Chapter 143
“Alphonso, you need to keep your mind focused,” Amber advised, her tone firm and agitated. She could not help it. Her eyes flashed with irritation, her fingers tapping impatiently on the table.
He nodded, trying once more but failing again. “I’m trying, Amber. It’s just not working,” he admitted, frustration seeping into his voice as well. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. It was not easy for him either.
She sighed, “Maybe we should move on to the next step and come back to this later?” Her shoulders slumped slightly, a weary look crossing her face.
She had said this before too…
“No,” he said sharply, shaking his head. “I need to get this right.” His voice was resolute, his eyes narrowing in determination, he had no plans to follow her as is and leave this crucial step behind.
She felt frustrated. Because of this, everything was significantly slowed down, even though she was able to control and balance the two elements and espera. A storm of emotions was churning inside her.
“Look, if you want to understand the principle and method behind this, I can teach you,” she offered, trying to keep her cool. Her voice was tinged with exasperation, her patience now wearing thin.
Since she had already managed to understand it herself, she would not mind explaining it to her teammate as well, since this would give them a huge advantage over the other two teams.
“I said no,” Alphonso replied, more sharply this time. “I need to figure this out on my own.” His jaw tightened, a flicker of pride in his eyes.
“Why are you so insistent on doing it by yourself!?” she demanded, her frustration bubbling over.
She threw her hands up in exasperation, her voice rising.
“It’s my noble pride as a gentleman,” he replied, his jaw set stubbornly, his eyes defiant as he refused her help. “If I can’t figure out something like this on my own, I’m not worthy to lead my clan.”
But he still had a calm in his tone despite all this, he always used a proper tone whenever talking with women. He did not get angry at Amber’s hastiness.
He told her that Sigfor had devised this challenge for them to be able to gain a higher degree of control over their espera and get in tune with a stranger’s espera when necessary.
In his opinion, if he did not manage to do that on his own, then he would not be worthy enough for his clan and to lead his clan in the future. As an heir, it was his responsibility to win fair and square.
So despite her constant efforts, he never listened to her and continued trying again and again.
He wanted to be able to achieve the technique to balance the espera himself as well.
While she understood where he was coming from and felt that he was right to some extent, it could not suppress her annoyance at him either. Her fists clenched at her sides, a vein throbbing on her temple.
She was pissed.
“You’re slowing us down, Alphonso!” Amber snapped, her fists clenched at her sides, her teeth grinding in frustration. Her voice echoed in the room, drawing the attention of others.
The attention was short-lived as they resumed what they were doing.
“I know,” he said quietly, “but this is something I have to do.”
His eyes softened momentarily, a hint of apology in his tone.
Although it was not his fault, he still felt a that due to his lack of ability, he was slowing her down. Had elder Sigfor permitted them to work individually, he would have gladly let Amber move forward without dragging her down.
Amber pinched her forehead.
She really wanted to win this challenge.
She wanted to show everyone her ability, especially to a certain someone who never seemed to acknowledge her. Her eyes glanced briefly toward the figure in the shadows, her expression hardening.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Nadia were busy with their own tasks.
Nadia barely spoke to him and just focused on controlling the elements and espera within the talisman. Her eyes were cold and calculating, her movements precise and controlled.
Daniel, however, tried several times to initiate a conversation with her, but she ignored him like an insect.
He could not help but feel a weird sense of discomfort at being ignored constantly. However, since she was a girl, he did not say anything to her and kept trying to talk to her.
His attempts at small talk were met with icy silence, his words hanging awkwardly in the air.
She was Oliver’s older sister and on par with him and Bella. She was also an obstacle that he had to surpass one day in the future.
More importantly, she belonged to the infamous Mystic Purge Clan. He somewhat admired the clan, to be honest, despite all the bad rumors associated with their name and standings.
The reason was simple.
He admired the clan’s freedom and spirit; they did not care about anyone’s opinion and did whatever they wanted without fearing anyone.
They were powerful, killed their enemies without showing a shred of mercy, and were ruthless even to their own kin.
Their ruthless efficiency and unyielding resolve struck a chord with him.
A clan based on merit, if you turned out to be strong and talented, you would be valued the most by the clan no matter what.
Potential was never wasted in the clan.
As a hot-blooded male himself, he felt a strong sense of resemblance with such a clan. He often resonated with their means and tactics.
He aspired to become an exorcist one day that could slice apart anything with a swing of his sword.
That was also why he did not feel offended by Nadia’s cold shoulder and indifferent behavior toward him.
He could understand her upbringing; in a situation where siblings target each other’s throats to stand at the top, it was natural that she was this cold and indifferent to them.
Perhaps only Oliver and she had some level of intimacy as twin siblings related by the same blood, but he rarely saw them talk with each other, much less interact.
Nonetheless, he kept filling the talismans with thunder-attributed espera and gave them to her so that she could balance them.
The talismans crackled with energy, the thunder espera coursing through them like a live wire.
And he had to admit that her control was flawless; she was already grasping the theory behind it.
He had earlier noticed how Oliver and Evelyn had been causing continuous explosions, unable to balance out.
However, Nadia was different; she directly froze the entire talisman with her ice element before it could even have a single chance of releasing the excessive amount of energy and exploding in their faces.
The talisman glowed with a frosty sheen, the ice element locking the energy in place.
While she would not reply to his questions or talks, whenever he asked her for a talisman half-filled with her ice-attributed espera, she would throw a bunch towards him occasionally.
Her throws were precise, the talismans landing neatly in front of him.
This was more than enough for him to practice on his own as well.
“So? I can see why you are so strong, but do you happen to know how Oliver became so strong?” Daniel asked another question to the emotionless doll sitting next to him.
He watched her carefully, hoping for a flicker of response.
“…”
She once again did not reply to his bothersome questions and ignored him.
Her silence was deafening, a wall between them.
But in fact, in her mind, she was also pondering this question.
How exactly did Oliver become so strong in such a short span of time?
She remembered how brutally he was beaten by the third pair of siblings that day, and unless she had protected him, he would have died right there alone.
But in just a few months, his strength rose so much that he was able to handle and kill minor-level demons alone on his own.
This was something that had been bugging her for some time. She could not deduce a reasonable explanation for this exponential growth in strength.
It just did not make any sense.
She had thought before that he might have signed a contract with a demonic entity for temporary strength in exchange for his soul, but that was highly unlikely.
Finding a demon inside a clan was next to impossible—especially where he lived.
And secondly, if he had signed a contract with a demon and turned into a heretic, their mother would have surely and instantly noticed that.
But since she did not say anything of it, then surely that was not the case either.
But then what was that dark malevolent energy radiating from inside him when she used her special eyes to see through him in the car that day?
It was so ominous that her heart almost burst out right there, and she accidentally launched an attack to kill him, which was unexpectedly stopped by his bare hands as well.
The memory sent a shiver down her spine, her fingers twitching involuntarily.
All of this situation was quite complex in her opinion, but she was too cold to ask him about it directly.
‘Why does he not tell me about it directly on his own without asking?’
She wondered a ridiculous thought, not even knowing what that meant.