Chapter 56 - Blindspot

"Kh! Sh*t!" Theo cursed as he thrust his spear, only to find Alea's sword slashing the monster's head.

Despite his determination to control Alea, there wasn't a single attempt he managed to succeed.

Alea killed all the monsters for the last three hours, leaving Theo in the dust.

"Huft." Theo panted as his forehead was covered in sweat. However, the frustration in his heart was more painful than anything that could hurt him right now. He never thought that someone actually pissed him off this much.

Alea took a deep breath and sheathed her blade while looking around. "It's been three hours. Are you giving up soon?"

Theo's eyebrows twitched. She wasn't trying to mock him or something. Her flat tone only told him that it was a genuine question, but the fact that she was not saying that just to be mean was even more infuriating.

Theo clenched his fists and hit the ground before looking at Alea.

Alea smiled when she saw his eyes that seemed to haven't lost their light. "That's enough for the answer."

'With my current pace, I'll never be able to keep up with her…' Theo looked down and closed his eyes, recalling what his master said. He stared at Alea's back and thought, 'Search it. I have to find the power that I lack. Perhaps, changing my tactic is not enough. Something… Something bigger… Oh, wait… There's that option.'

Theo was lost in thought even when he walked behind Alea.

Meanwhile, Alea sensed his gaze as if there was a wolf behind her that seemed to be waiting for her to lower her guard before devouring her. The stare had changed.

She instinctively gulped down as she continued moving forward.

"5 bulls spotted," Alea shouted, reminding Theo that the enemies were coming.

Fifty feet before them, a group of bulls charged at her. Alea furrowed her eyebrows and decided to step forward, not understanding Theo's current state.

"I need to lecture him after this. Anyway, I need to end this first." She pouted and saw the bulls spread out to pincer her. An orange-colored flame burst out of her sword.

The bulls seemed to be wary of it, creating confusion for a split second. Seeing their eyes and action, Alea leaped to the left to avoid the bull from the opposite side.

"Flamming Ge-Sword."

Surprisingly, Alea slashed her sword to the bull behind her even though there were at least thirty feet between them while the one in front of her was only ten feet away.

The fire covering her sword suddenly flew forward, forming a crescent-shaped flame.

"Mo?!" The bull panicked for a second, albeit it was too late.

Boom.

The fire exploded the moment it touched the bull, roasting it until it died.

Meanwhile, the fire in her sword completely vanished, so there was no way to do something like that again. And she needed to face the bull that was about to hit her.

Alea took a deep breath, jumped on top of the bull, and placed her hand on its body, supporting her body to stay afloat before slicing the bull's head.

After killing the second bull, she launched herself into the air by using the power in her hand, preparing to kill the other three.

'Kh. Why didn't he move yet? Did he seriously give up? Was it wrong to rile him up this whole time?'

While having her own thoughts, Theo seemed to have no interest in helping her until one moment.

"Ah, so that's how it is. Blindspot. A human's field of vision is only in front of them. So, whenever someone needs to check their surroundings, they have to move their head for that to be possible. The same applies to Alea. She can predict my movement just by seeing my gesture. If I continue following her in her blindspot while seeing through what she sees…Ah." He smiled and rose from the ground. "She said that her Awareness can only detect my presence and not my movement, right?"

While Theo found his answer, Alea turned around, finding two bulls— one faster than the other—coming toward her. She slashed the bull from below, striking the bull's head.

Clang.

The bull managed to react to her attack and struck her sword to avoid the slash and let the one next to him attack Alea.

Alea, on the contrary, already predicted it and straightened her wrist, ready to strike the second bull. She slightly turned her body and head to the left to focus on the second bull, but…

"Ha!" Alea swung her sword before widening her eyes as Theo suddenly entered her Awareness domain. She tried to look at him, but her head already turned to the left, so even if she tried to look at the edge of her vision, she wouldn't be able to find him. At the same time, the timing was so perfect that her sword was already in motion, so there was no way to stop or change its direction.

But it got even more shocking when she lowered her vision, finding a spear had pierced the first bull's head.

"Theo?" Alea caught a glimpse of Theo, who finally appeared in her vision, killing his first monster of the day.

Unfortunately for her, Theo ignored her voice and even used her existence as bait to attract the second's bull attention before he pushed the spear again to pierce its head.

Before she could react, Theo already pulled his spear and shouted. "Watch out. On your left."

Alea clenched her teeth and turned around, barely stopping the last bull's charge.

Surprisingly, Theo's breath brushed her ear as he was literally a few inches away from her. Even her Awareness showed her that he was right behind her… No, it could be said he was already too close to her as if he wanted to hug her at any moment.

Thinking Theo actually wanted to do something to her, she flinched and let the bull get closer as she lost her grip.

This was the time Theo had been waiting for. His spear emerged from the side, literally one inch away from her waist and struck the bull's head. Because of the bull's momentum, he grabbed Alea's waist and got pushed back by the bull until they stopped.

[Killed a Rekiren Bull (Elite)]

[EXP+71]

[Killed a Rekiren Bull(Elite)]

[EXP+71]

[Killed a Rekiren Bull(Elite)]

[EXP+71]

Theo ignored the message as he took a step back as Alea spun her body and looked at Theo with a shocked expression, thinking, 'The strike that killed the two bulls and the way he killed the third one… Did… Did he use me as bait?'

Alea drew a gasp as her body shuddered. Theo's eyes were just like a predator that aimed at her instead of the monsters.

Suddenly, he opened his mouth, saying with a cold tone. "My physical ability may not be enough to keep up with you, but it doesn't mean that's all there is to a fight. Just like 'a great person' once said, "To beat a genius, you need to learn from them." I will read what you've seen and react to it before you even do.

"And I won't stop at just reading your movement, I'm going to predict what you will see and eventually devour your talent!" He clenched his fists and couldn't help but smile. That smile didn't show his happiness to beat her this time. Instead, it was a smile showing his excitement in controlling a genius. A "normal" controlling a "genius".

The moment he could read her like a book, it was the moment she was completely at his mercy.

Even Alea took a step back as she instinctively felt the pressure emanating from his eyes, blinking her eyes a few times. 'Did I just do something I shouldn't do?'