Chapter 22: Mana Sense
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Both Raynare and Takauji were in the underground chamber as usual, performing their warmup stretches before they began today's lesson.
Takauji had his sword in hand and wore the full set of enhanced clothing Azazel had given him.
And his servant had donned a black and gold tracksuit he had bought her, with her hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Ready?" The Magician asked.
"Ready," she affirmed with a steadfast glint in her eyes.
Takauji flickered towards her with [Shadow Step], his trajectory completely untraceable as he appeared behind her.
CLANG!
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to turn around in time, Raynare instead opted to bring out her wings. Using the hardened feathers to parry his strike.
"Good block, but you still need to learn how to charge your feathers with [Licht Vene]. I don't really understand your biology all that well, but according to Azazel it's doable."
"Got it."
He activated [Umbral Rope] in its close-quarters form, increasing the power of his strike as he aimed for her torso.
THUD!
Takauji aimed a vertical swing at her torso, to which she responded by bringing her arms up in a cross-guard and using [Licht Vene] to take the attack head-on.
Normally she would use her [Light Spear], but he had instructed her to use her bare hands instead, so that she would be able to familiarize herself with [Licht Vene] as much as possible.
Raynare's wings started to brim with Light Mana, emanating a coral hue as her feathers started to shuffle around. Becoming more pointed and rigid as they aimed at Takauji.
WHOOSH!
She ejected around a dozen feathers from her wings, forcing her master to distance himself with [Shadow Step] to avoid being hit. Giving Raynare a bit of breathing room to collect herself.
"You're too relaxed," he chided.
She flinched as she watched him change [Umbral Rope] to its ranged form. Spinning his detached blade until he found the momentum satisfactory.
SLICE!
Though Raynare's speed had prevented her from being fully pierced by his catapulted sword, she had still sustained a significant cut to the side of her torso.
"Ruthless as ever…"
She clutched her injury, using [Twilight Healing] to repair the damage done to her.
"Who said I was done?"
He had yet to recall his blade.
Noticing this, Raynare expanded her wings to cover her back. Catching both sides of the returning blade with her hardened feathers.
"Looks like you've made a misstep of your own," she grinned. Taking advantage of the brief window of opportunity to cut the rope in half with her Light Mana, now leaving him with no access to his only weapon.
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," or so she thought.
She looked back at him in shock, seeing his sword firmly clasped in between his hands.
"An illusion…"
Though Takauji had indeed recalled his blade, he had not done so in her direction.
"Raynare, would you like to learn how to counter my illusions?"
She was taken aback. Why would he suggest such a thing out of the blue? He wouldn't give away such a weakness so easily, would he?
"Sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. I am capable of controlling all 5 of these senses to a certain degree, but there is a sense I do not possess the ability to manipulate."
The Fallen Angel couldn't believe it, he really was about to spoon-feed her the counter to his most potent ability.
"That is [Mana Sense] if you use Light Magic itself to detect your surroundings and your opponent. I will no longer be able to alter your senses."
"[Mana Sense]...?"
She had heard him mention the technique once or twice, but he had never actually taught it to her.
"Close your eyes," she did as he asked. "Now allow your Mana to seep into your surroundings, like you're creating a mental image of the terrain around you."
It took her some time, but Takauji remained patient and allowed her to struggle until she got a feel for it.
"Woah…"
"The sensation might be jarring at first, but give it some time and you'll adapt to the feeling eventually."
She could still "see" what was around her, but it was more like she was viewing an outline of the training area.
It took me a whole day just to get that part down. You're more talented than I thought, Raynare.
Then again, you don't actually need to run any calculations to process [Mana Sense] unlike me.
Understandably so, he was still a little bitter about her superior biology.
"Now allow your Mana to latch onto me, and make sure you can feel my blade as well."
Again, none of Takauji's features were "visible", but the shape of his body and sword were.
"So this is… [Mana Sense]."
Though she couldn't see it, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"We're continuing."
[Umbral Rope] returned to its close combat form as he closed the distance between them with [Shadow Step].
But this time, Raynare was actually able to properly read the movements of his blade. Granted her footwork was still fairly sloppy as a result of her brain still trying to acclimate to her new sense.
However, she had now obtained the ability to counter [Phantom Blade], enabling her to block Takauji's strikes with significantly more ease.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Seeing that Raynare was currently in the process of mastering her newfound field of vision, Takauji decided to increase both the speed and strength of his blows.
With each and every hit she endured, the accuracy at which she deflected his blows with [Licht Vene] continued to heighten.
