bacchusnovels Chapter 124 - 160- Another Tragedy
Chapter 124 - 160- Another Tragedy
’Why the hell do all these idiots keep coming into my life?’
Alexios, upon seeing him, stood and moved towards the designated combat platform, while Gleinder also followed, discarding his sword upon noticing Alexios was weaponless.
"Aren’t you the confident one, Gleinder?" Alexios, observing him discard his sword, felt amused, knowing the reason behind the man’s action and feeling satisfied to see him fall into his trap.
"As a warrior, there is no need for me to fight you while you’re weaponless," Gleinder, a male dariant specialized in physical strength, leaned slightly toward the warrior side, following certain rules during combat.
1. Battles should consider their nature: if they are friendly, there’s no need to risk one’s life force.
~ This rule was established after some dariants tried to exhaust their life force during friendly battles merely to save face.
2. Fights should have a clear intent: attempting to kill opponents in friendly battles is prohibited.
~ This rule was put in place after some individuals went too far, targeting their friends aggressively in fights just to win favor with women.
3. Always adjust your advantage to balance the fight in friendly matches.
~ This rule was created after someone unfairly used a crossbow against a weaponless opponent who specialized in hand-to-hand combat.
And Alexios knew every one of them very well, allowing him to take advantage of this.
His eyes were fixed on Gliender before a smile formed on his face.
WHOOSH
A sword began to materialize into his hand, causing the Dariant boy to look towards it in confusion before hearing Alexio’s remark, which made his mouth twitch.
"Don’t tell me you thought I am without a weapon," Alexios’ amusement grew as he saw Gliender’s face visibly twitch, revealing the regret he felt in dropping his sword.
"Hah, don’t think too highly of yourself, Alexios," Gliender slowly moved on the platform, trying to appear composed but feeling slightly cheated. It made him realize he was up against a clever opponent.
Dariants leaned more towards strength, but it didn’t mean they underestimated strategies; they had learned this lesson before.
// When fighting someone with brains, just keep your calmness, don’t act on a whim; those with brains will try to provoke you //
Gliender calmly mocked the strength difference between humans and Dariants.
Though humans can enhance their bodies using Mana, the problem lies in the fact that Mana can easily exhaust.
When used for physical enhancement, the depletion rate is slower, but inevitably, it occurs.
However, humans can only utilize a minimal percentage, around 30% of the total Mana, to strengthen their bodies.
In contrast, Dariants’ bodies are structured to utilize 80% of their Mana without requiring experience.
This percentage can vary among individuals, such as Gleinder, who can directly increase this value to 96%.
This characteristic allows them to accomplish tasks using less Mana compared to humans, who need more for similar efforts.
Observing Gleinder’s composed demeanor, Alexios remained unsurprised; he was already familiar with the prevalent sentiments among Dariants on how to confront opponents with intellect.
However, this fact held little significance for someone like Alexios, whose intellect set him apart from societal norms.
"Human, huh? Let’s see," Alexios thought, feeling amused at the anticipated shock on Gleinder’s face upon encountering this human.
To witness this reaction, he closed the distance between them.
SWISH
’!?’
Gleinder’s eyes widened as, in a mere blink of an eye, Alexios closed a ten-meter distance before swinging his sword.
"Khukk!....CLANK," Gleinder swiftly hardened his muscles with Mana, causing the sword to collide with his hand, producing a metallic sound.
The hardening of one’s muscles depended on the person using it.
Normally, when someone physically enhanced their body, Mana took the form of their tendons and muscle fibers.
However, Dariants, who could directly utilize most of their Mana, instinctively directed it to specific portions of their body as needed.
At this moment, a major portion of Mana was channeled to Gleinder’s skin, as his body identified the posture as a defensive one.
"Pretty tough for a human," Gleinder remarked, feeling the strength behind the short strike that could have harmed a normal Dariant.
However, being from one of the major families, he was special and could withstand such attacks.
BANG
He threw a punch at the elections, who blocked it using his sword and flew a distance away.
Thud
Boom
Before landing on the ground and executing a backflip, Alexios used his toes to enhance his jump, gaining momentum to propel himself with increased speed towards Gleinder while pointing the sword forward.
SWISH
Not giving him any chance, Gleinder’s figure blurred as he launched himself towards him, with a clear intent to defeat his opponent.
BOOOOOOMM
Both of their figures collided, causing dust to cover them.
’?!?’
Both of their eyes widened as they felt their punches being stopped by a figure standing amidst them, with fluttering silver hair and crimson eyes.
"P-Professor Adriannel?!"
