"Huh?" Ammaina pressed her fingers against her lips, trying to recollect the familiar name 'Fredrik'. "Oh yeah... that BS, so you two are the clowns taking me?"
"Yeah! The one with the dreadlocks is my brother, Redrick. I'm Alphase, nice to meet you, but we're not clowns, by the way," Alphase calmly replied, his composure unwavering.
"Maybe not you, but your brother with the dumb dreadlocks definitely is. No normal person would pay for that atrocious hairstyle," Ammaina taunted.
"You're a female who wears worn-out, baggy jeans and a faded crop top. You shouldn't have the right to even talk," Redrick retorted.
Redrick and Ammaina's bickering grew, but was shut down by Dr. Zegg's shooting stare, gunning them from the reception table right across the floor. Both parties dared not to make a whisper.
Finally, silence was ensured. Alphase, being the more mature brother, calmly explained to Ammaina, his words swiftly aimed to persuade her into coming with them peacefully, but was met with the thin wall that was her arrogance.
Ammaina turned a deaf ear to every point he threw, acting as though he never stood in front of her, his words passing through her like gas out the window.
Alphase began to tire, his body unable to withstand its weight, forcing him to throw himself on the sick bed behind him, sweat dropping from his face like an open shower, flinging his arms across the bed.
"Listen here, you ingrate," Redrick attempted to pull his own weight. "You should be overjoyed by the opportunity you're given. Many pray for this chance every day, yet you have it handed to you on a silver platter. Do you know who you're robbing of..."
His words ceased before he could finish uttering his sentence.
"You have to come with us, Ammaina, whether you like it or not," Alphase commented, his tone reverting back to its seriousness.
"No." But well, you know.
Outside Hora's outskirts, in a small town with the border of Haora and its neighboring city Belto, existing in the rocky terrains of the warm mountain sides, the clanking of plates filled the devoid silence of a seemingly empty restaurant. Its chairs and cash register vacant, as if everyone had vanished from the vicinity.
"Why are you taking so long to eat? We need to find the grey wolf now," spoke the light-skinned man with a ponytail, tapping his fingers on his arms, sitting on pins and needles, watching his colleague stuff his face.
"Mwuff.. Mwuff," his colleague with red, spiky hair spurring from every angle responded at first.
"I didn't quite catch that. Come again."
Taking in a large gulp of water from his glass, "I said, never disturb me when I'm eating again," his voice turned sinisterly cold as he spoke.
"You and I both know that's a lie. You didn't say that!"
"I know, but I'd be cool if I did."
"Just hurry up so we can get back to looking for the grey wolf." His eyes twitched as he clenched his arms tightly, digging his nails into his flesh.
"Calm, bro. I haven't even had my appetizers yet." He paused briefly. "Hey, chef! I know you're not dead, quit playing possum and bring me an appetizer," he yelled, his gaze directed at no one.
Suddenly, from nowhere, a man dressed in white attire, drenched in red, stood up from the floor as bowls of red liquid dripped from his soaked clothes. His hands and feet shaking, as though struck by a cold, yet standing firm, with his eyes dancing in their sockets.
He wasn't the only one, though. Customers, the cashier, the owner, and the town's people as a whole were all wiped out by...
Clank!
"So, tell me, chef, what's next on the appetizer menu?" He asked, eagerness filling his tone.
"F-F-For an appetizer, we have a firmly made soufflé, drizzled in..."
Not even a mere second passed after the utterance of those words before a sharp whooshing sound cut through the air, reverberating through the literal graveyard silence.
"Mwww," the chef tried to cry out, but his mouth was full with his own fluids about to wretch out, the sharp pain coursing through his body before reality flickered like a dead torch, and everything went dark in seconds.
No weapon was used, nor thrown, only the sharp sound of what seemed like a dagger as the chef's body stumbled, landing on the pile of his other victims, the snowy white tiled floor painted in absolute red.
"A soufflé as an appetizer? How disgusting. 1-star review, and that's me ignoring the ass-quality service," he burst out with a large scowl drawn on his face.
"Now that you're done critiquing, let's leave this town and head to the next before someone catches us," he cut in. "You said we should return to Hora after 3 days, right? This is the second day, so we need a place to stay till tomorrow."
"I did say that, didn't I? Well, return to Hora tomorrow, but..." Placing his palm to cover his face. "Why the hell would you be scared of being caught in a world filled with such weaklings!" A mad grin stretched across his face, his eyes widened in joy as his devious expression took over his scowl.
"Because I didn't come here to kill people," his colleague replied, his calm vibe equally menacing.
MEANWHILE IN HORA...
"Let me go, damn it! This is kidnapping!"
Ammaina yelled in a ferocious roar, struggling to escape the tight grip of Alphase, who carried her on his shoulder like a weightless bag of paper through the streets.
Punching and struggling wasn't going to work. Her voice was nearly worn out from her constant shrieks, but unfortunately, she wasn't the only one good at turning a deaf ear.
"I swear I'll kill you!"
"You've been saying that for the past 2 hours, yet I'm still alive," he responded.
"This is still considered kidnapping!"
"I went to school, but even then, I don't care. It's not considered stealing if the property is yours, now is it?" He responded in a nonchalant tone. Alphase's sense of apathy kept telling Ammaina to put the fries in the bag the entire time.
"Did you just call me your property? Just wait till I get free, I'll rip you to shreds!"
