Special Chapter V - Valencia (part 2)

Seeing me slowly standing back up from my position, Valencia took a step back. The horrified expression she is wearing made me happy that I came here. 

After all, she was beyond all my expectations…

Now, I'm standing back up perfectly again. The wounds on my body are slowly healing, but an ice shard was still stuck on my left shoulder.

"You were… beyond my expectations, Valencia."

SHRESHH!!!

I grabbed the ice shard on my left shoulder, and forcefully pulled it out.

A grin was directed to her, alongside the black retinas from my eyes. Immediately, Valencia began shuddering heavily at how fearsome my stance was.

I closed my eyes and removed the deep emotions inside me, and my eyes returned to normal when I opened them again.

She noticed my wounds slowly healed, and immediately commented.

"Healing magic… I never thought a healer would be this barbaric at fighting..."

"Says you with throwing away your ice sword... I had no idea ice magic could be used that way."

Valencia chuckled and turned her gaze to the mountain of ice spikes on her right. She turned her gaze back to me, and she nodded while grinning.

"What's your name, Red?"

… Red…?

"Rize. Rize Violet."

"Hmm, I'll just call you Red."

"...? T-Then, I'll call you Blue!"

The two of us chuckled from how weird that sounded, but for some reason, we liked it.

Her hair is light blue, and mine is red. Anyone knows very well that red is the opposite color of blue, and these nicknames are like us recognizing one another.

We stared at one another for a long while, and then she began leaping forward again.

That speed… really shocks me every time I see it. Her magic, her techniques, the way she is fighting…

Forget thinking that she is comparable to Hod. I thought she was just an amateur…

But, now that I have seen her fight, it's clear as day to me that comparing her to Hod is simply unfair… for Hod.

She is… much… much stronger than Hod...

Than anyone I have ever met…

She arrived in front of me and began attacking mercilessly. Her right hand was lifted with its palm facing me. From that palm, a giant ice shard was created in an instant, and it was fired at a speed faster than a bullet.

ZIINNNGGGG!!!!!!

Amazing… she created those ice from thin air like it was nothing… Not even Hod can do something like that, even in his prime.

I simply stood still, and the ice shard arrived right in front of my face very quickly. Using my fast reflexes, I tilted my head to the right, and the ice shard flew past my head.

FWOOOSSSSHHH!!!!!!!!

My body followed the direction of my head, and I dashed slightly to the right. Valencia was quite prepared for me coming at her, and her hands were cupped together as she poured magic into them.

She turned those palms towards me, and multiple long ice lances were instantly created above her head. The ice lances flew towards me at insanely high speed and close range, but I dodged them all as fast as I could.

ZRRGG!!!!

Some managed to graze me, and I became amazed immediately.

She can damage me even when I'm going all out… this is so unbelievably amazing.

Valencia panicked, so she leaped backwards when our distance slowly closed. The spot where she previously stood was now a growing mountain of ice spikes, but I dashed through it and destroyed it.

PRANGG!!!!

As her powerful ice shards fell to the ground, the entire view was simply covered in a white smoke.

Val couldn't see due to the purposely created smokescreen, and as a result, she wasn't quite ready when I arrived right in front of her.

"Wha--!!"

The tip of my finger touched the center of her forehead. Valencia stared at her forehead for a long while, and she turned her gaze back to me. An annoyed grin formed on her face as she stared at my curled lips.

"I… lost…"

I pulled my finger away from her forehead, and Valencia immediately dropped to her knee on the ground.

The ice surrounding us immediately exploded into small sparks of ice, making our surroundings look so beautiful. If only it was night time, those ice sparkles would make this place even prettier.

"You are… beyond my expectations, you know?"

Valencia turned her surprised gaze back to me, and I lent my hand towards her. She grabbed the hand, and I pulled her until she stood back up.

"How am I… beyond your expectations?"

"Your use of ice magic. It was very different from the one I know."

"Heh, I bet. Hod, right?"

This time, it was my eyes that were wide open. I had no idea why she suddenly said his name, and she chuckled when she saw my expression.

"I remembered a lot of things during the fight. You were an adventurer, like a certain dumb brother of mine."

"S-So you know… Hod…?"

"Yeah. I met him."

H-Huh?? I did not know about this…

"It was not that long ago, somewhere around my second year in the academy. I sneaked out of home to see what kind of person my 'Abandoned' brother was. Turns out, he was already a professional adventurer.

I sparred with him, and found that his ice magic was very lacking. I assumed that it was because he does not have anyone to teach him, which then led me to another conclusion that he was in fact… incredible."

