Burning Soul

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“Unless you prove your worthiness, you can’t leave this place!” A voice came from the cloud.

The shape of the cloud was twisting constantly, it gave off a bit, creepy aura.

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…

“Hmm, that is going to be interesting!” Lumiere and Aeneas were scared to death hearing someone speak behind them.

“What a freak!

Wait!

Who are you?” Aeneas almost skipped a beat.

There stood a woman with a simple white gown, with her short hair and beautiful eyes, one could have seen her from miles away and yet she appeared so stealthily.

“What are you doing here?” Lumiere seemed to be familiar with that person.

“Argh!

Are you stupid for a reason or something?

This world is of illusions, consider me one as well.” Skadi’s illusion replied.

She snapped and a set of chairs and a coffee table appeared.

“Take a seat and enjoy!” She welcomed them to join her.

“Nah!

I’m fine!” Aeneas moved back to Lumiere and rejected the offer as he was suspicious of her.

“You sure!” She snapped again and a basket of BloodBerries appeared on the table.

“Now what…..” Lumiere turned to ask him but he was missing.

“What are you waiting around for, come join us!” He had already taken a seat and was munching on the berries,

“You see,

you should have told about this earlier!”

“How did he survive all these years!” Lumiere could not help but wonder.

“Guess there is no harm!”

“Finally!

So did you enjoy your stay?” She asked both of them curiously

“Did monsters entertain you enough?

How was the meat here?

Did you find anything interesting?” She was pressing on them making both of them awkward for a while, she had almost stepped on the table and was leaning too close to Aeneas,

‘too close’ he couldn’t help but notice it!

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Realising the situation she backed up in an instant, “ahem!

I should be more considerate of my appearance!” She covered her mouth with her hand acting like riches.

She snapped again and her appearance changed in an instant,

Unlike before she was now looking more of a goddess!

A sky blue coloured dress with white coloured ribbons floating around her, short hairs with silver trails looked quite elegant on her delicate face. Looking at her she looked no older than Vivian or Catherine, but her appearance held a certain charm even Serena would fail before her.

“Now!

Answer me!

Was your journey helpful?” she asked while maintaining her overflowing excitement

“Are you a kid or what?

Anyways,

You can see that for yourself now?” Lumiere pointed towards the stage where Theo was preparing for the final trial.

“He has some interesting tricks up his sleeve!” She took a sip from a cup of tea that appeared there out of nowhere,

‘I remember seeing it somewhere!’ Aeneas tried resembling her actions with someone but later decided to let it slip.

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…

“The other sword is a rather fine one!

Let’s see if it can handle the fight!” Hima quoted.

Theo took a short detour and ran along the edge trying to understand the opponent, but he could see nothing but the cloud only.

He then stopped and took a deep breath,

‘Mana sense’

“That won’t do!

Let me help you with an advanced spell!” Himari noticed his motive and suggested a spell a bit more accurate and advanced.

‘Lifeless vision’ advances targeting skill, that allows the user to utilise the maximum out of mana sense and lock onto a specific target within range.

It took a lot of his Mana Essenes yet proved effective,

He could see a body engulfed within the cloud.

“That’s the core!” He pointed it,

“Show me what you got!” Hima’s blade glowed in his hands showing her excitement.

He took a step back and pounced,

‘Overdrive Pounce’

To no surprise, she dodged it being able to see his movements clearly.

“What are you doing?” Hiki scolded him but he didn’t stop,

‘Accel-quick step’

He glided towards her at frenetical speed,

‘Lateral Collision’

The first slash reached her effortlessly.

He had a smile on his face, that didn’t last long.

The blade didn’t touch her, rather she dissolved in the thin air.

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“That was a little impressive!

Showing wrong moves and using it as a cover for the real strike!” Skadi’s illusion pointed

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“Watch out!”

“I got this!” Theo turned around and used another sword to block incoming slash midair,

Impressing Himari by his reaction time.

Throwing some random slashes he stepped back gaining a bit of distance.

“She can use illusions,

We need to do something about that!” Theo complained.

If he could land a hit, but as it turned out he couldn’t.

“Let’s try some new skills”

He showed a grin smile to which Hima was confused as well, ‘What does he mean by new skills!.

He took right foot forward and moved the other back a step, then he held both swords in the opposite way, it’s blades facing the ground,

‘Accel-Boost-First skill Phantom’

He was getting more proficient in stacking skills.

With skill activating, he ran through her in an instant while slashing her with both swords making a cross.

His move was so fast that he arrived behind her even before his own shockwave!

That was frantically fast!

Although it was a powerful skill, it consumed a lot of stamina.

He turned to see the results,

But she was still standing!

Unharmed!

“What!

I clearly smashed her!” Hima was shocked as well.

“Looks like this one is going to test our limits!”

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“How was that!” Lumiere asked Skadi calmly

“Surprisingly I underestimated him!

Can he use almost any type of skill?” She replied showing a hint of interest in Theo.

“Apparently, he doesn’t need a sigil of permission to use any domain or skills!

Isn’t it weird?

I never saw anyone with an aptitude to that many skills!” Lumiere replied to which even Aeneas nodded confirming the fact.

“I haven't ever heard of anyone like that as well!” Skadi leaned forward using her hand to support her face while observing the fight.

‘Is that why he was into him!’ She narrowed her eyes with the thought.

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“Theo, she is taking damage but regenerating faster than we can deal with any damage!

We need to acquire more damage!

The one-shot is what I mean!” Hiki replied.

“Yeah, we need to do…..”

Before he could finish she appeared in front of him and punched him in his guts,

‘so fast’

he spat out blood just after the impact landed on his guts.

He was sent flying a few steps back by the impact, her monstrous strength literally broke a bone or two in there!

‘I didn’t see that coming at all!’ He was on his knees as the pain was getting worse by every passing minute.

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“We’ll see if he’s any special if he passes in there!” Skadi took another sip for her cup!

‘I have seen it somewhere!’ Aeneas was still trying to remember something completely irrelevant of what was happening!