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Sieris wasn't used to this kind of company.
Sure, she'd worked with parties before—people who talked too much, laughed too loudly, and died too easily—but Elira and Lumi were… different.
For one, they kept up with her. Even in the dense woods, with every branch whispering warnings and every shadow feeling one heartbeat too long, the two moved without dragging her down.
It was equal parts refreshing and irritating.
Especially Lumi.
"You know," the swordswoman muttered as she ducked beneath a low-hanging vine, "for an assassin, you're really intense. Like, 'I talk in one-word sentences' intense."
Sieris didn't break stride. "Good."
"Oh, she talks!" Lumi exaggerated a gasp. "Mark this day, Elira. The ice queen speaks."
Elira giggled softly beside her. "Be nice. Sieris just isn't used to us yet."
"I don't blame her," Lumi shrugged. "We're pretty great. Intimidating, even."
"Your definition of intimidating involves stepping on six different traps today," Sieris deadpanned.
Lumi's face flushed. "Those were *camouflaged*! And I only triggered four. The other two were... optional."
Sieris arched a brow.
"Look, one of them was definitely a disguised mushroom."
"You licked it."
"It looked friendly!"
Elira held back a laugh, covering her mouth.
Despite herself, Sieris felt her shoulders ease just a little. They were ridiculous. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
---
### **Further Within – An Echoing Pulse**
As they moved deeper into the trees, the air grew heavier.
Not oppressive—but dense, like a curtain of magic layered over the world.
Elira slowed. "This forest's pulse… it's reacting."
Lumi drew her blade cautiously. "To us?"
"No," Elira whispered, her eyes glowing faintly with arcane light. "To *Sieris*."
Sieris paused. "Me?"
The trees shimmered for a moment—like a heatwave across bark and leaf—and then something ancient stirred.
A symbol etched in light flared beneath Sieris's boot. It pulsed once.
And she *remembered*.
A temple.
A voice.
A blade in the dark.
She staggered back, gripping her temples.
"Woah—hey!" Lumi caught her arm. "Sieris, talk to me! You're not allowed to die yet, I haven't bullied you into friendship."
Elira knelt beside her, placing a hand to Sieris's forehead. "She's resonating with something here. Something old."
Sieris's breath steadied slowly. The images faded—but not completely.
"It's… a memory," she murmured. "Not mine. Someone else's. Someone like me. A former bearer."
"Bearer of what?" Lumi asked.
Sieris stood. Her fingers brushed the hilt of her hidden blade. "A veil."
---
### **Ability Spotlight – *Sieris's Unique Skill: Silent Veil***
As fragments of her past awaken, Sieris gains access to a latent power long dormant:
**Silent Veil – Unique Skill**
A stealth-based enhancement skill passed down through blood and memory, it allows the user to become one with shadow and silence itself.
**Subskills:**
1. **Echoless Step** – Moves completely without sound, even across unstable terrain.
2. **Phantom Blink** – Short-range teleport through shadows.
3. **Veilrend** – A strike that temporarily nullifies magical barriers and defensive enchantments.
4. **Shadow Memory** – Absorb faint memories left in physical spaces or objects.
5. **Final Fade** – Temporarily become intangible when struck by a fatal blow (cooldown-based).
---
Sieris opened her eyes. "Something's calling me further in. A place I need to reach."
"Typical assassin behavior," Lumi muttered. "See one glowing rune and suddenly it's all *'ancient destiny'*."
Sieris smirked. Just a little. "And you're still following."
"…You're not wrong."
Elira chuckled. "Come on. If this place is reacting to Sieris, it means it's safe—relatively speaking."
"Let's go before Lumi steps on another 'friendly mushroom,'" Sieris added.
Lumi looked genuinely betrayed. "I *thought* we were bonding."
---
### **Somewhere Deeper – Watching from Afar**
Yuki, unseen, observed from a higher canopy. His golden eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"She's awakening."
Sylvaeria, floating at his side, sighed. "You really attract strange women."
"I don't attract them. They wander into my forest and refuse to leave."
"Same thing."
Yuki snorted quietly. "Still… this one might be important. She remembers something the others don't."
Sylvaeria gave him a sideways glance. "And are you going to help her?"
"…I'll watch. For now."
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