Although there was a huge gap between them, Alea instinctively felt the pressure coming from Theo as if he truly was capable of doing something like that.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words stuck on her throat as if an unknown object preventing… No, as if Theo put a collar on her neck, choking her.
This was the first time Alea experienced something like this. Normally, people would come to her while lowering their heads, knowing that they had no chance with her and followed her command.
Theo might be different from others, but she still believed Theo would become like them sooner or later. She thought she would be taking advantage of him while he remained this way.
However, everything changed when he showed this side of him. She had no doubt that Theo would change, albeit that transformation surely reached another level.
Despite knowing that she might be devoured and probably end her career, Alea couldn't help but smile. A fuzzy feeling arose in her heart, turning it into excitement.
Unfortunately, before she could say anything, her attention was taken away by something from afar.
Both Alea and Theo turned their heads at the same time, finding five four-legged monsters. They had the height of a horse, but their bodies were that of a tiger. And their heads looked like a bear.
Theo took this chance to point his Skylink at them.
Name: Vitigre Horse
Level: 53-58
A monster with a feature of a bear and tiger, but acts like a horse. Beware of its speed and sharp teeth.
"We need to handle them," Theo shouted at Alea, who was still in a trance because of the shock Theo gave her, so they could start taking their positions.
"Ah?!" Alea shook her head to regain her focus and nodded as she ran toward them.
The orange fire appeared again on her sword as she sent it flying toward the group.
Boom.
It exploded again, killing the middle monster. Meanwhile, the other four separated in two directions. The right one looped around her while the left pair charged head-on.
Alea ignored the right one and moved forward, trying to kill that pair. However, Theo once again used her as a shield, completely hiding his body behind her.
The moment she and the two monsters were about to clash, Theo took one step further and appeared next to them, piercing their heads in succession.
[Killed a Vitigre Horse]
[EXP+71]
[Killed a Vitigre Horse]
[EXP+71]
Alea widened her eyes as her head became even more in disarray. She spun her body with an anxious expression while trying to attack the remaining two monsters.
Then Theo's voice resounded in her ears. "That's right. Kill the right one. Hurry up."
She drew a gasp as she instinctively followed his word and killed the right one in a single slash. Of course, with Theo's current strength, he might be able to control her a bit, but by no means was he strong enough to get all the kills. He understood it and gave a portion of action to Alea.
Sensing Theo behind her, ready to strike, she gritted her teeth and dropped to the ground while thinking. 'With the sword on my right hand, it's impossible to kill the monster. If I keep this up, we can kill it. Is this what they call a real team? This is the team that I hope…'
Suddenly, she had the same feeling as earlier as though Theo was putting a collar on her neck. It was when a thought appeared. 'Is this good enough? Giving Theo her everything so we can win… This is what we're going to do to fight against those—'
Yet, at this moment, she realized what had been going on. This was like a crossroad for her. If she let Theo rein her, she couldn't see the path to victory for Grand Gaia. Theo might be good at this point, but they needed to be far better if they wanted to compete against international students.
'No. This is not enough.' She gritted her teeth, switched her sword to the other hand, and released her killing intent. 'I'm sorry, Grandfather. I will return to who I used to be.'
While Alea was deep in thought, Theo successfully confused the monster as his body became visible the moment Alea fell on her knees. Taking advantage of that split-second confusion, Theo thrust his spear while thinking. 'This is it.'
Unknowingly, just like him earlier, Alea's expression turned cold as her blade swung faster than anything she had shown this whole time, slashing the monster's neck. That swing was sharp, precise, ruthless, and swift. Her previous fighting style couldn't be compared to that one swing.
"!!!" Theo's rhythm was disrupted as he looked diagonally to his right, finding Alea on her knees.
It turned out that she swung that sword with her left hand while using that right hand to support her body to make a clean cut with her left hand.
He stepped to the right to avoid the monster's momentum and looked at her eyes. This wasn't even a fighting spirit or something like that. He literally sensed her killing intent from her eyes.
The pair of eyes that always showed its warmth now became unbelievably cold and ruthless.
For three seconds, their eyes locked at each other, sensing an indescribable emotion between both of them. It was like a rival that kept fighting against each other to show their supremacy but also trusted their back to each other like that of a comrade.
Suddenly, Alea blinked her eyes a few times and made a big smile. The killing intent from earlier disappeared without a trace, replaced by the usual fluffy feeling from her.
"You said you want to devour me, right? Try it, I will make sure to take two steps forward in every step you take to reach me." Alea made a big grin. "It seems meeting you is the best thing I can get in this stage of training."
Theo closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and shook his head helplessly. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he chose to walk toward her and stretched his hand. "Fine by me."
She took his hand with a smile as he helped her up. However, instead of rising to the ground, she pulled Theo as she laid down on the ground.
Theo stumbled and fell to the ground. When he raised his head and was about to scold her, he heard her saying, "Ahaha. Let's rest first. I'm tired… mentally. I don't know if I can face you continuously like this."
Theo lowered his head to the ground and sighed. "Whatever, I want to thank you for showing what I lack right now. You can do everything you like, I will keep up with you."
"Sorry, I take that back. It's not keeping up with me. You are my teammate right now, so I'm counting on you, Partner." She smiled.
"Suit yourself." Theo harrumphed and looked away.
It might be because they were too focused on each other, but they didn't realize that their hands were still entangled as they laid on their back, facing the blue sky.