Chapter 50

Lukas sat down at his writing desk with a frustrated sigh. While he was proud of how much stronger he currently is, it was clear he still had much to learn. And the skills he plans to stop need a lot of strength.

Running his fingers through his hair, he pondered where to focus next. The night was reaching its end and the new day was beginning.

He stayed up all night, thinking about what his next course of action would be. And after such deep thinking, this is the way he sees it.

The only way he can grow further is to advance his magic circle as fast as possible. But the problem is,

Lukas took out his soul gear and looked at the front page where his information was shown.

[] Soul power: 6.8

Mana: 1st circle {33% completion}

Aura: 100% {6th layer}

Creations:

- Spiraling shot {lv: 3}

- Mana circulation sigil<>

- Sigils of burst <>

- Enchantment projectile {lv: 2} []

He sighed, looking at the completion rate. It should have been faster and if he had tried, he should have also finished the first circle by now, just like the others.

But he focused on Aurora, which he didn't regret spending his time and wealth on. Despite losing such a way at the tower, he felt satisfied with his armor.

Lukas quickly had his plain breakfast before rushing towards the market. He's going to buy a bunch of low-tier pills and mana recovery potions to speed up his progress.

The market was full of people as always. Lukas thought before he noticed a familiar figure among the crowd. In front of a weapon stall stood a beautiful girl with long, flowing silver hair and a pair of red eyes.

She was wearing almost identical uniform to the one she wore when Lukas met her. Lukas approached her and stood beside her.

Sensing someone, she looked up. (She was a little bit shorter than Lukas). Her eyes widened a bit upon seeing his handsome face and his red eyes.

It was totally unexpected for her to meet him again like this.

She was Stella Kester. The one who sat down with Lukas during the welcoming ceremony. Seeing that she wasn't the one to speak, Lukas started it with a light smile. "Hello, do you still remember me?"

Stella flinched and looked down, realizing what she was doing. Her face flushed. But she couldn't let her pride down and coughed.

"Ah yeah, it's good seeing you again," she spoke, trying to regain her cool self.

The owner, who was a girl, looked back and forth at the two, smiling, thoughts of a process unknown.

Lukas nodded and looked down at the weapon she was looking at, which came as quite a surprise. The weapon wasn't common after all.

"A rapier."

"That's what you're choosing?" Lukas asked, quite curious. He did meet some people using that, but he still thinks it's useless. Of course, it has speed and decent thrusting ability, but it lacks the slash and parry ability like a real sword.

"That's what our family uses," she spoke and grabbed the rapier, performing some quick thrusts in the air.

Lukas could see that she had been trained from a young age, but he still felt it was useless. This type of weapon was only good in one-on-one combat. Against a group of enemies, it struggled to defend. The only way this kind of weapon could be useful was if it could stretch and move like a whip.

But the problem was that people found it disrespectful. Lukas had seen many people die because of their pride in these types of weapons.

Lukas had the urge to speak out his opinion, but he thought it would be too disrespectful.

As he was thinking, her voice rang out. "What about you? What are you up to?"

Lukas looked at her just as he was about to answer, but his words were cut short by the owner.

"I would appreciate it if you bought the weapon and took your discussion elsewhere."

Lukas nodded respectfully to the shop owner. "My apologies. We'll continue our discussion elsewhere." He turned back to Stella. "I was just on my way to replenish my supplies. Would you care to join me as I browse the market and talk?"

Stella considered for a moment, then nodded. She took out her credit token and paid for the repair. She felt satisfied and grabbed the reaper firmly on her waist.

The two made their way down the busy streets.

"To answer your earlier question, I've been focusing my efforts on advancing to the next mana circle," Lukas explained. "It's slow going, but I'm making steady progress. What about you? How have you been occupying your time since our last meeting?"

As they walked, Lukas took the opportunity to learn more about Stella - her family traditions, training regimen, and aspirations. Though their styles differed, he found her dedication to her craft admirable. Perhaps there was wisdom to be found in all approaches, not just his own.

Lukas asked her about her element and trait, and that's when he realized how wrong he was.

Lukas took a deep breath and glanced at her. He was witnessing the growth of a monster here.

"Air with Temporal Shift!" he exclaimed.

The air element was rather common, but Temporal Shift wasn't! It was a broken trait.

Lukas finally realized why she had chosen the reaper as her weapon. With the combination of air and Temporal Shift, she would be invincible in close combat - sharp and speedy.

Temporal Shift was a trait that had a deep and similar connection with the very law the world relied on - time. With this trait, one could accelerate and slow down the speed of their body, heartbeat, weapon, and even their spell casting speed.

And at its peak Mastery, one could directly perform blinks, which were so deadly that it would take just one second to behead a person.

He had to have her as an ally and change her weapon to a katana or a projectile-based one if possible.

After shopping for what he needed - tier one twenty mana pills and recovery potions - they headed towards the cafeteria, which Lukas had heavily suggested.Stella couldn't decline, despite her original plan of going to the library. Her status was far lower than his too. She can't decline. She has always been hearing about how tyrant Owsdins and the Skylark family behave in the world. She can't afford to offend one, as it will affect her family too, regardless of being a duke or not.

And thus, here they are. Sitting at the table in the cafeteria. Their orders have just arrived.

[To be continued...]