Garf stared at the army of men sprawled across the ground, each struggling to breathe. The tunnel was moist and oppressively large, its walls glistening with condensation. Massive statues of monstrous creatures loomed in the shadows, their stone forms twisted and ancient. His hand never left the hilt of his sword at his hip — he knew from bitter experience that it would be a fatal mistake to let go. As the captain of the 1st class knights serving the Rose family for many years, he had gathered troops and followed Marco to the hideout of the organization they had discovered. But halfway through the journey, knights began dropping like flies. They weren't dead, just unconscious. The deeper they went, the fewer remained conscious. Garf watched as the last knight collapsed with a weak groan.
"Don't you think it's time we head back, Duke?" he asked uncertainly, his voice echoing off the damp walls.
Marco stared into the dark interior of the cave, his expression unreadable. "How the quality of knights has fallen," he said briefly. "Leave them be. I don't think they're in immediate danger. We press on, even if it's just the two of us." He didn't wait for Garf to respond before he started walking deeper into the tunnel.
Garf stared at the trail of collapsed knights, sighed heavily, and followed him.
They stumbled upon an extremely large interior chamber where the path opened up. Large drawings of a dragon were etched into the ground, and at the far end of the fairly lit room stood a massive statue of a dragon. The roof of the cave was pitch black, and Garf stared at it suspiciously, a chill running down his spine.
"This place has been abandoned," Marco said calmly, not taking his eyes off the dragon statue. "I get the feeling we were led here."
"I'm getting an odd feeling about this place," Garf added. "I think we should leave."
"Leave? Yeah, I'd like that," Marco smiled faintly, "but I don't think those things would let us leave peacefully."
"What? I don't—" Garf turned white as something large moved in the shadows. Legs creaked and pinchers snapped. The room was suddenly filled with the heavy smell of decay. Dropping slowly from the ceiling and crawling down the large statue were three enormous spiders, each the size of an extremely large elephant.
Marco slipped on his glove, tightened his grip, and braced himself. Garf drew his sword silently but quickly, the blade held in front of him in an instant. "This is gonna take a while," he smiled grimly.
"You mean to tell me our best assassin failed?" asked a calm female voice.
"Yes," the short, quacky man named Mov said, bowing. "He was killed while trying to carry out his mission."
"And why didn't you report this sooner?" Her voice was calm, but there was a lace of murderous intent beneath it. She sat on a throne covered by shadow from the waist up — only her legs were visible. She wore red boots and sat cross-legged, the one on the bottom tapping the ground impatiently.
"We were trying to come up with the best course of action to take," the taller bald man named Bor interjected, stammering. "But the backup crew stationed outside the manor was caught too."
"Hmmm? Interesting. I didn't expect you guys to fail. The duke and the eldest son weren't even in the manor. Their mother is strong, but she lacks in the intelligence department. She isn't that much of a threat unless you're trying to fight her head-on." She spoke coldly and slowly. "So I take it you came to tell me who was responsible for my men being wiped out?"
"Ye-yes," Mov stammered. "Believe me when I tell you this, but it was the youngest child of the Rose manor — Sarah Rose. We saw it from the assassin's point of view before he died. She threw something at him, and that was when we lost contact."
"And the men stationed outside?" she asked impatiently.
"She also got them. We don't know how," Bor continued. "She used some sort of powerful artifact, and she seems to have acquired a bunch of them. She blasted the building with something so strong the place is practically uninhabitable till this day."
The woman was silent for a while. "Honestly, it would have made more sense if you had said it was the second daughter, not the last. But you mean to tell me that manaless child managed to do all that in a single night?"
"It's the truth, Your Grace," Bor bowed. "We also came to ask for permission about how we should go about dealing with her. I'm of the opinion of killing her now before she grows." Mov nodded in agreement.
The woman on the throne was in deep thought.
"To be honest, I'm curious about the kind of artifacts she has in her possession," the woman said slowly. "A girl that's manaless but intelligent… I'm also of the opinion of trying to recruit her to our cause, but alas, I'm not that stupid." Her voice sharpened. "Kill her! She's a problem that can't be tolerated. If she can do something like that at age 13, who knows what she'll be capable of by age 14. Let's nip her in the bud. And please don't fail me this time, or you'll die the moment you set foot here with bad news. Now be gone."
A magic circle appeared, and both men disappeared.
"A powerful artifact, eh?" the woman said slowly. "I should inform the geezers on the higher-ups."
