Right before she was about to return back to the counter, John called out to her.
"Um, were you the ones who invented these chocolate cakes and vanilla sweet?" John asked.
"Hm? Ah, unfortunately not, we just followed the formula handed to the public, you'll find plenty of cake shops and bakeries who sell the same things in the city, although I did wish we were the only ones," She said as she sighed.
"Formula handed to the public? Who created the formula?" John questioned.
"I'm not sure, but I was told it was the king. Ah, and the formula wasn't handed in this kingdom, it just spread around the continent," She replied.
"I-I see, thank you." John thanked her.
She bowed and returned to the counter. Shortly after, a worker brought in 3 plates containing a spoon and their 3 mini cakes.
Without wasting any time, Ariel grabbed on to the spoon and cut off a piece of the vanilla cake with the strawberry on top.
"It's soft..." She said with a surprised expression.
John and Serena watched as she ate it.
"Mnnn, it's so good!" Said Ariel with reddened cheeks.
She then continued to eat, with a happy expression
"Aren't you gonna try?" John asked Serena.
"Y-Yeah" She replied.
Serena also cut a piece off the chocolate and vanilla cake and ate it.
She then took another piece and another.
"Is it good?" John asked.
"W-Well, it's not bad..."
'Why is she suddenly so quiet?' He wondered.
John took a piece of the chocolate cake and tried it.
"Yep... This is definitely chocolate." John muttered.
'How nostalgic…' He thought.
It didn't take long for them to finish.
"That was really good," Said Serena once she was finished.
"Oh, you dropped your guard," John said straight after.
"Eh?! Ah..."
Seeing Serena's reaction, the three of them started to laugh.
"We should get goi-"
'Eh...? What's going on? That presence…' John sensed.
Without saying anything, John suddenly dashed outside of the store.
"Eh? John! Wait!"
'She's close... That Woman!' John realized.
He ran outside and cast deprehendre, making sure he had traces of her magic locked on.
John looked around and found her jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"Where's she going?" John muttered as he used velox to propel himself off the ground and on to the rooftop.
After that, John followed her.
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, with the support of velox, he slowly got closer and closer until John eventually caught up.
"Hey!!!" John shouted.
She was on top of the house in front of him.
She stopped, turned around and looked at John.
Now that he got a better look at her face, John was sure of it. That was the girl that saved him that day.
They just stared at each other without saying anything.
Since he hadn't said anything, she turned around and was about to move on when John called her again.
"Can we talk?!" John asked.
She turned to him and muttered a few words, before all of a sudden, she vanished.
John cast deprehendre to see if he could spot her, but it didn't work, not even deprehendre could find her.
***
As the sun began to set, John found himself standing in front of an inn near an ally.
"Is she in here...?" He muttered.
John walked inside and was surprised by how tidy it was.
Tables were set around, and there were a few people eating.
"I finally found you..." John muttered as he sat by on her table.
She was eating her meal and paid no attention to him.
Truth be told after John had failed to find her, he walked around the city, constantly using Dephendre. He also met up with Serena and Ariel and gave them money to pay for a carriage trip to Eleanor's house.
They were mad that John was ditching them, but he had no choice.
John wanted to talk with her alone after all.
Without saying anything, John simply watched on as he waited for her to finish her meal.
When she was finally done, she finished her drink before looking at him.
"You're the one who saved me, aren't you?" John asked.
In reply to his question, she nodded.
"Why?" John asked.
'Why did she save us?' He wondered.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"J-John" He replied.
"I didn't save you, I was only going after my targets." She said before getting up.
She walked over to the exit, but once again, was stopped by John as he stood in front of her and blocked her path
"Move."
Suddenly, John could feel an immense amount of bloodlust and danger coming from her. However, he didn't move, he still had one more thing he had to ask her.
"Please make me your student!" John said as he bowed.
Before John even realised it, she passed by him, and at the same time, he heard the word "no."
John turned around and saw that she was already outside, and walking as if nothing had happened.
He ran up to her again for he was desperate.
"Wait! Please I'll do anything!"
