Chapter 209: Poking a cat

Chapter 209: Poking a cat

For a moment, I try to determine if Myrra is joking, but it doesn't seem like it. Even her tail seems to confirm what she said. It's not moving nervously, just gently swaying from side to side, showing her interest.

Her fluffy tail wouldn't lie to me, right?

“That sounds unreasonable?” I say to her.

“I agree,” she moves and sits on a chair nearby, ignoring the craters around, burned walls, and holes in the ceiling. Her ears perk up slightly, and the light that falls on her face makes the scar that goes horizontally through it more visible.

“The main requirement to be able to be called a big guild is to be strong enough or have a strong member that could rival the power of an entire guild. Surprisingly, the guild master of Storm Brigade said that your guild shouldn't have a problem with that. So tell me, feral one, is it you who is strong enough that you made me sense fear even from proud Obelia?”

Her eyes glint as she stares at me, surrounded by all this destruction.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

“We are not interested in becoming a big guild,” I ignore her question and answer.

Unsurprisingly, being the weirdo that she is, it only seems to make her even more curious. In a similar way as I watch her, she also continues to observe me. Myrra watches every move I make, she stares at my eyes, and she keeps probing with her mana senses, trying to get a funny response from me.

Much like a human annoying a grumpy cat to get a reaction from it.

“Very few would refuse that offer. What's your reason?” she asks.

“It sounds annoying,” I answer honestly, “We have no time to bother with politics and other guilds.”

“What if I told you it would be more fun this way?” Myrra leans backward on the chair that is made for humans, not lynthari, and it seems it's about to break, “As a big guild, there are some rules others would need to follow to bother you. Rules set by lynthari. Small guilds don't enjoy such luxury.”

Was this her plan all along?

“Why?” I ask.

“As I said, feral one, I want you to rise to the top, I want to see you shine brighter than anyone else. Through your own power, your will. And I really want to see if you will break or if you're the real deal.” She stands up, and the chair behind her instantly turns to ashes as flames roar around her.

The flames are strong enough to start melting the stone under her feet and set ablaze all the furniture or cloth around us.

Not overly bothered, I just use [Redistribution] and absorb the heat that reaches me, which would have burned me terribly if I hadn't done anything about it.

Myrra takes another step closer to me, her flames stronger and the heat is directed at me, “I want you to show me what you're capable of,” she hisses, showing a surprising amount of emotion, unexpected from someone hundreds of years old.

I don't like it.

A burst of kinetic energy explodes from me at the center. I make it more blunt than sharp, and Myrra is thrown away from me, crashing through the wall with a surprised squeak.

Immediately from my shadow, her bodyguard steps up, but I already know this skill. The moment he fully emerges, [Resonance] disrupts his attack, and with a kick, I send him flying out of the window of the manor.

I don't like how everyone here thinks they can mess with me.

I redirect more of my mana towards the kinetic mana heart and turn all generated energy from kinetic into thermal, continuing to compress it while walking slowly towards where I kicked Myrra.

Tall lynthari is already on her feet, unhurt, but blue flames blazing around her.

She is smiling.

I send disrupting mana into the room, not allowing her guard to use any shadows around, and then release all the heat I collected, pressing it all against Myrra. For a while, she fights against it, her own flames pushing against my own. The manor is melting around us, being set ablaze. The air dries, cracks appear in the walls, and furniture turns to dust.

Elydor, partially Obelia, Myrra, every single one of them wants me to move according to their will.

Just leave me alone.

My flames turn golden, devouring Myrra's flames and pushing her to her knees. The tall lynthari hisses and more of her mana is released, this time in the form of chill that fights against the flames, the temperature in the room turning ice cold.

Unfortunately, something tells me not all of them would react to it as Myrra did. She seems to be weird even for a lynthari. Well, at least I showed her that there are limits to how far she can push. But I also dislike that she still held back, her bodyguard too. I almost got caught up in the fight and took the fight seriously.

What would I do without good ol' Mr. [Focus]?

Unlike on Earth where I had more reasons to stay calm and control myself, it's a bit harder to reason such behavior here. Sure, I could do so; I was always good at that even without the skill I can control my emotions pretty well. The problem might be that I often catch myself not wanting to do it.

Venting once in a while is a nice compromise, isn't it?

As I walk through the streets, I find myself not wanting to return so soon. Lately, I was constantly surrounded by people. Talking with them, training with them, helping them stay alive down in the tunnel.

Seeing so many people pass by, and hearing them talk and enjoy their day somewhat drains me even more than usual.

I still somewhat enjoy Group 4's company; it's just that I feel like taking a break. Not a long one, just a day or two.

So instead of going back, I change direction and walk towards one of the giant trees. I've been curious about them ever since I got here. Should I check them out?

I use [Focus] to filter out the sounds of people around me, and even their presence stops feeling so pressuring. The world loses some of its life but becomes a bit more comfortable to me.

Only in my own company, I continue walking down the street.

POV Isabella Martinez

“What do you mean that he probably won't be coming back so soon, Izzy?” Lily asks me.

She feels funny, all these emotions she tries to hide and show at the same time.

“Pff, you guys couldn't even see it! But he was slowly getting more and more annoyed!” I explain to them. Old people are dumb so I have to.

“Annoyed?” Lily asks again.

I ignore the not-as-old-as-others but still dumb Lily and look around for Biscuit. As he often does, he is sitting on the couch spot where Nathaniel likes to sit.

Annoying! Biscuit is only mine!

When I get to him, I use my skill to connect to him and he allows me to do so.

Biscuit feels safe. Safer than anyone else. Like there is no evil in him. He must have been an angel in his past life.

I hug him and he lets me.

“Izzy, what did you mean by 'annoyed'?” Soph asks.

“You guys talk too much, are around him too often, ask him too many questions,” I pet Biscuit while talking to them, “he likes to be alone sometimes.”

“We don't know how long Myrra will take him, but he won't be gone for too long. A few days at most, so there's no need to worry,” it's Tess who said that.

Tess is... weird. She's not as dumb as the others and sometimes she feels scary. But it's fine; Nathaniel also feels scary, yet never towards his friends. And I'm his friend too!

I think.

"Are we also friends, Biscuit?" I ask.

(Food?) he says and I read his intention.

"Yes, I will get you anything you want!"

(Asshole.) he says louder so everyone can hear and I can feel gentleness from him. He even creates a purple mana arm and pets my head!

"Soph! Did you hear? He called me his friend!"