Nolan walked past the chief, walking to meet the others. He frowned when he saw Cyndy had already used her power to make a chariot.
Again, he hadn't seen it.
Liana and Cedric wasted no time in getting on, throwing looks Nolan's way as he walked slowly like he had all the time in the world, with enough to spare.
Nolan eventually got on the chariot and Cyndy hopped onto her horse, then they started moving.
Liana waved at her father who waved back with glimmering eyes.
Unlike her, Nolan and Cedric had no one to bid them farewell.
As the chariot moved, they sat in silence, all staring at the vast forest path they were following.
The trees closer to the road were scanty, while the number increased deeper. The trees deep inside blanketed the area, making it seem dark even with the sun still up.
A path marked unsafe to follow. But that was a useless rule for any Ace-rank and above. Specifically for someone like Cyndy.
"So, what do you all do for a living." Cyndy asked from ahead, clearly trying to stir up a conversation.
"Farming, maybe shoe making? That was a while ago though. Didn't quite get the hold of it," Cedric answered nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
"You make good tomatoes?" Cyndy questioned.
"That may even be an understatement." Cedric laughed.
Cyndy nodded. "You two?" she said, referring to Nolan and Liana.
"Oh, I uh, do knitting and… I think that's all shareable." Liana explained to her with a vibrant energy.
"White hair, you want me to give you a grand mention? Well have it," Cyndy scowled, glancing over her shoulder at Nolan.
"I live and live again and again." Nolan replied flatly without caring about what they would think or interpret his words as.
They all stared at him for a moment, the silence returning.
"What?" Nolan raised his hands in the air.
"You have an attitude, you know," Liana frowned.
"Tell him," Cyndy's voice came from the front.
"I'll take that as complement. Thank you," Nolan faked a smile for two seconds before his expressionless face returned.
Liana scoffed and returned her focus to the road.
"We already have bad chemistry when we haven't even gotten to our destination? That's one thing," Cedric noted.
No one replied.
The silence once again took over, save for the sound of the chariot moving on dirt.
Nolan was resting his eyes—although they thought he was sleeping—when he instinctively raised a brow and opened his eyes. "We're being ambushed," he said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
He looked to the left, then right. "They'll show themselves any moment now."
"Who's he talking to?" Liana whispered to Cedric.
"Maybe he had a bad dream?" Cedric shrugged.
Cyndy had heard him also and wondered if he was actually talking about them.
She muttered to herself, "Hmm, I don't think it's us. I can't even sense anything—" Her words were cut short as a sudden demonic aura washed over them.
"… yet?" she completed.
Nolan mockingly smiled at Cedric and Liana. "Well then, welcome to my dream."
The movement of shadows in the trees became clearer as whatever was lurking behind them started to get closer.
Cedric and Liana got their guards up, ready to defend themselves if they had.
Nolan on the other hand, had his eyes closed. Being the only one who knew Cyndy's capabilities, who was more than relaxed.
Cyndy groaned. "Can't someone do something in peace?" She came down from the horse.
The silhouettes in the shadows started to reveal themselves. Hunched humanoid figures with red skin, black eyes and sharp claws for nails. Low grade demons.
But more dangerous when they walk in groups.
The same types that attacked the village earlier.
Cyndy pulled out a strand of her hair and held it out, creating an ice bow with it on her hand. The ice twisted from the point she was holding, down to the end of the strand before taking a definite shape.
She then aimed at the demons, three ice arrows forming on her free hand. "Okay, let's get this over with."
There were a total eight demons. As they attack, Cyndy instantly took down three with the arrows. She created the same number of arrows and took down three more demons.
The last two closed in, swiping their claws at her but she weaver through them with effortless grace.
At some point, it felt like she was just toying with them because of the smile playing on her face, but then again, it could be her just showing off to her new recruits.
Nolan opened his eyes to check on what she was doing, and at the very moment, she created a knife and stabbed it through ones head.
"Copy"
[Ice Affinity (S-Tier) copied]
[Add to library? Y/N]
Finally.
He had managed to copy it. But the realization hit him that Cyndy's ability was already this strong from the start.
That explained why she usually got to the Master-rank in some lives with ease. She was just an unripe fruit that would ripen in the coming years.
Cyndy kicked back the last demon that was desperately trying to land a hit. As it came charging back, she used her bow to smack its head hard.
For a moment it stopped, holding its head in pain before coming again and she delivered another, then another, and so she went on until it ran back into the woods.
"Get back here, you little red bastard!" she yelled at it, though she was going back to the others.
She tried dismissing her bow but it kept reforming halfway. She stopped in her tracks, trying to force it back, but it kept reforming and at some point it started freezing her hand, but she stopped it.
"A-are you okay?" Liana asked with a confused look.
"Yes, I…" Cyndy got fed up and tossed it to the ground. "I am."
Cedric glanced at Nolan who was twirling a strand off his hair, his eyes closed with a smile before looking back, then he looked again.
For a moment there he could have sworn he saw ice retracting to the center of Nolan's palm, but there was nothing there now. "Hmm, maybe I'm seeing things," he said to himself.
Nolan opened one eye and chuckled, before closing it, earning glances from everyone else.