Team: Kiyoshi, Rin, Kotaka.
Location: Duskwatch Pass – Western Perimeter of Verdenholt.
Mission Time: 10:44 AM — Breezy.
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The western edge of Verdenholt was a lonely stretch of crumbling cliffs and narrow footpaths, scarred by time and ancient battles. The land dipped sharply into Duskwatch Pass—a natural choke point where jagged rocks rose like broken teeth against the pale morning sky.
Kiyoshi led the way, hands tucked loosely into his coat pockets, his gaze sweeping lazily over the rugged landscape. His hair, usually kept in a rough bun, was already starting to slip free from the stiff breeze that came screaming off the cliffs.
Behind him, Rin walked in silence, hugging her arms around herself, her brown ponytail whipping slightly in the wind. Her goblin-green skin looked almost pale under the sharp light. She kept darting glances toward the narrow trail edges, where loose stones tumbled into the misty gorge below.
Kotaka brought up the rear, heavy boots crunching over the brittle ground. His expression was set, jaw clenched tightly. One hand stayed close to the hilt of the short blade strapped at his hip—too casual to be nervous, but too tense to be at ease.
The silence between them stretched thin, filled only by the mournful howl of the wind threading through the rocks.
Kiyoshi finally broke it, his voice a low drawl barely rising over the gusts. "So. Who's taking bets on which one of us falls into the abyss first?"
Kotaka grunted. "Keep talking and it'll be you."
Rin gave a shaky laugh she immediately tried to smother. "Not funny," she muttered, adjusting the strap of her satchel nervously.
Kiyoshi shrugged without much conviction, his washed-out gray eyes half-lidded, unreadable. "Hey. We were told to 'adapt.' Just adapting to the emotional instability of inevitable doom."
They crested a ridge, pausing instinctively as the ground leveled out into a wide, broken clearing. Half-buried by time and nature, the remains of an old outpost building clung stubbornly to the cliffside. Its stone walls were blackened with old scorch marks, and remnants of ancient warding sigils were still faintly visible, chiseled into the collapsed arches.
Kiyoshi's eyes sharpened subtly, though his posture stayed relaxed. "This is it. Western perimeter."
Kotaka moved ahead, kneeling near the entrance where cracked stones and twisted iron gates hinted at the violence of past battles. He brushed aside a pile of debris, revealing scorch marks that spidered across the ground—deep, unnatural grooves, too symmetrical for simple erosion. "Definitely magic," Kotaka muttered. "Old... but not natural decay. This was an attack."
Rin hovered at the edge of the clearing, arms drawn tightly around her middle. "I-I feel something," she said softly, voice barely above the wind. "It's like the ground's... humming."
Kiyoshi tilted his head, studying her without a word for a long moment. Then he closed his eyes, letting the wind rattle against him. For a breathless instant, his presence seemed to fade—like even the world hesitated to brush against him.
When he opened his eyes again, a faint glimmer of tension tightened the corners of his mouth. "...She's right. Something's bleeding mana into the ground. Slow. Controlled. Like a leak that was... plugged, but not properly sealed."
Kotaka stood, brushing dirt from his palms. "Meaning?"
"Meaning it's not supposed to be like this." Kiyoshi's voice lost its usual lazy detachment, growing thin and cold. "Someone tampered with the old wards."
Rin shivered and took a cautious step closer to them. "But why? This place—it's abandoned. There's nothing left."
Kiyoshi didn't answer immediately. His gaze drifted to the far edge of the ruins, where a narrow trail disappeared into the dense treeline below. From there, Verdenholt's lower ruins could just barely be seen through the mist—a shadowy sprawl of collapsed buildings and forgotten history.
His fingers twitched slightly at his sides. "We're not the only ones who found this place interesting," he said quietly. A heavy silence settled over them again.
Kotaka shifted, tension creeping into his stance. "We sweep the site, same as the others. Check the old outpost perimeter, watch the tree line, stay out of open ground."
Kiyoshi nodded, but he lingered a moment longer, squinting into the distance. Unseen by Rin or Kotaka, a faint ripple disturbed the air above the ruins—a shimmer, like heat rising off desert sands.
Kiyoshi's hand briefly brushed against the inside of his coat, where the crystal-etched talisman Kayuki had given them was hidden away. He didn't draw it. Not yet. But for the first time since the mission began, the thought of using it whispered at the edges of his mind.
Something about the ruins, the way the mana prickled against his senses—
It felt wrong.
But he said nothing.
Instead, he turned back toward the others, his expression returning to that casual, almost bored mask he wore so easily. "Alright," he drawled. "Let's get this over with before the cliffs decide they don't like us anymore."
Without waiting for a response, Kiyoshi set off toward the shattered remnants of the outpost gates, his figure cutting a solitary path through the broken stones and mist.
Rin hesitated a moment, shooting a glance at Kotaka. "You think he's worried too?" she asked quietly.
Kotaka stared after Kiyoshi's retreating back, his frown deepening. "Yeah," he muttered. "I think he's the most worried of all."
They moved after him, weapons loose in their hands, every step taking them deeper into the forgotten bones of Verdenholt. And far below the cliffs, hidden from their sight, something unseen began to stir.
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