Alistor pulls out his blade quietly, leaving from the back as he pursues the mysterious figure. He makes his way through the alley and past down the street keeping a distance.

Somewhere outside of the town perimeter. A marksman waits in the middle of a narrow path. Some bags of goods on the ground.

“Dammit Auroa. What’s taking you so long? I’m tired of waiting.”

Alistor continues to follow the robed figure making his way through some shallow woods. He comes to halt taking cover.

“Another one…so there’s two of them.”

The robed figure approached the waiting marksman.

“Well, about time! What took you so long? You got the goods?”

“All here Maigashi.”

“Good! Now let’s get out.”

The two begin to leave as Alistor continues to quietly follow their trail. A slight breeze of wind passed by.

“Hey Auroa…”

“I know…”

The two came to a stop as Auroa suddenly appears right behind Alistor catching him off by surprise.

“Peekaboo!”

Alistor reacted jumping far back as he attempts to gain some grounds.

“So you’re the fiends who been stealing all those goods. Making forgeries for unsuspecting victims. Such low lifes.”

“We did no such thing?” Maigashi argued. “If we wanted something we would have taken it normally.”

He pulled his sword towards them.

“I don’t believe any of you. Two days ago the pizza joint got hit. And overnight someone stole everything.”

“Hey! Two days ago we were minding our own business.”

Auroa suddenly stepped in the middle of their arguing.

“I knew you were following back in town.”

“What you actually knew?” Alistor stumbled.

“Of course! Think I wanted to attract attention? I can assure you we are not the foe you seek.”

“I’m not buying it. Bring it!”

Alistor begins charging at both of them.

“Looks like this runt wants to play. He’s even younger than us.” Maigashi teased.

Alistor takes a swing, but missed. The two easily dodged his next set of oncoming attacks.

“You must be a student from that closed school. How adorable.” Auroa giggled.

“Shut up! And fight!”

A sudden gust of wind pushed him back, bringing him to a brief stop.

“Calm down, we’re really not the ones you truly seek. You misunderstand!” Auroa repeated.

Alistor begins focusing his blade, building some energy around.

“Don’t underestimate me!”

“What! An energy user?” Auroa halted as Alistor attempts to strike.

“Give me a break.” Maigashi nodded. “Enough games!”

The marksman quickly pulls out his bow, firing an electrical blast at his blade canceling out his technique. Alistor stood stunned as Maigashi knocks him back. He falls flat on his back.

A brief moment later...

Auroa is seen tending his minor wound as they reasoned out their differences. Alistor filled them both in on everything that happened so far.

“What? You mean you’re not the real forgers? Why are you even helping me?”

Maigashi reveals the contents of the goods to him. Nothing but food and some leftover scraps from Bamboo’s restaurant.

“A little kindness goes far.” Auroa cheerfully said.

They suddenly hear the sound of an explosion.

“What was that?”

“That must be the culprit.” Maigashi pointed.

Alistor immediately got right back up rushing to the scene.

“Wait! You must rest!” Auroa hollered.

“No time! I must hurry back.”

He leaves the two behind making his way downtown. Commander Shellshock is seen blowing up the pizza joint a second time. The fat manager is seen popping from under the counter.

“Now what do you want?” The fat man whined.

“I have a big order to make and the emperor requests EXTRA CHEESE!” The general ordered. “Now get to work.”

The man follows the Whoopers into the back kitchen.

“Stop right there!”

Shellshock turned around as Alistor appeared before his very eyes.

“So you’re the little runt who bested Mushogun.”

“What! A machine?” Alistor hesitated for a brief moment.

“Yeah! That’s right! Straight from Aggerona’s Aerial division. Mach 79, fully revved up and ready for battle. I’m the next demon general to run things and Shellshock’s the name.”

He fires a small rocket at Alistor forcing him to jump out of the store. The two made their way outside as the general began taking flight. Alistor had his blade gripped tight and ready.

“We’ll see about that. Come on! Give me your best shot.” He provoked.

Shellshock takes a dive swooping down at high speed. Alistor loses balance as the general glides pass him.

“Hah! Never handled an opponent in the air before?”

Alistor begins charging his blade once again. Focusing as an aura begins to emit around, but the general immediately took him by surprise. A chain came bursting from Shellshock's chest, wrapping him.

“What! You pop chains from your chest?” Alistor cried.

The general begins to haul him around like a yo-yo. Alistor lands hard on his bottom as the general laughs away.

“Ha! And to think Mushogun lost so easily. I can finish you right now if I want. In fact, maybe I will.”

A whooper suddenly interrupts the battle.

“Oh the pizza is actually ready?”

Commander Shellshock release Alistor from the chain. Loads of pizza boxes are seen carried out from each Whooper as the general checks over the order.

“You’re not even worth my time. I’ll have my monster finish you. Decoma you’re up!”

A monster swoops into the fray as Shellshock and the soldier’s teleport away. The fat manager is seen catching his breath, relieved.

“That’s it! I can’t take this abuse.” He cried. “Too many monster attacks. I’m closing!”

Alistor got up facing with the new monster taking the sky. Decoma swoops down. He attempts to make a swing, but misses.

“Gah!”

“Ha ha ha! Let’s twist things up.” Decoma chuckled.

Decoma begins flapping his wings hard. A dust storm begins encasing the entire battle concealing the monster from sight.

“What? A dust storm? I can’t even see.”

The monster continues to swoop down. He gets knocked back and forth, taking every hit as he blindly struggles to figure something.

