The Blackwood elves looked like soone had just told them the sky was made of green cheese. You could practically see the error ssages popping up in their heads. Serian and la, on the other hand, well, they looked like they’d seen this movie before.
Nox being a complete lunatic wasn’t exactly breaking news to them.
The clearing was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, if anyone had a pin, which they didn’t, because they were too busy staring at the crumpled body of their fastest hunter.
Nox broke the silence. He casually dusted off his hands, the tal of the Brutalizers making a soft scraping sound. He looked right at Kalion, the so-called leader of this little welcoming party.
"He blinked," he announced to the whole group, his voice way too loud in the sudden quiet. "So I win."
Kalion’s face, which had gone from smug to shocked, now landed squarely on furious. "You got lucky, human."
"Nah, I got bored," he shot back, his grin wide and completely unapologetic. "He was fast, I’ll give him that. But he only had one move. It’s like fighting a video ga character who only knows how to spam the A button." He gestured down at the unconscious Renza. "Your boy needs to learn so new combos."
’He really is just a child,’ Serian thought, but she couldn’t stop the small, proud smile from spreading across her face.
la was having a completely different internal experience. ’He didn’t even break a sweat,’ she thought, a cold knot forming in her stomach. ’He took down Renza faster than I could track. He could have killed Liesa. He could have killed . He was just... playing.’ The realization made her feel sick.
"You dare insult our clan’s techniques?!" Kalion snarled, taking a step forward. The other elves shifted, their hands moving to their own weapons, but they didn’t look nearly as confident as they had five minutes ago.
"Look, man, I’m not trying to insult your whole... thing," Nox said, waving a hand dismissively. "I’m just saying, a win’s a win." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "So, we’re gonna be leaving now. Unless anyone else wants a turn?"
He scanned the circle of elves, his eyes bright and eager. "No? Nobody? Okay, cool."
"This is not over," Kalion hissed, but his threat felt hollow, and everyone knew it. He wasn’t going to risk another one of his hunters against this monster.
"There is no need for this to go any further," Serian said, finally stepping forward. She placed a hand on Nox’s arm, a silent request for him to cool it. "We have proven our strength. We will pass through your lands and be on our way. There is no need for more violence."
Kalion looked from the princess to the human who was practically vibrating with a desire to punch sothing else. He looked at the terrified faces of his own hunters. His pride was in tatters, but he wasn’t an idiot.
He spat on the ground. "Fine. Leave." His voice was a low growl. "Get out of my sight before I change my mind."
"See? That wasn’t so hard," Nox said with a cheerful nod. He started to walk away, then paused and looked back at Kalion. "Oh, and by the way, you should probably get him a doctor. I think I heard sothing pop."
With a final, parting shot, he turned and strolled out of the clearing, not even looking back to see if the girls were following.
Serian gave the fuming Kalion a small, apologetic bow before hurrying after Nox. la gave the Blackwood elves one last, hard glare before she followed, her mind still trying to process the fact that the annoying human she was stuck with was probably one of the most dangerous people she had ever t.
"The elder will no like this." Kalion said, looking down at Renza.
---
I acknowledge the rules and won’t ss up.
---
They walked for about two minutes in the most awkward silence imaginable before la finally cracked. You could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.
"That move," she blurted out, her voice tight like she was trying to keep from yelling. "The one where you punched the ground. Where in the hells did a human learn a battle technique like that?"
Serian, walking beside her, chid in, her tone a lot calr but just as curious. "She’s right, Nox. You were different. That wasn’t just brute strength like you usually fight."
Nox didn’t even look back. "Learned it from a video ga I once saw in class," he said with a shrug. "It’s called the ’make a big ss and win’ button. Super effective."
"Do not mock us!" la snapped. "That was a high-level earth-shattering technique! It is not sothing a human should even be capable of!"
"Okay, fine," he said, finally stopping. He turned around, and the cocky grin was gone, replaced by a look that was dead serious. It was the kind of look that made the joking stop, real fast.
