Sai and Rowana were in a training field.
Sai had asked Rowana to make him stronger. Now he was getting the training.
“It is time for my training arc!” Sai said loudly in front of Rowana.
“It is good that your enthusiastic about training.” Rowana said. “I hope your spirit is high throughout the grueling ordeal.”
Rowana reached into her Kibisis and summoned four imposing knights, each clad in distinctive armor and wielding unique weapons:
A blue knight dual-wielding swords.
An orange knight brandishing nunchucks in both hands.
A purple knight wielding a staff with finesse.
A red knight armed with sais in each hand.
With a confident clap of her hands, Rowana commanded the knights, and they swiftly assumed battle-ready positions. She explained, "Get ready to confront these knights known as the Living Armor. They are golems capable of equaling the strength of individuals with Minor Blessing levels ranging from 1 to 20. Furthermore, I can add a variety of skills and techniques, spanning from novice to proficient warrior abilities."
Sai looked at the knights then at Rowana. “I’m facing them one by one right?”
"You'll be facing all four of them simultaneously," Rowana announced. "I'll empower them to be as formidable as Minor Blessed level 10 individuals, each possessing the skills of a warrior with Novice Warrior Title."
“Isn’t this too much?”
“I am fully confident that you will survive. Go, my minions!” Rowana said, pointing her finger at Sai.
The Living Armor charged toward Sai with weapons brandished.
Sai assumed a boxing stance and began delivering punches at the closest Living Armor.
Thud!
Sai's punch dented the orange knight's helmet The orange knight started a swift counterattack with a flurry of nunchuck strikes.
Sai managed to evade a few nunchuck blows, but another unexpected nunchuck strike smacked him across the face. It was nearly impossible to predict the nunchuck knight attack pattern.
The remaining knights encircled Sai, unleashing their weapons upon him.
Sai was grateful for his high Durability as he endured a relentless pummeling from all directions.
Desperate to escape, Sai attempted to retreat, but one of the staff-wielding knights tripped him, while others continued their assault, even when he was down. Sai had to crawl and roll to safety.
Now fleeing from the Living Armor, Sai found himself pursued by the knights, who still held their weapons high.
Sai cried out in distress, "This isn't fair! They outnumber me!"
"You can do it!" Rowana encouraged Sai. "I have faith in you!"
Sai sighed and faced the Living Armor head on. “I am going to beat the hell out of all you tin cans!”
Sai would continue to fight the Living Armor for the rest of the morning under Rowana's watchful eye.
----
The practice with the Living Armor ended and it was time for Magic Art Lessons.
Sai was sitting on a blanket while listening to Rowana giving a lecture.
Rowana started to explain. "Magic can be categorized into three distinct types: Manipulation, Modification, and Creation. Let's take Water Magic Art as an example.”
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Rowana had pulled out some water from her Kibisis and had it float in the air.
The water was changing shapes, from a circle, to a pyramid and finally a cube.
“The act of controlling or molding water falls under the Manipulation category.”
Rowana froze the water and then thawed it out. Rowana continued to make the water boil until it all evaporated.
“Meanwhile, freezing or boiling water falls within the Modification category.”
Rowana creates a very small amount of water the size of a penny.
“Lastly, the ability to conjure water directly from mana belongs to the Creation category.”
“Each of these categories demands varying amounts of mana. Manipulation is the least mana required, whereas Creation is the most mana required. If you don’t have Magic Affinity toward a certain element it will cost more mana for any of the categories."
Sai raised his hand, “What exactly is a Magic Affinity?”
“A Magic Affinity is a resonance to a particular type of magic. Some people have multiple Magic Affinity,” Rowana explained. In an instant a green poison was created in her hand. “My Magic Affinity is Poison. I can easily make any poison in the world. Now then, what are the various ways you can modify Abyssal Pufferfish Poison?”
“Well you can make it harder. I haven’t really used any other way,” Sai said.
“You can render it slicker than oil, stickier than glue, scorching like the sun, or conversely, cold enough to freeze lava. You have the power to intensify its lethality or slow acting creeping poison. Indeed, you can fortify it to be as unyielding as steel, yet alternatively, this can be spread out as poison fog. The more you understand the Abyssal Pufferfish Poison the more options that you have.”
