Wanda Maximoff stared unblinkingly with her bright, dark eyes. Red light covered her clear eyes like a flowing layer over her irises. Scarlet Surge gathered between her slowly moving palms, shifting and turning like liquid. Under the little witch's will, it gradually took the shape of a knife, honing a thin, razor-sharp edge.
She held her breath, more focused than ever as fine beads of sweat slid down her snow-pale cheeks. With a flick of her fingertips, dark red ripples burst through the air. The throwing knife shot out, trailing a phantom of Chaos Magic with a faint whistle.
The blade-shaped magic pierced straight through a humanoid target ten paces away, leaving a thin puncture slash where its head was.
Her taut nerves finally relaxed. Wanda let out a long breath, bent over with her hands braced on her thighs, and panted softly. Her cheeks were flushed, and sweat covered her forehead as she instinctively looked toward her "mentor," who stood nearby with his arms folded.
"Not bad." Michael handed her a dry white towel from the shelf. "You made pretty fast progress today."
Wanda thanked him and took the towel, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Take a break first. We'll continue in a while." Michael walked to the table in the corner of the room, picked up the pot of brewed coffee, gave it a shake, and poured himself a fragrant cup.
Then he raised the coffee pot toward Wanda. "Want some coffee?"
"One cup with sugar, thank you."
Wanda walked over. As she took the coffee cup from Michael, she inadvertently caught sight of the watch on his wrist. It was an exquisitely crafted black watch, with a round ceramic case, a delicate skeleton dial, and a dual-time-zone mechanism for two different regions.
Wanda took a sip