This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.
Knight's Duel
With Meinan and Angel, the group had finally gotten to the classroom. Today's indoor class was held at the library.
Liola and Kaiser were so thankful, they were almost on their knees. They had finally arrived in class safely, without any trouble on the way. (They seem to disregard people like Jetter as trouble nowadays.)
They walked to the hall leading to the library. Gray-robed students were already there, standing around.
Liola and his group also joined the rest of people waiting for the instructor. Kaiser was a little worried, hoping God didn't intentionally stop them from going to class, and have Babalis run into some kind of accident.
If the School of Sorcery got shut down due to the lack of teachers, then he and Liola would get kicked out as a result, which would be terrible for them.
Fortunately, when the bell rang, Babalis appeared in the hall punctually.
He loudly declared: "New students stay, while old students can go practice or research your own field of magic and skills. If you have a question, ask me next time during the outdoor session."
As soon as he finished, the old students scattered away, even Meinan and Angel showed an expression as if they were saying "take care," and then took off.
Angel also took Baolilong, who was neither a new nor old student, so he wouldn't disturb Babalis' lesson. In a flash, there were only two new students remaining. Liola and Kaiser.
"Th-that's it?" Kaiser really opened his eyes.
Babalis smiled as if he was saying "who else were you expecting to be here", as if he were a dutiful teacher:
"These old students already chose their own field of magic. I've already taught them the basic magic and meditation. Now the only thing they can do is meditate, to understand and find deeper and better magic. Giving them more lectures would actually impede their development."
"Besides, most of them have special abilities, and there is nothing more I could teach them." Babalis shook his head and sighed.
Magic is magic, grouping it with special abilities was a fundamental mistake.
"All right, new students! Just listen to my basic magic lecture, then think about what you want to learn, or..."
Babalis showed an intriguing smile: "What kind of magic have you already learned?"
This question was not directed at Liola, who was from another world, and didn't know half a thing about magic.
Kaiser raised his eyebrow: "I have learned some attack magic. The most basic types of magic, such as Fireball, Icebolt, etc."
Babalis was skeptical. Was that all? Because the magic energy radiating from Kaiser were quite formidable, but he questioned no further, and started teaching his first alien student.
"Magic, its principle is quite simple. To put it simply, it's the act of concentrating one's mana to create a resonance with a magic element, and then using it to do things such as concentrating fire element into a ball, then throwing it. This magic attack would be fireball."
Liola frowned slightly: "So everyone knows magic?"
"It's easier said than done." Babalis corrected his student: "To feel the existence of magic element itself is already a difficult thing to achieve. Many people will never get to do so in their entire lives."
"After you feel the magic elements, you still have to use meditation to train and increase your mana. If you don't have enough mana, not only can you not cast fireballs, you probably can't even cast 'fire spark'."
Babalis suddenly thought about the unique Meinan, who could use powerful defensive magic he could only dream of.
However, Meinan couldn't even cast Fireball, and instead could only use "Fire Spark". And that timid little girl, Angel, was also a unique person.
"Now let me teach you Meditation." After telling them the principle of magics, Babalis started teaching his students the introduction to magic — Meditation.
"Relax your spirit, and start to feel the outside world."
After hearing this, Liola naturally crossed his legs and sat. And his body instinctively sent out the 'Heart of Consciousness'.
Liola sent out his perception around the room, and learned everything about the library. After he had made a circle around the library, he perceived that Babalis was angry and he was screaming, "Wrong".
Liola immediately opened his eyes, and asked: "What's 'wrong'?"
Babalis took out a paper fan and smacked Liola's head without any hesitation: "Of course it's wrong. I want you to feel the Spirit World, not the Physical World. I'll be damned if you can feel magic element like that."
"Spirit world?" Liola stopped his 'Heart of Consciousness', and tried as hard as he could to feel the spirit world. But despite his efforts, his heart and mind were blank. He couldn't feel any magic elements around him.
Babalis sighed. Liola was already too used to the physical feel, so it was probably going to be a big ordeal for him to feel the Spirit World's magic elements.
Babalis thought about it, and asked as if he thought of something: "Liola, what kind magic are you planning to learn?"
"Healing." Liola answered without hesitation.
