[Back to the present]

The wind whistled between the sharp peaks, carrying with it the acrid smell of burnt dust as well as the metallic stench of demonic mana. Klein remained motionless on the rocky promontory. He observed Jasper, whose hair floated in the twilight. Jasper had just finished recounting his past within the Luna clan. He had spoken of the rigorous training his grandmother had imposed on him at the heart of Yggdrasil. After these confidences, a silence settled between the two men. Only the distant hum of unstable energy disturbed this apparent calm.

Klein looked away to stare at the horizon. In the distance, the silhouettes of monsters stirred in the gloom. Part of him respected the ordeal Jasper had had to go through to master his Moon Eyes, because this mutation had nearly broken him in the past. Yet his habit of speaking in a cutting manner did not disappear. He took a short breath, then dropped a phrase tinged with irony.

"At my side, it looks like you had an easy life." A mocking smile stretched his lips.

"Not that much." replied Jasper in a monotone voice that betrayed no emotion.

Klein turned toward him and buried his hands in the pockets of his pants. He shrugged slightly. Then he spoke again, his tone oscillating between jest and an almost lethargic seriousness.

"So what do you think? Shall we have a little fight?"

Jasper tilted his head slightly. Under his headband, his Moon Eyes activated without him really calling on them. He could already perceive the fluctuations of Klein’s energy. His inner gaze mapped every muscle in his interlocutor’s body with surgical precision. He noted the tiny tensions in the right forearm, the slight imbalance of weight on the back leg. These details never escaped him.

"Why not?" he simply agreed.

The atmosphere changed instantly. Klein pulled his hands out of his pockets and bent his knees slightly, adopting a low and fluid guard. He had no intention of drawing his katana right away; he wanted to test Jasper’s growth after all this time.

Jasper, for his part, drew his ebony bow with disconcerting fluidity. The wood creaked imperceptibly under the tension, and two silver mana arrows materialized between his slender fingers.

Without the slightest warning, he released the string.

The two arrows shot toward Klein, tearing the air with a shrill whistle. They were not only fast; they seemed to adjust their trajectory in mid-flight to intercept his future movements. Klein immediately activated a technique to stabilize his senses: Eye of Perception.

The world slowed down. He saw the vibrations of the arrows and the rotation of the energy enveloping them. Instead of retreating, he performed a lateral somersault, letting the projectiles pass a few millimeters from his ribs. They struck the rock behind him in an explosion of mana that made the ground vibrate.

Taking advantage of the opening, Klein rushed at Jasper. He used a light Dash to cover the distance, his body becoming a blurry trail. He reached his range and threw a right straight punch aimed at his chin. Jasper, whose 360-degree perception was absolute, did not retreat. He simply shifted his head to the left with a frustrating economy of movement, letting Klein’s fist slice through the void.

Jasper tried to strike Klein in the plexus with the end of his bow, using the weapon like a fighting staff. Klein parried the blow with the back of his hand, feeling the vibration of Jasper’s protective aura against his skin.

"You have progressed in close combat," murmured Klein as he pivoted on his heel to deliver a circular kick.

Jasper blocked the attack with his reinforced forearm, but the power of the impact, multiplied by Klein’s Aura Coating, made him slide two meters. He did not lose his balance, however. In a fraction of a second, he had already nocked three more arrows.

"You too," he replied as the projectiles flew out in a fan to encircle Klein.

Klein had to use Aura Repulsion to deflect the central arrow and dive to the ground to avoid the other two. Dust rose around them, and the sound of impacts echoed against the mountain walls like thunderclaps. The fight grew more intense, each exchange forcing them to draw deeper into their reserves. Klein felt his Aura Farming activate, recycling the spent energy to maintain his vigor.

As he prepared to launch a new offensive, the world suddenly seemed to stop.

A brutal drop in temperature hit them head-on, an icy bite that seemed to want to freeze the blood in their veins. It was not the natural cold of a high-altitude night, because no mountain breeze could have produced such an effect. It was a magical emanation of suffocating density, as if the air itself was turning into invisible crystals.

Suddenly, snow began to fall. Large white flakes, heavy and laden with pure mana, descended from the black sky. In a few seconds, they covered the scattered rock debris as well as the traces of the fight. Under the feet of the two men, the ground transformed: a layer of crystalline frost spread at a supernatural speed, turning the beaten earth into a slippery and deadly ice rink.

Sensing this overwhelming presence, Jasper and Klein immediately stopped their fight. They straightened up in unison, then turned their gazes toward the source of this icy aura that seemed to dominate the entire surrounding space.

In the thick fog formed by the sudden drop in temperature, a silhouette slowly emerged. It walked with a confident and calm step, so much so that the only perceptible sound in the now deathly silence was the regular crunch of its boots on the fresh snow.

As it approached, the details of its appearance became clearer. Its silhouette stood out clearly from the whitish veil: a long dark cape, thin but sturdy gloves, and a raised hood that only let a few strands escape.

When its face finally emerged from the shadow, Klein felt no threat. On the contrary, a small smile, almost imperceptible, appeared at the corner of his lips. He knew exactly who was capable of transforming a battlefield into a winter domain in a few seconds.

"Always so quick to chill the mood..." he murmured between his teeth.