Prison of a princess (1)

The stench of the ruin was grotesque, filling my nose with a smell similar to that of rotten corpses.

Raising my arms, I grimaced while holding my nose.

I had taken off my mask, when I entered the ruin, as I was under the impression, that it would just obstruct my view.

Besides that, there was nobody here to see my face anyway, so there was no reason for me to wear the mask.

The ruin was gloomy with dark pillars supporting the dark ceiling. The black pillars emitted a faint glow, weakly illuminating the ruin.

In front of me was a staircase that lead to an upper floor.

Nodding my head, I assessed that there were currently no dangers in that area, approaching the staircase.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Each of my footsteps echoed in the ruin, creating a loud reverberation.

Amidst the dark ruin, the only sound was that of my breathing and my footsteps.

"It sure is grim in here."

I muttered as I walked up the staircase, entering the upper floor.

While ascending to the upper floor, with every step, I could feel a bad foreboding, as a shiver crawled down my spine.

As I reached the last few steps, I could see glimpses of the room on the second floor. It was pitch black and empty.

There was no one on that floor, not even the sealed monster, that was supposed to be there.

However, I could feel ominous energy coming from that floor, making me hesitate for a while before I entered it.

Immediately, as I stepped on the last stair tread, the reality surrounding me distorted, twisting in an incomprehensible way, as the previously empty black room of the second floor, turned into a snowy landscape.

"It's similar to Thauma's 'subjective reality'..."

I mumbled as I scanned the environment.

Although it's not quite the same, as 'subjective reality', it did create a similar, albeit weaker, effect of that spell.

Kneeling down, I grabbed some of the snow to see whether it was an illusion or a pocket dimension I was in.

The snow felt too real to be a mere illusion.

Only an illusionist of the highest level could accomplish such a perfect illusion, that even tricked my senses, so the possible options of enemies were limited.

My enemy was either a master illusionist or someone that could create a whole pocket dimension.

Either way, both didn't sound like pleasant enemies.

"I'm guessing that it is the latter."

I whispered my thoughts out loud, as I raised my arm, trying to feel the ether in the atmosphere.

The ether was thick and its quality was high.

If I were to compare it to mine, I would even say, that it surpassed mine by far.

"I should try to finish this as soon as possible."

Standing up again, I was surprised by a voice.

"You plan on going, already?"

I froze, as the sound of an unfamiliar voice approached me.

I couldn't feel that person approaching me at all.

"I've been staying here for a hundred and forty years..It can get quite lonely, you know..?"

The voice started talking.

It was the voice of a young girl. Although her words sounded welcoming, her tone didn't match her words at all. Her voice sounded as cold, as ice.

"And just as I thought, that I was finally going to be free."

With every word, her tone got sharper.

If words could kill, I wouldn't be dead, but dozens of blades would be pointed toward my neck, just waiting for me to do any wrong move for her to strike.

"You appear."

The prior calm voice, hissed with contempt, as a large surge of ether erupted.

"Brother."

Without even having any second to react, I stepped back, as I could feel, that a large amount of ether gathered above my head, creating a gigantic spear of ice.

Kwomf—!

As the spear made contact with the ground, a large shockwave was created, knocking the snow in the surrounding area away with the sole impact.

"Are you trying to take away my freedom too?"

The snow, that was knocked back, formed together into a humanoid shape.

A young girl that essentially looked like a younger, female version of me appeared from the snow.

Sharp grey eyes, pale skin, and deep black hair.

Dashing forward, she materialized another spear of ice into her hand, trying to stab me with it.

Clir—!

Parrying the strike, I ducked to the side, rushing to her blind spot.

"Not so fast."

My path was blocked, as a hand of snow jumped out of the ground, reaching for me.

In the last moment, I leaned back, avoiding the hand by mere inches, as the reach of the hand barely stopped in front of my nose.

"I don't know what you mean."

I spoke through grit teeth, glaring at the young girl.

"And what do you mean with 'brother'?"

While I admitted, that she looked similar to me, I wasn't aware of having another sibling. While it could be true, that I really had one, as I was adopted by my mother, there was no way, that she could recognize me by a single glance. Especially if we haven't seen each other before.

"You haven't realized yet?"

The girl leaped into the air, pointing her finger toward me, as different types of spears appeared behind her back.

12 Spears from different elements levitated behind her back, ready to shoot off.

Ice, water, fire, lightning, earth, steel, gravity, and many more types of spears circled behind her back.

"Go!"

Boom—!

The spear shot forward at an immense speed, creating a sonic boom, as they picked up on speed while flying toward me.

"Void step."

Deciding, that running away from the spears was useless, I used ether to erase the space between me and my targeted location.

"Spatial manipulation?" The girl mused, following my movements with her eye, as a wide grin appeared on her face. "What an interesting ether attribute."

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue in irritation, as suddenly the world flipped, shifting into another structure.

Now, instead of the snowy landscape, I was in a space full of mirrors.

As the center of gravity shifted due to the change of dimensions, I fell down to my knees, taken by surprise by the sudden change.

"Watch where you're going."

