- The Arrival of Sworn Enemies -
After two days, Charlotte and Bam actually showed their improvements. This somehow annoyed both Khun and Rak.
"Khun! Look! I could make an orb....though it's a bit small than how it's supposed to" said Charlotte whose eyes were on the orb. The orb was floating on her hands and she shared it to Khun so that he could see it.
Khun still had his vein popping because of annoyance, "I could see that. But who said that we're going to take it slow, hm?"
"No worries, we still have 28 days" said Charlotte. "Since you are talented, it won't be hard for you to master it."
It wasn't like she didn't know how untalented he was in shinsu. It made him even more annoyed to know that she was just speaking as she pleases without considering his feelings.
"Speaking is indeed easier than doing it."
"Good that you know."
That annoyed him even more.
From the ground, Altaira watched his sister talking with Khun with a smile on his face.
"What are you smiling, weirdo?" Noah asked.
"I'm smiling since my sister has a good time up there" Altaira answered. "Anyway, didn't you say you want to get stronger to beat me? Why don't you go up and follow them?"
Noah looked serious this time.
"...it's no use anyway" he said. "It's not like I don't know my own power and limit."
"The chrysanthemum thingy?"
"Don't call it chrysanthemum thingy! Can't you spell flowers?" Noah annoyingly asked.
"What's wrong with your chrysanthemum thingy anyway?" Altaira asked curiously. No, he wasn't curious. He was just pretending to be all curious and innocent to anger him to death.
Noah glared at this blue- haired bastard before he gained his composure and glanced away awkwardly.
"What? Embarrassed to say?"
"It's just that due to an incident, my power has decreased a lot" said Noah as he opened his right palm and had the purple chrysanthemum blooming on his palm. "Now, even if I followed their training, it's hard for me to return like in the past."
'That's the consequence of the forbidden technique that I used to find a help' Noah thought. 'Or...the consequence...that I took to accompany her.'
If Noah didn't use that technique, his power would have been on the same level with Charlotte's current power right now. But because of that technique, he became weaker and it was even harder for him to train and get stronger again.
But he didn't feel slightest regret of what he was doing. His purple eyes looked at his purple chrysanthemum.
'Why on earth does he look like a man who is suffering from heart break?' Altaira silently wondered. 'Well, it's not like I understand what you mean anyway. Do whatever you want."
He closed his palm and looked at Altaira, "What about you? Don't you want to train?"
"I know the shinsu that suits me" said Altaira. "And I'm confident I'm strong enough among D- rank regulars."
"This is your chance to gain even little power to beat Bam" said Noah mockingly. "Even though we all know it won't ever happen."
"Bastard-" Altaira cursed with vein popping on his cheek. "Then why don't you go up there to get a bit power to fight me?"
The two of them glared at each other before attacking each other once more.
In the same time, both Estelle and Celeste were having a friendly match when the two of them saw Noah and Altaira fighting again.
Estelle smiled and lowered her hand that was holding a sword while chuckling, "Their relationship is indeed good."
"Good? Sister, does that white old geezer hurt your eyes during the fight?" Estrella asked. She pointed to both Altaira and Noah and asked, "This is what you call as good relationship?"
"When friends often fight each other, that means their relationship is close enough" Estelle explained proudly as she was certain with her assumption which was not entirely wrong. "It's better than the people who often got along with you while wearing masks."
"I see...so it's like that, sister" Estrella nodded her head while Celeste sweated dropped.
'Estelle is digging her own grave again...'
┌──────═━┈┈━═──────┐
2 Days Later
└──────═━┈┈━═──────┘
Both of them were ready to use the orb to attack.
'Orb clearly isn't her shinsu quality...but she could reach this level in short time' Edahn thought, amazed. 'She's indeed a fast- learner.'
Bam was the first to try to attack with his orb. But once again, he threw the orb to the ground and caused an explosion. But the explosion was not too big and caused a hole to the ground.
"Man...again..." Edahn sighed. He looked at Bam and said, "Hey, I told you. You're not supposed to fling the orb like that!"
"S...sorry, sir..."
"Orbs are tools that maximize your shinsu. If an orb is the type of shinsu that suits you, then you must use it like an original orb. Don't think about throwing the orb itself, you have to think of maintaining the orb while releasing the shinsu inside it" said Edahn. "It's not throwing the orb-- it's using the orb, got it?"
"Okay..." said Bam as he tried it again.
Charlotte had been concentrating on her orb. First, she calmed herself down. The shinsu around her became calm with the help of the pink lotus that was inside her.
'Using the orb...do not throw it' she thought.
She tried to control the orb and from the small orb that she created, light flashed and came out from it.
Before, in the middle of her orb, there was a small ball of shinsu. But then the ball went large and filled the entire orb before three beams of small attacks made of shinsu came out.
