“I was a test subject,” Winter said while fighting Rin. “A guinea pig to be more accurate.”

It wasn't a real battle as it was just a sort of training for the two girls to know each other better. Though, that didn't mean they didn't fight seriously. They pulled their punch, of course, but just enough to avoid bothersome damage. In other words, everything that can heal in a day goes.

At least, Rin fought with that mindset. Winter, on the other hand, was still hesitating a little, as evidenced by her constant defensive position. The white girl hadn't yet to counterattack and was just dodging and evading the other's offensive.

“You wanted to know more about me right?” Winter continued, her eyes looking downcast and unfocused on the fight. “There isn't much to know, really. All I can remember from my daily life is... pain.”

Rin retracted and stopped moving from those words.

‘...Maybe forcing her to talk was a bad move.’ She thought, guilt rising in her heart. She wasn't good with socializing in general so she wouldn't be surprised if she had overstepped her boundaries a little.

She opened her mouth in consequence and tried to apologize. However, it seemed like Winter was very much ready to talk, now. And in a slightly different mood than earlier to boot. In a bad way.

“Did you know, Rin?” Winter cut Rin off her thought, evidently recalling a bad memory. “An Elite's singularity is heavily linked with the holder's feeling and sentiment.”

The white girl disappeared in a burst of speed and took her sparring partner in surprise, which allowed her to strike the stomach that was now in front of her. Rin, barely able to defend, was blown backward with a strong shockwave.

“These guys knew about that.” Winter transmitted, clenching the hand she used to attack. “They took advantage of that rule in the worst possible way to make me go through a living hell.”

The black-haired girl listened carefully as she tried to regain her balance. “These guys...?” She asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

“The people behind the one that attacked you.”

Rin twitched, recalling Achille and the other's death for an instant. Then she looked straight at Winter with a serious expression, her curiosity picked. She wanted, no, she needed to know more about this.

“I was only around four when they took me in.” Winter began, exchanging blow with Rin to make it easier to talk. “I wasn't an Elite yet but my singularity and Aura were already on the developing phase, or so I was told.”

At some point during the fight, Rin switched to the defensive side to let the other on the offensive. Why? Well, it wasn't entirely intentional seeing as Winter was becoming more and more aggressive.

“The thing is, for me to develop the singularity they were searching for, they decided to tweak, play and mess with my very own feelings.” The girl's blow grew dangerously strong, which compelled Rin to escape her range. “They put envy into me. They made me feel an indescribable amount of envy toward others.”

Taking advantage of the distance that was created, the white girl decided to back her words with visual proof.

“All for the sake of this... Power.” Wind gathered at the palm of her hand, showcasing a great control of the air.

Yet, Rin knew the singularity she was talking about wasn't a simple air manipulation. She had the feeling it was much stronger, more dangerous than that. And the fact that Winter showed her the future just a day ago further strengthened that feeling.

“They even stripped me of my name, you know?” Winter continued while increasing the speed of the wind she was gathering. Before long, the building the two of them were in began to shook to its very core.

“They instead called me with that cursed, disgusting nickname: Replica.”

The entire building collapsed with those words as a cue, enveloping Rin as well as Winter with ton of rubble and dust. Noise inevitably resounded, loud and distinct since the entire city itself was the personification of silence.

Fortunately, the building wasn't that big or that important so the damages were minimal. As minimal as the cost of the house was, at least. Still, no one was injured, which in this case, (only) included the black and grey-haired girls.

A long moment after the destruction, a thick cloud of dust remained to cover the whole area. However, that didn't prevent Rin from letting out her sweet, feminine voice.

“Well, I wouldn't know what to tell you.” She said while containing a chuckle.

She couldn't see Winter's face but she was certain a wry smile was on her face right now. Taking a slow step onward and blowing a small chunk of cloud away, it didn't take long for Rin to arrive in front of Winter.

Though, instead of patting the girl like what was done to her 24 hours ago, she opted for a more effective way. She moved her two hands at the same time and hugged the slender and beautiful body in front of her.

“—!” Winter's eyes widened.

“But,” To which Rin gently responded. “You did well to survive this far.”

Silence returned, the dust cleared but a pleasant warmth formed between the two girls. One that made either of them feel at ease and detached from the world around. Time passed by, slowly and meaningfully, healing Rin and Winter's internal wound.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last long.

Rin pulled away from the hug with a sigh and gave Winter one last smile.

“Well, time to care of the third bird.” She stated, taking a step backward while still looking at Winter's face.

Then in a quick and swift movement, she deployed the nano-mask above her left ear. For a single instant, black filled her sight which she took as an opportunity to break eye contact with Winter.

With her face now hidden and covered entirely, she put her hand on the katana dangling on her hips. She let out a breath of preparation and focused on her surrounding. Winter, beside her, quickly understood and also prepared for battle.

The noise was bound to attract attention. Especially in a deserted town that shouldn't let any. And that fact didn't escape Rin. She even used that to her advantage to create a certain situation.

And sure enough, only a few seconds later, the surrounding's shadow began to shook ever so slightly. A detail that might have been irrelevant for others, but for Winter and Rin that was a precursor. A cue for the imminent battle.

No word was needed and when the attack came, the two reacted skillfully.

Countless shadow spike emerged from the ground with dangerous intent. Rin immediately jumped to the sky, specifically toward the wall of a building to escape the attack. Then in a brutal show of strength, she dug her hand directly into the wall to defy the law of gravity.

There she was, calmly looking at the countless unnatural spike below her, out of danger's range. Only for an instant, though. Another blade of shadow appeared, this time from the exact building she was clinging to, clearly aiming for her head.

And again, using the wall as support, Rin jumped further above ground and landed on the roof of the next house. Unfortunately, what awaited her there was an all too familiar shockwave.

Unexpectedly, the black-haired girl was violently smashed down to the road on the ground in an instant, canceling her previous effort to go high up.

“...Unchained.” Raven said standing a meter away from Rin's landing point (which was also thoroughly smashed).

Winter, on other hand, remained safe as she used her air manipulation to fly in the air. Still, when she saw what happened to her new friend, she didn't hesitate to fly in that direction.

“Ri—!” She nearly shouted if not for the hand that stopped her.

“Don't call me with that name for now.” Rin, having regained her balance whispered into Winter's ears.

Before long, Lia also joined them on the ground with a light jump, a serious expression on her face.

Tension rose in the area as the four people faced each other. Rin and Winter against Lia and Raven. They may have seemed like perfectly normal high school girls on the outside but they were also the strongest people inside Talia city as of the moment.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if these people fought right here and now, the repercussion would be catastrophic. And exactly because of that, Rin hoped to not be seen as only a criminal.

“...I'm not here to fight you.” She said, breaking the ice.

“What do you want then?” Lia responded, gathering energy in her hand.

The tension didn't fade in the slightest, and the increase in the darkness seemed to imply Raven was ready to attack at any time.

It wasn't surprising. Unchained raided Ark's base just a few weeks ago so Rin probably couldn't gain their trust right now. Nevertheless, the situation asked for it. And whether Lia or Raven liked it or not, Rin needed them to believe her.

Easier said than done, though.

Unfortunately, among Rin's myriad of skills, sociability was one of the few that remained at level zero. Still, she needed to at least try.

The fate of the entire continent depended on it.

Thus, she slowly opened her mouth as she gazed ahead. “To help.”

And, like that, against all odds, Rin's temporary alliance with Ark was formed.