Quiet Approach

He would have liked to have been able to sense mana like Miho. It would have made it easier for him to know where they were hiding. He had to rely on her nose for things. Which wasn’t a problem, just made it slower for him to react.

Miho was already sprinting off the roof in the direction that she sensed the mana. “Damnit! Remember, we’re not attacking immediately!” He watched puffs of wind bounce out as she cushioned her descent. But the direction at least gave him an idea of where they were going.

There was no delaying anymore. Yori jumped off the roof onto the next building, a two-story drop. He tucked and rolled before pushing off. The alley they approached had a few vents and attachments to the wall that he could use to grab as he went the rest of the way down. Three handholds, and he made it to the ground.

He pulled on his coat and straightened the parts that had slipped. Then he continued a steady walk down the alley while Miho was three buildings ahead working her way down. ‘If she picked up the mana, we still have time. It takes a while for a portal to be established. The Veil isn’t easy to cut, even with a skilled sorcerer and setup.’

Watching Miho finally make it to the ground, she looked a little bothered that he was already on the ground ahead of her. He simply gave her a saluting wave with two fingers, continuing to stroll up to the building that she stopped at.

“Anti-sorcerer training…”

“Can’t do that back home?”

She snapped back to the two-story building before them. “It’s getting stronger. Who’s castin’ the spell has to be strong.” The building wasn’t large like a warehouse, but it still went on for at least a hundred meters. It was a sizable interior, increasing the potential numbers. The odds of their mission continued to get worse.

“Or a group. It’s a lot of mana to maintain the portal; most times it's just a coordinated effort. There’s not that many singularly powerful sorcerers on this side.”

“We take out a couple, and they’re out of business.”

“Knock out. We’re not killing. And remember, proof first, or else they’re back on the streets doing this again in a week.” He had the feeling that she was still forgetting that piece of the mission. The anger and drive buried in her that came out in moments said something that he still hadn’t figured out. And that worried him more than anything. She could be a disaster or an aid, and it felt like a coin flip, which it would be.

And she didn’t even give him a proper acknowledgement at that. Yori groaned and leapt up to the window ledge on the second floor. There was barely any room to support himself, but he looked around, trying to map out the interior. Darkness captured most of it, with only moonlight giving him a hint of the space. It looked to be an office with a few desks and cabinets.

Tempting as it was to just break the glass stealth would be the only way to find success. First, he tested the window to see if it was just unlocked. It wasn’t. He dug into his pocket, pulling out a thin strip of metal and started slipping it between the window frame, around the lock.

A gust of wind brushed against him as Miho appeared, floating next to him. “Another magic item?”

“A magic window unlocking pick for magic windows.”

“Ass.”

Leaning in, he listened closely as he felt more resistance until a click. “And there!” Yori pushed the window up, finally granting him access. He immediately went into a slow crawl towards the faint shape of the door. A faint sound of voices came through, even with his enhanced hearing. There was a lot of the interior between them. “I think they’re on the first floor. I’m not picking up anyone nearby.”

“How do you know that?”

But Yori just opened the door and made his way into the hall. Miho kept her annoyance to herself as she hurried after him. She worried about patrols or anyone discovering them, yet he just skulked on without concern. Each moment out in the open of the enemy’s camp, she felt the tension tighten.

They made it to the end of the hall with a stairwell. Nothing on the second floor had any activity. Though the sense of mana grew stronger for Miho. It was correct that they were below, but he still didn’t explain it. She could only follow, becoming more concerned with the silence.

And yet he boldly went into the stairwell. Though he didn’t take the stairs, he dropped down casually to skip every step. It was almost unnerving how athletic he was. She had to admit that she didn’t know everything about those in Japan. But he wasn’t how she imagined those without magic to act.

She hurried down, not wasting mana as she found him leaning around the corner. There was no door, leaving them completely exposed if there was anyone. But perhaps, he counted on the surprise. Their luck held, though she saw him motioning for her to freeze. ‘Did he find someone? Wish I could use all of my magic…’

Miho tried to get close, but when she did, they bolted out without a sound. She nearly tried to grab for him, but leaned around, seeing two patrolling guards, sorcerers if she guessed. And Yori just sprinted at them, unaware, still under complete silence. In the last second, he put his hands on their necks with a lightning spark that incapacitated both immediately.

He caught them and started to drag both away. Quickly, she rushed to Yori trying his same stealth, but failing miserably. It wasn’t loud, but very clear. She took the second from his hand so that they could move them more freely into a room out of sight. “Another magic item?”

Yori took off the gloves to pocket them once more. “Just a type of taser. Sorcerers are still human after all.” Once the guards were cleared away, he went back to the hall and kept a slow march in stillness. She could only follow closely behind, trying not to signal their presence. Though with how quiet she was, she couldn’t have imagined that anyone would notice them.

“What are you doing here?” Miho glanced back, seeing two more that Yori had missed in the hall. Matching business suits for blending into the streets, but they were sorcerers. She didn’t see a catalyst on them, but jumped out immediately to grab one by the hand and flip them to the floor.

Her attack prompted the other to immediately cast a fireball on Yori. He effortlessly dodged it, though that was more than enough to send up the alert. “Dammit…” With blinding speed, he closed the gap on the second to knock them out with a palm to the gut. He looked down at Miho finishing putting the first under.

“What, ye missed two.”

It was pointless to argue with her now. Yori focused on the numerous sounds he now heard coming from all around the building. They would be surrounded by more sorcerers than they could handle. The day just got even worse.

Three came charging down an adjoining hall, immediately launching attacks. A wolf clad in lightning jumped through the hall from ceiling to wall as the wind cut anything that stood. Miho jumped out, pulling back her right sleeve to reveal a long series of colorful tattoos with animals and spirits intermixed up her whole arm. “Three monkey kings, come to me!”

On her forearm, monkeys clasping metal mirrors glowed bright orange until they leapt into life from her arm. Their mana manifestation slammed down on the floor, cracking tile into the air as they put up their mirrors in defense.

Then, in a counterattack, a blue glow that wrapped around her arm up under the sleeve further shone, overpowering the area. “Glass centipede, capture my foes!” Crawling down her arm, the insect tattoo came alive until it jumped off her hand, growing to a size that nearly crushed the hall. It wrapped around rapidly in spirals, turning everything it touched to ice. Blades of crystal shot out, appearing like a hundred legs.

Blood dripped down the legs and arms of the sorcerers, pierced by the spell. Yori shook off some of the frost clinging in the air from the spell converting ambient mana. He ground his teeth as it rapidly escalated beyond his control. But he snapped his attention towards the wall they stood near. The sound didn’t make sense, but left him with dread.

He promptly tackled Miho to the floor just as a pillar of flame burst through the wall behind them. It instantly vaporized the monkey spell and melted the ice. Black char etched out into the untouched hall. Out of the hole stepped a massive flaming wolf, a deific familiar summoned against the intruders.