Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: 30: Eve of the Storm
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"Anyway, I succeeded with Pure Magic. I did well, right? So praise me. Your Highness."
"Huh? Praise?"
What was this out of nowhere? This sudden demand?
"...Well, sure. What could I possibly refuse to give you?"
"Yay!"
"Tell me what you want. Need money? Or should I build a small magic tower next to the mansion?"
"Give me a Core."
"What?"
Tolari giggled with a polite gesture, holding out her palm.
"You said you have one Ancient Bear Core left, right? Give that to me."
No, wait. A Core here?
"You said anything, didn't you? So hurry up. Give me my reward! Reward! Reward! Rune, you too."
"Re... reward. Reward. No, please give me the reward."
The two women clapped in unison, ramping up the pressure. Ugh, so this was their game? The moment we got to the mansion, she showed off Rune's results out of the blue... These girls had planned this from the start! They tricked me into a trap!
* * *
I got swept up in the moment for a bit, but I only promised Tolari that I'd consider her as a candidate for now.
I mean, come on? No matter how hyped the mood was, I couldn't just go, "Here, take it!" and hand over a precious Core willy-nilly. This was all part of carefully deliberating who the Core's owner would be.
A Core for a mage, though.
She hadn't even been on my radar before, but from now on, I should think about this option too.
It'd naturally be less efficient than feeding it to a knight. But depending on the situation, it might create new synergies, right?
How synesthesia—the thing Regar mentioned—would manifest was still unknown. It was all case by case. I couldn't even imagine that Lord's Eye would gain synesthesia as an extra feature.
"Your Highness. Why do you keep blinking one eye?"
Dabi, facing me in the training grounds, asked. I opened my tightly shut eye and shook my head.
"Nah. Felt like something got in my eye."
The good news was that Lord's Eye, like Appraisal Eye, now had an on-off switch. It wasn't perfect yet, but I could keep it off normally.
But right now, I needed to turn it on again. We had an important match ahead.
A real combat test with Dabi.
Last time at Dark Mountain, I only defended, right? This time, I'd attack while Dabi only defended.
The difference from back then...
'Lukkar? Can you hear me?'
-I hear you, Contractor. You're calling me to fight that human in front of you?
'As if. The fight's mine.'
I took a deep breath inwardly and gave Lukkar the order.
'Possess my body starting now. I'm sparring with Dabi in spirit possession state.'
-You're serious?
'Dead serious. Ignis vouched for it before. She said even if she couldn't, you could manage it.'
-The Fire Spirit Queen said that?
Lukkar fell silent for a moment before continuing.
-It's true your body has rapidly strengthened lately. But by my standards, it's still feeble. You'll definitely break down before long; it'll force a release.
'How many minutes do you think I can last?'
-No way to know until we try. But you won't make it past three minutes for sure.
Meredes said her possession with the pebble spirit lasted five minutes before, right? This wasn't life-or-death combat, so three minutes should be plenty.
'Got it. I'll release if it feels dangerous.'
-Even if you don't, I'll release first. Brace for the shock.
Right then, my whole body shivered.
A sensation of being crushed between massive boulders.
"Ugh..."
But the pain was brief. I thought I was a goner. If the agony had lasted a few seconds longer, I'd have blacked out.
But it was worth it.
My body was now covered in a transparent rock-like form. Like rock armor? Of course, I felt no weight.
Hmm...
So this was spirit possession.
My whole body felt calm and stable. My mind had fewer fluctuations or ups and downs.
Because the possessing spirit was a rock?
It felt like I'd become a rock myself. As solid as one.
I could definitely feel the enhanced power. I'd forcibly worn low-grade magic armor once before, and this felt even stronger than that.
Yet there was none of the heavy pressure or rapid stamina drain unique to magic armor.
"...This is way better than magic armor."
"Your Highness? Shall we begin?"
Dabi drew his sword and assumed a defensive stance. I savored the heavy elation I'd never felt before in my life and shook my head.
"Hold on. This feels weird; I need a bit to get used to it. I'll attack once I'm adapted."
"Yes. Come at me whenever you're ready."
"Hoo..."
The more I breathed, the feeling was... indescribable.
Good.
I never knew unity with a spirit felt this great. Part of me wanted to just stand there breathing forever.
But I couldn't.
"...Begin."
I lightly launched myself and swung my sword.
Whoosh!
The arcing blade carried a speed I'd never seen before.
Am I too strong now? This is beyond expectations?
What if I hurt Dabi badly?
Of course, that was wishful thinking.
Swish!
Dabi dodged effortlessly with minimal footwork, as if my attack wasn't worth blocking.
Tch, figures.
But through Lord's Eye, I could see where his emotions flowed.
Most were directed at my body. Pure focus and immersion, without any sense of an enemy.
So he's reading my movements with this?
Whoosh!
He dodged the next attack with ease too. But I read his consciousness flow right before he evaded and swung my blade slowly accelerating toward it.
Then midway, I shifted tempo to rapid acceleration.
Splurt!
The differing accelerations met at one point, creating a micro-vacuum that burst, and the vacuum's collapse generated a shockwave that shattered the target.
This was Gale Blade.
But Dabi was already gone from there.
Boom!