Both exclaimed simultaneously upon seeing Adriannel positioned between them, casually lighting his cigarette while an unknown force restrained their hands.
"So, your name is Gliender Valhale." Adriannel’s eyes locked onto the Dariant boy as he lit his cigarette, causing Gliender to feel shocked at first before suddenly recalling and responding, "Y-yes, Professor," retreating backward upon recognizing the familiar figure he had encountered several times since childhood.
Adriannel used to visit his father occasionally, and the two were very good friends.
"Both of you, come inside my office this instant."
SWISH
Adriannel disappeared after issuing the command to enter his office.
GULP
Standing there, both Alexios and Gliender swallowed hard, comprehending that being summoned by the professor in such a manner was not a good sign.
....
"Where are they?" Arriving at the training ground, Thalia observed but found no one present.
"So, you’ve started lying too, huh, Thalia," Rihane thought, feeling relieved that his brother was safe but not refraining from mocking her.
"What lie?" Thalia looked at Rihane, tilting her head in confusion.
"Didn’t you say my brother would get beaten today?" Rihane, seeing Thalia’s genuine expression, felt confused before cautiously scanning the training ground for her brother, only to find it empty.
"I don’t lie though. You can visit him tomorrow in the infirmary," Thalia said, forming a smile. She couldn’t understand why, but ever since waking up in Thallasar after taking that medicine, her intuition not only worked on a whim but was far sharper, as if she could predict the future.
Though it seemed confusing, she knew Gleinder Crimwell would be in the infirmary tomorrow with several broken bones and injuries. Thalia concluded that perhaps her brother would beat him due to her words, but now, seeing no one in the training ground, she felt perplexed.
"Tch, I wanted to see my dear Alexios in action, though," Clara felt slightly disappointed for not being able to witness Alexios in action as she had anticipated.
Suddenly feeling the gazes of both Thalia and Rihane, Clara realized she was caught and shook her hands in a gesture to reject it, saying, "No, no, I mean Alexios and Gliender both should not fight."
"Fufu~ I guess Clara is head over heels for Thalia’s brother," Laila chuckled, wrapping her hand around Clara, causing Rihane and Thalia to burst into laughter as well.
"I can accept you as my sister-in-law, but you have to do something for me," Thalia said, smiling at Clara before turning to leave, sensing her man might be in trouble.
"R-really?!" Clara’s face lit up with a smile as she moved towards Thalia, who waved her hand while departing, saying, "Meet me tomorrow. I will introduce you to him."
’Is she a fairy,’ Clara’s eyes fixed on Thalia’s disappearing figure, who looked like an angel to her.
She wiped away her tears as she pulled Laila along, heading toward their dorm room where they lived as roommates. "Let’s go, I have to prepare for tomorrow!"
"What the hell, why would you start doing it now?" Laila, feeling that Clara was serious, got dragged along by her as they both left Rihane behind.
He followed Thalia, curious about her sudden departure and sensing there might be some gossip-worthy topics.
.
.
.
.
Arriving outside Professor Adriannel’s room in the main building, both Alexios and Gliender looked toward each other before moving their fingers to knock on the door.
"Come in," a voice commanded them before they could even knock, prompting them to enter.
Krieeeekk
Upon entering the room, they witnessed Adriannel drawing something on the ground, leaving them both confused as their eyes fell on a magic circle on the floor.
Recognizing the circle at a glance, Alexios turned toward Adriannel, who slowly stood before throwing the chalk.
Though it seemed amusing that, despite being an Archmage, Adriannel used chalk instead of directly using Mana, Alexios was aware of the significance of the circle. It disrupted the mana, causing the magic circle to break on its own if made using Mana.
"Alexios, put Gliender in the center," Adriannel commanded, slowly retreating while leaning on the table for support.
"I can move myself, so why..." *Smack!* Before Gliender could finish his sentence, he felt a wrenching pain.
"T-this?" *Thud* He fell to the ground, feeling the strength of the punch breaking through his defenses and delivering a shock to his abdomen.
Alexios looked toward Gleinder, his eyes shining in amethyst, before bending to hold his wrist.
SWISH
Slowly, the magic circle started to shine the moment Gleinder got nearer to the center of it, causing Alexios to slowly understand everything.
BANG
Leaving his body at the center, Alexios, holding Gleinder’s chin, gave him a punch on the face.
"Kugghhh... a-are you ins-ane?" Gleinder could only feel the pain on his face before his vision blurred, and a sound made its way to his ears.
"Sorry, Gliender, but you have to die for now."