That attack could destroy a whole ground. But the problem was just the orb then disappeared.
The young girl looked sad now just like a child who seemed to have lost her toy.
"J....it disappeared just like this...?" She asked.
"It seems so" Bam responded.
"...so far...you did it well" said Edahn. "But you shouldn't lose your concentration in the middle like that."
"Ah...sorry about it..."
"Well, at the end, it's still a progress."
Charlotte nodded her head and hummed with a smile. Bam petted her head gently and praised her and Charlotte smiled even wider because of that.
'Now, I have to find a way to maintain the orb' she thought.
While they were discussing and training about their orbs, Hansung Yu who was in charge of Rak and Khun was confused what he was doing there.
Rak was swinging his hand randomly and shouted, "Huh! Huh! Huh- huh- huh! Come out shield!! Come out! Damn it!"
While the blue- haired man quietly made a small bang. The small bang floated on his hands.
'...what am I doing here?' Hansung Yu asked to himself. He sweated dropped as he watched the two of them. 'How are you guys so clueless about shinsu....?'
"I guess you are always able to create bang, Khun" he said with a friendly smile, trying not to make things awkward.
"Well, I've been practicing during my journey up the tower. Still, it's not good for much except for strengthening."
He glanced at Charlotte who seemed to have made her orb and started to understand its concept before looking at his own bang. The difference between the two of them in controlling shinsu is just too big. She was at the verge of understanding it while even though it took years for him to train, he still could only do this much.
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
"Open your palm."
At that time, when she decided to help him with controlling shinsu, she asked him to open his palm first. In his room in the Hell Train, she taught him about how to make his first bang.
She looked at him with an excited smile and asked, "Are you nervous?"
"...... a little bit" he answered honestly.
"Didn't expect you to answer it honestly, but you don't have to be nervous at all" she assured him. "It's not like I don't know your talent in shinsu."
She did know from the beginning that he was bad at it. And now, she said it to him with a smile on her face that pissed him off.
"Are you going to teach me or what?"
"Fine, fine, I won't tease you" said Charlotte. "Now, listen to my words carefully. Calm yourself but don't get too relaxed. In the same time, you shouldn't be too tense, otherwise it might disturb your concentration."
As she told him to be calmer, he could see in her eyes that she had also became calm.
"Now, imagine that the world is in your hand and had become a circle."
He tried to do as what she said. Calm down, relax and concentrate. Yet, at that time, he could only create a tiny and small blue sphere made of shinsu. And that tiny and small sphere didn't last longer than five seconds before it vanished.
"Well, I guess it's going to be a long journey for you to control shinsu" she spoke, putting one of her hands on her waist. At that time, she was dressed in pink dress with white jacket and white belt, along with pink and white- colored shoes. She still had the smile on her face as she continued, "Strange. When Lauroe used those words, I could make a small bang easily. Those words work like a charm for me."
"Lauroe?" He echoed.
"What? Back then in the Test Floor, he's the one who taught me shinsu. He could be said as my first teacher" Charlotte told him. Sensing that he started to feel upset, she added, "But don't worry. As long as you don't give up, it's not like I will give up as well."
"Do you really think that I have a chance in learning shinsu?" He asked her, clenching his palm.
"Khun, you may be bad in controlling shinsu for someone who came from the 10 Great Families, but once you manage to learn something new, you will be able to use it in many and unpredictable ways. You are talented, believe me in that."
"If I am indeed as talented as what you said, I guess controlling shinsu won't be this hard."
"Take it as a challenge to overcome" she said again. "One couldn't expect to be born perfect without flaws. But even though we have our own flaws, it doesn't mean that we are not talented. Take this as some kind of challenge given by the God and if you manage to overcome that challenge, you could gain more power. Believe in me."
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
He ignored Rak who was rolling on the ground whenever he felt angry or frustrated. Right now, he was thinking about her words before.
'She wants me to believe in her...'
"Take this as some kind of challenge given by the God and if you manage to overcome that challenge, you could gain more power."
He frowned as he thought about that line.
'The challenge that she mentions... could it be that she has also seen this moment in the future? It seems like she had guessed that we will go to the Hidden Floor. And she wants me to overcome this challenge....'
There was no easy challenge for sure. The challenge that she had seen, the challenge that God has prepared for him... they were waiting for him to overcome this challenge.
'But it was just too hard for me.'
When he looked at Charlotte, he wondered, 'I'm curious. How did you manage to overcome this kind of challenge? Is it really just by relying on your impulsive and boldness to overcome it?'
Yet at this moment, he couldn't ask for her advice. No, he shouldn't interrupt her training session. She should get stronger for her upcoming challenge. And even if she was around him to help, Khun knew that he won't be asking for her help. He won't be able to ask for her help when he knew that he was a prideful person.
