"That was... unexpected." Hazel commented as she dropped to the ground with a soft thud. The heat from the land— which looked like the echoes of an erupted volcano, softly licked her skin.
'I can even feel the heat on my skin. Just how strong are these guys. And... I think Kuramoto's stronger based on what I can see since he didn't even show a hint of concentration or seriousness while attacking. This means he might be a more suitable partner than Kaiser. But...' She thought inwardly, '... why do I feel like I'm making a mistake? And why does my heart stings?'
The question lingered longer than she liked. It felt too human.
"Good. You should understand my points by now if you're that smart." Kuramoto's voice snapped her out of her daze as she looked up to meet his eyes.
"You're qualified." She said, her tone ice cold.
"Still arrogant as ever. Good. You might need it." Stating cryptically, Kuramoto began walking away, Hazel quietly following behind.
...
"Hey. You seem lost in thoughts." Kiera said as she stole a curious glance at Kaiser.
The boy paused slightly then suddenly stabbed into the ground with cold precision.
The ground trembled softly as the system announced a kill of a Gremlin Beast to him.
'Well, that was fast and alert!' A little bit stunned, Kiera thought.
"I have a few things to sort out. Please do not mind my occasional distractions." He replied almost mechanically.
'So polite!'
"Alright then." She nodded as they silently resumed their journey.
'Since they aren't here yet, it could only mean two things:'
1. They're unable to locate the seed because it was born in the outer sector of the universe.
2. Something massive has happened to the Seven Churches.
Or... a third variable that he was unaware of.
'Enough thinking. I'vealready released too many limiters on my brain. And I'm too lazy to reset the limit again.' Groaning inwardly, his focus resharpened as he snapped back to reality.
"You seem awfully quiet for someone so vocal in the class." Kaiser said with a hint of curiosity in his voice.
"Well, it's not like we're close so there isn't much to say." She replied calmly after stealing another glance at him.
'Such sharp and cold analytical intelligence. Interesting.' He mused.
"That's true. And this isn't the right place to start a conversation anyway."
His lips curled faintly as he zipped up his turtle neck top and summoned two daggers into his hands.
"Get ready." He said as he took a fighting stance— dipping his nose into the turtle neck of his top.
"Not going to summon an armor?" Kiera asked as black gauntlets materialized on her hands.
Kaiser only shook his head in reply while his mind started calculating.
'She probably suspects I'm strong. Mid-tier, maybe. That means I need to dull my senses by about 75% to match that level. Still, with my brain's current IQ speed, holding back like this is tiring.
This should be enough to let her showcase her abilities while we deal with that cursed thing.'
....
KREAA!
A guttural growl echoed in the building as a beast with humanoid skeleton emerged. Although its resemblance towards humans stopped there. Its head was too big and seemed to be shaped grotesquely by a wicked potter. Its arms were skinny and elongated— with sharp claws on its fingers.
The bone structure of the ribs was very visible, making it similar to a Wendigo. The only remarkable difference was the scorpion-like tail it had.
"Ugh, what the hell is that?" Kiera shivered from disgust at the sight of the creature.
"Be careful. Its going to be around the Warrior Realm." Kaiser warned as he lowered his body, changing his stance to something more adaptive.
'Training with limited strength requires a flowing and no rigid battle style.'
With that thought in mind, the three of them clashed.
BOOM!
Kiera's fist crashed into the beast's head which sunk in immediately while Kaiser cut at it's legs with a full body spin.
Purple blood spurted from the wound as beast bent backwards— an unnatural 90°. It stilled for a moment then with a sharp movement, it stood straight again— its claws swiping at their heads at breakneck speed.
Kaiser had jumped back before the beast moved, having read its intent while Kiera desperately rolled on the ground to avoid the attack.
'Shit! Its too fast.' She thought as she immediately activated her Dormant Ability [Blood Manipulation].
By increasing the rate of flow of her blood, she was able to give herself a temporary boost in all her physical attributes.
'Impressive.' Kaiser thought to himself as he switched to an offensive stance. Always slipping away from the beast's attack and always a second ahead of it to stifle its movements.
Just like now...
As the beast prepared to kick Kiera away, Kaiser appeared beside it like a ghost and slashed at its knee joint— forcing it to abort the attack in exchange for balance.
Its white eyes turned towards Kaiser as something akin to irritation flashed within them.
"Don't ignore me!"
Taking advantage of the split second of distraction, Kiera delivered a series of swift yet heavy punches into its torso. The beast was lifted off its feet as it crashed into a wall, denting it slightly.
'That wall must be sturdy!'
Keeping the thought to herself, Kiera ducked under a claw swipe instinctively.
'When did it get back up?!'
Looking up, she realized that the beast had predicted her movements since its leg was raised to stomp on her.
However, something or someone pulled her out of its range just in time.
Crack!
The ground beneath its leg split from the force of the stomp, causing her to gulp in fear.
"Get up." Kaiser's whisper calmed her mind a bit as she quickly leaped back up— ready to fight again.
"Can we win?" She asked her partner in a hushed tone.
"We're winning." He replied coolly.
Now that he said it, she realized that its speed and strength had decreased from before to something that she could match without her enhancement even.
"If you say so." Smiling to herself, she rushed at it ready to punch it again while activating the enchantment in her gauntlet relic.
Before getting halfway through, she saw Kaiser emerge from its shadow and stab its arms, forcing its movements to halt for a few seconds.
And that was all she needed.