Lorelei jolted awake under the pressure of the particles around her and rolled away before turning around. At the same time, a beam of light pierced the ground where she'd been lying.
"Here."
Samuel stood in front of her and tossed her a charged pistol. Without another word, he fired again—this time aiming for her leg—but Lorelei was fast enough to dodge by rolling. By focusing, she could tell when Samuel was about to shoot: the particles were lured into the barrel.
"Don't just dodge. Attack me too," he said, reloading.
Lorelei took the chance and fired, but he stopped her beam with his own. Not only that—he pierced through it, grazing her cheek.
"Small, concentrated beams carry more power than big ones. Remember that."
She shot again. Without moving, Samuel canceled out every single shot. Lorelei decided to close the distance and lunged forward. She knew that from afar, Samuel had a clear advantage—not only in accuracy but also in control. She ducked to sweep his legs, but he jumped over and aimed his pistol midair. Even though she was about to get shot, Lorelei knew she had the upper hand: he couldn't move in the air while she was still on the ground. She dodged his shot and fired simultaneously. She thought she'd won, but Samuel vanished from her sight. Before she knew it, a cold metallic surface pressed against her neck.
"Bang!" Samuel said, pulling the pistol away.
Lorelei sighed in relief and crumpled to the ground from exhaustion.
"Good improvement. You need more accuracy on your shots," he said, opening his book and sitting beside her.
"Teach me," she said, leaning closer.
Samuel put on his glasses and gave her a confused look.
"Teach me how to do that." Lorelei leaned in until she was nearly in his face.
Samuel sighed, shoved her face away by grabbing her hair, and turned back to his book. "First master the basics. Then you can move on to complicated things."
Lorelei pouted but understood what he meant. She still had a long way to go if she wanted to reach his level with firearms.
"YO!" Brant screamed from afar, carrying something wrapped in thick cloth.
He ran toward them with his stupid grin and tumbled over a rock. What he was carrying rolled toward Samuel.
"Way to start the morning," Brant said, getting up and wiping himself off.
Samuel picked up the cloth and handed it to Brant when he got close.
"It's that stupid grin of yours that brings you misfortune," he said, returning to his book.
"If you say so, wall-faced dimwit."
They went back and forth, throwing insults and provoking each other. Lorelei had grown accustomed to their way of showing affection. She knew they'd settle it by fighting later, but for now, she was more curious about what Brant was holding.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the cloth.
"Oh! That." Brant brushed his nose with pride. "It's your sword. Rock-Head Pouty made it for you."
He unveiled the cloth, revealing a pure, smooth black blade. It held the same darkness as Brant's weapon. The handle was wrapped in gray bands crossing each other until they reached the pommel. The blade curved slightly, giving it an elegant, extended silhouette.
"Take it. Try it for style."
Lorelei got up, amazed. Just below the handle, she noticed an inscription carved in the steel—the same one Brant had on his blade. She picked up the surprisingly light sword and read it aloud.
"Fidelya."
"Yup. Fidelya. Welcome to the family, Reili!" Brant gave her a wide smile, and so did Samuel.
Lorelei returned their warm smile. She spun the blade around her hand to get a better grip and held it in front of her. It was incredibly light, and the grip felt amazing. Unlike the heavy wooden training sword, this one had almost no weight at all. She worried it wouldn't carry as much power, but she knew that if it was one of Mr. Pouty's creations, that was the least of her concerns.
"Pure nythril… Even I'm jealous," Brant said, crossing his arms. "Give it a swing at me."
Lorelei turned to Brant. Samuel backed away. She got into a stance that would let her use her full body weight to deliver a clean strike.
"Now?" she asked.
"Yup!"
The moment he spoke, Lorelei released the strike and sent Brant tumbling across the ground. The earth beneath him shattered every time he bounced. He stood up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and gave Lorelei a thumbs-up. He'd managed at the last second to manifest a sword using his energy, but the imperfect blade couldn't withstand Lorelei's attack. Watching from afar, Samuel clapped and gave Brant a provoking smile.
"Let's go now," Samuel said, walking toward Brant.
"Go? Where?" Lorelei asked, confused.
"To earn real battle experience," he answered, smirking.
Lorelei followed them to the front of the garden, where the car was. They told her to wait, went back into the mansion, and returned with their weapons. Brant carried his big sword, and Samuel his black briefcase. They opened the door and got in first; Lorelei climbed in after. Sam replaced the car's energy stone with a brand new shining one, and the car started moving. They sat opposite her, each looking out their own window. Watching them reminded her of the first time they'd met, but this time, an indescribable connection had settled between them.
"Where exactly are we going?" Lorelei asked.
"You'll see," Samuel replied with a suspicious smile.
