Chương 52: Mage hunt.

2 days ago. Underground Umbra Training facility ZHI Today I watched over the more gifted of the bunch. Tarion sat in the lotus position, itching to run about. To me, he always seemed like a corked bottle of shaken wine ready to blow at a moment's notice. A child as young as him wouldn't be able to hold himself back, yet he listens and follows guidance well. Like a dog beaten by training. He knows how to aim the bubbling energy at a goal in order to reach it. But I do wonder when it will become too much for him.

The pressure as a young adult, learning to be a ruler without a predecessor by your side, is immense. I can help. But he will have to learn the harsh lessons from mistakes and losses. This week, he learned a hard lesson. And he became better for it. Because of this amplitude of his, I know I made the right decision. His mentors will come in due time. Let's hope this little duke can be patient until then. Kurt sat still like water in a pond. But still water can fester.

He knew how to use that fury from the beast inside him. Kurt had begun using qi after having been given a rejuvenation pill by Drac. But his exceptional control over qi has gotten him to a tempered body already, although his talent lay in energy manipulation. If he can learn qi domain… If Mount Hua found him, he would be touted as a once-in-a-lifetime genius. If Namgung had found him, he would have been found dead in a ditch.

His water qi meridians are so strong that he will be one of the strongest mana users in the country. Last but not least, Vanessa, the strongest of them all. Her connection to Earth Qi is so strong that it reaches the sky where the gods lie. If she trained enough, she could heal scores with a single wave. But she sat, fragile as a baby chick. To heal, to save the world, she needs to protect herself before anything else. From what I heard, she can be too willing to sacrifice her well-being to save her loved ones.

It is not an attitude I can change overnight, and it is one I would change in a saint. Rather, I must bolster her, make her unbreakable. A bulwark that withstands any storm. With Qi Sense, I could see them widen the qi domains slowly around their bodies. Drac goes to Vanessa, holding a paper rune of fire. Vanessa held out her left arm, letting the domain pool around her forearm.

"Where your qi exists is your 'world'. Control as its ultimate ruler. If you don't believe so, you will not succeed. Your will must be manifest!" Drac ignited the rune and put it by her arm. From her, her qi took the form of golden light, easing off her skin. Vanessa tried her best, focused on her qi. The rune flickered but ultimately stayed alight.

"You understand it; some more practice and it will be 2nd nature. Remember, the qi domain can resist spells, but it isn't perfect." Kurt raised his arm as soon as Drac came his way. Light blue Qi coated his arm. Drac repeated the action, burning a rune on an arm. Interestingly, the volume of the first was lessened by half. However, a fire was still lit.

"Well done. A little more effort and you get it."

"Thank you, teacher."

"Finally, a decent student. Last – What are you doing?" I asked Tarion, who waved his hand in an infinity.

"Just practising. I am seeing if I can keep the Qi domain's form while moving." Typical Tarion. Already moving faster than I can teach. I don't doubt that, given years of isolation training, he would figure out the entirety of martial arts on his own. I put his large arm out, and Drac burnt a rune. Immediately, it is snuffed out.

"What—resonance…!" I looked at Drac, and he had no idea what just happened.

"Explain Tarion for the class." I requested, and the boy smiled.

"It's easy. I applied what I learnt from absolute sense training: resonance. If each spell has a vibration, a tone, then you just have to figure out the tone and cancel it."

"Hold one, Duke. So you can keep it going within the Qi Domain? Is that what the practising was about?" Tarion replied with a bigger smile.

"Give me a more complicated rune, please, Drac," Tarion asked.

"As you requested. PRALIGO!" Purple vines spurted from Drac's hand and wrapped around the unaware Tarion. Tarion fell to the ground, with his legs and arms tied. Finally, with his mouth muffled, he stayed still on the floor.

"Drac, keep that spell on hand in case Vanessa and Tarion get into an argument, hehe," I joked to Vanessa. She blushed.

"We never argue."

"Yet. You haven't argued yet. Hehe." Tarion could have used his absurd strength and snapped his way out of the binding. But he was relaxed. Qi pooled on the edge of his skin. Nevertheless, bit by bit, the binding snapped until he could stand up by himself.

"An anti-mage fighter…"

"What do you mean?" asked Tarion. Drac answered.

"QI users are normally a nuisance for mages due to their speed, toughness, and resistance to spells, even if a trained mage would win most of the time. However, Veil is not trained. Matter of fact, his application of spells in combat is awful. But his circles elevate him up, letting him use more advanced and taxing spells like teleportation."

"He leans on teleportation because he sucks at everything else?" Tarion clarified, and Drac nodded.