Sarah sneezed, rubbing her nose tiredly. Her hair was in complete disarray. She was holding a hot cup of tea and drinking it slowly on her bed, still wrapped in her blanket. She didn't feel like stepping out in the morning and had decided to stay in. She stared out the window. Her siblings were all huddled around Nina, who was holding something that looked like a bat but with one eye. She was waving it around. Bella was yelling with a disgusted look on her face. Mark laughed, and Andrew was reprimanding her about killing a strange creature that might have been one of a kind.
Sarah heard her say, "I saw this creepy thing floating around the estate. To be honest, you should be glad I killed something like this — it looks dangerous." She waved the limp bat in front of Andrew, who withdrew.
"Throw it away and let's go," he barked at her. She obeyed and tossed it near a flower patch. Mark dashed after it and started poking it with a stick. Bella was trying to get him to stop. Before Sarah left the window, she sighed and sat down on her bed. She looked at the mirror. She looked terrible — her blue hair was dirty with black stains all over it, her eyes had dark circles, and she was hot all over. "I think I might have come down with something," she muttered.
She spent the next hour tidying up. She tied her hair in a ponytail, dressed in green, slid under her sheets, and tried sleeping. It didn't come after an hour. She sighed, got out of bed, put on her coat, and proceeded out of the house.
Andrew and Nina had just left the manor. She stopped for a while, staring at the sky. It had been four days since Andrew went on his break. They always took a walk around the town, ate stuff they were interested in, chatted, and basically caught up on things.
"What's wrong, Nina?" Andrew asked a few paces away from her.
"A storm is brewing," she said slowly.
"A storm?" Andrew stared at the perfectly clear sky. "Please explain further," he urged.
"Don't worry, it's nothing," she sighed, looking away from the sky and back at him. "I guess I'm just feeling uneasy for no reason."
"Nina, if you feel something is bad, don't you think we should stay in the manor?" Andrew asked sternly.
"Oh no, sorry. I wouldn't want to ruin your break because of a gut feeling," she said suddenly flustered.
"You're a knight, Nina. In case it slipped your mind, your kind don't have simple gut feelings. We should head back," Andrew suggested, walking back.
Nina stared at him from behind. I didn't think he'd actually listen, she thought. She stared at the sky again. Yeah, it's going to be bad, she said internally, then walked after Andrew.
Back at the manor, both Andrew and Nina were greeted with a massive surge of magical energy. It was a terrifying sort of aura. They spotted Bella and Mark sprinting toward the garden — the source of the energy. Mark yelled briefly as he turned around to face them. "Sarah's in trouble!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Nina!" Andrew said briefly.
"Roger." She was gone. She sprinted like the wind, overtaking Mark, then Bella some seconds later. Sarah stared at the golden door. She was tossing both cubes in her hand. She tossed a sweet into her mouth. "Open up, asshole," she said slowly. She picked up the golden ball. She looked sideways and was shocked to see Nina suddenly sprinting toward her.
"Look down!" Nina yelled. "Sarah! Look down!"
Sarah stared at the ground. It was normal grass as far as she could tell.
"Curses," Nina muttered. She can't see magic circles. Underneath Sarah's feet was an extremely large magic circle. It covered both herself and her lab. Sarah stared, confused. The circle glowed.
I'm not gonna make it in time, Nina thought. I'm not— Her hands outstretched as she tried grabbing Sarah, who was startled and took a step back. Nina hit the gate of the manor with a loud bang. She got up instantly and stared around. Sarah was nowhere to be found. Her lab was gone too. On the garden where Sarah's lab once stood lay an empty space. Nina covered her mouth with her hands. "I was too late," she muttered.
Bella arrived after a while, Mark on her heels, both panting. They stopped in their tracks, seeing Nina on the ground in an empty space where Sarah's lab once stood. Nina had her hands over her head.
Andrew arrived last, looking at the sight. He sighed. "She's gone, isn't she?"
Nina nodded.
"Sarah's gone? How? Why? Who'd take Sarah!" Bella asked everyone present, her eyes turning amber. The grass and earth under her shoes were being scorched, little flickers of flames appearing all around her.
"It's probably the Ordeal," Mark and Andrew said in unison. They stared at each other.
"To be honest, if I was the villain and I found out my plan was foiled by a kid, I would have taken her too," Mark continued. "We were stupid and complacent. We should have guarded her more."
