The Black Swan

Chapter 16: #worthit

With relative ease, Sakura conjures up hundreds of crystalline spikes, sending them flying in showers at Yoonie. On the receiving end, Yoonie channels her dark energy to materialise several black holes in front of her, absorbing the magical attacks of her mentor. Missing out several spikes in the last moment, she dives to her right to dodge the incoming attacks. She heaved a sigh. That was too close. Turning back, she watches as the near-missed crystal spikes cut inches deep into the earthen ground of the training chambers. Had she been any slower, or her actions any more languid, would mean getting seriously hurt.

It's too much for me to handle... I have to find another way to deal with this.

Once again, a barrage of crystalline spikes come seeking her flesh. Forced into a corner, Yoonie's intuition was to use the shadows around her to engulf the material attacks targeted at her. As the shadows shrouded the attacks, the spikes disappeared without a trace. Sakura makes a sound of jubilation, surprised at what Yoonie had just done for the first time. She looks at her hands, wondering what exactly had happened. Unseen Hold... So I can use it to nullify attacks too.

"Wow - it seems that your amulet is really helping," Sakura commented, as she referred to the special magical item Yoonie had acquired previously.

"I guess so... It seems to open up so many possibilities for using my powers."

Well, going through all that trouble might just be worth it.

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Pushing off as soon as her foot touched the ground, Yoonie found herself scurrying towards the exit, away from the trail of snakes behind them. The impact of their running was so powerful that several stalactites started falling from the ceiling, shattering into countless shell-like fragments as soon as they hit the ground. Chaeyeon began slashing at snakes coiling around the base of their legs with her katana, trying to shake them off. Yujin tried to persuade her not to do so, but the two ended up bickering about the other having a worthless argument.

Ahead, Yoonie sees one of the stalactites about to fall in their pathway. The other two girls were too occupied with their bickering, unaware of the dangers falling from above. With a will of her magic, Yoonie catches the falling fragment and sends it into her dark void - where it would keep them away from harm. With nothing unfortunate happening, the two did not seem to notice.

The three bolted out of the caverns, and the snakes eventually gave up the chase for them. It was the blinding sun that deterred them from sliding out into the open. Yoonie bent over, hands on her knees as she panted for air.

"Now, which one of you killed the snake-"

Yoonie's eyes skipped over to Chaeyeon.

"Uh- It was an accident, I swear," Chaeyeon protested. "Anyway, we're done here, right? Let's get out of this place."

"Did you get it?" Yoonie asked with faith.

"Of course I did," Yujin revealed the white, ceramic bone of the serpent she extricated. It was no larger than a human's teeth, with a sharper-than-usual protrusion on one end. "And I believe this is yours." She tossed the prized item over to Yoonie, who caught it precariously with both hands.

"Thank you, Yujin... and Azzo too." She bowed to her knees, with deepest gratitude.

"For you, Yoonie? Anytime." She gestured cooly, urging Azzo into a slow throttle forward as they headed back to the Capital. "Heck, I thought Yena was gonna go ham over making me pay for the smuggled goo- I mean, favour - but this?  Too lenient - I could even say that she was being nice."

"What exactly is your relationship with Yena anyway?" Chaeyeon raised an eyebrow at her, joining Yoonie by her side as they walked back.

"So as you might know, Yena provides special weapons to the Kingdom's fighting force," Yujin started to explain. "Some of her weapons and tools are magically enchanted - so that non-magic users can draw on magical power stored in them when needed. These items are usually issued to knights for official missions."