“You want to sell something as dangerous as your ability? You mean the one that lets you solo C rank minibosses as an 8-year-old, level 1 child?” Blair questioned, freaking out.
Letting out another giggle, this time though, the madness that laced her voice vanished.
'Wasn't I, like, level 5 or something? Wait, no, that's irrelevant,' Aella thought, chuckling inwardly.
“Oh, no, no, no. You see, even if that was possible, the world would enter World War 3, and everyone would die.” Aella explained, continuing to go on and explain the different tiers of Aetherstreams.
“Furthermore, since you’re the distributor, we can hide the fact that the origin of these techniques is a Naturalis. So while the cult might want them, the chances of them going to drastic measures to obtain such a thing is miniscule. As I’ve said, it’s not a bad deal for you, no?”
Holding her head and combing her hand through her hair, Blair looked upward, unsure how to articulate her current thoughts and emotions. “You’re insane.” Were the only of her many thoughts that could escape from her vocal cords.
“Why yes! It’s one of my more endearing traits. So I’m told anyway.” Aella nodded childishly before turning around. “Well, I’ll give you some time to think about it. I’m in no hurry yet, but I do have something I wish to take care of before returning home, so I’ll be taking my leave. Since I don’t have a phone or anything, two days from now, same place, same time, I’ll be waiting.”
Preparing to leave the scene, Aella began to undo her transformation, only for Blair to break out of the trance-like state she was in, reaching for the young girl without actually touching her. “Wait! You’re gonna do something dangerous, aren’t you? You shouldn’t even know of any locations of the cultist, so what are you planning?”
Tilting her head, Aella shrugged. “I shouldn’t, but I do.” She said. “You were attacked by 4 people. 2 Humans and 2 Dragons. I only killed 3.”
Pausing her words as she walked away for dramatic effect, Aella turned back around after about 15 steps before speaking again. “Here’s some advice. My abilities are utter bullshit. You should assume I can do everything until proven otherwise.”
With her words spoken and the deal pitched, Aella left Blair’s company, altering her appearance with her [Transformation] skill, reverting to her original age but causing her hair and eyes to become jet black as the vast cityscape unfolded before her.
A stark contrast to its usual vibrancy. The streets, usually teeming with life even on a slow day, now lay silent and nearly deserted, a direct consequence of the Abyss Nest. It wasn’t just their immediate neighborhood that was affected. The entire city of Vancouver was affected.
With the number of casualties in a city largely full of untrained civilians, the amount of casualties was immense. It would take a few more days before the city could return to a fraction of its previous function.
Not that Aella particularly cared about the populace of her city. As long as her family and perhaps Seraphina weren’t affected negatively by it, she couldn’t care less if everyone else died. That aside, Aella’s pace was swift, a blend of urgency and fluid grace, a characteristic of her Foxin tribe, which Aella only exemplified in her movements. Her short silver hair, usually a beacon of her youthful energy, now streamed behind her like a comet’s tail, emphasizing her speed.
“It was quite eerie when I went to the park earlier, but even with the sun fully in the sky, the unnerving feeling I get from such an empty city still remains and is even amplified. How curious.” Aella mused as she ran, questioning how the brain of a child functioned.
As she navigated through the winding streets, Aella felt a faint pulse of mana. Like a sonar, it guided her ever closer to her quarry. The signal led her to an area not too far from the city’s edge that she called Blair to, causing the trip to be unexpectedly short.
“Guess I can’t be surprised about it being near the edge. At least I didn’t have to run to the other side of the city. That might’ve taken up far too much Mana…’ Aella nodded to herself, eying the location where the marker she created with her mana rested.
The building was nondescript, blending seamlessly with its surroundings. Despite its apparent camouflage, Aella felt a malicious aura coming from the building that tried mixing with the marker she placed. Even getting close made her feel pressure pushing down on her body.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Humming in thought while she approached the building, she noticed several guards patrolling its perimeter. They were alert, their senses heightened by the recent upheaval. “So much for being subtle? Stormy, you gotta be quiet, okay?” she chuckled, considering that even if she didn’t leave a marker, she’d still be able to find this place easily.
