Dense gray clouds flooded the sky over the water continent, bringing a sudden drop in temperature accompanied by distant eruptions of thunder that rolled across the land.
"This looks like quite the storm is brewing over us." Elder Treya stated as she casually watched the sky.
Mai also was watching the sky with concern before the uneasiness of Kenzo caught her attention.
"...Kenzo?"
"...Something doesn't feel right." He responded as he stared off into the forest. "A fog is rolling in."
Mai and Elder Treya's attention was pulled towards the oncoming sea of fog. At the same time, the light from the gate began to fade revealing Kaden's body eerily standing in place.
"Kaden?"
As Mai called out to him, the rain began to trickle down around them. As the first few drops of rain made contact with the ground, so did Kaden's unconscious body.
"Kaden!" Mai shouted as she ran over to him.
Just before she arrived at his body, a spectral arrow flew through the rain and landed in between her and Kaden. The three of them quickly turned their attention towards the direction in which the arrow came from. Kneeling down on a narrow ledge of the mountain was a man who seemed to be glowing, aiming a spectral arrow at them. He wore a mask that covered his entire face with the exception of his eyes. The mask had glowing bright yellow markings as did the clothes he wore. A thin sleeveless shirt and long pants that appeared to be stitched together with various cloths. Upon noticing the attacker, Kenzo drew his ice sword and Mai manifested a spectral bow and arrow of her own.
"Who are you?!" Treya questioned.
The fog finally reached the group and slowly began to flood the area and engulf everyone in the vicinity.
"Mai, protect that one." Kenzo ordered as he inspected the waist high fog. "I'll cover Elder Treya."
The moment he said that another attacker jumped out of the fog and attempted to slash Kenzo with a steel sword. Kenzo dodged it and delivered a strong side kick to the attacker who was wearing a very similar attire to the other, but this guy's markings were glowing blue.
"Who are you people?" Kenzo questioned.
"Hand that boy over to us and we'll back off." The guy on the ledge stated.
"That's not an option." Mai replied.
"What purpose do you have with him?" Treya asked.
"Trust us you wouldn't understand. Actually it's better if you don't understand."
"So you're expecting us to just give him away with out any kind of explanation?" Mai questioned angrily.
"Either that or we can take him by force."
After hearing that Mai immediately released an arrow towards him which he quickly avoided by jumping sideways against the mountain. He then slapped his hands against the wall which was followed by a slab of stone projecting out from the mountain ahead of him. As he leaped to the slab of stone, others began to appear ahead of him which he used to get directly above Mai.
"Earth essence?" Mai questioned.
The attacker jumped down in an attempt to strike Mai, but she evaded it by leaping backwards. She fired another arrow into the fog where he landed, but she couldn't see if she had connected or not.
"I wish Kaden was awake to deal with this fog." Mai whispered to herself. "Wait Kaden-"
Mai attempted to move over to where Kaden was, but she was unable to lift either of her feet. Without her noticing the attacker had sealed both of Mai's feet into the ground. She struggled to free herself as the attacker reappeared behind her, wielding a stone staff.
"Surely this isn't the best Aestus has to offer." He exclaimed. "I told them this would be easier than what they're making it out to be."
He swung his staff towards Mai's head but was then forced to evade when another spectral arrow nearly struck his own head.
"Free yourself, I'll provide your cover." Treya said to Mai.
"Yes ma'am." She replied as she ducked into the fog.
Meanwhile Kenzo found himself in an intense battle of blades with the other attacker. Kenzo's ice blade chipped away with every strike it received from the more resilient steel blade. The two obviously seasoned swordsman traded attacks for almost a full minute, before Kenzo's blade broke in half from a powerful overhand swing.
"To have the concentration to keep your sword in a solid state while engaging in a fight like this is impressive." The attacker complimented.
"This is as easy as breathing for me." Kenzo replied as he pulled water from the ground and repaired his sword in an instant.
Kenzo took an inside stance with his sword before slashing the air ahead of him. During that slash Kenzo fired off pieces of his sword as projectiles towards the attacker. The shards of ice were difficult to track in the rain, however they were all deflected with ease.
"It's easy to tell that you're quite skilled, but let's see if you can land a hit on me." The attacker stated.
Gripping his sword tightly once more, Kenzo charged in as his frustration began to rise. While they continued their battle, Mai had realized that both of her feet were trapped under the ground. "He must of did this when he disappeared beneath this fog." She thought as she began to focus water around her feet to liquefy the soil. Soon enough she was able to free herself and re-emerge from the fog.
"Mai, secure Kaden!" Treya commanded.
"Like I'd just let you." The attacker said as he charged at Mai.
While he was charging he erected a stump from the ground beneath him which launched him into the air. As he came down he swung at Mai with his staff but she easily avoided and countered it with a straight kick to his chest. Mai then continued to engage the attacker in hand to hand combat and managed to land significant blows to his right leg and abdomen.
"I'm guessing you're sufficient in hand to hand fighting because your use of essence is subpar." The attacker stated. "You haven't done anything besides use a spectral bow so far."
Mai quickly got agitated and started to relentlessly fight back with a flurry of kicks. When the slightest bit of separation came between them Elder Treya tried to capture him in a prison of water, however he avoided it by once again launching himself into the air while simultaneously throwing his staff at Treya. She ducked out of its way and continued to pursue him with the water she was controlling. While he was evading Treya, Mai ran over to where Kaden was still laying unconscious and lifted him onto her back.
"Now." The attacker said as he perched on a ledge from the mountain.
The ground around the staff he threw at Treya then turned to mud and began to swallow Elder Treya. Kenzo noticed this and attempted to assist her, but the attacker began pressing him to the point where he could've only focused on his own fight.