"Why? You could learn more useful ones, such as Flying, Teleportation, Offensive Magic, or even Space Magic. You may even be able to pass through dimensions and return to your own world with space magic."
Babalis was completely surprised by such an answer, that an Assassin wants to learn Healing?
Liola laughed bitterly. Go back to his own world? To let the organization continue their failed assassination? To let himself experience anxiety 24/7, while constantly facing an elite squad of a few hundred assassins?
"To carry on someone's legacy."
"So that's what it is. Fine, I will teach you all I can." Knowing Liola wants to learn Healing, Babalis' inner desire to teach continued without hesitation.
Liola looked at Kaiser, who was standing next to him, and said thoughtfully: "So Kaiser knows magic."
"Liola, is there a problem with this afternoon's duel?" Babalis suddenly asked about the duel this afternoon.
"No." Liola was still trying hard to feel the magic element. He didn't care about the duel in the afternoon, he even treated it as if it was a chance for him to see the abilities of a Knight.
Babalis suddenly said nervously: "Don't ever hurt the Dragon Knight too much, or else you’ll be in trouble."
"I understand." Liola happily agreed. After all, he wasn't planning on having the School of Knights get mad at him.
After obtaining Liola's promise, Babalis was no longer worried. After all, with Liola's strength, defeating Lanski without seriously injuring her shouldn't be a big problem, though it might be troublesome... But Babalis would have never predicted, that there will be another person sustaining serious injuries.
***
To prevent exposing himself, Liola wore the Silver Mask and went to the duel alone, but the Knight uniform was a huge problem.
The uniform Angel provided had already been dyed red and black, and was riddled with holes. With Kaiser's distressed crying sounds, the uniform was tossed into the trash and declared discarded.
Luckily, Babalis used his power as the principle, and procured a number of silver-ranked White Knight uniforms for Liola, otherwise this whole thing will fail.
Liola slowly stepped into the 20th sports field. Even though he was supposed to meet her alone, Liola knew, there were quite a few voyeurs in the surrounding area. There was a lazy guy, a timid girl, a Dragon, a principal, and, if Liola’s guess was right, a wanted criminal.
The sports field was clearly unused for a long time: the weeds were already a foot tall. And compared to other sports fields, it was clearly much smaller, but large enough for a duel between two people.
Liola found the Knight standing in the center of the field without any trouble. What surprised him, was that the person was wearing light armor, had a rather elegant figure, and it was clearly a woman.
Unlike Meinan, Liola wasn't going to be a gentleman to a lady. To him, people were only classified as enemies or not. Even if he knew his opponent was a girl, it wasn't going to cause him any worry.
But, this time, Liola's heart were twisted in a knot, because of that creamy, golden, and long hair flying in the wind. Liola lowly whispered: "Anise..."
The female Knight realized someone behind her, and she softly turned around. Her sharp eyes gazed at Liola behind that Silver Mask, and at this time, Liola's breathing almost completely stopped.
That face, it was obviously Anise. On a slightly slim, oval face, there were two deep eyebrows, plus her big eyes with long lashes; the girl seemed vibrant.
in addition to her big eyes and long lashes, the girl seemed vibrant.
Along with her fitting nose, and pink-rosy lips, the woman was undoubtedly a rare beauty. Though to Liola, her beautiful face represented an eternal, inexplicable suffering.
"Anise, how are you... Alive?" Liola walked towards the girl absent-minded, and without any vigilance.
"What are you talking about? Silver Mask, I am the person who will be dueling with you today — Lanski."
Lanski finally saw the person who took away her Sacred White Dragon, and the rage suppressed in her heart made her almost want to unsheathe her sword and attack, before her opponent could react. But for a Knight's duel, this was strictly forbidden.
"Lanski?" Liola's mind was dragged back by the strange name, but his eyes couldn't leave that familiar face and those cream, golden hair.
That face was so familiar... The only that seemed strange was her eye color. Liola finally realized, Anise had lake green eyes, but this Lanski girl had ocean blue eyes.
"You took away the Sacred White Dragon that originally belonged to me. If you want me to be sincerely convinced, then duel me with everything you have!"
Lanski took out her long sword. It was razor sharp, but it had no superfluous decorations. This showed that, to Lanski, swords were picked only by their usefulness, and gem decorations were additions that only impeded movements.
