Capítulo 69: Kiara Citri
After the fight, Dignitas approached Warren. He laid still on the floor, taking small breaths.
He looked like he wouldn't be moving anytime soon. The arena's floor was his home and sanctuary.
"Hey."
Warren raised his head slightly. "Oh, it's mister honor student. Good fight."
"Yeah, sure. But why'd you hold back?" He asked him.
"Hold back? What do you mean?"
Dignitas scoffed. "Hah, I've seen too many of your kind to not know. Although it's not of my business to pry, I still want to hear it from you."
"If you'd rather know, then it's because everything in the world bores me. To no end. I take fights that seem impossible to win in order to feel some semblance of excitement."
Dignitas' eyes rose in surprise. "So that's why you killed the beast back in the first assignment? How'd that work for you, anyway?"
"It wasn't too bad. Although it wasn't nearly enough to warrant me laughing in excitement, it was still somewhat fun. The beast's unpredictable movements made it that much more worthy of my staff."
Warren stared at Dignitas' eyes, continuing. "Well, I think our fight today was pretty fun too. Didn't think you'd pull out the Ryushin dojo's prized technique on me. I think I'll like it when you get stronger."
The latter was shocked to silence. What was Warren talking about?
"Oh, you didn't know? The style you showed was strikingly similar to the Ryushin way of the sword. Those guys embedded grace and beauty in every one of their sword movements. Although I can tell you made a few changes to it yourself, the base structure is still visible."
"You… you're surprisingly knowledgable about sword techniques. I didn't know where this came from, myself. I just took a small piece from a friend of mine's swordplay and made my own."
Warren suddenly got up from his place. "Well, good job, mister honor student. You've embarked on the first path to creating your own sword style. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back to class. I missed thirty minutes of sleep because of this whole fiasco. And I have to get another staff made… sigh."
Just before he got off the arena, Dignitas grabbed his arm.
"If you know more about the Ryushin dojo's techniques, could you teach me them?"
"Hmm? And why would I do that? That'd only take away time from my much needed sleep."
"You said you wanted to experience excitement, didn't you? And you also said our fight was pretty exciting. I'll be more than happy to give you the thrill you seek if you let me get stronger."
Warren pondered his offer. In exchange for teaching Dignitas about the Ryushin dojo's techniques, he'd show him what he longed for.
"Bah, I'll think of it. Right now, I'm dying to go to bed. Here's a crumb of info that'll probably help you. If you can create a new style from it, I'll consider giving you the Ryushin scripture."
"Here's your clue. The Penguin."
"Anyway, was that it? If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back to class." Warren waved his hand in the air and began walking out of the arena.
Dignitas was now left with more questions than he had before. Who was Warren, what was the Ryushin dojo, and what was that about a penguin?
The Author's Log held no information about someone named Warren Michash, so that meant he was an outlier like Wang Jin who didn't exist in the story. Or at least, he was never mentioned.
"In the meantime, I guess I'll try to look into this Ryushin dojo. And the penguin… I wonder what that means."
***
Classes went on like normal. After a short, uneventful day, Dignitas had headed to the usual training place.
The area behind the school was vast, and quite open. It was perfect for getting some practice in while being able to enjoy the fresh air.
"Wooh. You're already at my level, Lorelai. I don't think I have anything to teach you anymore."
Lorelai looked at him in shock. "What? How? That can't be, I haven't even beaten you yet."
Woops. That seemed like a mistake on Lorelai's part. Now Dignitas knew what her goal was.
"That's what this was for? Don't worry, you're already better than me. There's just a teeny-tiny reason why you can't beat me."
"And? What is it?" She replied, eager to know. "I can't stop this unless I defeat you with your own swordsmanship."
"Give up on that, then. I've already taught you everything I know."
In fact, what Dignitas said was true. If the two of them were to fight head-on with no skills, then the victor would most likely be Lorelai.
The reason? Her habits and behaviors. In this world, no one knew her better than he did. Even Lorelai herself.
Her rashness would always be taken into consideration whenever Dignitas reacted to the attacks thrown at him.
It was such a huge factor in how he played his cards that he didn't even have to rely on Death's Vision to predict her movements.
"No, not yet. Just you wait, Dignitas! I'll defeat you using your own swordsmanship."
He smiled, appalled by her enthusiasm. "I'll be waiting for that then. In the meantime, I'll talk to Teacher and we'll see if you can join me."
After finishing up on the training session with Lorelai, Dignitas immediately headed for the second floor of the Academy, where most of the classrooms were.
Instead of heading to Class 1-A, 1-B, or anything along that line, he went for the class located at the edge of the floor.
This was Class 1-AL, the only class in the Academy comprised of students who were not mana-fluent. In other words, they could not use mana.
So why were they admitted into the Hero Academy despite this?
The answer was simple. Their method of learning was different. They studied Alchemy, the forgotten art.
Alchemy was the process of turning seemingly nothing into something great. For example, a skilled alchemist could transmute iron bars into gold bars with ease.
Alchemists held the power to change a matter's structure and properties, which made them widely desired in the utility field of Guilds.
If need be, they could also create homunculuses, making them quite fearsome in battle.
The main reason Dignitas had come here was for the latter. To undertake his next mission, he would need a homunculus.
And luckily, the only person in the Academy who could create a lifelike homunculus was situated in Class 1-AL.
Pushing the door to the class open, Dignitas stared at the many different students working in their own workshops.
Each and every one of them were immersed in their own projects. Some were brewing potions in their cauldrons, and some were attempting to transmute a piece of trash into metal.
Dignitas would then go on to find the person he was looking for in the edge of the classroom, where there was a door that led into a private workshop.
And by the looks of it, she was just as she had been described.
"There she is. Just like I had described her."
Kiara Citri was the Hero Academy's "Genius Alchemist", the title the Great Melodius had granted to her himself.
Green hair that stretched out into a ponytail, and alchemical clothes that consisted of a small robe that fitted tightly around her petite body, and a hat that was shaped oddly similar to a sailor's hat.
They were all dyed in a light shade of brown with some runic patterns that glowed pink.
Some areas of her clothes had been torn off, perhaps a byproduct of her failed experiments.
After all, even geniuses could fail.
Dignitas approached Kiara, who was busy stirring a somewhat grim looking mixture inside her cauldron. "Hello."
Taking her eyes off her experiment for a slight moment, Kiara replied. "Hi. Did you need something?"
"I'm here to request something from you, miss Citri. A homunculus, preferably one that's humanlike."
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