Lucian was annoyed.
Being called a monster out of nowhere was too much.
He’d have to leave a few marks on her face later!
“No, I mean your learning Talent.
It’s a true monster!” Yukinoshita explained hurriedly.
She really hadn’t been cursing him.
After using aura to soothe the ache in her arm, she told him, “I give up.
If we keep fighting, I won’t be a match for you.”
From his recent showing, she could already see the gap between them, so she didn’t want to continue.
Not to mention, she had a premonition that if she kept going, she might get badly beaten.
Absurd as it felt, the intuition was surely right; this guy in front of her really wouldn’t hold back.
Judging by the way he’d punched her in the stomach without hesitation just now, if she pressed on, he might just beat the period out of her…
The thought made Yukinoshita shudder.
She did not want that.
That inexplicable feeling left her unwilling to fight Lucian anymore, and she quietly resolved to team up with Kato from now on.
She wasn’t going to play with Lucian again.
She’d come back to fight him once she was stronger.
At that thought, Yukinoshita turned decisively and went to find a place to rest.
After all, condensing aura was exhausting, and she’d only just managed it before fighting Lucian for a while.
Now she felt drained in body and mind.
And at that, Yukinoshita suddenly frowned.
Her retreating steps stopped short, and she turned back to Lucian.
“Don’t you feel tired?”
That was what baffled her.
What was with Lucian?
How could he not be tired after fighting like that?
Lucian was caught off guard too.
After checking his own condition, he answered, “A little, but it’s no big deal.”
Aura essentially burns your vitality, your very essence, energy, and spirit; in plain terms, your mental and physical reserves.
In theory, the stronger your body, the more aura you can condense.
After all, it ties back to your stamina.
It mainly draws on physical energy, and mental energy after that.
Beyond condensing aura, mental energy can also be used to refine mana.
That was why Yukinoshita felt worn out in both body and mind.
When she heard Lucian say “just a little,” she was shocked.
She looked at him in disbelief.
“Just a little?”
Lucian had fought Hiratsuka, rested briefly, then fought her, and she was already spent, yet this guy was only “a little”…
Sure enough, he really was a monster.
Yukinoshita looked at Lucian like he was one.
Not only was his learning Talent terrifyingly strong, his mental and physical resilience were absurdly high too, weren’t they?
Lucian realized it himself now.
His mental energy seemed excessively strong.
Was it because the other him had merged into him, boosting it?
If they measured his soul, would that turn out absurdly strong as well?
He recalled that his first Meditation had gone strangely fast, and he’d thought his magic Talent was very strong.
But looking at it now, there seemed to be a reason, a gift from the original body.
That had to be it, right?
People with strong mental energy and souls could refine mana with ease, because the other him had handed over everything.
“What an absurd guy.” Yukinoshita stared at Lucian a moment longer, then pulled her gaze away and turned to leave.
She found a place to rest, and Lucian, having lost his sparring partner, went off to train on his own.
Hiratsuka watched the two from a distance and said nothing.
Those two were already far stronger than the rest of the class.
Lucian especially; this student was a huge, unexpected surprise, and it made her look forward to his future growth all the more.
Hiratsuka blocked Kato’s strike with one hand, then upped the intensity and began coaching her loudly.
“Don’t rely on brute force.
Marshal your mental energy to draw out the energy hidden inside you, condense it into aura, and wrap it around your arms,” she instructed while pressing her offense.
Under Hiratsuka’s pressure, Kato was suffering.
Even with the teacher personally guiding her, it was too painful.
Still, under that constant pressure, Kato made progress.
She hadn’t condensed aura yet, but she was close.
Hiratsuka looked at the already breathless girl and said at once, “We’ll stop here for now.
You’re close to touching the threshold.
Go rest well, and aim to break through soon.”
Kato nodded, looking worn out by the words.
Once she relaxed, she didn’t even have the strength to lift her arms.
It was simply too tiring, her whole body aching, all from fighting Hiratsuka.
Gritting her teeth, Kato headed for a corner to rest.
She glanced around the huge hall; plenty of people were still fighting.
At last her eyes landed on Lucian’s direction, and she walked over.
Lucian was sitting on the floor in thought just then, sensing the aura within his body.
Suddenly he spotted Kato coming.
Seeing her look utterly burnt out, he chuckled.
“Come here, Kato-san.” Lucian waved her over, motioning for her to sit beside him.
Confused by his words, Kato walked over anyway and sat down next to him.
The moment she sat, she let out a sigh of relief.
She turned to him.
“Lucian, is something the matter?”
She didn’t understand why he’d called her over.
As she wondered, Lucian condensed a thread of aura in his hand and gently rested it on her shoulder.
The forward gesture made Kato freeze.
Before she could speak, a warm current spread out from his hand.
Starting at her shoulder, it flowed through her whole body, and the warmth slowly melted her fatigue away.
“Thank you.” Kato pursed her lips, feeling the tiredness recede, and thanked him.
“This is the legendary aura spa.
Getting someone to do this outside would run you a few hundred credits a session.” Seeing it was nearly done, Lucian joked cheerfully with her.
At that, Kato rolled her eyes.
“But they charge that much because they actually massage you!
All you did was pump a burst of aura into me; it can’t be that pricey!”
She knew about this sort of thing and had even tried it with some of the older sisters, but that was a aura massage, not just having someone shove aura into you the way Lucian had.
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