Careful. He took off his seal.
“You took off your seal?”
“So you noticed.”
Colbert let out a resigned sigh. Taking off the Dimitris seal for personal gain was forbidden. The act might be enough to get him expelled from his school. I should press him on that point.
Fran, repeat after me.
“Hm.”
We could take advantage of this opening.
“Won’t you get expelled for removing your seal for personal gain?”
“It’s happened to others in the past, yeah.”
“So are you going to get expelled, too?”
“Maybe.” Colbert frowned.
“Why did you do it, then?”
Fran’s question made him grimace. He shook his head. “I might get expelled, yes. But there’s something more important than that!” Colbert shouted as he returned to his stance.
“Like what?”
“Simple. The honor of the Dimitris Combat School!” he declared confidently.
But “honor,” you say?
“Will unleashing your full power against a child bring honor to the school?”
That got him. “I…”
“Well?”
“Sorry,” he said. “I was getting ahead of myself.”
“You were.”
“Ugh…you’re right. I have no business spouting idealistic nonsense now.” The conversation took a somber turn. I might have gone too far. “I’m sorry. I admit that I’m doing this for my own selfish reasons. I won’t let my beloved Dimitris style be defeated by a C-Rank. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. The Dimitris Combat School is the strongest in the world.”
Colbert’s mana wrapped around his body. Its sheer density made it as thick as full plate armor.
“I could never forgive myself if people thought ill of the Dimitris style! I’ll risk excommunication if I have to!”
Colbert was determined to prove the strength of his school. I had to give him props for it. But his declaration only steeled Fran’s resolve.
“I see.”
Fran was going to enjoy this match to the fullest now. She didn’t much care about winning as much as she loved battling a strong opponent.
“Gale Hazard!”
Fran cast another area-of-effect spell to slow him down, then charged right at him. Colbert was stronger now, but his Advanced Punch Mastery was still the same. Fran had the upper hand in a straight melee. The only thing we had to look out for was his Dimitris Combat skill. I kept an eye open as Fran rushed in…
“Haaaa!”
“Dimitris Combat Arts! Asura!”
“Ugh!”
Two arms emerged from each of Colbert’s shoulders, stopping Fran’s attack. He was able to manipulate this condensed mana like his own limbs, making him the spitting image of the six-limbed god who was his attack’s namesake. His magic arms were strong…strong enough even to stop me with my Elemental Blade.
“Grah!”
“Urk!”
Colbert’s counterpunch blew Fran away. Like Cruise, he could block and attack at the same time, but Colbert was far more dangerous. Fran managed to block in time, but I took a huge hit to my durability. Colbert’s punch would’ve severely injured Fran if she had taken a direct hit.
“Let’s go!”
“Haaa!”
Fran handled her sword better than Colbert did his hands, but he had six of them now. The arms snaked about, blocking Fran’s strikes as they came. What was worse, although Fran managed to damage his mana arms, Colbert could repair them instantly. They were the perfect shield.
The perfect shield was also the perfect weapon. Unlike human hands, they didn’t follow the laws of physics, and could stretch and make impossible strikes from odd angles. Colbert’s Advanced Punch Mastery only multiplied this effect. He was used to attacking with his bare hands, and now he had more hands to use.
“Raaah!”
“Urgh!”
The mana arms finally caught up and punched right through Fran’s lungs.
Greater Heal!
The spell instantly healed her injury, but she was still reeling. Colbert exploited this gap in her defense and rushed her with a flurry of blows. It didn’t take long for an even larger gap to form.
“I’ve got you now!”
What?!
Colbert’s mana hand engulfed me. It wrapped tight around my blade and refused to let go. I managed to Telekinesis my way out, but he was only trying to stop me for a second. Exploiting the tiny gaps in his opponent’s defense was Colbert’s game plan.
Fran managed to avoid his blows, but she was clearly hurting. Elza said that the Dimitris Style used Spirit energy to destroy an opponent’s insides with some kind of reverberation. All of Colbert’s attacks had this effect. Fran was still getting hurt even when she blocked his blows. Her barrier was doing its best, but it wasn’t quite enough. It wouldn’t take long for her to collapse.
Fran, Colbert’s attacks aren’t your normal physical attacks. I’m putting points into Physical Resistance!
Hm. Got it!
I put eighteen points into Physical Resistance. It was enough to rank me up. Our strategy involved me saving up a sizable amount of EP that I could distribute during the fight. It was a hard gamble, but it allowed us to adapt to whatever opponent we were up against.
Physical Resistance is at max level. Skill has been upgraded to Physical Immunity.
Well, I got the Immunity skill…but I could worry about that later. This would give us the upper hand.
Go, Fran!
“Hm!”
“What the—?!”
Colbert was shocked as Fran charged right into him. His attacks had no effect on her. She abandoned all attempts at defense in her mad dash. It seemed like a reckless maneuver, but Fran took all of Colbert’s blows head-on without suffering damage. The skill made her look invincible, but I was panicking the entire time.
Lumina was right! Physical Immunity is a huge drain!
The slightest hit took a thousand points of my mana. The Immunity skill was powerful, but it came at a high cost. Lumina had warned us about its double-edged nature a few days ago…
“Teacher, while your ability to absorb skills is powerful, there is something you need to be wary of.”
What do you mean?
“The Immunity skills, for example. Very few monsters possess these skills, but you must be careful about absorbing them.”
“Why?”
“Using them consumes a large amount of mana. They are also difficult to manage, since they never turn off. You could end up draining your entire pool if you fight the wrong enemy.”
Basically,
