Chương 114: 181 - Question

Vivi stayed up late working on the puzzle her apprentice had given her. Saffra didn't ask for things often, and so Vivi felt a real compulsion to meet the request as soon as she could. She was genuinely glad her apprentice had come to her for help; Saffra was far too reluctant to impose herself. Also, the challenge ensnared her imagination in its own right. So she had twice the motivation. Vivi wanted to get the spell down to tier three.

Saffra could cast up to tier five, but higher tiers took significantly more practice before a mage could reach invocation. A tier-three spell would take several days. The catgirl probably wouldn't mind, since for a normal person, a few days was a short timeframe for learning spells. That concept kind of pained Vivi. She would die if tinkering with magic took that long. She already felt like progress was too slow, thereby limiting how much she could explore the corners of arcane theory.

Which is crazy entitled, she thought wryly. Lysander would want to strangle me if I ever said that aloud. I'm the fastest spell architect in the world, but I get annoyed because bleeding-edge design takes me hours instead of months. Even if Saffra wouldn't mind the delay in learning a higher-tier spell, Vivi would. She wanted to have her apprentice focusing on her chosen specialty as soon as possible. Toward that end, tier three was the goal. In its raw form, the spell probably hovered around tier twenty. So.

She had to drop the complexity of a brand-new incantation by seventeen tiers. A challenge suitable for the Sorceress. It took her all night. For once, she capitalized on the resilience her Titled-rank stats granted her. She didn't need sleep, only preferred it. This was a worthy cause to rely on her superhuman stamina. She snuck in a few hours of rest, at least, though she would need to catch up tomorrow. She normally waited for a White Glove to escort Saffra downstairs for breakfast.

That morning, she went and fetched the catgirl herself. When her apprentice answered the door, bleary green eyes blinked with confusion.

"Lady Vivi?" Vivi held up a diagram detailing the innovations she'd spent all night toiling on. She didn't consider herself a smug person, but there was definitely some of that emotion in her voice as she presented her hard work.

"This should suffice." Saffra's brow furrowed as she scanned the paper, and then she realized what she was looking at. Her tiredness vanished, eyes going wide.

"You did it? Already?"

"I think so. It's as simplified as I could manage, at any rate. The design is… obscure compared to most magic you've worked with, so I expect you'll struggle to reach invocation more than an average third-tier spell. But not overly so."

"Tier three?" Vivi nodded. That was indeed the source of her pride. She'd outdone herself, which was saying something, given her status as the most powerful mage in the world.

"I also have higher-tier versions, since I iterated my way down the ladder. Of course, there are limitations that come with reducing the intricacy that much. It can only convert the weakest concentrations of voidglass, and there's a huge amount of energy lost. So while it's functional, and simple enough for you to learn, it still needs refining."

"But it works. And is tier three."

"By my estimation. Admittedly, I have skewed standards, and tiers aren't unified. What matters in the end is whether you find it as manageable as I'm hoping." An intimidated look crossed Saffra's face, but then her expression firmed.

"I'll figure it out, I promise. Thank you, Lady Vivi."

"Only doing what I should, for my apprentice. It was an enjoyable challenge. I'll have something even better a week from now, but you can start here. Let's go eat breakfast. I'll run through the theory." The two of them did just that. Once their morning regimen and magical discussions had concluded, they headed out into the city to continue the mission they had started on the previous day. Unlike the bronze-tier bouts, the matches to qualify for the gold-rank bracket took place in a proper venue.

The impromptu nature of the first layout had come from the sheer number of applicants. With the competition cut by eight- or nine-tenths, the logistics were much more straightforward. The massive indoor stadium held what looked to be around twelve rings scattered throughout its spacious interior. Each arena came with its own elevated stone platform as the flooring, layered benches for spectators, and enchantment arrays to prevent attacks from going off course and hurting someone in the audience.

A quick inspection told Vivi the magical defenses would only hold up to high-gold. Still, it was a marked improvement over the previous location. She wondered what the gold, mithril, and orichalcum battlegrounds would look like. Perhaps the latter two were being held in one of Meridian's official stadiums. In the capital city of the human kingdoms, orichalcums weren't a great rarity, but sanctioned duels between them couldn't be that common. And the city would want to make coin off the ensuing spectacle.

She couldn't imagine how much all of this cost. The Central Kingdom was prospering in the Age of Peace, but this was a big event. The average quality of the participants had seen an upgrade too. The adventurers around her wore shinier armor, toted more impressive weapons, and even moved about with more confidence. Silvers were hardly the pinnacle of the adventuring world, but these men and women were, as a whole, no longer rookies. Vivi looked over the various combatants and saw promising new lab rats.

