Nico internally seethed. He could have met his end, and yet instead of offering a helping hand, the person across from him had done absolutely nothing.
The hooded figure had just left him to die.
Some teammate he was…
Clenching his fist, Nico inhaled a couple of times to calm himself, all the while awaiting an answer from the cloaked individual.
Just as it seemed he would ignore him once more; the brown-haired boy saw the figure shift slightly and turn to face him.
The person across from him was garbed in similar all-black attire. The shadows under their hood seemed like a tenebrous void, doing an excellent job of obscuring their facial features.
However, Nico keenly noticed the lean physique his teammate boasted… as well as hints of white hidden through the cheerless clothing.
The shape and length reminded the boy of a bandage.
"Nothing. You just didn't deserve my help." A raspy male voice echoed from within the void.
Nico blinked, dazed.
'Huh? Did he just say I didn't deserve his help?'
The brown-haired boy doubted what his ears had just relayed to him. Yet, as he watched his teammate shrug and act as if it were the most trivial thing, he couldn't deny the reality unfolding right before his eyes.
"You're joking. You must be." Nico allowed a humourless chuckle to escape his mouth.
"Do I look like I'm joking? The difference between me and you is that I wouldn't have ended up being chased by a horde of Frozen Spiders. And, even if I were, I wouldn't have acted in such a cowardly way..." The shadows beneath the figure's hood seemed to darken as he sneered.
"Oh, really? Why didn't you act then?" Nico's expression frosted over the more he listened.
He clenched his teeth, pushing down his rapidly rising anger.
"I don't need to explain myself to a waste like you." The lone figure turned around and began walking through the newly formed corridor.
"Wait!" Nico gritted his teeth and instinctively stepped forward, gripping the other person's arm to stop them from leaving.
He felt the cloaked individual flinch and stiffen under his touch as if an electric shock had just passed through his body.
A shiver crawled down the brown-haired boy's spine a moment later. He released his teammate and unconsciously took a step back.
The air around his peer had suddenly changed. Nico struggled to breathe, finding the presence of his teammate to be extremely suffocating.
He gulped.
A bead of cold sweat slid down his back.
This feeling of dread…
…it reminded him heavily of the White Cobras.
'Blasted Fate!'
Although Nico's confidence regarding his combat prowess had increased, especially after sparring with his aunt, he still didn't think he came close to the level of proficiency and experience those vile bandits possessed.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" The cloaked figure screamed, clutching for his waist.
Alarmed, Nico hurriedly sent his mind into the dimensional tether and recalled his spear. As the trident-like weapon took a second to materialise, the brown-haired boy watched his teammate dash forward.
A glint in the hazy light followed thereafter.
Nico's senses blared at him like a foghorn.
'Fast!'
Twisting his body, he felt something brush against his cheek. A second later, the ominous spear manifested in his hands.
Ignoring the stinging of his cheek, Nico made a wipe sweep with his spear, sensing the hooded individual block his retaliatory attack. He used the opening to retreat a couple of paces, giving himself a bit more breathing room.
The boy gritted his teeth. Entering a fight with his teammate was not how he wanted to start the Awakening Ceremony.
Nico's gaze roamed the dim corridor, finding his crazed peer after a moment of anxious searching.
"Must we fight?" he called out, hoping to settle this with words.
Silence was his only answer, however.
A defeated sigh escaped Nico's lips as he tensed his legs and got into stance. His mind registered two sickles glinting menacingly in the low light.
The sight sent a shiver down his spine.
Nico exhaled, then dashed forward in the next moment.
'I have to keep him at arm's length...'
Imbuing the menacing spear with the synchronisation method, the brown-haired boy activated the First Form. He paid careful attention to his peer's stance, wary about any sudden movement.
After all, as short as their first exchange had been, Nico could glean that the cloaked figure was fast… most likely way faster than him. The stinging of his cheek only served to hammer that in further.
Suppressing his unease, he narrowed his eyes, recalling Phantom's tutelage in the Training Camp.
'Tempo… Control…'
Nico had to make sure his opponent never got the chance to dictate the flow of the battle. Otherwise, if that happened, then he was all but guaranteed to lose.
The only thing the brown-haired boy had going for him was that his teammate did not know the cards he held up his sleeve. Whether that be the First Form, the second, or even the third.
Nico had only one objective: end the fight within a maximum of three strikes. In doing so, he would be shortening the gulf in speed and skill between his opponent to a minimum, as well as capitalising on his lack of information.
Inside a dim corridor within a highly volatile Dungeon, two youths garbed in nearly identical uniforms clashed. One had a steely look of determination, while the other bared their fangs, their gaze filled with a burgeoning malice.
As the sound of their weapons colliding rang out, travelling through the stalactites in the ceiling to provide a low hum, the brown-haired boy utilised the Second Form and dropped his shoulder.
Reflected within his maroon pupils, a hooded individual lunged at him angrily, the sickles in his hands slicing menacingly through the air.
Tilting his body slightly, Nico allowed the pair of curved scythes to pass within inches of his neck as he thrust upward. He heard the cloaked figure click his tongue before the reap hooks in his possession abruptly changed direction, heading back toward Nico's neck.
The brown-haired boy gritted his teeth before a split-second idea formed in his mind. His right leg whipped forward with a sudden whoosh.
'Got you!'
Nico's foot smashed into his teammate's gut. The satisfied expression on his face froze after a moment. His joy was short-lived.
The reason: it felt like he had kicked a steel wall rather than a human gut.
'W-what?'
Alarmed, Nico tried to dodge the retaliatory strike headed his way. Unfortunately, with his centre of balance now precarious after his failed attempt of a kick, the boy wobbled and tripped, his body falling to the floor.
Nico thanked the Ancestor a moment later, for the sudden vertigo had allowed him to barely evade the hooded figure's cunning sickle.
Unfortunately, his other cheek started to throb and sting. It seemed he had not fully dodged the follow-up strike.
'Blazing Fates!'
As he plummeted to the ground, Nico's expression turned desperate. He raised his spear over his head in hopes that it could prevent the coming attack.
The next strike, however, never came.
A quizzical light appeared in the boy's eyes.
Why did his peer suddenly stop?
Nico watched the cloaked figure's rage still, before the individual with a tenebrous void obscuring his face scoffed and turned around. The relaxed and measured pace he had used earlier was now back in full swing.
'What the hell just happened?'
Nico blinked, utterly perplexed.