TRAILING SHADOWS

"That's right. I refuse..." Ibiyemi yelled out, taking in furious breath of the moment as her pupils dilated.

And in front of her, an ethereal image of her mentor, Olukoni Mayowa appeared.

"The Abẹfẹlẹ iruju is not just any ordinary skill like Imole Mo. No. It is quite renowned for the ability to create Illusionary strikes like the name suggests. Here!" Olukoni Mayowa's ethereal form extended her hand to Ibiyemi who took it promptly as she stood up. 

She knew it was a memory but at this point in time, to bother about why this memory suddenly popped up was hesitation.

And hesitation meant death. And death was not an option for her.

Not until she took down that bastard fueling the silent war in her family.

That Wole.

Ibiyemi closed her eyes, folding her arms to the back with a long inhalation and the next second, she opened her eyes wide.

"Trust your blade, your reflexes and your environment." The ethereal mentor says, repeating a line that she had mentioned to Ibiyemi when they were having a training session.

With those words, momentum explodes beneath her feet as she dashed straight up to the nearest tree, away from the clearing, her hands holding two shimmering blades of energy.

"I'm not done yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet..." Ibiyemi yelled out, throwing her left leg off the ground and at the tree trunk. 

At the sudden motion, a rebound force slams into her foot, throwing her off but quickly, she capitalised on the force, throwing her body into a somersault, all the while the rogue Irunmoles neared closer to the shut eyes Tobias.

"Having a weapon you don't understand is as good as having no weapon at all." Olukoni's voice filters to her memory again, reminding her of what she had been taught.

To have a weapon when did not understand was death, just as much as hesitation was also. And to Ibiyemi, it didn't matter if this was merely a crackdown and nothing serious except that Elisa thought to simply taunt her.

No, it didn't matter. In fact, she is rather thankful to have an opportunity like this to test the extent of her power. Because only when she is powerful enough, only then may she ever hope to save Sunday and then... to crackdown Afolabi and wreck havoc to the bully, Wole.

"Your fight is with meeeee..." Ibiyemi bared her teeth, her hair rustling over as she fixed her eyes on the targets, tumbled over in the somersault.

And then, in a moment's notice, she flings the blades off, straight at the ground, just beneath the two Irunmoles.

'I understand it now.' Ibiyemi g.r.o.a.n.e.d, tumbling over to her feet and backing the action happening right behind her and up in the air. 'All of it. And I swear, I won't let you down.'

"Ack!" The blue belted Irunmole coughed out essence as a blade of energy stuck into the back of his neck, frozen in motion.

His partner was not spared as he had the other Abefele Iruju stuck into his back, the pain forcing him to arc his back and inadvertently cancelling their assault on Tobias as they each fell, crashing heavily into the ground while Elisa and Elias laughed.

"Nuisance." The red belted Irunmole cursed, getting to his feet. "You think you're the only one who knows Law of Chance, right?" He clasped his open palms together as the blade in his back broke off.

"Law of Chance: Nimble Feet."

"Let's see how you perform against a low class technique as this." The Irunmole pulled off his mask and crushed it in his hands, revealing his bleeding right eyebrow of essence and his short hair.

THUD! 

He slammed a foot down and like a rocket, bursted forward, moving with the wind as his boost, his sole destination being Ibiyemi.

An Irunmole is naturally fast paced. Without the engagement of any technique, an Irunmole can run for several meters, some of which can happen in a blink depending on how high the class level is. 

However, when fast paced techniques are then called into play, the speed of an Irunmole is vastly increased, making the distance they could cover against their natural speed like fighter jet to the highest speed of a tricycle.

And right now, Ibiyemi's speed was that of tricycle and against him, she was no match.

Except that she wasn't done yet.

Right from the time the rogue Merc had chanted the technique, all of her body had been boosted by adrenaline or the equivalent in spirit terms as she merely waited, her course of action boldly imprinted in her mind.

And then, just as the punch of the rogue Irunmole reached, knowing she would not be fast enough to escape, Ibiyemi's double blades slashed at the tree trunk behind her, shattering wood ch.i.p.s in the air.

With only a fraction of a second to spare, her innate ability activates as she hefts most of the wood ch.i.p.s over her shoulders by slapping them with the blades and her hands.

And then, the rogue mercenary punches through the sudden explosion of wood ch.i.p.s right in front of Ibiyemi.

Except that, the ch.i.p.s were incredibly dense , causing welts of essence to rip through his fist.

"what?" The red belted Irunmole queried, holding his fist in shock just as the wood ch.i.p.s fell down.

"She still has her innate ability. Looks like it is 'Lend Strength'. With that, she can make even lifeless objects stronger than normal but with a stronger backlash, of course, for lending her strength to inanimate things ." Elisa gesticulated, totally enjoying the show.

Just then, dizzying sensations settled on Ibiyemi, forcing her to stagger back against the damaged tree trunk behind her, her back leaning on it while she held her head with both hands.

"You guys eh..I hope you're enjoying the display of the heir to the house. Just you wait till she gets herself and watch how she'll shatter you to pieces. Pieces that we will pick for better judgement at the House." Elias yelled out, waving a hand. 

"Shut up." The Irunmole who attacked Ibiyemi earlier screamed, looking fiercely at the two gold sprinkled boot twins.