A ferocious clash between polar opposites of techniques and the harmony of steel clashing against each other-- is what I was expecting.
"Are you tired now?" I asked the sprawled Sean on the ground. "N-no-.. O-one more!" The guy looked like he was about to faint with his haggard breathing, so I decided to just call it a day.
"We'll do it again tomorrow since it's already afternoon," I declared to Sean. At first, he was energetic, but like Master, his style didn't fit in the criteria of a sword duel. His strikes were centered around "strength" and left small openings for me to exploit.
Not only that but he doesn't even feint and just continuously slash without caring for defense. A glass cannon as they call it. He did, however, had a rather interesting ability.
"Earlier, I felt my movement sluggish and a little light-headed. Was that also an ability of quasi blood?" I asked Sean. Sitri who had been spectating us was laughing the whole time seeing his brother get toyed around. At least he gave water and comforted the sulking Sean.
It kind of felt like she was mocking rather than comforting him, but I think that's just my imagination. "Hm? yeah. Quasi blood isn't as powerful as the demon race's blood attribute, but it still is amazing."
Messing with your opponent's blood could cause a great impact in a match. From what I felt was my blood's circulation getting a bit shaken from time to time, which is already a powerful debuff as a whole. If we were fighting in terms of brute strength, he could have easily crushed me in that state. Sadly, my style barely uses brute strength.
This is the reason why despite being an adept swordsman, I have a rather slender figure. Of course, strength is important, but it's not everything when it comes to an all-out fight.
"How are you so strong," Sean gulped down a big chug of water before asking. "I'm not strong. My sword style just counters yours," I answered warmly, "don't worry, you're not weak."
"Hearing someone younger than me say that feels even worse," he remarked with an annoyed expression, causing a stifled giggle from Sitri.
"Is your sword style perhaps the Florence Household's?" I asked curiously. Master and even this boy almost had similar styles and the only difference would be that master's is more tamed while Sean's is more vicious.
For a world where monsters and gods are present, it would be natural that they have similarities since they cater to the same targets. It does make a sword match kind of dull though.
"What do you mean? The sword style of the continent is derived from the celestial armament god." An armament god? According to Velxia, other than the celestial gods who rule both the celestial and material realities, the gods of the abyssal realm aren't small beings that you can just cut or stab with weapons.
So how in the world is there an armament god?
"In case your wondering, it's not blasphemous to use other styles. However, developing new styles from nothing is harder than just learning the ones taught by the academies, so many don't even bother since it's effective anyway." He probably saw the puzzled look on my face and thought I was scared of being condemned of blasphemy.
But saying otherwise would just be troublesome, so I just let it be. "In any case, we didn't finish our breakfast have we?" I asked, changing the topic.
"I haven't even had breakfast yet, and I already feel like vomiting," Sean states while rubbing his stomach. "Then what are you guys waiting for? We're already done making lunch," Sitri called our attention to Sophia who was carrying a roasted bird.
It's amazing how one can look grotesque one moment and appetizing the other.
We decided to set up the outdoor tent and enjoy the view of the tall greenery surrounding us while eating. Birds in hordes, which reminded me of pterodactyls, were just minding their own business and flying along below the leaves of the tall trees.
Although they seem to be docile, their carnivorous looks made them look a little dangerous in terms of appearance. Shifting my attention to the twins, I asked out of curiosity.
"Now that I think about it, how come the Marquis allowed his children to travel solely by themselves?" When I turned eighteen and was allowed to venture out of the castle, I barely had any free time to enjoy myself because of my entourage.
Of course, I was free to be alone in the castle, but it feels more like a cage than anything else and the sense of freedom isn't even there. "What do you mean? We're already of age to travel though," Sean responded, still munching on his meat.
"How old are you guys, exactly?" I asked. To me, they look like in their early teens, around fourteen to maybe sixteen years of age. However, if the concept of time is different, then I guess we could say that concept of 'age is just a number' could be proven correct.
I myself, although am physically 8 years old, look like I'm a couple of years older if we compare it to my previous world.
"We're thirteen years old. Isn't that the age of welcoming?" Younger than I expected, but I guess that makes sense. "how bout you White, how old are you?" Sean asked back.
"I'm..." I eyed Sophia in case I'm not allowed to answer, but it didn't seem like there is a problem so I just answered truthfully, "eight years of age. I just turned eight yesterday." I said with a light smile.
"Wait a minute! Then how come you can already use mana?!" Sean almost choked on his chicken meat when she heard my response. Sitri, although looked surprised, looked at her brother as if sighing mentally.
"Isn't that obvious? Of course, he awakened early," Sitri responded to Sean, "Even a child from the street could tell that much, you know."
Her words were sharp, but they hold meaning. If you see someone younger than you not only save you but also beat you for six hours straight, then wouldn't it be obvious that who you're fighting is already awakened?
Although the Florence twins both look good, it seems one took most of the brains while the other, most of the brawn. "Did you seriously not know?" I asked Sean. After all, it would have been pathetic if he really didn't.
"I... didn't," Seam murmured his answer. "Still, it is true that only a few can awaken at an early age. It's truly magnificent to see a young prodigy. Then, what about your attribute, what is it?" Sitri started with a compliment before asking the question.
I messed up. I was too lax answering their questions that I didn't see where the conversation was going. If I say ice, then it's possible I might be called out for convenience purposes, and I don't want to show my magic unnecessarily unless I absolutely need to. I did promise that to the old man.
"Actually, I don't have an attribute," I answered as such. A missing Crux would mean that one isn't able to use magic, but one can use mana. According to Velxia, magic is the output of attributed mana that has cycled in a being.
Although the usage solely of mana could be can first be inference as the same as magic, the mages of this world decided to call it mana arts instead.
To avoid any mishaps from happening before crossing realities, I worked on mana control like what Velxia said. His celestial ability, Imaginary potential, is powerful as it allows anything to become his weapon. However, it weakened since he wasn't able to absorb the "pure mana" that is only present in the celestial reality.
Though he was able to absorb the pure mana that reached this world through reality range, it was lackluster because the mana arriving in this world are already bigger, almost the same size as hydrogen molecules.
In short, the mana of this world from reality range isn't as "pure" compared to the celestial reality's. To beings who were born in a world with mana, they are able to adapt and get influenced by said mana.
However, if a being who isn't born in a world with mana comes to a world with mana, assuming they don't cross dimensions, they would die from mana poisoning.
The same could be said for celestials who are used to pure mana but decided to go here in the material world. Since the mana isn't as pure as to where it had been created, rather than dying, they simply have to adapt to a less versatile environment.
"Is that so... Well, it would have been really fun- terrifying if you beat Sean without even using your attribute despite him doing it," Sitri smiled joyfully as he glanced at the whimpering Sean.
"I'll win next time! We have all the time going to Ius Viride, you know!" Sean shouted at Sitri, seemingly in a state of embarrassment. I watched the bickering of the twins before eating my meal, but drops of rain began pouring down the leaves of the giant trees.
"Oh, dear. It's raining," Sitri comments before standing up, seemingly surprised. I can't blame her, since we're all are. "It's raining, but the light from the sky remains bright. Is this normal?"
"It's either a mage's doing or a beast," Sean answered me with a serious tone, his earlier childish whimpers gone. "In any case, let us head out to the town now," Sitri stated.
Luckily, we set out an outdoor tent beforehand so we remained dry. After packing up our things, we headed to the town.