As the dust cloud approached Cecil and Eli were somehow able to hear an indistinct screaming. When the two trained their ears onto the sound..."WAAAAAHHHH STOP STOP YOU STUPID BEAST!!!"
A pitiful screaming was what found their way into their ears. The two looked at each other dumbfounded.
"..."
"...Cecil."
The two nodded and waited for the dust cloud to approach. Cecil saw that it was set for a collision course with their carriage, so he stepped forward and extended a hand.
A strong semi-transparent golden barrier formed in front of him and he waited for the dust cloud to come colliding into his barrier.
DWAAAANNNNGGGG
Just as he expected, whatever was causing the dust cloud didn"t have any intention to stop and collided head on with the barrier. The object rebounded and was sent flying upwards and backwards away from the duo.
"ARRRRGGGHHHHH?!!"
"RAAAAAWWWWRRR!!!"
A pitiful scream and roar of pain ensued.
"What the h.e.l.l?" Cecil only stared back in confusion.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."
*Whine*
"Stop whining you idiot! I told you to stop you stupid fool!"
"ROAR!"
"WHAT? YOU WANNA HAVE A GO?!"
"?" At the weird exchange that was happening inside the cloud of dust Cecil could only stare stupidly in response.
Once the dust settled a large basilisk monster that seemed to be a mount was currently having a stare down with a large tin can that had his weapons drawn.
"Uhm... excuse me?" Cecil spoke up hesitantly.
"Ah?" The tin can broke his glare from his mount and looked towards the boy.
"OH! You"re that Cecil right?! The second ranked amongst the 1st years?!" The tin can asked in a gruff voice.
"Uhhh... yeah?"
"Ah... finally... that means I made it!"
"..."
When Eli heard the words "I made it" she immediately went into the motion of drawing her rapier.
The tin can upon seeing this immediately became fl.u.s.tered.
"Ah wait wait wait!!!" He immediately dropped his shield and mace before raising his hands up in surrender. "I-I-I–I"m not here for any trouble!"
"Okay, so what are you here for?" Eli asked menacingly.
"Hold on! Let"s not be hasty!" The tin can expressed hastily.
"First off, you can begin by introducing yourself... tin can."
"T-t-tin can?!"
"Hurry up! Before I change my mind and cut you down!"
"Yes, yes..." The tin can carefully took off his helmet. Underneath the full plate helmet was a chubby faced dark furred tigerkin. He placed the helmet on the ground and introduced. "My name is Lucius Yulgaria Darkfang. I"m a second year at the academy... I"m also part of the... Alchemy faction."
"Faction?" Eli narrowed her eyes and glared menacingly at Lucius.
"Hold on, hold on... I"m not here to cause trouble! My fiancé only asked me to come out here and help with something."
"Fiancé?"
"Yes! Uhm... if I"m not mistaken... this party should be the "Little Kings" right?" The tigerkin asked.
"Yes..."
His expression immediately brightened after receiving Eli"s affirmation
"Then I didn"t come to the wrong place! My fiancé is definitely a member of your party!"
Cecil and Eli already had an inkling to who this tin can"s fiancé was. The only tigerkin in their party was Velicia... so it goes without saying that this tin can named Lucius was... Velicia"s fiance?
"So... you"re saying that Veli is your fiancé?"
"Veli? You mean Velicia? Yes, she"s the one! My Angel! My beautiful fiancé! Ahhh..." At the mention of Veli"s name, Lucius immediately had a longing and love-struck expression plastered all over his face.
"So you"re Veli"s fiancé? Well... she"s in the mountain hunting for Armamite Golem"s right now, so–"
"ARMAMITE GOLEMS?!" Lucius screamed in disbelief.
His abrupt scream caught both Eli and Cecil in surprise.
"Y-yeah..."
"My Veli-tan is hunting ARMAMITE golems... all by herself?"
"Veli?"
"Tan?"
"GRAAAAHHH!!! Veli-tan!!! I-I"m coming! I"ll come and save youuuuu!!!" Lucius declared. He quickly swiped up all his equipment that were lying on the floor and dashed his way into the mountains.
"..." Cecil wanted to stop him, but the fatty had already disappeared so his hand only froze awkwardly in mid-air.
"...Shouldn"t we have stopped him?"
"..."
"He doesn"t even know where Veli is..."
"..."
"Cecil?"
"...right now. I honestly don"t care whether he loses his way inside the mountains or not."
"CECIL?!" Eli exclaimed in surprise.