"For real, though? We need to run. Like, right now."
Serian’s brow furrowed. "Run? But Kalion said we could pass. He gave his word."
"Yeah, Kalion did," he said, pointing a thumb back in the direction they ca from. "The mid-boss whose fastest guy I just turned into a floor mop in front of his whole squad? He’s not the one we need to worry about."
He leaned in a little, his voice dropping. "His boss, the Elder Theron dude? He’s gonna hear about what happened. And I’m betting my next level-up that he’s not gonna just send a strongly-worded letter about it. He’s gonna co himself."
The color drained from la’s face. For the first ti, she looked genuinely scared. "He is right," she whispered, the words tasting like poison in her mouth. "Elder Theron is... not known for his forgiveness. If he cos after us himself, we are all dead."
The serious mont hung in the air for about half a second before Nox’s grin ca roaring back. He completely ignored la and turned his full attention to Serian, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"So," he said, his voice a low, playful challenge. "Rematch?"
Serian blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
"Last ti we raced, you left in the dust," he said, and he actually winked. A real, honest-to-god wink. "Think you can still keep up, princess?"
A fire lit up in Serian’s eyes, the fear and tension lting away, replaced by pure, unadulterated competition. A dazzling smile spread across her face. "You think a few new party tricks are enough to outrun ?"
"Only one way to find out."
He didn’t wait for an answer. He just took off, a blur of motion crashing through the undergrowth. "Last one to the edge of the woods makes dinner!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Serian let out a bright, clear laugh and bolted after him, her own elven speed a graceful counterpoint to his raw power. "You’re on!"
la was left standing there, completely alone, her mouth hanging open in sheer, sputtering disbelief.
"This is not a ga!" she scread at their retreating backs. "We are fleeing for our lives! Wait for , you absolute idiots!"
She took off running, trying to catch up while cursing both humans and princesses under her breath.
Let’s be clear, this wasn’t so friendly jog in the park. This was a full-blown, high-speed chase through a forest that actively wanted them dead. Nox was a force of nature, all brute strength and explosive power.
He didn’t run around trees; he used them as springboards, his gauntleted hands punching into the bark to change direction, sending splinters flying. He didn’t jump over fallen logs; he slid over them on his ass like a kid on a water slide, laughing the whole ti.
"Too slow, princess!" he yelled, vaulting over a thorny bush that would have torn a normal person to shreds.
Serian was sothing else entirely. She was poetry in motion. Where Nox crashed through the environnt, she flowed with it. She ran along fallen branches like they were balance beams, her feet barely making a sound. She ducked under low-hanging limbs with a dancer’s grace, her silver hair a trailing banner behind her.
"You’ll have to do better than that, human!" she called back, her laugh clear and bright. "My grandmother runs faster than you!"
And la? Oh, poor la. She was having a full-blown aneurysm in her head.
’Are they insane? We’re being hunted by a monster of a dark elf, and they’re playing tag.’
She wasn’t slow, not by a long shot. She was an Ashen Elf, after all. But her style was practical, efficient. She didn’t have ti for showboating. She was taking the straightest path, her eyes constantly scanning for threats, her hand never straying far from her needles. She was the designated driver on a road trip with two screaming toddlers who had just chugged a two-liter of soda.
They ca to a wide, fast-moving stream cutting through the forest. Nox didn’t even break stride. He just used Void Step, vanishing from one bank and reappearing on the other in a flicker of shadow.
"Ha! Eat my dust!" he crowed, turning back to watch.
Serian just shook her head with a smile. She took a running leap, grabbing onto a low-hanging vine and swinging across the water in a perfect, graceful arc. She landed softly on the other side, not even a single drop of water on her boots.
"Show-off," he muttered.
"You started it," she shot back, her eyes sparkling.
They looked back across the stream just in ti to see la skid to a halt at the edge, a look of pure, unadulterated fury on her face. She glared at them, then stomped off downstream, clearly looking for a place to cross that didn’t involve magic or gymnastics.
"I hate both of you!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the trees.
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