"An Aestus guard would give their own life to protect one of their Elders." The attacker said. "Well here's your chance to recieve the most honorable death you can ask for. What will you do?"
Kenzo pushed back at the attacker once more with all of his strength and created the most separation between them he possibly could have. He then slammed his left hand into the ground and made a torrential wall of water between them, which he then proceeded to harden into ice. The ice wall then grew spikes which Kenzo extended into the direction of the attacker.
"That should buy me some time." Kenzo said as he began to run towards Treya.
"Not enough." The attacker replied from directly behind him.
Kenzo aimlessly swung his sword behind him, and once again the attacker forcefully broke it into two.
"Hardening that much moving water as quickly as you just did is kind of amazing you know. The potential you have is remarkable."
"Who the hell are you people?!" Kenzo asked out of frustration.
"We are here to provide light to those who are drowning in darkness." The attacker replied.
"What?"
"Don't think about it too hard right now. The next time we meet, maybe you'll understand better."
"Next time? Did you not come here to kill us?" Kenzo questioned.
"No, this wasn't-"
Before he could finish his explanation, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his partner was preparing to attack Mai once again.
"Killing an Elder would cause too much commotion, but this weak woman should be just fine." He stated while placing both of his hands on the mountain.
The heavily soaked ground began to rumble lightly as everyone on the battlefield paused and waited for what would happen next. Mai glanced up the mountain and became fixated on the disaster that was quickly approaching her.
"Protect your Elder." The swordsman told Kenzo before running towards Mai.
He immediately noticed the force coming their way as the rumbling grew louder and heavier. An intense flow of mud, rocks and debris was crashing down towards them, devouring everything that stood before it.
"This'll be a pain." The swordsman said as he dropped to his knee and placed his hands on the ground.
He took a deep breath in and focused on every single particle of water that saturated the ground around them. As if the rain began to rewind itself, water arose from the ground and gathered above the Gate of Pride. As the landslide moved closer the swordsman created his own miniature sea of water along the edge of the mountain. He stood up and raised his right arm towards his creation. Once he closed his hand into a fist, the water hardened creating a thick layer of ice between them and the oncoming landslide.
"Now that isn't any fun." The other attacker exclaimed.
The ice was angled so that when the landslide slamming into it, the flow would be directed away from everyone. Ice sprinkled down onto them as he physically struggled to keep the ice together above them. He held out for just long enough before he dropped back down onto one knee.
"That was impressive even for you."
"I allowed you to have your fun and even went along with you Guren. I'm not letting you deviate from our mission anymore." The swordsman replied.
Mai who was still carrying Kaden, was completely immobilized by the display of strength from both of the attackers. Kenzo was also stunned by the sight, but prioritized freeing Elder Treya who had sunk down to her chest into the mud.
"It's about time we take our leave. Let's go Guren." The swordsman said as he began to walk off back into the forest.
"If you say so." Guren replied as he jumped down off of his perch.
"...Don't let them get away." Elder Treya said to Kenzo. "Those two are a problem. The water essence user should be weak after that move."
"...Yes ma'am." Kenzo replied as he regained his composure.
Kenzo lifted his sword once more and charged at the backs of the fleeing attackers.
"Guren, keep going, give me a minute to handle this."
"I could never have any fun." Guren replied as he followed the orders and retreated into the forest.
"This isn't about having fun." The swordsman muttered to himself.
Kenzo attacked with a swift overhand swing with his ice blade, but it was easily dodged by a side step. The attacker then swiftly disarmed and stole Kenzo's blade with a quick one handed sword stealing maneuver.
"Alright kid now you have no weapon. I used basically all of the ground water around here to make this ice barrier above us, which is also blocking you from any direct contact with the rain. So what's your next play." He said as he pointed Kenzo's ice blade at him.
With one gentle blow from Kenzo, the ice blade liquefied leaving just the handle in the hands of the attacker.
"Yeah, that's a nice play." He told Kenzo. "However..."
Without warning he drove the blunt end of the handle into Kenzo's stomach, dropping him to his knees. Kenzo released a gasp of pain as the blow knocked the wind out of his lungs. The attacker then quickly positioned himself behind Kenzo, drew out his own steel sword and held it against Kenzo's neck.
"No!" Mai shouted.
Treya was still struggling to free herself from the mud which had almost hardened into rock.
"He should be exhausted after using all of that water essence." Kenzo thought. "How can he still move this fast."
"You're adequate, but I need somebody exceptional to protect her for the times that are coming."
"What are you talking about?" Kenzo questioned.
"...I'm going to satisfy with you for now, but the next time we meet I'll be judging you much more harshly. Work on improving your hand to hand fighting, and both your strength and speed should be greater for your age."
"I don't get what you're saying. What was your purpose for attacking us like this? To get a measure on how strong we are?"
"We weren't supposed to confront you at all, but since things turned out the way it did, yeah I decided to measure how capable you are in particular.
The sound of footsteps sprinting in their direction distracted the attacker for a second, which allowed Kenzo to slip away from his grasp. Mai then attempted to deliver a kick aimed at the attacker's head, but he ducked out of its way. She then attempted an axe kick which he blocked with of his arms, and then proceeded to throw her backwards.
"Enough of that, or else I'll drop this entire barrier of ice." He said as he raised his arm.
He tossed Kenzo's handle back to him while staring at Mai for a few seconds.
"We'll meet again before long." He stated as he turned and left them standing there.
"...Who were they?" Mai asked.
"Luminents." Elder Treya replied. "It seems like they're becoming more of a problem than we thought. Grab Kaden, let's hurry back to Aestus."