"But he is Veli"s fiancé–"
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Before Cecil could say anything further, "WAH LUCIUS?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"VELI-TAN!!! I"M HERE!!! COME GOLEM! FIGHT ME!!!"
"..."
Even from the campsite, the two heard the loud voices of Velicia and her fiancé echoing deep from the mountains.
"...How the h.e.l.l did he find her so quickly?" Eli asked, astonishment dyeing her tone.
"...you"re asking me?"
The two immediately rushed into the mountains towards Velicia"s location.
Deep in the mountains, Velicia was currently standing dumbfounded at the scene in front of her. Her fiancé had somehow appeared in front of her and he was currently bashing the golem with his mace into the ground.
"RAH! RAH! HOW! DARE! YOU!" Lucius was smashing the golem with utmost vigor while shouting, "HURT! MY! VELI! TAN!"
"..."
Lucius continued smacking around the golem until it no longer moved. He opened the visor of his helmet and looked towards Velicia.
"Are you okay?"
"..." Veli raised her hands to cover her blushing face while nodding in response.
"Ah, that"s good!"
Lucius immediately walked towards Velicia and his stride looked awfully cool in her eyes.
By the time, Cecil and Eli arrived at Velicia"s spot. The battle was long over and they had to witness the scene of Velicia blushing and fidgeting at the sight of Lucius"s "heroic" figure.
"...Why did we even come..." Cecil facepalmed and immediately flickered back towards the campsite.
"Hey! Cecil! Is this okay?" Eli quickly chased after Cecil. "Lucius might interfere with Velicia"s training!"
"Argh... after seeing the way that fatty acted. Would you like to try convincing him to not help Veli now?"
"..."
"Yeah, thought so."
Once they made it back down to the campsite, Cecil began taking out the stuff he had put away earlier. Once he was finished setting up the campsite again. He turned towards Silver who was vigilantly eyeing the basilisk that Lucius had brought along earlier.
Cecil saw that the two were currently having a staring contest. He shook his head and walked into the carriage to check in on Lucia.
"Zzz...zzz...Cel~ uehehehe~..."
"Oi~i Lulu. Wake up now... you have to eat lunch."
"...zzz...zzz..."
Cecil scratched his head helplessly and jumped back out of the carriage. He looked around and sighed.
"Man... this sure is boring..."
He looked around to find Eli, but saw that she was nowhere to be found. He activated Mana Sense and scattered his sense into the mountains, quickly locating his friends.
"Veli"s with her fiancé. Oh. Eli"s with Fina and Ainz... he"s finished? But what the heck is he doing?"
He retracted his Mana sense and walked away to an empty s.p.a.ce near the campsite and began practicing his family"s martial arts.
"I"m so close to making my own mana cultivation technique. The feelings there, but I don"t know where to go from there..."
Cecil was indeed one step away from turning his family"s martial arts technique into a mana cultivation technique that also encompa.s.sed breathing techniques and combat skills. He was just at a loss on where to take the final step.
The sensation that he felt a month ago during cla.s.s he was able to grasp again and again, but he still felt that he was missing something.
After a month of practice, almost all of Cecil"s mana had fully condensed into liquid form. Only a small fraction was left, but this small amount was like a bottleneck to him. If he couldn"t find out what was wrong with his technique then Cecil knew that somehow, he wouldn"t be able to take that final leap towards the Mana Sea Stage.
"Just what is it am I missing? I"ve already referenced all the low-tiered to high-tiered mana cultivation techniques in the library"s 1st to 4th floor... so what the heck am I missing?"
Cecil contemplated in frustration.
He kept circulating his mana while practicing his forms and once again he was able to enter that ethereal sensation.
"Here it is again."
He kept practicing, and soon his mind quickly went blank. All he felt was the natural flow of his movements and the harmony it had with the elements in the air.
Unaware of the changes to his surroundings, Cecil single-mindedly practiced. His forms became increasing powerful. His aura rose and fell with his every breath. Cecil felt a feeling of liberation and freedom.
Cecil kept this up until the sun set and the moon shone in the night sky. When he finally felt satisfied and stopped. That feeling of freedom and harmony also vanished. He felt 7 intense stares directed at him. Cecil quickly turned his head to look at the source only to see that his friends were also looking back at him in disbelief and awe.
"What is it?"
"..."
They only pointed back at him and he became puzzled.
Cecil looked at his body and at the surroundings. He gaped in shock at the scenery that filled his eyes.