"He learned ice magic, all by himself."

"Exactly. It was lacking, but it was nonetheless very powerful, and he learned them all by himself. 

Another thing I found out was that he was rather soft. Many members with the Hoaqin bloodline are always arrogant, self centered, and craves for attention."

"For some reason, you don't feel like a Hoaqin…"

"That's because I hate them."

Hearing her saying that, I can't help but laugh. She probably found it funny as well, and she turned towards the house again.

"I don't like following my dad's orders, so I always ended up staying in my room and being shut in. I even escape from the house a lot of times."

"A delinquent, how relatable."

"Heh. Something tells me that you are also one."

"Well, I wouldn't escape from my house. I would have fought back."

"… Don't give me ideas…"

Valencia and I laughed at the same time, and we noticed the maids are slowly exiting the door. The old maid approached us and bowed.

"Ladies, it's past lunch time."

Hearing the word 'lunch', a growl immediately voiced out from Valencia's stomach. She immediately covered her stomach, and stared shyly at me.

"I-I was holding back… I can still beat you for that meal!"

She was still trying very hard to contain her pride. She wanted to have a rematch so she could win and eat the thing that I cooked.

I let out a sigh and tilted my head towards the door.

"Just eat it. It's not like I wanted to eat it, anyway."

Hearing that she was allowed to eat, Valencia suddenly became excited. She ran to follow me, and arrived next to me.

"So, are you dating Hod, Red?"

Hearing that question, I had to hold back my emotions. I unconsciously formed a fist on my left hand, and I hoped she didn't notice that.

I turned to her, and put on a fake smile.

"Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know, just curious. You sounded like you were close with him."

"No. He was just my team leader."

"I see… How is he, by the way?"

I told Val about what happened to Hod about a year ago. She was quite surprised knowing that he couldn't walk anymore, and looked rather disappointed.

"If that is the limit of his capabilities, then it will just happen again in the future."

I stopped my walk, and turned my sharp glare at her. 

Right now, we are in the middle of the guest room, technically right next to the exit. I stopped here, since I will be leaving just a little bit.

And… because I wanted to say something to her.

"Hod... You know how he is. He is not weak."

"I know, but everyone has their own limits. What happened to him was his own mistake."

W-Wha…

I'm not entirely sure what is going through her mind right now, but I can tell she doesn't mean it badly. 

But still… that's just very mean to say.

"What tier… is your ice magic?"

"King tier."

Jeez… She is like a hidden dragon in the middle of Xyphon…

"I knew it… How many people trained you?"

"Quite… a lot."

"Then how about Hod? Right now, he is at the Knight tier, he was able to do chant-less ice magic, and he had nobody to train him, only himself.

If you and Hod switch places… how long do you think you will last in his position?"

Hearing that question directed at her, Val looked rather confused.

"Obviously, I will just stay being a cook."

"Huh?"

Her answer obliterates all thoughts that I have for her. 

Her way of thinking… I just couldn't understand it.

"Think of it this way. I don't have anyone to train me, plus I'm a lady. I will just stay with my mom and be a good girl, helping her on a daily basis.

I visited his mom, and she was handling an entire restaurant by herself, all while Hod is out having fun killing monsters. Don't you think that's just cruel?"

O-Oh… I never thought about it that way…

"So if I am at his place, I will just give up being a mage and simply help her. She went through a lot in our family, you know?"

I… guess Hod is a bad kid…?

W-Whatever, that's not for me to decide.

"A-Anyway… What happened to Hod was not his mistake. It's just because the level of the dungeon was simply too difficult for us."

"I see. You said 'us', which means you were also included. If you think it was too difficult, then it's probably even more difficult for me."

"Y-You can put it that way…"

Okay… You know what!?

She is an even smarter person than I thought!!

She did miss the fact that it was over a year ago, and I am so much stronger than I was back then. But to a normal person, a year's growth is sometimes not as huge as mine.

I have a super growth on my magic energy, as well as with my magic tiers. For normal people, my one year worth of growth is worth over twenty years.

And I know for sure... The me from one year ago will not be able to win against her.

I turned towards the exit again, and continued walking. When I arrived at the front door, I turned to bid farewell. Valencia is now staring at me sharply, and she lifted her finger towards me.

"Red... One day, I'll beat you."

A declaration of rivalry. She has officially regarded me as her rival, and considering her personality, I might be her only one.

Hearing the declaration, I chuckled.

"Sure thing, Blue."