abcnovels
Chapter 175 175 Pretence
Chapter 175 175 Pretence
Chapter 175 Chapter 175 Pretence
Nexus' face twisted in a tight knot. Above his raised brows, folds formed on his forehead. His eyes blazed with suspicion- why was she telling him this?
In real life, Nexus was under no illusion as to what his ranking was. He was a regular B-ranked mage. He knew that well enough- his encounter with Selina (in the office) had pretty much sealed that for him.
The A-rank ice woman had very nearly killed him that day.
So, next to Selina, he wasn't even in her league. And even if he did manage to level up by consuming the remaining rewards, there would still be a HUGE gap- between their powers.
Considering all this, his eyebrows arched upwards- rising even higher as he looked at the red girl before him.
Her eyes were round in sincere surprise- peeling him off, layer by layer with her slicing gaze. Nexus cursed under his breath;
'She really thinks me to be a master?' he pondered; 'Shit, I better play along then. . .hopefully we can get out of this in one piece. . .'
"Ni Yang!" Selina rasped behind him.
Nexus' jutted jaw was clenched in a tight grimace. His serious eyes were locked onto the girl, fixated upon her in deep concentration, wondering how–
"NI YANG!" she called again.
His eyes flashed- breaking concentration. Shit. He forgot his second alias.
"Kind of busy here. Selina you good?" he asked without breaking eye contact.
"Remember her eyes damn it! Don't look in them! She's a Yorker!"
"What?" he asked- obviously unimpressed.
"She's an illusionist," she whispered quickly; "It's what they do. . .get you to look in their eyes, and then lock you away in a mental prison while they finish off your body in the physical realm. . ."
Nexus' lips pursed. His mind rang loud- whistling like a steam engine. He knew one or two about illusions- especially about those last ten words. Smiling ruefully under his broad hat- Nexus fought the urge to stare deep into those mysterious blood red eyes- wondering;
'Just how powerful is it. . .' he remembered his first; 'More than Mrs. Russell's?'
"What are you lot whispering about?" the girl cackled. Worry lined up the crevice of her tone; "This isn't over yet!"
Suddenly, in the sky above, the bright yellow light of the ringed halo suddenly dimmed. Puffs of white clouds encircled it- snuffing out its harsh glare- plunging the herb garden into a dull-twillight grey.
As if on cue with his environment, Nexus suddenly had a brilliant idea.
His coat- which seemed like an extension of his mysterious personality, flapped in the gentle wind- reminding Nexus of the fist sized golden orb sitting inside his breast pocket- nudging at his chest.
Blood rushing through his head, and heart thumping excitedly, Nexus' mind began to work really fast- scheming, plotting, and counter plotting.
He needed to play the part of the master.
And the Mana Orb was the key.
Eyeing the red girl, Nexus' eyes flashed with gratitude when he remembered that it had already been upgraded! Only this morning, before setting out, he had brought it out of the System' Space and stashed it inside his inner breast pocket- hoping for an adventure with it.
On the ruffles of his coat, the polished buttons shone, calling him in wordless whispers- urging him to extract the mana orb!
Holding his face forward, and straigtening his posture upright, he replied the girl;
"So, what's this I hear about you being an illusionist. . ." his left hand slowly arched upwards- towards, creeping into his inner jacket;
"You really should have walked away while you had the chance. . ."
She glared back at him defiantly;
"I don't care if you're a master," she clenched her fists- looking directly at Selina; "I never leave a job unfinished."
"Oh," he scoffed; "Is that what this is then? A job. . .?"
His fingers curled around the orb- grinning as he felt the cold familiar texture on his palm;
". . .I feel like I already know where you stand on this, but I also feel obligated to ask you- is there anyway we can resolve this without doing things the hard way? I really don't want to trap you in a psychological shadow. . ."
The edges of her mouth expanded;
"Enough of this!" she snapped; "Whatever it is you're hiding in that coat of yours will not save you! This ends NOW!"
"Funny," Nexus shrugged; "I was also thinking the same thing. . ."
The girl's red mane, which didn't seem so red until now, shimmered as she threw her shoulders back in defiantly. Her nails dugs into the skin of her palm as she tightened her balled fists even tighter.
Determination flushed through her in lightning bolts- gifting her slender form, a new aura that bubbled and cackled through the air, sending invisible shock waves slicing through the terrain.
Selina gasped. Her hairs stood on end- and her stomach twisted in a knot. Breathing frantically, and with both her hands clutched around Nexus sleeved arm, she clung to him- watching anxiously- fighting the dread creeping up on her.
The wound on her thigh- from where she had pierced herself, burned painfully- a quiet reminder of the price she had paid for narrow escape.
On her flushed face (that looked like it could use a little powder), right above her thin slit nose, her eyelids closed in her round eyeballs- shrouding those terrifying bloody eyes behind folds of flesh.
Selina's insides screamed at her to run. But she fought them- seething and foaming- forcing her small hands to wrap even tighter around Ni Yang (Nexus.)
Meanwhile, with a serious look on his face- just as soon as the girl closed her eyes, Nexus? extracted his palm from his breast pocket. With a solemn gaze, and feeling Selina's hot breath on his back, he stretched out his right arm- towards the girl opposite him.
With no flowering trees close by, the air over them was open- without any covering.
On both sides of the path, were thick rows of lean corn stalks- green, leafy, basking in the open, and rooted firmly in the ground.
About twelve feet apart, the red girl stood on the other end of the path- eyes closed, and hands balled into fists by herside. Nexus, opposite her, had his arm stretched out- holding in his open palm a fist sized glass orb.
Suddenly, like the glow of a full moon- the Mana Orb began to glow.
At first, it came on in sparks- like streaks of hot white lightning- branching out in thin strips. And then, it caught on.
Without a single word spoken, starting from the very center, a brilliant white light began to burn through- pulsating in silent rhythms, growing exponentially- filling the glassy orb with its dazzling white shine. It was like watching the birth of a star.
Head bent forward, and chin tilted downward, Nexus held the fist sized moon in his hand, gazing at the glowing orb intently- focusing his intense glare on it- not flinching, not blinking either- like his focus was tied to the growing light. Under the shadow of his hat, his entire face had lit up from the orb's glare.
Suddenly, Nexus lifted up his head- realizing immediately that he had been sucked into the world created by the orb.