Kaison strode into his dorm after his meeting with Master, the faint echo of the heavy wooden door closing behind him.
He let out a slow exhale.
*"Now I can finally relax…"*
The weight of the day pressed on his shoulders, but a thin smile tugged at his lips.
*"It was sure tough to manifest the chains,"* he thought, glancing at his right hand where the faint sigil still pulsed.
Yet there was a spark of curiosity in him.
*"I should try to create different things with it…"*
The idea came swiftly — a shield. Something to guard himself if the chains weren't enough on their own.
Closing his eyes, Kaison willed the spectral chains into existence. They slithered out from the seal like streams of molten silver, revolving in a perfect circle before him. Each link shimmered faintly, spinning faster until the air hummed with energy.
*"Hmm… good enough,"* he muttered with a hint of satisfaction.
But sleep could wait. He experimented a while longer, twisting the chains into shapes, testing their speed, their strength, their obedience to his will.
---
**The next morning**, the manor courtyard bustled with recruits. They gathered in a semi-circle as Rias, their commanding officer, addressed them.
"Today," she began, voice sharp and clear, "each of you will be given a mission. Simple tasks. You will complete them alone."
One by one, missions were handed out — guard duty, supply runs, scouting work.
Kaison unfolded his slip and blinked. *Deliver medicine.*
*"That's it? Easy…"* he chuckled under his breath.
He was halfway to the gate when Rias' voice cut through the air.
"Kaison!"
He turned. "Yes, ma'am?"
A faint smile curved her lips. "Oh, by the way… your mission is the hardest one."
*"What? How can delivering medicine be difficult?"*
"After you've completed it, I'll tell you why I dragged you into this."
*"Really? You'll tell me?"*
"Yes. Why not?"
*"I thought you wouldn't tell me this easily."*
Her tone sharpened. "Enough talk. Go."
---
The road stretched long and quiet beneath a pale afternoon sun. Kaison's mind wandered, his steps steady, the small wooden case of medicine tucked securely under his arm. His orders were to deliver it to Count Ains Anlok — a name that carried weight in the border territories.
He was about to pass beneath a grove of crooked, leafless trees when the air shifted.
*Shhkk!*
A blade sang through the air where his head had been an instant before.
Kaison rolled forward, chains snapping into his hand with a thought.
Shadows melted from the trees — three figures, cloaked, masked, their movements silent as predators.
*"Assassins…"* he realized.
"You have something that doesn't belong to you," one hissed.
"The medicine," Kaison muttered under his breath. Of course. The Count must be more important than Rias let on.
The first assassin lunged. Kaison's chains coiled into a solid, shimmering shield, the strike glancing off in a spray of sparks. Another darted in from the side — a flurry of dagger thrusts met with the ringing clash of chain links, twisting and wrapping to deflect every blow.
The third tried to flank him, but with a flick of his wrist, Kaison's chains lashed out, serpentine and precise, wrapping around the attacker's limbs. The assassin struggled, but the chains tightened, locking like iron bands.
"Stay down," Kaison growled.
One by one, he bound them all, the metallic links constricting until the assassins could barely breathe, much less fight.
He wasted no more time. The medicine had to reach its destination.
---
By the time Kaison arrived at Count Ains Anlok's estate, his breath was steady but his pulse still quick. The Count himself received the package, eyes flicking briefly to the chains still faintly aglow at Kaison's side.
"You faced trouble," the Count said, more a statement than a question.
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Kaison replied, though he could feel the faint tremor of adrenaline in his fingers.
As he left, he wondered what Rias would say. And more importantly… what she hadn't told him about why this medicine was worth killing for.
The chain seal on his hand pulsed once — almost as if it knew the answer already.