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"I could say the same to you. You lied to me—you knew where Za'Fia was this entire time," I said as I glared at Vicki.

"No, I didn't. Coincidently, I was called here today after leaving you earlier. Once I could find time to figure out what was going on here, I planned to clue you guys in and help come up with a way to save her. But now that's ruined. Ugh! You really shouldn't have come here," she repeated in frustration.

I dropped my guard and stood straight.

"I found myself here by accident," I proclaimed. "Besides, I suppressed my energy so that I couldn't be sensed."

Vicki stared at me in disbelief.

"Are you stupid?!" She exclaimed, "If I sensed you then....sorry, but this is for your own good."

Vicki suddenly rushed toward me with incredible agility.

She went for a kick to my head, but I reacted quickly enough to duck out of the way. However, before I could stand back up to counter, she was on the ground and used her leg to sweep my feet from underneath me.

She's this fast? I exclaimed internally as I quickly got to my feet.

It seems she can't be taken lightly, Viraa commented.

I coated my arms with some of my spirit energy – I was on high alert now.

"I ready for you now," I said.

"No, you're not." She stated flatly.

She rushed at me with a flurry of spirit-enhanced attacks.

I tried blocking as many of her punches and kicks as possible, but the weight behind her attacks was starting to numb my arms. Had I not been using spirit enhancement, they would have been broken by now.

Knowing I wouldn't last long that way, I tried to gain some distance between us so I could figure something out, but she closed the gap just as swiftly as I opened it. I was stuck taking her barrage of hits until I couldn't block anymore.

Once my badly bruised arms dropped and hung at my sides, she stopped attacking.

"You're not going easy on me, huh," I said sarcastically.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"This is me going easy on you."

"Why are you doing this," I asked her as I groaned in pain.

"I have to take you out, Lisa. Just trust me, okay? You're not in any condition to resist anymore with those arms busted like that, so just let me do what I have to do," Vicki instructed me.

As I stood there, my arms were numb yet on fire. My mind scrambled for a way to escape in my condition.

Then I remembered.

Are you sure you want to do that? Viraa asked in concern.

I don't see any other options. Do you? I responded.

Viraa didn't answer.

Figured as much.

I painfully reached into my spatial bag and pulled a red tablet from the vial.

"Lisa, come on. Don't make this harder than it has to be," Vicki said as she started to walk toward me.

Her eyes widened as she saw what was in my hand.

"Is that...."

Before she could do anything, I tossed one of the tablets into my mouth and swallowed.

For a moment, I experienced a few seconds of discomfort in my chest before it was replaced with a surge of energy spreading through my body. It was incredible and highly overstimulating, so much so that I couldn't feel the pain in my arms anymore.

"That's...different. Your spirit energy has no traces of darkness like the rest of us — it's still its pure aqua color," Vicki imparted, looking stunned.

"Your energy has grown, but you don't seem to have received any of the other side effects," she surmised.

Suddenly, there was worry in her eyes, and she attacked me.

Vicki went for another kick to my side, but I caught it this time and countered with one to her chest. She blocked it, but the force behind my kick was enough to send her backward a few feet.

"Just how inexperienced are you," she muttered.

As we continued our skirmish, I began to notice there were delays in Vicki's movements. She'd block my attacks before and after that small delay window.

If I could time a counter perfectly, I could get a good strike in.

With Vicki's next attack, she went for a straight punch to my face that would have led to a feint and high kick, but before she could fully extend her arm, I'd spun for a counter and landed a firm kick to her stomach.

Vicki went tumbling many feet away from me before coming to a stop. Since she didn't get back up, I assumed she was unconscious, hopped on my board, and flew off at nearly 400mph.

After nearly an hour, I came across Tymon flying toward me.

"Where've you been? We've been looking for you," he said.

"I—"

Out of nowhere, a sharp pain erupted in my chest, and I blacked out.

The next thing I remembered, I woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck.

"Hey, she's finally waking up," I heard Trik say.

"Ugnhh," I groaned as I sat up.

I was on my bed and had bandages wrapped around my arms.

"Nothing's broken, but you'll be sore and bruised for a while," Trik affirmed.

"Great," I mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Better question you should be asking is 'what day is it'" Trik remarked.

"Are you insinuating that I've been unconscious for days," I asked him.

"Five," he responded. "It's October 24th now."

I held my head as I began groaning again.

"What happened to you," Tymon asked as he handed me a bottle of water and a granola bar.

I told them everything I saw and experienced that night. They both were shocked that I took a JANUS tablet but was even more shocked that I found Za'Fia.

"Did it look like she was tortured or experimented on," Tymon asked in anticipation.

I thought back for a moment.

"No. She did seem annoyed, though," I answered.

He sighed in relief.