"Nice job, Lumi."
"A-ah..?"
She muttered in complete confusion, tilting her head to the right side while raising one eyebrow in puzzlement, since absolutely no one had ever said those kind words to her when they witnessed how she fought in battle, not even her fellow Luminas who had trained alongside her for years, so this was definitely a completely new and unexpected first experience for her. Well, that strange reaction might actually be because of Rynan's incredible density when it came to understanding people's feelings, since he was dense as hell when it came to reading social situations and understanding what people really meant when they spoke to him.
"What's wrong?"
He asked curiously, leaning his body closer to Lumi so he could get a better look at her expression, genuinely wanting to know what was going on inside her mind and why she seemed so surprised by his simple compliment. Lumi quickly diverted her gaze away from his face and looked toward the tall tree to her right instead, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red as she blushed from the unexpected attention and praise. Rynan couldn't see her cute, red, innocent face clearly from this angle, but just seeing her delicate ears turn into such a bright red hue was definitely more than enough evidence for him to understand what was happening, and he couldn't help but grin widely at her adorable reaction.
"Anyways, let's go ahead and get moving."
Ryn took the lead and started walking forward, entering through the main entrance of the old ruined building that was completely covered with thick green vines and moss that hung down from the crumbling doorframe like natural curtains. This whole experience was definitely something new and exciting for Rynan, since he had never tried urbanized exploration before, and it actually sounded like it could become a really interesting new hobby for him to pursue in his free time. Lumi followed closely behind him, staying just a few steps back, but despite being incredibly powerful and able to destroy and pulverize enemies from a great distance with her magic, she couldn't help but cling tightly to Rynan's arm, keeping her guard up and staying alert for any potential danger. It seemed pretty obvious that Lumi was genuinely scared of dark places, which was actually quite cute and endearing to see from someone so powerful.
Even someone as strong and capable as her still had a soft, feminine side that she tried to hide from others.
<-<-<-<-<-<-༒︎->->->->->->
By the time they had finally arrived at what appeared to be the main entrance of the hidden bandit hideout, they were greeted with absolutely nothing but empty silence and darkness. There wasn't a single thug, bandit, or suspicious person anywhere in sight, which was definitely strange considering this was supposed to be their secret base of operations. There was a high probability that all of them had somehow detected their approach and decided to run away before they could be caught and arrested. Rynan let out a long, frustrated sigh as he looked around the empty area.
"No one's here at all... What exactly are we supposed to do now?"
Lumi asked nervously, getting even more anxious and worried as time passed, and this was completely clear and obvious because her facial expression had completely given away all of her true emotions and fears. She continued to follow Rynan around, staying close behind him and clinging to his arm for comfort and security in this scary, unfamiliar place.
"Don't worry about it, we'll definitely be completely safe."
"H-how can you be so sure about that..? This place is really scary and creepy."
"Don't say things like that, you know you can defeat all of them easily with your magic."
"Uhm."
Lumi looked around nervously, her worried gaze darting everywhere as she tried to spot any potential threats or dangers, but this time she seemed to have a bit more confidence in herself after hearing his encouraging words. They had already been wandering around the dark, empty corridors for several long minutes, carefully exploring every room and hallway they could find. But there still wasn't a single sight of anyone anywhere in the entire building, and that strange, unsettling thought sent cold chills running down her spine, causing her whole body to twitch with fear and nervousness.
***
"Oh..?"
Rynan grinned widely under the dim, flickering light that barely illuminated their surroundings, since he had already seen through this obvious trap completely, not just now in this moment, but actually ever since they had first entered the supposedly abandoned hideout, he had known exactly where all the enemies were hiding and waiting. His facial expression was completely full of confidence and arrogance, like he had everything under perfect control and nothing could surprise him.
"Lumi, do you think you can cast a high-area-of-damage spell that covers a really wide range?"
Rynan asked in a calm, steady voice, as if he was politely pleading with her to help him out with this situation. Lumi looked directly into his eyes, her cheeks slightly blushing again from the intense eye contact and the way he was depending on her abilities. Now was definitely the perfect time for her to show off her incredible magical powers to Rynan, to make him truly impressed with what she could do, and that exciting thought made her feel thrilled and eager to prove herself.
—Let's do this and show him what I'm really capable of!
Lumi exclaimed enthusiastically in her thoughts, getting genuinely excited about the opportunity to demonstrate her strength. She got into her fighting stance and began gathering all the powerful Eons energy to her chest, the same devious, confident smile spreading across her face as she concentrated her magic, then she abruptly raised her right hand high up toward the ceiling, causing all the gathered Eons to migrate and flow directly into her right hand.
KA———BOOM!!!*
In the thick darkness somewhere in the distance, a massive explosion erupted with tremendous force, sending a huge cloud of debris and thick smoke billowing out in all directions, with chunks of rocks and splintered pieces of wood flying everywhere through the air. This particular spell was clearly much more potent and lethal than the previous one she had used earlier, making it seem like that first attack was probably just the weakest and most basic of all her available spells. Lumi confidently placed her hand on the side of her hip, striking a pose that was practically screaming "I'm absolutely great, aren't I?" while pouring out pure confidence and playful goofiness, grinning widely like she had just won the lottery or achieved something incredible in life.
—That was completely unexpected, I never thought she was actually this incredibly powerful...
Rynan thought to himself in amazement, his eyes widening in complete disbelief and admiration, almost as if he was completely charmed and mesmerized by her impressive display of magical power. Well, he was already charmed by her anyway, considering how oblivious and dense he could be about his own feelings.
"..!"
Suddenly, Rynan's combat senses immediately heightened to their maximum level, his eyes widening in alarm as he detected that there was someone charging directly toward Lumi at an incredibly dangerous speed, and that attacking person was moving really fast, much faster than a normal person should be able to move. Rynan immediately ran toward her as fast as his legs could carry him, positioning himself right beside her in a desperate attempt to save her from the incoming attack, since she clearly didn't have the refined combat senses needed to detect the enemy person who was charging toward her with obvious hostile intent.
—FUCK, just die already, you bastard!
Rynan's feet slid roughly across the hard concrete ground, leaving deep scratch marks against the surface as dust flew up into the air, causing Lumi to cough and cover her mouth with her hand, and in what seemed like no time at all, the enemy was already there, standing right in front of Rynan with a weapon raised. Rynan quickly coiled both of his arms back behind him as far as he possibly could in just a single millisecond, and it took only another millisecond for him to extend his arm forward with tremendous force, throwing a powerful hook punch directly at the man's face and sending him flying toward the left side of the room.
CRASH! *