Do I go up yet, or not?
Was all I had to do make the lily pads in a circle formation, with myself in the middle?
Sighing, I held my breath and waited a bit longer.
With every second that passed, I was risking the possibility that the elf might capture ownership of the subspace himself.
But if I interfered too early and didn’t learn the full way to capture the subspace, I would be stuck.
Dozens of blurry holographic lines appeared from the lily pads, moving toward a circle formation, ending in completely different areas.
Calm. Calm.
I-i need to breathe.
Boosting off the lake floor and up into the water, at the very edge of the lake, I quietly popped my head above the water, causing a slight ripple.
Rapidly taking short breaths, like a runner after a sprint, I finally relaxed as oxygen flooded through my brain once again.
The lines from the lilypads beca clearer and closer together, allowing to predict when the circle would be completed more easily.
However, at that mont, as the ripple created by my head lightly budged one of the lilypads, moving it slightly inward, the lines suddenly...vanished.
At that mont, the elf’s eyes suddenly flicked open, as his head tilted to the side, in my direction.
Guess...there was no escaping it.
Without a second of hesitation, I grasped the lilypad nearest and climbed atop it, and despite its weak appearance, the lilypad was completely stable even with my weight.
Instead of imdiatly attacking, the elf simply questioned, no holographic lines apparent at this point.
"Who are you?"
Does he think I’m a part of this subspace or sothing!?
Reaching my empty left hand forward in a handshake motion, I smiled and answered.
"You can call The Dancer."
Slowly pulling the bow off his back, as if he had all the ti in the world, the elf returned a smile and reached his empty left hand forward.
"I do not know how you’ve managed to enter this area, but unfortunately, you will not leave it."
Gazing at my perfectly clear reflection in the water’s surface, I smiled and answered.
"Quite the resting spot then, no?"
Sure, given normal circumstances, I would have no chance against a young elf like this, likely a high F or mid E-ranked elf based on the mana his body is emitting.
But this area was different.
Suddenly, a green light flashed as an arrow manifested in the elf’s outstretched left hand.
Without skipping a beat, the elf nocked the arrow and shot it, a holographic line appearing from the arrow’s tip and splitting into three different branches.
One on my head, one on my shoulder, one on my legs.
Turning to the right, I prepared to leap onto the pad next to , but at that mont, the green ground below suddenly shook as the lilypad moved forward.
Losing my balance, I stumbled forward, noticing the arrow’s trajectory suddenly shift mid-air, as the holographic lines’ endpoint moved to my new location.
Can he move the lilypads and adjust his arrows?
How about this?
Letting muscle mory take over, watching my body move from the background like a spectator, I smirked.
The dance I had created wasn’t just to unlock a martial art.
My right leg surged forward at an incredible speed and planted itself on the edge of the lilypad, propelling my body off of it and into the air.
*WHOOSH*
The arrow flew right past .
It was interesting.
I had mastered this dance in the water, where even the slightest movent was extrely draining.
Yet...now my body was free in the weightless air.
Leaping over six feet in the air...was simply mundane.
*SPLASH*
As I landed in the water, sinking to the bottom, the elf nocked another arrow, anxiously glancing around while waiting for my resurface.
But, I didn’t.
Leaping into the air and galloping forward, I moved forward on the pond floor at an incredible rate, easily closing the distance between us within re seconds.
Even through the transparent water, my figure was simply a blur to the elf.
Boosting off the pond ground, I plunged my rapier upward, instantly piercing through the lily pad the elf was standing on.
Slashing the sword to the side, I instantly created a hole big enough for a body and grasped the pad with my free left hand.
Yet, I was imdiatly t with a holographic line.
There was only one of them...probably because I didn’t even need it.
An arrow was flying straight through the hole at my head, below the water.
Instantly, my right leg kicked to the side, and simultaneously, I also pulled the lilypad to the left with my non-sword hand.
*WHOOSH*
*SPLASH*
As countless bubbles appeared everywhere, from both the arrow and the elf, I swung the sword above around for a couple of seconds, dismantling the lilypad.
Then, after a brief resurface for air, I sank back down to the ocean floor, my eyes peeled.
But...at that mont, a sharp pain erupted from both my ankles.
As I looked down, I saw two familiar mossy vines wrapped around my ankles, squeezing them to the point where no blood was getting through to my feet.
And there, right before , floating in the water was the elf with his bow, a nocked arrow within, aid right at .
He had a smirk on his face while mouthing.
"The afterlife awaits you."
It seed that I and the elves were destined to be enemies from the start.
From my stealing their sword art to now this...the killing of one of their own.
Unfortunately, though, there was no getting away from this one like with the art.
As I forcefully fractured my ankle, bending it against the pond floor, the vines wrapped around loosened for a mont, and I imdiatly leaped forward, feeling a surge of unexplicable pain surge through my body.
Even with the mana-rich air within the Lotus Pavilion, I would have been knocked unconscious from the pain.
However, the healing water here kept my brain moving.
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