Chapter 223
Chapter 223
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 223
Chapter Title: Golden Talent (2)
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Dense mana becomes a massive storm in its own right.
Watching the brilliant golden mana reflections scattering in all directions with a low rumble shaking the air, Eloa fell silent for a moment.
The Tiphereth Duke, wielding a single sword to hunt homunculi and public enemies.
She had many public enemies as foes, but an equal number of witches admired and idolized her.
For that reason, as she wandered the mortal realm, many witches sought her tutelage.
The reasons varied widely.
For safety, for greater achievements in magic, to grow stronger.
They came with all sorts of plausible reasons and ambitions, and she readily passed on her honed martial prowess.
"This doesn't seem right for me."
"It's not what I expected."
"I'm sorry."
And usually, within two weeks, they gave up.
It wasn't because witches lacked patience or perseverance.
Witches were typically more tenacious and diligent than any human—madly so, in some ways.
The reason even such witches quit so quickly was that they could already see the math after that amount of time.
The calculation that no matter how hard they tried, there'd be no gains ahead.
Because the Tiphereth Duke's teachings were something utterly divergent from what ordinary witches pursued.
So, after three days of training had begun...
The moment Eloa realized Siu had no talent for body techniques, she unconsciously lumped him in with all the others.
She accepted it with a brief disappointment: He'll quit soon enough.
She hadn't even thought to properly assess him.
What talents he possessed, where his strengths lay.
How someone who seemed so utterly ordinary had survived countless battlefields—she hadn't even questioned it.
"Is it still not enough? I'm starting to get tired now."
Starting to get tired?
His face showed no such thing.
Not a single drop of sweat beaded on his forehead.
If he really pushed himself, he could probably muster twice or four times this amount of mana.
"If you poured all that into body enhancement, your astral body would burst."
"Yeah, you're right...? I can't even handle this much fully anyway."
Siu waved his hand lightly, and about half the mana dissipated in an instant.
Tiphereth couldn't help but marvel again at how freely he wielded it.
It starkly demonstrated the profound mastery he had over mana control.
"Try reducing it a bit more?"
"Sure, how about this?"
After a few adjustments, reducing the mana until Tiphereth deemed it safe to channel through the circuits for enhancement...
"Good. That's suitable for your first time using it."
Eloa realized her own voice had lightened with anticipation.
"I'll explain the method first."
"Yes, please do."
"Sit down for a moment."
"Got it."
Siu crossed his legs into a lotus position, and Eloa continued her explanation.
"Body enhancement fundamentally starts at the stigma, circulates through the mana circuits to the extremities, and completes a full cycle. But since your stigma is in a different location, we'll need a slight modification."
"From now on, I'll guide your mana. Remember the sequence carefully."
"Of course, I have no intention of harming you or prying into anything improperly, so rest easy. Is that alright?"
Eloa spoke with careful caution.
She always used measured, serious tones, but now especially so.
Handing over control of one's mana, or allowing another's mana into one's body...
Both were extremely dangerous acts.
Even the slightest malice or mistake could cause severe, hard-to-heal internal injuries.
Even when teaching body enhancement to other witches, many balked at this step.
"Nah, I didn't even think of that."
But Siu simply bowed his head and waited trustingly.
After just half a month—and without even particularly enthusiastic lessons—he willingly disarmed himself.
He might not have known the full risks, stepping forward without hesitation, but to Eloa, it felt like immense trust.
"Duke?"
"Ah, right."
Eloa hesitantly extended her pale hand and placed it on Siu's crown.
"Try not to move if possible."
"Yes, understood."
Her mana seeped ever so slightly into his body.
Like a welcoming trickle, Eloa's mana burrowed into his circuits and slowly began guiding his.
In the process, she got a full view of Siu's mana circuits.
Circuits branching from the stigma in his left eye throughout his body.
Guiding it from the solar plexus through the crown, Eloa gradually spread it across his entire form.
"........."
"........."
No words passed between them.
Any lapse in concentration now could lead to disaster.
"Done. Did you memorize it?"
Body enhancement is trickier than it looks.
Imparting mana in the wrong order causes tangles.
Fail to distribute it precisely accounting for joint mobility and muscle mass, and catastrophe ensues.
For instance, if a fist gets 10 units of mana but the shoulder only 2 during a punch, you'd dislocate on the spot.
Thus, the process naturally becomes complex and deliberate.
"It won't be easy to remember all at once. I'll do it once more."
"Ah, I think I got it memorized. Just reviewing it now."
