Chapter 83: A Genius Worth Being Proud Of

Because of the energy blast, Elias was thrown backward at once. His Energy was still far weaker than Randolf’s.

*Whoosh!

His body spun through the air a few times before Elias finally managed to steady himself and land safely.

*Thud!

"Uncle, why didn’t you hold back? Aren’t you ashamed of using that much power against a snot-nosed brat like me?"

Randolf wasn’t provoked by Elias’s words. He only gave a small smirk before answering.

"Looks like I underestimated you earlier. So, I’ll show you a little bit of what I can really do."

Hearing that, Elias felt a little curious. Up until now, he had never once seen Randolf use his own power or Energy during training.

It was only natural for Elias to be curious about the man’s abilities. But that curiosity seemed to turn into fear pretty quickly.

"U-Uncle... Isn’t this a little excessive?"

"Excessive? Elias, this is only a small part of my strength."

’You call this small?!’

*Drip, drip...

Sweat poured down Elias’s face at the sight of the enormous sword energy, like a giant pillar piercing the sky.

*Rumble...

With the pressure that attack gave off, there was no way Elias wouldn’t be scared!

On the other side, Evelyn, who was watching Randolf’s technique, flinched slightly. She then turned toward Elysia.

"Isn’t that attack similar to yours?"

"Actually, it’s not mine. It’s his."

Evelyn raised an eyebrow in confusion at the answer.

Realizing her big sister still didn’t get what she meant, Elysia took a bite of the sweet potato in her hand before explaining.

*Munch...

"The basic technique I learned back then was his. So don’t be surprised if you find some of his attacks similar to my techniques."

"Heeh~ But where did you learn it from?"

"Alistair gave me a basic sword technique book when we were kids."

"A basic sword technique? Then that technique is just—"

"Hahaha! Bring out everything you’ve got if you think you can’t dodge or block this!"

Evelyn’s words were cut off by the sound of Randolf’s laughter as he swung his sword toward Elias.

Seeing a sword energy that huge rushing at him, Elias naturally panicked. At first, he had thought an attack that big would be hard to swing because of its size. But Randolf slashed it out so easily.

*Slash!

"Damn it!"

If Elias tried to block the attack with his sword and the mana he had circulated through his whole body to reinforce himself, he might not die. But at the very least, he’d end up seriously injured.

So Elias quickly channeled his mana into his sword. Right when Randolf’s sword energy was about to hit him, he slashed forward, and a Space Arcana about the size of his body opened up.

*Boom!

"Ugh... Uncle! You’re such a bastard!"

"What? You actually blocked it?"

Even though Randolf’s sword energy didn’t hit his body directly, the clash between the attack and Elias’s Space Arcana still caused a considerable impact, enough to make him cough up blood.

*Cough!

In fact, the force of the clash was so strong that the apples on a nearby tree came tumbling down from the shockwave.

*Thud, thud, thud!

Elias then wiped the blood from the corner of his lips before looking at Randolf, who was rubbing his chin with a furrowed brow.

"You can already use Arcana? What’s more, it’s a Space Arcana. Where did you learn it?"

Before answering Randolf’s question, Elias lifted his sword toward the man and started pouring as much mana into it as he could.

"I learned it from a book I bought in town."

"You think I’ll believe that?"

"Believe it or not, it’s up to you. I don’t care."

The sword began to spin at a crazy speed in front of Elias’s palm as more and more mana was poured into it.

*Whirrr...

Once he felt the mana was enough, Elias immediately launched the sword at Randolf.

"Hmph!"

*Whoosh!

The sword, flying at high speed, was filled with churning mana. But instead of trying to dodge, Randolf smiled and nodded again and again at Elias’s attack.

"I didn’t know something like this could be done. But..."

*Clank!

Elias’s sword, spinning at high speed and filled with mana, was caught by Randolf with ease.

"An attack like this won’t be enough to beat me."

"I know."

Randolf was startled when he saw Elias grinning at him.

"A direct attack really is useless, but what about a sneak attack?"

As Elias said that, Randolf finally noticed a Space Arcana hole, much smaller than the one before. Before he could even think about what kind of attack Elias would use, he suddenly felt a chill aimed at his neck.

*Shiver...

Sensing something was off, Randolf tilted his body a little to the left. However, his reflexes weren’t fast enough to dodge the attack completely.

An attack came out of a Space Arcana that had opened right beneath him and grazed his right cheek.

*Slash!

Blood began to flow from the wound.

*Drip...

Randolf then looked back at Elias, who was holding a black bone with a sharp tip. Without saying a word, Elias put the bone back into his storage pouch.

"How was that, Uncle? Haven’t I grown a lot?"

Even though Elias’s smug smile was a little annoying, Randolf still couldn’t deny that the boy had grown by leaps and bounds.

