Cael slowly regained his composure, his eyes filled with suspicions which is now crossing the borderline of madness.
"...Move out of the way. My business is not with you."
Cael's voice was colder than Nelson's, and authority resonated through his words. As if responding to that authority, the ground shook beneath his feet and the air reverberated.
Nelson felt chills all over his body, he felt like his entire body was being crushed by enormous pressure, as if a horse carriage was thrown over him and was being forced to carry it.
But he's a 3rd grade adventurer, he didn't show it. His pride is already wounded for having to experience this humiliation, he can't back out of fear, and more importantly, he has someone to protect.
"With the state you're in right now?" Nelson retorted, a hint of puzzlement in his voice. "Look at the pressure you're exerting—if you hit someone as delicate as Young Nyx over there… Just saying, I won't go down without a fight."
Nelson gritted his teeth.
'...Damn it. I only stepped in because Julia asked me to in the first place.'
He glanced briefly at Nyx and said in a serious tone.
"...Young Nyx, please step aside for now, or better yet, start running...I don't understand how such a person that young could be that monstrous."
Nelson slowly unsheathed his long sword.
Whoosh
...!!!
Like a sudden gust, Cael closed the distance in a flash without a word. His left hand swung upward—no blade in sight, but Nelson instinctively raised his mana-infused sword to block, he wouldn't want to know what would happen if he blocked it without mana.
Clang—Crack—!
Nelson was launched backward into the air, his sword slipping from his grasp—completely disarmed.
'...Aura Sword?!—Ahhh, I'm the one getting beaten up, forgive me, Young Nyx.' Nelson thought in complete defeat—wondering why, for some reason, he kept getting utterly obliterated. In the first place, the only reason he even managed to hit Cael earlier was because he caught him completely off guard.
Whoosh
Nelson had been hurled into the air, his body on a direct course toward a very faraway tree, as if calculated. He was flying so fast that he couldn't even focus, let alone cast magic.
After all, the most fundamental requirement for using or maintaining any spell is focus—and control. That's also why Nyx collapsed to the ground earlier when she panicked while trying to use her magic, despite still having enough mana to maintain it.
But just as he was about to crash into the tree, his body suddenly stopped—suspended in midair—before gently dropping to the ground.
---
You have used the skill [Gravitational Magic] [S]!
You have used 5000 MP
Current MP: 4,800
---
Nyx raised her right hand, stopping him just in time before he could collide with the tree. But now, she—the Transmigrator—and he—the Regressor—were standing extremely close.
The Regressor's cold eyes bore into her, the air around them distorting from the pressure he was releasing. Yet Nyx's expression remained indifferent, though her eyes flickered with clear annoyance.
"...What are you looking at?" Her voice filled with irritation.
"...You're not affected?" Cael's expression remained ice-cold, but a hint of puzzlement flickered in his eyes.
Nyx's brows furrowed. She didn't understand what he was referring to—until she glanced around. The ground was beginning to crack beneath their feet, and the air violently reverberating from the sheer pressure he was emitting, but for some reason, it was noticeably weaker than before.
"...No," she replied flatly. "I'm completely immune to such things." She looked at her blankly, but as if some sudden realization struck her, her eyes squinted,
"... Anyways, are you trying to kill me? Based on the description of what N-nelson just said earlier, I think this is enough to kill me."
Her voice took on a questioning tone, genuinely curious.
"...No, I toned it down."
Cael replied with slight hesitation, and because of that, she found a weak spot.
"Heh... how delicate aren't you, Regressor?" Her tone was cold, but there was a trace of amusement buried within.
"Again with that, why did you call me a re-"
"Stop." she cut him off immediately.
Nyx's eyebrows frowned even harder, as if she was getting extremely frustrated, but the regressor was even more perplexed.
"I understand your intentions..." She said as if her voice was filled with irritation. "But there's a place for everything...do you understand?"
"... But you're the one who called me 'that' in the first place."
Cael's expression remained ice-cold, but a hint of puzzlement flickered in his eyes.
"Hmm?"
Nyx mused in amusement, yet her voice was composed as if to hide that, but Nyx's expression said otherwise, it was filled with amusement, knowing she had gotten Cael to refer to himself as "that" instead of "Regressor." Her gaze hinted at mischief, but her voice remained calm.
She had watched countless playthroughs of the game Echoes of the Fallen Sun, and no matter the choices or outcomes, the protagonist always displayed consistent trait—he was innately good, and one thing about Nyx, is that she's extremely self aware of herself and her surroundings—even for her own good, that's why Nyx knew exactly how to push the right buttons with this man and his icy blue hair.
