The dungeon was silent except for the soft hum of mana thrumming through ancient stone.
Deep beneath the ruins of Kiten, Lencar stood in the dim light of the glowing crystals embedded into the walls. His cloak fluttered faintly with each breath of the underground air.
Ahead of him, Mars—the Diamond Kingdom's prodigy and one of its most dangerous weapons—emerged from a tunnel of crystallized mana.
> "You're not from Clover," Mars said flatly, his crimson eyes narrowing.
"Whoever you are, you shouldn't be here."
Lencar said nothing. His gaze flicked to the floating grimoire beside Mars—three clovers, crimson-bound, pulsating with steady rhythm.
A dangerous one. Perfect.
"Then I'll make this quick," Mars declared, his voice echoing. His Crystal Magic surged to life, coating the floor with reflective glass-like plates. The entire chamber lit up in fractured rainbows.
Lencar's eyes gleamed faintly silver. "Show me."
The first strike came fast—[Crystal Magic: Refracting Lances]—dozens of spears darting forward in a spiral formation.
Lencar extended his palm.
> "Composite Magic: Pressure Veil!"
A shimmering sphere formed, made from overlapping layers of Wind, Earth, and Gravity mana. The lances hit, bent, then shattered, ricocheting across the room like splintered glass.
Before the dust settled, Lencar stepped forward, his right hand forming a rune sequence midair.
"Composite Magic: Chain Burst."
Chains of heated iron, woven with fire magic, shot from the floor—wrapping around Mars's legs. The moment they touched the crystal armor forming there, the heat surged through the surface, softening its integrity.
Mars countered immediately, activating [Crystal Magic: Armor of Adamant]. His body glowed in a solid crystalline shell, reflecting light like a mirror.
He dashed forward, fists sharp as blades.
Lencar raised both hands.
> "Composite Magic: Reinforced Skin — Layer Amplify!"
His mana condensed tightly against his body, forming a semi-visible coating—the early form of Mana Skin—and when Mars's first strike landed, the impact cracked the floor beneath Lencar but failed to break through.
Mars's second blow came faster, his third even faster—each movement increasing speed as his armor refracted his own mana to boost motion.
Lencar adapted instantly—his mana field thinned and curved to slide with the blows instead of blocking them head-on.
Observation. Adjust. Recalculate.
That was Lencar's rhythm.
He didn't fight with emotion; he fought with evolving precision.
Mars jumped back, raising his hands.
"Crystal Magic: Obsidian Prison!"
Huge dark spikes erupted from the ground, surrounding Lencar and sealing him in a tight chamber. From above, dozens of crystal shards gathered into a giant blade, falling like judgment.
Lencar's expression didn't change.
His grimoire flipped open rapidly.
> "Composite Magic: Gravity Break — Focus Collapse!"
The mana pressure inverted. Every crystal spike bent inward, crushed under invisible weight before exploding outward as dust.
The massive falling blade shattered midair.
As the fragments sparkled, Lencar thrust his hand forward.
> "Composite Magic: Particle Stream."
A beam of compressed energy—formed from lightning, wind, and earth particles—shot across the battlefield like a focused railgun.
Mars barely blocked it with a crystal wall, but the impact still launched him backward, his armor cracking at the shoulder.
Mars gritted his teeth, panting slightly, then released a burst of power.
"Crystal Magic: Shining Construct — Titan Formation!"
From the shattered ground, a massive crystal giant emerged, fifteen meters tall, mirroring Mars's own movements. The mana surge made the entire dungeon tremble.
Lencar exhaled, his fingers tracing quick runes. "A copy of your will made manifest… interesting."
He spread his hands wide, his mana swirling in opposite directions—light on one palm, darkness on the other.
> "Composite Magic: Dual Convergence Field — Equilibrium."
Two opposing elements merged into one unified field, forming a spatial distortion. The Titan's first swing—enough to crush boulders—entered the field and slowed, its momentum halved.
Then the air exploded as Lencar redirected that kinetic energy straight upward, shattering the Titan's arm.
Lencar blurred forward, his movement now enhanced by Wind and Space Magic fusion, closing the distance between him and Mars in an instant.
"Got you," he whispered.
A single palm strike—imbued with [Composite Magic: Vector Break]—hit Mars's chest armor. The vibration shattered the crystalline shell in a ring-shaped burst, throwing Mars against the wall.
Mars coughed, his mana flickering. His consciousness dimmed, his grimoire slowing its rotations.
Lencar stood over him, breathing evenly. "Efficient defense. Strong pattern recognition. But predictable tempo."
He crouched, extending his hand toward Mars's grimoire as it hovered weakly.
> "Absolute Replication Magic: Core Sequence Assimilation."
The air warped.
Black mana threads reached out, connecting to Mars's grimoire. Lencar's own grimoire began flipping violently as it read and copied every rune, spell, and construct structure—Crystal Magic entirely absorbed into his matrix.
Then, with a whisper—
> "Reverse Replication: Restoration Cycle."
Mars's grimoire dimly re-lit, its mana pattern restored perfectly. Mars's soul-link remained untouched; he only groaned faintly in his sleep.
Lencar straightened, feeling the new structure solidify within him—clear, faceted, ordered.
"Crystal Magic," he murmured, flexing his fingers. "Stable, hard, refractive. Useful."
He looked at Mars's unconscious form for a moment, thoughtful. "You'll serve a purpose."
Hours later, Mars stirred, eyes half-open. The last thing he remembered was the crushing pressure and blinding light. Lencar sat on a crystal outcrop nearby, arms folded.
"You're awake," he said calmly. "Your fight is over."
Mars blinked. "You… spared me?"
"I didn't come here to kill you," Lencar replied. "I came for an alliance and information."
Mars frowned. "Alliance?"
"Information about the Diamond Kingdom," Lencar continued, voice even. "You should also know what the nobels of the Diamond Kingdom did to you and the nobels of the Clover Kingdom are not much better. So I want to have a alliance with you to overthrow the rule of these nobels who will and can do anything for their profit and to maintain their rule"
"Can only you and I do this?" Mars asked.
"There won't just be you and me," Lencar said evenly. "Many have been harmed by the nobles — and I'll keep growing stronger."
"Alright," Mars exhaled. "Then I'll be part of this… foolish alliance."
"Good." Lencar turned away, his cloak shifting faintly as he began to walk. "One more thing, you should have heard of your teacher's wife Dominante Code right?. I heard she has a bounty on her head. Your first task will be to take down this bounty."
Mars's eyes widened. "Teacher Fanzell's wife? …Alright. I can erase her bounty."
Lencar looked at him and nodded. Then Lencar used space magic to vanish from here but before vanishing he marked him with the communication mark.
Space bent around him in a ripple of distortion, and then—silence. Only the faint shimmer of mana remained, marking where Lencar once stood.
Mars looked at the place where he left "What a strange man."
For the first time in years, Mars wasn't sure if he was following orders or his own will. The thought unsettled him — but also freed him.