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It had been a little over a week since Asahi had joined the Black Bulls squad.
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[Asahi was never a fan of the magic knights, however so far his feelings were changing as the time went on. He had been keeping himself busy with doing a mission almost every day, and on his off days he would go and still pick up clients for his sword skill classes. His life was good for the time being the only thing he could wish for was new clues on finding his lost siblings. At times he felt like he was letting them down by going on with these activities that were clearly a distraction. But he would think about how long it had been since he last seen them and would always think *If they are still alive, I know they can hold out for just a little while longer. We are strong… if I survived I am sure they can too!*
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At current he was sitting within the dining hall of the squad headquarters, drinking a hot cup of jasmine tea with honey and eating a small bowl of dumplings with rice. This exact set up was actually one of his favorite meals, but sadly it was soon to be interrupted by a fellow knight who was approaching him. The knight would come forth and stand right in front of the young swordsman’s table and say “You are the new recruit Asahi Qadir correct?” Asahi would finish the sip of tea he was currently in taking before the man popped up before he would place the cup on the table and look at the man saying “Yes I am him, how can I help you sir?”
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The man would pull out a piece of paper before placing it on the table and sliding it towards the teen saying “I am senior magic knight Elijah Kardune, and the captain wanted this mission handled but we are a little short handed so the buck gets passed to you. Sorry to interrupt your off day but this was an emergency request, and for whatever reason we are the only squad in the region who can handle it at this time.”
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Asahi would pick up the paper off the table after hearing the man’s words before he would simply nod then say “Well its ok, I understand the gravity of of the situation and I shall head out as soon as I finish my meal.” Elijah would nod in agreeable before saying “Understood just don’t take too…” and before he could finish his statement Asahi would eat his food at lightning like speed, finishing his dumplings and tea within seconds. After finishing he would stand up from the table and wave to the senior knight before making his way towards the exit of the base.
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Asahi would make his way towards the mountain, however such a trek would take him a bit and the closer he got to his destination the colder it got. The cold air would send chills to his bones, but due to his immense meditation training he was able to minimize the feeling with no effort. He would tighten the scarf around his neck in an attempt to block off the cold winds from his neck and stop the air from hitting the lower half of his face. He would soon be in the middle of the storm where the winds were much more savage than before and the amount of snow coming down made the visibility horrible. His task was to save a group of tourist who thought it was a good idea to come out here and explore, although he couldn’t blame them too much as the weather was unpredictable and nobody could’ve known such a storm was brewing.
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Asahi would arrive to the peak of the hill where the people at reportedly taken shelter in a nearby cave. Asahi was terrible at using his sensory skills however using them was the only way he would find the cave with so much snow flying around. He would begin to try and sense out any magical signatures nearby, something that would take a few minutes for him. He began to feel the mana of a few people not too far away,, so he would start heading straight for the source. After a short three minute walk he would find the cave and enter it to see if he was in the right place.
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Walking into the cave Asahi was greeted by 4 people, all who spread to be unharmed. In the group there was 2 males and 2 females, with one of the males approaching Asahi and speaking “Oh thank the heavens you came! My name is Morris, and this is my wife Vanessa. Also these are our friends Jared and Kathy. Long story short we were on a couples mountain hike, then suddenly this snow storm happened. We were dressed for bad weather so we thought we would be ok, however we got chased into this cave by a pack of wolves. We could really use your help to get home safely just in case those wolves come back.”
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Asahi would smile before saying “Understood, my name is Asahi I am a junior ranked magic knight.” The man’s face was originally bright and full of happiness at the prospect of being saved, however that changed once he heard Asahi’s name and rank. The man’s face became one of discontent and anger as he would begin to speak again saying “They sent some foreign junior rank knight?!?! That’s disgusting this kingdom doesn’t even care about its nobles enough to send us good knights to save us. What are you gonna be able to do to save us? You probably can’t even fight well…” The man’s wife would interject saying “Honey we should be more grateful, he came all this way to help us. Also im sure his superiors wouldn’t have sent him if he wasn’t capable of completing the job.”
