94 Ice Kingdom
"Um, were you the ones who invented these chocolate cakes and vanilla sweet?" I asked
"Hm? Ah, unfortunately not, we just followed the formula handed to the public, you'll find plenty of cake shops and bakeries who sell the same things in the city, although I did wish we were the only ones" She said as she sighed
"Formula handed to the public? Who created the formula?"
"I'm not sure, but I was told it was the king. Ah, and the formula wasn't handed in this kingdom, it just spread around the continent" She replied
"I-I see, thank you"
She bowed and returned to the the counter, shortly after a worker brought in 3 plates containing a spoon and our 3 mini cakes
Without wasting wasting any time, Ariel grabbed on to the spoon and cut off a piece of the vanilla cake with the strawberry on top
"It's soft..." She said with a surprised expression
Me and Serena watched as she ate it
"Mnnn, it's so good!" Said Ariel with a reddened cheeks
She then continued to eat, with a happy expression
"Aren't you gonna try?" I asked serena
"Y-Yeah"
Serena also cut a piece off the chocolate and vanilla cake and ate it
She then took another piece and another
"Is it good?" I asked
"W-Well, it's not bad..."
Why is she suddenly so quiet?
I took a piece off the chocolate cake and tried it
"Yep... This is definitely chocolate" I muttered
How nostalgic...
It didn't take long for us to finish
"That was really good" Said Serena once she was finished
"Oh, you dropped your guard" I said straight after
"Eh?! Ah..."
Seeing Serena's reaction the three of us started to laugh
"We should get goi-"
Eh...? What's going on? That presence...
Without saying anything I suddenly dashed outside of the store
"Eh? John! Wait!"
She's close... That Woman!
I ran outside and cast deprehendre, making sure I had traces of her magic locked on.
I looked around and found her, jumping from rooftop to rooftop
"Where's she going?" I muttered as I used velox to propel myself off the ground and on to the rooftop
After that, I followed her
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, with the support of velox, I slowly got closer and closer until I eventually caught up
"Hey!!!" I shouted
She was on top of the house in front of me
She stopped turned around and looked at me
Now that I got a better look at her face, I was sure of it. That was the girl that saved me that day.
We just stared at each other without saying anything
Since I hadn't said anything, she turned around and was about to move on when I called her
"Can we talk?!" I asked
She turned to me and muttered a few words, before all of a sudden, she vanished
I cast deprehendre to see if I could spot her, but it didn't work, not even deprehendre could find her.
***
As the sun began to set, I found myself standing in front of an inn near an ally
"Is she in here...?"
I walked inside and was surprised by how tidy it was
Table were set around, and there were a few people eating
"I finally found you..." I muttered as I sat by on her table
She was eating her meal and payed no attention to me
Truth be told, after I failed to find her, I walked around the city, constantly using Dephendre, I also met up with serena and Ariel and gave them money to pay for a carriage trip to Eleanor's house
They were mad that I was ditching them, but I had no choice
I wanted to talk with her alone after all.
Without saying anything, I simply watched as I waited for her to finish her meal
When she was finally done she finished her drink before looking at me
"You're the one who saved me aren't you?" I asked
In reply to my question, She nodded
"Why?" I asked
Why did she save us?
"What's your
"J-John" I replied
"I didn't save you, I was only going after my targets." She said before getting up
She walked over to the exit, but once again, was stopped by me as I stood in front of her and blocked her path
"Move."
Suddenly, I could feel an immense amount of bloodl.u.s.t and danger coming from her. However, I didn't move, I still had one more thing I had to ask her
"Please make me your student!" I said as I bowed
Before I even realised it, she pa.s.sed by me, and at the same time, I heard the word "no."
I turned around and saw that she was already outside, and walking as if nothing had happened
I ran up to her again, I was desperate
"Wait! Please I'll do anything!"
At my words, she stopped and turned to me
"Why?" She asked
"I need to get stronger... My current level is not enough, I'm running out of options..." I said
[Do you desire power?]
!? I looked around in haste but didn't notice anything unusual, what was that? For a second it sounded like I heard a voice in my head... And it sounded familiar, but i could have sworn was the first time I ever heard it
"Then you don't need me, there are plenty of teachers around." She said before turning around
"No! It has to be you!"
Without saying anything she kept facing the other direction
"The way you fought... It was amazing, I've never seen anything like it... You kept your cool and dealt with your target in a blow... In that moment. I know I need to change and I can't keep the same style of thought I've had for all this time... That's why... It has to be you..."
Without saying anything she simply walked ahead
I guess I have no choice but to give up...
"Follow me"
Eh? Did I just hear that right? She told me to follow her didn't she?
"O-Okay!" I replied as I ran up to her
***
We left the shopping district and entered an open field, there wasn't anyone around and the sun had completely set
I hope this isn't going where I think it is...
She was a few feet away from me as she pulled out her dagger and faced me
"Come at me."
Those were the only 3 words she said before unleas.h.i.+ng an insane amount of bloodl.u.s.t
Oi... Are you serious... I can barely even move...
My legs wouldn't stop shaking
"What's wrong? You're too scared to move?" She asked
"Of course not..." I replied with a nervous smile as I pulled out my daggers
I started to fake chant before leaping straight her
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"That idiot... Is he still not back?" muttered Serena while waited on the carriage
Throughout the whole trip ariel had been quiet
"I can't believe he ditched us!"
Meanwhile serena had been complaining
"Ariel, you're mad too aren't you?" Serena asked
"Eh? Ah... A bit..." Ariel replied
"You're too soft on him, although he's soft on us so I can't complain... How much longer does he expect us and the coachman to wait?"
"Thanks for waiting all this time" Said Ariel
"Take as much time as you need, I get to rest to so it's a win win" Said the coachman
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What's going on?
Why...? Why!?
Why can't I hit her?!
I constantly swung both daggers diagonally, vertically, and horizontally, yet I haven't been able to graze her
She hasn't used a single spell, and all she's been doing is moving her body, she doesn't even need to block it...
I stopped swinging and took a short break to catch my breath
"Is that all?" She asked
"Of course not" I said while panting heavily
I started to supply even more magic to my body than I ever had, 10 x more than normal
A few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to do this, but recently, I haven't been running out of magic power no matter what I do... It's been this way ever since that incident, my mana pools expanding...
Now that I was faster and stronger, I went back on the offensive
Now I should be able to match her...
I Sent a kick towards her which she avoided by tilting her body back, I then charged at again, first it was a diagonal swing, then another diagonal, then thrust, but she avoided them all
How... How!? Didn't I get faster? How is she avoiding it all?!
"There's no use in strengthening something when the vessel is weak. Your body can't handle all that strength, and you can't control it."
Her words made me realise. Using more magic to reinforce my body didn't increase my speed at all, in fact it did the opposite, it slowed me down.
My body was starting to feel numb all over.
In an instant, he landed a punch me straight in my gut. Her small frame had a lot of power, it caused me to drop to the ground in a single hit
"Aa...ah..."
I was struggling to breathe and speak
"I guess that's your limit..." She said before turning around
After she got a few steps away, she suddenly stopped and turned to me as she said
"You don't know when to give up, do you?"
"Haha..."
I have no choice... I'll have to use that. If I ask her, she should keep it a secret, and I'm sick of fake chants...
"regnum glacies" I muttered Translation: Ice Kingdom
"?!"