From as far as the man knew, the towers of the Nonaphrontistery were no longer monitored due to the administration's attention being focused on the Juris. He was right, but he didn't expect that there would be somebody else who knew what the Maiden's Tower was hiding. It had to be a student, nonetheless.
Malphas took a step beside CK.
This is the reason CK took the battle to the dungeon she now takes control of. Malphas can manifest his powers better in this environment and he can assist her in neutralizing the threat.
Malphas said, his wings emerging from his back. CK met the man's stoic gaze. Her brows furrowed lightly as her feet adjusted into a stance.
The man observed her from where he stood. He placed his hands into his pockets. The girl understands the power gap right from the beginning, so she won't be making any rash movements. She'll most likely try to observe how he will respond to her attacks and try to find a pattern. A reasonable plan.
'We don't know what kind of Muse he uses, or if he ever does at all. But this unnatural amount of energy says plenty,' CK thought, 'We're currently at a disadvantage since my battle experience is lacking. Malphas, try to provoke him into attacking. We need to know how he behaves in battle.'
The man tilted his head as Malphas launched a thin beam of fire at his head. The man jumped away as Malphas took the offensive, swerving his body to avoid each slash, kick, and jab. He bent down to avoid a horizontal arc of energy.
"Hyah!" CK conjured a stalagmite to erupt just as the man moved to the side. Her eyes narrowed when the man deftly twisted his body to avoid the stab and retreated several steps backward. CK watched this carefully, hastily inscribing mid-air with threads of energy.
The man watched as occasional stalagmites erupted in his trail. Crow shrieks resonated as a murder swarmed towards the man. The man's eyes narrowed when a stalagmite erupted behind him just as he was about to retreat. He swiped his foot on the ground, causing a wall of thorns to erupt, stabbing every crow that flew close.
Malphas snapped his fingers, causing the crows to melt into tar that swam through the gaps, flying towards the man. "Ignis!" CK chanted, a tiny spark of red flying speedily towards the tar, setting it on fire as it showered on the man.
The man raised his arms before being draped by burning tar, setting his whole body on fire. CK's eyes widened when the man turned into smoke. She turned to the side in alert, seeing a barrage of thorns aiming for her from the side.
"Tsk," CK hissed and conjured a translucent barrier. The man reappeared in the air above CK and was about to strike down when Malphas appeared in the blink of an eye, gesturing threads of energy that converged into lightning.
The man's eyes narrowed. He put up a shield of thorns in front to block the lightning. CK conjured with her glass pen, causing slender stalactites to appear and pierce down. The man disappeared in a flash of smoke, causing all the attacks to converge into a violent explosion.
Bam!
A few stalactites dropped to the ground while CK shielded her face. She turned around, finding the man standing a safe distance away. She noticed the white half-mask that adorned his face, though it did nothing to hide his identity or his glowing eyes.
'Masks… A practitioner of Euphorium Ego,' CK concluded. This Muse specializes in using Syntaxis as a medium to mainly conjure illusions. Immediately after understanding this, CK placed her fingers against her closed eyes, "Claritatem ad veram faciem mundi adferte."
Her emerald eyes were stained with white hues when she opened them again. "Hmph," the man hummed as he observed her actions. The child has some battle knowledge. Good.
'In that case, that daemon must go,' he thought as he glanced at Malphas. His power far exceeds the training wordsmith.
CK twirled the glass pen in hand before conjuring a few sketches in the air. Understanding her fighting style, the man gestured a hand upward, causing the ground beneath CK to shake violently.
Malphas swooped down and snatched CK with an arm, causing CK's incantation to dispel prematurely. Towers of thorny vines erupted from the ground before beginning to lash at them mid-air.
Malphas evaded each lash until one incoming vine disintegrated into countless needles of thorns. With a command from the man, the barrage shot towards Malphas.
"Pulverize!" CK chanted. However, the thorns did not disintegrate. In a split-second realization, the pair grew alert as the barrage of thorns just flew through them harmlessly. Crap!
"Shoot," CK hissed as she plummeted to the ground, casting an incantation on the ground. The dusty floors of the arena became elastic material, causing CK to collapse with an erratic bounce. She grunted as she struggled to gain footing.
