"...M-Master?" Jun asked, the voice instantly recognizable. She had been hearing her voice in her head nearly every day since her rebirth, long hours of lessons, conversations, and idle comments making her voice familiar to her. But it was still a surprise, especially with the emotional whiplash of the last few seconds that had her reeling from the revelation. The woman holding her tight was unmistakably Shiori, but she still couldn't quite believe it. Her eyes were the same, the ears the same, even the way her tails flicked, just barely visible over her shoulders, was the same even though she had an extra. Shiori said she had a human form, but Jun had all but forgotten that until now.

A smile played across her lips as she tapped her cheek with a single finger, her tails flicking lazily. "Of course, who else would I be?" she laughed softly, gently as she looked at Jun. "But we don't have much time to converse."

Her classmates shrieked as something slammed to the ground next to Shiori, throwing snow up into a fog that shrouded the area around her. After a few seconds the cloud cleared to reveal Ghorro and Brava frozen in place, their weapons pointed at Shiori.

Brava didn't survive over a hundred years as a Paladin by ignoring his instincts, and his instincts told him that they couldn't handle what was coming.

As some strange phenomenon took shape over Arwen's corpse that sucked in all the mana around them, the survivors of their fight moved in opposite directions. The surviving goblin elites ran as a group to the West while the rest of the goblin horde seemed to mill about, confused with the death of their leader. For a brief moment he considered giving chase to the elites. Goblins that strong were a threat that could reorganize the horde and come back stronger, but the strange tear hovering in the air above Arwen's corpse worried him.

Every second he stood watching it, he felt it ripping at his mana and aura, slowly but surely weakening him. Glancing at Ghorro, he saw the man looking between the fleeing goblins and the East where their students had gone, concern etched on his face.

"What is that thing Brava?" Ghorro shouted, backing up slowly.

Summoning his mana, Brava pumped it into a spell, his empty hand pointing at the strange tear as he did. "[Purge the Arcane]!" A golden ball of light shot out as he cast his disruption spell into the forming tear, only to watch it unravel before it could get close, the mana of the spell getting consumed.

"I don't know," he said, backing away. "It's eating my mana. We need to get the students out and tell the guild about this. They need to send a specialist team."

Without waiting for an answer, Brava turned and started to run, cycling his mana to replace the reinforcement mana that the tear stole. The fight and the tear consumed most of his mana, but he still had his stats. Behind him he heard the splatter of gallons of blood falling to the remains of the platform as Ghorro dismissed his skills and followed him. Without their skills the two were forced to carve a bloody path through the confused horde, but the horde leader's death made it simple.

In just a minute they were through the final lines and headed East along a trampled path. Ahead near the river Brava could see a pink barrier surrounded by goblins, the monsters hacking at it with a single-minded fury. Skirting around them without drawing attention was a simple matter and gave them a better view of the situation. A large spike of earth spanned the river with one of Arwen's students carefully crossing it, the rest of the students safely on the other side as they held a defensive perimeter, the corpses of a few patrols cooling in the snow.

"What is that?!" One of the students yelled out, pulling the advisors' attention.

As Brava took in what approached, dread filled him. A tentacled monstrosity charged at the students giving off the pressure of a Gold. The pressure it gave off was weak for a Gold ranked monster, but it was still something far beyond their students.

Gripping his sword, Brava channeled what mana he recovered into [Rush to Judgment], just enough for a single movement, but before he could do more than start the process, the monster vanished. Holding his skill from activating with shear will, Brava scanned the area, not trusting that such a threat was simply gone. His back was to the students when he heard the scream.

Whipping his head around, his eyes widened as he saw a strange woman standing amongst the students, the girl who had been in the midst of crossing the river held tight. He couldn't get a read on the woman's strength, but that only terrified him more. Even with long years of practice, he still leaked mana and aura just a bit while suppressing his presence. That his aura senses even with his full attention on her refused to acknowledge her existence could only mean that she was skilled. Far more skilled than himself.

He needed to get her away from the students. Releasing his skill, Brava charged with all of his might, his sword aimed for the woman's throat. Crossing a hundred feet in the blink of an eye, he put all of his power into a thrust, determined to pierce whatever defenses the strange woman might have. The woman didn't move, perhaps too slow to react to the surprise attack as Brava's blade screamed for the pale skin of her throat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ghorro's blade slashing down at the woman as the orc caught up with his own movement skill. Between the two of them, Brava was certain one of their blows would land and force the woman away from the students!

Instead, they hit nothing. A foot away from the woman, both of their blades stopped, though Brava still felt like he was in the midst of his skill fueled charge, the wind still gusting past him as he moved, yet didn't, frozen in place a foot away from the woman. A chasm seemed to open up between him and the unknown threat, as if she stood miles away from him despite being just a foot away.

