I was glad I hadn't missed anything; the tension between the leader and Aphelia had been a tense exchange of glances all this time. What had been a fierce argument was now a deafening silence that enveloped the room.
This went on for a while until the leader stopped it.
"I'm afraid you are mistaken mis, if you're interested in our leader, you'd better turn your attention to him." He pointed his hand in the direction of the nearest person to my right.
The man had a look of confusion at first, then one of horror mixed with panic. "He's lying! Look at me! I don't even have an affinity for any element, unlike him!"
At that moment, a brand new, rather unremarkable voice decided to speak up, and he was right next to the one who had led us here. He was now huddled in a far corner, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible for a man of his size.
Unremarkable said. "Boss, guys, what's the problem? This young lady clearly has no idea what she's gotten herself into. Let's show her why young ladies like her should be more careful about choosing places where they go. If you're all so nervous, I can do it myself!"
For a millisecond he had one of the most disgusting smiles I've ever seen.
I am simultaneously impressed, shocked and annoyed. I realize that most of the general population never awakens their core. That's normal. But this fool either doesn't understand what it means to have a core, or he doesn't know we have one.
And what are the chances of the second option after the fight here? If it's not enough for him, I don't really look like I have one compared to others, but the shadow chair should speak for itself, right?
And then there are those blood red eyes. Which brings me to the reason why that smile only lasted for a millisecond. Aphelia just stood there calmly and listened to the whole tirade. But when it was over, she just snapped her fingers and the head of the unremarkable one simply burst.
I was already preparing myself for a rain of blood, when all the blood froze in place. Then even what was left inside the body was pulled into the air and moved to be behind her head, forming swords and spears.
It would be nice to finally play my part in all of this. Bone hands began to emerge from the shadows beneath each of the living bandits, three for each shadow. As their six fingers finally finished shaping, they grabbed their victims by the legs.
Immediately there was a lot of screaming, squealing, and shrieking. I think someone even wet himself. Looks like I went a little overboard. Two things about which affinity for shadows shines. It's unmatched ability to kill its target instantly, and there are only a few things that can compete with it when it comes to scaring the hell out of someone.
Aphelia turned to me with extremely ostentatious irritation in her eyes and let out an equally contrived sigh of annoyance. The last thing she did was shake her head.
After that, she said one single word. "Silence."
The place froze immediately.
Aphelia moved one of her bloody spears to hover in front of the leader's remaining eye.
"Now, try to answer my question again."
He raised his hands up in the air before replying. "There's clearly some mistake, I'm just a small cog in this machine. You need the man I have already pointed out."
He tried to put on his most accommodating smile, but with all the sweat, noticeable pallor, terror, and constant twitching, it came off as extremely strained, to say the least.
The spear came closer stopping just right in front of the very eye.
"Okay, okay I'm in charge here, now get that away from me!" He paused for a second, then added. "If you see fit, of course, mis."
In the blink of an eye, not only the spear, but the rest of the collected blood lost its shape and flooded the floor. The only remaining bright spot in this sea of red was at Aphelia's feet.
She stood there nonchalantly for a while. Then she turned to face me as if expecting something. Then an incomprehensible weariness crossed her features.
"Would you mind disposing of those shadow hands? And while you're at it, I wouldn't mind having a seat." With that, she turned forward again.
Dispose of the shadows was a matter of a thought, creating an armchair wasn't much more difficult. A high-backed armchair appeared from her shadow, and she immediately sat down in it. There was a slight delay in her movements before she straightened her back and moved to sit on the edge. She crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms across it.
Impressively, I may have understated the bone-chilling cold a bit. I've just gotten used to it over time, so it's noticeably more bearable.
However, it should be noted that all attempts to freeze someone were a complete failure. The cold from the shadows didn't even leave a mark on the body, most likely affecting the soul or mind in some way to make it feel that way.
Unfortunately, to be sure, I'd have to find someone with those affinities and a willingness to help. Even without the second part, this would be an incredibly difficult task; in all my time, I've only met one person who might have had an affinity for mind.
Back to Aphelia, her composure is remarkable, anyone else would have given up and gotten up long ago, but she continues to hold on.
At the same time, the leader tried his best to catch his breath, still glancing at his shadow with fear.
Doing his best to sound calm, he said. "I'm truly sorry for any inconvenience my stupid subordinates may have caused you, I'll deal with them the second you leave so, you don't have to worry about it anymore. In fact, wait a second, I can compensate you fairly."
He hastily walked over to the wall and swept his hand across it. The wall was replaced by a safe that looked more expensive than the building and everything we'd seen so far. And clearly inappropriate for these people.
But even so, trying to buy off with a couple of gold coins?
Not only did it not look serious, it was a little insulting. For Aphelia of course, I didn't have any particular problem with these people from the beginning.
It took the boss a while to open it, and the fact that his hands were shaking all the time didn't help. But when he finally succeeded, he found himself chained with shadows, unable to move even a finger.
I think that was a bit unnecessary, with the amount of blood still present in the room, he'd find himself with his head pierced much sooner than he could do anything. But better safe than sorry.