The Twenty Virtues Book 1- The Twenty Generals

39- The Themometer Brakes! Air in Thermal Shock.

"You... are mother and daughter?" Clark asked, a bit puzzled by the huge age difference between the two. It was hard not to think they were grandmother and granddaughter.

"No. We're not. This woman is crazy," Tiffany commented, crossing her arms and glaring daggers at the woman beside her. "I've already told you to leave me alone, old woman. I don't need your help here."

"Tiffany, are you sure?" the old lady asked worriedly. Her veil might have hidden her face, but there was still visible hurt and resentment about her relationship with her daughter.

"Yes. I can handle these two on my own. I don't need anyone to mess things up for me. So watch, old lady, while I do something useful for once in my life."

"And I thought I was the hothead... Okay, I'll trust you, but if I feel you're in danger, I'll intervene, got it, young lady?" Tiffany didn't respond, just focused her gaze on the two enemies. The mist that had formed with the old lady's arrival slowly dissipated, and the general took a few steps back.

"Here she comes," Clark said, drawing his dagger and preparing to advance as well. However, Eagle Eye held him by the collar of his shirt. "What is it?"

"We don't know her power; getting too close might be dangerous."

"Stay back then and cover me," the redhead said with a mocking tone. "Getting close to me is dangerous; we'll see if this little blue girl's power is greater than mine."

The archer almost tried to retort, but then he thought, the redhead might be a good test subject in the fight. He would surely learn about the girl's powers by seeing him fight her, so it wouldn't be too bad to let him attack; after all, he wasn't a precious friend. And he had to admit that... his arrogance irritated him. "Fine then, I'll trust you, but don't expect me to intervene if something happens, got it?"

"I don't even care if you do," Clark ran towards his opponent, completely unconcerned with whatever power she might have. The moment she entered his power range, he took a brief pause, processing the feelings he perceived. "Man, what a dead heart..."

Immediately, the redhead jumped to the side. A massive blast of something had come charging at him. It was white and malleable, like some kind of wet sand... snow. It was an extremely agile attack; he barely managed to dodge, but the overwhelming cold froze part of his shoes. When he hit the ground, his feet were so icy from the material's proximity that even his sense of touch was confused, and he ended up losing his balance.

"Snow? So her powers are indeed related to cold..." The archer observed, analyzing the fight. The girl hadn't moved; the snow simply materialized from the air around her and advanced with great force.

"This attack was too fast; I didn't even get a chance to think." And a second assault came towards Clark. Still on the ground, he had no choice but to try using his dagger to block. The snow blast came crashing against him.

"Idiot, you're going to freeze..." John muttered, still watching cautiously. MissHapp, who seemed as interested as ever, had a relieved smile.

"It looks like Tiffany is more independent than I expected," the old lady relaxed as the archer watched with intrigue. But it was Tiffany who noticed the problem first... she realized Clark wasn't freezing.

"I didn't expect to use something like this so soon..." The arrogant voice of the lying angel echoed. Indeed, when the snow stopped, he was fine, with no signs of wear.

"How did you do that?" the girl asked, showing no real emotion.

"Hahaha, do you want me to reveal everything so openly? What's the fun in that?" On the outside, he was arrogant, but inside, Clark was confused. He was commanding the girl's heart to be afraid, to fear him, to love, to respect. But every emotion he commanded refused to enter her heart.