Malphas reappeared next to CK, only to raise his left wing when the man suddenly got close and swiped a kick downward. The man twisted his body and sent another kick, causing Malphas to move away from CK.
He immediately recovered, block each melee attack with his wings. The man suddenly grabbed hold of Malphas' wing roots, attempting to conjure a thorn out of his palm. Malphas smirked at this before his whole body turned into a flurry of feathers again.
The man watched warily as he was surrounded by raining feathers. A single crow shot out of the curtain of feathers and hovered in a circle. Its golden eyes glimmered.
Malphas said lightly,
The crow disappeared into a sift in the air, which immediately closed once it swallowed the crow's body. The man's gaze was torn away when a rope of burning energy lashed against him.
A wall of thorns blocked the attack. The man dispelled it, finding that CK has gotten into a stance once again. "I've seen what I need to see," she said and gestured with a hand, "Come on. Step up your game."
The man wanted to snort in amusement. "Alright. I've got other things to do so let's make this quick," he said, rushing towards CK's location.
CK's eyes narrowed at this. She conjured several stalagmites to hinder the man's path, but he evaded. Just as he was about to get close, he turned into smoke. CK's eyes shifted sideward before causing the ground to shift into an earth wall, blocking a sneak attack from the man behind her.
She was swallowed into the ground, leaving the man to frown warily and look around. The girl was keeping distance—most likely because she was lacking in close combat. He'll need to close the distance between them.
CK re-emerged several meters away from him in a water jet, immediately conjuring an incantation. "Voco aquam Nymphae!" she chanted, causing the water beneath her to take the shape of women rushing in a surging tide.
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The man conjured an eagle out of smoke, grabbing unto its talons as it took him mid-air. The water currents froze over and shifted into steam that covered the entire arena. The arena was silent until she sensed a presence behind her.
CK's eyes narrowed in alert and immediately swiped an arc of energy as she turned around, watching as the arc sliced past a hollow illusion of the man. CK looked at this confusingly until she felt her feet give way.
"Whoa!" CK said as the man swiped her feet from underneath. Her back hit the ground with a pained grunt but immediately rolled over before the man could grab her. She slammed a hand against the ground, causing it to make a violent ripple as if it were merely water.
The man took advantage of the wavy terrain and rushed towards CK. Another stalagmite erupted in front of her, causing the man to halt in his tracks and prevent him from touching her.
"Gotcha," CK smirked. The man's brows rose as the stalagmite pulverized in a spark of flames. CK placed the tip of her glass pen before her lips and blew harshly towards the embers, a surge of flammable air being conjured and turning into a flamethrower.
It dissipated after a few seconds, creating a smokescreen. CK's eyes widened when the man swiftly re-emerged unharmed, her gaze meeting his unbothered one in an uncomfortable proximity.
"Not bad," the man simply said. He swiftly jabbed a hand against CK's abdomen, causing her to stumble. He swiftly grabbed her wrist holding the glass pen and twisted it, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Ow!" she yelled, dropping the glass pen. The man kicked the glass pen away, and a thorn emerged from the ground where it rolled, smashing the glass pen into fragments.
The man stared down at CK. "You lost," he said, firmly grabbing CK's wrist against her back. CK breathed heavily, but her breaths suddenly turned into weak, airy giggles.
"Hah…Hahaha. Lost?" she looked over her shoulder to meet his gaze, her emerald eyes full of profound craze as she giggled, "We're not even half-way there! Hahaha!"
The man's eyes widened in the slightest as he looked into her eyes, finding a faint trace of semblance. This girl… She can't possibly…
He snapped out of his shock when CK curved beneath his arm and grabbed his arm, swiftly sending two kicks against the side of his torso. The man used a forearm to block the third kick, only for CK to grab his forearm and place a palm close to his face.
Psshhht!
The man grunted as a few blinding sparks erupted. CK kicked him away and disappeared into a sift behind her. The man became wary. Sift opening? Was the girl capable of that, too?
