'Gosh, I'm a fraud.'
Despite speaking up in that very brave manner, I was currently shaking in fear... Because there was just no way I could stand up to Levi; his stats were just too high.
At the sound of my voice, silence had fallen and everyone had turned to look at me.
I could see confusion flash across Audrey's face, while Levi's expression held a mixture of confusion and anger.
I decided to think about my next words properly. I couldn't afford to taunt Levi; after all, he had the Berserker attribute and was easily driven to rage.
And so, I decided to stun him instead. Since he didn't know I had a bond, if he suddenly saw me unleashing my aura, he would be immediately stunned and left thinking how the hell it was possible for me to do so. And if I kept up my brave face, he wouldn't attack, as he would be wary of me. Granted, the previous Cedric had never behaved so bravely.
Well, I could be wrong and everything goes to shit. But what else could I do in this situation?
I closed my eyes for a moment focusing on my mana core, and then I expelled a vast amount of mana into the air.
Instantly, a chillingly eerie sensation crept into the air, and the world around us seemed to dim slightly.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that Levi's eyes were wide, now filled with even more confusion.
"What? Th-this is…" Audrey stammered in disbelief.
Then Levi completed her thought, utterly stunned: "...Aura."
"How can that be?" This time, it was Levi's bond who spoke in its chillingly menacing voice. "Wasn't he bondless? How can he emit aura?"
'Good, they are now stunned. Now for the follow up.'
I tilted my head and glared with half-lidded eyes that had now turned black. Then I made my voice even colder.
"I do not have the bandwidth to deal with any of your shit right now. So… if you'll excuse me."
I slowly began walking past everyone.
While I moved with deliberation, I could see their expressions through the corner of my eye. Both bonds and dominants had the same look of utter bewilderment.
By the time I was a few meters away from them, I closed my eyes and prayed. 'Please don't come after me. Just let me go.'
But that prayer wasn't answered, because at that moment, Levi's bond jumped down from his shoulder and a burst of flames erupted around it. Its form then instantly changed into a muscular man with red hair, red eyes, and lots of scars.
He wore only a pair of red pants and tendrils of red flames danced around his bare body as he landed heavily on the ground.
Then in the next instant, he lunged at me with clenched fist aiming to strike me down.
Seeing him suddenly attack, Audrey yelled out in panic. "No!"
But before Levi's bond, Ifrit, could reach me, wisps of black smoke and feathers burst out of my shadow, and Aika appeared, lunging with her fist extended.
Boom!
Both fists connected with a shockwave that sent shrieking red and billowing black flames blasting into the air.
Then, almost immediately, they both leapt back, creating distance.
"A bond? How?" Ifrit asked in a stunned voice.
Aika didn't answer. Her cold eyes that were now black and filled with killing intent stared balefully at Ifrit, and wisps of black smoke and feathers danced around her figure.
After a brief moment of tense silence, she pivoted and walked gracefully back to me. As soon as she reached my side, we turned in unison and continued walking away.
When we were a safe distance away, I finally let out the breath I hadn't even realize I'd been holding.
'Gah… we made it.'
I turned to look at Aika, who walked by my side in her short black and blue kimono. My gaze immediately fixed on the arm she'd punched Ifrit with. The limb was visibly shaking, and thick wisps of black smoke encircled it.
"How bad is it?" I asked in a tight voice.
Aika let out a sharp sigh. "It's broken."
At that answer, I felt my chest tighten. A bond's current power level was reflected by its dominant's level, and since my level was so low, she got hurt defending me. Gritting my teeth, I cursed inwardly, then exhaled and said, "I'm sorry about that."
Aika didn't say anything for a moment. Eventually, she yawned, covering her mouth with her other arm and said, "I'm going back to sleep. Call me out if you need me."
Before I could say anything else, her form dissolved into wisps of smoke, and made its way back to my arm forming a tattoo of a raven.
I sighed, rolled my sleeve back and looked at it for a moment.
Then barely a few seconds later, I heard footsteps behind me.
Looking back, I saw Audrey hurriedly approaching me with a look of betrayal, disbelief and confusion.
"What the hell Cedric?" Her voice was no longer timid. "You were a Dominant all this time?"
I struggled to stop a frown from forming on my face. 'Aissh! This is why I didn't need any friends. Now I have to come up with an explanation. Tsk. What a pain.'
I forced a smile, then decided to tell the truth. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I had a bond suddenly miraculously appear to me two days ago. Who knows, maybe, it could be that the gods took pity on me."
"What?" Audrey's confusion seemed to grow even more and her brows furrowed.
I could understand why. After all, everyone knew that if you did not manifest a bond at the age of twelve, it meant that you would be stuck a human the rest of your life as one would never appear later.
Still, I wasn't planning on telling her anything more.
Audrey fidgeted with her glasses and looked away, seemingly lost in thought. We ended up walking the remainder of the way to the training grounds in silence.