"Then all Tarion needs to do is learn how to resist spells that can hold him back," Vanessa said. Drac stepped closer to them, bringing Tarion and Vanessa into a small circle.

"Yes, fortunately, I learnt a lot about him from our last battle. Fire is his preferred choice but is likely to…" With folded arms, I watched my students listen and plan to take down this Veil. Is this another problem I sit out of? It's just a beginner mage playing god. But the youngsters need the experience. Only with struggle like this will they grow. By the side, the three discussed the mage. A lone soldier meditated with eyes closed. I flinched, fearing a punch being thrown, and he flipped onto his two feet.

A rune mage wise beyond his years. A guard of the deep ice with more poise than a prince. A golden saint with a heart of gold. And a boy with the mind of a focused blade. Forged with passion, honed by honour. I couldn't have asked for better students. Vanessa Pirn I packed my shield in hexagons, as Tarion taught me. Still, the blast of the explosions was too much to handle. George kept screaming his grey head off, throwing more fire on TARION, so I headed for a wall. Seek. It was those voices again. Seek?

I didn't understand, yet my mind felt a direction. Leaning on the wall, I focused on the feeling. I opened my eyes to absolute sense, seeing something glowing in the distance. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Stones and dirt hit my shield as a large man landed in front of me. A large dome shield, bigger than a family house, encased me and my uncle-in-law.

"Lady Vanessa, are you well?" Veil explosions were muffled by the strong mana shield. Swords of ice covered in blood melt as Loran sheathes his rune-engraved sword.

"My body is well. I hope after this battle I will be well of mind too. What of Zhi?"

"Pst, she will be more than fine." Loran smiled softly. The noise in the distance is distracting. My instincts tell me to go there. Like a rushing current, I am being pulled towards it. TARION"AHAHAHAHAHA! BURN IN HELL!"

"This is hell?" I blitzed the mage, puncturing the sound barrier.

"It's fitting that I see you there!!" One after another, I slashed through shields. I sensed a wordless spell being formed in the ground and stepped away with pulse from my feet. Another pulse brought me close, with me slicing down on a shield.

"FUCK OFF! FUCK OFF!" Ventus forced me away with great winds. I rebuff them with a mana shield 20 points in intelligence. 20 points in Senses. I charged in. Only a metre from Veil, my sword cut into his shield as easily as a knife through butter. A mage screamed in anger as his purple jacket was stained with his blood.

"RESTRINGO!!!" I had already disappeared before the purple binds could reach me. Another shield was cut through, and a mage's back was scored.

"AAAAAARGH!!!!" In pain, Veil turned around.

"HASTA PETRAE!!" Several lances constructed of rock were shot like bullets. I sent my own mana slash, breaking the lances into pieces. But Veil uses this moment to teleport to another location.

"It's all your fault!!" His voice echoed through the trees and buildings. I was unable to find the origin of his voice.

"IF only you died as you should have!" A cloud grew above. I step back from a hailstone the size of a fist, shaped like a knife.

"If you made the blizzard… You were there the whole time." But it shouldn't make sense. In the story, he was a well-loved but shy helper of the Saint. He did all to help her with every venture. If he were the one who created the blizzard… I raised my arm to defend myself from the falling hail swords. I sensed teleportation, and I spun backward to cut a fire lance. Several lances of fire appeared in thin air. I jumped with a pulse and propelled myself into the sky.

Mana slashes destroyed any teleportation spells before they developed. I must find the bastard. 40 points to Senses. Absolute senses opened the world. I see a world of mana trails originating from one place. A lone build to the east. 40 points to capacity. Breathing in deeply, I sucked as much mana as I could. A tether of mana carried my sword, slashing at spells. A ball of man condensed in hand. Tightly in the size of a coin, I aimed at the mage. MANA BLAST CREATED. The building no longer existed.

In the burning hole, a mage was surrounded by stone-like beings.

"Finally. You bring them out." From my back, I took two large gold rings and wore them as bracelets. Heavy stone fists bang the ground like a gorilla.

"ARISE, MY GOLEMS. KILL THE DUKE!" VANESSA"There's something over there." I point to the warehouse.

"Something is telling me to go there. Loran pointed up at the starry sky.

"Is it them?" It was something I never entertained. Is the land above given a sign? If so, I must obey them. Drac came round a corner huffing.

"Vanessa!" He dropped to his knees, still holding my mother. Loran sprinted for her. From the shadow and sword slashed down on an unsuspecting Drac.

"DRAC!!!" I screamed, too far away to do anything. Loran grabbed his sword, and two ice blades thwarted a sword from cutting through Drac and Mama. With the last of his energy, Drac stumbled till he was behind Loran.