The higher she climbed, the more unique and varied the skills of her opponents would become. Though yesterday's void research had been interesting, there was only so much she could gather from bronze-ranks.

"It really is crazy how many people are showing up," Saffra muttered, peering about the stadium.

"There's enough silvers here to start a small army." There were, indeed, a lot of people, though not enough to form an army in a literal sense. Unless she means in terms of firepower. A silver ranker is worth a number of regular soldiers just by themself.

"I wonder if the rules are different," Vivi said.

"Might be. Let's go and check." They had stopped to the side of the main entrance to look around, but now they trekked off for the information desk. There, an attendant verified their win-loss records and gave them instructions on what to do next. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. As predicted, the procedures were different from those of the bronze-rank qualifiers. The setup wasn't as casual.

Matches were randomized using the entire pool of participants rather than individually at each arena. Presumably to prevent gaming the system through the methods Vivi had theorized yesterday. Honestly, she wouldn't have thought it would matter until at least gold. A large desk on the east side of the building served as the hub for match organization, with a half-dozen staff members bustling about to arrange bouts in advance.

After Vivi and Saffra handed over their cards, they were given a time for their first match and told to be five minutes early.

"Having a schedule is convenient," Saffra commented, looking down at the card she'd received.

"Means we can walk off and do other stuff until it's our turn." Vivi nodded in agreement. The intrigue of watching random sparring matches had worn off by the time yesterday's duels had ended. She would no doubt have more fun once they climbed into the higher brackets, but two silvers clumsily swinging at each other had limited appeal. She only liked fighting them herself because she could study void magic. She had too high of standards these days.

It wasn't her fault that her typical company included swordswomen like Eshara and Embralyne. To say nothing of true masters of combat like the Dragon King.

"Suyin should be here," Vivi remarked, looking around for the woman.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that. Still don't get why you're learning the sword, all of a sudden. Isn't this supposed to be…" Saffra paused as she searched for the right word.

"For research, yes," Vivi hastily said before Saffra could finish the thought with 'just for fun?' Saffra rolled her eyes.

"But it sounds interesting. I don't have much experience with martial matters, and she's very talented. My stats being what they are, I should be able to pick up the basics fast, and then I won't embarrass myself in the arena." As much, she mentally conceded.

"I think it's funnier if you're winning while you're clueless." Saffra snickered.

"Especially once you get to Titled-rank matches. Imagine what people would say."

"I'm not trying to be funny. That's kind of the point." She would've shrugged her shoulders anyway, if not for how a tutor had been dropped into her lap—and how Suyin had clearly taken offense at Vivi's abysmal swordcraft. Having been scanning the wide-open arena while they talked, she caught sight of the disciple. The woman was already looking her way, and nodded when their gazes met. Vivi returned the gesture and began heading over. As she walked, she took note of the man standing beside Suyin.

He was well into his twilight years, with a bent back that was not quite as bad as Aeris's stoop, but still noticeable. The more she studied him, the more she was reminded of the wizened archmage, though besides their age, white beards, and hunched frames, they didn't look much alike. So she wasn't sure why the comparison stood out so much. Aeris came off as a respectable elderly man. This one's messy hair, ruffled clothing, and mischievous grin instantly made her wary of him.

Suyin greeted her and Saffra as they neared.

"This one hopes the morning has treated you both well."

"It has, actually," Vivi replied.

"I made good progress on a new spell." Suyin didn't blink at the statement. She already knew Vivi was a mage. Vivi had been casting void attacks on her opponents throughout the fights yesterday.

"I am pleased to hear that."

"Who's this?" Suyin bowed.

"Honored sister, this is my master, Xun Vey. He taught me everything I know." Vivi hoped 'Xun Vey' was a fake name, because she didn't recognize it, and that might come off as an insult to a Titled. And he had to be one if he was Suyin's master. Vivi doubted anyone weaker would have trained the young woman so rapidly into high-mithril or orichalcum. Suyin looked to be in her early or mid-twenties, so she had progressed at an incredibly fast rate, and that meant an apprenticeship bonus from someone at a high level.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Vivi told him.

"The same, young lady." He stroked his long mustache and studied her with a glint in his eye that she really didn't trust.

