Unedited*
"It’s not that I’ve forgotten." Kenneth raised a sword instead of the poisoned dagger. "I just know you don’t have much ti left to fight in that state, do you? Your strength is astonishing, but I can see how you’re slowly destroying yourself from the inside. I wonder who will destroy themselves first."
Lucius burst out laughing. "I like a good bet. So let’s do it, then. Let’s find out who will destroy themselves first."
Kenneth was slightly unsettled by his cold, yet curious words.
’He’s really changed,’ he thought, rembering the old Lucius Asturias who let himself be intimidated by all his relatives without putting up a fight.
He gripped his sword and realized he was in for a tough fight. Nevertheless, he stood his ground and attacked.
Lucius also leaped toward him, but without using a sword. He used his bare hands and faced Kenneth’s sharp blade.
BAM!
BAM!
The attacks sent up explosions; the force of both was astonishing. But Kenneth quickly fell into a state of passivity, as he was struggling to hold back those attacks.
’H-how could he be so strong? So, did he really kill that Gorilla with his own strength?’ Kenneth swallowed hard as soon as he caught his breath.
Lucius stared at him and calculated where each blow would land, as well as the damage it could inflict and the total power behind it.
’I see. So that’s how I can control these spells. Even though it’s absurdly exhausting, sohow I can keep throwing powerful blows for more than three minutes straight. This ice has been a huge help,’ he thought.
However, he quickly noticed that the blows didn’t have the sa power as when he struck the Gorilla.
’Maybe for that I need to unleash all my power, and that would break Clara’s ice magic.’ He nodded repeatedly.
The fact that he was nodding in the middle of a fight alard Kenneth, causing him to take two steps back imdiately.
’This guy... doesn’t he take seriously?’ he thought.
Just then, Lucius’s figure flickered and appeared beside him.
"I think you were unlucky that he chose to bring that girl to . If he hadn’t brought her, things wouldn’t have been so easy." Lucius laughed.
His fist flew at high speed, closing the short distance between him and Kenneth. The blow struck the side of his body.
BOOM!
A sudden cloud of smoke burst upward and to the sides, enveloping Lucius in an instant.
"Hm?" He looked at the strange smoke that slled of flowers and cereal, then looked at his hands.
When the smoke was hit by a strong breeze, it dispersed, and Lucius looked around.
In the distance, Clara remained on guard, but when she saw that no one was there, she stood up and walked toward Lucius.
"Um... What happened?" she asked, puzzled.
"He fled," Lucius replied. "Kenneth is often known as the Ghost of Fragrant Smoke because of this. He has a special talent for escaping."
There was clearly a hint of complaint in his reply. He hadn’t thought soone so weak could escape him so easily.
’Though it’s not bad. I couldn’t maintain this state for long,’ he thought. He took a deep breath and relaxed his body.
Then he deactivated his contained magic.
"A-already?" Clara asked, looking at the two dead assassins on the other side, next to a Three-Step Jaguar.
"It seems so." Lucius smiled, though he was a little sore inside. "Leave the corpses there. We only need the Jaguar, so let’s go."
"Y-yes." Clara was nervous as she approached the Jaguar.
Those two guys were really dead. Completely dead.
Her mind was in chaos, asking herself the sa questions over and over again.
"Don’t you need so Mana Marks?" Lucius asked suddenly.
"Huh? Oh, right. I need a few." She replied affirmatively.
"How many spells do you have?" Lucius asked in return.
"Three. Thermal Link was the one I used to see your internal condition. Mana Crystallization was the one I shared with you. Both are Rank E. And my Rank F is Shattered Ice Armor," she said.
"To have three Mana Marks, two of them Rank E, I have to say your rank is pretty low."
"Yes..." Clara smiled sheepishly. "That’s because those Rank E ones were from when I was just starting out."
"Oh, so that’s it. That makes sense. All right, then let’s go find you so more. How many do you need?"
"Two. It’s to try to break through to Rank E."
