Chapter 40: Training (Part 3)
“Are you okay...?” Alexander asked, seeing the black smoke rising from her body.
Zoey didn’t hear his question as saw her Abnormal Conditions go straight to lv3 after taking a spell like that head-on. Her eyes practically glowed like stars in the night sky as she raised her numb hands and bit her thumb to drip blood onto her boxing gloves. Only after the gloves absorbed five drops of blood they began stitching back to normal. Once they were back in perfect health, Zoey dashed toward Alexander with newfound excitement.
‘She’s coming to kill me. She’s coming to kill me. I’m going to die!’ The aura of excitement from Zoey felt like unrestrained bloodlust from a daemon to Alexander.
His body froze up as Zoey punched his lightning balls into nothingness. Apparently, the electricity flowing through her from those balls meant nothing to her. A normal daemon would be paralyzed or at least momentarily stunned from touching one of those, but did the monster in human skin known as Zoey care about that? The answer was plain to see.
“Alexander! Snap out of it, you idiot!” Lindsay smacked him across the face as she arrived next to him.
His body, taken by fear, was suddenly returned to reality. A stinging pain was present on his face, but he was glad as all heck that Lindsay did that for him. Zoey was rushing at them like a buffalo with a mission to harm with grievous intent. He smiled with his partner next to his side.
“Sorry. Let’s do this!” He grinned with lightning sparkling at the tip of his wand.
“Stay focused. I’m just as terrified as you, but we cannot afford to freeze up! Our lives will be ripe for the taking if we do something like that against a real daemon.” She reminded him.
“Yes, Ma’am!” Zoey was going to reach them in only a second now.
“Now, let’s try not to die.” She cracked a smile as well.
Zoey jumped up into the air with her left fist pulled back as Lindsay’s Croc appeared in front of her, blocking her view of the president and vice president. She clicked her tongue at its sudden appearance and was forced into sinking her fist into its really fucking soft face. It grabbed her by the waist before she could land, and in her peripheral vision, she could see Alexander and Lindsay preparing to blast her with ice and lightning magic.
‘Annoying! Let go of me, you stupid fucking plushie! If one punch isn’t enough for you, I'll punch you until you’re dead!’ Zoey began to let the magji tool have it as she smashed its face with no mercy with her fists.
It continued to hold onto her, ignoring her blows. By this point, Lindsay and Alexander’s spells were already on their way to hit her. But Zoey’s anger blinded her to that fact. Her only focus was beating this crocodile plushie to death. Eventually, the croc could take no more and transformed back into its harmless plushie form as Zoey dropped back to the ground. Lindsay and Alexander’s spells met each other where Zoey was previously at, exploding into an electrified freezing mist. Zoey, now free to move as she pleased, dashed towards Lindsay with her eyes spewing rage.
Knowing that she was completely out of mana, Alexander knew he had to do something to help Lindsay. He fired off another lightning bolt at Zoey while her back was turned, hoping to get a good hit on her like before.
“Lightning Volume...” That was all Zoey needed to hear as she began zigzagging her way to the barely-standing Lindsay. It lowered her speed but made it harder for Alexander to hit her.
This simple but complex way of moving was all it took to throw Alexander’s aim off, but he didn’t have enough time to readjust. Zoey was inching closer to Lindsay every second. He needed to fire off his spell now, or else Lindsay was finished! So, he fired it.
A lightning bolt shot out of his wand, and just as it was about to impact Zoey’s back, she suddenly twisted her body and narrowly avoided it! Alexander had no choice but to drop to the ground in defeat and helplessness. Zoey was completely capable of reacting to his lightning. He had to admit it... He was inferior to a human. There was no more doubt left in his heart that Zoey was superior to him even though he was a magjistar.
Lindsay, on the other hand, was staring death in the face. Her heart froze as death in the form of a female boxer finally reached her, and Alexander’s lightning bolt went flying past them with loud crackling. Zoey’s fist felt like it impaled her, and Lindsay was sent flying through the air before crashing into the wall. She couldn’t help herself from screaming as the pain struck every part of her body.
‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Why am I even going through this...’ But the true feeling of death didn’t set in until she saw Zoey standing over her with her fist pulled back, ready to let her experience exactly what that female daemon did.
‘She isn’t human... I refuse to believe she’s a human. She can’t be a human. Nothing about her makes sense. This bloodlust. This adaptability. This strength! This killing intent! I don’t want to train anymore... I don’t want to train with Zoey anymore... Why did I ever suggest something like this? Was I crazy? A freak like this didn’t know the meaning of restraint! Please, I don’t want to fight anymore... Just leave me alone...’ Tears began to gently fall down her face.
Zoey saw the pitiful look in Lindsay’s eyes, and something about it infuriated her. Was she about to cry? While Zoey was petty, if she continued, she had a feeling that irreparable damage would happen to their relationship. If it hadn’t happened already... As she was about to drop her fist and stop the training, she felt herself being taken off the ground and knocked away.
[Terrifying Aura Lv1]
‘Oh yeah, there was another person here, wasn’t there?’ Zoey grimaced at the pain from the surprise spell as she forced herself to get up.
Alexander didn’t know what to think when he saw Lindsay bawled up like that in fetal position. All he knew was that he had to do something. Anything. It didn’t matter what. He just had to help her! Now he was getting the crap beaten out of him by Zoey. There was nothing he could do to resist her at this distance. He was completely under her control as she sent his head flying in all directions. As the beating continued, a small terrifying question rose from his heart.
‘Why isn’t she stopping even though I can’t fight back? Is she seriously planning to beat us half to death so that we think she’s going to actually kill us? There’s no way right...?’ Zoey knocked him off his feet with an uppercut that made him feel like his jaw had just shattered.
She soon mounted him with her boxing glove raised back, aiming to pound his face in while he was barely conscious at this point. It was at that point the small terrifying question from before sent a spike of adrenaline and pure fear running through his body. No longer could he see Zoey as the quiet human girl with unnatural strength. In his eyes, she was a horrifying daemon seeking to put an end to his life in the most miserable way.
Alexander wildly bucked his hips and knocked Zoey momentarily off balance. Using this brief opportunity, he threw a punch and hit her right across the face. This knocked her off of him completely as he got up
‘I won’t die. I can’t die. I have so much to do. So much to prove. I can’t lose! I’m going to become the greatest magjistar in history! I have to win...! I will win! Win! Win! Win! Win!’ Alexander began infusing magji onto his body like a cloak.
“Hahahahaha... Lightning Volume II: Lightning Freedom!” Lightning sparked, zipped, and crackled all around him. His pink hair was now spiky and rising to the air while his eyes became pure white.
“How can I lose with this much magji?!” Alexander expressed, seemingly turning into a completely different person.
‘Did he lose his mind or something?’ Zoey questioned as she stared at his new spell? Or was this a transformation?
He didn’t bother giving her an answer as he blitzed toward her with a flying kick. Zoey blocked the blow and was surprised to see that she was sent sliding very far back with an ache in her arms and a tingling in them as well. This was... different. She felt a different kind of shock erupt in her body after taking that kick from Alexander.
‘Skills! Experience! Exp! Exp! Exp!’ Bounced around inside her head like a child that downed three sodas and snorted some sugar through their nose.
The Zoey that she was holding back finally revealed herself because of Alexander’s transformation. Now that he’s a little stronger, she didn’t have to hold back anymore, right? She could finally let loose and really show her skills now, right? A small smile formed on Zoey’s lips in anticipation of the fight to come. At this point, she couldn’t tell if it was because of Alexander’s lightning that she felt like electricity was running up and down her body or her own excitement!
“I’m going to win, daemon! As I am now, I could never lose to anyone! I’m going to win!” Alexander cackled, overflowing with confidence and insanity.
“Oh yeah? Lay it on me, big boy!” Zoey smashed her boxing gloves together, not even taking note of him calling her a daemon.
The two fighters ran toward each other, eager to start round two.