Grace was still trying to recover so of the dignity she had lost in the last few minutes. First, she had been discovered following Victor. Then she had been carried in his arms as if she weighed absolutely nothing. Then he had practically transford an ordinary conversation into sothing capable of making her heart race several tis in a row. She was already beginning to conclude that talking to Victor Valentine was a much more exhausting experience than facing territorial monsters.
It was precisely at that mont that her instincts kicked in.
There was no warning.
There was no hesitation.
Her body reacted before her mind.
An arrow shot through the forest.
The speed was absurd.
The projectile cut through dozens of ters in a fraction of a second, breaking through the air with enough force to produce a sharp sound as it headed directly towards them.
Victor noticed imdiately.
In fact, he noticed even before the arrow was fired.
His perception had already located the individuals hidden among the trees so ti ago. He knew exactly where the attack was coming from and even considered stopping the arrow simply by reflex.
But he didn’t need to.
Grace was faster.
Her arm moved.
Her left hand simply appeared in the projectile’s path.
CRACK.
The arrow stopped.
It didn’t slow down.
It stopped.
As if it had collided with an invisible wall.
Her palm gripped the shaft at the exact instant impact would have occurred.
Then the ice appeared.
There was no incantation.
There was no preparation.
The freezing energy coursed through the wood instantly.
The entire arrow beca a sculpture of pale blue ice.
Grace didn’t even look at the projectile.
She simply twisted her wrist.
And launched it back.
BOOM.
The arrow disappeared.
A second later, a distant explosion echoed among the trees.
The sound was followed by a very short scream.
Too short.
Victor observed the direction of the impact for a few monts before whistling softly.
"It hit the head."
Grace slowly lowered her arm.
Her expression had already returned to normal.
Cold.
Controlled.
As if just killing soone with their own arrow was rely a minor inconvenience.
"Damn it."
That was all she said.
Victor nodded slightly.
"I agree."
Grace looked back at him.
"You already noticed."
It wasn’t a question.
Victor put his hands back in the pockets of his dark suit while observing the surrounding trees.
"For so ti now."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"How long?"
Victor thought for a few seconds.
"Enough ti to know they heard practically our entire conversation."
The silence that followed was brief.
Grace processed the information.
Then she frowned.
"How?"
Victor turned his face partially toward her.
"You were being followed, little icy one."
Grace blinked.
Once.
Twice.
The information clearly didn’t please her.
Because she was extrely competent.
Being followed without realizing it was sothing that directly wounded her pride.
Victor imdiately noticed the irritation rising in the girl’s blue eyes.
"Don’t call that."
"Little icy one?"
"Yes."
Victor seed to seriously consider the possibility.
"I’ll keep calling you that."
Grace opened her mouth to reply.
But she couldn’t.
Because at that instant dozens of presences began to move.
Quickly.
Very quickly.
The hidden individuals realized they had been discovered.
And they decided to act.
Victor sensed everything.
Red lines appeared within his perception.
Movents.
Heartbeats.
Blood flow.
Positions.
Distances.
He could feel each one of them.
Approximately forty people.
Maybe more.
So were hidden in the trees.
Others advanced on the ground.
All ard.
All hostile.
Victor let out a small sigh.
"What a drag."
Grace followed his gaze.
"They’re going to attack."
"I know."
"There are too many."
Victor tilted his head slightly.
"Do you really think that matters?"
Grace opened her mouth.
Then closed it again.
Because honestly...
After everything she had seen that day...
She didn’t have a very good answer for that anymore.
Victor then took one hand out of his pocket.
Just one.
The movent was extrely simple.
Almost lazy.
Like soone brushing away an annoying insect.
He raised his arm.
He observed his own hand for a mont.
And then he struck the air.
WHOOOOOOOOM.
The world exploded in white.
Thousands of flas erupted.
Not dozens.
Not hundreds.
Thousands.
An entire storm of white fire was hurled forward.