Lucius nodded and finally activated his system. This ti, it was to take a closer look at Clara. "Don’t move. Let analyze your markings," he said.
Just then, a profile appeared before him.
[The Link System: Ally Profile]
User: Clara Thorne.
Status: Exiled from the Thorne Family / Student at New Creation Academy.
Rank: F (Stable).
...
The profile that appeared was enormous, but Lucius looked past the main section to the bottom, where her magical abilities were explained.
"From what I can see, you have two shared-attribute skills that have no direct effect on you and one total defensive skill, which does affect you. You need sothing that allows you to attack with precision." Lucius nodded and brought his hand to his chin.
"We should look for sothing with Frost... Maybe a breath attack," he said after thinking for a few seconds.
"Breath-type? It’s hard to find weak beasts of that kind."
Lucius smiled and nodded. "Well, we just have to look among the weak beasts. We don’t have many options here. Either we choose Rank F, or we’ll have to fight Rank C beasts or higher, which will kill us."
"Rank F? Won’t that greatly diminish their power?"
"It’ll be weaker than a Rank E, but if we manage to get a Frost Breath from a Rank F beast, it would be a great find. That would be very useful for you when they get close, since you’re a highly skilled ranged mage."
Clara nodded. She found his words quite reasonable.
They both began walking through the vast forest and took advantage of being there to start hunting.
This forest was quite large, despite being private. And it has a wide variety of beasts, which are constantly growing in number.
"It’s a Frost Blower Moth," said Clara, after searching for four hours.
"That’ll do if we’re lucky," said Lucius, and he put the food he’d been using to lure these creatures into his new storage ring.
For a brief mont, the Moth felt uneasy. It had clearly slled food nearby...
It hadn’t finished processing the information when a rock leapt from the ground toward it and struck its wings.
The Moth hadn’t expected an attack, so she felt disoriented and dizzy and began to fall.
Clara moved quickly and, from below, drew so hidden weapons she always carried with her and threw them at the Moth, who fell to the ground rolling with them.
It was small, asuring just one ter. But it was tough. Both of them had to attack it at the sa ti to kill it.
And after five minutes, the little creature dropped dead.
They both stepped closer to examine the mark it had left behind, and after studying it for a mont, they smiled.
"Absorb it. That will help you imnsely. Later, I’ll teach you how to use Frost Breath properly."
Clara nodded and sat down to do as she’d been told.
anwhile, Lucius stood guard over her and used the ti to skin the jaguar.
He removed its pelt, which was excellent for making armor or high-end, expensive clothing.
Then he removed the bones, which were extrely useful for crafting weapons, but more commonly for reinforcing armor. When combined with the hide, it had excellent effects for armor ranging from Rank F to D.
Then he reached in and carefully pulled out its tongue. It had no use for weapons or armor, but it was a delicious dish that was frequently served in fine restaurants.
The esophagus ca with it; it had the sa use, along with the stomach.
Finally, the liver, heart, lungs, pancreas, and large and small intestines were useful for creating potions as a main ingredient, which would then be masked by aromatic and flavoring herbs so they wouldn’t have any strange tastes.
Another thing that was very useful, especially with this type of jaguar, was that the leg section—with bone, skin, and at—remained intact. With a precise and perfect cut.
That’s because this animal’s legs are very special. By moving instantly, it eventually acquires impressive abilities. If you turn them into a weapon, it will gain unique abilities, and there’s even the possibility of replicating the Jaguar’s default ability without needing a Mana Mark.
However, the hooves had to be removed from those legs. Although they are part of the legs and are deeply imbued with their power and ability, because they tread on so much filth and are used to kill so many beasts in its lifeti, they are usually infected and must be cleaned individually using special thods.
So the hooves were removed from the legs, and the legs were freed.
Everything about this beast was useful, so Lucius was going to make the most of it now that he had a workshop.
About 30 minutes passed before Clara finally got up, and they had to keep looking for another Mana Mark.
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