Kalina had a good enough reason to give that advice to Poka. Contrary to what was seen, the one that Thee had the most difficult time dealing with was Poka. Due to his large muscular build, Thee had a hard time overpowering him with pure strength. Poka also could block full-on attacks from Thee.
So, he was the most threatening among the group for Thee.
"Three of you did really well this time. I had a hard time defeating you." Thee said with a smile. Some might say he was encouraging his friends with his words. But was that really the case?
Absolutely not. Thee was just reinforcing the thought that they couldn't beat him even if they tried hard. His saint-like smiling face was a facade. The thing hidden beneath was far too grotesque and vile.
'Was he a hidden psycho?' Alex thought.
"Princess Kalina, You have given them enough pointers. Can you give some to me?" Thee requested politely.
Thee had yet to catch on to the fact that Kalina could see right through him. So, he still smiled and acted coyly to capture Kalina's attention. From his point of view, he had shown enough strength and Talent, so that Kalina won't be able to ignore him.
But in reality, Kalina didn't care about any of that. Her relationship with Alex was the only thing preventing her from erasing Thee out of existence. Without realising that, Thee was asking for death. Without a moment of delay, he asked.
"Thanks for the tier 4 herb. Can I take a look at it?"
"Hm… The match is yet to end." Kalina squeezed out some words.
"Oh! That! Sorry about that, Meru. I forgot about you. Let's begin the final round." Thee said apologetically while looking at Alex.
Although his words and action seemed amicable. Alex could see the arrogance in his eyes. Thee was sure that he would win against Alex. He didn't even think for a moment that there is a chance for defeat when sparring against Alex.
"Hmm…" Alex nodded and climbed the steps to the sparring platform.
But when the audience looked at his hands, they were surprised to see him hold a shield. It was a common shield made from bones that were used among the stone head tribe. It didn't have any special features. Like any shield, it can be used to defend against physical attacks.
Even Kalina took a moment to realize that Alex was using a shield. She had never seen him use one, so she was curious to see how he would handle his opponent.
Thee expected Alex to do something different. After all, they didn't spar together that much. So, he didn't know all the tricks Alex had.
Now that he saw Alex using a shield, he was sure that Alex had given up on winning. He was trying to buy some time before losing.
'Was he afraid of losing pathetically in front of Princess Kanlina?' Thee thought with a smirk.
'Hm… Even with a shield, you won't be able to stop me from sweeping the floor with you.'
However, contrary to what everyone believed, Alex was not vying for a favourable loss. He was in it to win it.
Alex didn't mind losing to Thee. But he did mind losing a tier 4 herb to him. So, he decided to use his mage abilities in the spar.
________
For the past month, Alex was not roasting peanuts and having fun. He was carefully planning for the future. And it included enhancing his personal strength.
So, Alex selected learning the mage power system as his temporary goal.
Mana, Energy, Qi, Ether. Even though they are called by different names. It describes the same thing.
Mages call the energy that flows through all living things as Mana. The warriors from the central continent call it Mysterious energy. The easterners call it Qi and the southerners call it ether.
But the name didn't change the fact that it is the same everywhere. The only difference was how Mana was being used in different regions.
So, Alex decided to learn the mage power system first to gain an understanding of the mana. And there was a clear reason for him to select it as his first goal.
Magic was much more similar to science. It had definite rules and reasons. For a man from modern times like him, it was easier to wrap his head around. The warrior system of the central continent that depends on spirit guardians was not his cup of tea.
But, he was not going to depend on one way of using energy. In the future, he might even decide to learn skills from other East and the South.
That's how Alex reached the current situation.
He was greedy while learning magic. He was not ready to give up his physical strength as a warrior by concentrating all his mana into a single core.
So, he decided to take a gamble.
His reasoning was simple. Mana spread throughout the body is the reason he could use full body enhancement. But once the mana was concentrated to form a core, it would be hard to do so.
At the same time, he wanted to be a mage. Mana core was an important factor in being a mage.
So, he needed a method to spread mana all around the body while also making a core.
That's how he came to the ridiculous idea of creating multiple mana cores. By creating small cores at each section of the body, Alex could spread the mana across his body while retaining his warrior skill. And also use multiple cores to create spell models.
But it did have its caveats. He couldn't get stronger by utilizing the breakthrough method of normal mages.
However, Alex was unbothered by it. He was walking a solitary path. He thought it was better to improve himself rather than depend on someone else to point out the way.
It was an arrogant outlook. But it can also be considered as the confidence he has in himself.
Unless he was ready to give up, he wouldn't lose. That was how Alex lived his whole life. And he was not going to give up on life anytime soon.
After all, currently, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of the power system he was self-creating.
The asynchronous energy circulation allowed him to utilize a large amount of mana with his will. So, he could create thick plumes of mana which he calls the smoke screen.
He also could use the partial and complete body enhancement techniques of a warrior. Even though he couldn't access the skills of his spirit guardian. It was enough for now. In the future, when his entire mana capacity has been turned into mana cores, he will still be able to use the warrior skills.
Now, with the addition of multiple mana cores, Alex attained something no mage could ever do. The ability to multicast spells.
Usually, for a mage to emulate multicasting spells. They first have to create a different rune sequence altogether. Although it may seem like they are multicasting while using the newly created rune sequence, In fact, that was far from the truth. They were just using a spell with two effects.
But Alex was different. Due to him having multiple cores, he can just execute different rune sequences in each core. Although his spell might be weaker due to his smaller core. It still would create the required effect.
Currently, Alex has 10 mana cores. Each is situated in a different part of the body. And it was made up of one per cent of his total mana capacity. So, the ten cores were currently using 10 per cent of his mana capacity. The remaining 90 per cent was still present in his body.
He was more warrior than a mage now.
[AN: Added too much complexity. Sorry! Anyway, I think it will make sense later.]
_____
Alex was planning to use his abilities as a mage to defeat Thee once and for all. He was going to show everyone present that Thee could be defeated.
"Are you ready for the spar?" Thee asked.
"Yes."
"Then let's begin." Kalina gave the signal to start the spar.
"BOOOM!" Thee went all out from the start. His ferocious attack crashed into the shield Alex was carrying and created an explosive sound.
Thankfully, Alex prepared for the aggressive attacks. His body quivered as he was pushed back by Thee.
Thee was deliberately making it hard for Alex. In Thee's mind, this was the best opportunity he would get to push Alex down a notch. But before he could rejoice in the fact that Alex was being pushed back. A torrent of mana formed into a thick cloud of smoke in front of him. It covered the entire sparring ground. No one could see anything anymore. Only Kalina could vaguely sense what was going on inside.
"Khek…You know that it won't work on me. I can sense when you close in on me for an attack. Don't you remember what happened last time?" Thee ridiculed Alex.
Last time, when Alex battled with Thee, he used a similar tactic. But, Thee quickly found the direction he was approaching from. It might be due to his superior talent to sense mana, unlike the mobs of the evil organisation Alex defeated before. So, Alex could only surrender in defeat at that time.
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