“Damn! I don’t know what to do.” Alistor pounded. “He has a complete advantage while I’m a sitting duck. And to think I prefer fighting plants instead.”

Decoma knocks him down once more. Pinned to the ground as he couldn’t get up. The monster took pity.

“Tell you what? I’ll make this quick and painless ha ha ha.”

Just before Decoma had the chance to dive, he gets hit from two elemental blasts behind. The monster falls, crashing to the ground as Auroa pulls Alistor out from battle. The two rogues takes a stand against Decoma, recovering in the nick of time.

“Hey? Who do you think you are?”

Decoma takes the sky once more creating another storm at high speed. The dust begins to quickly collect the air while the two remained stationary without any hesitation. Alistor could only cover his eyes as the current escalates into a dust storm.

“Auroa you ready? Let’s show them how it’s really done.” Maigashi said.

Decoma swoops in close for the strike.

“Now I got you!”

Auroa immediately opens his eyes for a brief moment dispelling the entire storm. Decoma find himself suddenly frozen in place.

“What? My storm! How is this possible?” The monster questioned.

Maigashi begins chuckling for a brief moment before explaining.

“My buddy here’s a wind channeler. You rely on keeping far distance against your opponents, but it’s just not your lucky day. We happen to specialize in distance combat and your little dust storm is of no threat to us.”

“No! I’m not done yet.”

Decoma forced himself further back attempting to create another storm, but gets a wing pierced by an electrical dagger thrown by Maigashi. The monster stood completely stunned in midair. Auroa creates a whip from thin air. Lashing out from under his long dark hair as it left Alistor speechless.

“Wind Whip Slash!”

“NOOOOO!”

A strong force of air pierced through Decoma’s heart, delivering the final blow to the chest. His body begins to crumble like clay before his very eyes. The monster came crashing down; creating a huge explosion on impact.

A while later…

“There! We’re even now.” Maigashi said.

Just before the two parted ways with Alistor, they sensed something behind a bush.

“Bamboo?”

“Have you been watching this whole time?” Alistor asked.

Bamboo had a proposition to make.

“I’d like to hire you both. Come and work at my new restaurant.” Bamboo offered.

Alistor’s jaw dropped for a brief moment. Unable to believe what he just heard as he attempts to reason out with Bamboo.

“What? No! Are you serious? You’re seriously going to hire these low lives?”

“Hey! Who are you calling low.” Maigashi raged as he pulls Alistor up from his neck collar.

“But they’re criminals.”

Bamboo remained chill as a cucumber as Alistor broke out of his grasp.

“I’m heartbroken.” Auroa sarcastically nodded.

“I know…” Bamboo admitted.

“Then why? Give me one good reason.” He shouted.

Bamboo then whacks Alistor over the head with a frying pan. A smile cracked from the other two as they watched.

“Listen for one brief second.” Bamboo explained. “They may be thieves, but they’re not your everyday criminals. They both worked together in harmony and you could learn something from this. In fact, I can see you all working together.”

“Give me a break.” Alistor glared back at the two.

“It’s a gut feeling, but I’m going with it. Plus, they’re both around your age range. It’s perfect!” Bamboo nodded.

The other two begin to privately converse.

“You think this is worth our time?” Maigashi whispered.

“Well…we do have nowhere else to go. Food is scarce at the moment.” Auroa shrugged.

“You’ll be paid of course.” Bamboo mentioned.

Maigashi immediately accepts the offer sealing the deal as handshakes passed around. Leaving Alistor completely dumbfounded with two new members following back.

“No hard feelings. I’m sure in due time we’ll get along once you get to know us. We’ll do our very best to help. ” Auroa smiled.

Alistor felt anxious for a moment, trying to distance himself away from the two. Maigashi suddenly reached out to give him a noogie from behind.

“Yeah! You’ll be just like an annoying little brother we never had.”

“Get off me!”

He pulled away from his grasp as his hair was getting messed up.

A moment later, the party arrives back at the restaurant. Bamboo serves up a round of grass jelly for everyone, leaving Alistor once again in utter disgust. Auroa and Maigashi simply helped themselves to the treat as he stood by.

“You guys can actually stomach that stuff?” He questioned.

“Are you kidding? This stuff is good.” Maigashi pestered back.

“I’ve had worse.” Auroa said.

“My gut was right.” Bamboo wept as he happily watches.

The very next day later... Breaking news was in store for Alistor as Sairori came to the restaurant early morning with a sudden announcement. The mysterious letter from before, clutched in his very hand.

“There is a dire situation happening down in Lavendhite. Another great threat has emerged and I’m needed elsewhere.” The master said.

“Lavendhite? Where is that? And what is this other great threat?” Alistor hastily asked.

“It’s a region halfway across the world.” Auroa answered. “Surrounded by the Violet seas. I heard it also consisted of three islands protecting a legendary pillar.”

The master begins to take leave, but Alistor immediately got right up refusing to accept his decision.

“You can’t leave now. There’s so much I need to learn. I only know one move.”

“The Star Breaker is enough.” Sairori assured.

“But can’t I come? And what is this new threat?”

“No! That other threat is not of your concern. You must stay here and fight off the current threat in this land.” He reminded. “Vilevelious has yet to make his appearance and four demon generals remain.”

A slight look of worry was on Alistor’s eyes as the master stepped out. Completely unsure of himself while the rest bid him farewell. The master then takes a pause.

“Don’t worry…You are in good hands.”

Sairori last words uplift his mood before disappearing into the morning sunrise.