Aesa let out a slow breath. Her eyes settled on the old man with a cold, distant calm. Unlike Eccar, who would have tried to talk his way through this and find so kind of understanding, she had no interest in dragging this out.
Words always felt unnecessary to her, heavy and inefficient. Conversations twisted into complications she never cared to deal with.
That was why she preferred not to be alone on missions like this. Soone else could handle the talking. Soone else could deal with people.
But now, there was no one else.
"This is why I hate doing this alone," she muttered quietly.
Arven stood across from her. His sharp eyes study every detail without missing a thing. The faint mist rising from her body, the unnatural drop in temperature, the way the air seed to react to her presence.
He didn't need confirmation anymore. Everything about her existence felt strange in a way he could not fully explain, yet completely understood as a scholar.
"I will ask you again," Arven said, his tone firm, more forceful this ti. "Are you one of the travelers from another world?"
Aesa didn't hesitate. "You already know the answer."
A brief silence stretched between them before Arven let out a quiet hum. A small, crooked smile touched his lips, but it carried no warmth.
"I have spent decades studying the unknown," he said. "Beings like you. I have always wondered what you would be like."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But this is not the ti for curiosity."
Aesa didn't reply. The air around her suddenly changed.
A thin layer of frost spread outward from her feet in an instant. It crept across the stone floor, climbed the walls, and condensed along every surface with a sharp, brittle sound. The temperature dropped so quickly it felt unnatural and almost suffocating, as if the corridor itself had been dragged into a frozen void.
Arven felt it imdiately.
The cold bit into his skin, but the chill that ran down his spine ca from sothing else, not the cold. She hadn't even moved a single gesture. Yet she exerted this much control.
What kind of existence is this…?
However, he did not step back.
Instead, he straightened his back and forced his body to hold firm against the pressure. He had not spent his life reaching this position only to falter now.
He raised his arm and Magic surged.
Two massive snake spirits materialized beside him in a burst of brown-gold light. Their bodies slamd against the ground with heavy force, their scales shimring as they coiled and lifted their heads. The snake was as large as a warhorse, their long horns curving backward, their eyes glowing with a predatory look as they locked onto Aesa.
"What is your purpose?" Arven asked.
Aesa's eyes remained fixed on him, emotionless.
"I only want to see the fragnt you're guarding," she said. "Let pass, and you won't get hurt."
Arven let out a quiet snort, shaking his head slightly. "Hmph! Arrogant."
The two snake spirits lunged forward instantly, slithering with terrifying speed as they surged across the frozen floor toward her.
Aesa didn't move. Her eyes tracked them calmly.
The mont they entered her range, the ground beneath them erupted.
Jagged pillars of ice burst upward in a violent explosion, tearing through the stone with overwhelming force. The freezing energy spread instantly across their bodies and locked their movent in their lunge as layers of ice consud them in a ti of a second.
The corridor shook from the impact.
Aesa stood still at the center of it all, untouched.
Her gaze lifted slightly, returning to Arven.
"Last chance," she said quietly.
Arven heard those words clearly, and for a brief mont, anxiety tightened deep in his chest. The cold pressure filling the corridor was not just from her Magic anymore. It pressed against his instincts, whispering things far more dangerous than re strength.
But none of that showed on his face.
He did not step back. He did not hesitate.
Instead, his expression hardened further and the flow of Magic around him surged once more.
"If you think that is enough to make yield…" he said, his voice steady, almost sharp, "then you misunderstand your position here."
He lifted his hand again.
The air behind him distorted violently as if sothing was forcing its way into existence. A dull, heavy sound echoed through the corridor, followed by the grinding scrape of tal.
A third spirit erged.
A towering skeletal warrior stepped forward from the distortion. Its massive fra clad in rusted armor that creaked with its every movent. The tal looked ancient, corroded, and worn, as if it should have collapsed long ago. In its hands, it gripped a gigantic sword, the blade also chipped and stained with age.
But the presence it carried told a different story.
This was not a weakness. It was sothing that had endured corruption for long and stood tall.
The warrior stood nearly three ters tall, its head almost brushing against the ceiling as it straightened. Hollow eyes burned with spectral light as it turned toward Aesa.
Arven's gaze flicked toward her and he frowned deeper.
Her expression hadn't changed.
Her face remained cold and detached, almost indifferent. Her blue eyes lowered slightly, not in fear, but in sothing closer to annoyance, as if this entire exchange had already dragged on longer than she cared for.
That reaction unsettled him more than anything else. Arven knowing that she's not even taking this seriously.
A quiet realization settled in his mind, sharp and unavoidable. He can't handle this alone.
Even as that thought ford, he kept his posture firm, his presence unyielding. Years of discipline held him steady where instinct might have faltered.
"I need to call the other guards."
The decision locked in place.
At the sa mont Arven commanded.
"Go."
The skeletal warrior moved.
It stepped forward with a heavy echoing impact that shook the floor beneath it, then surged into motion. Its massive body closed the distance in a single powerful stride while raising its enormous blade high above its head.
The air split with the force of its movent.
Then it brought the sword down toward Aesa with crushing power.
Aesa didn't move imdiately.
Her eyes lifted slightly, watching the descending blade with quiet disinterest.
The cold around her deepened. She let out a quiet sigh that sounded almost weary, as she watched the massive blade descend toward her.
There was no urgency in her movent, no sign of panic or strain. She had expected this from the very beginning. A man like him, soone entrusted to guard sothing this important, would never simply step aside. He would fight, no matter the difference in power.
"..Of course," she murmured under her breath.
If he insisted on attacking, then she would respond in kind.
The air around her beca lower again.
Without stepping back, without even raising her voice, Aesa lifted one hand slightly. The cold around her surged, condensing into sothing far more solid. Frost gathered rapidly in front of her, spiraling and compressing into form.
In less than two seconds, sothing erged.
A towering figure of ice stood before her.
It mirrored the skeletal warrior almost perfectly showing the sa massive fra, the sa towering height that nearly brushed the ceiling, the sa heavy build and imposing presence. Even the shape of the weapon it carried matched—a colossal blade ford entirely from condensed ice, its surface gleaming with a pale blue glow.
The mont it finished forming, it moved.
Arven's eyes narrowed sharply at the sight, a deep frown pulling across his face.
"She replicated it… that fast?" His jaw tightened.
Without wasting another second, his hand moved toward the dallion resting against his chest. His fingers pressed into it, channeling a pulse of Magic through the engraved surface. The signal shot upward instantly as a silent call reaching the guards stationed above.
Then he turned his full focus back to the battle. Magic surged through him again.
He extended his will toward the skeletal warrior, pouring more power into it. The rusted armor rattled violently as the spirit responded, its hollow eyes flaring brighter with renewed intensity.
"Break it!" Arven commanded.
The skeletal warrior roared soundlessly as its blade ca crashing down.
At the sa mont, Aesa's ice construct stepped forward to et it.
The two massive figures collided in the center of the corridor. The rusted steel t with the ice with a deafening impact.
The clash sent a shockwave through the confined space, cracking the frozen floor beneath them and rattling the walls. Frost scattered into the air while fragnts of stone broke loose under the pressure.
For a mont, neither side gave way.
The rusted blade pressed down with crushing force while the ice-forged weapon also held firm, its surface cracking slightly before stabilizing under Aesa's control.
They stood locked against each other in equal manner.
Arven's eyes widened slightly as he felt the resistance.
Across from him, Aesa remained still, her expression unchanged. Cold and unmoved.
As if this was exactly what she expected.
She then heard several footsteps coming from behind her.
—
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