Alice PoV 

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Shit! I missed he!

If mommy didn't block our Family Connection with her mana it would be so much easier!!!

'You won't always have a Family Connection to track your prey. Learning to follow their tracks and reading them to predict their actions is the main thing in this sparring.' 

I imagine her saying that every time I complain. 

Tch! And the fact that she is right makes me angry.

But now I need to focus and find a way to find him.

First I have to pull myself together and analyze everything calmly. It's like mommy says: 'A weak and unstable mind is an invitation to death.

I breathe in, breathe out, and clear my mind of all unnecessary.

Now calm, I begin to analyze everything rationally.

First of all, I must leave the open ground and hide. Being exposed like this will only leave me vulnerable to any possible attack.

Surrounding myself with my Illusion Element, my figure and movements become erratic, making it difficult to detect and locate me.

I run toward the forest and move in a zigzag pattern as I enter the dense forest.

I jump, slide, roll, and climb among the tall trees, vines, rocks, and grass as I search for a possible hiding place where he might be or I might hide.

Some time later I find a hiding place that I can use, but unfortunately I have not found any trace of where Lucas might be.

A small cave, wide enough for me to stretch out comfortably but too low for me to stand inside.

It is hidden enough that you can only see it from above the entrance, which is where I am now.

I jump on the ground in front of the cave and look around a bit, searching for any point where the cave can be visible beyond above.

With a low tree growing next to the entrance and its voluminous crown hiding it from the top view, the tall grass reaching the dirt floor a little in front of the entrance, vines climbing down the hill and falling to the ground, the entrance being on the curve of a hill that hides the opposite side of the tree, guarantee the difficult location of the cave.

It is well hidden and looks like a good hiding place to me.

I bend down, practically crawling, and step into the dark interior, my back scraping the ceiling.

Creating a small fireball in my hand, I use it as a torch to illuminate the place by throwing it inside the cave.

Seeing no animals inside the cave, I walk to the bottom with the fireball still providing illumination.

Now sitting at the bottom of the cave, I analyze the situation with calm and concentration.

Finding him will be difficult as he must be using his Darkness and Illusion Elements to hide and this forest is the perfect hunting environment for him.

My situation is also difficult, since my main method of combat is heavily restricted in this environment.

Trying to drag him out of the forest is a difficult possibility, he's not going to leave a favorable environment now that he's arrived in it.

But in this simulated situation, he needs my item as much as I need the one with him, so he will have to come out and look for me sometime. Well, that's the same for me.

And as the active combatant, I'm going to have a lot more trouble than he does to acquiring the item in this current situation.

I need to think of something that will minimize my disadvantages and maximize my chances of defeating him.

Maybe I should use my charm? I don't think he would resist running to my aid if he saw me in a sorry state?

No, that trick would be easy to figure out.

In fact, if he fell for that bad trick, I would beat him more than necessary myself out of sheer disgust and to teach him common sense. 

But maybe a little trick based on that would work depending on how the situation is at the time.

...

I spent some time thinking and the best conclusion I could come to was stealth, which may not be my strong point but is not my weak point either.

To expose myself openly in the current environment would be nothing but foolishness. The same thing as saying "Hey, I'm here! Attack me and kill me however you want!"

There is no point in me trying to create or seek a favorable environment for myself, so I must use the dense forest to my advantage at least. Fortunately, I have my Illusion Element to help with this.

I'm not proficient in assassination techniques like Lucas, but I know the basics of them from mommy's lessons.

Combining the techniques with my Metal Element gives me an advantage in attack methods.

My Fire Element also gives me the advantage in mobility, since he can't use his Darkness Element as a method of movement yet.

My biggest disadvantage would be in attack power, with his Destruction Element being the epitome of it.

Fortunately he didn't concentrate a powerful attack on me in the previous fight, otherwise I would be the one who would have to run away.

If I get the chance, I can even use an easy created Pentagram to help me.

That is the main thing, there is no way I can try to estimate your mental state or strategy.

His strategy will consist of something related to the assassination, that's for sure. But the specific method there is no way for me to know, so I can only adapt on the fly.

If I create an ultra detailed strategy without having current information about he, the chance of me failing will be higher than if I don't have a strategy.

I need to be flexible during combat.

Unforeseen situations always happen and you must be quick to think of how to get around them, which can totally affect your strategy and only serve to disorient and destabilize you.

That's enough, the time to look for he has come. 

This time crawling, so my back wouldn't scrape against the ceiling, I leave the cave with the pebbles and earth pressing against my hands and knees.

I stretch a little to wake my body up and enjoy the feeling of being able to move freely and clean myself of dirt.

Being stuck in a cramped and dirty cave like that is not what I would call comfortable.

As I finish stretching and cleaning myself, I wrap myself with my Illusion Element and move through the dense woods, looking for my dear little brother.

"Hahaha, now the real hunt begins. Hide yourself well, my dear little brother.

If I find you... fufufu.

Hide well ~. If I catch you now you won't run away at all ~."

With a sadistic expression on my face and licking my lips, I let my bestial side take over and focus my senses, setting out to hunt.

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This part was supposed to come out with the previous chapter, but I wasn't in the mood to write it at the time and didn't know when I would have it, but today I got in the mood and managed to write it

Maybe, just maybe, depending on my disposition, will and laziness, another chapter will come out this week.

By the way, what do you think about the writing and quality of these last two chapters?

Author - 

:)