"Today I am thoroughly convinced, you are a masochist?"
"Why did you always wake up more fired than before after being beaten up?''Parth cursed jumping back.
"All of these are symptoms of masochists."
Roan, who was observing the scene from afar, frowned and spoke looking at Frederick.
"The whole aura around him changes after he becomes serious. And it hasn't happened only once, has it?"
"Yesss!"Frederick nodded. He had engaged in a fair share of spars with Lucas. His grit and toughness increase after getting beaten up for some time.
If he had not known about him well enough, he would have thought Lucas had a berserker bloodline. However, though the berserker bloodline increases your strength explodingly, it also makes you lose your sense of reason, turning you into a beast who attacks instinctively.
But in the case of Lucas, the more serious he became, the more composed he looked.
Frederick could describe his state as a person who has given up on living and feared nothing allowing him to exhibit unnatural battle prowess.
"It's like getting more charged up and excited after going through a round of beatings," Frederick concluded.
Roan stared at Frederick for a moment before speaking.
"That's what we called a masochist, isn't it?"
Frederick almost choked imagining how Lucas would react if he heard Roan words. He might tear down Roan.
..........
Lucas took a deep breath to calm himself. This fight made him realize what he lacked.
'Surprise him with speed and overpower him in strength since his strength is weakest among all stats.'
To counter Parth's speed, he puts one stat in agility and the other one in strength.
Sparks flew in the air as the edge of the sword came in contact with both daggers.
Planting his foot on the ground, Lucas stepped over the soles of his feet to swing the sword forcefully.
KATCH
Getting pushed back, a subtle groan escaped from Parth's lips while his eyes flashed in shock. Lucas was a step behind in terms of strength and speed before, but something was different during this clash.
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm Twirling the daggers in his hand, Parth bent his back and threw the dagger at Lucas in a straight path.
Squinting his eyes and staring at the incoming dagger, Lucas tilted his sword vertically.
CLANK!
Sparks emerged as the dagger bounced off hitting the metal body of the sword. At the same, without looking back, Lucas swung his sword toward the back.
The moment the dagger bounced off, a figure suddenly appeared behind with a dagger in his hand but the figure's eyes bulged seeing a sword hurling towards it.
The shadow tilted its dagger to change the trajectory but the recoil that came from blocking still struck him in the face, throwing him to the side.
The figure of Parth turned black and dissipated.
"Shadow Clone!"Lucas murmured and shot himself stomping the ground.
Parth's expression became as pale as a sheet of paper as he saw Lucas countering his move easily as if he had already anticipated this even though he rarely used this. Even Frederick did not know about this.
Parth conceals himself and commands his shadow clone to attack. The opponent would be surprised to see the shadow clone and Parth would exploit the opening.
There is a fatal flaw in it.
Shadow clones require great control of mana. At the beginning of the story, when Parth uses a shadow clone, his movement becomes restricted so he uses concealment to hide himself.
And sadly for Parth, Lucas knew his position.
Making use of Parth's surprise, Lucas closed in after activating Flash Steps.
'Since you used skill and bloodline powers, why shouldn't I?'
Parth body jerked seeing Lucas appearing right before him. It was not that Lucas had become so much faster than him, but since he already adapted to the opponent's speed, the sudden increase in Lucas's speed caught him in surprise.
Moreover, he was stunned seeing Lucas able to figure out his concealed position.
Parth who had only one dagger in hand, twisted his dagger and stabbed with a horizontal motion.
Lucas flicked his sword and moved the blade of the sword to block it.
CLANG!
Lucas then rotated his sword by tilting his wrist and trying to attack from the other side.
Parth retracted his dagger and took a suitable stance to defend and then attack but his steps halted in the middle as he was about to pull back his right foot.
CRACKLE!
"Ahhhh!"
Parth groaned in pain, stumbled back, and looking down he found his toe crushed by Lucas's feet making him scream in anger"Toe crusher!"
"It's used by kids," Parth complained.
"But it's highly effective."
Parth heard a cold voice that sent shivers down his spine. He looked up to see two pairs of demonic golden eyes glowing with chilliness.
BANG!
Parth's stomach twisted as Lucas slammed his knee against his gut with a terrifying force.
"This is cheating!"
Coughing with a pained expression, Parth complained
"Everything is fair in love and War."Lucas gleamed joyfully and whipped Parth with his sword.
"But we are neither in war nor you are in love with me but who knows if my handsomeness had made you doubt your maleness and you are secretly in love...aahhhhhhhhh!"
"Bastard!"Lucas shouted and beat Parth without any mercy who turned to look for Frederick and Roan for but was ignored by the duo.
...........
After achieving a satisfying victory, Lucas met Shiya who was stunned for a moment seeing Lucas glowing in happiness.
Led by Shiya, Lucas entered the Third Years buildings. He was taking a huge risk by entering here.
In fact, if not for Professor Shiya's presence which deters many, Lucas felt like walking on a tightrope hanging between two cliffs.
Piercing gazes that could dig holes over his body were pouring out from everywhere. Lucas could only shrink back while bowing his head to greet his seniors.
Offending seniors is a big no, if you want to live peacefully.
And if you feel your life has been too smooth sailing without any trouble, you are free to court death here. Just step into the Third Year zone, and you will know the feeling of crossing a country's border without a passport, especially if you are a commoner or don't have a standing in the society.
They entered the alchemist's lab facility
Shiya using her identity, went straight toward a personal lab and knocked on the door.
CLINK!
The door opened and a girl of almost similar features comparable to Shiya squeezed her head through the gap.
Her brown hair was neatly combed. However, even if she had delicate facial features, Lucas could sense an air of gloominess surrounding her.