If he had to compare, the challenge that was waiting for her was actually more dangerous and deadlier than his challenge. His challenge, compared to hers, was perhaps just like a child's homework while hers involved her life- and- death directly. If she lost, then they won't be able to see her again. She also will have to suffer from death once more.
"Ugh....! Why it won't work?!"
"You're so incompetent for someone from the ten families" Hansung Yu straightforwardly said. A vein popped on his head as he snorted in annoyance.
"It looks to me your biggest problem is that pride of yours, Khun" he added again, pissing him off even though Hansung Yu wasn't entirely wrong.
"What...!?"
"You may not have any talent for shinsu...but since you were born in the Khun Family and your attributes are predetermined, it may be difficult to use shinsu for anything other than those attributes, but there are lots of cases where it's very easy to control shinsu for those attributes alone. It usually takes a long time to figure out what those attributes are, but since you all figured them so easily.....
Don't keep trying to deny it down. Wouldn't it be good to try naturally going with the power that you have? Then it will be much easier to control shinsu...."
It wasn't like he didn't understand what Hansung Yu said.
"....but it's hard for me..."
He was reluctant.
Rak was huffing and huffing after he rolled left and right, frustrated why the rock didn't came out.
"Damn it...why it isn't working...?"
He then realized that there was a rock next to him. And looking at that rock for several seconds, a great idea came to his mind.
When Khun heard the sound of crunching, he turned his head around to see where that noise came from just to see his idiot teammate eating a hard and solid rock before him.
"What are you doing, alligator?!" He asked in disbelief and shock.
"I'm eating rocks!" Rak proudly answered without a care whether his answer sounded foolish or not. "I should be able to make stone shield if I build up enough rocks inside me."
Khun thought this wasn't the matter of being simple- minded or bold anymore. This was obviously an idiotic act!
He jumped and pulled Rak's collar and shouted, "THAT MAKES NO SENSE, YOU IDIOT!!"
Rak argued, "SHUT UP!! DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, TURTLE!"
"STOP ACTING SO STUCK- UP, YOU ROCK- EATING ALLIGATOR!"
Hansung Yu sighed.
'This is going to be a long day' he thought.
"HURRY UP AND SPIT THEM OUT!"
"What the hell are they arguing this time?" Noah asked as he stopped fighting with Altaira.
"They literally argued with anything....." Altaira sweated dropped.
Since they have to train in this place, both of them shared the same thought and decided to have a "friendly" match with each other. It wasn't only a good method for them to get stronger, in the same time, it was a good method to determine each other's strength and beat up each other whenever they had a chance.
They made sure that for these 30 days, for each day they should fight each other at least once. After that, they'll spend the rest of the day thinking how to improve themselves to get better than each other. To be more specific, they were thinking how to have each other humiliated, defeated with his face swept the ground.
'When it happens, I'll definitely take a picture of it.'
This was why they always looked so energetic for these days.
"NO!!"
"Is....Rak...eating rocks?" Noah asked in shock.
"Oh, he probably thinks that eating rocks will help him produce a rock shield" said Altaira. "How smart."
"Smart?! That's foolish!"
Endorsi who was enjoying her own time found Rak and Khun pathetic arguing like that.
A small red love- shaped arrow appeared on her palm as she asked to herself, "Why can't they do something so easy?"
If it took 2 days for Bam and Charlotte to make a mini- orb, she made that mini- arrow less than two days and she had the right to be proud and take rest earlier than the others.
Soon enough, within few hours, Bam was able to master the orb and attacked in all directions. One of the attacks nearly hit Endorsi.
'Wow, that's dangerous' she thought.
"That power is remarkable" Hansung Yu sincerely said, amazed.
The three of the attacks, Altaira was sure that Bam did it on purpose as they attacked him. He had to leapt and acted fast if he didn't want to turn into ash.
Noah put a hand on his waist and said with a happy grin, "Bam truly cares for you a lot. He even remembers about you in the middle of his special training."
"Care your head! Why don't you try to face these, huh?! Bet you couldn't survive for a second!"
"This is....this is the power of orb!" said Bam happily while he wasn't aware that both Noah and Altaira were having an argument because of his attack nearly killed Altaira. But if he knows about that, he would probably celebrate it with Noah.
"Congratulations, brother!" Charlotte happily said and clapped her hands. "You are amazing!"
Bam nodded his head before he looked again at his hands. He was happy that he finally got it right.
'He should be able to use that if he can just maintain the orb. He should be ready to move into the next stage-'
Khun Edahn was distracted as he sensed the presences of some uninvited people. His eyes looked at a group of people who weren't invited but came to that place by using a mirror.
He grinned.