Her fear of illusions that stemmed from our encounter back at the church is starting to dissipate, and now the chains that have been holding her back are breaking alongside it.
Just from sight alone, one could tell that the amount of confidence Raynare had in her strikes had already started to ramp up.
She had become more willing to make use of [Twilight Healing's] ability to enable its user to be more aggressive when fighting. If she sustained a shallow wound here and there, she could simply heal it and continue onwards.
"Alright, let's stop here." Takauji halted all of a sudden.
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? Unlike you I'm just a human, I can't keep up for as long as you."
"Oh… right…"
If you were to compare their abilities alone, Raynare was superior to him in every aspect.
Her element countered his, her biology was superior, and she possessed a Sacred Gear while he did not. Even the amount of time she could train for without giving in to exhaustion eclipsed him.
The fact that he could keep up at all, made her sometimes forget that very simple fact.
But once he freed himself of the limitations of his body, just how strong would he become?
I should probably find someone who can instruct her on hand-to-hand combat and spear arts, her reflexes are good. But with formal training, they could be even better.
I'll ask Azazel for help on that front when I have the chance.
"You're progressing well, [Licht Vene] has proven to be an extremely potent ability for you so I suggest you continue to perfect it. However, honing your [Mana Sense] would also be to your benefit, you can do a lot more with that than just countering my illusions."
"I can?"
"Mhm. It can be used to read attacks imbued with Mana in general, not just mine. You can also detect concealed opponents, read movement techniques, and see a plethora of things you normally wouldn't be able to."
All in all, it was a pretty versatile technique to have in one's arsenal.
"I see, then I'll make sure to master it before you do." She stated confidently, causing him to mouth a pleased chuckle.
"I'd expect no less of my Primera," to her surprise, he decided to reward her with a quick peck on the lips. Causing her to flush a little.
"H-Hey… Takauji-sama…" She said nervously.
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow…" He noticed her mustering up the courage to say something. "Would you like to… go on a date…?" Her face had become noticeably red as the words left her mouth.
Well, that was random.
"It's fine if you don't want to…"
The only actual date she had been on was a fake one with Issei.
Hmm… I guess spending all her time down here wouldn't be good for her mentally. And I don't want her current rate of progress to take a hit…
"No, we'll go." Her mood was immediately uplifted. "Anywhere in particular you have in mind?"
"I'm not really sure… I was just thinking we could explore the town a little?"
"Sounds good," he agreed fairly easily. "We should probably also buy you some more clothes, right now your wardrobe just consists of tracksuits and sportswear."
And at some point, hopefully, she would get some actual armor besides a set of thin leather straps.
I'll probably need Azazel's help with that as well.
This time he didn't return to his room, instead opting to find a space where he wouldn't disturb Raynare while she was practicing.
[Shadow Step] still isn't responding to me the way I want it to, which means there's still work to be done.
He used the tip of his blade to mark two circles in the ground, an inner and outer one.
He planted his left foot inside the inner circle, and right foot in the outer one.
Here goes nothing…
Takauji started to trace the lines he had drawn with [Shadow Step], slowly increasing his speed each time he made a successful loop without disturbing the ground.
His feet needed to be light, and his body nimble. The less friction there was between the ground and the soles of his feet the better.
Each time he made a mistake, he would restart the process at the slowest speed possible. Unless each round he made was consecutively perfect, he wouldn't tolerate it.
He absolutely couldn't afford to make a blunder with [Shadow Step] in an actual fight, nine times out of then that would mean his death.
Once the number of loops he could make started to reach the double digits, faint afterimages that would only last about a split second would begin to appear.
And on the rare occasions where he could sustain the double digits for a fair amount of time, those afterimages actually got to the point where they could genuinely affect an opponent.
But he only managed such a chain once out of every fifteen or so attempts.
Might need Raynare for this…
Eventually, he needed to take a breather, looking at the bruised and reddened skin on the bottom of his feet with a soured expression.
I could start putting on shoes while I train at this point, but I really don't want my progress to slow down from what it is now…
He sighed as he sat down, looking at the prints his feet had made on the ground. Traces of blood were visible around some parts of the circles he had created.
It's tough being a human… but a part of me doesn't particularly hate the challenge.
After about a half hour of rest and reflection on what he needed to improve on, he hauled himself to his feet. And got back to work.
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Looks like their relationship is progressing fairly smoothly. (I am deadass running out of stuff to put in the author note section, send help.)
10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x
Word Count: 1941
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