Cael possessed extremely heightened senses—even able to pick up the sound of an individual's heartbeat and breathing. Yet, when it came to this woman, he could only speculate. He had never once seen her lose her composure, after all. Still, he voiced out his speculations about what seemed to be happening.
"...You're playing with me right now... aren't you?"
As Cael spoke, his voice genuinely curious, he stared into her eyes—and Nyx, standing side by side with him, returned his gaze. But because of their height difference, she had to look up at him, and from her point of view, his serious expression looked unintentionally funny.
Nyx's mouth slowly shifted into a faint smirk during the first few seconds. By the eighth, it had seemed she held back her mouth—and by the twelfth, she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Hahahahaha!" She burst into laughter, clearly amused by the man. Then, still laughing, she casually added, "Damn, I'm good!" Her words filled with pride—after all, she had successfully broken through the man's composure.
Cael let out a sigh. The coldness in his eyes had now shifted into clear annoyance and his face softened—yet his curiosity remained insatiable.
He let his palm meet his face. The pressure he had been exerting vanished, and he spoke in an annoyed tone,
"...You just need a place where we could talk privately right?"
Nyx then stopped laughing. In the first place, it had only been a brief amusement for her—it fed her pride, after all. Still, her smile lingered.
She then straightened her posture, her expression and tone shifted to its usual composed state.
"...Of course, that's obvious enough."
Then someone interrupted their conversation,
"Ehem."
Nelson returned after being thrown a considerable distance. He was about to dash toward Nyx—but seeing that nothing was happening, he just slumped in even more defeat, feeling like all his efforts had been wasted.
Nyx noticed the man's expression, and reassured him,
"...You don't need to be dejected. I'm truly grateful—things wouldn't have gone this smoothly if not for you."
Though Nyx wouldn't admit it, despite her composed attitude earlier, she had been genuinely afraid—and a lingering anxiety still clung to her. After all, fiction and reality were two very different things.
"...That's good then," Nelson said with a relieved smile, as he truly did help her greatly.
Her gaze then turned to Cael, as if saying 'Got something to say? '
Cael ignored it and just started to grab her right wrist and started walking away.
"What do you think you're doing?" Nyx said with genuine irritation.
"To a place where we could talk privately, obviously enough," Cael said, but this time with a bit of haughtiness, as if retorting to what Nyx just did earlier.
Nyx eyebrows turned into a frown, and unlike earlier, she was now clearly growing irritated—as she felt her pride had been wounded.
But before she could say anything, Nelson interrupted them and even Cael stopped in his tracks,
"Ehem, seeing you guys like that makes me feel really lonely inside, kuuh!" Nelson said in a joking manner.
"Anyways, I think there's no need for a place for me right now. I'll still have to update to Julia too, so I'm leaving now." Nelson said in a calm tone and he vanished leaving the two of them in silence.
"... By the way, we could just talk to the inn where I was staying. It's also getting dark already. That should be enough." Nyx calmly made the suggestion—after all, even if there were any misunderstandings, she wouldn't care in the first place.
"...And, can you let go of my wrist already?"
She was practically being dragged away, and given the difference in their height, she had to rise onto her tiptoes. Still, she wasn't in pain—Cael's grip was surprisingly soft and considerate—true to his innate nature.
But his next words were anything but soft and considerate... At the very least, that's how it sounds to Nyx,
"...To my family's mansion." Cael said it out of nowhere in an indifferent voice.
Nyx's expression was startled, not because of the mention of Mansion but rather,
"W-Wait! You're from a duke's family, right?" Her composure was thrown off and her voice was shaky.
Cael noticed her composure wavering, and quickly guessed the reason, he smirked and started walking again.
After some time, they arrived at the street where the Inn was.
Nyx tried to slip her wrist in Cael's grip, but it remained firm in his hold. She then tried to use her feet as some kind of foothold to stop, but she was just dragged away.
Nyx's expression now filled with determination, she raised her left hand and focused her attention on casting a spell but it was quickly denied,
---
Gravitational Magic [S] has been used!
You do not have enough mana to use this skill!
---
Nyx's face contorted out of the helplessness of her situation—She didn't want to beg. After all, for some reason, she felt her pride taking a hit every time this man retorted to her actions.
So she just let her body get dragged away in Resignation...
|Chapter 6 - Slight Teasing (?)