𝓖𝓻𝓲𝓶 𝓒𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓻𝓼

𝟜 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖

   When Nori regained consciousness, a white plaster ceiling greeted her. 

"What... where-" She tried to sit up, only to wince and breathe in sharply. She was covered in bruises.

"Nori! you woke up!" Nori's parents jumped up and rushed to her bedside. With shaking hands, they gingerly held their daughter's hand, as if they were afraid it would break.

"Mother? Father? Where are the others?" Nori asked.

"We... wish we had better news... but... they found the corpses of your friends in the cave.... They were all dead..." They said, their eyes filled with pity. They had never been ones to sweeten the words, and that was one of the traits Nori liked most about them, but this one was a bit too much.

"E,even Erif...?"

"They found some of his body parts and some of his organs... but the rest wasn't there..."

"Then maybe-!"

"Vital... Organs..."

"No. Nononononono... But,but h,he could still... be alive, right? RIGHT?" Nori's lips quivered as tears streamed down her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands as her parents slowly shook their heads, tears trickling down from their eyes as well, heartbroken by their daughter's despair.

   As days passed, Nori steadily grew tired of the paparazzi, the reporters, and the consoling family members. She just wanted to be left alone.

   When Nori was finally discharged, she headed straight for the one place she could remember from her searches on the Aethernet: The School for Young Assassins. They claimed they would set their students up with the wealthiest clients, the largest of information systems, and the biggest of bounties. Nori was pretty sure this was just a hoax or something of an equally, if not more more malicious nature, but this was the only way she knew of how to become an assassin, and she was willing to take the risk. She was going to find out about her friends' killer and pay them back in kind, and the best way to do this was to become one herself. Barring her family, she had nothing to lose, and she was going to protect her family.

   To her surprise, the school was a pretty legitimate place. Many Cierian nations had legalized bounty hunting, and many a progeny had been sent to the institution in hopes of bringing their family some glory and wealth. Nori's pitch to her own family had gone well too. Her parents had been slightly been concerned for her well being, but they were proud of the fact that Nori was going to avenge her friends deaths, like a true Navian should. They were also glad Nori had finally decided on a career path.

   When her classmates first saw Nori, they laughed at the weak girl hobbling around on crutches, but Nori had another trick up her sleeve. She had asked a trusted family friend to give her something that would boost her meager wind control skills, which hadn't mattered till then as her path was thought to lie on a more "civil" road to steady income.But now Nori needed every advantage she could get her hands on. When the mage showed them the rice-powered bit of string that would strengthen Nori's powers, the family knew Nori was ready.

   As Nori fully recovered and mastered her new powers, she studied harder and faster than the others, vengeance and anger fueling her studies. She skipped from grade to grade, excelling at most of the things the school taught her. Soon she had mastered her weapons of choice as well: an arsenal of various plasma blades of all shapes and sizes. The light weapons were just right for Nori, who had never been able to get strong enough for many weapons made of other materials. The variety of the blades also played into her advantage, as she had learned how to use most swords, knives, spears, axes, and more while trying to find the right one for her.

And so, graduating several years earlier than her peers, Nori felt she was ready for the criminal underworld, and the answers she would find there about the killer of her friends.