No words come out. Irrespective of my wishes, I can't even move from my current position. Her hands are like iron, clamping down on my fists like a mouth in a trap. A sharp crack echoes. If it wasn't for my ability, I think all the bones in my fingers would be broken. If she has the strength and stats to match me in pure power, then all I can hope for is to outmanoeuvre her in ability. I came here knowing that fact.

My body falls backwards. Bringing Aedi along with me, my two legs then kick into her. Thud. She crashes on my opposing side, her hands still interlocked with mine. Dammit. This woman still doesn't let go. How persistent is she?

With another surge of strength in my two arms, I try for a throw. It's hard to imagine, but my effort actually puts her across the room. A few meters away, straight into a concrete wall, her body crashes.

Even so, she looks unfazed. Her gaze, ever so focused, reveals only but a smile.

"Getting worked up, Camille?"

"Barely!"

I attempt to close the distance as usual. But something stops me. At first, I don't understand why. Has my body betrayed my mind and chosen to be afraid?

No, that's not the case. The truth is, I stop because of instinctual reflex. A strategically conceived reflex, if you would.

"Wow, Camille, you've really done your research, huh?"

She laughs as if it's something funny. Enjoying the thrill and spirit of the fight is fine, but it's strange to take pleasure out of absolutely everything I find.

"Now now, Camille, didn't your parents tell you to get to know someone before judging them?"

Something warm trickles down the back of my neck. There's no mistaking it. It's the exact same feeling as that in the staircase. This sense of overwhelming heat coming from her direction.

"Is this your idea of an introduction, burning me alive?"

My left-hand reaches into the inventory. By mere instinct alone, it selects an icon and grasps onto a long cylindrical object. Just the perfect size

for me to hold onto and convenient enough to throw with decent accuracy.

Truthfully speaking, all description aside, it's a bottle of wine. Not some vintage one dating back dozens of years either, just the cheap convenience store variety. Hell, it doesn't even make an attempt to hide it either. Plastered right across it, is a picture of some idyllic antique vineyard, otherwise known as the one found literally everywhere.

But that's beside the point, merely an ill-concieved musing by me on the nature of mass production. The important part is in regards to what the wine should be capable of doing.

When I discussed the merits of Aedi's powers with Molok, we managed to surmise a few factors. That being, the foundations of magic and the exploitation of its weaknesses. If magic was dependent on drawing ability from myth and legend, then it was logical that it held the same drawbacks.

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Neither of us makes an effort to hide our knowledge. Aedi, whose eyes clearly examine the thing in my hand only smiles, while I, still in motion, lie in wait.

I can't hold it in anymore. Attacking first is stupid, but lying in wait is just to die. I can't handle that idea. The longer this goes in stalemate, the longer my mental state deteriorates.

I want to kill her.

I can't shake off that thought. The animosity I feel isn't the kind one feels towards an opponent. It's the one of a deranged piece of shit like me. A hint of motion manifests. My eyes flicker over Aedi,

In her hand now shines several golden orbs, each one imprinted with long tendrils of black.

They seem like pieces of beautiful jewellery, but the power behind them is unmistakable.

The Eye of Ra...

An extension of the Egyptian sun god Ra's power. Represented by a disk of the sun coiled by cobras and a destructive testament to a deity's almighty power. Essentially, the orbs were necessary to fulfill some cryptic ritual that would bring forth magical power.

Yet, almighty as it was, it did hold a fundamental weakness.

Well, the Eye of Ra got drunk and distracted by beer dyed red, so theoretically, according to the principle of magic, substituted red wine should work and distract it somehow.

Throwing with all the force I can, a bottle of wine launches through the air. Aedi, who doesn't even make an effort to evade, has her hand crash against the bottle. Motionless, her once clean hands are now drenched with beer.

Aedi smiles, her focus now on her hands.

"Wow, Camille, you've got me all wet. This is only our second date, you know?"

So. Even after all that, she still has the gall to reply in such a nonchalant manner.

"Won't you just use your spell or something!?"

Having said that, a relief unclenches my eyelids. All this meaningless talk and padding is just so annoying that I can't help bu-.

The orbs leave her hand and touch upon the concrete floor. The sounds of metal against stone, a quiet echo through our mess filled chamber.

"Y awf ra cast zin brilians"

Some vague words sputter. Cracks of jagged lines form across one shapen stone. Standing against it, I pull out another bottle of wine. The instant after, the jagged lines spread and shatters its shell. With no time for consideration, I run.

My destination, conveniently to my left, takes me up a flight of stairs. The light that once peered from the orbs now covers the entire area, penetrating even the uppermost floors. A reddish-orange tints the environment in less than the blink of an eye.

My natural reaction guides me to blink. Even with Lightborne equipped, the urge to shield myself from this incandescent brightness lingers all the same.

It seems there's no time to waste, though. Through the faint outline spotted through the walls, I understand Aedi approaches. It's hubris to think I can beat her directly. That's why, above all else, I have to reach that place.

The sweat on my forehead is an uncomfortable reminder of the presence of heat. Is it just a matter of my mental state, or is the world shaking? Fluttering up and down, a wild mess of uneven and crooked directions, the burden of running weighs further and further down my being.

Now that ten seconds passed, the only way left to determine Aedi's position is through hearing. I stop for the briefest of moments, my ears attentive for any sound.

Is this heat I feel? The vision of a golden snake emerges, not from the bottom of the staircase but from a vent. Just above me, no more than a hand's reach away lunges one of Aedi's minions.

And without further ado, a discharge of warmth and force covers my body.