Liv walked into a town, her face on complete display, trying to be as obvious as possible without seeming like she wanted to be caught. Multiple people, after seeing her face, turned white and ran off, presumably to report her location to others. Liv pretended that she didn't see them, continuing. Soon, Liv started to sense a wall of soldiers in front of her, waiting for her to run into them. Liv smiled. Then she disappeared, threads of Dream wrapping around her. The passerby on the street jerked back in surprise, some of them praying before continuing with their lives.
The soldiers in front of her waited for her arrival, but she never came, slipping through their lines with minimal effort. After all, who would look for someone who wasn't there? If the soldiers had known the trick, Liv would have been easy to find, but they, ignorant as they were, could do nothing to stop her. Liv reflected on how far she'd gotten. In the past, a simple trick like this would have consumed almost all of her energy. Even now, however, she wasn't very strong, in the grand scheme of things. The people in the areas she'd visited simply didn't focus on strength enough to match her.
Continuing, Liv made her way through the excessive amount of soldiers sweating in the outdoor heat, soon finding a palanquin just like the one she'd put the lady's head on.
Climbing up the palanquin, Liv sat right in front of the noble. The servants below grunted in surprise, the weight above them suddenly shifting and growing heavier. Then she dispelled her invisibility.
The noble in front of her stared through her, as if she didn't exist, before truly seeing her and, eyes widening, opened his mouth. "Guards! She's right here! Capture her!"
Ignoring the guards coming over, Liv stared the noble in the eyes, shooting a small spike of her anger into him. "If you give the peasants a good life, you will live."
The noble, gulping at the sheer force of the anger transmitted through him, looked off to the side, and back. "The peasants in my lands are exceptionally well-fed and are all happy! How dare you imply otherwise!"
Liv slowly got up, soldiers pouring into the area around them. "I didn't see anyone happy, other than the tax officials and occasional greedy merchant."
The noble, gulping again, seemed to take comfort in the guards around him. "Guards! Take her!"
Liv stood as they pointed crossbows at her and fired, the bolts quickly falling with their momentum gone. She leaned to the noble's ear. "Don't you get it? An entire army will do nothing to me."
The noble slowly pointed at her. "Swords!"
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The guards reluctantly pulled out their swords, charging her. However, Liv could tell they didn't feel guilty for attacking a person who had done good. They were only scared for their lives.
So, Liv annihilated them.
In a quick storm of fire, they were all gone, ashes drifting in the wind. Gathering more fire, Liv made a dagger directly in front of the Noble's face. "Now, talk. If you don't, you'll lose an eye."
Talk the noble did.
Liv got information about groups of bandits the man had hired to get even more money out of his territory, giving her locations where she could find people to interrogate and progress further on her path to the altar, wherever it was.
The noble himself didn't know, but the criminals likely did.
Liv, after extracting as much information as possible, burned him to a crisp. She sat there in the ashen courtyard, listening. During the conversation, Liv had heard a voice. Someone had been speaking while she had been talking to the man.
Someone came out from behind a pillar. The man was bare-chested without any hair, and had an elaborate fencing sword, as nobles would.
The only thing different about him was the aura of danger he released.
"I request a duel with you, madam. You killed my father over there, so I'm legally required to kill you."
Liv remembered, in the conversation, that the man had no son. This was a random person out to kill her, perhaps sent by one of her enemies. "This man had no son," she said, before running as fast as she could, the wind pulling her along.
She heard a annoyed sniff behind her just before she left, her speed barely enough to avoid a massive explosion directly behind her, the blast sending her flying forward. Not daring to stop, Liv harnessed the wind once again, running away from the scene.
Soon, Liv found a cave, hiding herself inside. That man was far beyond her. Even if Vivian helped, she would not win. Huddling, Liv thought out her plans, refusing to panic.
She felt for the link. Liv would talk with her friend. "Hey, Vivian? Are you there?"
A reply came instantly. "I'm always here. We have our minds linked. I'm never not here."
Admitting her mistake with the question, Liv explained the situation, Vivian giving off the feeling of listening. Finally, she reached her problem, and Vivian immediately had an answer. "Avoid him. Easy."
"Just like that?," Liv asked.
"Yep," Vivian replied. "Don't fight him until you're ready."
Liv nodded in her mind, ready to stop the conversation, but Vivian stopped her. "Hold. I have an issue I want to ask you about as well. I wasn't going to contact you, but, well, you created an opportunity. I've been guided by two people. One of them is called Jay, and he's the strongest person I know. The other is the Breaker, my other mentor. Both of them have to leave now, because of an order some group called the 'Eternal' gave them. They have to leave this planet and let me fend for myself until I'm strong enough to be accepted. What do I do? They've been here the whole time..."
Liv almost choked. From what she'd known of Vivian, the other girl was always confident and knew what to say. Now, she had a problem that she seemed to be struggling with? Luckily, Liv had an answer to this. "You'll be fine. Just continue. Being held by the hand for too long will cause you to get worse, in the end. You know, I'm going to share my motto with you. It's something my parents left me, and I hope it can become our motto."
Vivian nodded in their mental space.
Liv's words filled her head, and presumably Vivian's as well. "I Will Be The Best."