At his words, she stopped and turned to John.
"Why?" She asked.
"I need to get stronger... My current level is not enough, I'm running out of options..." John said.
[Do you desire power?]
'!? I looked around in haste but didn't notice anything unusual. What was that? For a second it sounded like I heard a voice in my head... And it sounded familiar, but I could have sworn was the first time I ever heard it.' John wondered.
"Then you don't need me, there are plenty of teachers around." She said before turning around.
"No! It has to be you!"
Without saying anything, she kept facing the other direction.
"The way you fought... It was amazing, I've never seen anything like it... You kept your cool and dealt with your target in a blow... At that moment. I know I need to change and I can't keep the same style of thought I've had for all this time... That's why... It has to be you..." John explained.
Without saying anything, she simply walked ahead.
'I guess I have no choice but to give up…' John inwardly thought.
"Follow me" She ordered.
'Eh? Did I just hear that right? She told me to follow her, didn't she?' John wondered.
"O-Okay!" John replied as he ran up to her.
***
They left the shopping district and entered an open field. There wasn't anyone around and the sun had completely set.
'I hope this isn't going where I think it is...' John thought.
She was a few feet away from him as she pulled out her dagger and faced him.
"Come at me." She ordered.
Those were the only 3 words she said before unleashing an insane amount of bloodlust.
'Oi... Are you serious... I can barely even move…' John thought.
His legs wouldn't stop shaking.
"What's wrong? You're too scared to move?" She asked.
"Of course not..." John replied with a nervous smile as he pulled out his daggers.
John started to fake chant before leaping straight her.
---------------------------------------------------------
"That idiot... Is he still not back?" muttered Serena while waited on the carriage.
Throughout the whole trip, Ariel had been quiet.
"I can't believe he ditched us!"
Meanwhile, Serena had been complaining.
"Ariel, you're mad too, aren't you?" Serena asked.
"Eh? Ah... A bit..." Ariel replied.
"You're too soft on him, although he's soft on us so I can't complain... How much longer does he expect us and the coachman to wait?"
"Thanks for waiting all this time," Said Ariel.
"Take as much time as you need, I get to rest too so it's a win-win." Said the coachman.
--------------------------------------------------------
'What's going on?'
'Why...? Why!?'
'Why can't I hit her?!' John questioned himself.
He constantly swung both daggers diagonally, vertically, and horizontally, yet he hadn't been able to graze her.
She hadn't used a single spell, and all she had been doing was moving her body. She didn't even need to block it.
John stopped swinging and took a short break to catch his breath.
"Is that all?" She asked.
"Of course not," John said while panting heavily.
He started to supply even more magic to his body than he ever had, 10 x more than normal.
A few months ago, John wouldn't have been able to do this, but recently, he hadn't been running out of magic power no matter what he did. It had been this way ever since that incident. His mana pools expanded.
Now that John was faster and stronger, he went back on the offensive.
'Now I should be able to match her…' John thought.
He sent a kick towards her which she avoided by tilting her body back, John then charged at again. First it was a diagonal swing, then another diagonal, then thrust, but she avoided them all.
'How... How!? Didn't I get faster? How is she avoiding it all?!' John questioned, unable to comprehend.
"There's no use in strengthening something when the vessel is weak. Your body can't handle all that strength, and you can't control it."
Her words made John realize. Using more magic to reinforce his body didn't increase his speed at all, in fact, it did the opposite; it slowed him down.
John's body was starting to feel numb all over.
In an instant, she landed a punch straight in John's gut. Her small frame had a lot of power. It caused him to drop to the ground in a single hit.
"Aa...ah..."
John was struggling to breathe and speak.
"I guess that's your limit..." She said before turning around.
After she got a few steps away, she suddenly stopped and turned to John as she said,
"You don't know when to give up, do you?"
"Haha..."
'I have no choice... I'll have to use that. If I ask her, she should keep it a secret, and I'm sick of fake chants…' John muttered.
"Regnum glacies" John muttered Translation: Ice Kingdom.
"?!"
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