Diane was confused. She looked back. Wasn't she just back there? With that lunatic that was trying to kill her? How did she get in front of her so fast? Those were her thoughts.
"Ah, so it's true." Diane said, and Alice frowned. She just wanted her money back, what sort of gibberish was she going to spout? "So, you're really an awakened."
"What the hell are you talking about? Hand my money back to me. I'm serious, Diane." Alice said, but Diane was hesitant.
"I... I only took it because I was sure you were going to die. You know... You know we can't do anything against awakeneds and..."
"My money." Alice glared at her, her aura rising dangerously and Diane choked. She fell to her knees, gasping for air. "I don't know what you're playing at but I'm no longer going to play your games." She approached her. "We both survived in this hell hole watching each other's back and even when I knew a day would come when you leave my back bare for the enemy to stab, I decided to stick with you." She stood in front of her. "I'm glad I didn't put all my trust in you. If not, I'd be really disappointed right now."
She bent down to pick up the envelope when that voice rang in her head again.
*Move*
Her instincts followed that voice and she stepped back in a flash. As soon as she did, a fiery spear crashed on the floor where she was standing. The floor broke and Diane went down with it.
"Dammit." Alice grunted and dove in to save her.
She grabbed her hand and grabbed the iron rod sticking out of the floor.
"You... What are you doing?" Diane asked, surprised.
"Shut up, idiot. I'm trying to save your ass here." Alice held on to her and looked down. She could see the next floor. If she could help her down safely, she could hear away.
Anyway, it seemed like that lunatic was after her so Diane could get away if she wanted.
"I'm going to throw you down so as soon as you land, run."
"Are you sure?" Diane asked.
"Just know that you owe me, okay?" She said, and before Diane could say any more words, she threw her down.
Diane rolled on the floor but luckily, she wasn't hurt.
"Haha, so touching. Come on, come up and play with me." She heard the red-haired's voice and stood up.
He was smirking at her like he was having fun.
'What exactly does he want? If he wants to kill me he could've done it already, right?' She stood with her legs apart, wondering how she was going to get away from him.
"Come on, come on, play with me more." He said.
"What are you talking about?" Alice asked. "Ever since you walked in here, you've been saying things that I don't understand. You even tried to kill me without saying why. Are you really an assassin sent to kill me?"
The red-haired stared at Alice, puzzled. Then, he snapped his fingers and his lips curled up in a grin.
"This is interesting." He said. "I've experienced your strength firsthand." He cracked his neck. "And I can say your skills aren't ordinary."
'What the? How does that answer my question?' She thought.
"How about we have a real battle to carefully determine your skills?" He asked but it looked to Alice that he was just looking for an excuse to fight.
'In other words, he won't kill me right away.' she thought and closed her eyes. 'Come to think of it, I felt an overwhelming rush of power earlier. It was strange. Did I awaken? But... I don't see a system.'
When people awaken, they usually see a system notification in front of them, congratulating them on becoming one of the heroes of humanity.
The system was a game-like window that displayed before an awakened, breaking down in understandable details, their power levels, power growth and stats, ranging from strength to intelligence. The higher one's levels were, the stronger they were.
Skills were also carefully explained on the system once acquired and it was also pretty easy to level up. Yet, it wasn't that easy to change one's class.
It might seem easy to move up the ranks from F to D or from D to C, but once it gets to B-class, the conditions become almost impossible to fulfill.
So, from rank B to S were considered a rarity, especially S.
In the entire world, there were no more than 50 S-class awakeneds.
And apparently, the guy in front of Alice was claiming to be an S-class awakened. Yet, she couldn't feel it.
Was he really joking with her or was she in another crazy dream?
'And if I don't see a system, doesn't that just mean I'm not an awakened?' Alice thought. 'Then, what was that incredible strength earlier? S-class aside, I shouldn't be able to send a normal person flying with a right leg sweep.'
And then, there was that voice.
"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." The red-haired guy said, suddenly appearing beside her, and she turned to shield herself with her arms.
He punched her, sending her back by a few feet.
Her legs drew on the ground and he kept throwing punches.
'Ugh, this crazy guy.' She thought, gritting her teeth as she took his hits on her crossed arms that were serving as shields.
"Haha, this is fun." He said, laughing heartily. Then, with one final punch, he sent Alice flying to the wall.
She broke through that very wall and then the next and the one after her and ended up outside, in mid-air.
The red-haired appeared right in front of her and punched her down to the ground, causing a ground-breaking impact.
"Kegh!" She coughed out blood. 'I think it's finally the end for me.' she thought, lying motionless.
She was still strong to her up. She could feel it; every muscle in her body carried the strength of an elephant, but she was too confused to make use of it.
"Ah, you're down already?" The red-haired asked.
'I'm afraid that if I get up, you'll just pound me to the ground again.' she thought. 'So, I'll just pretend to be dead and slip out of here when he isn't looking.'
"Then, this means I'm stronger, right?" He asked and stood in front of her. "I enjoyed my time. And as a reward, I'll give you a quick death."
'Oh, fuck it.' she thought.
But just then, a blonde man appeared in front of the red-haired. The red-haired frowned, knowing his fun had come to an end, and exclaimed,
"You're here faster than I expected, Devon."