The trio slowly circled around Marie; their faces cycled between anxiousness and hesitation. It was not often for them to go against someone of her caliber: a master swordswoman and a cunning warrior. Not to mention, the woman also trained the trio shortly before the latter's apprenticeship began.
"Well? I'm waiting," said Marie with a sly, dimpled smile across her face.
Rupert let out a rumbling roar and charged forward -- swinging his wooden sword at the slender woman. To avoid the incoming attack, Marie took a step to her left, allowing the elder Nightingale to run past her. "Ugh!" Rupert instantly yelped as soon as he felt something hard smack him in the back of his neck, causing him to fall flat on the floor.
"In case you haven't noticed, shouting will not always scare your enemies away," Marie remarked. Then, she raised her right hand and caught Lucy's sword, seconds before the object hit the former in the shoulder. "And using your brother as a distraction will not always work." With a single tug, Marie slammed the female Nightingale into the floor -- directly next to Rupert.
"Ow! I thought you said you are going easy on us!" Lucy grunted.
"No, dear. I only said I'm not using my power," Marie giggled. "Furthermore-." The woman quickly spun around and lifted her weapon to parry Sam's wooden sword. "It's rude to interrupt someone when they are talking."
"Not during a fight," Sam lashed back.
Marie shuddered after she felt something cold climbing up her legs -- a sensation she knew too well. As she turned her attention back to the siblings, a powerful gust of wind hit her squarely in the torso -- causing her to skid away from the trio. Shortly after, the lady in black straightened herself up as if nothing happened. "Well, now," Marie grinned exuberantly while rubbing her aching chest. "Your teamwork certainly has improved. Though, I’m afraid I can’t say the same about the execution.”
"Dude, that attack just now should have knocked her off her feet," whispered Rupert after getting to his feet; his eyes widened from shock.
"It should,” Sam grumbled. “But we are not dealing with a regular Distorted right now. We’re dealing with Marie Strelitzia.”
"Alrighty then!" Marie exclaimed, effectively stopping the conversation between the two men. "I suppose I can no longer lower my guard around you three."
"Lower your guard? You don't mean-," Lucy trembled after noticing the gleams in Marie's emerald eyes.
"Oh, don't worry. I promised you that I won't be using my power, remember?" as soon as Marie finished her sentence, she dashed onward – catching the trio by surprise.
Rupert fidgeted as the lady in black ran up to him – her waster sword over her left shoulder. It prompted him to lift his weapon, preparing himself for the coming assault. However, instead of waving the wooden blade, Marie dived to the floor and briskly wrapped her right leg around Rupert's thighs. "Oh shit, not again-!" the blue-eyed man breathed before he stumbled face-first to the solid ground.
With a single kip-up, Marie quickly got to his feet – just as Lucy sneaked behind her. Marie spun around; her sword clashed against Lucy’s, creating a loud thud that echoed throughout the training hall.
"Woah, you've gotten stronger, Lucia. I can feel my hands throbbing in pain."
"Really? Then, you shouldn't have a problem dealing with this!" Tiny orbs of water began to appear from thin air, surrounding the two females. All the stagnant droplets shot toward Marie, endlessly hammering her face and body like a barrage of transparent bullets. Even though the orbs didn't cut through Marie's skin, their velocity was strong enough to push the lady in black away from Lucy.
After the bombardment ended, Marie looked down at her drenched clothes, her forehead puckered. "Huh, that stings a little, you know?" the woman grunted as she brushed off the wet hair sticking to her eyelids. "Welp, at least I know you're not holding back."
“You looked terrible, Miss Marie. Should we call it a day?” Sam confidently suggested.
"Nah, I'm perfectly fine. It's just a minor setback," said Marie, squeezing her soaked left sleeve. “Plus, I haven’t seen you use your power yet.”
Sam grimaced at Marie’s cheerful comment. “My power is not suitable to be used for sparring, Miss Marie.”
“Oh, that’s rubbish,” the lady in black retorted. ‘This whole room is designed to withstand virtually everything: a hurricane, a flood, and even an inferno.”
“Even if I could, using abilities in the Tower – like what Lucy and Rupert did earlier – is strictly prohibited.”
“Oh, right. I totally forgot about that,” blurted Lucy, her face gradually turning pale as she realized her mistake.
Suddenly, Marie burst out laughing, causing the trio to focus on her. “I’m sorry. It’s…I didn’t expect you to be the kind of person who worries themselves over some silly rules. You should learn to loosen up a bit – just like what Mr. Nightingale often does.”
A smug grin appeared across Rupert’s face as soon as he got to his feet.
“And also, you don’t need to be concerned about the Froghoppers. They are currently performing some maintenance on their surveillance system. In other words, no one knows about what will transpire inside this chamber – except for us, of course.”
Sam squinted his eyes as he felt the situation to be oddly suspicious. Could she have planned this all along? He wondered. “A maintenance…at the same time as our sparring session,” Sam expressed his thought. “That is quite convenient, don’t you think so?”
Marie giggled mischievously at the sight of Sam’s serious expression. “Fate is a funny thing – sometimes it brought us joy, and sometimes it gave us scars that could last our lifetime. In this case, it allowed us to recognize each other’s strengths…and weaknesses.” Shortly after finishing her sentences, Marie tossed away her wooden sword, causing Sam and the siblings to shudder simultaneously. With a lopsided smile, the lady in black snapped her finger and a Rifit Gate suddenly manifested to her right. She slid her hand through the water-like surface for a few seconds before pulling out her unsheathed claymore.
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“Um, Miss Marie…what are you doing?” said Lucy nervously.
“I’m just trying to make this fight a bit more…challenging.”
“But you said you were not gonna use your power,” Rupert replied.
