"There you are... Nanami Ryoline." uttered Virdjana.
Ryoline's POV
After leaving Arcacia and heading to Cleopardia, I decided to check the contents of the second Chronicle Book. It's a fake! It's just a comic book about a black swordsman battling a cliche villain for the sake of world peace! It seemed like I made a bad decision, I did not even bother cleaning up the mess I made at the back gate. I know that Drago Arcedes is one smart Enchanted Elite, so he would probably figure out that I'm the thief.
I bit the tips of my finger as I jumped off of Naga and into the dusty ground of Cleopardia. It seems to be a little foggy in this place, but this would do for now. Leader told me that if I ever find myself in a pinch Cleopardia have all the things that I need.
"Good job sniffing them out Naga." I phrased my friend and gave her a pat on the head. "These pack of Starblaze wolves would just do for my experiment."
As expected, the academy sent people after me, however I was not expecting my pursuers to be the very people that I last conversed with. Thankfully, my Mythical Beast did the job for me and I was able to conceal my presence in time and prepared a trap for the three.
I was amazed that Senior Assassin was able to detect my upgraded wolves within a few minutes of entering the forest, I guess she did not receive the offer of being an Enchanted Elite as a mere showoff. If any students below A-Class were sent after me, they would be mutilated by now. Of course, they would be sending students from the S-Class, moreover three Enchanted Elites - should I feel scared about this?
Ryoline, focus. No need to worry, leader trusted you to accomplish this. Believe that you could take them on. I closed my eyes, before smiling to myself - it's alright, I could see that they are able to fend off the Starblaze wolves but that does not mean that they could last for more than an hour - wait, what is going on? They're overpowering my wolves!
A hiss came from Naga telling me that danger is nearby. "What are you talking about Naga? Of course, that's normal. Those wolves scream danger after all." I told her confidently.
Naga continued pestering me so I ordered her to go for a roam while I watch my upperclassmen suffer. It's a good thing that I chose a high location in order to watch my enemies better. "They're going to get mangled soon. Leader would be please if I am able to take out three Enchanted Elites at onc- Ugh!"
The next thing I knew was that I was falling from the tree, where I saw a black figure dashing, no flying towards me. "Who is that?!" I felt shiver down my spines as I sense the bloodlust coming from the individual, the person's speed is incredible. What was the thing that hit me? I didn't see any incoming attack.
"My body, it won't move. It seems like my body was still in shock from the attack that hit me earlier. Tch, I'm... I'm not going to be defeated that easily. Naga!" I called my Mythical Beast that was able to block the incoming attack on time.
Virdjana's POV
Our plan was successful. Back at the car the three of us also discussed a strategy as to how we can find Ryoline and force her to come out. I told them that I would set my aura sensing skill into an active one so it would be easier to detect any approaching or moving creatures once we enter Cleopardia. I was sure that Ryoline would not get very far since she does not look stupid enough to not check whether that book was real or not.
Nonetheless, the arguing that occurred along the way was also real. I would definitely get a punch back on Nueva's face after this. I glanced at the direction of the canopy where I threw the Wind Shuriken, lucky enough it hit the target. While the boys were stalling time fighting the wolves, I was using my Aura Sensos to figure out where Ryoline was hiding.
"Flamma Compedes Release!" Kadaski disenchanted.
"Finally~" I chuckled, as I start running towards Ryoline's direction, bending my knee and activating flight.
I pulled my katana out from its sheath and aimed to cut Ryoline into half, but after attacking, I was forced to immediately block a tail slam coming from a serpent that slithered from a tree to defend Ryoline. 'That must be her main beast.'
I landed on the ground where Drago and Kadaski was located.
"You surprised us with that speed of yours." commented Drago who was panting a little in order to catch up to me.
"Were you just trying to kill her? Really Phantom?" said Kadaski in exasperation.
"Ah, I thought that's the main goal." I joked with a smirk. 'This dumbass really shares his opinion about everything huh...'
We watched Ryoline stand on top of the snake that for some reason grew larger when we were busy talking, "You think that I'd be defeated with such a lame attack? You wish!"
I ignored her tattling and glanced at Ryoline's entirety, she received a deep gush on her right arm. I guess my aim was not so bad, given that she was more than 15 meters away from the ground earlier.
"Defeated? You really think you'd be leaving this place alive?" I told her as tightened my grip on my katana.
"Tch. You're going to eat your words!" shouted Ryoline.
"Virdjana, tone it down..."sighed Drago.
"Alright, alright." I responded just to ease this man.
However, I was not joking. What's most enjoyable when it comes to these missions is that I get to inflict pain towards the bad guys. Thankfully, Reggie seems to be busy in his own world so he can't nag me about how I shouldn't talk about taking away lives lightly - what a hypocrite he is.
