Chapter 192 : The Advancing Commander (Part 2)
"You two, it seems my efforts were not in vain."
On the chaotic, stony ruins, Bai En, wearing his fox mask again, looked at Silver Eagles Captain Nozel and The Emerald Mantis Group Captain Jack, who had arrived earlier than him, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Hehehe... Kid, don't joke around. I didn't come here to study. One day, I'll slice you up." Jack licked his curved scythe blade with his long tongue, speaking with a menacing expression.
Nozel didn't say anything, just stood to the side with a sour look on his face. His reluctant expression held a hint of struggle, and hidden deep within that struggle was... a desire.
A desire to become stronger.
"Is that so? If you can, feel free to do it anytime." Bai En teased, ending the boring conversation and moving on to the topic of the night. "The Mana Zone mentioned yesterday will be tested specifically after class. As for this lesson, we are starting a new topic: Magic."
"Although the theory that mana determines everything has always circulated in the Clover Kingdom, well... in fact, that is indeed correct. After all, it is precisely because of mana that classes like nobles and commoners are divided..."
"But if we analyze it from the perspective of battles between Mages, mana is the main factor influencing the battle, but not the absolute one. 'Magic,' as the manifestation of mana, is the decisive factor in winning a battle."
"Therefore, magic is particularly crucial."
Observing the unimpressed Nozel and Jack, the corners of Bai En's mouth beneath the mask curled up slightly. After a brief pause, he continued: "Well... I feel like I've said a lot of nonsense. As Magic Knights Squad Captains, how could you not understand the importance of magic?"
"..."
Bai En tilted his head down, his tone becoming cold and stern: "But in reality, do you really understand your own magic well enough?"
The fox mask turned.
Nozel looked over subconsciously, feeling a gaze fixed tightly on him, and a measured voice came from beneath the mask.
"Nozel Silva, Silver Eagles Captain, known for your powerful mana as a royal and your precise control over Mercury Magic."
Hearing the Masked Man's praise, Nozel, with his cold face, gave a soft huff.
"However..." The shift in tone made Nozel straighten up. "It is precisely because of your rigid thinking that you lack the creativity to win when facing strong enemies."
"There is nothing wrong with Mercury Magic pursuing changes in the form of mercury, but if you discover shackles and do not seek flexibility, leading to stagnation, it will only be counterproductive."
"Mercury is a liquid metal, that's true, but does it not have other properties? Mercury dispersed in the air... would be toxic, right? Why not develop it in the direction of toxicity?"
"Toxic?" Listening to what Bai En said, Nozel touched his chin and began to ponder. After the battle with the elves, he was constructing a defensive type of magic, utilizing liquid mercury to wrap around his entire body to achieve extremely strong defense.
But there was a fatal flaw—the highly toxic mercury armor would corrode his own body, which meant the magic he was conceiving could not be maintained for long. It could only be used in emergencies where he needed to create attack conditions for others.
But... if he were to use mana to develop toxicity, he had never thought of that before. Perhaps he could try it.
Before Nozel could ask about the details.
The guy wearing the red fox mask in front turned his head and looked at the other person—Jack.
Compared to the long string of words just used to evaluate Nozel, the Masked Man's evaluation of The Emerald Mantis Group Captain was extremely simple, consisting of only three sentences.
"As for you... the power of the slashes formed by your Severing Magic is far from enough."
"Your mana sensing and speed are also too slow."
"This is also why you are not as good as Black Bulls Captain Yami Sukehiro."
Hearing the Masked Man's words, Jack, who had been watching Nozel get humbled with a playful expression, immediately looked stunned.
After a few seconds of deadlock.
A chilling voice accompanied by a menacing facial expression, as if asking or perhaps questioning: "Are you saying I'm not as good as that foreigner from the Black Bulls?"
"To be precise, that is indeed the case." The Masked Man sitting on the pile of stones replied, his calm voice sounding like he was stating a fact.
Jack couldn't help but take two steps forward; the scythe blades on his wrists glowing with cyan light looked like two silent, eerie gleams under the moonlight.
The next moment, he exploded into action.
A voice filled with rage, mixed with the crescent moon shape carved out by the scythe blade slicing through the air, appeared in front of the Masked Man in an instant, and the slash descended.
"Don't joke around!"
The cyan slash bloomed, the stacked pile of stones was split in two, and a deep crack several meters long appeared on the ground.
A calm voice sounded from behind Jack.
"See, I was right, wasn't I? You're very slow~"
The Masked Man had dodged away the instant before the slash landed.
A cold glint flashed in Jack's eyes. As he turned his body, he swung his narrow scythe blades, and the night was torn apart by a horizontal cyan "one" shape.
The cyan eerie light was beautiful and cold.
This strike severed space!
But the Masked Man did not dodge; instead, he fearlessly reached out his right hand. The horizontal slash touched the Masked Man's hand, and countless sparks erupted in the air.
Crackling like a fireworks display.
Then, in the midst of these sparks, the space-severing slash shattered like glass into streams of mana light.
The Masked Man looked at Jack calmly.
It was as if he was using the fact that he had blocked this space-severing slash for the second time to prove his first point: the power of the slashes formed by Severing Magic is far from enough.
Having missed two consecutive attacks, Jack was not discouraged. He also looked at the guy wearing the mask, his highly aggressive gaze as if he had locked onto an interesting target to hunt.
"Yes, yes!" Jack shouted excitedly, "Only like this does it have the value of being torn apart by me!"
Compared to Jack's excitement, Bai En, wearing the mask, was exceptionally calm. He evaluated Jack's two attacks: "It's still the same Severing slash swung using your own mana as last time. It seems last night's lesson didn't have much effect on you."
He said nothing more.
Cyan mana lit up at Jack's feet, and he rushed forward directly, while cyan slashes spilled out from all directions like a tide.
At the same time the slashes were soaring, Nozel, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, finally took action.
Mercury like raindrops appeared in the night.
His target was none other than—Bai En!
In a world where silver "raindrops" and cyan slashes danced chaotically, Bai En clearly felt a trace of something different. Compared to when he first saw it, the floating silver mercury had a hint of naturalness to it.
...
From far away, a figure was observing the scene.
Through a microphone made of bronze, this figure was recording notes from the lesson. At the same time, when the battle started, his gaze was completely fixed on it.
This cautious guy was none other than Sekke.
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