Arrested

After our rather strange conversation, we exchanged blows several times, with me excluding the use of Aura. He used a spear, and I used five flying blades in each hand, which I controlled with Short-Range Telekinesis.

My fighting style involved controlling the direction of all the blades' attacks, combined with punches and kicks. After the blades attacked Anetta, they would return to the strongest range of my Short-Range Telekinesis and launch another attack.

Although I executed this very quickly and precisely, Anetta managed to deflect them. What I could be proud of was that she seemed to have difficulty handling the attacks from my flying blades, which produced a loud metallic sound.

My defeat occurred when Anetta's Aura surged strongly enough to ignore my flying blade attacks. She charged straight at me and pierced my heart from the front. I fell on my back with a spear lodged in my left chest.

As I lay there, Anetta straddled me, withdrew her spear, and then leaned on my chest. I just lay there motionless.

(I'm so happy to have fought and won against you, Master!)

She leaned peacefully, while I lay on the ground in pain. I could only smile weakly.

"Yes, you won, Anetta! It seems my limit is just a Beginner Hero, no, maybe even lower."

Anetta, hearing me, slowly straightened her body that was sitting on my stomach.

(What you fought in the simulation was only an Elite Champion level with your experience, Master. If you were fighting against a true Beginner Hero, the likelihood of your defeat would exceed 80%. You need to familiarize your new body with Arkium.)

Anetta explained and gently warned me. What she said was true. Real combat and simulations are different. What Anetta showed was an effect she created for me with realism close to the original.

And for the record, the combat simulation only simulated the real impact of attacks, not the actual strength. Anetta created the simulation by controlling Arkium and my entire body to get a more realistic impact. What I saw and felt came from myself.

So, the forceful attacks of the avatar were actually Anetta making my body feel heavier. And for effects like Liang Jianwei's wind magic blowing me away, it was Anetta activating Short-Range Telekinesis to throw my own body.

Because of all this, the side effect of Anetta's created simulation was that I ran out of Arkium.

"Forget about that, how about you? From now on, will you respond to me with such emotions?"

Anetta's smile froze, and her smile disappeared. She leaned back on my chest again.

(Sadly, this effect only lasts during the simulation.)

There was a trace of sadness in Anetta's voice. Anetta would return to her flat voice after the simulation ended. Although I hadn't gotten used to Anetta's emerging personality, I actually felt a bit sorry for this.

I didn't know what to say. But Anetta voiced her answer again.

(Although we will meet again when you activate the simulation mode during training later, let me stay like this before you turn off the simulation.)

I complied with her request and let her lie on my chest for a while. I just closed my eyes.

...

...

...

My eyes were closed. I could feel my body swaying and occasionally slightly lifting off the surface. Then I started to hear the sound of wheels turning.

I slowly opened my eyes. With squinted eyes and blurry vision, I inspected every corner of the room, slightly confused.

What I realized after that was, I was inside a magic wagon with my hands cuffed. From the open window, I could see it was still dark. And there were two uniformed men beside me on the right and left.

"You're awake, kid?" asked the uniformed man on my right.

I didn't immediately answer the question and nodded my head. I followed it up with a question.

"Where am I?" I asked with squinted eyes.

Slowly, my blurry vision recovered. I looked around again. Now, I was in a wagon with a black and fairly luxurious interior. The two uniformed men beside me were security officers or police from the upper region of Sciendufer city. And judging by how I was cuffed, it seemed I was being taken to the police station.

"You can see for yourself, kid. You're on your way to the police station," answered the officer on the left.

The police station? What actually happened when I closed my eyes? Was I unconscious?

I couldn't hide my confused face. And maybe seeing my confused reaction, the officer on my right continued his friend's explanation.

"There were citizens who reported noise in the park, and two people walking at night reported that you were damaging public property," the officer on the right responded, showing a projection from a recording magic device.

I watched the fragmented recordings. There was me destroying the ground with my foot, and me falling and destroying the ground from a height.

Clearly, what I saw were my actions when using Short-Range Telekinesis on my body after slamming Anetta's avatar, Liang Jianwei, to the ground. And another was my final attack using a combination of three deadly moves that were eventually blocked. Of course, what the recordings showed was just me without Anetta's avatar.

The two security officers watched me as I paid attention to the projection of the magic recording. Then they showed another thing. It was photos of the damage I caused.

"This..."

Anetta's simulation effects were so realistic that sometimes I didn't realize which effects were actually real. And the example was now. Uprooted trees, damaged park flowers, and nicely grassed ground were also destroyed.

"This, I was just, training." I laughed awkwardly.

The police officer on my right just stayed silent and retracted the magic recording projection device.

"Yeah, you can explain it later at the station," said the police officer, patting my back.

I could only comply and clicked my tongue silently.

...

Meanwhile, in a room resembling an office with magical furnishings, two people had just returned from their night walk.

