Imaginary Friends (2)

After around twenty minutes had passed, the assailants were still searching for their missing targets. The young lady was worried that some of them would go out of the range of her illusion array, but through some lucky coincidence, they all remained within it. However, that was where her luck became her misfortune. When she was just one and a half steps away from finishing the array, a fireball suddenly landed in front of her and startled her a few steps back. And if that wasn't bad enough, the place the fireball struck was a key component of both her illusion and concealment array, so they both collapsed.

She clicked her tongue at having her hard work be wasted, but there was no time for grumbling.

"Junior Sister, we have to go!"

Even with their bodies still invisible, they could no longer hide from spiritual sense, so the assailants easily locked on to them. The two tried to run, but they were quickly surrounded.

"Junior Sister, I'll make an opening so I want you to run once you see it. The city is nearby, so you should be able to find help."

"No. I can't abandon you after dragging you into my problem."

"You didn't drag me into it. I chose to get involved. And it's not as if I plan to die either. I have plenty of ways to hold on until you come back with help."

"Senior Adrian..."

"Believe me. Now, go-"

"Excuse me, but would you mind not blocking the path? You do realise this is a public road, right?"

No one had noticed him before he spoke, but a charming young man with delicate features stood behind the assailants surrounding the pair. This was Shui, on his way to the next city. At first, he was going to ignore this commotion, but when he saw the pair that were in danger, his instincts told him that he would regret leaving them. He was undergoing the process of attaining Soul Perfection, so he couldn't use even half of his full powers since he had to focus on controlling his body. Still, he didn't think that would make interfering in this matter difficult.

Shui didn't take any action to intimidate the assailants, but he was attacked by three of them as soon as he finished speaking.

"Stop! He's not involved in this!"

Shui's body stiffened, but not because he was frightened like everyone else assumed, but because of the young lady's voice. The shock he felt was so great that he made a mistake in controlling his right leg muscles and stumbled to the ground. Shui seemed to be in a desperate situation with the three assailants a few steps away, but the only problem he had was that the three assailants were blocking his view.

"Out of the way."

Shui swung his arm and created a powerful gust that swept the three enemies away. Seeing that simple but potent technique, everyone realised Shui wasn't as defenseless as he seemed. The other assailants immediately fired all sorts of spells at him. At this time, Adrian grabbed Emily's hand and tried to leave with her, but she shook her head and stood firmly in place.

"No, I can't abandon him."

Seeing Emily take out a gemstone, Adrian grimaced, but he stayed by her side and readied some pills. 

Against the barrage of spells, Shui stood up and punched with just enough force to disperse the spells. Once he dealt with the spells, he dashed forward and made quick work of the assailants with punches, kicks and throws. He was controlling his body with mental control to fight, so his strength was limited, but he still had to hold back to limit collateral damage. Nonetheless, in less than a minute, the assailants were either unconscious or dead. 

Once the nuisances had been taken care of, Shui approached the good-looking pair. The young lady watched him with surprise and interest, but Adrian remained wary of him. He stood protectively in front of his companion with two purple pills in hand.

"Thank you for your assistance. Do you need anything from us?"

Shui glanced at Adrian before moving his eyes back to the young lady. Her cloak had a concealment array that disguised her identity, but it wasn't effective against Shui's eyes.

'Emily.'

The moment he figured out who she was, he felt a rush of excitement, but he restrained himself and gave a polite smile.

"Think nothing of it. They were blocking the way, so I simply cleared the path. Are you okay?"

"Yes-"

"We're fine."

Adrian didn't like how Shui was looking at Emily, so he quickly interjected. Shui still didn't look in his direction as he continued.

"Good. If you're heading to Paraj, would you like to go together?"

"No, it's fine. As you probably noticed, we're being targeted, so you would be better off without us."

Emily agreed with this sentiment, so she didn't interrupt Adrian. She was grateful for Shui's assistance, but she still didn't feel right burdening him with her problems.

"It's a little too late for that since I already interfered with them. A few of them escaped, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm one of their targets now too. In which case, there won't be much of a point in splitting up."

Seeing that Emily was somewhat convinced by his logic, Adrian grimaced.

"Even then, if they concentrate their forces on us, wouldn't it be harder to handle?"

"I doubt they could gather much forces before we reach the city, and once we're inside, their actions will be even more restricted."

"But..."

'Damn it! Quickly! I have to find a reason to refuse him.'

"It's fine, Senior Adrian. There's only one path to Paraj from here, so like he said, there's little point in splitting up."

Emily thought Adrian was so adamant about refusing Shui because she didn't want to get others involved in her issues, so she assured him it was alright. Adrian interpreted her words differently, but he still realised there was no point in arguing further.

"I'm glad we've come to an agreement. My name is Shui. How should I address you?"

"You can call me Emily, and this is Adrian."

"I see," for the first time since the start of their conversation Shui looked at Adrian, "You seem rather close. Do you have a special relationship?"

Sensing an opportunity to suppress Shui, Adrian opened his mouth to answer, but Emily beat him to it.

"No, we're just friends. We studied together for a time, so I call him Senior and he calls me Junior Sister."

Emily considered Adrian a close friend, but she didn't see the need to say that out loud. 

"Just friends..." Adrian murmured

"Did you say something, Senior Adrian?"

"No, nothing."

Shui believed he understood Adrian's mood at this moment, but he didn't feel any amusement or sympathy.

"Well, shall we go?"

"Sure."

As the three started walking, Alia flew out and landed on Shui's head.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A quick glance revealed that Emily and Adrian didn't see her, so he silently responded.

[Is there a problem?]

"I know you want to be that girl's knight in shining armour, but I hope you recall that we have a fallen to deal with."

[I know but...]

"Do you know her or something?"

[You could say that. But she doesn't know me.]

"So you're a pervert and a stalker."

[What?! No! It's complicated, okay.]

"Hmm... Well I'll leave it there but, are you sure she's worth delaying our trip?"

[She's...]

Shui knew that the Emily he knew and the one walking with him were two different people. Even if the Emily he met in the trial was a perfect copy of the real Emily, this Emily had never met him. In reality, there was no connection between them. They weren't even acquaintances. However, when the smiling face of his junior sister came to mind, he couldn't convince himself to abandon her just because they had never met before. After all, weren't they meeting now?

[I can't leave her knowing she's in danger. I'll try to settle everything in a few days, so can you give me until then?]

"...Hah."

After a sigh of resignation, an orb of light left Alia's body and flashed away.

"I sent a clone of myself ahead to keep watch of the city. It won't be able to buy much time, so we need to leave as soon as the fallen appears, got it?"

[Yes. Thank you, Alia.]

"Just take good care of her. I don't want my partner to be someone who can't protect what's important to him."

[You can rest assured. I don't want to be that kind of person either.]