The scorching shockwave pounded the bare ground, but Dabi's consciousness had already shifted to my side.
Slash!
He even pressed in further, seizing my back!
"Tch..."
Lord's Eye clearly saw it.
But my body couldn't keep up with my eye's reaction.
No, what kind of speed is this? How can a human move that fast...
Think I'd say that?
Bam!
As I kicked off the ground and charged back, something collided with my body. Dabi, obviously.
You curved in, but I just go straight at you. Who's faster, really?
"Hup..."
I heard Dabi hold his breath. I spun my body and swung my sword.
Without looking.
Of course, it was fine. He'd be in the direction of the sound.
Clang!
For an instant, a clear metallic ring echoed everywhere.
"..."
In that moment, Dabi's emotions poured toward the clashing swords like a waterfall.
Surprise, awe, admiration. Something like that.
But it was truly just an instant. Dabi flicked my sword away with a tiny wrist recoil, then pulled back slightly, unleashing emotions mixed with fighting spirit and joy.
-Incredible!
-I'm impressed. To think you'd grown this strong.
-This is fun to face. Come on, attack with all you've got. I'll handle it all.
It was like hearing those voices in my ears.
Got it. I'm getting into gear now too.
Let's see you take my full power for real? You can handle whatever I throw, no sweat...
...Huh?
Suddenly, the whole world surged toward my face.
Bam!
Of course, that couldn't happen, so my face was plummeting toward the ground instead?
"Your Highness!"
With Dabi's panicked voice, I barely moved my hand and blasted recovery magic on myself.
"Healing... Bless... Pain Killer..."
Even pain relief magic.
But the pouring pain pierced the analgesic barrier and hammered my whole body.
"Ugh... aaagh... ow..."
"Your Highness! Are you okay? You collapsed suddenly!"
"Urgh... fi... fine... there, Elixir..."
I barely extended my finger, and Dabi dashed to grab the elixir box from the training ground corner.
"Here!"
"Hoo, haa..."
I forced breaths past the pain squeezing my lungs. Otherwise, I might pass out from shock.
Then I quickly uncorked various elixir bottles and poured them into my mouth. Special pain relief and recovery elixirs prepared for exactly this moment.
"Ugh... haa... finally..."
"Better now? Your face was pale, but color's coming back."
"Yeah? Phew. Good."
But it wasn't over.
As the possessing Lukkar fully departed, endless sharp rock shards began scraping my body.
An illusion of scraping, precisely.
"Uh... Meredes said this is where it hurts like dying."
"Yes? What do you mean?"
"Spirit possession aftereffects. That's why I just drank the pain blocker elixir."
"Pain blocker? That exists?"
"It does. But it paralyzes your body. Ngh... Can you help me up?"
Dabi grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me up straight, sighing.
"I didn't know possession aftereffects were this severe. Meredes must time her releases precisely."
"She said she nearly died the first time because she couldn't release fast enough. Phew, but it's a shame."
I sheathed my dropped sword and sighed.
"It felt really good just now. I wasted too much time adapting at the start. If not for that, I could've enjoyed it more."
"I'd have been in danger then. Your attacks pierced my guard so well; honestly, I was pretty scared."
Funny. You weren't scared at all. You don't know I can read emotions, huh?
"Scared, my ass..."
I forcibly shut off Lord's Eye. Leaving it on too long stresses the brain like crazy.
"Honestly, I was surprised. Especially when you suddenly launched backward as I circled behind you?"
"Yeah. Back attack."
"It totally caught me off guard. With the possessed spirit, it felt like a massive boulder slamming into me."
"But that only worked because you're just defending. In a real duel, you'd have split me in half?"
"Not necessarily. We collided before I could counter."
"Really?"
It meant my prediction and movement synced perfectly. But even so...
"Even so, you're wearing mid-grade magic armor, right?"
"Yes?"
Dabi looked at his armor in surprise.
"Yeah, but... it's a prototype without rank markings. How'd you know right away?"
"I have my ways. Anyway, with high-grade magic armor, you'd have dodged or parried that easily, right? You went easy on me?"
"Of course."
Dabi dropped the pretense and nodded crisply.
"As a Knight Master, I should. Still, Your Highness's growth is terrifying. Not just power and speed—your judgment in predicting my moves and setting up the optimal play was top-notch."
Well, yeah. Decades of experience plus Lord's Eye power.
"I'd love to keep taking your attacks right now. How's your body?"
"Worst. Probably the next two hours or so."
Full-body numbness meant almost no sensation. Standing on my feet was precarious.
"Even after the numbness wears off, no go. Takes three days for Lukkar to recharge."
That was spirit magic's drawback. Once used, it needed recharge time.
"Yeah, Meredes said she could possess once every three days too. Shame, but training ends here."
"Yeah. That's it. It was over in a flash, but how's the evaluation?"
"Evaluating Your Highness with Lukkar's possession..."
Dabi thought briefly and said lightly.
"Knight Expert rank for sure."
"Figures. I was using Gale Blade freely too."
"Even accounting for personal differences, you're at least a mid-tier Expert. A bit more growth, and you could challenge Knight Commander. Hard to believe you jumped here so fast. The issue is the duration—under three minutes."
Yeah.
This wasn't instant ramen or anything... It totally fizzles after three minutes.