'Something is fishy.'
This was Ruth's thought as she faced Jade. And it has nothing to do with the grilled fish she had for lunch.
Her opponent's moves were flawless and it took all her experience and skills to block and parry the vicious attacks coming from the Sword Princess.
Like Seventeen and Alice, they too had gone deeper into the woods, away from the clearing in their battle. Rocks turned to dust, the ground shattered, and trees splintered or fell in huge numbers as the two warlocks clashed violently.
And they are not even fully utilizing their attributes. Ruth had only enveloped her daggers in ice and lowered her body temperature to freezing.
She realized that her battle prowess and skills vastly improved when her body attained a low temperature.
She read about it and discovered that her ancestor, Kryos was a monster in battle during his time, especially in frigid temperatures.
She concluded that when the Immortal Warlock designed the Homunculus, he ensured that Kryos's battle stats increased vastly the lower the temperature.
Being part Homunculus, Ruth has inherited this ability which no other member of the Aeva family had in history.
This enabled her to be on par with her friend, who is one CAT stronger than her.
"You have become strong Ruth!", Jade exclaimed with a grin, "I did say that you will be on the level of a Captain if it weren't for your curse."
Ruth couldn't help but smile, "Yes you did."
Her eyes glowed as she activated her attribute. The temperature dropped and her attacks became faster and more vicious.
But she is still having the feeling that her opponent is not completely focused on the battle. Ruth can see that Jade is aiming for something else.
Hold up.
She narrowed her eyes as a thought ran through her head.
Only one way to find out.
She suddenly jumped back, surprising Jade, and just as soon as her feet touched the ground she dashed toward her opponent, boosting her legs with magia. A sonic boom echoed throughout the woods as she appeared in front of the Sword Princess.
She quickly struck with her dagger and ice. Jade skillfully blocked the strike but found her sword and arm frozen.
"HUH?"
Ruth exhaled mist.
{Ice Code: Flash Freeze}
Jade was hit with an onslaught of frost and her body began to be encased in ice. She gritted her teeth and tried to shatter the still-forming ice but that itself was very strong. She's going to have to use her attribute.
But this delay was what Ruth needed. She took a quick glance back at the clearing, specifically at the ridiculously designed coffee table.
"Just as I thought."
A thin tendril of blood was snaking towards the enchanted rings on the table. Now that Jade was almost frozen, the tendril stopped right at the foot of the table.
She quickly let go of Jade and by forming a thin layer of ice between the ground and her boots, she skillfully skated towards the table and swung her arm.
A thick vein of ice enveloped the blood tendril, freezing it.
'I forgot about the objective. We need to get the rings AND defeat our opponents.', she kicked herself mentally.
"My. I knew that you can't be fooled but it doesn't hurt to try.", Jade suddenly appeared beside her, free from her ice. Her red eyes glowed and she slashed sideways at Ruth.
Almost reflexively, Ruth blocked the attack but she was blown away to the side. She crashed through trees before getting her bearings. She twisted in midair and drove her dagger deep into the trunk of a tree. She spun around it to not pop her shoulder and stopped.
A red glint appeared in Ruth's vision. Her eyes widened and she let go of the dagger and using the trunk as a foothold, launched herself away just as a crescent of blood sliced the tree and the ones behind it like butter.
She rolled away as the tree fell to where she landed. Ruth felt Jade's presence increase as she came closer.
The half-elf raised her second dagger to defend against the coming attack and extended her other hand toward the fallen tree.
The reason Ruth coats her daggers with ice is not only for the extra damage from her attribute but to also control them without touching them. It just takes some time and she has to stay still.
"Come on. Come on.", she muttered as Jade flashed into view, now sporting four tentacles of blood with sharp points on her back.
{Blood Code: Crimson Reach}
Just as the Sword Princess attacked with her sword and tentacles, Ruth's dagger flew into her arms, and bracing herself she blocked increased the area of ice on the blades and blocked her opponent's attack.
A strong shockwave shook the trees violently as the instructor and Captain clashed. Ruth's eyes glowed.
{Ice Code: Spike Bloom}
Jade's eyes widened and she quickly retreated as ice spikes sprung up all around Ruth. Now that she is freed from her curse, Ruth's attack has covered a larger area.
