Chapter 23: Decisions
"...Then...I just have to...earn your... acknowledgement... right?" Shin who was exuding a powerful aura, spoke.
He had unknowingly used Heroic Desperation, and it was not something Lancell had taught him.
'Tch. As expected, he really is a natural born hero.' Lancell thought.
Lancell activated Void Wind Guidance to the limit his body could safely endure, as he also activated Void Sensitivity.
("We don't have Spellblades.") Arkenvalle who was silent for a while, reminded.
("Then, can we make do with makeshift ones? I can't use Void Slash on him. That Spellblade's too strong.")
Void Slash was the name he gave the Spellblade after its magic circuit formed from repeated use of the Severing Blade. It was a pleasant coincidence, but it was useful and powerful.
("How about using Heroic Desperation too?")
("Nope. That's just plain bullying, and I don't wanna waste time with the aftereffects.")
("I see. Then we have no choice then.")
("Yeah. Let's do this.")
Mana circulated in Arkenvalle as Lancell then started to attempt to make some Spellblades.
Shin rushed to Lancell as he thrust his spear with incredibly fast speed. Even his teammates couldn't see his movements, but Lancell dodged it with leeway.
Lancell slashed with Arkenvalle as faint traces of mana was evident in the sword.
CLANG!
Shin blocked Arkenvalle with his Acxelicht and then countered with a triple thrust. He had no time to chant for Spellblades, but his newfound power was more than enough to compensate.
Lancell strained his body and barely evaded all three strikes. He was getting a bit impatient. Shin was getting deeper into Desperation, and wasn't even noticing it was damaging his body.
'This damn troublesome brat.'
Fed up, Lancell struck a slash that seemed like a random strike to Shin, but Shin didn't dare underestimate it. He evaded the blow even if it meant throwing him a bit out of balance, and then, Shin was blown back as a powerful punch hit him in the flank.
It was Lancell who teleported to his side. Due to being tense, Shin had somehow forgotten Lancell could teleport, and his wariness went beyond normal. Allowing Lancell to take advantage of this and create an opening and landing a non fatal blow.
Shin slid on the ground for several meters before coming to a stop. As for everyone else, their exchanges only looked like a blur along with sounds of air being ripped, sonic booms and some occasional explosion of force.
However, they were overwhelmed by the aura that the two was releasing. To them, it was like a fight they mustn't get involved with, as doing so would mean death.
"So? Still wanna continue?" Lancell asked Shin.
Shin weakly stood as the punch had broken quite a few ribs and complete broke his focus.
"...n-not...y...yet..." Shin replied weakly, yet stubbornly. He wasn't gonna give up.
However, even if he had strong will, Shin was still just human. Thus, as result from using Heroic Desperation, he fell back to his knees and collapsed.
"Shin!" Siri shouted as she ran to Shin's side. Lina then followed as she started healing Shin, while the rest was silent.
Lancell looked around, and asked. "Anyone else wanna continue? I'm bored already. And I wanna rest."
Nobody answered his question, so Lancell took the liberty of leaving as he took it as confirmation.
◇◇◇
"Oh, come to think of it, you were here, huh?" Lancell spoke as he saw Rebecca.
"Lancell, do I have to remind you that I'm your mother?" Rebecca spoke, clearly in displeasure.
Lancell ignored her words as he kept walking towards his room. He was tired, from many things, and today he just confirmed that his 'allies' that he just groomed, were far from ready.
'I guess I pampered them too much.'
Rebecca was stunned by Lancell's behaviour, and wondered just how exactly could a 14 year old kid could act so mature. Even though ignoring one's mother was far from one.
◇◇◇
("Hey Valle, you can access my memories, right?") Lancell asked Arkenvalle.
("Yes.")
("So you know what's gonna happen next month?")
("The annual Wave?") Arkenvalle answered rhetorically.
Lancell laughed as he knew it was soon time to go. Randel, the scheming manwoman must have known about the upcoming wave, so he forcefully brought his mother here here for shelter.
("The kingdom of Selvenia, huh?")
The kingdom of Selvenia, a kingdom that boasted over 1000 years of history, and was a kingdom founded by warriors of old.
And in there, was the stage where the Second Wave of the Great Shift would mainly occur. In his past life, the Kingdom of Selvenia failed to repel the wave, and was destroyed after eight months.
Although he had only heard of it, it was said to be a sudden fall, an a lot about it weren't explained.
'Well, no use thinking about it for now.'
It was also an important matter, but Lancell's priority was to get stronger. It was all he needed to do, and to do it fastest was to collect mana cores.
'And the best way to collect mana cores, is to kill monsters.'
("Valle?") Lancell called out to Arkenvalle.
("Yes?")
("Do you think we can do it this time? Taking down the Calamity Dragon, I mean?")
("Who knows? But I believe in you. So believe in yourself too.")
("Huh?") Lancell was confused by her words.
("You're doubting yourself. You trained the children for an entire year, and yet they were still not good enough to take on the Wave. That's why you're frustrated. You feel like you wasted time for nothing.")
("I see... So that's what this annoying feeling was.")
("Yes. However, Lancelot. Don't you think you're being a bit too harsh?")
("Why?")
("Not many can suddenly gain power to oppose Waves. You don't have any teaching experience either, so why did you assume you could casually make a group of them in a year?")
("Ahaha. Sorry, I got too arrogant. Still, you're awfully talkative today.")
("You have to cheer up, after all.")
("I see. Thanks Valle.")
("It's fine. As long as it's you.")
And so, as their conversation ended, it was decided that they would depart for Selvenia.
To the next stage of the upcoming Wave.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone