Vale wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into but he remained silent. He can tell that the woman in front of them isn't simple.
Although she looks delicate with her slim figure, Vale knows that all the Order of the Evanescent Vessel members is strong. They are basically the Elite Forces of the Dark Arts Faction!
He decided to just listen to their conversation and assess the situation.
'Sixth Squad? I wonder how many squads are there.' Vale mused as he was curious to know how big this Order was.
"Ha! Do you think just any random kid can enter the Order?" Ashe looked at Professor Lucius with a hint of mockery before shifting her gaze to Vale.
This was the first time she put her attention to the young student and suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise.
Professor Lucius smirked at this but he didn't comment.
"Kid, do you want to have a duel with me?" Vice Captain Ashe suddenly asked which stunned Professor Lucius. He knows that she'll be surprised by Vale's Dark Spirit but he didn't expect her to request a duel. Before he could even speak up, Vale had already replied.
"No thanks! I mean--I don't want it, Vice Captain Ashe. I want to treasure my life." Vale almost instantly answered. He has so many problems in his past duels and right now, he wants to avoid any of them.
"Don't reject me so quickly… You don't have to win anyway. You just have to do your best. I'll only use two spells and this sword. On the other hand, you can use whatever you have in your arsenal… If you make me satisfied with our duel, I'll give you an item that can be used by your Dark Spirit. How is it?" Vice Captain Ashe didn't give up after being rejected.
She even stood up and held her rapier as if she was ready to have a match with him.
Vale wanted to quickly reject her but her last words piqued his interest.
"An item that can be used by a Dark Spirit? Don't they hate mystical items?" Vale curiously asked as he can still recall his conversation with Lotus about it.
Ashe tilted her head and asked. "What? It's not like they hate them… They're just having trouble with some of the Mystical Items, especially the ones created by Dark Alchemists. The one I have is something I obtained in my recent exorcism mission and I'm not using it anyway."
"Can I first see it and make sure that my Dark Spirit can use this item?"
"Of course… However, you have to make sure that I'll be satisfied with our duel 'cause you may not have a chance of getting it." Vice Captain Ashe replied as she searched her small bag.
Vale had seen this bag before and as a matter of fact, most Academy Professors are using this bag. It should be a low-grade Noble Rank item that allows them to store plenty of items inside and it could even preserve food. It wasn't too expensive but there weren't many of them produced as well.
As Vale considered getting one of these bags, the lady took out an obsidian ring.
It doesn't have any form of aura around it and seems ordinary in other people's eyes.
Vale didn't immediately take it as he asked Yvaine using their unique connection.
"Can you take it, Yvaine?"
Yvaine also went out of the shadow as soon as the ring appeared. She then replied to Vale with a confused tone.
"It's odd… I'm feeling attracted to it. This had never happened to me before, so I'm unsure if it's safe for me."
"It has some sort of attraction to spirits?" Vale repeated as he stared at the ring.
Meanwhile, Ashe was immediately mesmerized as soon as she saw the Dark Spirit coming out of Vale's shadow.
"Beautiful… What a mysterious Dark Spirit… Even Lesley couldn't contract a Dark Spirit."
Vale didn't respond to her as he shifted his attention to Professor Lucius. The Professor was also looking at the Spirit when he noticed Vale's questioning look.
He immediately understood what Vale wanted as he gently nodded.
"The ring is safe. You can take it."
It was only at this time that Vale accepted the ring.
The obsidian ring was cold to the touch. No ancient characters were engraved on it, and it is entirely plain. There were even some scratches on it, making it completely simple and less valuable in other people's eyes.
"What do you call this ring? What does it do to Dark Spirits?" Vale asked.
"You Dark Spirit is probably disconnected from the Spirit World, making her incapable of replenishing her energy in a short amount of time. This ring should help the Dark Spirit gather Spiritual Energy about two times faster."
"Alright! Deal…" Vale said without any hesitation as he returned the ring to the Vice Captain. He didn't even ask Yvaine if she wanted it or not.
Well, the reason is simple, this lady here would be the first living person to experience his Divine Extraction! Whether he gets the ring or not doesn't matter to him.
Since she's strong, he doesn't need to hold back at all!
"Hahaha… Your eyes suddenly changed. I like that…" Vice Captain Ashe chuckled after seeing Vale being determined.
This is what she wanted all along.
"This…" Professor Lucius wanted to stop Vale from this recklessness since Ashe might accidentally hurt him. Although Ashe is a fellow Dark Arts Practitioner, it doesn't mean that she would be kind to her opponents.
"Don't worry… I'm not going to kill your student. I just want to experience the fighting strength of a genuine Dark Spirit, not some weak Banshee or Vengeful Spirits I've been dealing with over the past few weeks." Ashe immediately said after realizing what Lucius was thinking about.
In the end, Lucius can only offer his assistance as a referee in their match.
Soon, Vale found himself at the training hall in the basement of the secret building.
He was about 10 meters away from Ashe while Lucius was in their middle.
"Get ready!" Lucius announced as he looked at the two once more.
Seeing that they're ready to fight, Lucius jumped back and announced the start of the duel.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om