He tossed Elias’s sword back to him with a snort.

"Making a wound on my face, even if it’s just a tiny scratch, that’s already pretty impressive."

"Should I be proud of this achievement?"

"Want me to make something for you as a reward?"

Elias sheathed his sword as he walked over to Randolf.

When Elias got close enough, Mira, Evelyn, and Elysia came over to join them as well.

He then opened his storage pouch and took out the healing potions that Evelyn and Elysia had given him four months ago.

"Hoo~ Turns out you’re pretty rich."

"Not really. These were a gift from Lady."

’There’s still a ton left, since there’s no way I could ever use up all those potions.’

Elias took out two bottles of potion, then tossed one of them to Randolf.

After Randolf caught the bottle, Elias immediately chugged the potion left in his hand. Not long after, his body started recovering little by little.

*Gulp, gulp...

From the side, Mira suddenly touched Elias’s body as if checking on his condition.

"Big Bro! Are you okay? Nothing hurts too much, right?"

Elias stopped drinking, wiped his mouth, then looked at Mira.

"It was just training, not a real fight. The attack I took wasn’t that dangerous either. Well, maybe it’d be different if it were Uncle attacking..."

Realizing he was being talked about, Randolf immediately got nervous. Cold sweat started to dampen his face.

*Gulp.

"Don’t drag me into this. I did that because Elias’s skills have improved so fast."

"Uncle!"

"!!!"

Randolf jumped in shock when Mira shouted at him with an annoyed look on her face.

"Don’t do something like this again! What if Big Bro gets seriously hurt next time?"

"But Elias isn’t hurt—"

"Is Uncle even listening to me?"

"Yes! Uncle’s listening!"

Seeing Mira gather blood-red energy in her right hand, Randolf obeyed at once.

*Hum...

Sweat poured down his face, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips. His body even stood up straight, as if he were receiving a report from his superior.

Seeing the state Randolf was in, Elias could only smile wryly, hoping Mira wouldn’t do anything excessive.

But when he saw the red energy in Mira’s right hand, Elias suddenly remembered a question he’d been putting off all this time.

"Uncle, how did Mira get this strong? Even if Mira and I fought to the death, with no dirty tricks, I probably wouldn’t win."

Hearing that, Mira was startled. She quickly pulled her energy back, then hugged Elias and started crying.

"No! No! No! How could Big Bro and I ever fight to the death?! That will never happen! Waaah~!"

Elias was startled when Mira suddenly hugged him and cried loudly after hearing his words.

"I-It’s not like that, Mira. It was just an example. I love you so much. How could I have the heart to fight you to the death?"

Hearing Elias’s explanation, Mira lifted her head a little and looked up at her big brother’s face, tears still wetting her cheeks.

"Really?"

Seeing his little sister’s tearful face, for some reason Elias felt relieved that Mira cared for him so much. But that didn’t mean he liked seeing his sister cry.

He gave a small snort before smiling and wiping Mira’s tears away with his handkerchief.

*Pat, Pat.

"Of course! And if it really does happen, you can just kill Big Bro right then and there, okay?"

"Don’t say something like that while smiling!"

Elias could only laugh awkwardly as Mira shouted again and buried her face in his chest.

*Sniffle...

Once Mira stopped trying to cut in, Randolf finally answered Elias’s earlier question.

"We trained her."

"Did you guys force my beloved little sister to train hard like you did to me back then?!"

"No way... She’s the one who asked us to train her. Besides, we didn’t train Mira as hard as we trained you."

Elias stroked Mira’s head as she kept hugging him. Hearing Randolf’s words, he raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Why’s that?"

"Because she’s a genius."

"A genius...?" Elias muttered when he heard Randolf’s words.

"In short, when me, Auntie Potato, the Village Chief, Auntie Centipede, Uncle Guard, and Uncle Hunter trained her, she only needed a few days to master everything we taught.

Unlike you. You needed months just to master one basic technique."

Elias could only fall silent as he listened to Randolf’s explanation. Knowing that his little sister was a genius was good news, of course. But realizing that he was now far behind someone who had only just started training was a different feeling altogether.

Seeing Elias’s expression start to change, Evelyn quickly stepped closer and touched his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Elias?"

’He looks like he’s truly in despair over this.’

"Hahahaha!"

Evelyn and everyone else there, including Mira, who was still hiding her face in Elias’s chest, were startled when he suddenly burst out laughing like a madman.

"Awesome! I’m so proud of you, Mira! No wonder you’re my little sister!"

Elias hugged his sister tightly, so tightly that Mira struggled to breathe.

*Squeeze...

"Ugh... Big Bro..."

On the other side, Evelyn could only smile wryly at the way Elias acted around Mira.

’Looks like I worried for nothing.’

* * *