Vale fell silent as the strange feminine voice drifted toward him from the right, warm, amused, and entirely too confident. He turned his head just in time to hear a soft chuckle sliding closer, light as someone strolling through a conversation they had every intention of hijacking. His eyes widened.
Approaching them was a tall woman, about his height with short black hair streaked with bright yellow highlights. Her build was sharp and athletic, a body made for motion and mischief; she looked carved out of momentum. Vale recognized her almost instantly.
Nym.
He snapped his gaze to Korin.
"You know her?" he asked, folding his arms in a flimsy attempt to look neutral.
Korin scratched awkwardly at the back of his head.
"Sort of… yeah."
Nym reached them in the next heartbeat and delivered a sharp jab to Korin's arm, not painful, just charged with friendly irritation.
"That's no way to talk about one of your friends," she said, her tone annoyed but her grin bright with amusement.
Then her eyes found Vale.
Her smile widened into something wicked, playful but edged.
"Well, well… and who might you be?"
Before he could speak, she began circling him, hands clasped neatly behind her back. She studied him in a deliberate, almost predatory loop, eyes flicking from his posture, to his expression, then down to the metallic glint of his arm. Vale stayed still, letting her examine him like he was some new species she hadn't decided whether to poke or pet.
After a few seconds, she returned to her spot.
Vale opened his mouth, but Nym raised a hand.
"Wait, wait, don't tell me." She squinted thoughtfully, then snapped her fingers softly. "You're Vale, right? The guy who fought Caesar and forced his combat protocol to activate."
Korin let out a short, involuntary chuckle. Vale stared at Nym, surprise flickering through his eyes, he'd never seen her before, and yet she was perfectly informed.
Nym's head rotated toward Korin with a slow, dangerously sweet smile.
"Something funny?" she asked, her voice syrupy with warning.
Korin cleared his throat, trying not to sink into himself.
"No, sorry—it's just… there's no way a newly awakened could make Caesar trigger that protocol."
Vale blinked at both of them. His expression twisted into quiet bewilderment.
"Well… was it supposed to be dangerous?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "His punch didn't seem that strong. Just… faster, way faster."
Nym shot Korin a triumphant glance.
"See? Told you."
Then she looked back at Vale.
"Oh, and don't worry. That punch only matters if you actually get hit by it."
Vale tilted his head.
"…Why?"
Nym and Korin exchanged a look. Confusion bloomed in perfect synchrony.
"We… don't actually know," Korin admitted.
"It just works like that," Nym added with a shrug.
They both chuckled weakly.
Then Nym straightened with sudden ceremony.
"Oh! I should introduce myself properly, shouldn't I?" She dipped into a neat bow, unexpectedly elegant for someone who stalked around like a panther.
"Nymia, Nym for short. A pleasure to meet you… Rose of Skill."
"Rose of… skill?" Vale repeated.
Nym's grin sharpened with the tiny thrill of delivering forbidden information.
"My, my… they haven't told you. Well, since you're part of the Rose family now, that's your official title. Just like Korin here, Rose of Madness. And me, Rose of Perception."
Realization dawned on Vale's face like slow sunrise.
"Wait, so both of you are-"
"That's right!" Nym exclaimed before he could finish. "We're also members of the Rose family, anomalies Nymia and Korin!" Her voice brimmed with pride.
Korin groaned into his palm, his shame almost physical.
Vale's curiosity flared.
"You're an anomaly too? What does your plane look like?"
Nym inhaled to answer, then froze. She stepped closer, lifted a hand, and cupped his chin with a surprising gentleness. She tilted his head left, right, and slightly up, studying him like one might study a rare artifact unearthed from an ancient ruin.
Vale's expression grew increasingly awkward.
After a few long seconds, she released him.
Vale blinked, then shot Korin a helpless glance. Korin mirrored it with equal helplessness.
"What… was that?" Vale asked, his voice small and confused.
"Oh, I was just looking at you," Nym said casually.
Vale's face twisted into another complicated expression.
Nym continued as if nothing odd had just occurred.
