_______________
As she watched, the attack slowly inched its way toward Torus, now mere centimeters from him, a dawning horror grew on her face as she realized she wouldn't make it in time to stop the attack.
Soon, the attack was nearly touching Torus and only now did he move, as if he only just now noticed the attack. However, the way in which he moved was very unnatural, as if it should be impossible for a member of the Divine Race to do.
Suddenly, Torus' eyes that were glazed over like a beasts' seemed to sharpen, the tail jutting out from his backside shooting out as it slammed into the ground to Torus' left side with a strength far greater than it seemed capable of expressing.
This attack happened so fast that to a member of the Divine Race that wasn't a Warrior, it would appear almost instantaneous.
And as the large power behind his tail slammed into the ground, it sent Torus' figure skyrocketing to the right and out of the way of the attack that would've surely hit him, his body spinning in circles like a torpedo.
Even this spinning motion was stopped however, as Torus' tail flashed out once more. This time, it slammed into the ground on Torus' right side, stopping his momentum and causing him to land on all-fours once more.
Wasting no time in shaking off the slight dizziness his movement had caused, Torus' figure launched forth once more as he reached his master in mere moments, fangs protruding as his mouth opened to clamp down on her neck.
Snapping out of her dazed state, Sofia tilted her head back to dodge the rather sharp canines that were looking to do her some serious harm.
However, this left her wide open for the next attack coming her way, Torus' tail flying out toward her like a snake as it wrapped around one of her legs, throwing her figure into the air.
As she was thrown into the air, Sofia couldn't help but to let out a gasp as she realized what Torus was trying to do. With her figure being within the air, Sofia would have nowhere to dodge as Torus went for an attack.
And this thought of hers was confirmed seconds later as Sofia felt a large impact collide with her stomach, her eyes glancing down to see it was Torus who had slammed into her, leaving a crater in the ground below where he had launched himself from.
Still, Sofia couldn't help but to smile at this juvenile attempt from her inexperienced disciple. While it was true that she had very limited mobility while in the air, the same could be said for Torus; as such, this combat would come down to who had more experience, something Sofia definitely had Torus beat in.
However, as Sophia went to raise her hand and slam it down atop Torus, her hand glowing as she infused her Aspect within them, she couldn't help but to widen her eyes as she realized she had fallen into another one of her disciples' traps.
Torus nearly let out a victorious shout as his much longer arms reached out, wrapping around his Master's small figure. With this, neither would be capable of using their arms to attack; however, this was where Torus had a large advantage.
While he knew that if even one of her arms were out, she could easily beat him back onto the ground, Torus didn't need to use his arms to attack at all.
And that was why, Sofia resultingly found herself being assaulted by a rather powerful tail as it slammed out, smashing into Sofia's face repeatedly.
Even while being attacked however, Sofia could only feel pride welling up within her, 'When was the last time Torus managed to make any improvements that surprised me? It seems like it truly was my fault he had stagnated, I should've changed the way I was teaching him rather than stubbornly adhering to my previous methods, believing them to be infallible.' Toward the end of her thoughts, Sofia's tone took on a much more self-reproaching attitude. Still, there was no way that she could allow this brat of a disciple of hers' to feel as if he had got one over on her.
As such, Sofia stopped holding back a little, using her teeth to bite at Torus, her teeth happening to be at the perfect position to bite his chest.
Typically, this would do little to Torus; however, Sofia used her Aspect to sharpen her teeth, causing Torus' eyes to widen as he let out a scream of pain, losing concentration for just a moment.
However, this moment was all that Sophia needed. Capitalizing on his moment of distraction, Sofia used his slackening of his grip to break out of the hold he had on her, sending out one of her fists to slam into his chest, his figure careening into the ground below him.
Falling at a much slower pace, Sofia landed next to the downed figure of her disciple who was currently shaking off the dirt that covered him, no visible injuries appearing on his body.
Smiling down at him with a proud look, Sofia couldn't help but to say, "Good job out there today. This is the first time you've ever managed to land a hit on me. Let alone that, you managed to actually trap me for a moment." At these words, Torus looked up, some pride seeming to seep into his eyes. However, this look was immediately robbed from him as Sophia continued onward, unabated by his clear pride at his accomplishment.
"Still, you need to work on your pain resistance. Any self-respecting Warrior should be capable of taking a bite like mine without reaction. It was only due to a moment of carelessness on your part that allowed me to escape your hold. And rest assured, this is the last time that tricks like those will work on me, I promise you won't be able to land another hit on me again." Toward the end of her rebuke however, Torus noticed that Sofia seemed to be pouting, seemingly upset at allowing her disciple to gain a hit on her.
This was only natural however, while Sofia seemed rather mature, she was still only around 120 years-old, someone that would be considered barely out of their teens for members of the Divine Race, and this was for member's of their race that didn't awaken their God Seed's at that.
Still, as he heard this, Torus' expression shifted into one of amusement, seeming to not take her words seriously. There was no way that Torus would be happy with what he had accomplished today; he knew that he needed to do even better in the future.
As she looked at his expression however, Sofia couldn't help but to frown a little as she realized he didn't really ascribe to what she was saying.
"Oh? It seems you still think you'll be able to land a hit on me? Then how about this, if you manage to land another hit on me by the end of the month, I'll not only allow you to travel outside but I'll also fulfill one wish from you. Yes, that even includes what you're thinking about right now, there's no way I wouldn't be able to see the way you've been lustfully staring at me over the past few days." As her sentence ended, Sofia watched as Torus' expression shifted.
Where before, he seemed determined to win the bet, the fire in his eyes being all she needed to see to know that there was no way he would lose, the goal she laid out being far too tempting for a young man such as himself.
Even so, as she witnessed this, all Sofia could do was let out a smile of her own, showing the determination and pride that she had that she wouldn't lose, 'Still, it wouldn't be so bad if I lost anyways, right?' Sofia quietly thought to herself.
With a shake of the head to clear this wayward thought, Sofia quickly banished this line of thinking to the deepest parts of her mind, something she would never admit to anyone.
_______________