Dyon realized that it didn’t seem like she had any cultivation either, but, her body was clearly stronger than normal and her sword will was sharp. She didn’t seem to be making any noise with her movements, it was almost as though the only noise she made came from her mouth.
If Dyon didn’t have his Aurora and his 6th sense, dodging her attack would be much more difficult than it was even now.
‘What ability is that? Is that a will? Or a technique?’ Thought Dyon.
As shocked as Dyon was, the girl was even more so. She knew fully well how effective the methods she was using were. For Dyon to dodge as much as he had was astonishing. She had already decided that Dyon was most definitely some sort of con man that had seen through the value of her ring.
There were countless mysterious methods and techniques that existed in the Marial World, who knew which he had used to take the ring right from under her nose? Plus, the fact he wasn’t an elf meant that he would be even more likely to have techniques she didn’t recognize.
Given Dyon’s strength, he most definitely couldn’t be the expert she had been thinking about all this time. Her anger wouldn’t be alleviated. .
Suddenly, her attacks increased in speed, a cold and harsh aura began to fill the area.
‘Ice will? Wind will? Something’s replenishing her stamina too…’
The girls light blue-silver hair raged behind her, flowing freely. Her steps were swift and silent as she lunged forward again and again.
Dyon was beginning to be unable to dodge by normal means anymore. He immediately began using his celestial movement technique. His foot lifted and slowly descended. His body flashed appearing behind the girl.
His eyes immediately flashed with a golden light, encasing the girl in layer after layer of defensive arrays.
BANG!
The arrays began to shatter, but luckily, the sword stopped before it reached the last one.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Dyon tried talking again, hoping this girl would finally see through some reason. As enticing as it was watching her battle with her tone belly and slender legs out like that, he felt a subconscious unwillingness to actually hurt this girl.
“Can we talk this out please? It really is my ring. Assuming you found it in the forest, I can even tell you which tree roots it was buried under… well, actually I can’t because I don’t know this forest well, but that knowledge should be enough! Right?”
The girl didn’t seem to be listening to Dyon anymore. Her eyes were trained on the spherical arrays that surrounded her. The ice cold aura had completely disappeared, instead a face filled with contemplation had appeared.
Dyon looked confused, but her voice finally broke the silence, “Show me the array plate you made this with, it’s even better than the one I have! You must be related to that expert somehow?”
‘Array plate?’
Dyon waved his hands, removing the defensive arrays, “I made these myself, why would I need an array plate?”
The girl stumbled, looking at Dyon like she had just heard the most unbelievable thing, “Don’t bullshit me! I’ve forgiven you once, don’t raise my temper again! Now show me the plate!”
Dyon sighed. He had dealt with this before. So, instead of speaking, his eyes flashed in gold. 16 points of spirals began drawing complex symbols in the air, culminating in complex swirls and moving parts that looked like the gears to machinery.
The girl was silent… unable to find the words to speak.
“You… you’re… But…”
Suddenly the girl took out the array plate she had been studying, “Did you make this?”
Although she couldn’t be sure, every array alchemist had a fingerprint that was impossible to replicate. When she thought about how she had just tried to fight an expert who was centuries old, her heart trembled a bit, but she maintained her normal appearance.
Dyon looked down at the plate and his face transformed into a surprised expression, “How did this get here…”
Dyon’s words were simple, but they made the girl tremble with agitation and excitement.
The girl immediately kneeled to the ground, “Please! Take me as your disciple!”
She felt that she must be wrong. Maybe Dyon really was an expert and had just been going easy on her. After all, he didn’t seem to be struggling much.
Dyon was startled out of his thoughts, ‘What the hell is going on….’
Dyon rushed forward to help the girl up, “Please don’t do this. How could I take a girl my age as a disciple?”
The girl trembled again, “You… you’re… really my age?”
Dyon gave her an odd look, “Of course I am. How could I not be? Do I look old?”
“But, your level of mastery… it’s too high.”
Dyon finally understood, ‘She must have assumed my age from my understanding of arrays.’
Dyon shook his head, “I have an Innate Aurora, so my affinity for array alchemy is quite high. I was just lucky.”
The girl nearly fainted. Lucky? Even if you just considered having an Innate Aurora, that wasn’t something that had appeared for millennia. If you then considered his mastery, that wasn’t something an innate aurora could account for.
“Innate aurora… wow… I still insist that you teach me! I won’t take no for an answer.”
The blue haired girl’s fiery attitude had all of a sudden appeared once again with her firm assertion.
Dyon could only shake his head helplessly, “How about we be friends first? My name is Dyon. What’s yours?”
“You can call me Ri,” the girl said with a massive grin, tugging on Dyon’s arm to pull him to the cave.
Dyon sighed, “Alright, we can do this first. But! You have to take me to deeper areas of the forest so I can hone my skills against some of the creatures.”
The girl was startled for a second, but then she nodded. She remembered how difficult it had been for her when she fought him earlier. Despite the fact he hadn’t begun energy cultivation either, he was definitely no weaker than her.
“Deal.”
.
