PRINCE FISH (3)
Kaleigh left a rank B card to Syton so they'll be able to use it later. When they use the Lyrion spell "Qio", it'll enable them to use the card. The card is called "the third's eye", it is some kind of device which lets Syton and the others to watch Kaleigh and Stalane catch the prince fish, while they wait outside the castle.
"Why did you confront Kaleigh? What are you up to, Syton?" Blaze asked in a low voice, enough for Syton to hear.
Syton's eyes were focused on the back of Stalane and Kaleigh that was now swimming inside the unfinished castle.
"Isn't he an interesting guy?"
Kerin turned his head to see Syton, shocked at what he said. Both Blaze and Kerin can't help but to feel anxious on their current situation.
"Interesting, you say..." Blaze whispered as he observed Kaleigh's back.
Blaze clearly remembered how Kerin and him couldn't use notitia when they first met Kaleigh. Up until now, they still can't use it for unknown reason.
"I'm just curious...but by any chance, could you use notitia to that guy?" Kerin asked Syton.
Syton innocently tilted his head, "Hmm? No, why?"
"Isn't that kind of weird?"
Syton acted as if he was trying to thought hard. "Hmm." he hummed.
Needless to say, Kerin and Blaze already figured that Syton was only playing around. They were lazily watching Syton who's trying to make a fool out of himself.
Syton secretly peeked at Kerin and Blaze, when he noticed that he got found out he stopped and laughed it off.
"I'm kidding! No, it's not weird at all. He is probably using the Lyrion spell called 'corium'. If you're curious about his rank, as far as I remember Stalane told me that he is already at rank 5B"
Blaze almost choke on his own saliva which made him cough. On the other hand, Kerin jaw dropped in surprise.
"And you had the nerve to challenge him in a fight earlier?" Blaze almost shouted at Syton.
Syton scratched his cheek while avoiding their gaze. "Well, I was really curious how strong he was after Stalane talked about him before."
---
Stalane can't help but to feel uncomfortable how Kaleigh was holding her hands.
"I can swim on my own" Stalane told him.
It seems he doesn't hear her as he didn't let go. She was about to tell him to let her hand go, but she doesn't had the chance to do it when she heard a loud "bang". She looked around her and she figured out that the place they were currently at was totally different from earlier. She searched where the sound came from but she can't find it.
Kaleigh then explained it to her.
"We teleported. Look over there" he said as he pointed on the distance.
She was dumbfounded at the sight of it. She asked to confirm it, "Isn't that the pillar earlier?"
"Yes. Look at these pillars. Don't you think that they somehow felt off? They are called magic pillars. They fire some magic once you're on their range. It discriminately attacks anyone. I destroyed it and teleported us here"
Now that he said it, she does feel that something's wrong with those pillar. She stared at Kaleigh's eyes, feeling amazed at what she witnessed. It's been so long since she met someone who's stronger than her. Stalane feels like she's seeing her teacher, V on Kaleigh. Now that she thinks about it, Kaleigh became her teacher at some point before.
Kaleigh felt her gaze and he felt somehow conscious by it, so he turned his face to avoid her eyes.
"Let's go" Kaleigh said as he started to swim again.
Stalane didn't bother to take Kaleigh's hands off. She now know the reason why he was holding it, so she somehow didn't feel disturbed by it anymore.
"So? How are we gonna look for the prince fish?" she asked.
Stalane thought that Kaleigh have some sort of amazing plan. But she didn't expect Kaleigh's answer.
"By looking" he said as if it was the obvious answer.
Stalane just silently followed Kaleigh. She doesn't even know why she have to be with Kaleigh, since she's not doing anything to help him at all.
Kaleigh protects her whenever a pillar attacks them, and he teleports them away whenever they trigger a trap. All in all, Kaleigh was doing all the work.
An hour have passed and they've already pass all around the area. Stalane sighs then stopped for a while. Since Kaleigh was holding her hands, he felt that Stalane purposely stopped.
"What?" he asked.
"Don't you have any plans at all? We've already searched this area, earlier? Are you even sure that a prince fish is here?" Stalane impatiently asked.
Kaleigh stared at her for a while before he answered. "For this kind of situation, I don't think I have to rack my brain up to strategize."
Stalane boredly looked at him.
"Are you saying that you're strong enough that strategizing is not necessary anymore?"
Kaleigh was slightly shocked at her conclusion, but he just shrugged.
"Perhaps? But that's not exactly the reason why. I don't do strategizing nor planning, I just do what my instinct tells me to do"
Stalane rolled her eyes as she folded her arms. "Can you tell me what this fish looks like or give me more information about it? Maybe, I could lay out some traps to lure it in"
Kaleigh appreciated her intention and was actually looking forward how Stalane would plan capturing the fish. He should've asked her earlier to see how she will capture it. But, the competition was between him and Syton. The reason why Stalane was with him is only for her to monitor him. He doesn't really expect Stalane to help him out.
Stalane noticed Kaleigh's hesitation. That is also when she remembered that it was supposed to be a competition. She was probably just getting too restless and wanted to finish it quickly that she forgot about it. She was too used of doing everything as fast as she could and as accurate as it should.
"Oh, sorry. It slipped out of my mind for a second." she embarrassedly said in a soft voice.
Kaleigh smiled as he shook his head.
"It's okay, besides..." he turned his head on the left, which made Stalane looked at that direction too.
"I've been laying down some traps of my own earlier. One of my kunai found the fish we are looking for" he said as he offer his hands on Stalane again.
"Kunai?" Stalane accepted Kaleigh's hand. She hold it as if she was already used to it.
"Didn't you notice it earlier? I was throwing my kunai earlier all over the place. Those kunai have some sort of function where it could detect some intruders." Kaleigh explained.
"Intruders? How did you know that it's the prince fish then?"
"You don't have to ask everything, Stalane. Let's just say that it's part of my skill."
Stalane was about to answer him back when they suddenly teleported again.
They were now facing the prince fish that they were supposed to capture.