Chapter 36: The Burning Yet Warm Brightness

Gwen already saw what Slavica was intending to do and managed to expand her bloody flame's spikes really wide range and went after Slavica. The bloody flames were totally sharp and with each touch over the earthly ground, it was either exploding or bouncing and still followed Slavica. It never leaves her even if she dodged or blocked them. It was not letting her find any right moment or even a second to prepare for any counter to what Gwen was giving to her.

"She is getting close to her full awakening." Slavica took notice when surprisingly Gwen suddenly stepped away and balanced herself on her bloody strings that were still around.

"What is she planning? I couldn't read her again." Slavica thought as Gwen raised her hand and every bloody string began to release a very powerful vibration.

The vibration was so strong that the sting was really annoying and painful over the ears of whoever was going to hear them. Slavica was no exception. She began groaning in pain but she still managed to tolerate it. Yet, Gwen did something over the stinging vibration that hurts Slavica's ears. It was already bleeding and making her entire body numbed as well immobilized.

"Surprising. She's the first one who managed to make my body like this. She even managed to infiltrate my energy flow to such a halt." Slavica commented and Gwen looked at her with her pure white orbs.

Meeting those eyes, Slavica shivered and have some goosebumps that never left her body. Then the bloody flames halted on their places like an ice spike around their area. It seems to Slavica that the bloody flames took to form a barrier that prevented her from going too far from the area. She smirked when she noticed that but something was still not giving her any hint of whatever Gwen was planning. She totally couldn't read her as if Gwen was not thinking of anything.

"How can her mind be so empty?" Slavica muttered to herself as she stood still on her ground and carefully waited for what Gwen was about to do.

On Gwen's side, she was on her spot, balancing herself over her bloody strings and watching Salvica's movement carefully. But when she stopped using her blood spikes, Slavica halted as well and she was staring deeply at Gwen who shivered from that intense gaze fixed on her.

"Only if you could read my mind, Slavica…you would know…" Gwen thought while staring back at Slavica's intense gaze.

"I could hear yours." She continued before she put her hands behind her and bend her head down.

Gwen started to feel everything around her and she was gathering every bit of energy flow that was surrounding her. She even started to glow like a beating heart made Slavica began to get ready since she could feel that intense power that was radiating around Gwen's body.

"How long she's going to absorb the energy around you?" Slavica wondered in her worried tone as she watch Gwen gathered a lot of energy flow that was surrounding them, particularly around her.

Gwen kept gathering energies that were swirling around her then smirked when she heard Slavica's voice. She could clearly hear them and put her an advantage in their training. But she knew to herself not to overuse what nature was giving her.

"From the highest sky, grant the spirits of nature to aid and bless me enough power to conquer any obstacle in my way. Help me face them with strength and confidence. Never let myself be down when things got difficult and always lightened my hope and love to the righteous path before me." In the silence of her gathering energy flows, Gwen prayed strongly and felt the right amount of power enter her body.

"Thank you." Gwen muttered and opened her eyes and automatically the glow beating heart burst in such brightness.

With intense brightness exploding from Gwen, Slavica was blinded for a split second and when she slightly regained her stable sight, Gwen was nowhere to be found. She was about to let her eyes roam around to search for her but there was nothing. There was no Gwen around until something made her cough blood.

"What the…" Slavica reacted then her eyes widen because Gwen was just sitting on the ground before her.

"Ready?" Gwen wondered innocently.

"What?" she was confused as she could process what Gwen was trying to say to her.

The next that Slavica sensed was Gwen's faint glowing two swords made a slice upward. Good thing Slavica's reflexes from threatening danger made her body move on its own and made her dodge it. Gwen clicked her tongue since she didn't manage to hit Slavica and went for another attempt. Just like what Slavica's body did, she managed to dodge it with the help of sensitive reflexes.

"Let's change our attempt…" Gwen thought to herself and moved backward which made Slavica confused.

Then from a few steps away from Slavica, Gwen put the right amount of energy through her feet and legs before dashing like that lightning strike toward Slavica's ground. With an enormous speed, Slavica managed to release her colorless sword and blocked Gwen's pair of swords. With that contact, a very powerful wave made everything around them to be cut and their spot to be dug up clearly.

"Five." Gwen mumbled that didn't escape from Slavica's sensitive hearing when she blocked the first contact of their swords.

Slavica might be wondering what Gwen was plotting over their training that was turning really intense. Each crossed their swords, there was indeed a very strong wave that made everything vibrate in such power. It even alarmed the others in the cabin and monsters or any animals around the woods, running away if not hiding from the danger that was happening.

"What power that was waking around her?!" Slavica was totally puzzled by what just waking up within the power of Gwen in a short period of time.

"Four." Gwen muttered again and the blow that she sent toward Slavica made her fly toward the pine tree and stumbled like a bouncing ball on the earthly ground.

Slavica was surprised but she balanced herself as she lessen the impact of her body on whatever or wherever she was being sent to. She just used her power to cloak and minimized the damage over her body but there was something else. Gwen already appeared in front of her as soon as her body landed on the ground.

"Three." Gwen said as she grabbed Slavica's collar and throw her to another set of pine trees that her body smashed upon contact.

Slavica needed to balance herself once again and used her colorless sword to pierce the ground to stop that intense blow that her body received. She clicked her tongue but cough blood at the end.

"Is she intend to kill me?" Slavica wondered as she began to upbeat her power and activated her knight side. Her knight side was very well-known for any form of combat or war. Her body was already molded in any form of battle or training that she was facing before her.