Andrew helped Nina up. "Don't beat yourself up. It wasn't your fault," he said calmly.
"Why are you all so calm!" Bella yelled. The temperature around her suddenly rose. She gritted her teeth. "You're all heartless. Your sister was just kidnapped and you're all standing around talking about a villain's point of view."
"Bella, stop. Calm down," Mark said softly.
"Stop!? Did you just tell me to stop!? As if you'd understand anything, you clown," Bella barked at him.
"I said shut up!" Mark's eyes were blue. The temperature, including Bella's flame, dropped down to a freezing degree. Slowly but surely, it started snowing. "Don't make me repeat myself," Mark said slowly.
Bella took a step back. She had never seen Mark angry.
"Andrew, what do you suggest we do? It's not like we can find Sarah by tracking her mana — she doesn't have any," Mark said slowly, the ground freezing.
Sarah looked around. She was in a large cave. She looked at her lab. She felt the weight of the golden ball in her arm. The sweet dropped from her mouth. Behind her were men carrying axes, spears, and all sorts of weapons. She looked at their reflection from the golden ball and didn't dare turn around. She trembled and tried her best to hide it.
"I feel bad about killing a kid, but it's necessary," one man said. The group walked forward in unison. Sarah stared at the cubes in her hand. She hadn't planted a safe point yet and still held on to both cubes. An axe was raised. Sarah looked up to see it being lowered. "Safe point!" she shouted. She disappeared as the axe cut through the air.
"To battle," she tapped the golden ball. It wriggled from her grip, dropped to the floor, and turned into something that looked like a dog with four eyes. Sarah had only managed to throw the green one just in time before the axe struck her. Though the teleportation was short, it took her some distance regardless.
Her body was burning. She was weak at the moment. The timing couldn't be any worse. She counted the men — there were about twenty. They stared at her in mild wonder. Her clothes were slightly dirty from the cave's mucky air. She stared back at them, terrified.
"If you stop running around, it'll only make the process painless," one man said and lunged at her, swinging his sword. The others tried to warn him to be cautious, but he was already in too deep. The others stared in horror as the man's lower half of his body struck the ground. The golden dog had blood in its mouth. Its head suddenly grew large enough to accommodate a full-grown man. It spat the remaining half of the man's body.
Sarah smiled. "I dare any of you to come closer," she bluffed. She was trying to buy time. She hadn't actually seen the golden ball attack before, and even she was shocked at the brutality, but she couldn't show it to the enemy.
"Archers!" the tallest of the group called, clearly the leader. Sarah heard arrows being fitted on their bows and the strain as they were pulled back. About a dozen men pointed them at her and some at the dog. Sarah's breath was heavy. She could feel the weight of her own body pressing down on her. Her fever was rising. The world was spinning. She grabbed the dog, tossed the cube as far as she could throw. She heard arrows pass her ear as she yelled, "Safe point!"
"They were right," one of the men said. The others murmured in agreement. "She doesn't have a trace of magical energy and can't see the magic circles placed all over the cave."
"Poor child," another muttered.
"We should just kill her and get it over with, though I'm of the opinion we shouldn't let her suffer," one suggested. Some nodded in agreement; others were silently staring at the corpse of their comrade, bloodlust in their eyes.
Sarah curled around the golden ball. She was in a crack on the cave wall. She squatted and tried being as small as possible. Her lungs were burning, her hands trembling. A mixture of fear and fever overwhelmed her. She closed her eyes, hoping it was all a dream. Her body grazed the cave wall — it was not. She put her trembling hand into the side of her lab coat. She brought out her little container of sweets. She tossed a few in her mouth. Her razor-sharp teeth dug through them nervously. The effects of the sweets took a while but started setting in. She looked at what she had to work with: her bags of grenades, needles, broken metals, the cube, the golden ball, and that was it. For all she knew, she could be out of their domain. She was going to be killed without ever doing any meaningful thing to change the future. She sighed, took a deep breath, and let her head rest on the cave wall. Her sweat slowly dried off. She heard footsteps and stayed calm. She grabbed a few grenades and held them steady. She didn't wait for them to get into view. She dashed out of the crack, tossed the ball — which soon became a dog again. It lunged at one of the men walking by. The man counterattacked with his spear in hand. The other man looked confused, and on spotting Sarah, flew into a rage. Leaving his comrade to battle the dog, he sprinted after Sarah, who ran deeper into the cave.