Brava stumbled as the mana fueling his strike ran out, barely catching himself as the strange woman turned to look at him with a smirk. His instincts screamed at him that if she wished it, he would die. All of them would. Freezing with his weapon pointed at the woman, Brava swallowed, pushing down his fear as he took a closer look at the woman. She was garbed like the women of the Nakano Islands, her robes black with gold embellishments and a wide purple belt at her waist. Catlike ears covered in black fur twitched above equally black hair as twin black tails flicked behind her. But most eye catching were her eyes, catlike golden irises around slitted pupils, and her smile splitting her ruby red lips to bare fangs too long and sharp to be human. Beautiful and dangerous.

As the Paladin assessed this strange woman, Ghorro recovered next to him, though his fellow advisor didn't stop to assess or talk. The orc flowed into another strike as he recovered, bringing his blade around to cleave at the woman from the side, disregarding the student she hugged close to her chest. A spike of fear filled Brava's chest as he saw the strike, fearing for the student's safety!

His fear was wasted. At the distance Ghorro stood from her, he should have easily hit the woman unless she moved, but the strike missed, failing to get within a foot of the woman even as Ghorro completed his form. It was like the space between them was larger than it appeared. Dangerous indeed.

A sensation like fangs wrapping around his neck had him backing up from the strange woman, his instincts telling him to run, but he mastered them, holding his ground after taking just a couple steps. He wouldn't abandon the students, even if it meant his death.

After the orcish advisor launched his second attack, Shiori casually wrapped one of her tails around Jun's waist and pulled her away as her Master turned to regard the advisors. She couldn't see exactly what Shiori did, but peeking around Shiori, she saw both of the advisors cowed, the both of them backing off a few steps as Shiori looked at them.

"Enough," Shiori commanded, her tails flicking in annoyance. "Brava and Ghorro, you shall take the students and return to the city. Safeguard them with your lives, for there are worse things than mere death." As her Master spoke, she pointed first at the human advisor then at the orc.

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"Who are y—"

For the second time in her life, Jun felt like death walked next to her as something oppressive pressed down on the area. For a few seconds, the feeling pressed down, not like a crushing weight, but the certainty that nothing would escape notice.

Screams filled the air as the leaderless goblins in the area panicked, while behind her Jun heard the clatter of metal hitting the ground as at least one of her classmates fell to the snowy ground. Though, it didn't seem to bother her as much as it did everyone else. Instinctively, she knew it was Shiori doing something, and that alone made the oppressive feeling almost comforting rather than intimidating. Like a loving mother on a warpath.

As suddenly as the feeling came, it lifted, and Shiori spoke again. "Go. Now."

Cowed, Brava and Ghorro scrambled to start barking orders at the students. Glancing behind her, Jun saw Ivar picking himself up from where he fell, shaking slightly as he brushed snow from his rear.

Shiori's tail gently unwrapped from around her waist as her Master turned around and embraced Jun again. "You will go with them kitten, but be ready to protect yourself."

"Go with them? Aren't you coming with us?" Jun asked, anxiety creeping back into her chest.

"I have something to take care of here. Return with your fellow students. I will catch up shortly."

"B-But—"

"Not now kitten, listen to your mother."

Jun paused as she processed what her Master said. She called herself my mother. A warm feeling filled her chest, pushing out most of her anxiety as she focused on it. That word had always been a complicated one for her. Mothers were supposed to be warm and comforting, but her own on Earth rarely evoked such feelings. Instead, she mostly grew up feeling shame at not being enough, not meeting her father's expectations, which only ended up with her mother scolding her to try harder to be the son her father wanted.

But just a casual mention from Shiori was different. She didn't know that word could feel this warm. The past few months weren't easy, and Shiori rarely just handed her anything. The cat took her in, protected her, taught her magic and how to hunt. Called her kitten. Raised her, she realized. Even though she came to this world with her memories of her past life and an adult's body, there was much she hadn't known. Her past life's knowledge and memories helped, but she was still far behind someone who grew up here, still struggled to exist in a world where magic was real, violence common, and the society completely different from the one she grew up in. Throughout it all, Shiori had been by her side most of the time, a comforting rock to anchor herself to.

"M-Mother?" Jun asked in a whisper, her voice cracking as she felt tears start to well up.

"Of course, kitten," Shiori replied in a warm whisper. "I witnessed your birth into this world and raised you, I'm your mother. But that's not important right now though. You need to go with the others and be ready to protect yourself. There is something I must deal with here," she said, her ears flicking back towards the horde on the other side of the river. "If those two fail or you get separated from the others, you will be the only one you can depend upon. Can you do this?"

Sniffling, Jun buried her face into Shiori's chest as she returned her hug, enjoying the warmth as she nodded silently. She didn't want to be separated from her Master—her mother—right now, but she would listen. She trusted her, and if Shiori said she needed to go with the others instead of staying by her side, she would listen.

Slowly pulling away, Jun looked up at her mother's smiling face, gently tucking the warm feeling of Shiori's words away in a bright corner of her mind. She never wanted to lose that warmth. "I will, Mother," she said, a blush blooming on her face as embarrassment warred with pride and love over the last word.

"Good kitten, now go." Shiori lightly pushed Jun away before turning around to look across the river.