The room had a desk with stacks of books inscribed with magical characters, while its chairs were made of intricately carved wood with magical motifs. Paintings depicting serene landscapes and several magical creatures hung on the walls.

The room's atmosphere was calming, complemented by the aroma of spices and scented candles burning around. The light from the crystal lantern hanging from the ceiling provided enough illumination, but it was still soft and pleasant to the eyes.

Among all that, there were two men who looked simple, with one of them casting a spell. As the spell was completed, a white mist emerged from under their feet, enveloping their entire bodies. Slowly, the mist thickened and began to change shape.

As the white mist dissipated, two new figures appeared behind it.

The first man was the one who cast the spell. He was a handsome elf with long gray hair and pointed ears. His robe looked luxurious, befitting a Wizard.

The second man looked like an old man. He wore a formal military uniform, which fit snugly on his muscular body. His long hair was white. His face looked fierce with a thick mustache, beard, and sideburns. His fierce impression was enhanced by round glasses with black lenses covering his eyes.

"I always like your disguise magic. Even when we were at the police station, they didn't notice at all," said the old man while stretching his body.

"Yeah, until you blew our cover by saying the kid was from 'our' academy and protecting him," the elf commented, sitting on the sofa casually.

The old man, who had finished stretching, fell silent and sat on the sofa in front of the elf.

"Come on, don't be so rigid, Erdem. I was just saying there was a kid from our academy training and he damaged the park," the old man turned a few times and continued, "By the way, don't you have some hot tea or late-night snacks?"

The elf, named Erdem, Erdem Mukhtar Annasif, was one of the Academy's Council members. He could only sigh at his friend and waved his hand.

"Huft, that's just like you, Magnus, when you see a talented young person. But, even if he is talented, at least he has to bear his own mistakes for training on public property. That's why I gave the security officers the recording chip, with some parts cut out."

While Erdem spoke, two cups, a paper bag, a glass jar, and a thermos from the corner of the room floated and moved towards them.

Magnus gave Erdem a slight smile.

"As a member of the Academy Council, shouldn't I protect this talent, despite his limitations?" answered Magnus.

This intimidating old man was Magnussen Castro, also a member of the Academy Council.

Hearing Magnus' words, Erdem did not respond and sighed again. During the silent response, the two cups reached their hands. The paper bag and the jar containing sugar opened, starting to fill Magnus' cup first. After it was poured, what was in the paper bag could be seen; it was cocoa powder. Then, the thermos poured into Magnus' cup, and the water stirred the contents of the cup on its own.

'Even though I asked for tea,' thought Magnus, glancing at Erdem and sipping his hot chocolate slightly.

Erdem then did the same steps for his cup.

"The boy seemed too engrossed in his imaginary battle, forgetting his surroundings. Luckily, no one was around. If someone got hurt, your protection would be somewhat useless. But, that imaginary battle..."

Erdem paused and glanced at Magnus while putting the thermos and the cocoa powder bag away.

"Yes, the imaginary battle was high-level. And to add to the realistic impression, he did something to his body to create impacts that sometimes don't make sense. And as expected from a Vallois, the kid's movements were full of experience, but..."

Magnus paused for a moment and placed his cup on the table in front of him.

"I'm sure, as an Elven Wizard, you're more sensitive and noticed it. But, I didn't sense any mana from that boy," Magnus continued.

Erdem placed his cup down, and a piece of paper appeared above his hand.

"Yolina Kazan Vallois. Third-year in the Hero Department. She has high talent in her generation and is one of the Vallois family's prides. On the other hand,"

Erdem's sentence halted, and the paper containing Yolina's information disappeared, replaced by a new sheet.

"Her younger brother, Edward Kazan Vallois. First-year in the Hero Department. His talent is mediocre, and he has a rare condition, acute Mana Disability. His strengths are that he's hardworking but has a bad temperament. His inheritance rights were revoked due to stealing a family artifact,"

Erdem held the paper and glanced at Magnus.

"Disregarding the talent and condition we saw firsthand, after reading this, it's confirmed that this boy has no mana," Erdem continued.

As he listened to Erdem, Magnus stroked his thick beard.

"So, the power he displayed then..." Magnus trailed off.

"I don't know about him hiding his abilities, but there's one thing I'm certain of." Erdem looked again at the paper in his hand.

"And, what is that?" Magnus asked, removing his hand from his beard.

Once again, Erdem glanced at Magnus.

"The natural spirits around him didn't particularly like the energy he emitted. I couldn't sense it and don't know what kind of energy the spirits were referring to. But it seems to be something other than mana," Erdem replied.

After answering, Erdem placed the paper down and drank his hot chocolate again.

"I don't really care what it is, but from the way you talk, I know this boy is intriguing!" Magnus responded, taking the paper containing Edward's information and photo.