“How do I learn to do that,” Sai asked.
“Let's start by understanding the origin of the poison. The Abyssal Pufferfish is a deep sea pufferfish found near the coast of Spotted Islands...” Rowana started to explain the sea animal that the Abyssal Pufferfish came from.
Sai took out a notepad and started to diligently write down notes while listening to Rowana talk.
----
Sai was laying on the blanket. He was taking an hour nap from training and studying.
Sai slowly opened his eyes.
Clarissa was staring at him.
Sai stared back unblinking and slowly sat up. “Do you have something to say?”
Clarissa fidgets and brings out a cloth, “I... uh, I made you this knitted hat. I hope you like it.”
Sai takes the knitted hat. The hat was crafted well. He saw small cute dotted faces designs on the hat. One was clearly himself, while the other was a green-haired girl that he assumed was Clarissa. He could tell that the hat was made with care.
Sai wore the knitted hat on his bald head. “I will take it,” Sai turned his head away from Clarissa. “Thanks.” <_<
Clarissa's face brightened up. “It looks good on you,” Clarissa sat next to Sai and leaned her head on his shoulder. “You know, I couldn’t sleep well after you lost your hair. I thought you would never forgive me.” ^_^
“I am still mad about my hair...”
“I will make it up to you. So I hope you don’t stay mad at me,” Clarissa said. “I’ve been thinking about it constantly. What I should do if you abandon me. It pains me to even think about it, but I would be forced to resort to drastic measures, like ensuring you can never be apart from me...”
Sai looked at the innocently smiling fairy next to him. “You're scary.”
“I am only doing it for your own good.”
Sai shook his head. He then summoned three Sour Apples and presented them to Clarissa. “You need these right? To continue your experiments?”
“Are you sure? I messed up badly when I fused the fruits together and had you eat them.”
“Take them. If you don’t use them, they will only go to waste.”
“Do you trust me?” Clarissa muttered softly.
Sai gave a smile, “Not even a little bit. Who knows, maybe you will even cause my death. If you do, I promise to hunt you beyond the grave.”
“You are a real mean hero,” Clarissa said and then took out a potion. The potion was pink in color. “I made this for you to tone down the sourness on your tongue. You can now enjoy the Sour Apples without making it painful. I am naming it, well Sourness Begone Potion.”
Sai hesitantly took the Sourness Begone Potion. Recalling the effects of the Mutant Apple that made him lose his hair. “This is safe to drink? Right? I won’t give me some terrible side effects?”
“You can trust me,” Clarissa said with an eager smile.
Sai licked his lips, his ability to consume poison was easy, he found Clarissa's potion very dangerous for consumption. Perhaps it stemmed from the fact that he had a greater trust in Rowana, who exuded a sense of wisdom, expertise, and maturity. Clarissa, on the other hand, was more of a peer, and the level of trust he had in her was not as firmly established. It's worth noting that Clarissa's concoction also had the unfortunate side effect of causing him to lose his hair.
Sai needed to make a choice. With great bravery, he dared to take a sip. To his immense relief, he wasn’t feeling any different and wasn’t on the verge of dying.
Clarissa proceeded to advise, "Consume the Sour Apple, and you'll witness the results."
Sai bit into the Sour Apple. Its flavor was devoid of sourness or evil, instead it was like eating plain oatmeal. The Sour Apple now had a bland taste.
“Your potion actually works?” Sai said in surprise. 0_0
Clarissa smiled and said smugly, “See! I told you can trust me.” ^_^
Sai was more overjoyed that he wouldn’t ever need to taste the sourness of the Sour Apple. He imagined a lifetime of eating the evil fruit and nearly teared up thinking about such an awful future. “Thankyou Clarissa. I thought my Gift was a double-edged sword. No matter how strong it will make me, I need to suffer eating that disgusting fruit. This potion will do wonders in keeping me sane.”
“I am happy that my potion is finally able to help you,” Clarrisa said with a cheerful smile. ^_^
Sai then recalled he was bald. “I still can’t forgive you for making me lose my hair.”
“Valentina told me that you will forgive me for any mistake I make since I’m a cute girl.”
Sai had a deadpan expression and asked. “What part of you is cute?” -_-