NOVPUBThea felt even more horrified and awed by the final fight between Vicky and Yvonne.
They moved with such ferocity, speed and accuracy, that she only partially saw the moves they made.
What truly shocked her, though, was its length. Previously, the longest either lasted before resetting was around ten seconds, but this latest fight went on for nearly half a minute!
They must've had a few hundred exchanges before the match ended. Even more surprising, Vicky managed to win!
Thea stayed occupied with her thoughts about the fight, so she never noticed her mother standing beside her. But when Luzia mumbled to herself, her daughter yelped in surprise and jumped to her feet. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Her actions were loud enough for Vicky and Yvonne to turn their direction. Both girls seemed surprised by Luzia's presence.
They quickly walked off the bloodied mat and greeted the woman with grace and respect.
"Good evening, Mrs. Luzia! Did you enjoy our fight?"
Instead of saying anything, Luzia bowed before Vicky, long enough to showcase her reverence towards the Princess.
"The fight wasn't something my weak eyes could easily follow, however I saw the end result. I must say, you come a long way, Princess. I'm sure Yvonne will experience many more defeats in the upcoming days!"
Slowly, Luzia rose up from her bow, and smiled cunningly down at her daughter. While Yvonne was much taller than Vicky, her mother dwarfed even the tall woman.
Vicky hated standing near these people. She felt even smaller than her actual low height. It made her remember Kim, and how short she was before becoming a Transcended.
A pang of sympathy grew in her heart, and she felt sorry for always making fun of her height!
Yvonne didn't get angry at her mother's words. She even hoped Vicky would improve and beat her many more times… She always hated one-sided battles!
"I see you're done with today's training. Princess, would you like to attend a dinner with me and my family?" Asked Luzia, with all the respect she could muster.
Vicky's eyes brightened, and a wide smile stretched across her face.
"I would love to, but before that I'll take a shower and change my clothes! It would be a bad for my image if I looked so bloody and sweaty the Luzia household's family dinner!"
With that, she turned away and began walking in a random direction. A second later, Thea ran after her and guided the young Princess towards the changing rooms and showers.
Yvonne stayed standing near her mother, both looking at Vicky's laughing form. If you ignored the blood and sweat, you could've never guessed how dangerous and powerful the young Princess was.
However, neither woman showed any signs of joy while watching her. Instead, their expression was grim, but hopeful.
"Will she be ready?" Asked Luzia without turning towards her daughter.
The tall woman shrugged and smirked, an opposite of her mother's aloof attitude.
"Hard to tell. She's like a sponge, sucking up every piece of knowledge thrown in her direction. She never made the same mistake twice and even pretended to making mistakes to bait me. I'm sure she will be ready to fight in a week or so!"
Luzia scoffed and glanced down at her eldest child. "That's not what I meant, so stop evading my question. Now, I'll ask again. Will she be ready?"
Yvonne's smile disappeared, sadness and pain taking its place.
"I think her mentality is already good enough. We won't see until the need will arise… I'll train her the best I can, but you know the real crucible will happen later! Nobody can prepare her for that! No amount of knowledge will give her the intent to kill!"
Her mother sighed and shook her head. She turned away and began walking towards the passage.
"I know… Will see if she can kill people or freeze and die… Let's hope she'll survive that test as well!"
Luzia went back to the mansion, informing everyone about Vicky's attendance. Yvonne went after Vicky and Thea, since she needed a shower, too.
After getting ready, the three of them went to the mansion together. Every other member of the family already waited around the square dining table.
Luzia and her husband Marc sat on one side, the two oldest children on another, while Thea and her younger brother Marko faced their siblings. Vicky sat opposite of the host.
She wore her usual beautiful dress, but for fun she also summoned a tiara with a midnight black gemstone. It gently glinted under the room's warm light.
Vicky greeted them all with a kind, charming smile, then waited for the maids to bring in the food. Her stomach constantly rumbled, demanding vast sacrifices!
A few maids stumbled and nearly fell over when they saw their Princess sitting at the dining table.
Even though word gotten around since midday, her presence from the sweaty, bloody, food devouring girl, now held immense regality, which they weren't prepared for.
After placing the food on the table, they hurried away. Their eyes continued taking glances at Vicky's calm form.
The young girl ignored them all, and tried not to salivate on the table. She only held the food in her vision. For her, nothing else mattered until she ate her fill.
Yvonne looked awfully similar to the Princess, the opposite of Yannick's silent contentment. The lanky man didn't even look hungry, which explained his thinness.
