Sacrifice: Time of Mine

"You battle maniac!" the guild master was not happy with how Mettany was acting. 

Mettany was like an apprentice to him. At first, she was as weak as a stick. She was experiencing the ambitious phase of being a youth back in the days. 

A young teenager wanting to be a Risker even though her Initial Rank is just Rank Eeh. 

Initial Rank is the rank one is born with. On average, an Elementalist will rank up one to two times their whole life. Meaning, the higher the rank you are born with, the brighter your future is.

Talents have to do with the bloodline. A couple who is both Rank Bih will have a chance to have a child with an Initial Rank of at least Rank Eeh and at best, Rank Cee!

Although there are exceptions such as children having a higher Initial Rank than their parents' current Ranks and children having no Initial rank but accomplishing more than four Rank Ups until the end of their life!

But they are very few and Mettany is one of them...

"Just 1 cren and 25-"

Pak!* 

The Guild Master used most of his Body Strengthening and exchanged moves with the fearsome Mettany. In terms of raw skills, Mettany is talented but the Guild Master is keeping up with his accumulated experience.

Winds were continuously blowing on Avion's face as he put his arm forward, asking for money like a desperate beggar. Although he looked adamant and stupid, he was currently feeling fear.

Rocks were relentlessly flying away. Some of these rocks were hitting Avion, wounding him, giving him bruises, and some, making him tumble down and bleed.

Winds were becoming as sharp as blades. It was pushing him and it was getting harder for him to move forward.

The two monsters were so focused on their opponents that they didn't notice Avion's struggles.

Their non-stopping attacks were so fast, Avion felt dizzy just by watching them. Each collision was banging into his ears and he could not tell the gap between each collision which makes it like one continuous drilling sound.

'This is the true power of Rank Bihs?!' Avion wanted to breathe deeply but soil was getting mixed with the wind and flying pieces of shredded wild grass and plants.

'But the money!' Avion was unrelenting and stepped forward into the fight.

Meanwhile, sweat and even blood were swaying with the wild wind.

"You really are strong now! Hahaha!" the Guild Master's battle spirit was getting hyped by Mettany's strength. At first, he was not expecting so much but he could feel that if he lost focus, he could get solidly hit.

"1 cren and 25 brons each!"

Their bodies were twisting and swaying in an extreme manner. Every kick, knee, elbow, and punch they give gave a resounding echo while the counterpart was fiercely dodging, parrying, or blocking.

"...." Mettany was silent as she felt that she was getting overwhelmed.

"Pay up. 1 cren. 25 brons. Each."

Even though she was exceptional, having an Initial Rank of Rank Eeh, she only ever Ranked Up once and became Rank Dih. The gap between Rank Dih and Rank Cee is vast and couldn't be surpassed. It was the same as Rank Cee and Rank Bih. However, with Rank Dih strength, she was actually faring equally with a rank Bih!

"Just pay up, it's cheap!"

This is all because of her Conditioned Elesk that she had mysteriously awakened. Mettany had never said this to anybody before, the story of how she obtained such an exquisite and strong Conditioned Elesk.

"Want me to increase it to 2 crens and 50 brons each!?"

The howling wind abruptly stopped. The soil and pieces of shredded grass finally rested on the ground. The continuous banging sound echoed one last time before it faded.

Heavy and ragged breathing could only be heard as of the moment before both large and thin voice shouted, "What do you want?!"

"Money!" Avion roared.

He was bearing the harsh battle environment for a while now while being ignored. Now that he gained their attention, he could not contain himself.

"Here, here, take it!" strings of liquid came out of the Guild Master's rough hands and formed into five silver coins.

"Ruining the mood! Husband, don't make me angry at you!" at the same time, soil formed out of nowhere and condensed into three silver coins on top of Mettany's wrist.

Avion stared at this and was baffled. He didn't learn this from the history books.

In total, eight silver coins were thrown at him.

"Is this crens?"

"Keep the change!" the guild master shouted again.

"Oh, thanks."

Mettany just sighed. Although she said it, her fighting spirit was still soaring. She was just waiting for Avion to stepped outside of the fighting area.

Meanwhile, the guild master had time to think and evaluate the situation, 'Mettany was able to actually break through two barriers of each gap between ranks. Is it because of hi...' he glanced at where Avion stood and his eyes widened.

"... where did he go?" Mettany had noticed this from the start and was looking around. This was the second time Avion did this. No, actually, it was the third time!

"Wait, did you know how he got here?" the Guild Master was unable to hold his question. As the elder and the stronger one, he should know this and should not ask this kind of question. But he really doesn't know, what could he do?

"Actually, husband's name is Avion Teller." with Avion went, Mettany composed herself and the redness of her face was slowly vanishing.

'Husband?' Guild Master Gon was puzzled but was then startled, "You mean that Avion Teller who offended but escaped King Karan?"

Mettany nodded.

"Where do you think he went?" the Guild Master's voice regained its composure and toughness.

"I could follow his presence due to his enormous aura. I kind of know where he went." Mettany said. It was true. She looked around earlier because it was still unbelievable for her.

"So that's why you got ahead of yourself when we were about to go home." Guild Master Gon finally understood. They should've arrived back at Trading-Hills Capital tomorrow after defeating the Fire-breathing Beasthorse, completing the mission.

However, Mettany became strange and ran as fast as she could. Guild Master Gon didn't know it for a while before realizing that she was gone. Using a certain elesp or Elemental Spell, he found that she was ahead of the journey. So he followed with a constant speed. He calculated back then that he should catch her after a few hours.

But what was mysterious was that, as time goes one, Mettany was getting faster and faster that even he failed to keep up!