"Naga! Toxin Spray!" utos ni Ryoline sa kaniyang alaga bago ito mag-paulan ng mala-asidong laway patungo sa aming direksiyon.
"Ilag!" sigaw ni Kadaski.
Nagsitago kami sa likod ng mga puno kaya pansamantala kaming ligtas mula sa atakeng iyon, ngunit sa kasamaang-palad ay hindi lang si Ryoline at Naga ang kalaban namin sapagkat nagsitayuan na ring muli ang mga napatumba naming Starblaze wolves.
"I think it's time for our own tricks Drago!" saad ni Kadaski saka ito nagsimulang gumawa ng magical symbols sa lupa.
"Mag-ingat ka Aski, at bilisan mo lang!" sabi naman ni Drago.
"Fire Creation: Salamanders!" Kadaski enchanted as he creates salamanders comparable to the size of the wolves. "That would keep them busy. Itumba na natin si Ryoline."
"Sinong itutumba mo Senior Nueva?" biglang lumabas ang higanteng ulo ng Mythical Beast sa kanan ni Kadaski at agad nitong sinubukang lapain ang lalake.
'Oh? Ganoon-ganoon na lang ba matatapos ang buhay ng madaldal na lalakeng ito?' Sa isip-isip ko lang.
"Virdjana, let's take this opportunity to sneak on Ryoline. Kadaski will be fine." bulong ni Drago.
I shrugged and followed the red-haired around the trees of Cleopardia. We kept on walking away from the scene of battle that even the sounds of fighting began to fade quickly.
"Are we sneaking or running away?" I asked Drago as I stopped on my tracks,
"Just a little more, we will launch our attack from afar so that Ryo would not notice us." he answers without even batting an eye on me.
"Hmm, really now?" I whispered under my breath as I grabbed the shurikens in my pocket and throws it to Drago.
Just as I thought!
The shurikens went past through Drago before hitting a tree trunk with small sharp thuds, then he disappeared like a ghost.
An illusion! Goddammit. I think, the more we stay inside Cleopardia, the worst the illusions are going to be. I have to go back to those two- but wait a minute, I'm free now, I don't have the responsibility to help those idiots.
"Reggie." I called upon my guardian.
Drago's POV
"Aski!" I worriedly exclaimed.
I knocked a few wolves along the way either using physical blows and low-tier fire spells. I did this to pave my way towards Kadaski. It would not be easy to dodge such a large attacker after all.
"Fire Creation: Gargantua Fuego." Aski enchanted, and from underneath his soles spread a magical circle large enough to summon the monstrous fire beast he needed. It was a bit shorter compared to the snake but it gave him the ability to increase his attack power and defense.
The Gargantua Fuego leaps backwards and spits a fireball towards the Mythical Beast at the same time.
"Nice Aski!" I beamed.
"Ako pa ba." nakangiti naman nitong pahayag.
"That would definitely not affect my Naga! Moronic Seniors!" laughed Ryoline as she orders her Mythical Beast to barrage us with tail slams.
"Dodge!" I shouted.
"Where the heck is Phantom?" Kadaski asked me.
"She was just over the-... where did she go?" I uttered out of confusion. "Maybe, she's just planning a secret attack or something."
Kadaski rolled his eyes and returns his attention to our enemies. "She better be. I'm having a bad feeling about this."
"Pay attention! Toxic Bullets!" enchanted Ryoline Nanami, then blobs of green acid formed around her before turning into bullets. The moment she moved her arms to our direction, another barrage of attacks showered upon us.
"Holy crap-"I immediately duck, only to feel a pang of pain on my leg and at first i thought I got hit. "I forgot about the wolves!" I kicked the wolf that bit me before creating a wall of fire to shield me from the bullets.
"Drago, can you stand?" Kadaski asked me while dodging and throwing fireballs back at the Naga as a counterattack.
"Yeah, I can endure this." I assured him, as I leaped off of the ground to the nearest tree I could find. "This is crazy. What should I do? We need to take down that snake first, and it won't be easy since it's a Mythical Beast."
"Oh? Are you just going to play hide and seek with me? Pathetic!" laughed Ryoline. "Naga, destroy the trees in your path!" she ordered.
Damn it. Kadaski, you better be prepared to not get killed. We can't even land anything fatal in this woman because of her abilities. Yet, I couldn't say this is a mismatch, but the terrain surely favors her.
The Naga started clearing the forest, easily uprooting the trees just by swiping its tails around. It was not that difficult to get out of their attack range, but Ryoline while on top continues to blindly fire her Toxin Bullets in a circular area. "You won't be getting out of Cleopardia alive!"
"D-Drago... help me." I flinched when I heard Aski from behind me, and what's worse was that he was covered with bite wounds.
