"Sub-zero domain, enhanced, nya!"

With you as the center, you create a raging ice storm that freezes and slows everything inside.

"Very good, excellent mana utilization!" Cleo praises you.

After three weeks of training, you have gained quite a lot of experience, mainly in terms of skill modification and optimization. Yes, skills shouldn’t be cast as they are, but should be used wisely based on the situation. At your current power level, you can maintain sub-zero domain for 30 seconds, slowing opponents up to 50%. The closer they get to you, the slower they will be.  However, most of the fights with Cleo end in just 5 to 10 seconds. So, to optimize everything, you modify your sub-zero domain to last shorter, but increase its intensity. 50% slow now becomes 80% slow. With this, you should be able to keep up with Cleo.

Then, to initiate combat, you move quickly, not with Ice Step, but rather with your physical ability alone. 

You are saving that skill for later. 

Cleo also moves, but…

With this newly improved sub-zero domain, you can see her now! Damn, Cleo is still really fast even though her speed has been greatly reduced. But, as long as you don’t lose focus, her movements are trackable.

You get close to her. Then, with your katana, you slash. Just as expected, Cleo easily dodges your initial attack. She then moves to your side, holding out her hand to grab you. 

Your eyes can see her, but your body can’t keep up. It’s impossible to turn your body to block that attack. But, you have been waiting for this. In fact, the only time Cleo becomes vulnerable is when she attacks like this!

Ice Step!

Wooosh!

You escape from the situation by using this instant movement skill! At the same time, Ice Step has also allowed you to reposition yourself perfectly, so you can unleash a new trump card skill.

Vision Blade!

---

A few days earlier.

"Woah, you almost got me!" Cleo exclaimed. "What a dangerous skill!"

"Aaaa~! How did you dodge that, nyaaa!?"

You thought you had her, but she escaped at the last mili-second. The skill you used was called Vision Blade, drawing on the power of Dariana, the fighting star. Once something is within your field of vision, you can instantly cut it.

The objective was only to land one single hit, so that’s why Vision Blade was a perfect choice.

But, your plan was ruined by Cleo’s bloodline skill, Instinct. 

As she explained, Instinct would warn her about any potential danger. It was like she had the power to see one second into the future. With this, she could make the perfect decision every time. 

Thus, that was how Cleo reacted and dodged your Vision Blade. She stomped the ground, and the dust blocked your vision. Without being able to see her, Vision Blade missed.

---

But that won’t be the case this time!

Your enhanced sub-zero domain and your creation skill has already frozen the ground and created a thick layer of ice. There will be no dust!

Thus, you prepare to slash.

“Vision blade…”

But, Cleo suddenly disappears.

Ah… it is another annoying skill. Blink Strike. It’s an instant movement skill too, something similar to your Ice Step. But, it can only be used to move the caster towards a target, while your Ice Step is much more flexible, since it allows you to move away as well.

Vision Blade only allows you to slash what you can see. So if Cleo gets out of your vision, then you can’t use Vision Blade anymore.

Actually…

Can you?

You grin, delighted.

Because that is exactly how you lay down your trap.

Showing Cleo your Vision Blade a few days ago was only the first step of your plan. Of course you knew that Instinct could help her avoid it. Someone like Cleo could easily figure out Vision Blade’s weakness after knowing how it works.

But… the thing is… weakness can sometimes be turned into strength, and the opposite is also true, with strength can also become weakness.

It was what you learned during your first lesson with Cleo, wasn’t it?

With Instinct, Cleo knew that you were going to use Vision Blade, so she moved accordingly.

But, knowing that, you have predicted exactly where she will appear next. Somewhere you don’t have vision? There can only be one answer: behind you! Yes, you used Vision Blade’s weakness to manipulate your enemy! 

And… who says you cannot see behind you?

“...NYAA!”

You slash.

Vision Blade procs.

Mission completed.

Looking behind you via a tiny ice mirror that you secretly created, you can see Cleo’s face, filled with surprise. 

Vision Blade was only able to leave a tiny scratch on her arm, but well, a hit is a hit.

“Ahhhh, I'm defeated.” Cleo smiles. “ Good job, and congratulation, your training is now completed!”

"Yahoo! I'm so great nya!!!" you jump for joy, celebrating.

But then...

What next?

“Ehh? Just like that, nya?”

“Huh? Not satisfied? Hey, hitting me once is a huge feat you know? You should be proud!”

“Nu, that’s not it nya!”

Well, even though Cleo made it very clear that you will be graduated once you land a hit on her, the way this all ends once you finally achieved your objective feels quite abrupt. After all, training arcs often end only when the master says, "I have nothing else to teach you, you’ve already learned everything!"  

But, you know that there are still many things that you need to improve. Three more weeks? No, even three more years with Cleo won’t possibly be enough. And not to mention, you still haven’t seen Cleo use her great sword yet! You still want to know more about her true power level! 

“Don’t worry, you did great,” Cleo then says. “I really want to train with you more, but it’s just, as you can see, my time is limited.”

Ah, right…

Hearing that, it now makes sense. Because of your training, Cleo had to delay her own business for a whole three weeks. And on top of that, she has other work to do as well, as a member of the Knights.

So you bow down, apologize, then thank her for everything she has done for you. 

Cleo smiles and pats your head.

“Anyways,” she then says. “Sorry for hiding this from you, but about the real reason why I decided to train with you….”

“What? The real reason, nya?” you look at Cleo, perplexed.

“Follow me.” Cleo says then leads you back to the town.

---

A while later...

Where you are heading is a prison run by the Knights. As you walk down the stars to the lowest and most security floor of that prison, Cleo carefully explains everything.

So, someone has been quietly following you ever since you first wake up in this world.  What do they want? No one knows. Therefore, the real reason why Cleo wanted to train you was to lure the stalker out. That was also why she chose the grassland on top of that hill, where there is very little space to hide, and is ideal for setting up traps.

But it still took Cleo and the other knights almost three weeks to capture the person. 

“Please, be careful, that girl is extremely dangerous.” Cleo then gives her warning.

And based on what Cleo said, that girl is also suspected to be the one behind the Corruptor attack at the Temple of Aquilonyan.

Therefore, you imagine the person to be very very very scary. 

But...

When you finally see your stalker…

Scary? 

Yes.

But that’s not the reason why your heart suddenly goes boom boom.

Behind the bar, stands an extremely cute and beautiful catgirl with white and slightly curly, drill hair. You immediately know that she is a DeathWhizkersz because of her hair color and her unrivaled beauty. However, the most captivating things are her eyes. 

She has heterochromia, or in other words, odd-eyes.

One eye is blue, like sapphire. But the other one is red, like the color of blood.

The girl stares at you, intensely, and you can feel that she is deeply desiring something from you.

---