Vicky couldn't help but stare at the man's closed eyes. She still hadn't received a proper explanation for their purpose… She also never asked, deeming the question rude, but curiosity overruled her decorum.
Yannick turned towards the Princess with a small smile. He knew exactly the question on her mind; however, he didn't plan on making things easy for her.
"Is there something wrong, Princess? Perhaps you have a question?"
Suddenly everyone turned towards the Princess, waiting for her next words. The young girl didn't care about the sudden attention, but she did smirk at Yannick's question. This was the last push she needed.
"Yes actually! Why do you never open your eyes? Can you even see?"
Other than Luzia and Thea, who kept their poker faces intact, everyone smiled knowingly at Yannick. The lanky man also smirked at Vicky with amused cunningness.
"Interesting question. My eyes are closely related to my powers, or more like my eye sockets… You see, I don't actually have any eyes, but before you ask, I won't show the sockets… They are quite disturbing, especially for people seeing it for the first time!"
Vicky nodded in understanding. She really wanted to see Yannick's empty sockets. However, since it wasn't an option, she settled for the explanation.
"For your second question… I can't see the way you and everyone else can, but I'm also not blind. I can sense the void between objects, the empty space covering every particle. Using this void, I make accurate guesses about the placement of objects and people!"
To immediately showcase his 'sight', Yannick grabbed his glass full of some liquor and took one sip. After swallowing, he turned back to Vicky.
"It's actually quite similar to your space perception, but it has a smaller range, and it's also more accurate!"
The young Princess nodded again, then began placing food onto her plate, until she made a small tower.
The others watched in horror as she began devouring everything placed on her plate, while Yvonne just giggled and built a similar tower.
"Well, you certainly inherited your mother's appetite!" Said Luzia with a small chuckle.
Vicky glanced up from behind her tower with surprise and excitement. "You met Sera?"
Suddenly, Luzia leaned back in her chair, with a small prideful smile. She squared her shoulders and stared into Vicky's white eyes.
"Yes. Me, Marc, Yvonne, Yannick and even Marko met her personally. We lived in New Athens and were one of the first soldiers who followed her into battle. Sadly, Thea was too young to fight alongside our Goddess…"
Her eyes jumped between her children and husband as she spoke until it landed back on the Princess. Luzia's smile turned a bit more cunning and hopeful.
"But judging by your progress with Yvonne, she'll at least fight alongside our Goddess's daughter. Our Princess!"
Thea sat straighter, hearing her mother's words. It also reaffirmed the youngest child's thoughts about joining Lydia's training… She needed to get stronger, to make her mother proud!
For a few minutes, everyone ate in silence, until eventually Marc began a new conversation.
"I got to say, Princess. The Prince is a true genius with this new command structure! It solved so many issues, and we can implement it quite quickly!"
The man spoke with a genuine smile, which brightened the entire room. Compared to his still-faced wife, Marc never hid his actual feelings, always expressing everything!
"I'm glad to hear that! Did any of you get important positions?" Asked Vicky, while biting down on a large piece of meat.
"Yes, Yannick here received one of the few Commander positions, and he appointed me, my wife, and Marko as Cohort Leaders!"
Vicky nodded, then glanced at Yvonne and Thea. She tried chewing fast to ask her next question, but the jovial, bald man answered it already.
"We wanted Thea to lead as well, but her youth and lack of experience wouldn't serve her right. The veteran soldiers might even disregard her orders, which would lead to command structure failure. A true disaster, when on a battlefield!… Yvonne though…"
Marc's face pulled into a strange expression, as if at a loss for words. Luckily, his daughter wasn't as clueless.
"I specifically asked Astrid not to give me command. Instead, I'll be joining the Transcended Lone Operatives. I work better leading small teams, and love fighting on the front lines, so it's the best for me!"
Luzia sighed when hearing her eldest daughter's words. Clear disappointment showed on her face, but said nothing.
It was obvious Luzia wanted all her children to become leaders, especially Yvonne, since she's the eldest. In her eyes, she should guide her younger siblings. Instead, she went in the opposite direction.
The evening went by the same. Vicky chatted some more while consuming copious amounts of food.
She arrived home late, with Henry already asleep. Without waking him, she climbed into the bed and they cuddled throughout the night.
The next day, she got ready early and went to the Luzia household. She felt even more excitement than the day before, since today she finally won't be fighting against a weaponless person!
Yvonne already stood ready near the bench, however Thea was nowhere to be seen. It took Vicky a second to remember where her friend went.
The Princess quickly changed into her usual training clothes, then walked to the mat with Yvonne, both carrying a training sword!