'It looks like...some worthy opponents have appeared.'
Those opponents...who else could they be but the sworn enemies?
At first they went together with Big Breeder Jeok to meet their opponents. Even though the Big Breeder promised them that they'll be able to see their opponents soon, he was actually planning to use them for his own revenge. At the end, in the middle of their journey, he encountered Khun Edahn's children and was defeated. The sworn enemies left to find their opponents on their own and finally found them in the training ground.
"Hey, both of you" Khun Edahn called. "I think your sworn enemies are here."
"What?!" Bam looked surprised while Charlotte's expression became serious. Charlotte had her fists clenched, looking at the sworn enemies with an alerted expression in which Khun Edahn didn't fail to notice that.
Among all the sworn enemies there, the one who caught her attention was a green- haired young woman. Her golden eyes were focused at that young woman.
'I knew it....'
"They're your sworn enemies. So, go ahead and deal them and then get back here" said Khun Edahn. "But you should only use the skill that you've just learnt."
After giving them a task, he turned his head around and shouted at the sworn enemies, "HEY, SWORN ENEMIES--!! BRING IT ON!!"
The regulars and the sworn enemies were then moved to different places by Khun Edahn. He arranged them to face the sworn enemies randomly.
And because they were teleported randomly, they met with the faces that they have never met before.
"... who are you?" Estrella asked to a dark- brown haired man.
"You are not my sworn enemy" he spoke.
"Because this is our first meeting" Raisin explained to the two of them with a sigh. He turned around to look at Altaira who looked like he was searching for someone. He pointed his thumb to the blue- haired guy, "Unless you are like that guy, beating up people whenever you feel upset, you won't have too many enemies."
A moment later, they could hear Khun Edahn's voice.
"HEY- ! I FIGURED YOU WILL BE AWKWARD AROUND YOUR SWORN ENEMIES SO YOU'LL FACE SOMEONE DIFFERENT. NOW, YOU'LL SHOW OFF WHAT YOU LEARNED MORE EASILY. I WON'T GET INVOLVED SO YOU GUYS HANDLE IT ON YOUR OWN."
He sat on an island and spoke without glancing at them. He was enjoying the purple grapes he was eating, pretending that he didn't notice something or did anything wrong.
"THIS IS MORE AWKWARD!!"
In the same time as the three of them met an unknown guy, Khun and Rak encountered Viole. Bam, on the other hand, encountered the green- haired woman whose appearance resembled Charlotte. And he wasn't alone for there was Noah as well.
"Huh? So we are in this together?" Noah asked.
"It seems so....."
Compared to Altaira, Bam wasn't that hostile to Noah. But he was still cautious around him. Noah himself didn't really have any grudges with Bam. Maybe it won't be hard for them to work against each other.
Yes, compared to working with Altaira, it would be better for the two of them to work with each other.
The green- haired woman, except for her long green hair that reached her back and a pair of purple eyes, she looked really similar with Charlotte. Yet there was something different about her. Her eyes, they were dull and tired. As if she did not have the will to live. As if she was trapped in darkness. Seeing their opponent was actually someone similar to his little sister and his friend, they felt a little reluctant to hurt her.
"Who are you?" Bam asked first.
"My name is Charlotte Everest" the data answered.
"You are... Charlotte's past?!" Bam asked, sounded surprised even though he had assumed it.
The data did not answer, but nodded her head in confirmation.
She put her hand on her chest, "I'm Charlotte Everest, the daughter from the Everest Family. I have no business with you. Please get away and allow me to meet my sworn enemy to talk things out."
Those words were said politely yet the shinsu around her felt sad. Why would she look so sad? Wasn't his little sister someone who takes things lightly and always smiled regardless in what trouble she was in? She was someone who could fight against Slayer White, challenged Ha Jinsung and even managed to impress the data of Young Zahard.
Come to think of it, Altaira once told him that in order to come this world, she must die once.
'Could it be... she had a terrible past? Terrible death?'
He needed someone to answer this question. He raised his head and looked at the data, "Please tell me more about her past!"
The data didn't say a single word when she heard that. However, what appeared on her beautiful face made Bam's eyes widened. It was a mocking smile, and she was mocking herself.
"Past? Will she even allow me to tell anyone about it?" She asked to both Bam and Noah.
She held her collar tightly as if she felt suffocated.
"I'm something that she wants to forget. Something that reminds her for all her failures. Her fear. She buried me deeply at the bottom of her heart, living a life of lies just to escape from her past.
No one in this world liked enjoyed the live of a substitute. Deep on the bottom of her heart, she hated to have to be someone else to earn what she deserved to have. Yet in order to start another new life, to have friends, to be loved, to be cared and paid attention for, she was willing to use her acting skills to be someone else.
And I'm just an obstacle for her desire."