"Unsheathe your sword!"
Liola hesitantly took out the Broken Silver from his long boots. Is he going to fight with Anise? No, she's not Anise, but instead a girl named Lanski. Liola desperately tried to remind himself.
Lanski frowned at Liola's weapon, Broken Silver. She wasn't sure if Silver Mask was dueling with her using a stick to insult her, or if Silver Mask actually uses such a special weapon?
It didn't matter what the answer was, Lanski wasn't going to let go. If he purposely brought a stick to insult her, then she was going to make him suffer from the consequences of his actions. Lanski said decidedly:
"I, Lanski, hereby challenge Silver Mask to a duel. With my honor and reputation, I swear that I will not do anything that would insult a Knight's honor. I will not boast if I win, and I will accept it if I lose."
"I accept." Liola said the only thing he could think of.
As soon as Liola finished, Lanski could no longer hold back the rage in her heart. Her body was surrounded by a light blue aura, and she took her long sword and ran towards Liola, attacking as if the sword were raindrops in a violent storm.
At this time, a sigh came from on top of the trees:
"Didn't think Princess Lanski had already reached Blue Knight rank, before she was twenty? Though it's only light blue, very few could compete such a feat. She's definitely the best female warrior in a million."
Lanski's innate talent was definitely exceptional. Just a few days ago, she still had red aura, until she had experienced the rage from losing the Sacred White Dragon.
The determination of beating Silver Mask, led Lanski to break through the red aura, and entered the level of blue auras. Though light blue aura wasn't truly at the level of Blue Knight rank, but it was just a matter of time.
With a light blue aura, Lanski would be nearly unmatched within the School of Knight in terms of speed, power, and agility. Unfortunately, her opponent was no ordinary Knight, but rather the best Assassin who could stand toe-to-toe with the rank-X criminal Mizerui, Liola.
In terms of pure power, Liola may be far off from Lanski. But overall, Liola and Lanski's actual strengths were very far apart.
One could say they were completely on different levels. Lanski's movements, though fast in her own eyes, were slow motions in Liola's eyes. The speed associated with swinging a sword can't possibly be compared to a dagger; after all, a dagger was the most agile weapon.
If Liola wanted, he could extinguish such a beauty in one blow, and it wouldn't even take 50 percent of his true strength.
However, Lanski had nearly the same appearance as Anise. Because of that, Liola had no intention to cause her any harm.
By properly using the back of a dagger, Liola thought, he could easily strike the back of her head and cause her to faint, and when she eventually wakes up, she wouldn't even feel the slightest pain. Liola had decided to use this method against her.
At this time, Lanski seemed to realize the ease of Silver Mask's movements.
As much as she didn't want to think it, Lanski had to acknowledge, it may be probable she was an unworthy opponent to Silver Mask.
With an unwilling heart, she decided to use the skill she had not fully mastered. For as long as she could hurt Silver Mask, she was willing to risk it all.
"Dragon Sword Dance!" After Lanski's delicate scream, the sword in her hands suddenly emitted nine lines of Ki, each long as a whip, and each of the ends was shaped like a Dragon's head.
The nine Kis surrounded Liola, and attacked him from all directions. The Dragon heads roared as they went, as if they were about to tear Liola apart.
At this time, another sigh could be heard from the audience in the tree:
"Dragon Empire's Dragon Sword Dance is definitely a powerful skill. If she uses this, Lanski could probably even beat a true Blue Knight. Unfortunately, Liola wasn't someone Blue Knights could compare themselves with. Perhaps if the Dragon Emperor or the Dragon Prince use the fully-realized version of Dragon Sword Dance, Liola could be injured by the surrounding 99 lines of Dragon Ki."
"Thank you for the live casting." Another sound could be heard from the bushes.
Surely enough, as said by the casters, nine incomplete Dragon Kis were nothing to Liola, and not much different from the attacks before. Liola didn't need to block it. He simply shadow stepped to his side, and easily escaped the Dragon Kis.
"H-how is this possible?" Lanski almost couldn't believe, the Dragon Sword Dance she spent so much time and effort to learn, was so easily evaded by the Silver Mask.
"The outcome is already obvious. Let's stop." Liola really didn't want to prolong a fight with a person with Anise's face.