A sift appeared above him, causing him to enter a counter stance. But he was greeted by a flock of crows flying past again, blocking his view. Another sift opened to his side, where CK slammed a palm against his torso and kicked him a few meters stumbling away.
The man grunted as he regained footing, raising his gaze to the girl. CK smirked and created a hand gesture, "Align."
The man watched as several beams of light erupted, trapping him in a cage of thin poles of interconnected energy. His gaze followed the connections, seeing them connect to the nearby stalagmites.
His brows rose in realization. The girl had prepared the sealing formation beforehand while taunting him with attacks. Now that he was at the center, she finished the formation.
He touched the cage, only to feel a searing pain against his gloved fingers. He looked at this observantly before chuckling. He placed his hands into his pockets.
"Your Syntax Level is lacking. However, your creativity is formidable and dangerous," his lips curled in amusement, "Sorry. I may have underestimated you."
The man's face was slowly encased in a full mask of white, with abstract paints of gold. Seeing the patterns made CK uneasy, even more so when she saw the glow of violet eyes underneath them.
"I'll have to treat you as a serious threat, then," the man said. CK's instincts began ringing when a shower of rose petals rained around her. She looked at them confusingly. Roses and thorns…
"What?" CK blinked. She suddenly felt a cold pain on her neck, causing her to feel drowsy. She looked at the cage before her. The man was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go?
She began stumbling as the surroundings became still, suddenly shattering like a glass painting. CK's head slumped as she fell unconscious, only to be held up by the masked man grabbing the back of her collar.
The environment of the dungeon arena morphed back into the empty pathway inside the Maiden's Tower. CK suddenly jolted awake, looking around the peaceful pathways.
"What is…" she muttered. She looked behind her, only to find that Malphas, flying in crow form, was the one holding her collar with a beak. She was confused. Wasn't the man…
Malphas said,
CK frowned at this. She looked in front, her body tensing warily to see the man in black standing in front of her harmlessly. His amethyst eyes were showing small flickers of interest compared to before.
"That was an illusory technique you used, wasn't it?" CK guessed. The man nodded, "A rather special one. Your happiness at the thought of winning made it possible to conjure that incantation. I merely took the image in your head and manifested it into reality, though swapping them with the real situation comes at the cost of the target's consciousness."
"My 'happiness', huh? Well, that explains it," CK mused and shook her head with a faint giggle, "Hehe… Seriously, practitioners of the Euphorium Ego are absolutely nuts."
"It seems you know more about the art. But I'm not interested in that for now," the man grew serious, "What does the Nonaphrontistery need the [Manuscript] for?"
"I'm not here because they sent me, just to be clear. What I need the item for is none of your business," CK crossed her arms, "In fact, I should be the one questioning you about that. You're the outsider, after all."
<…Is it really wise to annoy your would-be killer, little mistress?>
'He can't use Euphorium Ego at the moment. Their abilities often have serious backlashes, especially if it were a powerful incantation cast,' CK assured with a thought.
"In that case, let's not ask each other about our intentions for the [Manuscript]," the man said, "I'm surprised you've lasted long in this Tower. Wordsmiths of your level should have been expelled by the floors' restrictions, and you even managed to find this pathway…"
The man glanced at CK warily. How curious.
He shouldn't do anything to the girl. From the looks of it, the Tower is in her favor. Even if he managed to locate the item, the Tower will try to get rid of him. This girl is most likely able to take the item with the least amount of resistance. She also might be...
"That's bothersome," he muttered with a frown. "What's bothersome?" CK asked. The man looked at her, sighing and then adjusting his gloves.
"I will be shooting myself in the foot if I force my way here. The Maiden's Tower reacts more to your favor and has shown more consciousness than it did for the past few years. That means one thing," the man said seriously, "'She' is watching you."
CK did not answer, but the small twitch of her lips did not escape the man's attention. "Hm…" he said and turned around, "I won't go after the item, so it's yours. The [Manuscript] could serve some use for the mean time."
CK blinked in surprise. "Woah. Just like that?" she asked and called out to the leaving figure, "You could at least give me your name for almost killing me. It's only good manners."
"We won't be seeing each other again. Giving you my name will be meaningless in that sense," he said, "Goodbye."