The flas swept through the forest like a living wave.
Trees disappeared.
Stones disappeared.
Air disappeared.
Everything in its path was swallowed.
Grace watched it, unable to hide her shock.
Because there was no explosion.
There was no conventional destruction.
The fire simply consud.
Silently.
Absurdly.
The flas swept across entire kiloters of forest in seconds.
The screams began imdiately.
So lasted several seconds.
Others ended instantly.
Most disappeared before even completing a sentence.
Victor watched everything calmly.
Without emotion.
Without satisfaction.
Without anger.
He seed just like soone solving an extrely simple problem.
The wave of fire continued advancing until it disappeared on the distant horizon.
Then ca the silence.
A heavy silence.
Strange.
Grace stood motionless.
Her eyes slowly scanned the affected area.
Because sothing was wrong.
Very wrong.
The forest was still there.
The trees remained standing.
The ground remained intact.
No fire had started.
No vegetation was burning.
The flas had swept through everything.
But apparently they chose exactly what to destroy.
Victor noticed this too.
He observed his own hand for a few seconds.
Then he slowly closed his fingers.
"...That’s pretty strong."
The comnt ca out in a genuinely thoughtful tone.
Like soone evaluating a new tool.
Grace turned her face slowly toward him.
"Pretty strong?"
Victor nodded.
"Apparently."
She stared at him for a few seconds.
Then she looked ahead again.
Because now she could feel it.
The presences disappeared.
Almost all of them.
The lifelines that had previously surrounded that region had simply vanished.
Not weakened.
Not fled.
Vanished.
Victor had eliminated an entire group of participants with a single casual movent.
And the worst part was that he seed more curious than impressed.
Victor observed his own hand again.
The white flas still left a strange feeling.
Hunger.
That was the best word to describe it.
The ability seed alive.
As if it constantly craved sothing to consu.
He still didn’t fully understand it.
But he was beginning to understand why everyone had been terrified after the Primordial Blood.
Grace remained silent for several seconds.
Finally, she sighed.
"You’re ridiculous."
Victor glanced at her.
"What did I do now?"
She pointed to the invisible destruction before them.
"This."
Victor observed the indicated direction.
He thought for a few seconds.
Then he shrugged.
"They attacked first."
Grace closed her eyes.
For so reason, that answer managed to seem perfectly logical and completely absurd at the sa ti.
When she opened them again, Victor was already walking again.
Hands in his pockets.
Relaxed posture. As if he hadn’t just wiped dozens of participants off the map.
Grace watched him for a few seconds.
Then she started to follow him.
Because, at that point, moving away seed a much more dangerous idea than staying close.
Victor continued walking for a few ters while observing the red lines scattered within his own perception. The remaining presences in that region were already beginning to reorganize after the small demonstration that had just taken place. So participants were fleeing. Others were trying to carefully approach to confirm what had happened. Most were simply confused.
Grace followed him a few steps behind, maintaining a distance that seed carefully calculated. She still seed uncomfortable after the combination of taunts, exterminated monsters, and surprise attacks that had occurred in the last few minutes.
Victor noticed this.
He also noticed that she was still following.
Then he finally let out a sigh.
"You’re still there."
Grace crossed her arms imdiately.
"I noticed you are too."
Victor looked at her over his shoulder.
For a few seconds the two remained silent.
Then he shook his head.
"Go away."
Grace blinked.
"...What?"
"Go away."
The answer ca simply.
Without aggression.
No irritation.
Just direct.
Grace frowned slightly.
"Why?"
Victor looked ahead again as he continued walking among the gigantic trees.
"Because I work better alone."
Grace opened her mouth to reply.
But Victor continued before she could speak.
"You’re strong."
That seed to surprise her.
"But I’m not here to team up."
He kept his hands in his pockets as he moved through the forest.
"You have your own score to accumulate. I have mine."
Grace kept watching his back for a few seconds.
"Are you kicking out?"
Victor thought briefly.
