Days passed, and Kain settled into a routine that felt strangely familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.
As one of the city-state''s prized beast-tamers, Kain''s duties alternated between patrolling the outskirts to keep rogue spiritual creatures at bay and assisting the Vice City-Lord in nning defences against rival states and potential Abyssal threats.
As time went on, the feelings of unfamiliarity and the ufortable feeling of forgetting something began to fade. He couldn''t help but feel like this had always been his life.
But sometimes certain events or people will bring up those unsettling feelings again…
One morning, Kain descended from the estate''s main building, his gaze sweeping the training grounds below. A familiar figure caught his eye—a man with a wiry frame and sharp hazel eyes directing a group of junior tamers.
"Benji," Kain called, descending the steps.
The man turned, his features lighting up in recognition. "Kain! Done patrolling already?"
Kain approached, taking in the sight of Benji''s Spirit Mouse perched on his shoulder. The tiny creature twitched its nose, its beady eyes scanning Kain with an unnerving intensity.
Benji had quickly risen in the ranks since awakening his affinity, bing a trusted scout and analyst for the Vice City-Lord. His Spirit Mouse''s unique ability to sense threats, locate treasures, and more made him an invaluable resource.
"Finished yesterday''s patrolte, but I have another one in the western sector this afternoon," Kain replied. "What about you?"
"Preparing the juniors for their first hunt," Benji said with a smirk, gesturing to the sparring pairs before him. "They''ve got potential, but they''re still green."
One of the junior tamers stumbled mid-swing and was hit hard to the ground by therge tiger-like spiritual creature it was sparring with.
"If only these newbies could be as worry-free as mentoring you," Benji said with mncholy, while heading over to the newly injured young beast-tamer.
However, Kain couldn''t help but dwell on Benji''s statement. Kain was brought to thispound and was ced directly under the instruction of the Vice City Lord, he couldn''t actually recall a time when he had actually even been mentored or received any advice form Benji.
However, despite theck of any such memory involving Benji, Kain instinctively felt like his statement wasn''t false.
''Weird…'' The annoying feeling that his memories and surroundings weren''t matching came up again.
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Later that day, Kain led his patrol along the western edge of Ishvaran''s borders. The terrain was rocky and uneven, with sparse vegetation hanging on stubbornly within the harsh environment.
He was apanied by two of his contracts, the Vespid Queen (and her guards) and the Earth Golem, nked him, their presence aforting reminder of his strength.
On one such day, Kain''s patrol brought him to the southern sector, where he encountered two of Ishvaran''s risig stars: ra and udia.
The two women were sparring in the central training grounds when Kain arrived. Their movements were sharp and fluid, a striking contrast to the more hesitant techniques of the junior tamers nearby. A crowd had gathered, watching in awe as the pair engaged in a fierce battle.
ra''s contract, a fox-like spiritual creature with crystalline fur emitting light, moved in perfect harmony with hermands, darting in and out of udia''s shadow panther''s range.
Meanwhile, ra and udia were engaged in a fierce battle with one another.
After all, during these chaotic times, a beast-tamer without their ownbat power was a dead beast-tamer.
Currently they were evenly matched, and even their fighting styles were simr. From the current tally of their wins and losses they also had an equal number of wins.
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Kain leaned against a nearby pir, watching with admiration. Despite only joining the patrol recently and supposedly having little practical experience, they exuded the confidence and skill of seasoned warriors. ra and udia quickly became rising stars within the patrol and were both up for a higher-up position.
The fight ended when ra''s fox leapt over udia''s panther in a dazzling disy of agility,nding on udia''s shoulder and pinning her to the ground with a triumphant growl. The onlookers erupted into cheers and apuse.@@novelbin@@
ra extended a hand to udia, who epted it with a wry smile. "You''ve gotten faster," udia said, brushing herself off.
"And you''ve gotten stronger," ra replied, her tone warm but teasing. "If thatst strike hadnded, I''d be in the healer''s ward right now."
Kain approached as the crowd began to disperse. "Impressive as always," he said, nodding to both women. "You joined the patrols only recently but you two make the rest of us look like amateurs."
ra turned to him with a smirk. "I don''t know about amateurs… I hear you''ve been holding your own on the eastern patrols, Kain."
udia crossed her arms, her panther curling at her feet. "Although, you''ve still got a lot to learn if you want to keep up with us."
Technically, Kain''s position and practical experience should be slightly higher than the other two, but none of the three seemed to see any problem or inconsistency with them taking on a slightly superior and instructional tone with Kain. The two sisters then began to recount various pieces of practical advice to Kain, like usual.
However, their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a messenger, a young boy out of breath and clutching a scroll. "Tamers Kain, udia, and ra!" he called, his voice urgent. "The Vice City-Lord requests your presence at the strategy hall. ording to her, the need for the presence of the three of you is extremely urgent."
The three tamers exchanged a nce before heading to the hall together.
When they arrived, the Vice City-Lord was already waiting. Surprisingly, Benji was also present. The gazes of the both of them swept over the 3 new arrivals.
Interestingly, despite having just seen Benji that morning Kain couldn''t help but feel something odd in the way he and Nadia were staring at the 3 of them. Something had clearly changed in how he treated Kain in just these couple of hours.
"See I told you they don''t remember anything."