Requiem of a Slayer

It was a normal day in the guild hall of Unchained Soul, one that wouldn't be considered normal anywhere else due to its members. Eugene was walking towards the dining hall for breakfast and then he came across one of his guildmates, Atsuko. "Um...Good morning Atsuko?" Eugene said with a nervous smile. It was quite clear that Atsuko was trying to hold back from punching him because of her androphobia but to no avail...

"Kyaaa!" She exclaimed before punching him square in the gut with full force before running away. She was able to apologize though as she did. This was considered completely normal here. Usually, it'd be either Kurogane or Eugene himself that would take the blows from this girl. Knowing that she didn't mean to do it out of malice, Eugene continued on to the dining room peacefully, albeit with some pain in his abdomen. It made him wonder how she got so strong as Kurogane had gone through tons of training and would normally not be affected by a normal punch. He entered the room to see Mune and Eriko already chatting and seemingly having already finished breakfast. Kurogane had walked past Eugene, seeming to have not noticed the Dragon Slayer.

"Ah, good morning Kurogane-san." Eriko said while hand signing before bringing out to him a plate of bacon, eggs, and other such breakfast foods. Mune waved a hand in greeting as well. For once, he wasn't wearing the bandages that he usually had on but didn't really need. He didn't have any injuries nor was his face that ugly, it was actually quite handsome, that he needed bandages around his head but for some reason he usually had them on.

"Good morning Eriko, Mune." Kurogane said politely as he began to dig into his food. As always, the food made by Eriko tasted great. It was then they heard they heard tired sounds coming from the hallway.

"Good morning." Another member of the guild as well as the strategist, Ren said with a tired voice as he dragged himself to the table looking almost like a zombie albeit with a bit more color with the bags under his eyes.

"Ren, were you staying up all night doing research again?" Kurogane asked with concern in his voice as Eriko brought Ren breakfast and a large cup of coffee.

"No, video games." Ren replied simply as he put sugar in his already sweetened coffee and drank down the whole thing in one gulp.

"You shouldn't be playing that much video games, especially at night." Mune said, lecturing the slightly younger man who still acted like a teenager sometimes.

"With all the work I have to do around here, how else am I supposed to keep up with the other players?" Ren said weakly in response as Eriko refilled his coffee.

"Even if you fell behind, wouldn't you be able to catch up in no time flat with your gaming skill anyway?" Eugene said, seemingly coming out of nowhere and already sitting next to Kurogane with a plate of breakfast in front of him.

"...."

"Ahhhhh!" Everyone else shouted in shock as they did not notice him at all. Ren actually accidentally spilled his piping hot coffee on his shirt, causing him to scream even more from getting burned until Mune used his Temperature Magic to cool him down.

"Where the heck did you come from!?! How long have you been here!?!" Ren exclaimed, now fully awake.

"I've been here the whole time." Eugene said simply. "When I came down here, Mune and Eriko were already at the table so I just sat down. Eriko then reflexively handed me a plate of breakfast. Kurogane came in and sat next to me and then you came down looking all tired."

How are we not used to this yet? Everyone else thought in their heads, wondering how he kept walking around them without them noticing. In Eriko's case, she was wondering how she was able to give Eugene a plate of food without noticing him. It scared her a little. He really was deserving of his alias, "The Ghost Dragon Slayer". This was another thing that was (sort of) considered normal in this guild.

"Looks like you're causing a ruckus as usual." Said a young woman with long blue hair entering the room with a small smile. This was Shana, the guild's sniper.

"I didn't really do anything here." Eugene said in defense. In a way, he was right so Shana couldn't do much else but sigh at this as she sat down to breakfast.

"Good morning!!" An energetic voice came from the hall and a pink haired young woman entered the room full of energy. This was Sakura, the guild's second in command.

"So we got missions today?" Shana asked as she put a forkful of eggs into her mouth. She asked this because Sakura would normally come into the dining hall at the side of the guild master Ryuunosuke, whom she was obviously infatuated with but this time, she came alone.

"Aw, Why are you acting so cold Shana-chan?" Sakura said with a pout before brightening up again. "Indeed, we have some missions today." She said as she passed out the assignments for each person except for Eriko as she did not usually do any combat. Sakura also passed one to Atsuko whom was hiding behind the corner. Thanks to her training with Eugene and Kurogane, Atsuko can now be within 5 feet of a male without having the urge to hit them.

"Sakura, mind if I don't have a mission today? I have a prior engagement." Eugene said.

"Ah, it's that time of year again huh?" Sakura said with a small smile. "It's okay! We knew about this and decided not to assign you a mission today!" Eugene nodded in thanks before getting up to leave. A few minutes later, he arrived in Crocus via Dokodemo Door. His agenda for the day was to visit the grave of a deceased friend of his. Before Eugene began to trust humans normally, this person was one of the few he was friendly with, the others being Meredy,  Ultear (sort of. It was hard to tell when she threatened to kill him a lot), Riku and his master. This person was named Miki Wood. It was easy to become friends with her that fateful day on a chance meeting because they were both Forest Dragon Slayers. Unfortunately, she had died at some point. Eugene was not aware of this until he was told a few years ago. Because of this, he decided to visit her grave at least once a year. Normally within a city, it was easy for him to get lost as he had a lousy sense of direction in said cities but it seemed he had at least memorized where the grave was.

