Sol snored as he slept peacefully in the comfort of his king-sized bed, an upgrade from the normal-sized bed provided by the academy. He was topless, revealing his bandaged body, and wore only black shorts to sleep.
Not long after, light footsteps could be heard across the lonely corridor leading to his room, the torches around the room were extinguished. Even though the corridor was dark as night, a maid walked toward his door in the darkness, carrying a tray with a cup of warm milk.
Knock!
Knock!
"Young master?"
She reached the door and knocked lightly, waiting for a response but got none. Her eyes darted around to see if someone was watching before letting her into the room.
As soon as she entered, her sharp gaze fell on Sol, who was fast asleep. Her eyes instinctively darted to all the dark corners of the room where someone may be hiding, but there was none. This left the maid confused because she deeply believed that this, may be a trap, that was why she went as far as bringing a glass of milk with her.
She pushed her thoughts aside as her blood-red fox fire burnt brightly in her hands, while three white and red fox tails unfolded from her clothes. She was planning to put an end to Sol as soon as possible and get out of this place before things get complicated, however, upon turning her attention to the bed, she was shaken to see Sol sitting and looking at her with bright purple eyes.
"Lyra… It seems my intuition was right." Sol said calmly, but his voice startled, causing her to retreat by a few steps.
"Don't worry, I asked Chamberlain to leave the castle, that was the only way you would feel safe enough to carry out your assassination attempt. It is just us here." Sol said, his eyes pinned on the three fox tails dancing gracefully behind her.
The fox spirit he killed in the academy had only one tail, yet she had the presence of a tier-one being like him. Lyra had three tails, but she still had the presence of a tier one being, just slightly higher, but that didn't really bother Sol.
"M-master Sol…" She stuttered, frozen to her spot. "How did you know?"
For some reason, she felt intimidated by Sol's calmness. It made her feel like there was something important she was missing, his confident demeanor made her feel like she was lacking in a certain aspect.
"You failed to mask your intentions properly.' Sol responded honestly. "I think it has something to do with my nether realm lineage. It makes me able to detect negative intentions, that was how I was able to tell there were about five of you in the castle."
Lyra frowned upon hearing this, it didn't make any sense, but since it had to do with a race of a higher lineage, she couldn't completely rule it out as rubbish.
"You knew there were five of us here, but you still sent the butler away? That was a stupid move, young master!" Lyra snarled, regaining some confidence after learning about Sol's mistake.
"Exactly. The old man was the greatest threat to you, so your focus was on him, forgetting I have guards at the ember initiate level who can match your comrades in strength and experience." Sol said as he rose to his feet." We are alone."
Sol's words involuntarily made her shudder, and she took another step back. She was at the peak of the first tier, while he was at the early stages of the first tier, yet she felt intimidated by him.
'Could it be because of his nether realm lineage?' She couldn't help but wonder.
"Hak!" Sol wasted no time and attacked ruthlessly.
Every torch in the room lit up, momentarily stunning Lyra, who wasn't aware of Sol's hybrid status. This few seconds of distraction gave Sol enough time to cross the distance and reach her.
BOOM!
The door exploded, smashing into the wall, allowing a thick black fog to pour out of the room into the dark corridor.
Swoosh!
Lyra nimbly sprang out of the smoke, her entire arm covered in fiery red fox flames, as she distanced herself from the black fog.
"Hak…" Sol's cold voice rang across the narrow corridor and all the torches lit up, illuminating the dark passageway.
Buzz!
"What the hell is this?" Lyra muttered as she retreated with confusion and fear on her face.
This was the first time she had experienced something so bizarre.
Thud!
Sol walked out of the black fog with flames burning fiercely around his palms.
"This is the power of a God…" He said as his eyes turned pitch black and his expression turned blank. "Kneel now and confess your crimes, and I'll let you live a bit longer."
Sol's voice was overlapped by a deeper version of his voice, he was pushing his Ark powers to its limit without falling into his nether realm lineage.
"Come, entertain me!"
Thud!
Sol suddenly broke into a sprint, and Lyra quickly threw her hands forward.
"Hak: Fox Fire!" She screamed as a torrent of blood-red fox flames poured through the wide corridor.
Bam!
She heard a loud sound above and looked up only to see, Sol standing upside down on the ceiling. He threw his hand forward, releasing a torrent of fire, causing Lyra to frown.
Pa!
She nimbly sprang off the ground, latching onto the wall as Sol's orange flames rammed into her previous location.
"Hot!" She muttered with a frown.
Bam!
Lyra frowned and looked up, only to see Sol barely a meter away from her, his fiery fist clenched as it tore through the wind racing for her face.
"YOU!" She was infuriated by Sol's boldness, even though she was more powerful if judged based on power levels.
"Hak: Fiery fist!" She and Sol growled as they both threw their fists forward.
Bang!
Their fists met each other, causing a mild shockwave that sent Lyra skidding backward, her face a mixture of pain and shock.
"How?!" Lyra gasped.