Stormy chirped in understanding, once again coiling around her neck.
Realizing that a frontal assault would probably be an awful idea, Aella instead opted for stealth. Even if those guys in the front were weaker than her in cultivation and didn’t have their dragons next to them, they were armed, and she wasn’t sure if her wind could stop bullets yet.
That and she’d rather law enforcement and other outside forces be alerted to this after she dismantled the place a bit.
Her movements were almost like a dance, each step calculated and precise. She moved closer to the first guard, timing her approach perfectly. As she reached the guard, she smothered his face with one of her tales before pushing her sword through his heart, her second tail catching his limp body before it took the ground.
|
With her fan in hand, Aella frowned as the wind launched the body away. ‘Only 500. At least bullying the weak isn’t an efficient way to grow.’ She thought. It wasn’t a bad thing for her by any means. It simply incentivized her to fight opponents stronger than her, which she’d have done anyway.
She continued this pattern, her assault from the shadows taking the lives of 4 other guards before she even entered the building. That being said, as she entered the building, she was both disappointed and relieved that not many people were present.
Her method of dispatching them wasn’t much different from those outside. The only close call was when a couple of cultists were together, but a little bit of wind to silence their screams was all that amounted to.
|
|
Reaching the heart of the hideout, Aella was faced with a locked reinforced door. Surprisingly, it was just about the only place locked in the entire building, but Aella didn’t have a way through. If it was a normal lock, then she could just pick it up and get in but she did not know how to crack a digital lock like this.
“So much for subtle… Stormy.” She repeated her words from earlier before destroying the door with all her might!
Her wind, mixed with a full-power blast from her dragon, sent the door flying off its hinges, setting off countless alarms. The blaring sirens made Aella fold her ears because of just how loud they were.
Inside the locked room which happened to be their storage, Aella’s eyes quickly scanned the assortment of items. Her focus quickly landed on a small purse that gave off a Mana signature which she identified as a simple storage artifact.
Taking it, she was a little upset at how small it was, barely holding more than a large rucksack and without any features to preserve things like herbs or food. Still, she needed something for now, and since she was already breaking, causing destruction of private property, and committing murder, a little theft was fine.
“Stormy, prepare to blow up this wall on my signal.”
Stormy nodded before beginning to charge up a second powerful blast, this time letting it charge for much longer as Aella continued to look through the different items. None of which were useful for her.
Weapons that she didn’t need, Saddles for different types of dragons, which gave off a similar malicious aura to the building she was currently in, and some other miscellaneous stuff. Although she had no use for it, she still took whatever would fit in her new purse anyway. While it lacked time dilation to keep things fresh and was overall quite small, it did have a weight reduction enchantment, so she lost nothing!
Aella was resourceful enough. She could find a use for these items, and if she couldn’t… She could sell them on the black market whenever she figures out how to get in touch.
With her plundering underway, she began to hear dozens of footsteps running toward their locations.
“Eh? Did I leave that many alive? This weird aura is messing with my [Mana Sense]. I’ve lost my touch, it seems.” Aella sighed before turning to face the doorframe.
The many obnoxiously robed individuals quickly piled up around it and started shouting things like “Identify yourself!” and “Intruder! Get her!” but Aella didn’t particularly listen to their exact words.
“You know. If you didn’t make it so obvious you were part of the group that I am actively against, I wouldn’t kill your people without hesitation.” Aella joked, the many people trying to surround her only for the wind to blow them back. “Oh! Also, you’re gonna find like… 12… 13! 13 of your allies' dead bodies around the area. A gift to let you know that I, the Whirlwind Maestra, have set my eyes on you. Stormy, do it!”
BOOOM!
On the command, Stormy unleashed his most powerful breath attack yet, the wall not standing a chance.
“Bye-bye, boys~!” Aella stated before leaping out of the building and vanishing into the horizon.