"If that was the case-!" she was about to say something to herself when Gwen kicked her stomach with such powerful force.

Slavica already managed to anticipate that powerful kick since she could already sense it was coming but something caught her off guard. When she caught it, she clicked her tongue because there was something else swirling around Gwen's kick. It was too late when she realized that Gwen mixed up something in her powerful kick. She was already holding Gwen's kick and made her hands receive a very bad wound.

"Two." Gwen lowly whispered while Slavica's hands were shaking on how badly damaged her hands were already.

Gwen just applied what Slavica taught her at their can training and let her energy be manipulated to be mixed up in different effects over its target. She mixed up an undetectable wind blade over the energy that was radiating around her kick.

"Gwen…" Slavica whispered while looking at Gwen but she was in her zone. She clicked her tongue because it was the first time that she felt like surrendering.

But at the same time, Slavica knew that Gwen won't like it if she surrender during their head-to-head battle. She raised her badly wounded hands and her dripping blood turned into small droplets. From that blood reaction, Slavica formed a bloody sword before letting it merge into her colorless sword.

"One." Gwen muttered and her body burst in such bright light that forced Slavica to close her eyes and used bloody merged swords in her defense.

When Gwen glow like a very bright star in the day and night sky, she began to move faster than the lightning strike. She easily came closer to Slavica's spot and the bloody flame around the area began to pierce Slavica's body from the back.

"FUCK." Slavica only groaned as soon as her body received those piercing bloody flames. She was about to counter but something was indeed draining her.

"Ultimate Star." Gwen whispered that making Slavica's hearing sends very painful radiation.

"ARGHHH!"b Slavica winced in severe pain that was cutting her from within as Gwen's two swords pierced over her shoulders.

"G-Gwen…" Slavica gritted her teeth as the pain spread like a wildfire through her body that made her scream in pain. She felt like her entire body was burning from the inside.

"I'm different from what I used to be…" Slavica whispered and as soon as she said those words, the power from within snapped.

Slavica burst in such warmness that mixed up with Gwen's burning light. Their brightness might be burning but it was giving such warmness that everyone from the darkness desired to have.

"Their both awakened…" Irina muttered as they all witness how bright they could glow whenever their powers worked together.

When their burning yet warm brightness finally subsided and everything around them seems like dissolving, Gwen and Slavica were totally exhausted and badly injured. Slavica's shoulders were bleeding like her hands from what she received from Gwen. As for Gwen's body, she received a needle-like pierced over her body, and made her immobilized while Slavica's bloody swords stabbed over her right shoulder. Both of them were bleeding and their intense gaze never left each other.

"What have you awakened into?" Slavica wondered as she dismissed the bloody sword and needles around Gwen's body. Gwen groaned in pain she could tolerate them.

"I'm already awakened before this…I tried to apply what you've taught me before." Gwen answered and did the same thing over Slavica's wound. Both of them felt relief from being released from each other's powerful attack.

"I see…you forced mine to wake up from the last time I used it." Slavica chuckled as her knees collapsed on the ground.

"When was that time?" Gwen's knees did the same thing before she asked Slavica about it.

"Somewhere around the middle ages. I'm the DIP's first recruit who became elite due to my early awakening." She weakly smiled as she answered Gwen.

"And you're awakened into?" she wondered as soon as she heard what Slavica just answered her.

"Aside from carrying the triquetra sheath or the Excalibur, she's also the Star Glory that the DIP founders entitled her." Irina interjected as soon as they all came closer to check them out.

"But I don't think that you two will be called differently whenever you guys were together." Yui added while she pats Slavica's shoulder which was still totally painful. Slavica groaned and glared at Yui who just gave her a peace sign before she used her water power to clean their wounds.

"What name it could be then?" Gwen curiously wondered when a bright glowing firefly came and speak to them.

'That's for us to decide.'

They all heard Wilma's voice and they all looked over the firefly that landed over Gwen's hand as soon as she lift it up.

'Are you ready to go to the main quarters?'

"Main?" Gwen wondered since she was not sure if they already had some branches that nobody knows about.

'We do have branches already but something tells me that you have to come to the main quarters. From there, we will see what it could be. Oh! Don't forget your trials on your way there and this firefly will be your guide there.'

"Noted but we still need some rest before going there." Gwen responded before yawning a little and Wilma's firefly speaks.

'Don't worry, we'll be waiting till the breaking of the dawn.'

"Noted." they all said and the firefly bid its goodbye.

'See you around.'

When the firefly was gone, Gwen collapsed on the ground which made the others worried but it was lifted when they heard her sigh. She looked up to the nighttime sky within the ruined woods again.

"We ruined the cabin's woods again, didn't we?" Gwen sighed which made the others chuckle at what she was worried about instead of the trials that she was going to face along the way.

"Yes, you guys did." Tacker was the one who confirmed it and Gwen slammed both hands on the ground.

Magically the ground began to vibrate and the ground started to blossom some grass and some plants over the broken trees again. Everyone was not surprised anymore by what Gwen just did but it never failed to amaze them, especially Slavica who was still looking at her in amazement.

"She's remarkable and something that never failed to capture and warm my heart to the core." Slavica very lowly whispered that making Gwen sit up and looked at her intensely before smiling lovingly at her.

"Can she hear my thoughts?" Slavica wondered and Gwen winked at her before getting on her feet as she went on stretching her body.