28 Chapter 28 Increase
She took a couple of steps towards him;
"Lord Nexus, do you mind if I join you? I'm feeling super energetic this morning- or afternoon."
"Really? That's perfect actually. I'm kind of itching for a little sparring session myself."
Her head bobbed up and down in a curt nod.
She instinctively lifted up her arms to her chest level, and closed her palms into tight fists. With her dominant leg in front, she approached Nexus in careful steps.
Crystal was quick on the draw. And even quicker on her feet.
Threading lightly, she ducked her head to the left, and shot her fist at Nexus' right. Nexus dodged. But not without feeling the hot blasts of air from her furious fists.
The succubus switched her feet, pressed forward, and unleashed a combo attack with lightning fast speed;
Left jab.
Right jab.
High kick
And step back.
Nexus' eyes went round in shock as he barely managed to escape the fury of each powerful strike. But the swoosh of air that followed told him more than enough. The strength behind each jab was unbelievable- almost maniacal. And her speed was almost inhuman. Those were the very moves he had taught her just a few hours ago, and she had perfected them in all directions!
"Whoa there, where did that come from?"
She shrugged; "I don't know. I just feel really pumped that's all."
Nexus eyed her with suspicion in his eyes;
"Alright, let's go again---"
She did not give him the chance to finish.
With brazen confidence, she raged towards him, closing the gap between them with terrifying quickness.
Her lower fist curled, and shot upwards towards his jaw in a powerful uppercut. Nexus winced as he threw his head back in the nick of time.
From the right corner of his eye, he saw and felt the rage of her right elbow closing in on his cheek with a quickness. He was out of room to duck, so he instinctively lifted his left hand to block.
Her elbow slammed right into his arm, and Nexus felt every single Newtonian unit of force in the powerful jab. There was a slight crack, followed by a stinging pain. Still registering the shock, the succubus swooped down low, and tried to throw him off his feet with a clean sweep.
It was only by pure instinct that he was able to step back in time.
Nexus recoiled to a much defensive position, breathing hard, and unable to take his eyes off Crystal.
"Time out!" he rasped; "Time out!"
She dropped her arms.
"Crystal, that was fucking incredible! Your speed, and strength have all increased exponentially! And your agility- wow, just wow."
Crystal's smile shined through her confidence;
"Thank you m'lord! I thought it was all in my head, you felt that too right???"
"Are you kidding me? Of course! Your reaction time was exceptional! And those combos? Damn, that was killer stuff."
Nexus' joy was apparent. It reflected in his eyes, tone, and words.
It filled Crystal with a confidence that was made her feel superhuman. She felt the sudden surge of improvment, and felt like she could defeat any enemy she would have been afraid of before.
The duo continued to train some more, getting accustomed to each other's moves, and synchronizing as one. Their chemistry became more and more apparent. With each sucessful spar, they sunk deeper and deeper into each other, until their technique began to seem more and more like a dance.
By the time they were done, they both had their baths, thanks to his water gourd. And they both set out.
All around them, massive oaks, cypress trees, and a host of other wooden giants, dogged their paths. Fat birds sat on branches, and cooed lazily. Woodland animals curled in and out of their homes in the trees trunks.
Occasionally, the intimidating sight of a Grey wolf, a massive bear, and one time- an actual minotaur emerged.
Each time, Crystal would freeze up in fear, expecting the worst, and preparing for a long flight towards safety.
But right before her eyes, she would watch the dangerous beasts turn around, with their tails between their legs, and scamper off into the wild. It was uncanny. The fear in their eyes was so glaring, she could almost hear them whimper in fright.
"My lord," she trembled after the minotaur disappeared; "These beasts. . .they're afraid of you?"
"Pay no mind to them, they're just mindless animals after all."
Crystal obeyed, but kept these things in her heart.
They trudged on confidently through the woods, unafraid of any kind of attack or anything. Every other predator they subsequently encountered, ended up hiding from them the moment they laid eyes on Nexus.
A short while later, brook of water came within their sight. Having travelled with the hot sun for quite some time now, it was a welcome reprieve from the heat. However, as they both hastened their feet towards it, they heard some funny sounds just north east of them.
Nexus and Crystal shared a quick glance, and ducked behind a tree. Silently, with their lungs burning, they waited with bated breaths.
With perfect stillness, they both remained static, peering through the dense throng of trees, anxious to find out what was happening.
For a brief moment, the scene before them looked perfectly okay. To their right was a thick field of triangular shaped trees that rose up to the sky in vaunted angles. On their elegant branches were a million leaves, swaying gently.
Then, through the jungle of green, they saw caught a brief glimpse of it.
Barely a blitz, it zapped by in quick flashes, at a velocity that was barely noticeable to the naked eye, streaking through the blanket of green, disturbing the tranquility of nature. Nexus concentrated and was able to catch the blurry outline that hinted vaguely of silver fur, and canine like features.
Nexus and Crystal both turned as one- with a word in their eyes;
"FOX!"
The furry blitz, making its way through the woods at an unprecedented speed, was actually a fleeing fox.
To their far right, some more rugged movements caught his eye. The prancing outline of men followed not too far behind. Dozens of them, huddled together, yet in loose formation, filling the air with the urgent thudding of their feet, hot on its tail. The bloodthirsty look in their eyes, their pointy spears, bows, and quiver full of arrows told who they were---
"Hunters!" Crystal's voice rasped through the air in a harsh quiet whisper.
"Yeah no shit."
Nexus' gaze returned to the creature. His arm instinctively reached for the tree trunk to balance himself as he eased back into a crouching position. His quick eyes surveyed the scene before him- it did not look as threatening as it had sounded. His gaze zeroed in on the creature.
It was white.
Dazzling snow white.
Not silver as he had previously thought.
This fox in particular had something regal about it. Its fur shone bright and with a dazzling whiteness. Its paws looked like it hardly touched the earth. Even in flight, it strutted with a brazen grace.
And it was damn fast.
Lightning fast.
The clamoring of desperate feet racing wildly behind it could barely keep up with its lightning fast gallops. The hunters, uncoordinated, frustrated, and increasingly disenchanted, began to slip up, unable to match the speed of the prey.
Nexus tensed, watching the live action suit play out before him in HD. Even without looking at Crystal, he knew they were both thinking the same thing. Hunters were bad news. It was best they stay out of the way entirely.
However, in a manner that was typical of it, the Dual Cultivation System chose that exact moment to make it debut appearance;
Its metallic, unemotional, generic A.I voice sounded in Nexus' ears;
[NEXUS.]
'Shit,' He froze; "Not now.'
[YOU HAVE BEEN TASKED WITH A NEW MISSION.]
Damn it!
[SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, YOUR MISSION IS TO JOIN THE GROUP OF HUNTERS AND CAPTURE THE LIGHTNING FOX.]
C'mon!
[DEAD OR ALIVE.]
What?
[BUT PREFERABLY ALIVE FOR BONUS REWARDS.]
[YOU ARE CLEARED TO MAKE USE OF VIOLENCE.]
[FREE REIGN TO DEPLOY ANY METHOD IS GRANTED.]
[TIME LIMIT: NONE]
[PROCEED.]
As always, the System slipped back into the dark, after delivering an epic injunction, leaving Nexus to figure out the logistics on his own.
