People from all over the world flocked to the Empire’s second Lumi Festival, a wonderful event held every four years. Following the Shattering, the celebration’s commencement was delayed.

  Near the end of their training, Rai, Tanabe and Milu found themselves at the edge of the lively festival grounds in the woods.

  Also present were Takara, Rai’s little sister, and Hanabi.

  Upon discovering the secret meeting of the three, Hanabi insisted on joining.

  “Ejected for a couple of slices of bread?” Tanabe said.

  With hands in pockets, Rai kicked at the leaves. “She made a snack ‘without permission’. Include getting caught repeatedly sneaking out, the orphanage eventually expelled us.

  “Something wrong?” Milu said.

  “It’s been a while since they left,” Rai said.

  “Perhaps they returned,” Tanabe said.

  Despite returning, they were still unable to locate them.

  “That’s it. I’m heading back out!” Rai said, departing.

  “The law prohibits entry into the woods past dark,” Tanabe warned.

  “The festival has guards everywhere, and the sun will be setting soon,” Milu added.

  Dismissing it, Rai said, “Yeah, yeah.”

  Exiting the forest in the distance, a bloodied man immediately caught everyone’s attention. The guy struggled to balance himself, falling before panicking as he rose, shouting, “Run!”

  Tanabe gazed behind the frightened individual, sensing a shift in the atmosphere.

  A few footsteps quickly escalated into a stampede of terrified people fleeing the woods.

  “M-M-Minus! Call the Elites! Minus in the woods!” someone screamed.

  With his companions close behind, Rai took off.

  Deeper within the forest, they paused at a pile of backpacks.

  “Hopefully they escaped with the rest,” Tanabe said.

  Drops of blood splattered on the bags before Milu. Staring into the sky, he replied, “I don’t think so.”

  Tanabe and Rai looked up, grimaced, and then shifted their gaze downward.

  “Brother!” Takara’s voice echoed nearby.

  “Taka, where are you?!” Rai said.

  “Over here!” Hanabi screamed.

  “There!” Milu said.

  The girls were hiding in the gap of a giant wood trunk.

  Rai sprinted forward, but a creature descending from above caused freeze.

  The purple vines twisted to create the image of a woman, before coming to a stop gracefully at the top of the tree’s remnants as it searched for prey.

  To avoid detection, Hanabi muffled Takara’s mouth.

  Arriving beside Rai, Tanabe said, “Minus…”

  Securing the much younger Takara, Hanabi stayed silent until she felt ruffling, causing her to look down—there was a large centipede inching up her leg!

  “Eep!” Hanabi swatted the bug.

  The sudden cry alarmed the Minus, causing it to use its many vines to wrap and partially uproot the tree’s remains.

  The girls, while running for their lives, caught the Minus’s attention, but it was hindered by the stump, causing it to unravel itself.

  “Over here, ugly!” Rai shouted, removing the travel bag brought for the festival.

  The creature sent a wave of purple vines that twisted along the tip, aiming to skewer Rai.

  Thrusting his backpack forward, Rai avoided a fatal blow from the Minus, but the attack carried Rai high amongst the surrounding trees. “Hold it!”

  The trees, hundreds of feet tall, had incredibly thick branches, and all of it zipped by like a blur to Rai as he rose.

  “Rai?” Milu said, watching him ascend.

  With a green face and puffed-out cheeks, Rai pleaded, “Someone, stop this thing!”

  Having appeared before the ever-extending vines, Tanabe rescued Rai by severing them.

  “Veeerrrrk!” The Minus turned its aggression towards Tanabe, plowing through the land his way.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The moment the momentum died, Rai snatched a large branch beside him, flipping over on his back. Having glanced over the edge, he punched the air. “When I get back down there, you’re gonna regret it!”

  Milu, having infused black shuriken with flux force, threw them at the Minus; the Minus swiveled between the trees, dodging them all but one, which sliced into a flupie. It burst outward and melted the body of the screeching Minus. “Since they’re rich in positive flux, flupies are dangerous to Minus.”

  Circling the base of a tree, it charged toward Tanabe.

  As the Minus’s stabbing blow missed, Tanabe grabbed the extended roots, twisting and launching the purple plant into the bark of a thick tree. “Careful,” he cautioned.

  In agony, it squirmed and retreated into the undergrowth, staying hidden among the leaves.

  “Damn, how’re we going to find it now?” Milu said.

  “Everything capable of harnessing flux force has a core through which it flows, including Minus. Destroy the core, and you’ll kill the Minus,” Tanabe explained, huffing. “Slaevines, however, shift their core throughout their entire body, which makes them trickier than your average Minus.”

  How can we locate its core?” Milu said.

  Although danger was near, Tanabe closed his eyes, searching. “Grandpa says Minus are creatures made of negative flux force. Sometimes you can sense where the core is if you concentrate on where the negative energy resonates strongest.”

  Following Tanabe’s example, Milu also did the same. He paused. “I can detect its presence,” he said, “but it keeps circling.” The aura around them fluctuated in intensity, ranging from a strong, imposing presence to the faintest whisper. “This isn’t helping…”

  As the Minus lunged from the trees, branches rapidly snapped apart.

  “Watch out!” Hanabi said.

  The two gazed upward, leaping back and avoiding the slaevine’s offensive.

  Bouncing from tree to tree, Milu’s attack on a root lump made the Minus stare angrily at him.

  “Left!” Tanabe said.

  “Trying my best!” Milu said.

  Because its life was threatened, the Minus became much more ferocious, throwing large branches and rocks at them.

  They pressed on, dodging, in search of the core.

