Chapter 1

Years later.

In another Tokyo prefecture, Yukino Kurosawa and her team were dispatching another rogue mage. The suspect, having attempted to rob several stores, was now leaping from building tops as he tried to run from the pursuing magi officers. The mage was clearly an amateur, as he struggled to judge the power needed on each jump and on several occasions either almost overshot it and landed too far, or undershot it and had to clamber up the edge of the rooftops. Yukino and her squad, however, moved with ease as they dashed from one building to the next with single swift motions. As the mage struggled, the officers caught up and were in close range to him and prepared to apprehend him.

“Firing off earth magic, support when you can.” The muscular man in the squad said. While they wore no earpieces or other communication devices, the squad were connected to each other through their mana field and were able to transmit speech unimpeded by their environment.

“Understood, ready to back you up, Hiro.” The small girl of the group affirmed.

The girl made several hand gestures, and a light enveloped her, enhancing her speed as she shot forward in the blink of an eye, landing in front of the fleeing fugitive. She then slammed her arms together in front of her and a blinding light shone off of them, as if a flash grenade went off. The mage stumbled on the rooftop and fell onto his back as he scrambled to get his bearings and attempt to flee. Hiro then raised his hand up as he started a chant.

“Earth, bring me your fury, beholden this man in your eternal weight!”

With that, from the palm of his hand, large chunks of rocks and dirt launched out toward the mage and landed on him, fusing with the rooftop and one another as it clasped around him like a fist. The man squealed and begged for mercy, but Yukino flicked her finger to the side and a web-like wrapping formed around his mouth, muffling him. She then crouched next to him and placed a finger on the side of her glasses and examined the man.

“Alright, let’s see here. Ichikawa, no given name on record, male, 170cm, unemployed, several misdemeanors, and wanted for unauthorized use of magical force, among other things.” Yukino said, as if reading off a script. In fact, she was, as her sunglasses were feeding her information about the person she was staring at. “Alright, Ichikawa, you’re going to be locked up for quite a long time. Hiro, notify the cleaners to sweep the area for witnesses. Eris, get him ready for transpo-”

Suddenly, interrupting her as she was giving orders, a loud bang, followed by a hissing noise echoed out from behind her. Then, the sound of liquid splashing the ground and a thud followed soon after. Yukino, swiftly, took off her glasses and turned around. There, on the ground laid the lifeless body of the small girl, Eris, in a pool of dark red liquid. She then quickly looked to a building across from them as she instantly ascertained where the sound came from.

“Get down, Hiro!” She shouted.

Yukino and Hiro dove down, hiding behind vents and air conditioning units on the rooftop of the building they were on. Yukino pulled out the device in her pocket and magic circles swirled out of it as she manipulated it with experienced motions. A blink and a beep rang out from it and she put it back in her pocket.

“Hiro, HQ is notified. We need to hold out until reinforcements arrive.” Yukino said through the mana field.

“Reinforcements? Isn’t it just some maniac with a gun?”

“Eris was shielded by Mana when the shot hit her. From what I saw in the brief glimpse I got, the shooter had a handgun. Do you know of any civilian weapon of that size that can penetrate mana shields that easily?” Yukino said, almost irritated that she had to explain it to her experienced subordinate.

“You can’t mean that it’s a manifestation? The only ranged ones we know of are like crossbows at best!” Hiro started to shout, panic rising in him.

Manifestations, the physical embodiment of mana for mages. Since most trained mages are shielded in mana, manifestations are used to cut through those shields as standard spells and weapons become ineffective in most scenarios. However, manifestations are almost always in the form of a melee weapon, and in rare cases, a ranged one like bows. The shape and form of manifestations are dependent on the power and strength of a mage's latent magical talent. So, for the magi officers to be attacked by someone with a manifestation, and one of a firearm at that, meant that whoever they were dealing with was an immensely powerful mage.

“Keep your emotions in check, Hiro. Think, he’ll advance soon. We need to get him on the ground and up close. Create an earth wall. Ignore the fugitive, this takes priority.”

Hiro affirmed and said another chant as he formed a wall of rock and earth on the edge of the rooftop, blocking off the assailants line of sight. Yukino then stood up and swirled her hands together, muttering a spell as a fireball formed on her hand. She held the flaming mass in her hand as she took her other hand and started to move her fingers in intricate patterns, and an amorphous blob of water started to form. She then threw the ball of fire up into the air and as it reached its apex, thrust the hand with water in it forward and a torrent of water shot out, impacting the fire ball. In that instant, the fireballs exploded into a cloud of steam, creating a smoke screen for the two mages.

“Now, go! We need to get in close!” Yukino ordered.

Hiro launched off into the air through the steam, his mana shield protecting him from the intense heat of the mist. He  started to form his manifestation as a blue, misty haze formed in his hands, growing in size and mass until it took on the shape of a hefty battle axe. He brought the axe over his head as he exited the steam. He was ready to swing perfectly on target as he was enhancing his vision to see the mana of the attacker through the mist however, as he finally broke through, he saw the attacker standing there, holding no manifestation, and his hands were in his jacket pockets. In the split second of confusion, he then felt something impact on the side of his head, knocking him down into the gap between the buildings. The last thing he heard was the sound of a bolt action rifle being cocked before he slammed into the ground, losing consciousness.

Yukino, who had managed to sneak down the side of the building using the fire escape, stared on in confusion as she watched Hiro’s body fly past her. She looked over to where the sound of the gunshot came from, and she saw the glint of the sun hitting a scope.

So, he’s not alone. Dammit. She thought to herself as she analyzed her surroundings.

However, in the small moment she took to pause and think, the wall behind her erupted and sent her soaring through the air and into an open courtyard in a nearby park. Yukino focused all her available mana into her mana shield as she braced for the impact. With a loud thud, she landed in the middle of the park, creating a small crater. She stumbled trying to stand as her vision blurred and blood was leaking out of her nose. She tried to hobble away to safety, but she was quickly cut off by the attacker.

“So, do you remember me?” the man said her.

She looked at him, but her vision was so blurred, and her head was ringing that she couldn’t make out who it was. She slowly moved her hand to grab her glasses and put them on, then pressed a finger to the side of them. Her eyes opened in shock as she read the details that came into her display.

“Ryuki... Yagami...?!”