In the cover of the forests, a lone figure walked down the old gravel road. He had on a grey coat over a white shirt, his legs sporting blue pants and black military style boots. Strapped to his back was a curved weapon wrapped in brown fabric. He had white messy hair that went down his neck, reaching his shoulders. As he stopped, he reached up and plucked a black cigarette from his lips, exhaling a thick smoky breath as he looked up through the canopy of trees. his eyes were that of an icy blue, gleaming like jewels as he watched the birds flying in the sky. The clouds were like fluffy bundles of cotton that were suspended amidst the blue atmosphere. He sighed softly as he returned the cigarette to his mouth, resuming his walk as the gravel crunched beneath his boots with every step he made.

"Well, only a few more days 'till I reach the Capital." he thought to himself. He had left the village he grew up in only five days ago, desiring to join the Imperial Army from the skills he had obtained after intense training he went through under the guidance of a veteran soldier. Though he knew he had a lot more to learn during recruitment, the Danger Beasts he encountered along the way only sharpened his reflexes more.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box of smokes he had. Upon opening the lid, he frowned. "Damn..." he muttered. He had only one left. "Better make this one last." he said looking to the one he was enjoying currently, stuffing the carton back into his pocket.

He soon stopped in his tracks as he could faintly hear the hooves of horses trampling the ground. He slowly turned around and saw a pair of horses in front of a covered merchant's wagon. He smiled a bit and stepped off the road as they neared him, eventually slowing down. Once they came to a stopped, a young man looked to him. "You need any help, sir?" he asked.

The merely 18 year old boy shook his head. "I'm fine." he said.

"You heading to the Capital?" he asked.

"What made you guess that?" he asked looking to the merchant with his blue eyes.

"You've packed up a lot just for a walk."

The boy smiled. "Well, I'm thinking on joining the military."

"Oh really? Well, I certainly wish you luck on that." the merchant said with a small smile.

"Well, thanks. I'm sure I can learn more in the Imperial Army." he said as he took a drag from his cigarette, exhaling a thin wispy smoke.

The merchant nodded. "Well, if you want a quicker route, take a left on the fork coming up here, and it'll take a day and a half off your trip."

He looked down that way and nodded. "Well, I'll certainly take that advice. Thank you sir."

"Say, what's your name?" he asked.

He finished taking another drag and lowered the cigarette, looking back to the merchant. "Name's Ryota." he said.

"Well, Ryota, I certainly hope you get accepted into the Imperial Army and do the Emperor proud. I wish you a safe journey."

The boy smirked. "Oh don't worry. I got all the protection I need." he said.

The merchant then bade him farewell as he urged the horses onward, travelling down the road and towards. The young man watching them as he took a final puff from his cigarette and took it between his fingers, dropping it to the gravel and stamping it out with his foot, continuing on down the road as midday eventually shifted into the evening.

Later that night...

Ryota rested in a small area in the middle of the forest, leaning against a tree after starting a roaring fire. He unpacked a blanket, a pan, and some meat he had harvested from a Danger Beast he had killed earlier that day. He then cooked the meat in the pan, checking it at times to see if it was finished. He smiled as he could smell the aroma of the meat cooking over the fire, making his stomach rumble as he went the day without eating much.

As he finally finished, letting the meat cool down before indulging on his meal, he felt a strange presence. As if he was being watched by someone. He looked up, his eyes darting around into the darkness, seeing no one in sight. It wasn't until he heard rustling up above him, looking up as a few leaves fell from the branch over him. He then reached for the cloth wrapped weapon, revealing it to be a sword upon unwrapping it. To be specific, it was a pure white katana, the handle wrapped in white leather as the wood was colored black. He then crawled away from the spot under the tree, unsheathing the sword, which was revealed to have a gleaming blade with an ice blue edge.

"Show yourself!" he shouted as he looked around, only to hear nothing but silence. He looked back up to where he heard the rustling, only to see a shadow and a pair of eyes. A pair of red eyes. He blinked as he was sure this was possibly a Danger Beast that caught the scent of the meat, but his theory was soon put to rest as the shadow quickly dashed off and vanished. He quickly looked around and got on his feet.

Silence...Nothing but silence, other than the sounds of the crackling fire.

He drew a deep sigh as he returned to his spot beneath the tree, returning to eat his dinner and relax to get some sleep for the night, though he'd be sleeping with his weapon beside him. As he took a bite of the meat, he chewed slowly as he kept looking around in the dark, still having the unsettling feeling.

"No worry...if someone or something tries to surprise me, I'll cut it to ribbons..." He thought to himself.

An hour later

Ryota was asleep as he suddenly heard distant screaming, waking him from his slumber. He blinked and looked around, seeing barely anything since his fire was out and the moon shone down through the trees. He quickly got up and grabbed his sword, running to the source.

Eventually he reached the place on the gravel road where the screaming came from, only to find the wagon of the merchant he spoke to the day before, wrecked and the cover torn to shreds. "What the hell..." he said softly as he walked further to investigate. "Hello?" he called out as he looked around the wagon. Soon enough, on the wooden side and on the canvas, he saw a splatter of fresh blood. He backed up as he saw the gruesome sight. He went around to the other side, only to find much worse. In a pool of blood on the ground, the remaining parts of merchant remained, his head looking to the sky as his eyes were wide open, blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth as his face was frozen in an eternal scream. Ryota gasped as he saw the dismembered remains of the unfortunate soul, assuming that there was probably a predator close by. Knowing there was probably nothing he could do, he immediately starting his way down the road, losing track of where he ran from the woods and deciding it would be too dangerous to try and get his things from his campsite.