"Aski! Tch, here take this emergency healing potion I got from the academy." I went down on my knees to aid him into sitting before popping the lid open with my mouth.
"I owe you...." Aski utters while panting.
Wait a minute, not in the farthest corner of Arcacia would Kadaski even dare say those words. He hates it when he owes someone a favor. I quickly closed the potion, placed it back on my pocket before giving /Kadaski/ a kick on the chest. I felt nothing and he disappeared.
"Cleopardia is affecting me already." I cursed under my breath as I brush my hair backwards in the process.
"Drago! Quit standing around!" I heard Aski shouted from across the forest. It seemed like he was able to go around Ryoline and her Mythical Beast after a few struggles.
"Still kicking eh?" grinned Ryoline. "Not for long Seniors!" she opened her arms above her head that caused the Toxin Bullets to merge together into a large green-purplish ball. "I don't mind destroying Cleopardia to take my Seniors down."
I nodded at Kadaski, and he seemed to have understood our next move.
"Ryoline. Listen, you don't have to do this. You already got the Chronicle Book isn't that enough for you?" I asked.
She halted, raised a brow before chuckling. "Oh, stalling time for something? I'm not stupid."
"Alright, you got me. You're right about that, but at the very least tell us what drove you into this decision?" I continued as I simply stood in place with no plans of fighting back or shielding myself.
"Jeez, jeez, jeez... fine. I'll tell you a bit. But that doesn't mean you can stop this attack I'm preparing." laughed Ryoline, she shifted her body and faced my direction.
Even her Naga turned its large body to my direction, 'now, the pressure is real.' I thought to myself.
"The answer is simple Senior Arcedes. It's acknowledgement. Now, you might be thinking to yourself that I'm already an Enchanted Elite so what else could I ask for right?" the ball of green and purple continued getting bigger, "Being an Enchanted Elite simply equals to being the favorite student amongst the population. It's a title for the vain, the three of you can't even handle me. I'm your underclassman, a first year student so totally it would mean nothing now. I had high hopes, but your life will end now."
"But you worked hard for it right? It's not easy becoming an Enchanted Elite." I stated seriously.
I saw her flinch, but it was enough to shake her, obviously this girl would not even pass the scans as an Enchanted Elite if she didn't pay any effort to have it.
"You hit a nerve right there. We have to stop the chit-chat." remarked Ryoline as she throws the ball upwards, Naga also moves to prepare for a tail slam.
Wait a second, it's not going to be a tail slam- it's...
Ryoline's POV
Senior Arcedes was right about the challenges I have to go through in order to become an Enchanted Elite, but that's not my main goal. I don't give a care about it, I am after something far greater than an academy title. These people are already having a hard time against me, therefore they are not worthy of learning about my true intentions.
"Maxima Toxifica: Acid Meteor!" I enchanted. This attack takes a large amount of energy on my body, but it does not matter since it's a quick way to take them down.
I smirked to myself. "I won."
"You're quick to declare victory, kid." whispered a cold breathe on my left ear.
My body screamed in horror, so much so that I froze all over again. This familiar bloodlust, I need to do something. She's close, so close.
"I won't allow you to make another move." she adds, as I felt a strong nudge on my stomach.
My eyes widened when I saw a blade piercing my body, and it was as if my reflexes slowed down. "ARGHHHHH!" then she kicked me off of Naga while pulling the blade out of my body at the same time.
I glared at Senior Assassin, before rolling away on the back of Naga to the middle part of my snake to create distance, covering my bleeding stomach with one hand. How was she able to sneak behind me like that? I should be able to smell her presence since my Mythical Beast and I could share abilities.
There was something dripping on her shoulders and clothes, what is that liquid? Blood?! Tch, she must have been injured while dodging my rampaging Mythical Beast earlier. It's alright. I would be alright since both of us are injured anyway, she won't be able to hurt me from this distance.
"Virdjana! You're okay!" Senior Drago shouts from down below. "Well, not completely, but you're alive!"
I smirked at that thought, this idiot, even if Senior Assassin managed to attack me, my spell would not be cancelled. "Naga! Pitch!"
My Mythical Beast began to slither to a bow, a tail raised in order to strike the Acid Meteor down to the ground like baseball bat to a ball. This place would be destroyed before Senior Assassin could lay another finger on me.
I held tight on one of the scales, so that I won't fall down. I gave my female upperclassman a glance, but to my surprise she was no longer on my snake's head. "Heh, she must have fallen down. How stupid of her to think that she could practice balancing on top of my Mythical Beast."
Anyhow, it's finally happening. Let's do our best Naga, this is for leader!
"Eyes on your opponent, beast tamer." there's that voice again, but I have no idea where it was coming from. It was too late when I looked above me, since I received a hard kick on my injured shoulder causing me to fall from a certain height. She's fast!
