Professor Miro pressed the controller again. The landscape instantly shifted to a field of soft grass. Sil took several deliberate steps backward, putting a calculated distance between himself and Ellis before stopping.
A challenging smirk curled his lips. He crooked a finger lazily towards her. "Come on then, little girl. Imagine I'm the one who pisses you off the most. Channel that anger! Let it out!"
"Don't need to imagine..." Ellis's pupils narrowed, sharply focused on the lock of pure white hair falling across his brow. "I'm already furious!"
"Oho! Now that's the spirit!" Sil rumbled a low, amused laugh. "But..." His smirk widened abruptly, yet the warmth vanished from his eyes, leaving them cold as glacial ice. "...real fangs..." He deliberately drew out the words, "...you keep them sheathed."
Sil's form blurred and dissolved—not like smoke, but as if he became the center of an unseen vortex. The air around him wrenched violently, forming visible ripples of distorted energy that folded inward, swallowing his distinct outline in an instant. The effect was profoundly unsettling, like a reflection suddenly drained from water.
Ellis's eyes snapped wide. In the same heartbeat, a minuscule point of eerie blue light flared into existence less than three feet in front of her! Tiny, yet radiating palpable danger. Instinct screamed before thought could form. She threw her arms up in a desperate cross-block, dropping her center of gravity low!
CRACK!
The blue point didn't explode—it stretched. Space itself seemed to tear and warp violently, instantly blooming into a hazy, deep blue dimensional rupture! Sil's fading afterimage still shimmered within its light, but his true form, wreathed in the shriek of tearing air, slingshotted through the rift!
Too fast!
Wind slammed into Ellis, stealing her breath. A leg blurred, trailing a visible shockwave, smashed like a siege ram against her crossed forearms!
THUD! A sickeningly heavy impact cracked the air.
An avalanche of force hammered through her. Ellis grunted, feet scraping a layer of soil away as the blow drove her staggering backward, each step sinking deep into the yielding ground.
"'Block's decent, but your stance is soup~'" The mocking taunt rode the displaced air. Before Ellis could recover her balance, Sil's second kick—a vicious spinning backheel—slammed perfectly into her lower back!
She catapulted sideways like a broken doll, tracing a clumsy arc through the air before crashing heavily onto the grass meters away. Momentum tumbled her over several times before she finally skidded to a stop, smeared with dirt and torn blades of grass.
[Unbeknownst to Ellis herself, the combination of mana training and the surge of adrenaline had awakened a slumbering instinct within her. Mana flowed instinctively, reinforcing the areas about to be struck, forming the most rudimentary form of internal defense.]
"Tsk tsk, this won't do at all," Sil remarked, standing relaxed as if critiquing a stage play.
He casually lifted a hand. With a soft riiiip, a fist-sized dimensional tear appeared beside him. He reached in, rummaged for a moment, and withdrew a short sword of ancient, fluid design. He tossed it casually; the blade arced through the air and thudded point-first into the earth mere feet from Ellis, its hilt quivering.
It was an unnerving weapon. Barely over a foot long, its lines were clean and unadorned, forged from a deep, unsettling crimson that resembled cooled magma or dried blood. The blade's surface wasn't smooth; subtle, vein-like patterns of darker red pulsed and writhed beneath it, shimmering in the light, radiating a contained but palpable ferocity.
Sil tilted his head, a smirk playing on his lips. "Consider it your instructor's gift. This blade is called 'Ashen'. One of the 'Supreme Forges', you know~"
Ellis's hand shot out, closing around the cold, heavy hilt. A strange, faintly pulsing warmth seeped into her palm. She wrenched herself upright, the crimson blade slicing a sharp, defensive arc through the air before settling firmly across her chest, its point angled towards Sil. Mud smeared her face, but her eyes were like honed steel – cold, sharp, blazing with defiance.
"Oh? Getting interesting." Sil watched her stance with open amusement, his grin widening. "A little advice, though..." His form blurred and vanished before the words fully left his mouth.
Every hair on Ellis's body stood on end. Raw danger screamed at her instincts. She whirled, throwing the blade up in a desperate parry behind her!
Yet Sil's voice, warm and unsettlingly close, ghosted against her ear: "A hunter with a weapon..." The words were soft, laced with cruel instruction. "...hunts."
THWUMP!
Another kick connected, sending Ellis sprawling through the air.
"Sil! What in the seven hells are you doing?!" Professor Miro, who had been watching anxiously from the sidelines, finally snapped, hopping in agitation. "Keep this up, and I will report you to the school board for deliberate student endangerment!"
"Now, now, Professor Miro," Sil chided, leisurely brushing non-existent dust from his sleeve. Tiny, almost imperceptible sparks drifted from his fingertips. He glanced towards Ellis struggling to rise in the distance, his tone light. "Didn't you see? That last one... she blocked it perfectly."
Professor Miro froze, then squinted intently where Sil indicated...
In that critical instant—as Sil's breath warmed her ear—an indescribable surge had detonated from the very core of Ellis's being. It was like a dormant seed violently germinated by the scent of death. A ripple of pure, vital green erupted within her soul, not summoned or guided, but a primal, desperate explosion of life force from the abyss of despair.
Thought was impossible. She could only surrender to the torrent of raw, burgeoning life.
A fraction of a second before Sil's devastating kick could land—vibrant, emerald-green vines erupted behind her! They twisted, wove, and coiled like living serpents, forming a thick, if hasty, shield of interwoven foliage!
The hastily formed barrier couldn't withstand Sil's bone-shattering force; it tore open like paper. The residual impact still slammed into Ellis, hurling her backward.
