The Frozen Hour

Anna stood at the edge of the forest, her heart pounding heavily against her ribs like war drums. It had tall trees with bushy leaves, serpent like vines hanging from their branches,vibrant wilderness—with scattered flowers and uneven land—made it look like a perfect picnic spot to her. However, the regular rustle of bushes, whispered hisses of serpents, soft steps of beasts and wailing of animals made one's hair stand on end.

Anna wore a black skin-tight combat outfit which fit her body perfectly, she had tied her hair in a bun with braids adorning it with elegance. Two daggers were placed inside a sheath belt on her waist.

"Do I really have to do it?" Anna asked as she looked at the two figures standing a few meters away from her.— White and Blake—

"We are only doing it so you can get combat experience, Miss Anieal" White replied as he looked at Anna, his crimson eyes had a mischievous glint.

Anna caught that and asked in a not-so-sure tone.

"Are you sure about this?" Anna asked with a serious expression.

"I am, that's how newly advanced seekers are taught… I guess." White replied as he nodded and shrugged at the end.

"You guess… huh" Anna said as she looked at White with a baffled expression.

"How did my brother agree to this?" Anna asked while looking at White.

"Maybe he felt moved by your hard work?" White replied while looking away. As he remembered his conversation with Damien

***

Damien was standing at the balcony of his room as he gazed at the beautiful garden with a porcelain teacup in his head, a small reminiscent smile tugging his lips as he remembered the times of training and playing around with his father in this very garden.

*Knock* *Knock*

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door which caused him to burrow his brows in irritation.

"Come in." Damien said. His voice was gentle however a bit of irritation could be felt in it.

"I apologize for ruining your alone time, young master." White said as he bowed in apology.

Seeing that Damien spoke, His voice returned to its usual gentleness.

"Speak," he ordered.

"I wish to take Miss Anieal for a star beast hunt for her combat training." White said as he continued bowing.

"Hmm? and pray tell, why would you do that?" Damien asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If Miss Anieal goes on the hunt and happens to get hurt, she might stop trying to actively become a midnighter." White said as he looked at Damien with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"So, you want me to send Anna so she can get hurt and stop trying to actively become a midnighter?"

"Yes."

"I see..," Damien thought about it for a few moments after which he looked at White and nodded.

"You may proceed with it but make sure she doesn't get too badly hurt" Damien paused for a few moments and continued. "A few bruises and a few small wounds should do." he nodded at his own words and looked at White who was looking at him with a strange expression.

'A few bruises and a few small wounds? What? That's all?... he really is a sis-con…" White thought as he looked at Damien.

Damien however ignored his looks and spoke

"Got it?"

"Yes, young master." White said as he bowed one more time and left the room while coming up with ideas about how to make Anna stop from trying to actively become a midnighter.

***

"By the way, why can't I use guns and other firearms instead of these daggers?" Anna asked with a tilt of her head which made look cute.

Hearing her White started to shake his head.

"Hah.." He sighed and continued "Well. You can indeed use guns and other firearms but we are training for close combat and combat decision making. Not shooting." He gave a disappointed look to Anna as he spoke. Seemingly dissatisfied with such a basic question.

"Y-yeah, You are right." Anna said as she looked away, a tinge of redness had found its way to her cheeks due to embarrassment.

'I am getting stupid with continuous training?' Anna thought to herself

Suddenly, she turned towards White and asked

"What about using firearms when I fight other midnighters?" She had a thoughtful look as she asked so.

"Hmm… firearms are pretty useless on midnighters during night time when they can use their full strength." White replied to the best of his abilities.

"Full strength?" Anna questioned with a tilt of her head and confused expression on her face.

"Hmm? Miss Anieal you do know that midnighters can only use full strength at night time, yes?" White asked as he gazed in Anna's eyes.

"Y-yes I knew that, of course." Anna replied as she did a fake laugh to hide her embarrassment.

"You didn't know. Huh"

"Well. I guess it's because we are in Azor that you haven't felt it." White concluded as he nodded to himself.

"What does being in Azor have to do with it?" Anna asked.

"You know about the barrier, yes?"

"Yeah, because of the barrier it's always night in Azor" Anna replied.

"Because it's always night here the star essence—which is the energy used by midnighters—is denser, thus midnighters can use about half of their strength here all the time." White said as he rubbed his masked chin.

"So, they can only use half of their strength here?" Anna asked with curiosity gleaming in her eyes.

White nodded at her words and continued

"As for when it's not night, they can use about one tenth of their strength so they are still stronger than most humans." White said as he looked towards Blake.

Blake who saw that spoke.

"Thus, Miss Anieal, if you plan to use firearms they are only going to be effective when it's not night." Blake said as he looked at Anna.

Anna nodded at his words and asked what was on her mind for a while now.

"What about explosives then?"

"Same, however, explosives can hurt a seeker during night time but it still can't kill them." Blake replied.

"Well, if you use it in a reasonable amount that is." White added.

Blake turned to look at him and spoke.

"Shut up."