When he had reached Miki's grave, he summoned flowers and put them on top of the grave before putting his hands together in a small prayer for the dead.

Standing still in silent prayer, he then heard a sound from behind. Initially paying it no real attention, his interest was soon peaked as the sound of light footsteps against the graveled ground. He turned his gaze towards teh sound, ever so slightly, to get a glimpse at the new arrival. Down the walkway was a young woman, clad in garments of red and gold, slowly making her way up.

Kiara held her head low as a way to show her respect to the resting dead. She often came here to honor the memory of a long since gone friend. Walking past the many gravestones that filled this cemetary she gently lifted her gaze from the ground to gaze up at the ever familiar sight of her friends grave. But something was off. A young man with a dark gaze and even darker hair. A man which she had never encountered before. And he was standing right in front of her deceased friend.

"Ah, hello. Are you here to visit someone too?" Eugene asked with a friendly yet sadened smile as he turned to face the newcomer. "You need not pay heed to me. I'm just here to visit a friend." He knew he wasn't a common sight within this city so he made sure to assure the woman that he was not a threat or anything like that. "If I may ask, who are you visiting today?"

Kiara eyed the man up and down, trying to evaluate him as a person just from the looks of him. There is nothing about hm that really suggests that he would be of any threat to her. And he seemed genuinely saddened. But for what reason, she did not know and perhaps she ought to find out. "I'm visiting a friend of mine. She passed away some time ago. As a matter of fact, you are standing in front of her resting place"

"Ah, so you're a friend of Miki." Eugene said in response. "In that case, it's nice to meet you. My name is Eugene Woodland. I had the pleasure of befriending Miki several years ago. And you are?" He asked with a friendly smile as he stuck out his hand. At the same time he was cautious in the case of any attacks. That was the combat training in him although it didn't show in his body or face.

Kiara took his hand and gave him soft shake with a frown plastered on her features. "My name is Kiara Yano of Dryad Locks. I had the pleasure to be in the same guild as her in our younger days. We were rather good friends." Kiara didn't even attempt to be on her guard before this stranger. With her lack of staves she would be in his mercy in seconds if he got any ideas. So she simply had to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Though if what you say is true, how come she never mentioned you to me? Sure, there were things she kept secret, but you seem like a decent lad."

"I heard from Miki that your guild is quite the gossip center. I'm sure there would be some things that she wouldn't want to have spreading around the said gossip center." Eugene calmly said in response. "I would believe that her meeting and befriending me isn't the only thing she's kept quiet about. I wonder how you never learned about me though since I've met with her multiple times." Eugene then thought to himself ''Why did she keep that a secret? It's not like making a new friend is anything to hide. ''He then began to think about how they met and then figured it out. The two of them first met with both of them being naked. Eugene due to not really knowing what clothes were nor bothered with them for a while and Miki because she liked being naked when in the forest for some reason. It was the same almost every time they met too. He could understand why she didn't talk about it now. There'd be several rumors if it was found out that Miki had met with him in this state. As he didn't really have a concept of nakedness back then he didn't mind at the time but now he felt somewhat embarrassed about it.

"Well you are absolutely right about the gossip. So i suppose that it is all reasonable that you never came to mention." Kiara said while for just a moment flashing one of her rare smiles but it was shortlived as she continued speaking. "You know, the guild pretty much crumbled with her death. Everyone lost their passion and love of life. Many would move on to different things. She was sorely missed. What did Miki mean to you and do you know anything about what happened?"

“At that time, she was one of the few precious people I could trust.” Eugene said with a somewhat bitter smile. “You see, back then due to certain circumstances, for a long time, I couldn’t trust humans which left me isolated and alone. Despite my mistrust, she somehow slipped through it and gained my trust and companionship, becoming one of my closest friends and somewhat rival. I feel like she was the catalyst to me being able to open up to other people again and for that I’m grateful. As for how she died, I found out about 3 years ago that she was killed in battle. I don’t know who it was though.”

"Well then, at least you have some knowledge. It saddens me though that we did not know of you. We could have shared the knowledge with you. You might even have enjoyed joining in on the payback. At least she died as a hero. I'm not sure if our guild, even united, could have stopped Hotoke if he had been allowed to rampage. She died to protect the likes of us. Maybe you too, i'd wager. Take some comfort in that. It's what i try to do."

“So Hotoke’s the name of the person who killed her.” Eugene observed as he pulled up a sort of data file on him. His guild not only specialized in combat but also in information gathering and since he was a guild master, of course his guild would have information on him. He scrolled through the information a little. “Well, that would explain some things. Now I know where to go now. Thanks for the info. You don’t mind if I beat him up a little right?” He said as he activated a Dokodemo Door, summoning one in front of him. “I have a few things to say to that guy.” He then opened the door, revealing the town that Dryad Locks resided in on the other side. He walked through the door before closing it behind him.