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Asahi would grin simply before waving off the woman respectfully while saying “Its ok ma’am, I am not offended in the slightest. To be fair I did just become a knight about a week ago so your husband’s concerns are valid… however perhaps this will slightly put your minds at ease.” The knight would pull out his grimoire and allow it to hover next to him. The magical book itself was yellow with the front showing off a sword, while the back of the book was branded with the 4 leaf clover. Upon seeing the 4 leaf clover all of the hikers were amazed and the husband’s tone would quickly revert back. “I see you hold the coveted 4 leaf clover… very well than we shall trust you and take your protection.
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Asahi would say “Very well than, now lets get moving shall we?” As he put his grimoire away and would make his way to the exit with the hikers in tow. The group of 5 was now outside and making their way down the hill and out of the storm. Asahi felt as if the trek out of the storm was harder than the walk he took to get there, however it would appear that the center of the storm had begun to move placing them within the more active part of it. As the group moved along Asahi could tell something was wrong as he felt as if the group was being watched. This would go on for some time however Asahi initially thought it may be bandits or some other group of dangerous people, but as they walked he would soon seen animal footprints.
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After seeing the footprints the knight was put up on high alert and would pull out his grimoire allowing it to float next to him. He would turn to the hikers and say “I hate to say but it looks like those wolves y’all spoke of are tracking us. They most likely haven’t attacked yet as they are waiting for an opening. I suggest we move with haste, if we get out of their territory they are less likely to wanna pursue.” Everyone in the group agreed and they would all pick up the pace, however this wasn’t enough as the wolves were already preparing their attack. Another 5 minutes of walking would go by and the group had made it to the edge of the mountainous region when the wolves would finally pounce out. There were 4 wolves which surrounded and encircled the group, a common tactic of pack animals trying to scare their prey with numbers.
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Asahi would reach his hand towards his back and say the words “Dark Shadow” which would activate his spell. A sword would appear right where his hand grabbed at the air, grabbing the blade he would then enter a battle ready stance. The 4 wolves were circling the group which would make escape impossible for the hikers unless Asahi made an opening of some sort. He would glance towards the hikers for just a moment before saying “Listen I will attack whatever wolf is in front of us in just a moment. Once the path ahead is clear all of you run towards the town, I will draw the remaining wolves away giving you a chance to escape. Have no fear I will catch up.” The hikers all understood and would nod to show this, and once he knew they understood the plan Asahi would move to strike.
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Charging forth he would go straight at the wolf in front of him attacking with 2 serious sword slashes, killing the beast in one fell swoop. Now the path in front of the group was clear and the hikers would begin to run off towards town. The three other wolves would make an attempt to chase but Asahi would block their path. One of the three remaining wolves would lung at Asahi but he would block the attack with his sword. Once the wolf was sent back by the stalemate the three would try to circle Asahi to which he would simply kneel down towards the ground. He would place his hand upon his shadow before saying “Rise Nightingale” and then pulling yet another sword from his shadow. With both his swords in hand he would stand back up to face the three beast.
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He would place his hand over the guard of his newly summoned sword saying the word “Dance”, when suddenly the magic whip around the sword would grow and expand outward to surround his body. The wolves were all hit by the whip initially, however they would all soon back up as they now understood they needed to keep their distance. The current spell however was also a physical reinforcement spell that would increase Asahi’s speed, so when the wolves tried to create distance he would use the opening to attack one. Dealing one simple downward strike to one of the retreating beast would kill it where it stood, and he would then make quick work to strike the next two in rapid succession.
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All the wolves were now dealt with and Asahi would let out a sigh before releasing his grip on the swords. As both blades fell to the ground they would simply turn to shadows and disappear. After about 20 minutes Asahi would catch up to the hikers who were waiting just on the edge of town for him to catch up. Upon seeing him they were all happily surprised and the man doubted him would approach him and say “Im sorry I ever doubted you… but thank you for saving us.” Asahi would smile before saying “Its no problem, im glad I could help truly… Now you must excuse me as I must return to my off day activities.” The swordsman would walk off back to base so he could try to continue and enjoy what was left of today.