But that instinctive shield of living wood, conjured by the raw pulse of life magic in her moment of extremity, had intervened at the crucial moment. Though pierced, it had stolen just enough force. The fragile spark of survival had ignited.
"Just as I thought!" Professor Miro slammed his thigh, his voice cracking with excitement. "I knew it! Yes! Exactly!"
"What exactly?" Ellis hissed, massaging her nearly numb right wrist, the searing pins-and-needles sensation still lingering. She glared at her suddenly manic theory instructor.
"The Eight Trigram Elemental Theory! Your destiny alignment!" Spittle practically flew as Professor Miro jabbed wildly at the air, as if poking an invisible chart. "Wood Affinity! I knew it! Your alignment grants extraordinary affinity for wood elemental forces! A natural-born Verdant Spirit!"
Ellis stared at the professor's fanatical expression, then at Sil standing nearby, a picture of mocking amusement ready to kick her again. Profound exhaustion washed over her.
She closed her eyes in despair, a silent wail echoing inside: What kind of den of monsters is this academy? A theory-obsessed lunatic spouting mysticism, and a combat instructor who delights in beating students… Am I here to study or endure divine punishment?
"Hey! Little Ellis!" Sil's voice, thick with malicious glee, shattered her internal monologue like thunder. "Eyes! Eyes always on your opponent!" The words barely faded before the sickening CRACK of displaced air tore through the space again! A leg blurred, trailing a shockwave like black lightning, aimed straight at her face! Too fast for breath! "Daydreaming in a fight is the height of disrespect!"
The sonic kick descended once more!
But this time, Ellis didn't block or flinch! The primal surge in her blood fused violently with the fury Sil had ignited! She snapped her eyes open, emerald sparks seeming to ignite within their dark depths, meeting the attack head-on!
"Then let me return the advice!" Ellis's voice was ice, laced with absolute resolve. She didn't guide or summon consciously. Pure instinct, honed by desperation and her innate connection to wood, erupted from her fingertips in a blaze of brilliant jade light!
CRACK-THOOM!
The earth exploded! Two colossal, vine-wreathed trunks of deep forest green, pulsating with savage life force and destructive power, erupted from the ground before her! They weren't shields—they were serpents of pure aggression, twin jade-scaled dragons snarling as they collided head-on with the air-rending kick!
A dull, thunderous impact mingled with the sickening crunch of splintering wood! The vine barrier tore open like rotten cloth under the brutal force, spraying shards and shredded tendrils. The massive impact shook the vines violently, drawing groans of protest as if they would shatter any second.
But that half-second delay—that instant where Sil's assault was halted, his momentum caught—was all Ellis needed!
Cold light flashed in Ellis's eyes. Her body coiled like a drawn bowstring. She didn't retreat—she lunged forward! The crimson blade "Ashen" carved a desperate, bloody arc through the air! Its point aimed unerringly at Sil's momentarily exposed chest! This strike held nothing back; its killing edge gleamed bare!
"Hmph!"
A grunt, tinged with surprise but dominated by amusement, escaped Sil. Faced with this sudden, vicious counter, he didn't evade. His right hand snapped up, thumb and middle finger casually forming a circle. With a motion like flicking away dust, he tapped the crimson flat of "Ashen"!
SHIIIIING-WHOOOOOM!!!
A bizarre, ear-splitting shriek—like metal screaming at an impossible frequency—erupted!
An unimaginable, electric shockwave of pure vibration tore up the blade! Ellis felt like white-hot needles were simultaneously driving into the marrow of her entire right arm, from fingertips to shoulder, or as if an invisible sledgehammer had smashed into it!
"Gah!" A strangled cry tore from Ellis's throat. Her grip failed. She felt boneless, hurled backward by the brutal force, staggering several steps before crashing heavily onto her backside. Her right arm hung limp and useless, consumed by agony—a searing numbness warring with bone-deep, fiery pain.
"Ashen" spun wildly through the air, vanishing towards the distant grass.
"Tch, though..." Sil flicked his fingers as if dispelling a gnat, not even glancing at Ellis sprawled and gasping on the ground. He idly lifted a hand, making a lazy beckoning gesture towards the air.
A hairline fracture in reality, fine as a spider's web, silently opened beside the spinning blade's path and swallowed it whole. The tear reappeared beside Sil's hand like a blooming flower, the short sword sliding neatly into his palm.
He weighed the crimson blade, gave his wrist a deft twist that sent the metal flashing through a chillingly precise arc, leaving afterimages of cold light, then flipped it casually back towards Ellis. She still sat hunched, clutching her ruined arm, breathing in ragged gasps.
"...I really am being underestimated." Sil's voice was flat, devoid of inflection, yet the calm held a terrifying depth of indifference. "It's been a long time... since anyone dared point a blade's back at me."
His gaze drifted over "Ashen" lying near Ellis's feet. The crimson edge shimmered with a dangerous, bloody sheen in the light. "Showing mercy to an enemy on the battlefield..." He paused, his tone plunging to sub-zero, "...is a fatal habit."
Ellis panted, sweat beading on her temples, fighting the agony threatening to tear her mind apart. Her gaze fell helplessly to "Ashen". The blade remained crimson, its eerie glow reflecting her moment of withheld violence—a silent, glaring mockery.
"Today was... diverting. We'll stop here." Sil turned away without another glance, as if the violent exchange had been no more significant than brushing off a leaf. He walked off, his retreating figure straight but radiating utter detachment.
Just as he moved a few paces away, his voice drifted back on the breeze—lazy, enigmatic, and laced with dark amusement—piercingly clear in Ellis's ears:
"I look forward to our lessons, Ellis Vane."