The ride was quiet. Only the sound of the engine and tires rolling over the smooth roads filled the air. Lorelei closed her eyes and focused. When she felt ready, she opened them and saw the particles floating around the car. It had become a little game for her when she got bored. She gained experience from repeating it, and it allowed her to witness their beauty again and again. Their blue offered her a calming sense of relief.
She was thrown out of it by the sudden turbulence. Not only had the car sped up, but the number of bumps it came across increased too. Samuel and Brant looked at each other, then turned to Lorelei with huge grins—the kind of smile a con-man wears before his first extortion. Brant grabbed Lorelei's shirt. Samuel opened the door. A huge amount of dirt flew into the car, and Lorelei was met with an unfamiliar sight of towering mountains.
"Sorry, but it's the only way," Brant said, taking her sword.
He threw it outside, and that's when Lorelei realized what was happening. But before she could do anything, Brant tucked a pistol into her pants and threw her out of the moving car. She rolled on the hard ground from the momentum.
"Good luck! Don't die out here!" Brant screamed before slamming the door shut.
Lorelei watched the car drive away into the distance. They'd left her without a word, and she didn't even know where she was. Nothing but a vast horizon of dry dirt—almost like sand—stretched around her. Mountains loomed a little higher up. There was nothing she could use as a reference. She got up, grabbed her sword from the dirt, gave it a swing to shake it clean, and walked under the blazing sun. After only a few minutes, an immense wave of fatigue hit her. She was sweating like never before, even though it was nearly the beginning of winter.
How could this even happen?
A wave of clouds passed, blocking the scorching sun.
Finally,
Lorelei sat down to catch her breath. But her respite was cut short by an abominable screech in the distance. The clouds cleared. Waves of wind burst toward her, strong enough to pull her body back. She stabbed her blade into the ground and held on to avoid being flung away. A swift look at the sky was all it took to identify the source. A shadow fell over her. A winged creature descended at full speed toward the ground. She pulled up her sword and propelled herself away just before impact. She rolled to spread the force across her body and turned around, sword pointed forward.
The cloud of dust cleared under the creature's roar. A green-scaled beast stood before her, spreading its wings in an intimidating display. It was twice as big as a normal house in Vinyl, and with a snake-headed tail swaying behind it, it proved even larger than it first appeared.
"Fuck," she muttered.
She gripped her sword with both hands and dashed forward before it could attack first. The beast used its wing to throw her away, but Lorelei slid under it and continued her assault, aiming for its legs. Just as she readied to pierce its leg, the monster flapped both wings and lifted itself over her.
"Damn bird."
It climbed high enough to start another dive, nose first. But Lorelei managed to evade by jumping into the air. While still above ground, she flipped her body upside down to get a clear shot at the monster and aimed for its eye. She concentrated, pulled the particles into the barrel, and pulled the trigger. The shot pierced its eye, but Lorelei couldn't turn her body in time and crashed into the ground.
The monster stomped furiously, purple blood gushing from its wounded eye. Once the rampage subsided, it prepared to fly off again. But this time, Lorelei was ready.
"No, you won't."
She raised her sword to face level and pulled her arms back. She channeled her own energy into her legs for extra power and lunged forward so fast it looked like she'd teleported. Her sword pierced the beast's scales. It took off flying with Lorelei hanging on, her blade still embedded in its body. Purple blood spilled onto her face, but the beast's speed diverted most of it. She gripped the handle tightly and waited for it to slow down.
The beast flew across the clouds, hoping she'd fall. She didn't.
It came to an abrupt stop. That's when Lorelei made her move. She swung herself onto the sword and used it to launch herself across the beast's back. Once there, she ran as fast as she could toward its head, pulled a pure energy stone from the gun's barrel, infused it with her own energy, and threw it at the creature's head.
A burst of light filled the sky. The monster's head splattered. But the blast also sent Lorelei flying off its back.
She went diving toward the ground, her body spinning uncontrollably. She tried to steady herself but couldn't stop the spin. A wave of nausea hit her, and she started vomiting midair. Her vision blurred, but she knew that if she didn't do something, she'd die from the fall.
The ground came closer with every blink. The lifeless body of the creature blitzed past her and violently splattered across the sand, its insides spreading in bright purple under the sun's rays. Lorelei knew it would be her turn next.
She pulled the gun from her pants and did her best to aim at the ground. She gathered as much energy from the surroundings as she could and fired, hoping the recoil would slow her fall. It wasn't enough.
The fall was imminent. Then she felt a hand wrap around her shirt.
It was Samuel.
"Good job," he said, smiling at her.
An ineffable wave of pain washed over her, and she lost consciousness. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in the moving car.