Travis Salliv, Rogue

The blue sky above was tainted with images of clouds going about their business. Strands of light pierced through, creating lances that glimmered down at the earth below. The air all around was somewhat chill, as one would expect of March, but not overwhelmingly so. The city of Silvana stood in the distance, small and surrounded by low walls. Inside, uncountable people went about their business. Some left, some entered, some sold, and some bought, and everywhere in between. However, just as there was life inside of the city, there were places where vigor surged outside of it, in the fields surrounding the city and the vast forests beyond that.

Sweat dripped down Travis's forehead and onto the soft ground beneath him. A hasty wipe with a hand took the salty drops away, letting his golden eyes focus on what was ahead of him. Fixing his grip on a dagger, he found himself exhaling deeply, the hot air from his lungs creating a tiny cloud of vapor that faded into obscurity in an instant. He scanned over his opponent's posture.

The black-haired woman stood somewhat taller than him, roughly 175 cm in height. The stare of her gray eyes was reminiscent of a hawk's, diligent and dangerous. The sleek cheeks and refined cheekbones gave her a striking appearance, fitting for someone who was in her thirties - she undoubtedly had memories of many encounters already. Her rather lithe body was covered in a dark suit typically used by the people of the Rogue class, and appropriately, she spun two daggers in her hands before curving her half-full lips into a partial smirk. He knew what it meant: she was about to attack.

In an instant, the woman disappeared from his field of view and then appeared right in front of his nose, closing the distance of 6 meters in an instant. Scarcely able to notice the skill usage, Travis began a motion of backpedaling, attempting to create a bit of distance. In unison, he moved his right hand, anticipating a strike aiming to pierce his right lung.

A dance of sparks informed him that he was at least partially correct; the woman's blade got stopped as it was going for his armpit. However, it didn't mean the strike was over. Despite her lithe body, she had a height advantage, and quite a bit of strength behind her blows. That and she also had a second dagger. Travis was unable to dodge and received a hit with the weapon's handle to his solar plexus. A short wheeze of pain left his body as the woman's skill expired, teleporting her back to her starting position.

'Not good.' he thought, doing his best to not bend over with pain. He ran a hand through his brown hair, swiping away more sweat. Scanning over the woman, he cursed internally. Still, he raised his hand and took a defined step forth. Then a second one. The black-haired woman responded by hiding one of her daggers and skittering to her side, attempting to circle him. In response, he commanded his spirit. '<Blink Strike>.' In an instant, the mana around him shifted as he used the same technique she did, appearing in front of her.

The world appeared to slow down. As Travis gave his hands a command, they already were mid-movement, performing a flurry of strikes. Just barely able to respond, the woman locked her blade with his and then tilted her body, avoiding the punch he launched at her stomach. As his skill expired, the man took a stance once more, scanning over his opponent.

However, she sheathed her dagger before sighing, "That's enough. Take a breather," her tone was sharp, fitting her predatory stare.

Hearing her words, Travis blinked twice before hiding his weapon as well. With a quick expulsion of hot air, he bent his body backward a little, falling onto the ground with hardly a care. Its hard, cold embrace was comparatively softer than a second more spent upright with his exhausted body.

Looking at the blue expanse of sky above, he couldn't help but notice a few small clouds move about lazily, going in the southern direction. They didn't appear to prognosticate any rain, as seen in their milky-white color. A small sigh escaped his mouth as he felt his vigor start to regenerate.

However, his peace of mind was not kept for long as he suddenly noticed a black blur move right to him. In an instant, he found the woman to be holding a dagger right by his neck.

"And you're dead," she said, her tone perfectly calm as though she was speaking about the weather. Without waiting for the man's response, she uncrouched and walked back a few steps. "That'd be... I don't even know which time. Is keeping your guard up really that hard?"

"...no, I just--" he started his reply, his tone slightly sheepish as he raised to a sitting position.

"Got distracted?" she cut him off. "Do you think anyone on a battlefield will wait until you regain your focus? Would you?" she asked, her gray eyes glistening slightly as the woman began emanating a bit of pressure that pushed heavily onto the man's shoulders.

"...n-no," Travis's voice shook a little as he found it slightly difficult to take a full breath anymore.

The black-haired woman sighed. Then, she slowly sat down by a campfire nearby, placed near a tent in which she slept. With but a nod of her head, she released all of the pressure she put on the man, inviting him to sit opposite of her. As he did, she pulled out a box of matches and ignited the fire between them. Then, she spoke, "It's starting to feel a little dull, in all sincerity."

"...dull?" he raised an eyebrow, requesting an elaboration.

