The sun was a distant blur behind thick clouds, casting a gray veil over the forest path. Leaves crunched underfoot as Mai, Tiffany, and Duncan made their way toward the Northern Ridge — a remote area once inhabited by monks who revered nature and silence.
"We're almost there," Duncan murmured, eyes locked on a worn map. His tone carried a tension that hadn't left him since the night by the fire.
Tiffany walked behind him, unusually quiet. Her gaze shifted now and then toward Mai, who hadn't spoken since sunrise.
Mai's thoughts were elsewhere — the name Leo still echoed in her mind. The journal Duncan had found still weighed on her soul, and Tiffany's outburst the night before left her shaken.
They reached a clearing. At its center stood the remains of a shrine, overgrown with ivy and moss. A stone basin sat cracked at the edge, filled with rainwater.
"We'll rest here," Duncan said, lowering his bag.
Tiffany set her pack aside but remained standing. Her golden eyes scanned the woods.
"This place feels... watched," she muttered.
Mai raised an eyebrow. "You think they're tracking us again?"
"Not them. Someone else. Something older."
Duncan's shoulders tensed. "This region... it was once under the protection of a warrior clan. One of the last neutral zones before Gigel began his crusade."
Mai tilted her head. "You've been here before?"
He hesitated.
"Only once," he said. "Years ago, when I wasn't the man you know."
A heavy silence fell. Duncan stepped toward the stone basin and knelt.
"This is where I saw it," he whispered.
Mai joined him. "What?"
He touched the edge of the basin. Rain shimmered across the surface.
"The violet. The moment I found the flower."
Flashback
Rain fell hard on a younger Duncan — thinner, rougher, with desperate eyes and blood on his hands. He limped through the darkened forest, his breath ragged.
He had just escaped a death order — after refusing to raid a neutral refugee camp, he'd become a marked deserter.
"Coward!" one of the soldiers had spat as he fled. "No place for mercy in this world!"
Duncan didn't look back.
He collapsed at the edge of a cliff.
And there... in the moonlight... it shimmered.
A violet flower, untouched by the storm.
Drawn to it, he crawled forward.
"If this world won't forgive me... maybe you will," he muttered.
The moment he touched the petals, warmth surged through him. Not like fire, but like stillness. Compassion. Strength that didn't need rage.
From that moment, he changed.
Back to Present
Duncan stood slowly.
"That flower didn't just save me. It changed my purpose."
Mai nodded. For once, her expression softened.
"What happened after?" Tiffany asked quietly.
"I trained. Alone. Learned to fight without killing. Learned to shield, not strike. But Gigel's people... they never stopped hunting."
Tiffany's gaze sharpened.
"So why come back here now?"
Duncan's lips curled into a slight smile. "Because something's waiting. Someone, maybe. And because you two need to see what mercy can create."
Suddenly — rustling.
Branches snapped. A blur of white darted past the trees.
"Scatter!" Duncan shouted, pushing Mai aside.
A blade whirled through the air, missing her by inches.
A figure landed in front of them — dressed in all white, eyes pale as bone.
"So. The deserter walks again," he said coldly.
Mai raised her hands, red energy pulsing. Tiffany stepped to the side, body tense.
Duncan's eyes narrowed.
"Ran Fuji. The Thorn Collector."
Ran tilted his head.
"You owe me a life, Duncan. I've waited ten years to claim it."
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