Thud!
Ellen stopped circling and suddenly kicked her giant scissors forward. Spinning through the air like a deadly wheel, the weapon hurtled straight toward Phaga. Since she couldn't outpace his reflexes, she chose brute force instead!
Clang!
The scissors spun violently, only to be deflected by Phaga's blade.
Ellen charged forward, snatching the weapon mid-air. Flipping her hands in one smooth motion, she raised the scissors overhead, thick frost coating their blades.
Endless Winter!
Ellen clenched both hands, bringing the scissors crashing down. The frost covering them exploded violently, instantly smashing a deep crater in the floor. Thick frost crystallized over it, and even the air in the entire basement grew colder.
Yet, Ellen's pupils contracted slightly.
Missed!
She snapped her head up, searching for Phaga's position.
But the moment she looked up, a bullet met her gaze, growing larger and larger in her stunned eyes!
Clang!
Ellen flicked her wrist upward, the scissors' handle barely intercepting the bullet. The heavy recoil forced her to stumble back two steps.
Click!
A crisp sound echoed. Ellen turned to look.
Ten meters below her line of sight, Phaga had already chambered another round, raised his parasol, and his finger was already on the trigger.
The next instant.
Bang!
"Hmph!"
Ellen kicked her scissors upward, spinning them to deflect Phaga's bullet, then lunged forward.
[Roaming Hunt]!
"Kunmutu, switch to flamethrower mode."
Watching Ellen advance step by step, Phaga calmly issued commands to the parasol in his hand. Kunmutu obeyed, its mechanical operations immediately humming within.
"Hmph, too late!"
Ellen finally arrived, swinging a horizontal slash aimed at Phaga's waist. Hearing Kunmutu's mechanical sounds still continuing, she felt she had seized her chance.
Phaga offered no reply to Ellen's words.
He simply arched his upper body backward to evade her strike, then abruptly drew his blade to parry her counterattack. A diagonal kick followed, forcing Ellen to abandon her offense and raise her sword defensively.
Thud!
The sole met the scissors. Phaga instantly used the impact to leap backward, creating distance.
Seeing Ellen charge again, Phaga flipped his grip on the blade and drove it into the ground. At once, a sickly white wispfire crawled up its edge!
"[Wispfire: Skychain]!"
Phaga swung his blade upward. The ghastly white flame arced like a crescent moon, lashing out as a bone-white whip, seemingly poised to strike Ellen.
Aileen glanced up, sweat already beading on her forehead before the attack neared, alarm bells ringing in her mind!
Wispfire—once it touches you, it's nearly impossible to extinguish!
She had to dodge!
Aileen twisted her body, forcibly exiting her [Roaming Hunt] state, narrowly avoiding the strike.
"Ellen, you've no chance now!"
A familiar, light chuckle reached her ears. Ellen turned her head to look.
Phaga swung his blade in a horizontal slash, flinging another icy-white chain.
Unlike before, this chain encircled Phaga completely! The icy-white flames roared, reflecting Phaga's ambiguous, half-smiling face.
The Kunmutu now rested in Phaga's hand. With a slight press, a jet of flame shot forth.
Calibration complete!
Phaga held the trigger, urging Ellen to surrender across the fiery expanse.
"Ellen, you don't have any long-range options, right?
But I do!"
Phaga tapped the Kunmutu in his hand, then aimed at the ceiling and pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
A string of flames erupted instantly, licking the ceiling like fiery serpents.
They licked the ceiling so thoroughly it blushed, turning a deep crimson.
"To launch any effective attack, you'll have to step into this inferno. Once Wispfire touches you, it's nearly impossible to extinguish. All I need to do is keep stalling, and sooner or later, you'll be scorched into a dried fish snack."
"The outcome is decided, Ellen."
"Pfft! What's wrong with being dried fish?"
Ellen planted her scissors into the ground and turned away in defiance.
Even though she knew she'd lost, it didn't stop her from protesting loudly—and inwardly, even more so. She stomped her little leather shoes, her pout reaching sky-high.
"Alright, Ellen, you lost this time."
The moment Ellen heard the voice, a pair of warm hands reached around from behind, wrapping around her neck.