He phased away, leaving CK and Malphas in the pathway by themselves. Malphas gently released CK's collar from his beak and disappeared into a flurry of feathers.
Without any time wasted, she followed the pathway, soon find a dark space at the end of the path. CK was skeptical. Usually, it'd be the light at the end of the tunnel, but the ominous blotch of darkness made her uneasy.
"Geez."
CK breathed in before stepping into the dark patch. She blinked in astonishment at her surroundings. The interior resembled jigsaw puzzles of the image of a surreal galaxy, with several pieces either missing or floating around.
There was a lone statue of a headless woman in robes, her fabric draped along her forearms as she held a single book in her hands, as if showcasing it to an audience. Its cover was made of stunningly bizarre metal, with intricate mandala patterns inscribed faintly and would only show when the light is right.
CK approached the statue, her eyes on the book. There it was: the [Maiden's Manuscript].
Each tower at the Nonaphrontistery safeguards an artifact said to belong to each of the Archetypes, giving them unmeasurable value and reason for the brutal defense system of each tower. The [Maiden's Manuscript] is one of them, and it belongs to the [Maiden of Prayer].
"Guess I'll be on the government's hit list if they hear I'm about to take this for myself," CK mused. She fell silent as the book emitted a sudden glow.
CK shielded her eyes until it died down. Upon looking back, the headless statue was now standing straight, still carrying the book in its hands while the ghostly strands of energy gathered atop the headless statue, creating an expressionless face of a woman.
It turned to CK, causing her to jolt with a very disturbed look on her face. This statue is weird, it resembled those unsettling mannequins! Stop that!
"Pullum vel ovum?" the statue questioned. CK stared in confusion while Malphas burst into tiny chuckles.
'Quiet, Malphas. This statue lady doesn't seem capable of joking,' CK reprimanded. She stared at the book with a frown. The [Maiden's Manuscript] is the closest thing they have to understanding the tiniest fraction of the [Maiden of Prayer]'s wisdom, and this is no laughing matter.
For eons, it is questioned where knowledge comes from, and how it is preserved or passed down for as long as time existed. The concept of time, the essence of the past, present, and the future, the boundaries between wisdom and insanity…
The [Maiden of Prayer] is the purest form of wisdom and philosophy, and her adherents were always the ones marked as madmen for questioning the rationality of the way of life. In a way, CK understands why this book questions its visitors with one simple question.
What came first: the chicken or the egg?
A simple question yet no concrete answer. Where does the first spark of life come from? Primordial cells? Where did those cells come from, in turn?
She was no wiseman, but she was sure no one can come up with a universally correct answer. The [Manuscript], in its own logic, is seeking her worth as a pursuant of knowledge. If that's all there is to it, then what she must do is simple.
"Pullum vel ovum?"
CK looked at the book, then at the statue. Her lips opened to speak in a foreign language, where only Malphas and the statue could hear her answer. Malphas was silent, but his lips curled into a smirk.
This child… He only realized it now, but she's a total nutcase. And it shows quite often.
The statue did not respond. CK frowned, skeptical of her own response until the book vibrated violently and flew out of the statue's grasp, releasing a large ripple of explosive energy, sending CK backward with a grunt.
Fwoosh!
Out of the room and out of the tower the ripple of energy erupted. It continued to resonate across the skies until it escaped the Nonaphrontistery, disappearing once it travelled for miles for merely a few seconds.
"Ow…" CK held her forehead as she sat up on the floor. When she opened her eyes again, the [Manuscript] was floating in front of her. CK blinked in surprise.
"Did it…accept my answer?" she wondered.
"In that case, don't mind if I do," CK smirked and took the book into her hands. She brushed off the dust on the case and looked at it with a triumphant smirk.
"Step one: complete," she said.
Several people outdoors fell silent as they stared up at the skies. Curtains of prism lights lingered like the aurora borealis on a winter night―except that it was day. While the students found this a stunning phenomenon, the professors that remained watched this in alert before rushing to contact the administration.
"Professor Kitmar, sir? Yes, yes, it's about the skies… It seems that one of the towers have been sealed. We request to open an investigation into it as soon as possible."