"That's a little uncalled for, don't you think?"
Lieren glared at the young lady with grim suspicion, his blue eyes catching the sun's merciless rays.
'What else does she know?'
Squeezing out whatever remnants of his mana he possibly, Lieren delved deep into his soul, digging deep and scrounging whatever piece of his wild mana that he could…
And activated Manavision.
Even if it was only for a second — no, even shorter that that. As long as his body could afford it, he would do it, no matter how mind-numbingly painful it may be.
And it was, unbelievably so.
Sweat flowed down his face as his mind seemingly ripped itself apart to squeeze out as much magical energy it could from him, developing knitted eyebrows and a pained look upon his childish face.
The young lady smiled smugly and put a hand on her hip. She said in a chipper and provoking voice:
"Well? How do I look?"
What he saw almost made his knees bend to the ground.
"What… what are you?"
Lieren was in grim disbelief, his brain refusing to process what was in front of him. And yet, he forced himself to, no matter how harrowing of a task it may be.
…Power. Pure, mystical, archaic power. There was so much, possibly even more than the Witch of Envy. It was to such a degree that just the smallest leakage of it, which was like the rushing flood of an enraged Elemental, seemed abysmal in comparison.
Even the fabric of space was distorted, altered by the raw power contained in that one person, waiting to be let out. The distortion was much larger and more evident, with the greater sum of it resulting in a beautiful menagerie of blue, red, beige, and green. Even the ambient mana bended to her will, influenced by the very presence that she exuded just by naturally existing and occupying space.
It was as if a daemon had stepped into the world, wielding power beyond what the feeble minds of human beings were capable of perceiving.
…And he saw all of that within just a fraction of a second, barely peering into the horrific menace.
Lieren took a tentative step back.
"You're a monster."
The young scion smiled grew even wider, with her eyes lighting up with what he previously perceived as light mischief, but now recognized as the tyrannical lunacy of one of the — if not — most powerful beings in this town, possibly even this very continent.
A bead of sweat fell down his face as the young scion took a step forward, making him reel back in fear, dread, and utter despair.
Her voice was high and so were her spirits.
"I knew it. I was right! You really are the perfect candidate! My eyes never lie!"
Seeing her vibrant blue eyes peer into his very soul, Lieren clenched his fist and desperately let out a breath, forcing out words to come out of his mouth as though they were poison:
"C—candidate? What are you talking about?"
Her smile grew even wider. For the first time, it looked true and just, with no hint of lies or deceit whatsoever.
"Oh, silly me. I forgot to tell what it was for, didn't I?"
She gestured to Mysta. With a polite bow, the woman followed suit, producing a white letter with beautiful golden calligraphy and expertly-crafted designs that outlined the envelop like creeping flames.
She gestured for him to take it, pushing it towards his hand.
Eyeing the woman skeptically, Lieren sighed and took the letter.
'Is as they said: If they wanted to get rid of me, I would have already been dead.'
With a defeated sigh, he tore the envelop and flipped the letter open.
What he saw made his eyes open wide, both in horror and surprise.
◇◆◇◆◇
"You need sleep," Bian's words resounded throughout the room they had been suing as their main base of operations for a good week or so.
Harita ignored her, instead focusing on the dozens of documents in front of him, picking each one by piece and reading them quickly. Though it looked to be nothing more than a dismissive glance, Bian knew the truth.
She squinted her eyes an sighed. Pretending to care was never her strong suit, especially with the man across the table.
"He's not listening."
She waver her hand in front of him, half-expecting a response, which, of course, did not come. As it usually would.
'No surprises here. He's the same as ever.'
The man, despite his tendency to appear impulsive and flamboyant, was nothing short of a calculating machine, almost like the autonomously harrowing Ex Machina and their precise and efficient approach to everything.
They were very alike, the two creatures, now that she had the chance to compare the two of them.
…Well, until this now, that is.
"W—what?"
Seeing the lean man suddenly stand up and ruin the impressive stack of papers, Bian was surprised as well, standing up from where she sat with a start.
Vivid green sparks floated in the air as the man's eyes seemed to peer past space itself. A conscious wave of intent pulsed out from the man's chest and outside the room, maybe even outside of the house.
Bian gripped the hilt of the Weeping Maiden tight as it materialized out of thin air, summoned by her intent.
'A detection spell… Did he notice something?'
If so, then why did he need to use such a potent spell to do so? The questions stacked itself on Bian's mind as though it was paper, like the ones that had fallen on the ground, disheveled.
Will she be like that too, one day?
'I hope not.'
A look of utter terror dawned on Harita's face as the capacity of his spell reached its limits. A scream tore from his throat:
"No!"
In a flash of green light, the man was gone, the wooden door guarding the room from the outside world seemingly exploding on its own as the lean man dashed with stalwart fury.
Bian clicked her tongue.
"Already? Dammit"
Manipulating gale-force winds around and behind her, she pushed outwards, producing a rush of wind that pushed her outwards and away, providing her much-needed speed as a realization dawned on her.
"What the hell does that kid think he's doing?!"