"Lucas greet Linda. She is my niece."
"Uh mm...Hello.."Linda waved her small hands at Lucas whose gaze interchanged between Linda and Shiya.
'Is this aura of gloominess an inherited trait of their family?'Lucas felt amused for a moment.
Finding an alchemist close to her would smoothen out the process.
"Hello, Senior Linda.Nice to meet you too."Lucas murmured, giving a gentle bow.
"Hmmm!"Linda nodded and then changed her attention toward Shiya.
"Aunt, did the tranquilizer potion I made work on you?"
Shiya patted Linda's head and spoke brightly"Yeah, it works but its effect wears off after two or three hours. By the way, I looked for you regarding this matter."
"Let's head in."
Linda opening the door, invited Lucas while asking if he wanted anything. Lucas asked for coffee however his heart screamed seeing her making coffee in a distillation flash and pouring out contents to mix it in a round bottom flask.
Shiya, on turning her head noticed Lucas's pale expression with beads of sweat forming over his forehead.
Laughing inwardly, she whispered"Lucas, it's safe. I also have the same thought as yours but am I not alive? Though you may have a bad tummy later but trust me you will be alright, at most you need to visit a doctor."
Lucas almost choked over her words.
'Are you consoling me or scaring me?'
Linda, finishing her preparations, handed Lucas and Shiya a cup of coffee and sat down.
"So, Aunt, what is it you want to talk about?"
Taking a small sip, Shiya started to explain about the calming candy. Hearing the story, Linda's brows furrowed with a frown.
"Aunty, how can you be this naive? Just because your spirit suggested this, you can't just take anything?"
Shiya, swallowing her saliva, averted the glaring gaze of Linda who then turned her attention towards Lucas.
"Lucas, you also… How can you just believe any street hawkers and eat especially suspicious things? My aunt is a bit naive but you look intelligent so how can you eat things with such an effect? If you are tense, just look for a doctor. What if this pill turned out to be poisonous, you may have died?"
At the end of her speech, Linda was almost out of breath and looked quite agitated.
Lucas pinched his brows after hearing Linda's words. What she said was correct but this was not the case so he needs to calm her down.
Cough...Cough...
"Senior Linda, actually people buying the pills guaranteed the effect.."
Seeing Linda opening her mouth again, Lucas intervened hurriedly"However, I did not believe in him."
"That's why I first tested it on others.
"Whom did you test it on?"Linda asked coldly.
"Monster..."
Pffffttttttt!
Coffee spurted from Shiya's lips and she stared at Lucas in disbelief. Wiping her lips, she spoke tremblingly"Lucas was it for monsters?"
"No....when did I say it was for the monster. I just found a chance to test on a 1-Star monster. Later, I encountered some bullies who wanted to beat me so I threw it to them who swallowed it thinking this was candy. After that, their body relaxed and then they became incapable of fighting."
"Oh! So, that's what happened?"Linda pursued her lips, taking a deep breath.
"Okay, I will research and try to make a potion first. However, it might not be as effective as this thing at first."
Seeing things sorting out, a devilish grin appeared on Lucas's lips.
Hiding his intentions well, Lucas took out a paper with some random scribbling on it.
"Senior, actually I brought another thing from the market and I need your help in identifying this."
"What is this?"Linda asked, picking up the page handed by Lucas. She studied it and saw the names of different herbs on it.
"Is this a potion recipe? Which kind of potion is this?"
"Super Sensory Potion. It can increase your perception a bit temporarily and it is quite useful in battle."Lucas lied straight through his teeth.
Unlike previously, he was not at all uncomfortable with lying making him wonder if he has become a scammer.
"Lucas, fake recipes like this are found everywhere. I don't want to waste time on something unproductive."Linda refuted.
"Senior, I will provide you with the materials cost and service fee."
Words struck in her throat seeing Lucas pleading gaze. She turned her gaze towards her aunt who was also asking her to help him.
Closing her eyes, she pondered before replying.
"Okay."
"Just provide me with the raw material cost. There is no need for the service fee. As long as it is not a fake recipe, I am happy to work on it."
Clapping his hands, he took out another page and handed it to Linda.
Linda taking it curiously gave Lucas a weird gaze.
"What?"
"It's a contract," Lucas answered.
"I know that much but why?"
"Senior, it's not that I don't trust you but I need to keep it secretive. If this recipe is true, one can earn a lot by selling the recipe or potions. What if someone stole it from you or you decided to change your mind? That's why I want to file a patent for it as soon as possible and for safety, I want you to sign this mana contract."
"And if I ever decide to make it public and sell it in the shop, you will be entitled to 40% of the profit."
Lucas thought of giving her 30 but they belong to noble backgrounds and are not pushovers like James.
There was no option for her to refuse. If Linda refused, Lucas would force Shiya to make Linda compromise. Since she had already seen the recipe, Lucas couldn't let her go.
Lucas had already made Shiya sign a mana contract under which Lucas can ask her to do two things but it should not be illegal or something against her morals.
"Hush!"
Exhaling deeply, she asked her Aunt for guidance and after some time, the duo finally agreed.
Shiya who was sitting at the side wondered if Lucas aimed for this from the beginning and in case her thoughts were correct, it means there was more to Lucas than what she initially assumed.
Lucas had initially planned this but he was not too sure about the success as calming candy may not work on her, however thanks to God, calming candy worked.
Shiya shook her head, burying the troublesome thoughts.
Still, she lessened her guard because it is better to have people who speak straight than sugarcoat the words to deceive them.
Though Lucas made a pretense, it was not perfect. Her spirit could sense his nervousness sometimes and currently, he looks quite pleased.
In the end, both sides benefitted. That's what matters the most.
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