Sarah stepped on a mana circle. It glowed red. She couldn't see it and ran past. A large explosion carried her like a tornado would a paper. She hit the cave wall. Her back exploded with pain. She gritted her teeth. Her calves showed signs of burns. She got up slowly and continued moving. She wasn't sure if the man pursuing her was dead, but for now it didn't matter. She could hear more voices coming. The noise had attracted all the group members. Sarah rested on a wall for a while, picked up a few balls, tossed them in their direction, and sprinted back toward where she had stepped on the magic circle. Four massive explosions occurred shortly after — one from Sarah stepping on another magic circle, the others from the chain reaction of her little grenades.
Sarah collapsed on the floor. Her body was giving out quickly. Her back was burnt, her shoe gone, her clothes in flames. Bor lifted her up by her hair. She rose limp. Both cubes slipped from her hand. "How did you like my puppets, eh kid?" he smiled. The men stood around them like statues. "Hey Gov, is there any useful artifacts we can salvage from her little shack?" the bald man asked.
Gov was turning a transparent blue rectangle in his hand. "There's lots of stuff in there, but I don't think we can use any. I'm more practically interested in this piece of metal though."
"That's metal?" Bor asked, surprised. "It looks like glass to me."
"It's metal alright," Gov confirmed. "I know metal once I see one, but this seems to be a kind I've never seen before."
"Put that down," Sarah muttered, her eyes locked on Gov.
"Kill her already," Gov said carelessly. "We shouldn't slip up this time or we're dead for sure."
"I said put that down!!!" Sarah yelled, grabbing Bor by the arm and sinking her teeth into it. He howled and started flailing his hand to shake Sarah off. His punch landed on her head. She fell off him, a trail of blood following her as she went. Bor was bleeding badly.
He stepped over Sarah and struck her neck. There was a little gleam of silver. The man's arm fell. He stumbled back, clutching his stump of an arm. It was gushing blood like a fountain. He gritted his teeth in pain as the black-haired girl stepped in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak. Half his head slid down his face. He dropped dead instantly.
Nina turned to face Sarah. "Come on, stay with me, kid," she said softly. "Master! We need a healer. She's burning up and bleeding. Oh no, wait — this isn't her blood."
Andrew came into view, clutching his head. "We're lucky we made it in time," he panted. "Sarah, just hang in there. There's still one more we need to deal with."
"How did you get here?" Sarah asked him slowly. "How did you even know where I was?" Her vision of him was blurry.
"Yeah, about that," he said nervously. "Unlike you guys, I don't have magic but possess skills. It's a bit complicated — and she's asleep." Andrew sighed. Sarah was out cold, not dead, just asleep. He carried her carefully. He stared at Nina approaching the second man, still holding onto the blue material.
"So Bor failed," the man muttered. "Maybe I'll finally get a promotion if I kill two from the Rose family and a 1st class knight." Nina twitched. She sighed.
"I don't know why everyone always says that. I'm not a 1st class knight. Rather, I'm a semi 2nd class knight," she smiled.
Gov suddenly dropped the piece of metal with a clang. He raised both arms, pointing them at her. She covered the distance quickly, her blade lowered in a flash. The man's eyes widened. Nina's sword grazed his throat. Blood trickled down his neck. That was it. The man was suddenly teleported a distance off. The nape of his neck was torn open. He was in pain, grunting, yelling, and screaming about having more time. His body started bubbling. There was a voice.
"You can't beat her. You already lost." The man exploded. Bits of flesh sprayed around the cave. Nina leapt back, not taking her eyes off where the man once stood.
There was a loud sigh. "I can't believe the geezers are making me do this myself. I might as well get this over with." A portal opened on top of what was left of Gov. Red boots stepped out, pale legs and thighs that disappeared under her black skirt. Her red leather jacket was slung carelessly across her shoulder. Her red hair was bright. Her red eyes narrowed as she looked at the three people in front of her. A thin sword hung on her waist. She sighed. "Just my luck."
Nina grabbed the hilt of her sword with both hands. She braced herself. "Master, give us a little distance," she said coldly, her eyes locked on the red eyes of the woman.