"Today marks 168 days since I came to Silvana. I'll be honest, I was not expecting to be taking in a student back then. And now, I'm starting to feel as though I no longer have one."

"What? Teacher, what are you saying? Are you throwing me out?"

"I'll be frank with you, Travis. You've been studying under me for nearly half a year, and for the past month, I feel as though your growth has been stumped significantly. I taught you <Obfuscation> last month, and you've shown hardly any improvement in using it yet," she spoke, and although her voice was neutral, Travis couldn't help but feel the woman speaking in a slightly descending tone toward him.

"But it's not like there's no improvement... Storm Rogue," Travis replied, titling his teacher with the name she'd revealed to everyone.

"Travis, we both know it is not sufficient. I'm not saying this because I detest you. Quite frankly, I really like your persistence. Despite everything, you have not skipped a day. Every afternoon for the last 162 days, you've been training here with me. That is an admirable resolve. But there are limits to how much you can **** yourself into a class that does not fit you. And I'll be honest, this whole ordeal is starting to test my patience."

"...I'm sorry, Teacher, for disappointing you," Travis looked to his side a little.

"I'm not disappointed, Travis. I'm simply being a realist. I'm not going to stay around forever. And I'm sure you have higher aspirations that running around for some small errands."

"..."

"Tell you what, how about we put your skills to a test?"

"A test?" Travis frowned slightly. 'She's never done something like that...'

"A Rogue quest, how does that sound?" she raised an eyebrow, and her thin lips turned into a slight smirk. "You can treat it as a chance to reflect if you are fit to stay a Rogue. Are you interested?"

"...yes."

"Very well," Storm Rogue replied, turning around and reaching out into her tent.

From within, she brought out a small pack and undid the knot on its top. After a few long seconds of rummaging in it, she took out a large map depicting the kingdom. Shifting to her side a little, she unfolded it on the ground between them and commenced looking for the location that interested her.

"The location of your test is here. The city of Autir," Storm Rogue finally stopped her finger on one location.

"Autir? That seems like a little much," Travis protested a little, feeling somewhat perplexed by the location. He was expecting it to be in Silvana but was surprised, and not in a good way. "That's on the other side of the kingdom."

"Are you saying you can't do it?"

"...I can. I'm just worried about how long it will take."

"You still don't know what you are to do, and you're already nagging?"

Travis appeared to take half a breath in before deciding to not respond. Seeing that her response managed to quiet him down, Storm Rogue continued, "Autir is currently being governed by the family of Goldhilts, with Matthew standing as the family head. His wife, Eden, has a collection of earrings. I want you to get me a particular one."

"A particular 'one'?" he frowned with a questioning stare.

"That's how it'll look," she suddenly threw a small object at him.

Driven by reflex, Travis just barely managed to catch the small object. As he felt its weight, he opened his hand, causing his eyes to sparkle.

It was about a single centimeter wide and had a spherical shape. It was made of gold, with multiple blue engravings on its surface that seemingly bore some magical properties, as evident in the object's slight shimmer when he shifted it on his palm.

"Wait, if you have it... then it means--"

"Yes," she cut him off. Her black hair swayed slightly as she nodded.

"So... I am to steal the other one?"

"Correct," suddenly, the woman lunged at him and back in a single second, taking the earring away.

Travis was too surprised by the sudden movement to let out a sound. Seeing his silent face, the woman continued, "Considering the date, you should be back by 17th April," She said, looking slightly to her side. "Which means you probably will reach Autir by the 1st if you want to complete this quest. You understand, right?"

"Y-Yes, teacher," he replied, regaining his senses.

"Very well then. You should probably go, now. Make sure you rest plenty."

"I will."

"And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Whatever your approach will be is none of my interest. Go about it however you wish. Steal it quietly or **** everyone. You can get yourself a friend to infiltrate the mansion for all I care. But don't come back chased down by guards. Either do the job properly or give up. And you never met me."

"I understand."

"Then go," she said, but it almost came off like a sigh.

Travis got up quickly and started walking away. He looked back at his tutor, who was taking her time sitting by the fire.

'Now that he's out of the picture, it'll be much easier for me to work.' she thought, staring at the man headed toward the city. 'Not that I disliked his company. He's very different from Violet, but not in a bad way. With him, I can at least strike up a normal conversation.' she huffed a bit of air at her hair, pushing it away from her right cheek. 'And that spirit of his... I'll damned if even the keenest of Joseph's students are as determined. He'd fit right in there with them... maybe I should bring up the idea when he comes back.'

...

'...enough sidetracking.' the woman berated herself for a moment. 'Preparation is key. Cedric didn't send you here to loiter. Tomorrow, I'll investigate around the city again. Those tunnels from last time... I need to check them out.'