  Having landed on a branch, Milu leaped away as a mass of vines crashed into the spot he’d just vacated. His legs were numb from the constant maneuvering. “Check mate.”

  Anticipating the enemy’s movements, Tanabe cut it off, slamming the Minus directly into the earth. He swiftly darted towards the core, but just as he was going to destroy it he caught sight of violet vines slithering towards the girls. “Look out!”

  Seeing the creeping plants, Hanabi shoved Takara aside to take the brunt of the attack. She hit the ground many yards from where she was, rolling against the floor until she lay motionless.

  As purple tendrils twisted toward the girl, Tanabe appeared, severing them before they could strike. Examining Hanabi, he let out a sigh of relief. “She’s unconscious, but alive.”

  Upon noticing the chance to escape, the Minus fled.

  “Checkmate means game over, idiot,” Milu mocked while watching it leave.

  “Try this!” Descending from the sky, fists charged with flux, Rai smacked the Minus’s core, smashing it.

  Bit by bit, the Minus turned to ash, leaving only minor traces of decaying vines, which soon became specs of flux that vanished, until nothing but a seed remained. It was small and oval, shining purple with a green zig-zag design at the center.

  Milu approached, pressing the seed deeper into the ground. “She needs medical attention.” Lifting Hanabi off the floor, he was ready to take her, but Tanabe stepped up.

  “Let me, I’ll make it there faster,” Tanabe said.

  Milu nodded and Tanabe sped off towards the village with Hanabi.

  Eventually, torches appeared in the distance. “A search and rescue party, no doubt,” Milu said, leaning against a tree, waiting for them to arrive. “Rai took Takara a different route to avoid any trouble. Maybe I should have gone with…”

  Once they had returned, Tanabe and Milu awaited outside Hanabi’s room.

  “Hanabi will need some time to recover, but she’ll be fine. Her core’s stronger than your average human,” the doctor reassured them.

  “Sorry to have troubled anybody,” Hanabi said, lying in bed as the two entered.

  “We’re just glad you’re okay,” Milu responded.

  “Agreed,” Tanabe said with a nod.

  Entering the room, one of two guards said, “Please follow us if you are ready.”

  Milu sighed, “Can’t be helped I guess.

  Legally obligated, they detained the youths for breaking curfew, however, the boys’ Minus defeat impressed them.

  At the police station, Milu and Tanabe waited in a cell to be released.

  Outside, Han was causing a scene, stating, “Where’s the brat?!”

  “I’ll be grounded for months,” Milu said.

  “I’m here for Tanabe,” General Kur said.

  “G-General Kur,” Han said.

  Tanabe slumped over, “Try grounded for life...”

  ***

  Journal Entry:

  After the Minus incident, Tanabe stopped visiting. His Grandpa has him focusing on his drills until he becomes an apprentice. I know he’ll become strong. It’s impossible to see Milu as well. We agreed to meet at the 5th Apprenticeship Exam in six years. Until then, I must continue training to grow stronger.

  Closing the small golden notebook, Rai caressed his sister’s head while she slept on his lap.

  They were under a big cardboard box within Nyhud.

  While she was resting, a crowd grew nearby, and soon people began running over to join as the noise reached a fever pitch.

  Interested, Rai woke his Takara.

  “Brother,” Takara said, rubbing her face. “What is it?”

  “Follow me,” Rai said.

  As they pressed through the edge, Takara asked, “Are you and Hanabi getting married?”

  Rai blushed. “What makes you think that?”

  “She’s pretty.”

  “Yeah,” Rai said, shaking the thought. Doesn’t Milu have a crush on Hanabi?

  They navigated through the mass of people to reach the front, where everyone gathered around a radio. Thankfully, a fellow sitting on a box waved them in.

  “Have a sip,” a tipsy person said, passing a bottle to Rai, but he declined.

  He tried to hand it to Takara, who eagerly reached out, but Rai intervened, stating, “She’s only 5.”

  “Suit yourself. Wait until you hear what’s going on in Crystal Heralds,” the drunk said.

  The transmission of an explosion preceded the broadcast’s failure, leaving the crowd in an uproar.

  A struggle to repair the communication device ensued, until the voice emerged, announcing the unthinkable.

  “I can’t believe it… Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know how to say this, but Crystal Heralds... is gone.”

  “Gone?” a guy near the receiver said.

  “…reduced to nothing. There are no survivors,” the announcement reaffirmed.

  “How’s that possible?” someone said.

  An old man with a newspaper interrupted, mentioning, “Today was the day they were going to be inducted as an official kingdom within the empire.”

  “Wait! Unless my eyes deceive me… No, it’s him. The Knight of Excalibur, he’s alive!” The crowd erupted in cheers. The announcer continued to report, “Our hero has engaged the monster once again. The fights ab—”

  The radio cut out, prompting Rai to grab and shake it.

  “Careful, that’s my last…” a man stated.

  The battle gripped everyone, yet its peak brought absolute silence.

  Rai’s toes curled from the anticipation. “He can’t lose. He won’t!”

  “…the smoke’s clearing,” the broadcast fell quiet for a moment. “He’s won! Our hero, the number one elite, has defeated the plague!”

  “Yes!” Rai said, jumping into the cheerful group. He lifted his sister, swung her in a circle, before gently placing her on the ground.

  Giggling, she asked, “Do you think I could become a hero?”

  Rai smiled, covering her eyes with his palms. “Outside of these hands,” he said, removing each hand, “you can be anything.” Takara squished into her big brother’s embrace. “Come on, Squirt, let’s get going.”