Chương 43: The Brawl with Jullius

I had an appointment to meet Henry at the Knight's barracks this afternoon, so I intended to head straight for the gates immediately after classes ended. However, as soon as I reached the main corridor of the lecture wing, I found Jullius waiting there, his face contorted with agitation. He had clearly been tormented by curiosity and anxiety all day long. I swept past him as if he were nothing more than thin air.

"Asher!" Jullius roared in a fit of rage. The surrounding students began to linger, eager for some gossip. I halted my pace and turned back to see what he had to say.

"You're coming back to the mansion with me today." I replied with flat indifference, "Not happening." Jullius's face flushed a deep crimson with fury.

"You dare...? If you don't return, I'll—" I raised an eyebrow.

"You'll what? Run home and tattle to Father?" A few snickers erupted from the onlookers. Humiliated and enraged, Jullius lunged forward, swinging a fist toward me. His movements were sudden, but through the Halunar's Eye, it looked like nothing more than a slow-motion playback. While I might be leagues behind Jullius in formal swordsmanship, the gap in hand-to-hand combat wasn't nearly as vast. I stepped aside with ease, casually sticking out my right foot to trip him.

Jullius had a solid physical foundation and decent balance, so the trip didn't send him face-planting into the floor. However, it was enough to send him staggering forward for a few paces like a common drunkard. If I could, I would have loved to grab the brat and beat him senseless just to vent some frustration. But causing a scene on school grounds would likely land me in the administration office writing disciplinary reports until sundown. I had business to attend to and didn't want to waste another minute here.

Jullius, however, refused to let it go. It seemed he was dead-set on dragging me back to the estate today by any means necessary. He snatched a wooden practice sword from a nearby student and pointed the tip at me provocatively.

"Asher, I'm giving you one last chance. If you return to the mansion today, the Marquis will forgive your past transgressions. If not, don't you dare call yourself a Griffin ever again." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I shrugged.

"Go ahead and take the name back if you can. It never gave me anything anyway, besides forcing me to slavishly follow an arrogant, brainless bastard." That was intentional. It's always easier to spot the openings of a man who has lost his cool. Jullius had, predictably, flown into a towering rage. His teeth ground together with an audible grit as he began to circulate his mana flow. This was exactly what I had been waiting for. I wanted to pinpoint the exact origin of the mana within his body.

It was anything but coincidental, that source was located right at the site of his Hero Candidate Holy Mark on his left chest. A rich supply of mana surged from it, coursing through his limbs before returning to its origin, much like the circulation of blood. Jullius swung his sword, lunging at me with blistering speed. With mana bolstering his movements, his velocity was no longer something an ordinary person could track.

My left eye could still perceive the trajectory clearly, but my physical body wasn't yet fast enough to keep up. Not that I intended to dodge anyway, that would only waste time. Instead, I dropped into a low crouch to mitigate the impact. The wooden sword still slammed into my back, but it was at a manageable level of pain. Using that momentum, I lunged upward, slamming my hand directly over Jullius's Holy Mark. Mana Siphon. Jullius's mana flooded into my body in a torrential surge.

Even by sensation alone, I could tell my absorption speed was significantly faster than the first time I had tested it on the swordsmanship instructor. Was this an "unexpected gift" received after being drained repeatedly as a mana slave during those resets? Jullius wasn't easily knocked over, which ironically granted me more time to maintain physical contact. The connection lasted only three seconds before Jullius drove a knee into me and kicked me aside. The moment he broke free, Jullius began panting heavily.

It looked as though he had just finished a grueling marathon rather than having swung a single sword strike. I had performed a quick check on Jullius's mana earlier: 290/315. Now, glancing at the numbers again, they had plummeted to 112/315. So, I could drain roughly 60 mana per second. For an average person, 112 mana is still quite a bit, but losing such a massive quantity in a short burst induces a state of "pseudo-exhaustion." This condition usually occurs after one chain-casts ultimate skills.

Seizing the opening, I sprang up and executed what I'd like to think was a textbook shoulder throw. Jullius stared blankly up at the ceiling, unable to process what had just happened. The onlookers remained frozen in a long, stunned silence before a wave of astonished whispering erupted. I dusted off my clothes and gave the crowd a sheepish look.

"I really didn't want to cause trouble here. My apologies. I have business to attend to, so I'll be going now." With that, I hurried through the crowd and headed straight for the academy gates. Using a mana-draining skill in front of such a large audience was risky. Many students likely shared the Church's view that siphoning another's mana was a "heretical art." But I was tired of always playing the submissive role. Every now and then, you have to let people know you aren't an easy target.

Now that I've openly declared my fallout with the Griffin clan, my survival depends entirely on my own hands. Regardless, as long as Averula hasn't invented a device capable of precisely measuring internal mana, this skill of mine remains incredibly difficult to detect. As for whether Jullius will seek revenge after today's humiliation? I've already offended the entire Griffin family and the Church; why would I be afraid of him alone? Let them come. I'll handle whatever they throw at me.

After all, it's not like I can actually stay dead!