Raising my head, the girl standing in front of me with an orange glowing sword in her hand.

An enchanted sword?

Grinning, the girl thrusted the tip of her sword toward me.

Clang—!

Quickly I parried with Excalibur, before rolling away from her, creating some distance between us.

However, I had no time to stand up, as she immediately followed up with a dash, stabbing me.

Clir—!

Redirecting the force of the sword, I extended my other hand to try to grab her arm, but surprisingly, she let the sword go, pulling her arm back.

"Wha—?"

Taken by surprise, my eyes widened, as I realized what type of enchantment that was.

A detonation enchant.

Boom—!

Without leaving me any second to rest my mind, the sword exploded, heavily damaging everything in its close proximity.

"Tsk." The girl clicked her tongue, an irritated expression appearing on her face as her eyes narrowed. "Now you're getting a little bit pesky."

Using void step, I managed to dodge the explosion.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It really isn't."

Bamf—! Bamf—! Bamf—!

Consecutively using void steps, I circled around her, not giving her the chance to locate me.

"Just stay down!"

Her energy fluctuated as a powerful pressure emitted from her body, forcing me to waver for a split second, as she took me by surprise.

"Just die already!"

However, that split second was enough for her to close the gap between us, materializing a hammer in her hands.

Extending her arms, she did an overhead strike. As she struck, her ether flowed into the flat side of the hammer, accelerating her strike and adding power to it.

Boom—!

While I managed to dodge the strike by sidestepping, a thunderous explosion echoed, as her hit connected with the ground, destroying all mirrors in our surroundings.

"Is it that bad for me to want my freedom?"

Gritting her teeth, she yanked her arms toward me, flexing her ether.

While I didn't know what exactly her capabilities were or what she wanted to do, I knew that her so-called 'ether attribute' — or whatever she called that — revolved around manipulating this dimension.

Exhaling a long breath, I tried to scan the ether in the air as I pumped my own ether into the atmosphere.

To me, the ether looked like a code that I had to decipher, and if I could do that, maybe, just maybe, I could counter her ability.

"Your ether control is terrible."

The girl flashed a victorious grin when she realized that her ether control was superior to mine, thinking that ether was the only thing that would decide the outcome of the battle.

All the thousands of glass shards in the surrounding area began to levitate, coating themselves with ether as they shot toward me.

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!

However, contrary to her expectations, none of those shards hit me as I parried every single one of them.

Suddenly, the terrain shifted again, this time into an uneven volcanic surface, upsetting my balance.

"How about this?"

She flashed a provocative grin at me when she realized that her plan worked. The changing terrain upset my balance, thus messing up my parry timing.

"Sever."

Shiiing—!

While that was a good try, it wasn't enough to stop me.

The surrounding space distorted, wobbling, before I delivered a slash that seemed like it would cut space itself, erasing every glass shard near me.

"Why you—!"

"You talk too much."

Interrupting her, I used void step to teleport forward, vanishing and reappearing right in front of her nose, as I extended my arm, slashing at her.

Clink—!

However, the only thing that my sword met was another sword that materialized out of nowhere.

"Heh."

Even though her breathing gradually began to hasten, she still managed to crack a triumphant smile at me.

"What an impressive reaction speed."

Realizing that my strike wouldn't connect, I pulled my sword back and delivered a kick toward her side instead.

Smash—!

Taken by surprise, her pupils dilated as I smashed her body into a nearby wall, almost into a lava pit.

Drip— Drip— Drip—

Falling to her knees, she panted as she wiped the blood from the corners of her mouth.

"...Why...you.." The girl spoke through grit teeth, trembling in anger, as she yanked her head toward me, facing me with an expression of contempt. "...what is so wrong with me wanting to experience freedom?! What have I done to you guys?! Why do you imprison me in this place!?"

While I could understand her frustration and anger, at the end of the day, it wasn't my problem.

I just calmly analyzed her with a cold gaze, watching for any sudden movements.

"...I will kill you..."

Her ether fluctuated, pumping into the atmosphere, as the air suddenly began to turn stuffy.

An immense pressure emitted over me, perfectly showcasing her anger and frustration toward me and the world, that forced such a cruel fate upon her.

Imprisoned in a dark ruin for 140 years with no one to talk to.

I wonder if her ether attribute was crystalized out of that.

Did she perhaps want to create a place where she could flee to, to escape the lonely, dark walls of the ruin?

"...I will fucking kill you!"

As she finished speaking that sentence, thousands—no, millions of different weapons appeared in the air behind her, painting the sky with bright colors of every kind.

Each of those weapons was either enchanted with a different attribute, or an elemental weapon, so only parrying or deflecting them wouldn't work.

There were probably also weapons among that horde that would just release their effect at contact.

"I'll make you regret trying to pin me down in such a place, you disgusting brother!"

Her ether extended to all these weapons, coating each one of them in a layer of ether, drastically increasing their power and speed.

Usually, if I wanted to parry such an amount of attacks, it would be slightly worrisome.

However, that wasn't a thing I had to worry about now.

I've already finished adapting.