“I did,” Marie confirmed. “Until I realized that you are no longer the fledglings of the Order. So, it will be insulting for me, and for you if we don’t go all out.”
“Wait, Miss Marie! Sam doesn’t have his Core Blade!” Lucy blurted out.
“No worries, Lucia. There’s no need for you to use your Core Blade. Also, I’m not going to move from this spot,” said Marie. “All you have to do is either knock my sword out of my hands or make me yield. Do either of those, and you win.”
“And what if we refuse?” Sam inquired, glaring at the lady in black.
“Then, I will tell Thomas about what happened here. I’ll get chewed out, for sure – but the three of you will be in much deeper trouble.”
“Damn…She really got us good, huh?” Rupert commented before turning his head toward Sam. “So, are we doing it? We’re doing it, right? Right?”
Sam exhaled audibly. “Well, it’s not like we have any other choice,” he further remarked.
“Great! Then, I’ll go first!”
“Wait, Rupe-!” Lucy yelled out, but it was too late. Her brother swung his blade, creating another blast of cold air.
As a response, Marie thrusted her claymore forward; the tip of her blade mysteriously disappeared into thin air. Seconds later, she yanked her sword, and a long, vertical line manifested in front of her which later stretched open into a perfect circle – within it was nothing but complete darkness. In an instant, Rupert’s powerful squall was sucked into the floating hole – shocking the three novices.
“What in the world…!” the elder Nightingale loudly expressed his exasperation, just as the hole sealed shut.
“Oh, so close. Very close,” Marie stated with a playful grin. “Here,” the lady in black snapped her finger.
Another circular portal opened up to Rupert’s right and the man immediately cried out in agony as a puff of wind shot out of the hole - hurling him into the chamber’s wall.
“You should be more aware of your surroundings, Rupert, and also, charging heedlessly into battle is a big no-no,” Marie reprimanded.
“Heh, who said I’m charging heedlessly?” the elder Nightingale, who was leaning his back against the wall, started to giggle.
Marie looked at Rupert confusingly – until she felt a breeze on the back of her neck. She instinctively tilted her head to the right; the first thing she saw was a wooden sword flying past her followed by Lucy’s azure eyes staring directly at her.
Without any delay, the female Nightingale raised her waster sword over her head. But before she could hit Marie’s arm, she saw a pulsating black cloud forming between her and her target. Oh no! Lucy mouthed as she tried to step away from Marie. Sadly, her momentum forced her to fall into the darkness; the next thing she realized she was lying on the floor.
“Need a hand?” asked Sam before helping Lucy stand on her feet.
“Darn it! We could barely touch her!”
“Yeah,” said Rupert as he approached her sister from behind. “And I usually don’t mind getting a beating, but, somehow, getting my butt kicked by Marie felt embarrassing.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan,” Sam replied confidently. “The only tricky part is to get our timing right.”
“Well, a plan is better than nothing. Let’s hear it,” Lucy sighed even though she knew Sam’s idea could sometimes be a bit dubious.
ɹɹ********************************************
[Three minutes later…]
“Hm?” Marie could not contain her curiosity after seeing the trio ten feet away from her, whispering to each other. There was no doubt in her mind that they were concocting a scheme on how to defeat her. Perhaps she made the challenge too difficult for them? Marie thought. But her concern was washed away as soon as she saw the trio's heads turned toward her.
“You guys really took your time. So, ready for another dance?”
“Something like that,” Lucy answered before stretching her arms forward. Then, tiny orbs of water shot out of her palms; every single one of them made its way toward the lady in black.
“Another one of those,” Marie murmured. With her claymore, she opened another portal in front of her and watched as all the projectiles went into the dark hole. All of a sudden, she heard footsteps to her left and right; she glanced in both directions and noticed the two men were sprinting toward her.
“Oh, shit!” Rupert exclaimed after seeing the circular portal materialized in front of him and Sam.
“Rupe! Now!” the vermillion-eyed man yelled out, prompting the elder Nightingale to throw his wooden sword toward Marie. At the same time, Sam also tossed his waster sword toward the lady in black before passing through the portal.
“Sneaky!” Marie huffed. As the two flying swords drew closer, she created another two portals to divert them – until one of the blades circumvented the hole, causing Marie’s forehead to furrow. She quickly raised her forehead, intending to deflect the incoming projectile.
However, before she could swing her blade, the wooden sword suddenly burst into flame. Marie gasped; she covered her hurting eyes with her right hand, and for a few seconds, she felt something pressed against her chin, followed by a faint scent of sea breeze.
“Yield.”
The lady in black gradually opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Lucy with a triumphant smile on her face. “Alright, alright. I yield.”
As soon as she heard those words, Lucy pulled her sword away from Marie’s lower jaw and instantly dropped to her knees.
“Luce!” Rupert called out as he rushed to his sibling with Sam following him closely from behind.
“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“Well, that’s actually my fault,” Sam stated. “I should have been more perceptive.”
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
The four Faceless shifted their focus toward the main entrance where Markus stood on his own, applauding them for their performance.
“Spectacular work; all of you,” the bearded man complimented. “Although I clearly remember that we are prohibited from using our powers inside the Tower.”
Marie proceeded to let out a humorless laugh before apologizing to Markus. “I’m sorry, sir. That is on me. I…coerced them into using their abilities for our sparring session.”
“Indeed, Miss Strelitzia. Fortunately, the only people who know about what you did is me and all of you here. So, let’s just keep this between us, alright?”
Marie and the rambunctious trio nodded their heads in affirmation.
“Good. With that being said,” Markus immediately cleared his throat. “I’ve got some update on Jason, and it’s not good. No, it's uh...actually much worse than I initially anticipated."