"I beca your big fan. Can you please tell ... your na?"
The dark green-haired girl frowned at Cael’s carefree tone, her amber eyes narrowing slightly as she studied him.
She already knew who he was.
She had seen him once in District Neva, standing cautiously and guarded as he asked her about resonance.
And she had seen him again in this forest, fighting the bowman with sharp precision.
Back then, at the District Neva, he had been wary of her presence, asuring every movent, every word.
Now, he stood before her as if none of that mattered, as if the blood-soaked forest and the corpses beneath their feet were nothing more than a passing inconvenience.
She found that change interesting.
There were many possibilities.
Perhaps he had gained confidence.
Perhaps he had learned sothing in these past few days.
Or perhaps he was simply reckless.
She tilted her head slightly and asked,
"Before you ask who I am, should you not introduce yourself first?"
Cael smiled, unfazed, his violet eyes calm as he replied,
"Did I not already tell you? I am your fan."
A faint smile ford on her lips at that answer.
It was not mockery, nor was it warmth. It was amusent, the kind that appeared when sothing unexpected happened in this predictable world.
"Is that so?"
She said softly and continued,
"Then let ask you again."
She took a step forward as the air shifted.
Even without activating the State of Resonant, the weight of everything she had done still lingered around her.
The slaughter above, the blood soaking into the earth, the screams that had only just faded.
All of it clung to her like an invisible cloak.
The girl looked straight into his eyes and asked,
"Are you worthy?"
The mont those words fell, the pressure descended.
It was not mana. It was not killing intent.
It was sothing deeper, sothing instinctive, pressing against Cael’s chest, tightening around his throat, digging into his thoughts.
For a brief mont, dread crept in.
Then Cael forced a smile.
’Death Reaper’s Focus.’
The world snapped into clarity. The pressure vanished as if it had never existed.
His breathing steadied, his thoughts sharpened, and his body relaxed into a state of complete control.
He looked at her without hesitation and said,
"I guess there is one way to find out."
She did not reply as she charged at him.
Her fist shot toward his chest, fast and direct, carrying enough force to shatter bone with a single hit.
Cael stepped back, the wind guiding his movent, just enough to avoid the strike.
The edge of her fist brushed against his shirt, tearing a thin thread as it passed.
He did not wait a single second as he activated "Death Reaper’s Dominion."
A field expanded around him, spreading outward in a silent wave, covering fifteen ters in every direction.
The mont it touched her, her mana compressed, her rank forcibly pushed down from [Gold] to [Silver].
The air around her shifted as her energy was suppressed, her presence weighed down by the invisible pressure of his domain.
She did not react to the suppression field. She did not hesitate in her actions. She simply continued forward.
Cael raised his hand and released a wind blade that sliced through the air toward her neck.
She twisted her body slightly, letting it pass without effort.
He followed imdiately with a bolt of black lightning aid at her torso, but she stepped aside, the lightning striking the ground behind her and scattering dirt and sparks into the air.
She closed the distance again, her fist aiming for his ribs.
Cael ducked under the strike and swept his leg toward her ankle, but she jumped over it effortlessly and countered with a kick aid at his head.
He leaned back, the attack passing inches from his face.
They moved without pause, no wasted motion, no unnecessary force.
She attacked with precision, every strike aid to end the fight, while he responded with control, avoiding direct confrontation and using speed and positioning to survive.
Cael enhanced his movents with wind, his body becoming lighter and faster, his reactions sharper.
Black lightning flickered beneath his feet, distorting his presence and masking his exact position.
He attacked from shifting angles, constantly changing his position, forcing her to adjust.
But his strikes never landed. She was always just out of reach.
He sent three wind blades in succession; each aid at a different point.
The first toward her shoulder, the second toward her thigh, the third toward her neck.
She lowered her body and let the first pass overhead, leaned back from the second as it sliced through a strand of her hair, and then raised her hand to catch the third.
The wind dispersed against her palm.
She stepped forward and threw another punch.
But Cael stepped back. She followed with another. He retreated again.
Her kick aid at his knee, fast and low, but he jumped over it and released a bolt of black lightning toward her face.
She tilted her head slightly, the attack grazing past her ear. The distance between them stretched and closed again and again.
Cael was not trying to win. He was trying to understand every movent, every reaction, every shift in her posture.
He was reading her, searching for a flaw, a pattern, sothing he could exploit. She gave him nothing.
Unknowingly, they sohow moved up and ended up in the forest above.
The ground beneath them bore the scars of their exchange, shallow craters and fractured soil spreading outward in uneven patterns, while broken bark and scattered leaves clung to the damp air, stirred by the lingering force of their movents.
The girl frowned slightly and muttered,
"This won’t do."
There was a trace of irritation in her voice.
He was avoiding direct confrontation, refusing to engage head-on, slipping through her attacks instead of eting them.
It was effective, but it was not what she wanted. She wanted to break him. She wanted to see if he could stand against her.
Her eyes changed. The amber darkened, then deepened, then turned into molten gold.
’True Beast Form.’
Her fingernails extended into claws, dark and sharp, curving outward with a predatory edge.
Her teeth shifted, fangs forming at the edges of her lips. Her stance lowered, her body adjusting to beco more grounded, more stable, more dangerous.
Her already torn shoes tore even more, her feet changing as her toes elongated and claws dug into the soil.
She moved, and this ti she was faster.
Cael’s eyes widened slightly as she closed the distance almost instantly.
The interface didn’t appear, indicating the skill the girl was using was an SSS-Rank skill.
Cael no longer held back; he knew he wasn’t her match in direct confrontation.
He raised his hand and waved. A simple breeze passed through her body, and the effect was imdiate.
Due to the mana nullification effect in that breeze, her transformation started to be undone.
The claws receded, the fangs dulled, the golden glow faded from her eyes. Her body returned to normal.
Her eyes widened for the first ti in a long ti; she was shocked, but she did not stop. Her eyes turned cold.
Even as one transformation was undone, sothing else erged. Her aura shifted, deepened, changed.
Cael’s expression changed as well. He felt extre danger.
He moved instantly, black lightning surging beneath his feet as he retreated.
The girl’s fist struck the earth where he had been standing, the impact shattering the surface and sending fragnts of soil and stone outward in a violent shockwave.
The force chased him.
His landing faltered as his foot caught on a root hidden beneath the mud, his balance broke, his body twisted awkwardly, and he crashed into a tree trunk behind him.
The impact knocked the air out of his lungs.
Pain spread through his back and ribs as he pushed himself upright, breathing unevenly.
His ’Death Reaper’s Dominion’ field had collapsed. He could not maintain it after that disruption.
The forest fell silent.
The beasts watched, but they did not move. Wolves, bears, lions, eagles.
Their eyes followed the two figures in the clearing, but none of them interfered.
This was not their fight. This was their sovereign’s.
A faint mist hovered close to the forest floor, carrying the scent of rain, blood, and crushed earth, as distant branches creaked softly.
The entire clearing held a tense stillness, as if the forest itself was watching in silence.
The girl stood still, her presence heavier than before, her aura dense, suffocating, filled with sothing that did not belong to ordinary rankers.
Her eyes were no longer amber. They were sothing deeper, sothing ancient.
Cael straightened his posture. His eyes locked onto hers,
"State of Resonant."
Cael exhaled slowly, his chest still aching, and softly muttered,
"All I asked was your na. Do you really have to go this far?"
She did not respond. She simply looked at him, and in that gaze, Cael understood.
This was never about the question.
This was about proving sothing.
To her. To the countless beasts watching from the shadows.
That he was worthy to know her na.
"Since you are using your best card, I will use mine as well."
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