"I know that's why I don't intend on setting you free."
"We told you, didn't we? You'd come with us one way or another. You're coming with us!" Redrick tried to make himself relevant.
"Just who the hell are you, bro?" Ammaina responded, gunning him down on sight.
Indeed, her struggle was a spectacle to behold, drawing the attention of citizens who watched in amusement, thinking it was fun and games. The streets were flooded with spectators.
Dashing through the crowded streets, Phonzo ran as fast as he could, trying to get his last glimpse of Ammaina before her departure. His movements nimble like an acrobat as he leaped through barricades and shops.
"Ammaina, hold on!" His voice echoed from the distance, making its way from where she stood.
Ammaina, who continued to struggle, felt a surge of urgency flow through her upon hearing the familiar voice, like an animal whose kin is threatened. Her body reacted.
She ceased her previous attempts, concentrating her mana on her left hand, which she clenched tightly on Alphase's robe. A fluorescent yellow light gleamed on her palm as she reverted her center of gravity, swinging her body towards the opposite direction, forcing him to lean a little as well, before seizing the opportunity to stretch her feet to the ground and toss him.
Swinging his body towards Redrick in that brief moment, sending them both flying into a shop filled with potted plants. She was lucky Alphase dropped his guard for that brief second, or such an opportunity would never have struck.
"Are you okay?" She shrieked in response, her weary voice forcing another loud scream, worry lingering in her tone.
Jumping from the opposite direction as he made his way towards her, huffing consistently, as if his lungs could no longer hold in air.
Helping him control his breath, she asked, "What's wrong? Why'd you rush here? Did you run all the way from the outskirts?" Her worry seeping out through her tough demeanor like a gas leak.
Struggling to properly catch his breath, "Ammaina, do me a favor and go with the Frederiks?"
"What?" A displeased remark sharply escaped her lips.
"I know it goes against everything you stand for, but please, I need your help! You're the only one who can help me get my revenge. That's why I need you to go with them and become stronger than every single last one of the Frederiks, every last one of them, until you've reached a point you can return what they took from me.
Improve on your Cultivation and reach the highest peaks of our world, bound by the lust of power!
I know it's a lot to ask, but please, forgive me. It might seem selfish, and it is, but I just don't want to see someone with as much talent as you rot in this part of the world. No, in the family you were born in, you deserve something higher with your talents, and you can help me in the process."
Phonzo's words were heavier than his breaths, struggling to keep himself conscious any longer, his tired body about to give out.
"And what about you, Phonzo? Should I just leave you here?" Ammaina asked, her looks stern, but her worry as visible as the sun's light.
"Don't worry, Ammaina. Even if it takes years, I promise..." gasping a brief moment of necessary air, "I'll meet you at the top of the Cultivation world!"
"Alright then, I'll believe you." Her words icy cold, her true emotions puzzling. "Just don't let me down, like always, Phonzo."
Taking out a golden chain from his pocket, he adorned it around her neck. "Here's my late birthday gift. I'm sorry I didn't give you this yesterday, but it doesn't matter now." Taking a few steps back from where he stood. "Let this be a reminder every day once you reach Tora. I'm coming to join you up there soon."
"Okay." Was her only response.
Phonzo expected a few questions at least, such as how he got the money to buy the expensive jewelry, or why he didn't visit her throughout the previous day, and so on, but was met with nothing.
She just stood there, her hair strands dancing to the music of the wind, covering her eyes, leaving only a faint smirk barely visible. The golden chain dangled and dazzled around her neck, yet another word never left her lips.
"You actually surprised me. You're pretty strong," Alphase commented as he stood from the shattered shop, his cloak covered in dirt.
"Have you said your final goodbyes?" He asked, his words indiscernible.
"Why ask when you were eavesdropping the entire time? Hurry and let's go."
"I'll just take that as a yes," redirecting his gaze. "Redrick, let's go. They've parted ways now."
"Since when did Phonzo become so poetic?" Redrick muttered to himself. "Has he really grown so much since then?"
"My shop!!" The shop owner cried.
"We'll send someone to reimburse you double," Redrick replied.
Alphase no longer needed to carry Ammaina like a pack. She followed them with her own two feet. She was leaving her home and childhood behind, her only piece of home being the necklace Phonzo had given her.
As she walked, she watched her childhood flash before her eyes, how far she had come - the first girl in history not only to reach Tora without the selection ritual, but being chosen by the top noble family, no less.
She may not be carrying the name of the Valkyries with her, but her life held more value than the Rebirth of a curse. As a proud child of Hagi, each footstep she took forward set a course of history that would change the Cultivation world.
Finally, her mouth opened as a frail whisper escaped her lips, "Phonzo. Why the hell are you always such a..."
"Big liar, bro," Phonzo muttered to himself as he laid on the cold concrete floor beneath the bridge once more.
"I can't actually believe I said, 'I'll meet you at the top.' That's something I've been telling myself for years, yet never accomplished," His eyes wandered through the concrete structure underneath, the passage of cars and chariots from above blocking his thoughts from wandering too far.
"Only one person can have a happy life in both our stories. I might die of the freezing weather or getting mugged, but as long as I know she'll get what she deserves, I'll leave a smile on my face for whoever my killer may be."
The dark shadows cast by the bridge's top began to illuminate a bright purple light, until it overtook its while atmosphere.
A short grin stretched across Phonzo's face, "You're awake, grey fox. Welcome back from the dead."