East side of Ethereal, Abandoned Premise, 2:45 P.M
Hinata and Erika were trying their best to keep themselves safe despite the cuts and bruises on their body, their combined attacks weaker than what they had expected from the weakened state of their prowess.
The pink haired girl was focusing everything that she had in her reserves to keep up her speed to evade attacks while the blonde focused on the defense by creating a high pressure water bullet despite the lack of output and reserves that she had left.
"Damnit… Hinata, are you alright?" Erika asked as she was focusing on channeling her spiritual energy to fill up her reserves while Hinata breathed heavily, panting for air.
"Nope. I'm exhausted but without this speed boost, I would've been done for the count…" she answered as the blonde observed their attackers.
"They are well coordinated. They are probably E-ranks based on how they fight and not using their prowess, probably weak and decided to use this weakening technique that they have to reduce us in this state…" Erika thought to herself before grabbing one of their hands as she kicked them right in the guts before blasting a wave of water to their face.
"My output and execution is bad as well so that tells me our prowess is weakened by half of its power…" the blonde uttered to herself before telling Hinata what she knew to Hinata for now.
"So that's why I'm not fast enough and already feeling my fatigue catching up… It sums up why my calculated executions are off the grid!" Hinata panted before sending out a weak wind slash that only grazed the enemy that almost closed the distance between them.
Erika immediately combined her attack with Hinata as they sent a small size and copious amount of ice slashes to the enemies, buying themselves time to reposition or to at least find a way to get out despite the lack of fire power behind the slashes that they combined.
There were too many things that were happening, once they saw a way to escape then another problem arose such as more enemies coming at them as if they were trying to stall them or to stop them completely.
Erika immediately sent out a barrage of water bullets to infuse her attack with Hinata's wind slashes, turning it into ice slashes as it caught the enemies off guard before being pushed away. The two girls immediately understand the amount of reserves, output and execution that they need to use for their weakened state.
"Let's go!" Erika said to Hinata as the pink haired girl grabbed Erika as she channeled every ounce that she needed to spring or dash closer to the escape route that they had found.
They were about to escape, their last shine of hope to survive and to get help for their friends who had stayed behind to buy time for them but all was lost. They saw two giant creatures that immediately slammed down on the ground which caused them to lose their balance while being sent back further into the room.
The two girls, losing all their will to fight as their bodies had succumbed to their exhaustion. Panic flying wild in their heads while their entire life flushes before their eyes.
...…
Hinata was just an ordinary commoner in Ethereal, awakening her prowess with a simple wind control but her talent in utilizing her spiritual energy and prowess usage had deemed her worthy to study in Kamigami Academy prior to her parents wanting her to have a better future and academic life.
They were happy with whatever choice she made, her joy and smile was the only that mattered to them since Hinata had a talent that the headmaster would recognise to nurture it. While she did barely achieve the Mid-Tier status, she never gave up with training her prowess and studying diligently despite the academy's hierarchy.
It was a simple and repeated process, attending classes, hearing the arrogant people's mocks towards her, train, eat then sleep. Throughout her first to fourth, this was just a daily basis until she met the unique duo. Rei and Sylvie were outsiders and anomalies to her eyes, one that had talent and one that had potential.
Their reasoning for their future made Hinata want to go even further as she joined their training sessions along with the two other people, Haruki and Erika. The two that she had always seen but never talked with since she was afraid that her status might affect them although their friendliness surprised her despite Erika's cold demeanour yet was kind to her since they respected her even when the blonde was a noble.
Hinata wanted this new type of friendship to last forever although for today's incident, it felt like a treasure stolen away from her by fate as she had accepted her inevitable death or suffering that would come to her soon.
...…
Erika Delilah. She only knew that if you are above the rest then the others should follow suit naturally since the hierarchy between nobles and commoners are the things that mattered the most.
However, her parents didn't seem to agree with the philosophy as they raised her well and had never spoiled her. Doing their best to raise her modest and kind although Erika was used to being outright mean and cold due to people finding out her family status then trying to suck up to her like parasites.
Erika hated it while her parents did their best to support her. Her prowess wasn't the best but she trained it to the best she can despite its simple usage. Water manipulation which was passed down through her family bloodline from her mother's side.
She remained the ice princess persona until meeting Haruki during her last year of middle school. He was neither a commoner or a middle-class. The male was just as friendly as a golden retriever from what she had observed. His prowess was something impressive since most powerful ones were from a rare family bloodline or rare mutation inheritance from genetics itself.
Haruki had befriended her almost immediately since the latter didn't show any favoured attitude towards her. Erika slowly opened up to him as they started to become best friends. His presence somehow made the latter fall for him especially when he was so gentle and easygoing with her despite her mood swings yet the male continued to be with her.
She hated him for his persistent attitude yet she loves him for his determination and will to keep pushing forward. Her only regret for now was not confessing sooner especially when she was about to meet death.
"Haruki… I want to see you… one last time…" she whispered as she struggled to crawl herself to at least push Hinata out of harm's way, "I still have to tell you… that I love you…"
She closed her eyes, succumbing to her inevitable fate as the creature was closing in on them. It was prepared to have their feast until they fell back from what seemed to be their master that commanded them.
"She's beautiful. The pink haired girl looks cute. Y'all either have fun with them first before killing them or just do whatever you want." They said before leaving with their supposedly tamed pet of a creature as the group of the enemies closed in at the two unconscious girls, twisted desires already running in their heads.
...…
Haruki, on the other hand, was severely injured with his right hand almost gone while he sustained multiple fractures and internal bleeding. "Huh… So, is this how I'm gonna go out?" He thought to himself before finding the large person already bringing out its weapon to land the finishing blow.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye to her… not even told her…"
His entire life flashed immediately, how he grew up from a middle class family and yet they lived humbly like a commoner with using their money for reasonable prices of groceries then daily nurturing.
How people mocked him due to his control over his own prowess then how other people should've inherited it and not him. Despite all of those negative things, he still looked forward and stayed positive while his family supported him. The headmaster recommended him to Kamigami Academy personally after finding out his prowess awakening due to how rare white flames were in the current generation.
Training his best yet still had no control over it until meeting Erika in his middle school where he managed to befriend her and felt happy since she was the only person that tolerated his friendliness and easy going attitude. What seemed to be a great friendship turned into a one sided unrequited love, Haruki falling for her hard when he saw her true self upon opening up to him.
He wanted to be there for her, give her love and happiness. A dream that he looked forward to despite how hard it is. It was his biggest regret for not telling her, especially when he was at death's door. The butcher is already grinning before using all their strength to strike him down.
"Erika… I love you… I'm sorry for not telling you sooner…" Haruki uttered before closing his eyes, succumbing to his exhaustion and letting fate take him.
...…
The trio were about to receive their end, already slipping but before the inevitable could happen. The building immediately was filled with a dreadful aura and screams of agony then pain. What's more audible and visible was the blood spilling, sounds of bodies dropping out of the window.
Sooner than later, the reinforcements will arrive to see the tragedy and horror of a simple E-rank that turned into a nightmare.
The only thing that was visible in the dark corridors were a pair of golden yellow eyes followed by crimson red above the main pair and a shade of blue below the main ones. Glowing menacingly while their golden yellow aura emitted stronger and stronger.
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