Lanski abruptly raised her head; her eyes filled with tears. This was the first time in her life she would show such an expression in front of her enemy. She said with almost a crying voice:
"Stop? You are telling me to stop? Do you know how much time and effort I've spent over the past years in hope to one day become the Sacred White Dragon's Master?
Time after time, trial after trial, everyone I grew up with already has their own Dragon, but as a so-called naturally talented Princess, I couldn't have a Sacred White Dragon's approval. Do you know how much pressure I've felt over the years?"
"That's why I came to Aklan Continent, to look for a way to obtain the Sacred White Dragon's approval. Who knew that the first day I got here, my Dragon recognized someone else as its master, then what the hell am I? What the hell were my years of efforts for?"
Lanski sobbed, but finally, she unwillingly screamed: "Who the hell are you to rob me of all my years of effort!"
Facing Lanski's accusations, Liola's heart drifted back into memories.
Who was he really, to take away the godly healer Anise's years of healing, her dreams of walking and healing through the world, and finally, her life.
"Sorry." Liola said softly, to this face identical to Anise.
Hearing this sorry, not only did Lanski not calm down, instead she became more ashamed and enraged. She lifted her sword, and despite her lack of mana, screamed, "Don't pity me!".
She again started Dragon Sword Dance. With shame, rage, and self-loath, Lanski used all of her remaining energy. After she had spit out a mouthful of blood, tens of Dragon Kis appeared next to her body, with the dragon heads clearly visible.
"66 Dragon Kis? Does this little girl want to lose her life?"
"Dragons, right this injustice!" With blood oozing out of her mouth, and pain as if she were being burned, Lanski ordered the 66 Dragon Kis to jump towards Liola.
Facing the threat of 66 Dragon Kis, Liola suddenly seemed absent-minded, and whispered:
"Anise, are you... Back to claim my life? If so, my life is yours. Fluttering Blood Ki withdraw!"
Realizing something was wrong, two streaks of shadows bolted from the tree. One towards Lanski, and the other, Liola.
But they were too late. All 66 Dragon Kis hit Liola's body — a body that was entirely unprotected by Ki. The strong backlash also pushed Lanski back, and she became unconscious.
***
"Liola..." Mizerui, who had always been cynical, was truly surprised. After the smoke cleared from the impact of Dragon Kis, a bloody outline could be seen, with strings of blood dripping.
Even though Mizerui had just said so himself, to seriously injure Liola, one had to use the fully realized version of 99 Dragon Kis, but that's under the assumption that Liola would be protected by his heavily fortified Ki, and not his naked body. What the heck does this guy think he is, a rank-X mecha?
The bleeding body slowly fell. Mizerui rushed to catch Liola's body. But after he saw the wounds on Liola, he was stunned. C-can this guy survive?
Mizerui started to wonder if the damaged body in his arms was already a dead man. However, Mizerui's sharp senses tell him, that although the person in his arms may become a corpse, it was definitely not "already" a corpse.
Mizerui turned around and yelled at Babalis: "Lis, prepare the best healing Maxun now. This guy is going to be reporting to Satan soon."
Babalis nodded, and carried Lanski. The two disappeared where they stood, leaving behind a sports field that looked like it had been hit by a meteor shower. It was full of holes, and there was even a twenty-meter wide crater where Liola stood, with bright red blood in it.
"Papa!" A small outline ran out of the bushes, and stared at the pool of blood. It happened too quickly.
No one knew that Lanski would risk her life to use 66 Dragon Kis, and what was even more surprising, however, was that Liola would cancel his Ki, to take the this skill with his flesh and blood.
Angel also slowly walked out, and carried Baolilong, whose tears ran full of his face. Her face was pale as a ghost, and her whole body was cold.
Strangely, her voice was unusually calm, and without any shaking: "Kaiser, is Liola-dage going to be okay?"
Kaiser's face sank. He didn't reply, nor did he want to reply.
"Papa isn't dead. I can feel it. Papa won't die!" Baolilong said feverishly, and then suddenly started transforming back to a Dragon.
After a while, a one-meter white dragon appeared, but said with a child-like voice: "I can help papa."
As it finished, the White Dragon sensed Liola's position, and immediately took off towards it, leaving Angel and Kaiser behind, standing where they were, speechless.
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