"No way! If we were in the Hollow..." Ellen puffed out her cheeks, still not convinced.
This place was too narrow, and it was a flat battlefield. If they were in the Hollow, the terrain would be more complex...
Ellen's expression suddenly froze.
It seemed that once inside the Hollow, she'd have to worry about stepping into empty space. Someone like Phaga, who fought while standing still, might have the advantage.
Ugh, so annoying!
Maybe I should bring a Void Hunter to beat him up!
Ellen couldn't help but think.
Rina glanced down at Ellen, shook her head helplessly, then turned to Phaga.
"Phaga, put out the fire. The basement's getting too hot."
"Mm, okay."
Phaga responded, then ignited flames in his palm. Dark crimson Nether Flames crackled into life.
With a flick of his finger, the flames landed in Wispfire.
Like a drop of ink in a bowl of clear water, the ghostly white Wispfire, tinged with a faint blue, were instantly dyed a deep crimson, swallowing everything whole.
Sizzle!
Before long, after consuming the Wispfire, the Nether Flames themselves died out.
Phaga lowered his head and walked over, folding up his parasol along the way and sheathing his long sword into the umbrella shaft.
Suddenly, a wave of warmth washed over his cheek.
Phaga looked up in surprise. It was Rina, smiling as she stroked his face and gave it a gentle pinch. Then she placed her hand on his shoulder and admonished:
"Phaga, using terrain to your advantage in the Hollow is fine, but don't try to be clever during training."
"Oh."
Phaga gave an embarrassed smile and murmured his agreement.
If a stranger had spoken to him like that, Phaga wouldn't have bothered responding; if they'd pushed further, he'd have chopped off their insolent hands.
After all, as a vampire, though he'd been ostracized since childhood, people only dared to gossip behind his back—they wouldn't even say it to his face. And those daring enough to prank Phaga were few and far between.
But the person before him was Rina, who seemed to possess an inexplicable warmth. Even when Rina pinched Phaga's cheek, Phaga felt it was perfectly natural.
"That's all for today. You two go rest first."
Rina patted both their shoulders, while the two Bangboos beside her echoed her words.
Ellen and Phaga gave a slight nod and turned to leave.
Suddenly, a voice drifted back from behind them.
"But training continues tomorrow, you know!"
Ellen turned in surprise. "Huh? More tomorrow?"
"Of course. Training will continue until your school term begins."
Rina tilted her head with a smile, her gentle words carrying an unquestionable tone.
"Hmph!"
Ellen couldn't argue with her, sulking back to her room.
...
Soon, a knock sounded at the door. Before Ellen could respond, Phaga walked in.
Thud!
A pillow flew through the air, caught steadily by Phaga.
"I didn't say you could come in!" Ellen snapped.
"If I hadn't come in, that pillow would've been wasted."
Phaga shot back, narrowing his eyes as he tossed the physics notes onto Ellen's desk.
"There'll be exams when school starts. You don't want to bring home a barely passing grade, do you?"
Ellen reluctantly sat up, moving closer to Phaga while still muttering, "B- is enough. Anything more is a waste!"
"Alright, stop being stubborn... Come on, look at this sliding block problem."
...
Before they knew it, four days had flown by.
Ellen yawned as she climbed out of bed, silencing the blaring alarm clock and rubbing her temples.
These past days felt like a dream—being pushed to her limits by Phaga during training, then having to endure his tutoring sessions while still fuming afterward.
What was even more absurd was that Phaga didn't even use Kunmutu; he could exhaust Ellen to the point of collapse just with his sword techniques.
On more than one occasion, it was Phaga who had carried her back to her room.
Damn it, who was the Senior here!
But there was nothing she could do about it—vampire stamina was what it was. Dragging her into an attrition battle was something the Shark Thiren couldn't pull off.
Thinking of this, Ellen couldn't help but sigh. She changed out of her blue shark pajamas into her student uniform, finished a quick wash-up, and headed downstairs.
Just then, Phaga bent down to change his shoes in the entryway. Suddenly sensing something, he turned his head toward Ellen.
He gave a slight smile, pushed open the front door with one hand, and snapped his parasol open with a rustle.
"Let's go. School starts today!"