Andrew retreated without complaint. He watched from a distance. The air was still and suffocating — hardly anyone dared to breathe. The woman took the first step. Her sword was already in her hand in an instant. Nina parried, let the momentum carry her, turned in a half circle, and struck. The woman jumped over her blade. Her foot connected to the side of Nina's head. She fell to the ground, used her free hand as a lever, and launched herself into the air. It was a near miss. She felt the woman's cold blade skim her ear. Her boots landed on the ground. It cracked under the pressure. Both Nina and the woman walked around, circling each other. She whistled. "You're good, knight. If you're really not even 2nd class as you say, then there's something wrong." Nina didn't respond. She kept her eyes fixed on the thin blade of the woman. She knew it would be a mistake to take her eyes off it.
Nina dodged with a backflip as the woman's thin blade cut through the air. She landed on all fours and lunged. The exchange was short and fast. There were a series of attacks and defenses. It ended with Nina being sent across the cave like a ball.
"You're fun, you know that," the woman smiled. The air resonated with the clashing of steel as Nina's sword shot toward the woman from the dust cloud that rose when Nina struck the wall. She deflected it upwards. Her hands vibrated under the force. Nina was back. She grabbed her deflected sword mid-air. Using gravity and her own strength, she swung down. The woman had to hold both the blade and the hilt with her hands to boost her defense. Her legs sunk into the ground. Her knee grazed the floor. Nina let go of her blade, flopped down face to face with the woman. Her head was bleeding. Andrew closed his eyes as a loud crack echoed throughout the cave. The woman spun around deftly, tried to land on her feet but fell skidding on the ground. She tried getting up again but fell on one knee. She felt her nose and twitched. Blood gushed — it was broken.
Nina stepped on the woman's fallen blade. The ground crunched under her foot. She kicked it to the side. Her fist was steaming. She smiled. "You're good. I like that."
"A mistake," the woman muttered. "I made a miscalculation." She got up slowly, dropped the jacket from her shoulder. She wiped her nose on it and dropped it on the ground. Both footsteps echoed throughout the silent cave as Nina and her walked toward each other, eyes locked on one another. Both fists connected. None backed down. Nina swung high. The woman grabbed her forearm, kicked her leg, tripping Nina, landing three quick jabs to her neck. She stamped her leg hard on the ground and swung Nina easily. Her legs lifted off the ground as Nina slammed into the earth. The cave vibrated. Rocks flew everywhere. Nina tried getting up. The woman's boot sent her bouncing off the walls. She flopped down. Stood up quickly, just in time to dodge her next kick that was aiming for her guts. Nina caught two of her punches. The last caught her in the ear. It rang. She was being demolished in close quarters. She grabbed both of the woman's arms, raised both her feet. Bam! The woman was sent skidding across the stone floor like a tennis ball. She reached the end of the cave and her head hit it softly. She lay for a while. Nina didn't waste the opportunity and jumped on her. The woman did a handstand, spun her legs in a circle. It broke Nina's jaw. She caught her by her clothes. The woman's palm glowed red. She attacked, but it struck nothing. She was suddenly blind. She felt herself leave the ground. A huge surge of pain shot through her head. Her vision was back. Nina was hammering away at her head with her fist.
Andrew panted, beads of sweat breaking over his forehead. "Go blind," he said loudly. The woman's vision was gone again.
Her eyesight was restored. She ducked quickly as Nina's blade cut through the air. She tackled Nina, grabbing her by the waist and running into a wall. Nina coughed out blood. She was reaching her limit. Her vision was gone again, but Nina was still in her grasp. She struck instinctively. They landed. She heard Nina grunt in pain. Her eyesight was back. She flung Nina toward Andrew in a fit of fury. Andrew dropped Sarah and caught her. The force sent him skidding. He braced himself and came to a halt. "Are you okay, Nina?" he asked quickly.
"Do I look okay?" she replied weakly, rubbing her jaw. It hurt badly. Andrew let go of her. She walked a few paces and fell on both knees.
"Three seconds. Exactly three seconds," the woman muttered loudly. She was staring at Andrew.
He felt a sense of dread, and Nina knew it too. The woman stood, bloodied and smiling. "You're a skill user, and it seems you can make me go blind for exactly three seconds. The fact that you're not using it every time means it must have a cooldown feature." She stretched, her muscles tensed. "Three seconds." She stared directly at Andrew. "I can handle that." She lunged at them. Nina, despite her weakened state, confronted her with another massive headbutt. The air rang. Andrew pointed at the woman. "Go blind." Her vision was gone again.
