Dagger IX

"Fine, fine. But, I'll just do cheeks."

"Acceptable."

Adelle then closed her eyes. "Go on."

Feeling flustered, Ruvian found himself unable to resist Adelle's request. He approached her slowly and gently bumped his snout and lips against her white, blushy cheeks.

Adelle then giggled. That was a fine serotonin shot she got.

"It's much more fun when you do it on your own. Well, part of it. Heehe." Ruvian being blushing was truly a treat to her eyes.

Not gonna say a word, Ruvian just rubbed his temples. Embarrassed to his own self.

"Apology accepted." Giggling, her mood was really setting in. "Follow my lead then."

"Tch, what a fox …."

"What did you say?"

"Nope. Nothing. We should be going now."

Later, when they arrived at the end of the tunnel, Adelle concentrated her Ordo into a shape of an egg shell that was big enough for two people.

"Gramps put a formation of space bending runes around the cottage. He can activate it whenever he needs it. With this, we wouldn't be affected by it."

"Mm-hmm." He wished that he could use Ordo too.

"Did you lose your mouth or something? Can't you at least make a word or something."

"Urgh, just leave me alone will you."

Adelle shrugged. "Request granted."

Suddenly, her Vis reacted, forming thin silvery blazes before they moved an inch.

"What, we haven't been there yet where Gramps' Vis flowed. Why is my Ordo already burning something else?"

"I think it's my Vis." Ruvian Sensus vision was indeed hampered. It made contact with Adelle's Ordo that she formed like a wall. Burning the Sensus away.

"Well, you might want to tone it down so mine wouldn't burn the wrong one. Else, we will fail to cross Gramps' runes."

"Hmn." He nodded. Ruvian then reduced his Sensus radius enough to keep him seeing Adelle near him. Beyond that, it was just pitch black.

As they walked, a white-gray energy dome surrounded Adelle and Ruvian, and Adelle continuously released her Vis to burn away Lefazio's Inanis.

The silvery blazes started off thin but grew thicker as they walked deeper into the mist until it was all they could see around them.

Adelle's heart raced as she had already exerted a considerable amount of Vis. The eggshell-shaped Ordo started to shrink.

They continued at the same pace until the mist gradually thinned and disappeared, and they were out of the runic area.

Adelle breathed heavily, feeling depleted as both her stamina and Vis had been cut in half. "Huft, finally. We are out of ther—Tsk, you are really starting to get on my nerve, eh?"

Once again, Adelle found herself under the effect of Ruvian's telekinesis.

"I mean it, Adelle. You can't come with me."

"And why is that?"

"You'll just throw away your life."

"I'd rather throw it for something I yearn for than being caged."

"Y-you …. That's insane!"

Adelle engulfed her body in Ordo, dispelling Ruvian's purple Vis effect. She grinned.

"Think of it as paying back for saving your life. I am not that weak to die off easily."

Ruvian shook head. "You don't understa—" He had to make a sudden lunge to the side.

Without warning, Adelle fired a flaming ball towards him. "How 'bout this? If I punched that face of yours. That'll prove I won't die like an ant." Her adrenaline is still rushing.

"Fine, then. That will make things simpler."

Ruvian and Adelle sprang into their battle stances, both ready for what was to come. Ruvian concentrated his Vis in both of his hands, extending them forward.

Adelle, on the other hand, was eager to try something new, something she had been itching to do for a while.

She took off her boots and then clenched her hands. She reached out her inner Vis realm and poured all her Vis pool to her body. Her cyan eyes glowed and then fully shone with white light.

"I'll make you regret your words." Not intending on wasting even a drop of her Vis, jets of flame fired from her fully healed feet, pushing her body to charge towards Ruvian.

Ruvian amazed how she could develop such a style. Without a doubt, she is indeed a pupil of Lefazio. Of course, such a technique surely has a catch and Ruvian knew it well. "How reckless, using Diluvism–"

Adelle threw a wind-boosted punch. But Ruvian didn't flinch since she was charging recklessly and not knowing Ruvian's purple Vis caught her arms.

Before Adelle could do anything, she was roughly flown back as Ruvian moved his finger.

"I'll just wait 'till you exhaust your Vis." He held her on the ground using telekinesis.

Adelle fought back by continuously engulfing herself in Ordo. She quickly charged again with jets of flame.

