Chapter 45: I’ll come back tomorrow to beat you up (1/2)
Chapter 45: I’ll come back tomorrow to beat you up
Panda-eyed, Ayrin and Moss walked shoulder to shoulder on the great avenue passing through the academy’s gates.
“Moss.”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t you watch the duel between Stingham and Ferguillo? People like them who possibly have their third arcane gate open already, just how much stronger are they compared to us?”
“The gap between us?” Moss rubbed his face. He turned his head to glance at Ayrin and said, a little dejected, “Even if they just stood there without moving, we’d be sent flying who knows where before we can even clearly see what’s happening. On top of that, we won’t even be able to get up.”
Ayrin brandished his fist and exclaimed, “Such a big gap, true or false.”
“Simply put, take a single move like “Great Water Dragon” that’s very ordinary for Stingham. Even if I used Multi-Size Technique and gave it my all, he could casually smash me flying a dozen feet in the sky just with that one move.” Moss stretched his hand and gestured at Ayrin. “If it were you instead, you’d surely become a little black dot in the sky.”
Ayrin thought for a little. “Then did Chris open her third arcane gate as well?”
“I don’t know. They say she’s from the most ordinary human bloodline, that’s why it’s not possible to progress so fast. Maybe she only opened two arcane gates.” Moss puffed his cheek, trying to relieve the pain from the fight inside his mouth. “Someone like her might have a talent for fighting that’s out of the ordinary though, an ability to operate every kind of arcane skill in the most appropriate way. Since she said she could beat teacher Huston, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if she were able to to beat an arcane master with three open arcane gates in a one versus one. Plus she has that supreme secret skill that can swallow arcane particles. Only, guys like Stingham and Ferguillo also seem to have strange secret skills that others can’t understand.”
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” Ayrin suddenly let out three gloomy shouts.
“You’ve gone crazy?” Moss jumped in fright. “Why are you shouting out of nowhere with no rhyme or reason. Maybe you think you need more people to admire your panda eyes?”
“Such a big difference, when on earth am I going to condense arcane particles.” Ayrin said, “Moss, to what level do I need to train my body before I can reach the required step for condensing arcane particles?”
“For ordinary people, if they can run twice longer than you and dash up two boulders that size, then they’ve more or less reached the critical point.” Moss glanced at Ayrin. “Condensing arcane particles requires body and spiritual power to both reach the required level though. Ordinary people can use their physical strength as a measure. When they train their strength to that level, their spiritual power will be more or less there as well. But for a monster like you whose physical strength rises very fast, your body is definitely far far ahead of your spiritual strength. Only training to your limits will be a genuine test for your spiritual determination and make it progress a little.
“For example, an ordinary person has to train painstakingly a hundred times to their limits to gain the same rise in strength you get after ten training sessions, but their spiritual strength will go through more tempering than yours. That’s why when the time comes, your physical strength will certainly be far higher than theirs, but your spiritual strength won’t be enough yet, so you won’t be able to condense arcane particles like them. Physical strength is something you can see at first glance, but you have to use a dwarven benchmark tool to know what level the spiritual strength really reached.”
“What kind of thing are dwarven benchmark tools?”
“It’s something only dwarven smiths from the kingdom of Doa can craft, it’s a measuring tool especially made to measure the level of spiritual strength. The main components are some mysterious underground crystals.”
“Then where do they sell it in St. Lauren?” Ayrin turned immediately excited. “Let’s go buy it right now.”
“Idiot, the price was up to a hundred gold coins even several years ago, and you’re not even certain to find one.” Moss cursed Ayrin, but he actually turned his head around and said, “I think there’s one in our Quinn clan, I can think of a way to go home and take it out in a couple days.”
“Mhm, mhm…”
An Ayrin fiercely nodding his head walked out of the school gates together with Moss, going through great streets and small alleys in St. Lauren. Looking at the two of them, no one would think they just fought a brawl a little earlier, or that Moss even thought of Ayrin as a mortal enemy just a few days ago.
“This must the silly hot-bloodedness of youth.” This was the way Minlur described the two of them when Moss and Ayrin each lent the other an arm in support and went out of the Thinker’s Stone Forest. Such a situation made even Minlur a little sentimental, a little envious.
…
When the darkness of the night entirely descended on St. Lauren, when the starry skies once again glittered bright, Ayrin and Moss came in front of Divine Shield Academy’s eastern gates.
There was no commercial street inside Divine Shield Academy. This way, it turned several streets around Divine Shield Academy entirely into commercial streets instead. People came and went. Compared to Holy Dawn Academy, Ayrin felt that Divine Shield Academy looked like a bustling city that never slept, when Holy Dawn Academy seemed like a park almost no one visited at night.
Ayrin and Moss didn’t wear their Holy Dawn Academy’s uniform in order to better infiltrate inside the enemy area, but their faces beaten black and blue still attracted the attention of many people along the way. What most exceeded people’s imagination was, when the two of them were about to surreptitiously sneak inside Divine Shield Academy, two persons stopped them at the gates.
“Are you students from our Divine Shield Academy?”
“Why aren’t you wearing the uniform?”
“Which district do you live in, which building?”
“…”
Moss was totally struck dumb after these few questions.
Only then did he see a noticeboard hanging outside Divine Shield Academy’s gates, with “This academy isn’t open for visit to students of other academies” written on it.
Not having expected to encounter something like this after traveling half a day, Moss and Ayrin could only helplessly retreat to a corner of the streets. Ayrin couldn’t help but mumble, “What, do academies prohibit students from other schools from entering? Why can people go inside our Holy Dawn Academy whenever they want, didn’t you go inside Iron Forest Academy as well?”