260 Chapter 260: Red String of Fate (2/2)

She was assuming we would still somehow meet after the tournament, which I doubted. Then again, our dads were friends, so I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up one day, tagging along in one of Uncle Glen's visits.

For now, we were enemies, and the less time I spent lingering around her, the better. I had already ensured that she wouldn't be raped or killed for the time being. My obligations had been fulfilled and my conscience was clear.

”All right, I'll get going then.” I studied Lilith to ensure she was fine. ”Take care of yourself, and don't recklessly challenge groups for blood tokens. It's difficult to fight when you're outnumbered. I hope you learn your lesson from that. And it may be none of my business, but watch out for that Ji Xuan or whoever.”

”It really is none of your business, but I appreciate the advice nonetheless. I'll be seeing you shortly.”

I scoffed at that. The chances of us running into each other again in such a large forest was negligible. I most likely have a higher chance of finding my friends then encountering a random stranger I met for the first time today. Okay, she wasn't a complete stranger, she was Uncle Glen's daughter, but even so, it wasn't as if we had any red string of fate connecting us. I honestly doubted I would see her again. ”We'll see about that.”

”I will definitely track you down and find you,” Lilith promised as she leaned against the tree, probably to continue tending to her injury and restore herself to full health as quickly as possible. ”You won't get away.”

I waved a hand casually, not taking her words all that seriously. My friends should have been able to find me by that logic, but they had yet to reunite with me. I was trying my own methods of searching for them, with a distinct lack of success so far. I really sucked at moving around the forest. Sighing, I disappeared deeper into the forest and searched for new groups of students to spy on and collect intelligence on.

*

Three days later, I was kneeling by the river to gather some water. My supply had run low, and we had to use our magic to purify the water to prevent ourselves from suffering cholera or other forms of bacterial diseases obtained when drinking tainted water.

”Finally,” I grumbled to myself as I filled my bottle with the water from the clear spring. I took a few sips, and then topped it up once again, to ensure that it was full. It wasn't often that I would find a good water source like this, so I was going to make full use of it.

While I was strapping my water bottle back in my storage device, I caught a glimpse of someone descending upon me, thanks to the reflection in the water. Even without the reflection, the motion tracker on my glasses picked out the movement as a white blip.

”Hah!”

My assailant swung her crimson sword at me. Spinning around, I summoned Gemini and fended off the attack, but the blazing blade cut through my hastily conjured twin swords like a hot knife through butter.

”Oh boy…”

I watched as my broken Gemini twin swords dissipated to nothingness, but they had bought me enough time to retreat safely.

”Tch.” I clicked my tongue when I recognized my assailant. ”You again.”

Lilith Porter didn't reply, and instead charged at me, flames trailing her sword as she launched a series of slashes at me.

”You've been chasing me for three days now. Is this really how you repay someone for saving you?”

I rolled my eyes as I drew Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, crossing them to parry another ferocious flaming trike from Lilith. Her sword erupted into an inferno that washed over me, but I managed to cleave through the flames before flipping backward across the clear spring, exchanging blows and defending myself against her relentless attacks.

Damn, but she was one hell of a stalker. I didn't take her seriously when she said she would track me down, but she had stayed true to her word and ambushed me at every turn. She was serious when she said she wanted a duel.

We traded a few blows across the spring, her flames boiling the water and shrouding the entire space in steam. Despite vision being obscured, the lenses on my glasses glowed and provided me alternative visions to see through the fog. Infrared vision was out because the entire place was glowing with heat signatures, but I could adjust the spectrum to pick out mana signatures instead of temperature and easily locate Lilith.

Locking my blades with her, I managed to stop Lilith from landing a fatal blow.

”Are you seriously trying to kill me?!” I snapped at her.

”That's right,” she replied coldly. ”I don't want to hold any affections for you because you saved my life. I only wish to train and develop my magic, to become stronger. Having feelings for you will distract me from that goal.”

”…say what?”

That had to be the stupidest bullshit I had ever heard in my life.

Upon seeing my astonishment, Lilith retreated to the river bank and began howling in laughter. She actually dropped onto the ground and rolled on the floor, laughing and striking the damp soil with her fist. I stared at her, even more stunned than before.

”You should have seen your face!” she gasped, trying to breathe. ”Did you actually believe a word of what I just said?!”

I shrugged. ”Was I not supposed to believe it?”

”I heard from my father that you and your dad are big fans of anime. I'm pretty sure you got the reference.” Lilith struggled back to her feet, trying to restrain more laughter.

”Oh.” I slapped my forehead. ”The Great Ruler. Of course. You would make for a great Luo Li if you'd just get rid of that ridiculous yellow ribbon and let your hair down.”

Lilith giggled again. ”Did you really believe such nonsense? That I'll kill you just because I don't want to get distracted from cultivation, and thus I must eliminate you so that I won't have any affections for you? And you think too highly of yourself. Why the hell would I fall for you just because you saved me? You're not the only one who had saved my life before.”

”That part I didn't believe at all,” I assured her wearily. ”I was more astonished by the BS you pulled. Anyway, why have you been chasing me for the last three days?”

”Because I want to duel you, of course!” Lilith snapped, pointing her crimson sword at me. ”Have you forgotten? I won't let you make any excuses this time. I've fully recovered! Let's test our skills against each other and see if your Constellation spirits can overcome my Hellfire Bear!”

I watched her for a second, and then sheathed Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. A smile crept over my face as I anticipated the battle to come. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I nodded my acquiescence.

”All right. Let's do this then.”