He didn't get far however. A few hundred feet down the road, he was soon confronted by a pack of hound like Danger Beasts, a glowing black aura emanating from their bodies as their eyes glowed a fiery red. Ryota quickly drew his sword, trying to assess the situation at hand as he had done time and time before.

"Alright...I'm being attacked by four hounds...odds of my survival are half and half." He thought as he watched a pair circled him, staring at their prey with murderous intents, his eyes watched them as they plotted out their attack.

In a quick flash, one jumped towards Ryota. He acted quick and dashed to the side, making a quick slice the side of the creature. The Danger Beast landed on its feet, turning around as blood leaked from its side. Ryota only smirked as he waited for the effects.

Suddenly, the bloodflow slowed and eventually stopped as the hound suddenly coughed, its fur covered body shook as the blood in its veins froze. It didn't take long before the creature fell over, frost covering some features of its face and paws as tufts of its fur turned white all over. Ryota heard another charge him, only to react by making a turn and slicing upwards, cutting the beast in half. But, as he heard another coming, he saw a gleam of steel rain down, piercing the top of the huge canine's skull and the point emerging from under its jaw, killing it and causing the creature to fall and skid to Ryota's feet. He looked up and saw the red handle of a katana, a white strip with markings ran up the side of the handle. All of a sudden, a shadow came down from the sky. It landed in front of him, plucking the sword from the creature's corpse. Turns out it was a woman, wearing a black minidress with a red tie, her arms and hands were clad in red arm guards. Her black hair went past her shoulders, reaching to about her waist. As she turned to Ryota, the color of her eyes were a deep red. It didn't take long for him to realize that they were like the eyes he saw earlier that night.

"Who are-" he asked as he was interrupted by the Danger Beast that charged them. However, she didn't seem the least bit concerned, lifting her sword and taking a stance. As quick as a flash, it took one strike from her to bisect the creature. Ryota could only watch as he saw another charge from behind towards her. "Look o-"

She quickly jumped up and made a downward cut, the blade cutting through the head of the beast like butter. As the creature fell dead, she looked back to Ryota, her eyes seemed blank.

Ryota looked back, curious as to who this person was. But before he could ask, the woman suddenly shouted with a concerned expression. "LOOK OUT!"

He turned around, but didn't have enough time to defend himself as another dog like Danger Beast swiped at his chest with its long black claws, leaving inch deep gashes instead of tearing his flesh away. Ryota gasped as he backed up, feeling weak despite the slow blood loss that turned his tattered white shirt red. He fell to his knees as he looked up, seeing the beast snarl, showing knifelike teeth as it drooled, ready to rip him apart and feast upon his carcass.

But before it got a chance to pounce, there was a cutting sound as Ryota saw a gleam of metal run down along the creature's side. The Danger Beast paused for a second, only for the top half of its body to fall off, the lower half tumbling to the ground. IT had been cut clean in half, between the lower and upper jaw.

Ryota breathed, but then fell to his back, staring at the star filled sky, able to see the full moon from the top corner of his right eye. He blinked as he breathed steadily, but feeling the warmth of his blood on his chest.

"Well..." he said, unable to finish his sentence as he then passed out, seeing nothing but black.

It was morning. The light shone in through the open window of a house. Laying in a bed, Ryota slowly began to wake up, opening his eyes to slits as he looked over to the open window. He could see a bird hop around on the window sill, chirping as it then flew away. He then looked to the ceiling, blinking as he tried sitting up, only to be met with a sharp pain. "OW!" he groaned through his teeth, seeing that his torso had been bandaged.

He sighed as he looked to his left, only to be a bit surprised when he saw a girl with long purple hair, wearing a purple dress. Her arms clad in what looked like light purple sleeves. She was asleep, leaning over onto the bed while she was sitting in a chair. Ryota blinked as he saw her stir a bit and then yawn softly. She looked up to him, revealing her gleaming purple eyes. "Oh. You're awake." he said as she sat up, stretching a bit.

He just watched her, eventually seeing something out of the corner of his eyes. It was a pair of glasses sitting on a shelf by the bed. He reached over and looked at them, seeing they had a purple frame. He then realize that they were hers. "Here you are." he said as he handed them to her. She seemed to squint a bit before taking them gingerly from his hands, putting them on. She smiled cheerfully to him. "Thank you." she said.

He then tried swinging his legs out of bed, only to be put down again by the pain. "Please, you must rest." the girl said, softly pushing him down.

"Where am I?" he asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sheele." she spoke in a soft and kind of shy tone. "And you're somewhere safe."

He blinked. "Somewhere safe huh? Where's "Somewhere safe"?" he asked.

She leaned back up. "You'll know later. First I have to tell the boss that you're awake." she said as she got up and left.

"Wait. Boss?" he asked, still a bit confused. As the door shut, he groaned and laid back down, sighing.

"Well, so much for-" he then heard the door open again, this time seeing a familiar face. The one who saved him from the pack of Danger Beasts. The mysterious woman.

"You."

Sup Guys,

So I've just decided to write this since I've been watching the anime (Love it btw), and this is my first fanfic, well for the anime that is, and if you guys want to R&R for this, criticism would help the story further on.

So hope you enjoyed the first part, next part should come up soon.