The first few steps were some of the hardest Jun took, in this life and the one before, but she did it, joining the other students as the two advisors herded everyone into a marching order. As she watched the two advisors getting everyone ready to move, she realized Arwen was nowhere to be seen. As the human advisor, Brava, Shiori called him, guided Jun into a position in the middle of the group, she asked the question that ate at her. "Sir, what about our advisor Arwen? Where is he?"

Brava froze for a moment as a complicated series of expressions flew across his face, too quick for Jun to understand. "Dead," he finally said. "Hurry into line before that woman gets mad. We need to go." Before Jun could ask anymore questions, Brava shouted the order to move and dropped to the back with Ghorro in the lead.

"Did he say Arwen was dead?" Aya asked as Jun fell in next to her, surprise and concern in her voice.

"Yes, but he didn't say what happened," Jun said quietly.

Aya frowned at Jun's confirmation, her head turning to look in the direction of the horde still across the river. "What could possibly be out there that managed to kill one of the advisors and has the other two running scared like this? And who is that woman that saved you? What were she and the advisors talking about? They looked scared. What did she say to you? Where's Shiori?" Aya said, her eyes widening as she noticed the cat missing from Jun's hood. Her friend started to look around as they moved, as if expecting to see the black cat somewhere.

"You... didn't hear?" Jun asked, surprised. Shiori didn't speak that quietly, and while they weren't that close to the other students, they hadn't been far enough away that they couldn't be overheard.

"No," Aya said, shaking her head. "It was weird, like watching people talk through a spyglass. I could see what was going on, but couldn't hear anything, and then there was this strange feeling that pressed down on all of us. It was... disturbing. Like a predator was watching us."

Moving closer to Aya, Jun spoke softly, barely audible above the crunch of snow as they moved. "That woman is Shiori. I don't know what she did or why she did it, but it sounds like she didn't want anyone else overhearing. Please keep it quiet?"

Surprise shot across her friend's face as Aya looked at Jun, her mouth opening to say something before she snapped her lips shut and just nodded in reply.

With the conversation dead, they marched in silence while Jun thought about everything that just happened in the past few minutes. Something killed Arwen, and something was serious enough that Shiori said she needed to stay behind and handle it. She knew enough to know that her Master—Mother— was strong, perhaps the strongest person she'd met, but she couldn't help but worry. She just got her mother, it was too soon to lose her.

Shiori flicked her tails impatiently as she watched her kitten and the others go. Even though they marched off at a rapid pace, they were limited to the stats of Iron rankers and moved painfully slowly to her. It took minutes for the group of students to get back into the Forest. Minutes that they spent exposed to spying eyes such as the goblins that had been pressing against her kitten's barrier. Before Jun left, her kitten tied her barrier off and severed the link, ensuring she wouldn't suffer mana backlash when it was broken, but it wouldn't help. The goblins were smart enough to know that the barrier was just a distraction at this point.

While Shiori stood on the other side of the river, she watched as the Silver ranked goblin leading the raiding group somehow kept his mind through the horde leader's death and rallied the goblins under his command before giving chase to the retreating students, moving parallel to their path on the other side of the river. As they moved, Shiori saw some of the horde of distraught goblins split off and join the moving raiders, some of them rabid from a large infusion of void energy, others slowly adjusting or resisting the corruption.

As much as she wanted to intervene and kill the pursuing raiders or send her kitten and the others directly back to the city, she couldn't. The fabric of reality was too unstable with the manifesting rift. Large manipulations would only make things worse, and alone, she couldn't risk upsetting the balance further. Even the light twisting of space she did to prevent her conversations from traveling and forcing the orc's reckless attacks to miss had been too much, aggravating the wound in reality further.

Focusing her mind, Shiori began to channel her mana, splitting her mind again and again as she poured oceans of mana into a single working. Millions of strands of her consciousness concentrated on manipulating her mana, weaving strands of arcane energy together, millions and millions of them, as she willed a cage formed of her own power around the area. At every intersection between her strands of mana, Shiori imprinted a sigil into the fabric of reality, willing it to stabilize reality as she wove the cage.

To her mana perception, it appeared as if a countless number of stars descended from the sky, their weight and pressure pushing back against the waves of void energy that rippled out from the rift. As she finished fueling the working and tied it off, Shiori felt its dampening effect take hold of her, locking most of her abilities away as she suppressed the forming rift, preventing it from growing beyond control. Though the cage would do nothing to stop anyone from leaving the area on foot, it would prevent teleportation. Now, even if she were willing to risk manipulating the fabric of reality, she couldn't, not without destroying her own working.

Damnable goblins, triggering an uncontrolled incursion so close to her kitten.

Minutes passed like hours as void energy flooded out from the tear, consuming mana to stabilize itself and corrupting the goblins still linked to the long dead horde leader's spirit. Invisible to the naked eye, the horde leader's spirit stood before the tear, keeping it propped open while claws from the other side worked to widen it. The pressure from her working already weakened the void energy, preventing it from growing out of control, and soon the rift would stabilize as the pressures between her mana and the void energy balanced.

It wouldn't be long now.

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