This was a damn troublesome situation.
At the academy, no matter how much I tried to avoid it, I would have to kill monsters for my academic score.
And just injuring the monsters wouldn't be helpful.
The academy staff would surely find such behaviour suspicious.
I looked at Arthur with round eyes, hoping he would have some solution to this problem.
He was much more experienced than me.
Seeing my hopeful eyes, Arthur closed his own eyes.
I didn't keep my hopes high, as this issue wasn't some common problem.
Exhaling a slow breath, Arthur opened his eyes to look at me.
"I think there might be a way!"
"..."
Isn't this too fast?
Don't tell me…
This guy's smarter than me?!
Ugh.
"What way."
I asked indifferently.
Hearing me, Arthur gave a weird look.
What?
Should I be excited for some mere solution?
With time, even I could have solved it.
"What might the solution be, Master!"
Seeing that Arthur didn't continue further, I urged him 'politely'.
It's just my noble upbringing kicking in.
Not that I was desperate…
cough… cough…
"Normally, I don't think there would have been any easy way out, but with your level of mana control, we can make things work."
Arthur grinned.
Damn!
Why didn't I think of it?
Mana essence is basically mana in the simplest terms.
And having nearly full control over the mana in my body, I could easily stop foreign mana from entering.
This…
"Let's try it."
I couldn't wait and rushed deeper into the forest to search for monsters.
This time, Arthur followed me.
But remembering our previous mistake, I gave him a dubious look.
"..."
Arthur didn't understand it.
This guy…
"Won't the lower-ranked monsters avoid me if you tag along?"
Realizing the meaning behind my look, Arthur's mouth turned into an O.
"That… I was thinking of doing this."
He lifted me by my shoulder with his right hand, and—
The world turned upside down.
One moment I was running through a dense cluster of trees, and the next moment I could see a pack of…
Rabbits?!
Or you could call them monster rabbits.
I always heard that rabbits were cute.
But the sight before me was… a little disturbing.
The rabbits had long, sharp fangs that were nearly touching the ground even if the creature stood on two feet.
And it was three feet in length.
Calling such a thing cute would be against sane standards.
Arthur just stood there, waiting for me to take action.
I unsheathed the sword in my hand, calmly making my way forward.
The rabb—monsters sensed me once I arrived within a twenty-meter radius of them.
Their perception seemed a little weak.
Without waiting for them to react, I charged toward the nearby monster, swinging my sword in a piercing thrust.
Splurt.
The sword pierced the monster's guts, a fountain of blood spraying from its back.
It couldn't react to my attack.
Being strong felt good.
Once life faded from its eyes, a warm energy started to enter my body.
Mana essence.
"Try to feel the flow of mana."
I could hear Arthur's steady voice in the background.
I followed through.
Indeed, once I started to concentrate on the feeling, I could vividly imagine the mana essence entering my body.
It felt like feeling warm water on one's hand on chilly winter days.
Slowly, I could feel the essence trying to enter my mana core through my meridians.
Inhaling deeply, I resisted it.
Bit by bit, I pushed the mana essence out of my meridians.
It retreated along the same path it had entered my body.
A little more than a second had passed.
Though I was thinking it through, my actions were faster.
Successful!
I felt the entirety of the mana essence exiting my body and dispersing into the surrounding air.
"Well done! Now try to stop the essence before it enters your body."
Arthur's cheering voice died in the back of my mind.
I couldn't celebrate the small victory…
Seeing the death of their comrade, the other monsters bared their fangs in my direction.
Like I gave a shit about their reaction.
I sidestepped to avoid the rabbit on the right jumping at my throat.
I swung my sword in a low trajectory.
Shrk.
Its limb fell off.
The monster tried to roar in pain, but I didn't give it a chance.
My sword came down at its neck.
Splurt!
Another down.
This time, I blocked the path of the mana essence before it could enter my body.
It felt a little difficult at the beginning, but soon I got used to the feeling.
Heh.
Ain't I a genius!
As my eyes turned to look at Arthur, a small smirk formed on my lips.
See this!
I inhaled a slow, steady breath to let my nerves calm down.
Adrenaline was a good thing.
But without proper control, it could be the very reason for your death.
An adrenaline rush always clouds one's judgment.
That is why professional fights are more pleasant to watch than street brawls.
Only by controlling our mind and body in an intense situation can we display our full potential.
Seven more.
I moved with light steps, keeping an eye on every last one of them.
But they didn't charge at me.
Seeing two sudden deaths before their eyes had made them wary of me.
Smart.
Even these 'small' creatures had better brains.