Inside a place like an arena surrounded by small crowds of people, 2 small figures were having a bout. One of them was holding a short sword while making a defensive stance, the other one was crouching and panting so hard. They distanced themselves widely, making sure that their opponent wouldn't make any sudden movement.
"I never expected you're this strong…", the one holding a short sword, Gia, praised her opponent. "Your moves are nasty, to be honest."
"I… I'll take… That as a praise…Huff… Puff…", I tried to catch my breath.
Yes, we were sparring, or maybe it'd be better to say that I was being tested by Gia.
"Shall we continue?"
She grinned, showing a sinister smile on her face. Seeing that, I came to understand why Blood Nymphs were rumored to be battle junkies. There was no sign of fear on her face. Instead, she looked like enjoying the fight, much more than I did.
"Ugh…", I groaned and forced myself to stand up. "Okay, let's go…"
I squinted my eyes, trying to make myself more focused. I really was aware that she was definitely much stronger than me, so normal means wouldn't do any good in this situation. After pondering for a short while, I readied my spear and dashed forward, in hope I could catch her by surprise.
"An all out attack, huh? I like your resolve!"
Gia side-stepped to the right slightly, avoiding my lunge. She then swung her sword at me.
[Farenna, parry it!]
Dea, who was silent the whole time before, shouted in my head in a panic. Her robotic voice was contradictory compared to her tone.
"I know!", I mumbled in a soft voice.
The sound of metal clanking altogether rang in my ears. I then thrust my spear as fast as I could, but she easily dodged that. When I thrust my spear, she dodged that. When she swung her sword, I parried it. We repeated doing the same thing over and over again, and it stopped when my hands were trembling so hard as our respective weapons interlocked.
"Can you at least wipe off that smile from your face? That's so scary, to be honest.", I tried provoking by sneering at her.
"Heh… Still have leeway to talk? Then how about this?"
Gia's smile widened as she swung her sword wildly. Every slash was deadly, and I could feel her killing intent from all of them. I barely parried her slashes everytime each one of it almost touched my skin. Some of them even grazed me.
"Hoo… My judgment of you has changed.", Gia stopped her attack for a brief moment. "You're strong!"
In the blink of an eye, she retracted and distanced herself from me. It was a chance for me to catch my breath so I didn't waste it. I fixed my stance to prepare for her next attack.
"O' Lord of all Flames and Blood, grant me power to vanquish all my enemies!"
Gia raised her sword with both of her hands and started chanting. In mere split seconds, her short sword changed its color to reddish orange, as if it was being melted. A dark red haze also oozed from her body, enveloping her whole body eerily.
"Skill: [Weaponize]!"
Huh? What!? What was that cringey chant!? And how the fuck did she have [Weaponize]!?
[Did I not say all Blood Nymphs have that skill as well?]
"You didn't, dummy!"
The next moment, all I could see was a little girl clad in black armor while holding a long sword, contrary to her short stature. The chest plate was kept minimum, leaving her stomach and cute navel exposed. She also wore a half helmet, covering half of her head. It was probably better to describe it like a mask. Her silky red hair was uncovered and fluttering. Her knee guards and shoes were also kept minimum, showing a portion of her fair skinned thighs and calves. A mini Dark Knight would be a suitable name for her.
"I knew you lied about your spear, Farenna.", she whispered, but it was loud enough for me to hear it clearly. "You also have [Weaponize], don't you? And that spear is the proof."
"..."
I couldn't say a single word.
"You see? You're the second person to see I'm using this.", she smiled and pointed her sword at me. "Ready or not, I'm coming!"
She dashed toward my direction and by the time I realized it, she was already in front of me, swinging her sword in full force.
[Dodge it.]
The gap between Dea's instruction and Gia's attack was hairbreadth. A moment too late and my head would be rolling on the ground now.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Are you seriously trying to kill me!?", I panicked after making sure I was quite far from her.
"Oooooh she used it!"
"That poor girl's life's gonna be over…"
"Stop running away, dipshit!"
