Adam saw the surroundings fly past as he listened to Askyros' narration.
"We searched for weeks. Traces of the Demon of Frenzy were easy to find. The only difficult part was that he never stayed in one location for long. After endless amounts of chasing, we simply decided on investigating an area with witness accounts." [Askyros]
Adam's surroundings turned to an open land of scorched earth.
"What happened here…?" [Ryse]
Ryse and Tida stood by Askyros' side. Observing the area, Askyros can see that soldiers who had been deployed beforehand had already met their end here.
"Askyros. Keep a lookout. I'm going to check their bodies." [Ryse]
"I'll do the same." [Tida]
As Tida left, Ryse knelt to the closest body.
"Hm…" [Ryse]
Inspecting the body closely, he noticed a few strange peculiarities.
"Several burn wounds… and frostbite as well." [Ryse]
He became confused.
"There's no mana signature? Was this not caused by magic?" [Ryse]
Ryse offered the deceased soldier a prayer before unhooking their chestplate.
"What the-?!" [Ryse]
He was taken aback at the sight. There was a gaping hole in the middle of the soldier's chest, along with many counts of physical trauma around it.
"Tida! Are you seeing this?!" [Ryse]
He called out to Tida, who had come running over upon hearing her name.
"Oh… You found it too." [Tida]
"Too? Are the other's like this as well?" [Ryse]
"Something similar. I don't know how there could be a puncture of the body without leaving a sign through the armor." [Tida]
She picked up the soldier's chestplate and inspected it.
"No signs of damage here." [Tida]
"What do you think, Askyros?" [Ryse]
Askyros raised a brow.
"Why ask me? I have no knowledge on… information gathering." [Askyros]
"It's worth a shot. You're our expert on hitting things, so maybe you can figure out how this works." [Ryse]
"Hm." [Askyros]
Only letting out a grunt of acknowledgement, Askyros joined the two in examining the corpse.
"It looks like they punched hard enough to go through them." [Askyros]
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain the lack of damage on the armor. It's like the opponent's fist ignored the armor." [Ryse]
"Maybe it did." [Askyros]
Ryse chuckled.
"That's funny. It would be weird if such a thing was possible." [Ryse]
"..." [Askyros]
Holding a blank expression, Askyros got up and walked away.
"Huh? Askyros? Where are you going?" [Ryse]
"On lookout." [Askyros]
Askyros simply turned around and crossed his arms.
"Aw… Is he pouting?" [Tida]
"There's no way." [Ryse]
The two stared at Askyros for a few seconds.
"Askyros? Are you mad?" [Ryse]
"No." [Askyros]
"Is it because I laughed at your opinion?" [Ryse]
"No." [Askyros]
There was only silence after that.
"Yep he's mad." [Tida]
"I am not." [Askyros]
Tida grinned.
"You say that, but I know damn well you are. What's got you so grumpy, big man?" [Tida]
"Nothing" [Askyros]
Tida stood up and peeked at his face. Seeing this caused Askyros to turn away.
"Embarrassed?" [Tida]
"No." [Askyros]
"Then why are you looking away?" [Tida]
"Because I feel like it." [Askyros]
Askyros wasn't sure why he was making such actions, but he knew that his companions would laugh if they saw his face.
"C'mon, look at me." [Tida]
"I refuse." [Askyros]
"Please?" [Tida]
"No." [Askyros]
"How about if I throw in a silver coin?" [Tida]
Askyros raised a hand.
"Oh? Got your attention now?" [Tida]
"Be alert. There's something nearby." [Askyros]
Hearing that caused the two to ready their weapons. Tifa held a purely white staff with a red crystal embedded into the top, while Ryse held a sword and a book that seemed to float just out of reach.
"Askyros, do you know where?" [Ryse]
"..." [Askyros]
Waiting for a moment, he spoke.
"Above." [Askyros]
A figure came down upon them, forcing the group to scatter. A loud crash was sounded as the figure struck where they once were, throwing up dust as a result.
"Well well well… I had forgotten something back here, but looks like I found something even better!" [???]
Askyros could hear the voice of someone young through the dust. Within an instant, he saw someone lunge at him through it.
"You look strong! C'mere!" [???]
Upon exiting the dust, Askyros could finally see them. It was a young boy, no older than 15. Or that's what Askyros had guessed through the mask the boy wore. His stature wasn't that big either. Perhaps around five foot two to five foot four.
"A child?" [Askyros]
Waiting for a moment, he blocked an incoming punch.
"Piercing Blow!" [Masked Boy]
"Hm?!" [Askyros]
Upon contact, Askyros felt a massive blow to his chest even though he had caught the boy's fist.
"Ngh…!" [Askyros]
For once, Askyros had felt pain.
"Askyros!" [Ryse]
Ryse flipped through his floating book in a hurry and summoned a bal of flame.
"Wow, that's mighty impressive." [Masked Boy]
"Eat this!" [Ryse]
He threw the ball of fire, in which the boy leapt towards it.
"Don't mind if I do." [Masked Boy]
Opening his mouth, the boy ate the flames.
"What?!" [Ryse]
"Eh… Could use more spice." [Masked Boy]
He then puffed out his chest and spat out the ball of fire back at Ryse.
"The fuck?!" [Ryse]
"Lo Ista, Barrier!" [Tida]
With a wave of her staff, an invisible wall blocked the fireball.
"Thanks, Tida!" [Ryse]
The masked boy stood there and watched the three. It was as if a predator was watching their prey. Either that or someone staring at a source of entertainment.
"That can't be all can it?" [Masked Boy]
Ryse signaled at Askyros and Tida to regroup, but the masked boy caught wind of it.
"You know, I would stop you. But that wouldn't be fun. Go ahead. I'll wait." [Masked Boy]
Be it confidence or arrogance, Ryse felt that the boy had the strength to back it up.
"...You're not taking us seriously." [Ryse]
"And why should I? You're weak." [Masked Boy]
"Then will you leave the "weak" alone?" [Ryse]
The boy put up his fingers to make an X sign.
"Nope~." [Masked Boy]
"Then will you answer some questions before you kill us?" [Ryse]
The boy's eyes shone with amusement.
"Sure. Ask away." [Masked Boy]
He then somehow sat on thin air. Ryse was a bit surprised by it, but he didn't show it.
("Time to work my magic.") [Ryse]