayed whispered. "Why do I fear this so? What is wrong with me?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pushing the thought out of his mind. However, it returned moments later. Where exactly had the figure gone? Why was today different than any other?

Why did the figure remind Sayed of the man in his dream?

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