Clyde stepped into the store, his boots scraping softly against the blood-slick floor.
The smell of iron was heavy in the air, mingling with the acrid sting of sweat and dust.
Mina stood over the corpse of the bandit leader, her breathing still ragged, her dagger dripping thick dark red blood onto the ground beneath her feet.
Her eyes that was once wide with hesitation and fear were now sharp, cold and unwavering, like they had been carved from steel in the span of minutes.
Clyde studied her quietly, no hint of surprise on his face.
He'd seen this before countless times when someone was forced to kill, then forced to keep killing until the act became part of them. He was one of them.
He knew the moment her parents turned into monsters and she had to kill them, something inside her had changed.
This was just the natural result of that event. The Mina standing before him wasn't the same girl who hesitated to attack before.
