Chapter 48: Back Off!
Jia’s movements were precise, her feet barely touching the ground as she sidestepped Yenna’s clumsy strike, a flick of her wrist all that was needed to deflect the incoming blow.
Yenna, unbalanced, stumbled but managed to regain her footing, landing with a tense posture, her newly awakened mana coiling around her fists like a faint, protective mist.
"I said, back off!" Yenna growled, her voice low and surprisingly guttural, almost animalistic, as she lunged again, her hands glowing with unfocused energy.
Jia clicked her tongue, a flicker of annoyance crossing her face. "You really wish to do this?" she asked, her tone flat as she took a half-step back, effortlessly avoiding another telegraphed strike. "Fine, if you insist."
She twisted her body, her leg snapping out in a sweeping kick that aimed for Yenna’s torso, but Yenna ducked under it with a surprising, cat-like agility. She managed to land a light blow against Jia’s arm, though it had no effect.
’Ugh, well that was something, seems I forgot power needs to be stored in the core before you can use it properly.’ Vell thought, rubbing his head in pain as he used the wall to support himself, his vision still a little blurry. As his sight cleared, he saw Yenna get punched into the wall, a trickle of blood escaping her mouth.
"What the hell?" His blood went cold as he took in the scene. The context did not matter. His power flared, and he leaped, appearing instantly in front of them.
"H-Human-" Before Jia could finish her sentence, he grabbed her by the head and swatted her away like a fly. The force of the blow was enough to make her nose bleed as she staggered back, regaining her balance.
’...’ She glanced at the blood on her hand, then back at Vell, her expression unreadable. ’That power... it is the same as before, but it is more stable now.’ She was not angry about being hit, she knew she deserved it after beating up a weak girl.
"What possessed you to do such a stupid thing?" He asked as he gently lowered Yenna to the ground, his voice calm but heavy with an undeniable weight. The mana swirling around him was erratic, an outward reflection of the fury he was trying to suppress, his hands trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the effort of holding himself back.
She looked up at him with barely open eyes, a warm smile on her face. "She attacked you, it made me so angry that I leaped without thinking straight, I am sorry." She closed her eyes completely, her mind drifting into unconsciousness.
’She attacked me? ...When did that happen?’ He thought, a small chuckle escaping him as he stood up, his power vanishing as he looked at Jia. "Sorry about that, it seems she got the wrong idea when my power went out of control."
"Hmph, whatever, it is not like your attack hurt anyway." She crossed her arms and walked away, acting tough, but her slight limp told a different story.
’She has a soft side to her... maybe it will not be too bad to form a friendship with her.’ He thought, walking over to the other side of the room to sit down. ’Okay, I have control over it, but it is still too unstable, which means I need to make a new core. I doubt this power will mix with corrupted mana, and I do not feel like risking that, so let’s just make a new one.’
This was not hard for him, he had created multiple cores before, this was no different. He took portions of the dark power and used it to form a new core, a pure black orb that gave off a strong presence. ’Heh, easy work.’ He filled it with the mana, and he could feel his body becoming less tense, as if a huge weight was being lifted.
The energy all entered the core, and yet... the core was barely filled, not even halfway through. ’Did I make the core too big? It is around the same size as the other, so it should be fine. Maybe I have less of that power than I thought.’ He relaxed his body against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.
"So much has happened this week, cannot believe I am the same guy who was on the street, barely making it through the day. One encounter changed everything..." He thought of Kana. "I hope she is doing well. I do hate them, even if they are being controlled, I cannot help but hate them." He closed his eyes, getting lost in his thoughts.
The next day came fast, and after they ate breakfast, they went back to training. Vell sparred with Yenna, teaching her some pointers on how she could use her mana more sparingly. She was a quick learner, so she picked up on his lessons fast. Jia watched, boredom written all over her face, there was nothing for her to do.
"Okay, that is enough for now, you can proceed to train on your own, come up with a fighting style unique to you." He said, his eyes shifting to Jia, who was sitting and polishing her daggers.
"Okay," Yenna looked proud. This was something no one had ever done for her, so she was trying her best, it was the only way to truly thank him.
Vell picked up a small stone and threw it at Jia, hitting her on the head. "Hm?" She looked up, seeing Vell standing there, gesturing for her to bring it on with a cocky look on his face. Jia smirked as she jumped into a fighting pose.
"Finally, I was beginning to get bored in here. Let us pick up where we left off." She was excited, eager to fight, but Vell held up his hand.
"Before we start, do you have an extra blade? It is not fair to fight someone with daggers barehanded, after all."
She looked at him for a while and took an extra dagger from her back. "Sure, here. Now let us start." As soon as his hands grabbed the dagger, Jia had already closed the distance, her smile showing how much she enjoyed the challenge. He barely had time to block her swift strike, the clash of metal ringing through the room. He grinned, stepping back to create some space.
"My my, so impatient." His fingers were barely holding the dagger, it looked like it could slip out of his hands at any moment, but despite this, Jia did not attack. She was on guard, very cautious. "A real blade," A crazy, wide smile appeared on his face, he looked like he had finally lost it.
"You are so fucked."