[Four Years Later]
"Jihan put out that fire! Don't let it spread to the village!" Nicholas says, drinking a speed enchantment potion and runs to a female knight, who is fending off a Blazing Dire Wolf.
"Hurry, use your whirlwind, Botania!" He yells, throwing a stamina potion to her.
She catches it and downs it in an instant, blocking an attack and immediately countering with her whirlwind slash, a maneuver that sees her spin her blade around her body, slicing the wolf in half as it lunges toward her.
"Nicholas, it's not working. The fire is spreading too much. We need to evacuate everyone." Jihan says, breathing heavily.
The three run to the village, each using a speed potion to gain ground quicker. When they reach the village, they see that the fire has already consumed the eastern half.
"Damn that beast. Grab the survivors, I'm going to get my family." Nicholas says, using his last speed-enhancing potion to get to his house, which is now only a few feet from the blazing wall.
He walks in and sees his wife and eight-year-old daughter huddled to the corner of the house.
"Come on!" He yells, motioning them to the door.
The wife and child run toward him, just as the side of his house starts to catch fire. As the women reach the door, a support beam falls on top of his wife, his daughter narrowly escaping it. With a tear in his eye, he runs from the house, back toward the entrance of the village.
"Daddy, why are we leaving mommy?" The daughter says.
"I'm sorry, Edin, but we can't go back for her. The fire is too hot, and I can't make a fire suppression potion in time." He cries, the screams of his friends whom he once knew echoing into the night.
"Nicholas!" Jiho yells. "The fire attracted more wolves!"
Nicholas sighs, turning down a dark alleyway that has yet to be reached by the fire. He kneels down to Edin, holding her hands.
"Edin, I'm not gonna be with you to show you how your powers work, or this complex and frightening world. Please forgive me." Nicholas says, saddened.
He pulls out a small pin with a slight glow to it. He takes her arm and inscribes her arm with a seal of quick healing, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it, but knowing it would be inevitable. After cleaning up the small amount of blood that the inscription drew, Nicholas kisses her, and pulls out a Concealing Shadow. He goes to a small pile of ash, remains of a small wooden cart, and spreads ash on her to hide her scent.
"When we get to the gates, drink the potion and run to the nearby village. Tell them what happened, and warn them about the growing strength of the Blazing Wolves." Nicholas picks her up and runs toward the gates, revealing the corpses of Jiho and the Knight being mauled by the wolves.
The wolves stop their feast and perk up, smelling Nicholas. They bare their fangs and growl, creating a ring around them. He looks down at Edin and nods, gesturing for her to drink the potion. She drinks it and completely disappears, in exception to her tracks in the mud. Nicholas sees the tracks running away, passing through the circle and the wolves being none the wiser. Nicholas smiles to himself knowing that, if she's as stubborn as her mother, she'll survive.
As she's running away, Edin can hear the struggling of her father and the attacks of the wolves. She turns back just for a moment, seeing her village and the forest nearby in ashes and her father successfully fending off the wolves, though showing his lack of stamina. She looks back to the road and continues to run, although not remembering where the village was. Unbeknownst to her father, the village he directed her to had been raided and destroyed the day prior, and the messengers had not yet arrived to tell the news. After the few weeks she spent looking for the village, she gave way to her tiredness and slept under trees and ate the fruit of the forest for the next nine months. Adventurers never saw her, though they would often come to gather some herbs and berries for their bounties. Now, just turning sixteen and sick of living as a scared girl, she decides to dust herself off and begin on a journey of her own.
{Three Years Later}
"I wish damnation upon you, thief!" A shopkeeper yells.
Edin runs away with an apple in her hands and a smirk on her face. She didn't want to steal from people, but if it meant her survival, she had to do it. Besides, it's not like this oaf needed the two pieces of copper anyway. She ran down into a dark alleyway, one which she called home. She sits down on the piece of leather that she called a bed and ate happily. This was her biggest score yet! Edin had only practiced her sneaking ability a few times before, but only on rocks and a small chunk of iron from a blacksmith. She sits and ponders about what she wants to do next when she hears a cry for help. She jumps up and climbs onto a nearby rooftop, looking over at the commotion. A bandit holds out his sword to the same shopkeeper she had just robbed.
"I told you the gold was due today old man. You're two copper short." The bandit snickers.
Edin curses herself, not realizing how much harm she's just done. She climbs down the rooftop, and without a second thought, runs to the aid of the man. Apple in hand, she throws it at the bandit, who is too focused on the man to notice the projectile. It hits him square in the jaw, knocking him over in surprise. While she has the advantage, Edin continues her momentum and runs straight up to the bandit, drop kicking him as he steadily gets back up. Now, down again, the bandit jumps up and swings his blade at her.