"Anyway, your question. I have no idea what my plane looks like. Every time I access it, it's just… blank. Pure white, endless white. And the only 'person' there is some ordinary hologram who never stops writing weird fanfic stories." She sighed, bored just remembering it.
Then she fixed her gaze on Vale again.
"And I suppose there's no point asking about your plane. You forgot it."
"Yeah, basically," Vale said, rubbing the back of his head again.
Nym's eyes drifted over him one more time, slower and more calculating, until they locked onto his right metallic arm. Something sparked behind her gaze, subtle but bright.
"Nice relic," she said, tone flattening into genuine curiosity. She nodded toward the arm. "What does it do?"
Vale studied her with a complicated expression, then let his gaze drift to his arm. The metallic surface caught the light in a way that made it seem awake, sleek, seamless, and quietly alive. He thought about it for a moment. All he had truly seen it do was heal him… but as he thought deeper, a realization clicked into place.
His body had grown, visibly, after he woke from his supposed trial. His muscles were fuller, his frame broader. Yet the arm hadn't stayed the same size. It had grown with him, shifting proportion to match the rest of him, as if it were less a piece of machinery and more a biomechanical muscle tethered to his own biology.
He finally looked back at Nym and found his voice, though uncertainty hid beneath it.
"From what I've seen… it can heal me. And it grows with my body."
Nym's eyes widened a fraction, a glimmer of interest sliding across them. She tilted her head.
"Oh? Then it's a hybrid relic."
Vale blinked. The term snagged the thread of his curiosity immediately.
"What do you mean, hybrid?"
Nym folded her arms, her expression slipping into the calm, analytical heaviness
"A relic normally has a single function. One role and purpose. The ones that do more, relics with multiple abilities are called hybrid relics. They're extremely rare and usually absurdly valuable."
Her brows lowered slightly, as if weighing something unseen.
"But yours… yours feels different. Exceptionally useful. Its 'pages' are far too complicated for a simple relic."
"Pages?" Vale raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, its pages are complicated?"
Nym let out a quiet sigh, the kind people use when they've already decided not to explain something.
"It's one of my abilities. You don't need to know more than that. And before you ask: no, it doesn't work on you. Your ability makes you untraceable to anything that isn't a being with a soul."
Vale blinked at that, half in understanding, half in intrigue. It matched the report he'd read about himself; his relic was not truly a part of him, so the idea that she could read it but not him fit strangely well.
Before he could say more, Nym extended her hand sharply.
"Give me your phone."
"Sorry?" Vale asked, startled.
"Your phone," she repeated, voice flat. "Give it."
Despite his suspicion, he dug it out of his pocket and handed it over. Nym tapped rapidly on the screen, her fingers moving with surgical confidence. After a few seconds, she tossed the phone back toward him without ceremony. Vale caught it, barely.
"There. That's my number. I'll be staying in contact with you," she said, crossing her arms with a practiced show of indifference.
Meanwhile, Korin had settled on a nearby bench where Tachyon had landed, the big man now gently tussling with the massive bird like they were old friends. Vale watched the scene for a heartbeat, then turned back to Nym.
"Why?" he asked simply.
A grin, sharp and foxlike, unfurled across her face.
"My, my… you truly don't know what it means when a girl gives you her number?"
Vale tilted his head, confusion radiating off him in waves. He didn't answer; he didn't need to. His expression alone made Nym's grin spread wider.
She leaned in, voice dipping into something softer, like a secret whispered beside a candle flame.
"Here's a hint: it usually means she likes you."
Vale's lips curled upward in a wicked grin of his own, realization dawning in a darker shade.
"Is telling people things like this a hobby of yours? Because I'm very aware you don't like me at all."
Nym laughed under her breath, pleased he'd pierced her little performance.
"Ah, you're no fun. But yes, you're right." She paused, holding his gaze. "In truth… you amuse me."
Vale's confusion returned, painted across his face as she continued, unbothered.
"Well," she said, straightening, "I think it's finally time. I honestly can't hold it back any longer."
Her eyes met his, clear, unwavering, hungry for something he didn't yet understand.
"Vale," she declared, "Rose of Skill… I challenge you to a duel."