And so on. The cheers of the audience only made me feel more scared. I even heard some of them cursing me when I was trying to distance myself from Gia.
"A wise decision. But you know what?", Gia made a stance. "This kind of distance means nothing to me!"
She teleported, no, she dashed at unimaginable speed until our eyes met with each other. She closed our distance just like that. And with a single swing, my spear was thrown away. She put the tip of her sword on my neck.
"Ugh…", I groaned and lifted my hands. "It's my loss…"
I admitted my defeat, with a hard feeling. Without saying anything, Gia pulled her sword and almost instantly, unsummoned her armor.
"You're the only one aside from Sue who's able to hold out this long against me. You should be proud of yourself.", she praised me. "Really, I never expected you're this strong. I thought you were only living like a rat."
Gia smiled and relaxed her body. She let loose a big sigh before voicing her mind.
"I'm sorry for testing you like this. I'd be glad to be your mentor."
She extended her hands for me, trying to help me stand. I grabbed her palms and felt a lot of calluses there. Lilith wasn't lying when she said Gia trained harder than anyone.
"I'm also sorry for calling you an idiot. Lilith told me the story. I'm sorry…"
"No, don't be."
She smiled a little.
"..."
I was trying my best to arrange my words but in the end I couldn't say anything. I couldn't understand why she apologized to me since I was at fault. The only thing I could comprehend was that she had been holding her real abilities back, and that fact alone annoyed me.
"Dea…", I whispered softly.
[Yes. What is it?]
"How high is her [Weaponize] to materialize a set of armors like that?"
[Approximately maxed out.]
"Damn…"
***
This happened 2 hours earlier, after I cried while being hugged by Lilith. She told me to take a walk in the camp. I recalled what she said to me a while before.
"Go on a walk outside. If you're wise enough, you'll know why I accepted you to this tribe, without needing me to explain anything."
That was what she had said. I dragged my spear along the way while being stared at by the residents, again.
"Is this how it feels when you're so popular?", I joked.
[They actually are afraid of outsiders like you.]
Dea's voice broke my imagination.
"But for real though, I thought my race was full of crazy people…"
All the info told me that all Blood Nymphs were savages and nomads that only cared for fighting to their hearts' content. They lived for fighting, they said. But here, in front of me, what I could really see was just a bunch of normal people trying to live and survive another day, not much different from mankind.
"This place is surprisingly peaceful.", I whispered while turning my gazes to my surroundings.
I strolled through the entire camp and ended up stopping at the only well there. I tried hoisting water from the well and it was actually hard.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, I heard a voice calling for me from my behind. I turned my head and saw Gia approaching me.
"Gia…", I pulled my hand from the hoister. "I never saw this and my curiosity got me…"
She looked at me in bewilderment.
"Seriously, where have you been living? As far as I know, this way of life is normal for our race. Were you a princess or what?"
Her words stabbed my heart. Should I tell her the truth? The Chief, Lilith, was already aware of who I was.
[Do not even think about exposing your identity. Lilith can access the World's System so she is an exception. If Gia knows you used to be a human, her enemy, what do you think she would do?]
Dea's long ass explanation opened my eyes. I almost made a grave mistake.
"Hey, tell me…", Gia sat on the edge of the well. "Who are you, really?"
She asked me that question again.
"I've told you, my name is Farenna. Are we starting a fight again?"
She shook her head.
"I'm not asking about your name. You're dressed quite well as if you're a princess. Are you from the deeper floors?"
She looked at me with curious eyes. Well, I couldn't say I made this dress by myself so I had to make something up.
"I found this dress from a human's corpse."
I spat a blatant lie.
"Then how about that spear? Did you also take it from a corpse?"
Somehow Gia didn't seem convinced. It was hard to grasp her real motives for asking me all these questions. Fuck it, all in.
"Yes. This spear was also from the same corpse."
"Hoo… I see…", she closed her eyes. "Hey, how about sparring with me?"
I widened my eyes in bewilderment.