Flexible Manner
He had done this to dozens if not hundreds of woman and even a few man. They sometimes fought back and a few even escaped, but he never felt fear towards them.
With each step Veronica took, the man's grin disappeared, and by the time she was a few meters away, his face turned grim and angry... How dare this little whore step up to him? How dare she make him feel threatened?!
He had a wrathful expression on his face and watched as the woman pulled out a dagger from some hidden place.
The alley turned silent, like all the sounds that came from outside disappeared.
The man didn't notice it, though. His full focus was on the woman, anticipating her attack.
She moved like a clumsy child as she tried to stab him in the chest. He dodged it with no actual effort and tried to stab the woman in her side. The knife missed by a few millimeters... How unlucky.
The woman laughed again, but this time it was more mocking than scary.
The man became angrier, and with a shout he kicked at the woman, then tried to stab her again.
The kick accidentally hit the side of the alley, causing him to yelp in pain while the dagger slipped out of his bloody hands, landing very close to his feet.
With a curse, he snatched it up and moved towards Veronica, who was laughing at him.
An attack came again, aimed at her lower belly, but with a quick turn, the dagger missed her. The man kept his momentum and head butted the wall.
"What is happening?!" whispered the man in an angry growl, then tried to rip open Veronica.
It was clear to the man that something was wrong. He was very unlucky, and the woman's movements were strange too. She dodged each attack, but he always got close to stabbing her. The blade's edge always passed a few millimeters away.
But as he listened to the woman's mocking laughter, he ignored all this and tried to kill her again and again, without success.
After the first attack, Veronica hadn't tried again. She was afraid of killing him, without the necessary method.
Before the whole chase and fight had started, she used the Theater to divine a suitable target. After getting an image of the man she was fighting, she used one of the Dancer's ability's... She placed a curse on the man, making him unlucky!
The changes weren't too obvious at first, just a slip of his feet or getting too close to the alley's wall. But as more time passed, his luck became more and more ridiculous.
At one point, the man dropped his knife, which landed on his shoe. It missed his toes, but went through the boot and imbedded itself into the ground. He stumbled again and ripped away the bottom of his shoe.
Seeing this display, Veronica had enough... It was time to end it!
While the man was climbing to his feet, a blue glow appeared above them. Behind Veronica, Michael appeared and tossed a very heavy object towards the blue moon. It sucked it in without care.
By the time the man got to his feet, the moon was already above him. With curiosity, he looked up, just as the moon dissipated, leaving only one object suspended about ten meters in the air...
It was a half meter long, wide lead blade, which levitated with its point towards the ground.
The man's eyes widened and as he opened his mouth to scream, gravity took hold of the heavy blade.
It entered the man's mouth, went into his neck, cut open his insides, and exited between his legs, imbedding itself into the ground below.
The already dead rapist and serial killer stood there for a few long seconds, then toppled over. The impact cut his body in half, and both halves unceremoniously fell to the dirty alley floor.
Veronica watched all this with cold eyes. Murder still didn't sit right with her, but through her previous divination, he saw how many awful things this man had done... She didn't feel the slightest remorse or sadness as she killed him.
"Did it work?" asked the love of her life from behind her.
She turned around with a bright smile, surprising Michael. He expected her to feel guilty because of the murder, but she didn't even seem to care.
He wanted to ask her if she was okay, and talk to her about the murder, but they didn't have time for that...
"Yes, it did! Let's hurry back!"
With that, the pair ran off, leaving the corpse of the murderer in the dark alley.
...
They arrived back at the inn a two hours later. The main room was empty, except for Suze and James, who were sitting at a table, waiting for them to arrive.
Seeing them arrive, with tired expressions and sweaty faces, it was obvious that the pair had been running for most of the way.
"Did it work?" asked Suze, while walking towards Veronica.
Her breaths were still uneven from all the running and her heart was pumping wildly, but she tried to sound as normal as possible.
"Yes... But we don't have much time left... Let's get this over with!"
With that, both Veronica and Suze headed for the basement. Michael still wasn't allowed to enter, and James stayed with him, asking questions about the night.
Veronica headed straight for the large bath, where every material and item was already prepared.
"Good luck!" said Suze from the doorway with a brittle smile.
"Thank you for everything!"
Veronica leaned in and gave her adopted mother a quick hug, then closed the door and prepared for the advancement.
First she discarded all her clothing and changed into the pink robes, next she purified the room with the same Ethereal Materials as last time.
Then came the most important step, placing the Main Ingredient into the 57 degrees bathwater. She had already set the water temperature before beginning the ritual; now, she unfolded the paper with the ritual's chant…
"I, Veronica Navarro, will sacrifice my life in exchange for power!
I, Veronica Navarro, ask for the blessing of Tom Navarro's Ascended Characteristic!
I, Veronica Navarro, killed in a flexible manner!
I, Veronica Navarro, shall ascend today as a Flexible Warrior!"
She spoke in Ancient Rener, then held her brother's Characteristic, and placed it on top of the water gently. It floated there for a few seconds, then began to sink and dissolve.
The water first exploded with brownish-green colors and moved like a whirlpool within the bath.
Its color lightened until it turned into a pure light green, then with no prior notice, the water turned pink.
It was very unnatural, and beautiful at the same time. With this part done, Veronica raised her hands and chanted the last part in Ancient Rener.
"I beg thee for a blessing, I beg thee for a chance!
I need thine help, in order to ascend!"
The water began to glow with an ethereal light, which marked the completion of the ritual.
With slow and methodical movements, Veronica stood up and stared into the bathwater. It still hasn't settled yet, but that's how it was supposed to be.
Veronica took a deep breath and, without further ado, stepped inside the bath. The feeling wasn't as comfortable as last time. In fact, it was quite painful.
Her skin felt like a thousand needles were stabbing her. She yelped from surprise, and nearly took out her foot out of the water, which would've been a death sentence.
After you touch the Bathing Ritual's water, you can't leave it without causing Corruption.
Taking a few rapid breaths, Veronica ploughed through the pain and placed her other foot inside as well.
The more skin touched the water, the more pain she felt. As she descended into its tormenting waves, she whimpered and cried, but didn't scream.
When only her head was sticking out of the water, the pain was near unbearable. She tried her hardest, but couldn't get her head under the waves.
As Veronica panicked, a realization came to her, a suggestion from her heart.
Only now did she realize why the Principles were so important. Without them, she would've never gotten here.
The first Principle was to act like how other want to see you, and with it you can manipulate what you want them to see. She used this to bait and kill the rapist a few hours ago.
The second Principle was to push through any limit set by your body or mind, which is why she managed to get into the painful water at all.
The third and last Principle was to let your body move separately from your mind.
Using the last Principle, even though she couldn't give the command, Veronica let go of herself and her body moved, pushing her head below the pink water.
With her mind in full Concentration, Veronica began to absorb the Ethereal Property inside the waves. The water became more turbulent, and the pain in her skin decreased.
It didn't disappear though, and after a few seconds, she felt it within her very soul, burning and expanding its previous size.
She heard herself scream under the water, but it all felt strange, like it was happening with someone else, and she was just re-experiencing a long forgotten memory.
In pain, she tried to leave the water desperately, but her body didn't let her, so she stayed and suffered until her mind went blank...