She didn't waste time and dashed at her opponent.
{Ice Code: Frozen Spears}
Multiple ice spears formed around her and she launched them toward Jade. Her opponent easily sliced the big spears apart but they kept on coming. Her blood tentacles were also swatting them away.
Ruth then struck.
Even though she was busy destroying the ice spears coming at her, Jade still managed to block her attack. But her opponent wasn't done.
She dropped her free dagger, reinforced her fist with magia and ice, and punched Jade right above her stomach.
"Ack!", Jade doubled over as the air escaped her body, and she was blown away by the power behind Ruth's fist. Many trees shook due to the shockwave and many more fell as Jade crashed through them like a projectile.
Ruth took some deep breaths after checking her body for any blood tendrils the young Aria have attached to drag her along for the rather unpleasant ride.
She picked up her dagger, closed her eyes, and focused on her breathing. Her body absorbed magia at a rapid rate and she can feel her Reserve filling up.
She then enhanced her body with magia and faced the direction Jade was blown away. This fight isn't over. Ruth knows that and so she pointed her daggers down.
{Ice Code: Dance Of Swords}
Her ice-encased daggers glowed and emitted mist that covered her. Ice crackled as hundreds of ice swords formed around her and arranged themselves in the shape of a massive floating snowflake which is further surrounded by four smaller snowflakes made up of smaller swords.
A wave of cold spread across the woods, covering the trees with a thin layer of frost.
When the mist cleared, Ruth opened her eyes. She was brimming with power. Every time she used this code, her appearance changed but there is a difference this time.
Along with her white hair and clothes with ribbons, ice-blue lines of magia pulsed on her ice-cold skin like a labyrinth, and her eyes glowed faintly. Small runes made of ice formed two rings that revolved around each arm and two massive wings made of sharp ice feathers hovered on her back.
Ruth exhaled mist and the area around her froze. A second wave of cold spread out across the woods.
This is the true Dance of Swords that she had practiced hard to achieve. Now that she is no longer shackled by her curse. She can use it fully.
At that moment, Ruth Aeva evolved into CAT 1.
"Now then.", she said, looking at a swirling mass of crimson in the distance. "Shall we dance?"
*******
A few moments before Ruth punched Jade to the other side of the island...
"Phew. That was close.", Seventeen grinned as his fried eyeballs slowly healed. He coated his hand with magia and pulled out the light needles in his arms.
'This is a rather tricky situation.', he thought. 'My vision is gone and my defenses are low. I should stop holding back.'
(Actually. You are forgetting something.)
'What?'
(Your gift from Vicaris?)
'Ah. I forgot.'
He can feel Ruth and Jade battling each other. The combined magia is making his magia meter go crazy.
He turned to Alice, "I think we should stop holding back."
She sighed, "Alright."
Seventeen tapped the bracelet on his wrist. To Alice, it looked like a swarm of black ants have been released from the bracelet. It quickly covered Seventeen and formed a sleek black armor with a dragon symbol on his chest that glowed crimson.
She was shocked, "A Dragon Knight armor."
She had read about the legendary knights and immediately recognized the design of the armor worn by Seventeen. Despite looking futuristic, it retains the rugged and jagged appearance of the artworks and accurate replicas of the Dragon Knights she had seen.
"How?"
Seventeen placed a hand on the dragon symbol, "I got it as a gift from a great warrior after defeating him. This armor is pretty good and versatile. I and the Headmaster tweaked it a bit."
He tapped the symbol twice and the armor became transparent, showing her opponent's amused smile. "This is a neat feature."
He then swung his sword to the ground a strong wind shook the trees, "Enough testing the waters. Looks like the ice queen and miss Jade are getting serious."
Seventeen opened his healed eyes and they immediately started glowing. He smiled.
Alice smiled back, "Very well."
Her eyes glowed with magia.
{Light Code: Empowering Cloak}
Her body was enveloped with light. In addition to boosting her physical and magia power, the code also provides her with defense and healing.
Flames ignited from Nyx as Seventeen used Pheonix Cloak and he was covered in golden red flames.
The two warlocks released their presence and attacked.