"What? I am not wrong, okay." White said with a wronged expression on his face.

"What do you know? You aren't even an awakened." Blake replied, White could guess him having a smug smile on his dumb face when he said so.

"Hmph!!" White however just ignored him with a harumph.

Seeing both of them act like this Anna could only shake her head.

"Let's begin." Anna said with a solemn look.

""Yes, Miss Aniela."" White and Blake replied at the same time.

Anna walked towards the forest in front of her. She could see many normal beasts and animals such as rabbits, deer, foxes, etc roaming around the outermost area of the forest. Whenever she tried to go near them they just ran away like their lives were dependent on it.

"Why are they acting like this?" Anna asked and turned to look at White who was following her.

"The normal beasts and animals of Azor have an instinctive sense towards awakeneds. So, when they found out that you were awakened they ran away." White replied as he explained it to her.

"I see." Anna nodded her head at his explanation and continued to go deeper in the forest.

A few moments later, Anna stood beside a boulder trying to hide herself as she looked at the star beast in front of her.

It looked like a bear, however it was about double the size of a normal bear. It had red fur which gleamed with an orange light and its eyes looked like they had flames in them, its claws looked razor sharp when moonlight reflected on them.

'So, That's a flame bear, a star beast of Tyro-Seeker rank.' Anna thought as she looked at the star beast that was sleeping beside a fallen tree.

She stealthily made her way towards the flame bear and went as near as she could without alerting him, when she was a couple of meters away from the flame bear she dashed towards the bear and brandished her daggers and swung them downward as she tried to stab her daggers near his heart.

Just as she was about to stab him the bear's fur ignited which caused Anna to take a few steps back. The flame bear stood awake from his slumber looking at the human who dared to disturb its sleep in fury.

"Rowrrr" a mighty roar echoed throughout the outer area of the forest as the flame bear roared in fury.

Anna was stunned out due to the roar and stood there, her eyes looking a bit confused. The flame bear ran towards her as his claws started to glow in red and he reached out to attack Anna with its claw.

Anna jumped back with a backflip and landed with grace. She looked at the flame bear in front of her with vigilance. The bear started to move in circles around her and would randomly throw an attack which Anna blocked with her daggers.

The flame bear continued his barrage which Anna blocked with some difficulty however she was getting better at it with time, Soon the bear attacked with more force than before and the force of the attack cause Anna to use both of her daggers to block the attack.

The flame bear then used his free arm to sweep at Anna, Anna seeing that tried to step back but the flame bear had already locked her in place by interlocking his claws with her daggers.

Anna let go of one of her daggers and kicked its pommel which sent the dagger flying towards the flame bear and it dug deep into its leg. Anna moved away from the bear which caused the flame bear to only swipe the air. The flame bear furious by the turns of events frantically charged at Anna and started to attack her in fury.

Anna tried her best to dodge, counter and parry the flame bear's attacks, managing to land a few cuts on its body. However, due to the sudden increase in intensity Anna soon started to feel more and more pressured and because of that the flame bear's claw grazed the bracelet she wore, breaking it.

As soon as the bracelet broke the world turned dark as the bracelet allowed her to look in dark as if it were day. Anna, startled by the sudden events, jumped back and looked around her.

The forest which at least looked a bit friendly before now horrified her. Unknowingly she let herself look away from the flame bear and it took advantage of it as it landed a blow on her upper body, The flame bear's claws raked across her upper body, leaving deep gashes from which blood was pouring out.

"Argh!!" a grown escaped her lips.

The force of the attack sent her flying towards the boulder. Anna's vision started to blur due to blood loss. However, the flame bear didn't show any mercy to her as it walked towards Anna to end her agony and her life with it.

White anxious from the sudden turn of events, moved to save Anna. However, Blake stopped him and pointed towards Anna as he spoke.

"Watch."

White turned around and looked at Anna

Anna who was laying down while blood left her body. Suddenly, her eyes turned golden as a golden warmth enveloped her body, golden threads started to materialize around her hands and the wounded area. Soon, the wounds healed at a rapid pace and Anna's mind cleared.

The flame bear rushed towards her as it felt an ominous premonition. However, it was still too late. Suddenly, Golden threads rushed towards it from all sides. The threads started to wrap around the flame bear and two of the threads which came from Anna's direction went towards the daggers and wrapped around their handles.

Anna flickered her hand and the two daggers were once again in her hands, she rushed towards the flame bear who was tied to trees all around them by multiple golden threads and pushed her daggers in its head via its eyes socket and drove them through its brain, killing it.

As soon as Anna killed the beast she fell down on her knees as she breathed heavily. Anna dropped her daggers and looked at her hands with a mix of emotions. Soon however, she shook her head and hardened her heart.

'Such is the price of strength.' She repeated in her mind to calm herself.

Footnotes:

The bracelet worn by Anna is an artefact or runic device which is mass produced for Azor habitants to be able to see at night without any issues.

The normal beasts, animals, etc of Azor have already evolved enough so they can see in the dark without issue.