"Really?"
A moment ago, she might have dismissed it as nonsense and told him to watch closely again.
But after witnessing his mana amplification, it didn't seem like empty bravado.
"Show me."
Standing, Siu tilted his head side to side, then began circulating mana through his body.
A far greater amount than Eloa had demonstrated distributed correctly and precisely.
"Wow... it actually worked."
"Try moving carefully?"
"Like this?"
"Careful...!"
-Whoosh!
Eloa had suggested a light step, but Siu threw a casual jab into the air.
The omnipotence of superhuman power, like wearing powered armor.
The fist whipped through so fast an ordinary eye couldn't track it, tearing the air.
He twisted his body this way and that.
Darting left and right alternately, launching himself as if swinging a sword.
Just a light kick off the ground sent him soaring nearly 20 meters up before landing.
The body techniques he'd ingrained sparring with Eloa unfolded with startling naturalness.
"........."
Eloa unwittingly parted her lips slightly.
Like teaching a baby to walk, only for it to suddenly windmill—something like that feeling.
At any rate, his aptitude far exceeded her expectations.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Siu tested his body every which way.
He wanted to try a rising dragon fist or leaf whirlwind, but with the Duke watching, he settled for clumsy shadowboxing.
His movements felt free.
Amazing that he could move like this without the armor's aid.
The process had been:
(1) Think of the body movement in advance.
(2) Move the armor accordingly.
(3) The body inside moves.
With (1) and (2) skipped, his body followed thought with zero delay or error.
Like clicking a monitor icon with a mouse versus direct touch—the difference in sensation.
Eloa was baffled.
Siu's movements without mana had been clumsy as could be.
What was it? The epitome of "people who can't properly control their bodies" she'd met countless times.
Yet the moment she enhanced his astral body with mana, he moved like shedding sandbags.
Hands and feet that always mistimed now synced perfectly.
Eloa vaguely realized.
He'd held her precise instructions in his mind's eye, visualized them perfectly.
Just lacked the motor nerves to execute.
Like a slow bike toppling sideways.
But with mana aiding the movements his body couldn't match, they manifested flawlessly.
From the start, he was a genius at handling mana, not the body.
Her shock was brief; curiosity surged.
"Siu."
"Yes, Duke? Thanks to you, I've learned something great."
"Try imitating this too?"
Eloa drew a breath.
Drag the front foot tight to the back, infuse mana, and thrust forward.
Bend both legs like a horse stance, front foot perpendicular to the pivot.
Push off the ground, channel the force waste-free into the legs, rotate the waist for acceleration.
Spin using the raised power as axis, accelerate with mana.
Finally, gather all force from shoulder to elbow, wrist, fist at the apex and unleash straight ahead...
-Boom!
Her vertical fist cleaved the air with a sound like slamming sheet metal.
Though it hit nothing.
The rooftop concrete supporting her cracked and split audibly.
The basics she instinctively applied in swordplay.
Concentrating all generated force into one point without loss: the pinnacle technique, explosive thrust.
"Oof... Bong Kwon..."
Siu clapped in admiration.
He recalled getting pummeled by it before—his guts twinging a bit—but damn, it was cool.
Her fluttering pale pink hair settled as she exhaled, centering herself.
"Now, you try."
"You mean imitate that...?"
He couldn't fathom it.
Flailing limbs, sure, he'd mimic. But she pulls a martial arts master's pose and casually says imitate? How am I supposed to do that!
"Simple. Relax the body fully, use only the needed muscles."
Easier said than done...
"But here's the difference for you. Don't try to move your body."
"Don't move it?"
"Yes. Drain all tension from the body as much as possible, and focus only the mana in your circuits—like moving that. Give it a go."
"...Could you show it a few more times?"
"Not difficult."
Eloa assumed the same stance.
And, so he could reference it perfectly, thrust her hand with identical mana, identical force, identical timing—zero deviation.
Seemingly simple, but an astonishing feat.
Her body traced the exact same trajectory, not a millimeter off.
Like long-jumping the same distance and pose flawlessly every time.
Proof her body control transcended human limits.
"Hoo... How was it?"
Siu watched intently.
Not the posture or motions.
With his left eye visualizing mana flow, he tracked the timing of distributions, how it influenced acceleration.
"I'll give it a shot."
"Go ahead."
Under Eloa's gaze—detached yet brimming with expectation—Siu replicated her motion from memory.
-KABOOM!
And.
A small crater formed on the rooftop.