"Yes."
"...How rude."
"Thank you."
Grace stared at him for a few monts.
Then she sighed slowly.
Because, honestly, she was already beginning to understand that arguing with Victor was usually a waste of ti. The problem was that she still didn’t like the idea.
Jake was around.
The other participants were too.
Besides, Victor seed to have an almost supernatural tendency to attract trouble.
But before she could continue arguing...
He disappeared.
He simply vanished.
There was no explosion.
No visible movent.
No energy.
One mont he was there.
The next he was gone.
Grace stopped imdiately.
Her eyes scanned the forest.
Nothing.
His presence had completely disappeared.
Not a sll.
Not energy.
Not even body heat.
Absolutely nothing.
Her senses expanded throughout the entire area.
Still nothing.
The place where Victor had been seconds before now seed empty.
Grace remained motionless for a few seconds.
Then she frowned.
"Idiot."
The word ca out almost automatically.
She surveyed her surroundings once more.
No results.
Finally, she let out an irritated sigh.
"You could at least let know."
No answer ca.
After a few monts, Grace turned and began walking in the opposite direction.
Apparently convinced that Victor had truly left.
What she didn’t know...
Was that Victor was still right there.
Sitting calmly on a high branch of a gigantic tree.
Watching.
The Blood Demon Concealnt remained active around him.
His presence had completely vanished.
It wasn’t invisibility.
It was sothing far more absurd.
The technique simply removed his existence from others’ perception.
Normal senses failed.
Supernatural senses failed.
Even most tracking thods beca useless.
Victor watched Grace slowly walk away into the forest.
Then she rested her chin on one hand.
"Hm."
She really hadn’t noticed.
Not for a second.
Victor followed her movents through the red lines that continued to glow within his own perception.
The girl walked normally.
Without additional caution.
Without looking for ambushes.
Without checking for possible observers.
As if she believed her own strength was enough to resolve any unexpected situation.
Victor let out a small sigh.
"Naive."
The word ca out almost as a casual remark.
Because it was true.
Grace was strong.
Probably stronger than most of the participants in that exam.
But strength didn’t solve everything.
Especially not when it ca to vampires.
Vampires lied.
They betrayed.
They ambushed.
They poisoned.
They manipulated.
It was practically a cultural sport for so of them.
Victor watched her continue walking away, slowly shaking her head.
"She trusts too much in her own strength."
That was dangerous.
Especially because truly strong people often believed they could solve any problem simply by fighting.
It usually worked.
Until the day it didn’t.
And that single day was usually enough to kill soone.
Victor continued watching her for a few monts.
Then another question naturally arose.
A question that didn’t really make much sense.
"Why didn’t Grandma teach her this?"
The question ca out in a low voice.
Because, honestly, it was strange.
The Blood Demon Concealnt wasn’t just any technique.
It was absurd.
Extrely useful.
Especially for soone like Grace.
With the combination of her skills, the technique would transform the girl into a walking nightmare for virtually any opponent.
Still...
She clearly didn’t know it.
She didn’t even recognize what had happened when Victor disappeared.
That ant Chysis had never taught it.
Victor rested his head against the tree trunk as he continued to follow her movents from a distance.
Perhaps it had been a deliberate choice.
Perhaps Chysis was teaching other things first.
Or perhaps she simply considered that Grace wasn’t ready yet.
He really didn’t know.
But he found it strange.
Very strange.
Because after experiencing that technique, Victor had imdiately understood why it was so valuable.
Especially within that exam.
While all the other participants needed to worry about hiding tracks, controlling energy, or avoiding detection...
He simply ceased to exist.
Victor watched Grace slowly disappear among the distant trees.
Only then did he turn his attention to the rest of the forest.
Instantly, thousands of red lines filled his perception once more.
Monsters.
Participants.
Territorial bosses.
All spread out before him like a huge living map.
A small smile appeared on his face.
Then he disappeared again.
User Comments
0 comments from readers