Nina's punches struck the air. The woman was faster than ever. Even while blind, she was moving purely on instinct. Nina could only defend against the barrage of attacks coming from the woman. She jumped over Nina. Her sword was in her hand. She lunged at Andrew. Nina turned around, chasing after her, but she was way faster. Andrew pointed at her. "Go deaf." The woman suddenly lost her hearing. Andrew threw three of Sarah's bombs. She ran into it. The explosion was massive. She was launched like a bullet. Nina couldn't dodge her as she slammed against her and carried both of them deeper into the cave.
"Sorry, Sarah," Andrew muttered, hoisting her on his shoulder and sprinting toward the deeper end of the cave. The clash of steel grew louder with each step. Nina was holding her ground but she was losing. Andrew put Sarah down softly, letting her rest near a rock, and faced the battling women. He pointed toward the red-haired woman. She spotted him. "Go deaf." Nina's blade closed the gap to her head in an instant. It sliced through part of her hair, her ear. She leapt back a great deal suddenly. The sword cut through the air in a great arc. Nina panted. One of her eyes was shut. Her knees were weak. She was tired. She stood, brought her sword to her side. Andrew walked slowly and stood behind her. She tightened her grip on the hilt.
"You can keep going, right?" he asked.
She nodded simply, not taking her eyes off her foe.
"Go get her," he ordered.
Nina's sword and the woman's clashed with a powerful clang. Nina's sword shattered like glass. She parried the follow-up from the woman with the remaining stump of her blade. Dodged a punch, hopped a kick, and landed a massive lick on the woman's broken nose. She grunted in pain. She attacked. She was blind. She defended against attacks from Nina with her blade, instinctively dodging fatal attacks. Her sight was back. She let Nina's half sword cut through her hair. She spun shoulder to shoulder with Nina. Her blade impaled Nina. She screamed in pain. She tried ripping apart the blade. If it succeeded, Nina would be one arm short. The woman's head rang. Her vision blurred as Nina's knee kissed her chin. It sent her feet into the sky, leaving her blade still on Nina.
Nina's blade glowed. "Eclipse." A large white line drew across the woman from the nape of her neck down to her toe, dividing her body into two different parts. "Set. Ready. Strike." The attack happened instantly as she completed her words. It cut through the woman. If she had been ordinary, it would have definitely torn her in two, but all it did was give her a large cut across her chest and tear into her clothes, which dropped around her, revealing dark underwear and a dark bra underneath. She stood unscathed other than her torn clothes.
Nina bit her lip in anger. The woman hit the ground. She got up slowly, stared at her clothes on the ground, and sighed. "Really? That fit was expensive, you know. Now let's get back to it." Her palms glowed red. "I'll make sure you die this time around." Her eyes glowed.
"Nina, to me!" Andrew yelled. Nina ran back to him. The ground she was previously standing on was blown apart.
"Tsk!" The woman was annoyed slightly. "I hate this. It's too much work."
Andrew grabbed onto Nina as she collapsed. Her breathing was heavy and uneven. She was dirty with a mixture of blood, sweat, rocks, and sand. Her body was trembling all over. She obviously couldn't keep going any further. Andrew stared at the woman. She was playing with her hair and didn't seem particularly interested in suddenly attacking them. "Nina, can you move?" Andrew asked quietly.
She tried getting up but failed miserably. "I'll take that as a no," Andrew said.
He sighed. "Nina, I'm sure you know I don't use magic like my siblings, but skills that have certain rules they follow."
She nodded weakly.
"I have a total of five skills," Andrew continued. "One of them is the ability to control the five senses of any opponent, though one at a time with a duration of three seconds."
Nina nodded again. She knew about that. It wasn't the first time she had seen Andrew do it. They'd been together for most missions after all. But she didn't know about all his skills. She knew the one that brought them here. When he was talking like this, he was about to reveal another, which would make the amount of skills she knew about him account to three.
Andrew looked embarrassed for some reason. He avoided her tired gaze. "Sorry about this, Nina," he said suddenly. "I don't set the rules for my skill."
Nina didn't have time to process what he was on about. She twitched hard as Andrew planted his lips on hers. Her brain was screaming.
The woman was shocked. "Is this really the time for that?" she asked, flushed.
Andrew withdrew after a while. Nina was bright red. Andrew looked more composed and seemed to be staring at something above Nina's head — something she couldn't see. Large bright red letters wrote above Nina's head: "Partner Activated. All stats of Partner are hereby increased by 300%."