This time, Ruvian's Praecantatio won't be able to reach her as it would be burned away by her Ordo. Effectively she was making a control immunity barrier.

"Tch!" Ruvian blocked the incoming punch, and another punch, and another punch again. Then, blocked a flying kick too.

Ruvian saw her every move which frustrated her. Adelle then empowered the fiery jet on her feet, pushing Ruvian even more. She just needs to kick that face.

But Ruvian could just back away easily with purple Vis that enveloped his body. Creating a gap between them.

'Damn it. He doesn't even try to fight back.' Adelle's Vis started to wear out. Her chance of winning was narrowing. 'I have to try something new.'

Ruvian just floated in the air, watching her struggle. "Beat it. You can't win against me."

"We'll see about that."

She then swiftly slides on the ground with fiery jets boosted along with wind Vis. She moved in a big circle, leaving a trail mark of flames with her hand along the path.

Once she completed a full circle under five seconds, she empowered the Vis on the trail mark while also using the wind Vis altogether.

Resulting in a fire tornado that confined them both.

Ruvian was amazed by her Vis manipulation. "Well, then. What are you gonna do?"

He raised himself further into the air. "I thought you were about to punch me."

"I'm ABOUT to!" She aimed her hands at him. Then, she shot her Vis of Ordo into a widespread. Leaving no room for him to dodge.

Ruvian shocked. His only way out was to fly higher or quickly charge through the fire tornado. But alas, it was in vain. The wide shot traveled faster than him.

Adelle's Ordo struck Ruvian, and the purple Vis enveloping his body was quickly consumed by the silvery blazes, burning not only his Vis but also his Sensus.

Without them, Ruvian's vision fell into complete darkness, and he felt gravity pulling him down.

To seize the opportunity, Adelle dashed towards Ruvian and caught him mid-air before he hit the ground.

With a quick movement, she delivered a powerful wind-boosted punch to his face, causing him to backflip and land roughly on the ground.

Blood was dripping from his nose, indicating the impact of her punch. Adelle felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that she had landed a solid hit.

"How humiliating …." His face got red from embarrassment and also bruised from the injury.

Adelle quickly deactivated her Diluvism state. The glow on her eyes began to fade and the fire tornado dispersed within a second. She then fell down on her knees.

Heavily breathing, she pushed a shout, "ha-ha! See … that?" She could barely walk. Her body was extremely drained out of stamina.

Ruvian sighed. He underrated her potential. Now, he was more ashamed than being forced to kiss her on the cheek.

He then stood and walked towards her. "I admit defeat." He wiped blood from his nose. "Seems like I underestimated you."

Adelle just grimaced with eyes closed. Not much she can say. She needs room to breathe.

'Seems like she really meant what she wanted. Freedom huh? Did Lefazio put the Rune of Obedience on her?'

Adelle coughed, gasping for air after taking hurried breaths. Ruvian asked if she was okay, but received no reply.

He scanned the area with Sensus and spotted her bag, which was filled with food and water and was left near her boots. Using his Praecantatio, he casted a purple Vis on the bag, causing the items to fly towards him.

"Here," he said, offering her the water.

"Th-th-thanks," Adelle stuttered, taking the water and quickly drinking it. As she rested and regained her energy, she remarked, "you should show that concerned expression more often."

Ruvian let out a small laugh as he sat down next to her, having seen her struggle before.

"Pfft," he chuckled. "You remind me of someone," he added, catching Adelle's attention.

She focused on catching her breath as he continued to speak, "she was the daughter of a well-known family in their tribe. Her hair was also silver, but she wasn't a Lektia like you."

Ruvian let out a deep sigh and gazed above, lost in cherished memories that began to flood his mind.

It warmed his chest but at the same time the memories pierced the same spot inside that hurt him the most. So he kept silent for a moment.

As he gazed up at the sparkling stars, Ruvian couldn't help but notice how their glittering lights seemed to be the same as they were at those past moments.

Adelle then opened her eyes. "Why bring this now?"

"You'll know. Due to her hair color, her tribes recognized her as cursed. So, her family locked her up for her entire childhood."

"Ow …."

"Until the Alliance team met with them because the family were the guardians of the Crystal from Illitium. I was in the team. We spent months in their homeland and eventually I got to know her."