"Pardon an old man's insolence, and his abrupt request, but might I ask a question you will likely find rude?" Suyin's expression grew guarded at her master's words, and she gave him a warning glare that he ignored. The sly smile lingering on the edges of his lips widened. She knew Titled tended to have strong personalities. Some in more tolerable ways, some in less, but they were always characters of some sort. Vivi considered, then resigned herself. Her curiosity would hardly let her respond with a 'no.'

"You may," she said. As soon as the affirmative left her mouth, Xun Vey lunged. There was no gust of wind to accompany his lightning-fast strike—and yes, he was quick, even by her standards. She didn't have [Perfect Form] activated, and while her perception allowed her to track his movement, he still appeared in a heartbeat. So fast that every other person in this stadium, including Suyin, would have perceived the motion as instant.

Not as a blur, but with the man standing a few paces away, then suddenly next to Vivi. No transition between the two states. When he came to a stop, neither his clothes nor his hair ruffled. Like he'd cut so smoothly through the intervening space that even the wind didn't respond. That was the most impressive part to her. His sword hovered an inch from her neck. She didn't react.

She had thankfully created and applied that illusion she'd mused about yesterday, so her eyes didn't give away the fact that she'd kept up with him. She met his gaze, exasperated, though her cool expression didn't change. He pulled away and sheathed his sword. He burst out laughing.

"I had to see it for myself. You really don't have a shred of fear in you. Not so much as a flinch."

"So you're one of those Titled, are you?" He paused.

"Me? Titled? I am merely a wandering vagrant. But out of curiosity, what do you mean?"

"The sort that puts a sword at a stranger's neck just to see what happens." You're lucky I'm in disguise, or you'd be getting a bonk on the head, Vivi thought disapprovingly. He didn't seem ill-intentioned, so she wasn't truly aggravated—just annoyed.

"Alas, I did ask permission, and warned it would be rude."

"You asked for a question. That wasn't a question."

"In that, I cannot disagree more, my fair elven maiden." Her eye twitched at his choice of epithet.

"Plenty of important questions are asked with the language of one's body," he continued.

"Would you not agree? Here and now, I asked a question with a sword, and you answered." Vivi sighed, her outward stoicism not surviving this man.

"I expected better behavior from Suyin's master." He hesitated, then threw his head back and roared with mirth.

"Once, very long ago, I did know how to carry myself as a respectable man. I passed along a sense of courtesy to her, that is true. But in most other regards, she has grown despite my influence, not because of it. As I said, I am little these days but a wandering vagrant." Vivi eyed him and decided that not engaging further was the best course of action. She turned to Suyin.

"Are you ready? We can start those lessons." Xun Vey blinked, taken aback by Vivi's abrupt pivot—and her dismissal of him.

"Ah, but you don't have any questions for me?" he asked.

"I am obligated to answer after my breach of etiquette." He gave a waggish grin, expectant.

"No, thank you. That's not necessary." She didn't glance at him, keeping her gaze on Suyin, whose eyes had gone wide as she looked between the two of them.

"C-come again?" the man asked.

"You aren't—" He cut himself off.

"You have no questions at all?" Vivi suppressed a second sigh. She understood his shock. He had just moved so fast that even she, supposedly another Titled, 'hadn't been able to perceive him.' Of course she should have questions. He'd shown off and wanted a reaction. He did seem pretty strong, though she didn't know how much so. She couldn't tell that with one movement. But on the higher end of Titled rather than lower. A real blademaster of some sort.

She didn't go out of her way to snub him, but it came as a bonus that she probably did.

"No, no questions," she repeated.

"Honestly, I deal with too many… rowdy types… already. So if you don't mind, I'm going to step aside with your disciple."

"W-well." He clearly didn't know what to say, genuinely baffled by her.

"All right, then."

"It was nice meeting you." She nodded at him and walked away. Suyin followed, looking dazed. A hint of awe touched her voice when she spoke up.

"This disciple is in even greater debt, and not just because of her master's rudeness. The look on his face… you have given me a great gift, Vianora." Vivi huffed.

"Really, pretending to attack me? Being strong isn't an excuse to act however you want." Wait, is that hypocritical? To Vivi's embarrassment, Suyin went quiet and adopted a contemplative expression.

"I will do my best to etch those words onto my heart even deeper, honored sister. They are easy to forget the higher you climb. And yes, he is a bit…" She trailed off.

"One should not disrespect their master, so I will not finish. But know that I apologize on his behalf."

"It's fine." She waved it off.

"Let me get my apprentice set up, and then we can start. You don't have any matches coming up?"

"Not for half an hour."

"Perfect." I wonder what it'll be like, she thought. And if I'll pick up martial techniques as fast as I'm assuming I will.