Style

Chapter 5: Style

Noah and Eleonora walked out of the cave and into an unknown corridor.

No ceiling hung above them, just an endless abyss that seemed to hide more than met the eye.

The corridor was also spacious enough for at least two teams to walk side by side.

Looking at the dark abyss hanging over them, Noah said, "I can't see anything above us."

Eleonora followed his line of sight. "Hmmm... I'm not receiving any information, so I'm inclined to believe nothing lurks above us. We should still be wary of potential dangers coming from overhead."

Noah nodded.

The couple continued their walk into the unknown.

Noah didn't have any problems adjusting his eyesight to the darkness and seeing every tiny detail on the road unrolling before him.

As he held Eleonora's hand, she didn't have any issues, either. She put a lot of trust in him.

Right then, Noah noticed a pack of rodents.

Ten of them sniffed around the marble roses that protruded from the corridor's walls.

It seemed these monsters were curious about the roses. Each flower had countless thorns, so none of the rodents dared to get too close.

"Roses?" Eleonora repeated. "Anything out of place is usually a hint in first trials. We should secure this spot, handsome."

"Yeah," Noah nodded.

"I have an idea," Eleonora's fox ears flapped as she raised her hand like an attentive student. "There are ten of them here, so let's fight on our own first. It's so you can explore your own bloodline alone and awaken more of your innate skills. If we fight together, I might interfere with your awakening, which I absolutely want to avoid. But I also want to build our relationship."

Noah stood still, stunned.

He couldn't remember the last time someone told him they wanted to grow closer and build a relationship with him.

He had much more confidence within himself, but Eleonora's sincere feelings stunned him.

"I want us to defeat five of them first, then fight the other half together. Our abilities and bloodlines contradict each other, but you know how we can exploit that, right, handsome?" Eleonora winked and looked meaningfully into Noah's eyes.

She wanted praise. A lot.

Noah tightened his grip on her hand and deeply nodded. "I like this idea, and I love how thoughtful you are about us."

Eleonora's ears flapped and her three tails swayed. "That's because you're my savior, and I'll take care of you forever until death do us part. I'm happy you're on board with my ideas, handsome. Ask me for anything, and I'll give you three times that."

She smirked so widely that Noah thought for a second she wanted to devour his soul.

It was thanks to Noah that she had escaped that dangerous place and returned to a normal life with a backpack full of the universe's knowledge.

She had so many possibilities now that she would share all of them with Noah and still have more than enough left in her hands.

For that reason, Eleonora was thankful for Noah's existence and cherished him.

He also didn't seem like a power-hungry or overconfident man despite his unique bloodline, which made him even better.

After one of many bondings to come, the couple split and attacked the group of rodents closest to them.

There were five of them, and Noah secretly told himself he would take three.

He picked up three pebbles from the ground and threw them at three rodents.

He aimed for their eyes and accurately hit them, making each rodent close one eye in pain and whine as they headed in his direction.

Despite their decent night vision, none of them had pinpointed Noah yet.

He could tell by their behavior.

When he closed the distance, nothing changed. Once in range, he unleashed a roundhouse kick that sent one rodent flying into the wall, caving it in.

His position became obvious to the other two, but neither could land a hit on him as he weaved around their tail attacks and charges.

He was like a fish in water, except he was the darkness' favorite and the water was darkness.

Each time the rodents came at him, Noah dodged and saw a clear opening for a lethal blow.

'A thrust... joined fingers... palm strikes... it seems to come to me from within my bloodline... is this a night elf's style?' Noah thought.

Lethal fighting styles dwelled within him.

As he explored different openings, he sensed more of them.

Still, it was better to follow his gut and fight more monsters rather than toy with these helpless rodents.

The third rodent still couldn't free itself from the wall.

Suddenly, one of the other rodents switched tactics and hurled itself at Noah in a suicidal rush.

He responded with a fast thrust of his bladehand, piercing the monster's forehead like it was butter.

When he pulled his hand back, Noah's presence vanished.

His innate skill, Darkness' Favorite, evolved.

Now, after each kill, he could fade from everyone's sight for a few seconds.

Using that precious time, he approached the other rodent and sliced through its weak point, carving a thin wound that bled profusely.

It fell lifeless to the ground, joining its pack mate in death.

Noah walked over to the last one and finished it with another thrust, his hand in bladehand form ripping through its stomach and bursting its organs.

Behind him, flames danced.

Noah turned around, curious to see what his fox witch could do in battle.