Hotoke sat in one of the booths of his little resturant, simply enjoying the smaller things in life. He took a few looks around, gazing across the tables to catch a few glimpses of his fellow guildmates. Garnett Mitsu and Sirius Akiyoshi were entertaining some young visisting children with their magics. Kiara was absent, which could be noticed just by the air of this place. Once so stiff beneath Kiara's ever watchful eye, the atmosphere was a whole lot more relaxed now, free of tension.Munching on his strawberries, he merely took in his surroundings. It was ever so peaceful. sadly it won't last for much longer. Kiara was coming home soon.

“Do you mind if we have a talk?” A voice came from behind him as a hand was put on his shoulder. All of a sudden, Hotoke would find himself just outside of town. “You are Hotoke Boneweaver right?” As the owner of the voice jumped over him and landed in front of Hotoke. The owner of the voice was revealed to be Eugene. “Answer me this, are you the one who killed Miki?” He showed some anger in his voice but remained calm.

Hotoke looked shocked at first but he quickly recomposed himself. He eyes the man from head to toe, trying to figure out if he knows anything about this guy. With nothing coming to mind, he focuses his golden gaze into the dark eyes of the mysterious man. Something he could gather though about this man, through his Lich Magic, that he was a very strong one. Regardless, this man seemed to know the young girl which fell all those years ago and as such, he deserved the truth. "Yes, I'm Hotoke." I wonder if he could... he thought to himelf. He steeled his gaze, straightened up with his hands behind his back and said: "And I am indeed the one who murdered Miki Wood."

"I'll apologize in advance." Eugene said before his arms became a blur as he hit Hotoke with full strength and speed. His first four punches hit Hotoke in the shoulders and the leg joint areas, them seemingly landing at the same time and the fifth hit got Hotoke in the stomach. ''I guess I went a little too far. ''Eugene thought to himself as his punches at full force could normally create small craters in the ground. These were further strengthened by his frightening speed. Against a normal human body this could completely crush and shatter one's bones. However, he didn't even use his full strength. "Why did you kill Miki?" He finally asked.

Hotoke reeled back, feeling the full force of every punch. Damn, I assumed right. He thought. ''Fast and strong. I wonder what else he can do... ''Hotoke slowly rose up, groaning as he moved with hs fractured bones. As stood up, loud and clear cracks could be heard as he broke and re-arranged his skeletal structure. "Impressive, haven't recieved injuries like these in ages. But it will take more if you really want to break me. As for your question, Why? Does a man really need a reason?" He said and the moment he said it, his arm got covered in wood and bark as he thrust his arm forward, shouting: "Reaching Branch of the Forest Dragon!". His arm reached forward towards Eugene at a marvelous speed.

"So slow. Your attacks are so slow compared to a machine gun." Eugene said before charging forward and dodging to the right. He then threw several kunai with explosives attached to them. The kunais were aimed around Hotoke as well as at him. "A person should not kill without any reason!" He exclaimed. He was disgusted with what he heard. "No matter how big or small, a life is precious and should be treated with respect!"

"Ugh, that old crap again?" he groaned before jumping out of the way from the kunai. And while none of them actually hit, the explosion that followed threw him a bit out of balance, thus causing him to tumble against the ground before getting up. He extended his hand towards Eugene in a taunting motion with the other one behind his back. "I used to recieve those lessons from Sylvan. Didn't care for them then, why should I now?"

"And here I was wondering who raised you to be like that. But it seems you chose to be trash yourself." Eugene said as he got into a stance. "This going to be a pain. You have Lich Magic and even Forest Dragon Slayer magic. It's saddening that you mainly use it for destruction. It looks like I'm going to have to bear my fangs a little, basic gimmicks won't do much." He cracked his knuckles. "By the way, you didn't think I chose this location out of random did you?" He smiled before snapping his fingers and an explosion came from underneath Hotoke's feet, not a fiery one mind you but of a smell. This was Eugene's stink bomb, something that probably was one of the worst smelling things ever made. To give an idea as to how foul it was, take all of the worst smelling things and mix them together and then multiply how gross it smells by 20. This would be even worse for Hotoke who had enhanced smelling from being a Dragon Slayer. Normally, this would be the case for Eugene too but he had an oxygen mask. Admist his foe's confusion, he activated another magic. ''Cost Channeling. ''Eugene thought the name of the spell in his mind as he didn't want to give any information about what he could do if he could help it. People shouting the names of their spells when casting usually gave their magic away. However, for this next spell, he wanted to say it out loud. "Forest Dragon's Gigas Forest!" He exclaimed with all of his might as he summoned a large ammount of Gigas Cedars, one of the most powerful and sturdy trees on Earthland. Hotoke would also notice that his magic power had almost been completely drained if not completely. The reason for this was Eugene's earlier spell which he used so that he could cast his magic at the cost of Hotoke's magic energy. Eugene then drew his black sword and pointed it at Hotoke. He also drew a second sword which was more of a light blue and kept it to the side. At the same time, he had aimed the energy beams from the Gigas Cedars at Hotoke, ready to fire. "Checkmate."