"Argh! I... I won't accept this." I gritted my teeth as I start to write a magical circle with my remaining hand. I'm going to blast Senior Assassin away.
"I told you, you won't be able to make another move." said Senior Assassin as she suddenly appears in front of me, matching the speed of my fall.
She flashed a smirk at me, before creating a triangular translucent blade on her palm then she grabbed it as if it wasn't an intangible object in the first place. Her dark onyx eyes showed no hesitation, it shows no mercy. What is her ability? Everything that happened so far kept me from analyzing the situation properly, what kind of opponent is Senior Assassin?
No. I can't accept this. I have to make Leader proud.
[FLASHBACK: 2 YEARS AGO]
The village of Physicia, where people are called Restovakians, is a place of poverty. We are also known as the weakest of all clans despite the enormous variation of abilities included in our community. We are a peaceful village that acquires our food through hunting animals and wild beasts in the forest in our territory.
I was never the type to ask for more, I was satisfied with our way of life. I did not get the chance to study in any prestigious school, but my parents were enough - they taught me how to read and write using the Arcacia Dialect.
"Mama, marunong na po akong magbilang hanggang isang daan!" masaya kong pagkukuwento sa aking ina.
Lumuhod ang aking ina at binigyan ako ng mainit na tinapay. "Ang galing naman ng anak ko! I'm proud of you Ryoline." pahayag ni Ina.
Hindi ko naintindahan ang huli niyang mga sinabi sapagkat ibang lengguwahe ito, ang mga salitang iyon ay ang tinatawag palang Arcane Language. Hindi ko naman ito gaanong binigyan-pansin sapagkat ang ngiti sa labi ng aking magulang ay sapat na upang malaman kong ipinagmamalaki niya ako.
"Marami kaming huli ngayong araw! Mukhang maraming mabubusog sa araw na ito!" saad naman ng aking ama na kauuwi lamang mula sa isang Wrangle Spree.
Ikinuwento ng aking ina ang tungkol sa progreso ng aking pagbibilang, dahilan para gulu-guluhin ng aking ama ang buhok ko. "Magaling Ryo. Pero huwag mong kakalimutang sanayin ang iyong lakas. Isa kang Restovakian, magiging isa ka ring Wrangler!"
"Opo!" sagot ko naman.
That would be the usual runabout of our lives, not until the day where my parents and I finally learned about my main ability - Beast Taming. Of course, I was not the only beast tamer in the village of Physicia, there are many others. However, I was the first to have the ability to control multiple animals at once.
My clan celebrated this discovery, from then on everyone had high expectations of me. Even though the ability was rare, I was not popular in the whole village, and that was because my family decided to keep it a secret. The next thing I knew, they began gathering money so that they could enroll me to the Prestigious Academy of Arcacia.
I told them that they don't have to do such a thing, and that I was satisfied with how my life is now.
"Insolent brat. You would be wasting your abilities if you stay in this town!" my mother told me.
Of course, I did not understand her. She was screaming at me, for the first time, but then she smiled at me saying, "you're fated to go to Arcacia love. You have to do this for us, we are sick and tired in this poor village."
She was smiling, so I thought she was giving me words of encouragement, and was saying she believed in me and that I can do it. That's where I was wrong, totally wrong.
A couple of months after, they were successful in enrolling me to the Prestigious Academy of Arcacia, and I was surprised that the school accepted me despite my clan origins. A shiny expensive-looking car picked me up, and that was the last time I saw my family and the village of Physicia.
Two years later, I was 15 years old, I finally met the man that made my family's dream possible - he was known in the Merchant World as Bullshark Schnider. He was part of a prominent family in the City of Arcacia - the Schnider Household. They were of noble blood that has a lot of connections within and outside the city, how my family got to know him remains a mystery to me, but the man treated me as if I was his real daughter.
Once again, I never asked for anything, but he kept giving me the things I needed. In return, I promised to work hard, and I did not expect that I have potential to improve in the very first place.
"Ryoline Nanami. I'm proud of you." Sir Schnider told me, and this time I can understand what he meant, of course I also understood what my mother told me back then. "And you know what? I have another gift for you."
I was quick to answer, quick to reject without even hearing what he has to say, nonetheless he simply laughed and continued. "Ryoline. This is not a material gift. I, Bullshark Schnider, would adopt you as my daughter and allow you to have the surname Schnider on your birth certificate if you are able to complete this task."
"Become a Schnider?" my heart almost jump out of my chest, I loved the sound of that surname, its better than being a Nanami. "I'll... I'll do whatever you want."
She ruffles my hair, just like my father does back then, "alright. You have to become an Enchanted Elite."
I became one, but the requests didn't stop there.