Andrew smiled. "That should do it. So how do you feel?" he asked Nina.
"I-I-I-I…" Nina couldn't speak.
"Don't worry, you're fine. Get mad at me later. Now go get her." Andrew helped Nina get up. Nina tapped her foot on the ground, pulled the blade out of her guts. She felt light — extraordinarily so.
The woman stretched. "By the way, I'm Almie," she smiled.
Nina walked slowly. Every step rang through her brain. She could hear her heartbeat going crazy, her muscles twitching, her bones creaking, Sarah's slow sigh, Andrew's heavy breathing. Almie wasn't breathing — she could hear nothing coming from her. She took a fighting stance, both hands in front of her face. "I'm Nina, semi 2nd class knight of my master Andrew Rose."
Both women smiled. Nina's leather boots tightened as they gripped the ground. Both women clashed in a barrage of fists. Nina was keeping up now with the boost. Almie wasn't backing down. Her vision shut down. Nina grabbed her by the throat and sent her into a wall. Almie walked out of the dust, flicking her hair. "Explode."
Nina did a flip as the ground beneath her feet blew up. She looked up too late. Almie was on her. Both fists connected with the other. Nina went flying and had to dig her hands into the ground to find footing. Almie walked slowly. She was thrown back too, but not as far as Nina.
Nina's steps were slow. Soon they became faster and faster. They started sprinting toward each other. Almie went blind but was able to block the kick Nina aimed at her head. Nina, still in the air, landed a massive elbow strike on Almie's forehead. She grunted. Nina grabbed her by the hair, slammed her into the ground repeatedly. Nina's left ear flew off as Almie's blade sped past. She let go of Almie and jumped back, holding the spot where her ear was.
Almie walked slowly, her sword floating beside her. Her face contorted in a fit of fury. The cave trembled violently. "For the Ordeal," she lifted one of her arms in the air. "I hereby sentence you—" She was cut short by a very loud ringing sound that rang throughout the cave. They all held their ears in pain, all except Sarah, who was still out cold.
"Stop it!" barked Almie. "Stop it, you geezers. The battle is not over yet. I can still kill the girl." She yelled into the ringing.
The words that came after were short and curt. "You shouldn't use that in a place like this. We're bringing you back. You'll get another try." She was gone instantly. No magic circle or any sign of teleportation. She was just gone.
Nina and Andrew stared in shock. It was absurd — extremely so. The cave was suddenly silent. Nina panted with relief. "I guess it's over," she smiled but stopped quickly. Her jaw was still aching. "Right, Master?" She stared at Andrew. She went stiff and avoided his gaze. "I-I-I'll get Sarah." She walked weirdly across the cave.
Andrew sighed and followed her. He stared at Nina's ear on the floor. They'd have to hire a high-quality healer to be able to reattach it. He picked it up carefully.
Nina carried Sarah on her back. "So how do we get back?" she asked Andrew, still not looking at him.
"Well, I found Sarah using the mana of Bella stored in her tools. She doesn't have magic, so she always charges them up with Bella. As you know, I can teleport to anyone's magical signature I've marked before. It's the first of my skills — that's if they're in a 20km radius. I've marked Bella before. It makes it easy. And I could only teleport with one person. It was a given I had to choose you rather than Bella or Mark, even though they begged. I think I'll demand a longer break from father when he gets back," Andrew sighed.
He stared at the location of Nina's missing ear. "Doesn't that hurt?" he asked.
"As if I'd suddenly start twitching and wriggling just because of a missing ear," she sighed. "I'm a knight. I've been to battle." Unable to look at his face, she stared at the roof of the cave.
Andrew smiled. "Once we get back to the manor, the buff I placed on you would be gone. Also, I'll make a formal request on getting a pay raise from father."
"Really?" Nina's face lit up. She suddenly pouted. "Though I'm still mad you slashed it in half because of the spot incident."
"You want the pay raise or not?" Andrew asked, smiling.
"Yes, I do! I so do," she was clear about that aspect.
"I've gotten a hold of Mark's mana signature. Let's go," he said slowly. He looked at Nina as she scooted closer but gave some distance. Andrew grabbed her and pulled her close. "You know it's not going to work unless you're this close, right? You look like a tomato. Maybe there'll be a remedy for that back at the castle," Andrew said seriously.
"Wait, wait — didn't Sarah's shack come with her? Are we going to leave—" They were gone.