But something else dawns on me. If Miss Moe witnessed his powers, he must have consumed Zantrax before, too. Frommy own understanding and the condensed knowledge of the previous owner of my abilities, I know that mortals cannot withstand that much Zantrax. Although the substance causes addiction in mortals and quickly prompts them to seek more the moment the effects wear off, the more they consume, the worse their bodies fare.
This male in front of me… He would have been using Zantrax for a while, so his constitution cannot be so strong.
As he gets to his feet, his palms heat up until small flames turn into wild ones that consume his flesh. He’s not hurt, though. He’s in control.
Damn!
“How dare you! I’ll teach you a lesson today!” He grits out.
As he sends a blast of fire toward me, I can only use my speed to dodge and grab Miss Moe. With her in my arms, I continue to dodge every flame blast he sends toward me.
I might have gotten semi-used to the gravitational abilities, but I only know how to attack. I have no idea how to go on the defensive.
Multi-tasking, I continue to dodge, holding Miss Moe close to me to guard her body, while also sifting through all the knowledge that came before me.
How can I use these powers against fire?
The previous owner only has theoretical knowledge about fire-users. No practical combat experience with them. That leaves everything up to me.
I must improvise.
Miss Moe’s arms are wrapped tightly around my neck, a shiver going down her body. Just feeling her so close to me gives me the strength to do something—try something different.
As long as I continue avoiding the blasts, I won’t be able to attack.
Taking a deep breath, I use the power of gravity to create a shield ten steps around us. Narrowly avoiding the next attack, I watch how the fire blast encounters the shield and dissipates.
Good. So this works.
“What?” The male cries out. “Who are you?Whatare you?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking the same?” I ask drily.
He summons more fire, and now the flames have covered him from head to toe. Using the momentum, he launches himself forward.
I only have a few seconds to act. It’s clear he’s putting all his strength into this one attack and I don’t know how my shield will react to that.
So I focus all the power into my hand, and just as he gets close to us, I manipulate gravity so half his body is light and half his body is extremely heavy.
“Don’t look,” I whisper to Miss Moe. As a reply, she just squeezes my neck lightly.
The heavy half gets pulled to the ground. The discrepancy in the weights makes it so that the flesh tears right at his midriff. His organs spill out as his upper half continues to float in the air. The flames have not been extinguished, now burning everything in their path.
I stare at my first kill and I cannot muster any regret. In fact, the only regret I have is that my ability is too low, that I could only kill him this way instead of giving him a slow and torturous death.
“Is he… Is he dead?” Miss Moe whispers in my ear.
“Yes. I’m getting you out of here,” I assure her.
The fire starts consuming the carpet and furniture in the room. Holding tightly onto Miss Moe, I walk out of the room.
More armed guards and other servants swarm into the house, but when they see us leaving the room, flames and smoke in our wake, they decide against being brave. They all flee.
We reach the first floor when Miss Moe stops me.
“Nykander…” she whispers. “Before we leave. Can we—” She gulps down uneasily.
“What is it?”