"Good hustle, kid." Loran unsheathed his blade. With no hesitation in his swing, he drew a line with his blade. The luien smiled as he squatted close to the floor like a beetle. Buildings behind slid their top halves off. He dived in, shattering shield after shield. I used all my concentration to heal Drac, helping him replenish some energy.

"Leave me be. I must help Loran." But your-"The liuen is strong. Almost Zhi strong". Drac placed my mother down softly.

"It's time, Huolong, it's time…" A Greystone flew above us, destroying the wall. A fiery sword batted down a liuen sword that was an inch from my face.

"VENTUS." The liuen leapt back from the wind spell. Runes on Drac's blade ignite it. The liuen clashed with him with his sword. Sparks flew, but a small push drove Drac away.

"Ah, you're the seeker he lost against. Good… I want to see his face when I bring him your head."

"I haven't struck your head yet, and it's already full of delusions." Drac reversed his grip on his liuen sword. His uniform had a subtle glow. Drac became two.

"Brother needs to see this…" TARION. The 4 golems have their hands transform into cannons and blast at me as I fall in the air. A pulse step allowed me to dodge. I curled, pushing off the air with a powerful pulse of mana. I sheathed my sword behind my back, and my fist was cloaked in qi. The first golem's head shattered from a powerful punch. I caught a mana bullet, chucking it to the ground. My leg flickered, and a golem's body burst into chunks of stone. I used umbra step and slid closer.

My left hand redirected a shooting cannon, and a piece of the ground disappeared behind me. My right hand unleashed an astute karate punch, and the Golem turned and exploded into rubble. Amongst the smouldering mess, I found a mage whose mouth was agape.

"What next, Stalker? Going to send you fuck dolls too?" Tears fell from his warped eyes.

"THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE UNBREAKABLE!!!"

"If it needs mana to function, it is not unbreakable to me."

"DAMN YOU!! It's not FAIR!" Soil and bricks drifted to his cauterised right stub, and a cannon was created. He shoots blasts of mana with recklessness.

"YOU ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING! WHY DID YOU TAKE HER? WHY HER?" Veil screamed like a baby, throwing everything at me. Unsheathing my sword, I sliced through blast after blast.

"I COULD PROTECT HER!"

"No, you can't. The blizzard you brought on her. Was that protecting?" I waded through the blasts.

"The hordes of smelly bandits. Who knows what could have happened with her in their hands!" NOTHING! I WOULD KILL ALL WHO DO HER HARM!"

"THEN KILL YOURSELF!" I thrust. I felt flesh at the end of my greatsword."

"CURSE YOOOOOOOUUUU!" Veil blipped out of existence, but my rings hummed. Space warped and twisted; my mind turned and whirled. I am eventually cognisant, standing in a room of books. A lot of books. Absolute Sense saw a structure in the scope of a university.

"H-H-How did you follow me!?" Veil ran into a bookcase and aimed his arm cannon at me. I clinked the two rings.

"Courtesy of Drac. A rune specifically made to follow you. You can't escape again." I rested my greatsword on my shoulder, and my left hand aimed a mana blast at the suffering mage. Veil's shields were whittled down by power. I increased my output, forcing the fools back to the wall. I am running out of mana qi, yet I force my mana to blast A shrill voice echoed.

"JIAN!!!!!" I felt a presence on my right. I slashed at it. I cut into nothing, but a piercing punch to the gut sent me flying. Many bookcases stopped me, and I tumbled into a mess of books. Oh my days… I coughed up blood. That packed quite a wallop… Crawling out of the books, I weaved from an uppercut, which turned into a lunging chop. I rolled away, and a large section of the giant library was sliced.

"You woke me for this!? I told you my brother works nights." A tall, hedgehog-haired Liuen wearing sleeveless Liuen attire with jade buttons crumpled books with his weight. Large laughing lines fall down his broad face. For the first time in a while, I scanned the enemy. I felt that same grin on my face. I could feel my blood boiling. The thrill was heating me up. By his stats, he would be as strong as or stronger than a seventh circle. I stuck my blade into the books beneath me. I hung my cloak on the pommel.

Stretching my neck let QI flow free. My skin burned with white fumes as I bounced to a beat.

"Friedman Cultivator…" Jian spat on the floor.

"Unacceptable!" With his roar, his inky-black Qi caused a gust. My nose stung. Just like Rokkr and the cursed humanoids. 20 points to sense and 20 to agility. I set my eyes on the running mage. And a kick arrived near my face. The back of my hand blocked, but I was several metres further than before.

"I see… Just another weakling. I will end this fast, mage." Jian sprinted, blackened fist full of qi. To the normal eye, he was a flicker of light. Faster. Everything to the limit! 40 points to sense. The world opened. Two circles spun around my beating heart.