I Am Here for You

As Rio flew over the city, her mind was trying to figure out what Allen was planning.

She knew that stopping the water supply was just the beginning of something big. Despite knowing this, Rio was forced to get drinking water to remain alive.

'I hope that leaving Lex alone was the right decision…'

Rio soon arrived at one of the supermarkets situated close to her house. Her expression hardened when she realized that no vehicles or humans were present anywhere near the supermarket.

It looked like the setup for a trap.

'Should I go to some other supermarket?'

Rio paused midair, trying to make to make a decision. Going to some other place to get water would mean moving further away from Lex and the mansion.

But if she didn't buy water, she knew that Allen would make it impossible for her to gather water in the future. 

'Should I just get some of those hydration pills that have been trending in the market? Getting those is easier.'

Rio turned away from the supermarket and started heading toward an infirmary.

Hydration pills provided the body with 1 liter of water per pill. They were available in all supermarkets and infirmaries. Since they were relatively new, their cost was high.

But for Rio, spending money wasn't a problem.

Two minutes later, Rio landed near an infirmary. Unlike the supermarket, the infirmary had other humans roaming around it.

A sigh escaped Rio's lips as she walked inside. She grabbed dozens of the pills and stood in a line to pay for them.

In total, it took her ten minutes to obtain the pills and leave the infirmary. 

However, her eyes narrowed when she noticed that the crowd from earlier was no longer present outside the infirmary.

"If you want to attack me, just get on with it." She said aloud.

"You noticed us? Guess Mahiru was telling the truth when she said that you were quite strong." A surprised voice entered Rio's ears.

From the air, ten people dropped to the ground. They were dressed in the same clothes as the trio Rio battled yesterday.

"I think Allen should know by now that he can't capture me by using force," Rio commented.

She silently started gathering the power to launch a big attack.

She planned to get the fight over as soon as possible. Her instincts told her that the ten guys around her were not there to capture her.

"We don't take orders from Allen. We follow Mahiru."

"Oh? Then tell me what did she say?"

Rio finished charging up her attack. All she needed to do was use it at the right time.

"To stall you here for as long as possible." 

After replying to her, the ten people began summoning their powers to combat Rio. Her predictions turned out to be true. They weren't there to capture or defeat her.

'Hold on, Lex.'

Rio extended her hands outwards as lightning rampaged around her arms.

'I will be back soon.' 

***

Once Rio left the mansion, Lex made his way to the basement. Elfie and he began discussing new methods for him to use his ability on offense.

[ If you put enough pressure on a particular limb or region of your opponent's body, you can disrupture or even crush that particular region. ] Elfie suggested.

'Though that is a powerful attack, it will require me to concentrate a lot. If a lot of movement is involved in the fight, I won't be able to focus on that particular spot. ]

[ How about pushing someone to the ground with your telekinesis and then using your power to damage a particular region on their body? ]

'That can work. I need more fighting experience to be able to do that.'

Reaching the basement, Lex grabbed all the stress balls present in the basement. He activated all of them and put them on compression mode.

He dropped them at various locations and stood in the middle of them. Taking a deep breath, Lex extended his hands outwards.

'Calm yourself and sense the presence of the balls. Apply force on all of them at the same time and contract them.'

With that goal in mind, Lex tapped into his powers. He imagined a huge force crashing down on the balls, making them shrink from every direction.

One by one, more than half the balls present around Lex compressed. A few others became slightly compressed while most maintained their original shape and size.

[ You were able to compress all the balls present in a ten-meter radius around you. The compression reduces from that point onwards and stops at the twenty-meter mark. ]

Lex took another deep breath and released all the force he was applying to the area. The balls slowly returned to their original shape.

Lex knew that in a fight, his stamina and internal pain were going to be major disadvantages for him.

'I need to find ways to end this fight quickly.' Lex clutched his fist.

*THUD!* *THUD!*

Suddenly, thudding sounds started echoing in the basement. Lex raised his gaze towards the top of the basement.

The thumping sounds seemed to be coming from the upper flower. If Lex had to guess the cause of the sounds, he would say that some objects were being thrown on the floor.

[ Well, that's not Rio. She would have come for us. ]

'The sound is not caused by rats either. We have to go check it. ]

[ Sadly, yes. Be careful and make sure to check the ability of the person in the house. ]

Lex agreed and left the basement. He soundlessly moved towards the main hall.

Upon entering the main hall, Lex saw that pieces of a broken chandelier were present on the ground. A chandelier still hung from the ceiling but most of its glass was broken.

"Modern technology can easily replace this but people still prefer chandeliers for some reason. Strange, isn't it?" A carefree voice entered Lex's ears.

"Mahiru…"

Lex stared at the top of the staircase where Mahiru was standing. She wore a formal black suit on top of a white shirt, resembling the appearance of a bodyguard.

Her brown hair were tied back in a ponytail and her split pupil eyes were observing Lex's movements.

This was the first time Lex took in the rest of her features in detail. Her suit somehow hid most of her womanly figure, only providing her with a slightly curvy outline.

Her face represented an Asian origin. If Lex had to guess, he would say that Mahiru was Japanese. After all, her name was Japanese.

Her skin was pale like the moon, which seemed unnatural. It wasn't a sick shade of pale but still looked inhuman.

[ She is not a human, you idiot. ]

'The eyes gave that away.' Lex pointed out.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the most basic question. 

Instead of answering, Mahiru jumped from the top of the top of the staircase. She gracefully landed on the ground, her eyes still following Lex.

"Isn't that obvious? There is only one thing that I need to do here." Mahiru replied without showing any emotion.

Lex immediately called upon his power. No matter what happened, he needed to protect himself.

"I am here for you, Lex. I will kidnap you."