46. ‘Coloring’

I lower myself and in one step, I’m in front of Pearl, leaving a cloud of dust.

Exposed to the sun, the relaxed Pearl completely surprised by what he just saw.

“Fast――!”

――got him!

I swing the sword from bottom to top.

CLINK! 

A high-pitched tone coming from the “collision between two swords”.

“Tsk ―― Damn it!”

The attack that I did with all my might, was blocked by Pearl.

The sword that was in my hand, is now on the ground beside Pearl.

Slowly, three brown hairs… Pearl’s hair falls off.

“Really!? Even that was no good huh! Seriously, you, what a monster.”

I collapse on the spot with my hands and legs outstretched.

If even with this much, he still could block it, there’s no hope for me.

“Just now… you didn’t just strengthen your body with Red Mana, rightl!? What did you do! Seal!”

“What? Ah, I just circulate the Yellow Mana all over my body. You see, there was a time when I got stuck, and I was able to force myself to move with Yellow Mana. This time I did the same thing with my body in perfect condition. I forcibly removed the body limiter with the Yellow Mana.”

“……haha, FuHahHaHahaha! You really surprised me.”

“I can only do it for a moment, though. It’s too fast for my nerves to catch up.”

“It was too shallow to say that you’ve hurt me, but you dropped three strands of my hair! Let’s think about the reward!”

Pearl sits down with crossed legs.

I raise my upper body and put my hands on the ground to support it.

“What you did just now, it’s a technique called, ‘Coloring’.”

” ‘Coloring’ ?”

“That’s what we call the technique of putting your sub-source Mana on the body, weapons, and magic for a long time. Well, since it’s just for a moment, maybe it’s better to call it a pseudo-coloring.”

“I see～”

I heard a rough breath from behind.

I look up because a shadow of someone covered me, and what I see is the face of a sweaty blonde girl.

“… Finally, I arrived…”

“Ash, what happened? Why you came here?”

“For this”

Ash put a wooden basket over my head.

“Akane-san said that today’s breakfast was too little.”

“Lunch box! I was just hungry. What a great timing.”

I open the basket and look at the food inside.

“What is this?”

Inside the basket is,

Rice ball.

Fried rice with bean sprouts.

Salad with bean sprouts.

“By the way, what are the fillings of the rice balls?”

“It’s bean sprouts. I ordered it because I wanted you to be healthy …happy? Seal?”

“Ah, yeah, happy, I’m happy…”

You did something unnecessary… I won’t say it since Ash might get offended.

Anyway, I pick up the rice ball and carry it to my mouth.

CHEW CHEW…

…… As expected of Akane-san. Even though the ingredients are limited, it’s still delicious.

“Hey Ash. Can you do ‘Coloring’?”

“I can do it”

Ash pulls out his cane and points it at the rock wall.

“Coloring, ‘Black’―― ‘Roiro Homura’…”

A lump of flame is formed, and Black Mana is released from Ash’s wand covering the flame.

Ash shoots the intimidating black-colored flame at the rock wall, and a huge hole is made in the rock wall.

“It’s amazing… it feels like a special move.”

“That’s right! It’s difficult to use because it consumes a lot of Mana. In addition to requiring good control at using Mana, a certain amount of Mana is required to generate high-density Mana. It’s a high-level technique that not anyone can do!”

Well, in fact I could only do it for a moment.

It’s difficult already to use it on my body, I don’t feel like I can use it on flames like Ash… Maybe Ash received some help from that cane?

“What a good time. Let’s me teach you another high-level technique.”

After finishing the meal, Pearl stands up and takes a distance from me.

“Miss Ash. Shoot me with any magic!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, don’t worry!”

Ash turns her right hand toward Pearl and forms a flame.

Pearl stands upright with his arms folded. Ash shoots the flame on Pearl.

A lump of flame explodes into a pearl.

But Pearl was unharmed. He didn’t use any Red Mana, but instead he covered his body with a swirling Blue Mana.

“Blue… What did you do with it?”

“I manipulated Miss Ash’s mana and scattered it!”

“Other people’s Mana!?”

Blue Mana, is the Mana of Operation, which used to manipulate Mana.

Basically, the role of it is to carry other Mana in your body. But, to use it against the Mana released by others――

“Cover your body with a swirling Blue Mana, and the moment another person’s Mana touches your Blue Mana, immediately manipulate it and scatter it outside… The name of this technique is… ‘Ruten’ ”  [TN: It roughly means, ‘wear and exile’, If I were to name it in English, maybe something like, ‘Reverse Control’]

” ‘Ruten’… Will I learn it from now on?”

“Hahaha! That’s impossible! Look at this!”

Pearl shows the back of his right hand. It was slightly burnt.

“Even I, who have trained this ‘Ruten’ for many years, still can’t handle it perfectly! There are only 10 people I know who can use this.”

“Then why are you talking about such Technique to me now?”

Ah, this is bad. I have a bad feeling…..

“No way, you mean…..”

“That’s right! Miss Layla she can use ‘Ruten’ perfectly.”

“Seriously, what a bad news…”

” This ‘Ruten’ is also Old Man Bar’s specialty. So, it’s probably heredity, or maybe she’s really a talented person.”

So, she can use the technique that even Pearl can’t use properly?

“This is not the only strength of Miss Leila. The basic style of Miss Layla is a throwing knife. Hold the iron knife made with the Green Mana, and strengthen the knife and arms or shoulders with Red Mana before she throws it.”

“Why does she need to grab it? It would be easier to shoot with Blue Mana, right?”

In response to my point, Pearl makes iron with Green Mana, and attaches the iron to make a knife and floats it in the air.

“This is what happens when you shoot it with Blue Mana.”

The knife is released and go into a small rock… Cracks can be seen on the rocks.

Pearl formed a knife again, this time, he’s holding it in his hand and also strengthening his arm with Red Mana.

“And when you throw it directly ――Hmm! “

Pearl throws the knife.

The thrown knife slammed into the rock at a speed that made it blurry, destroying the rock and still flying further behind it.

“It’s better to hold it with your hand and throw it ―― “

“It’s faster, and stronger.”

“Miss Layla produces this knife faster and in large quantities than I do…. She will keep throwing knives and block her opponent movements to the spot. When the opponent, can’t move and reserve to use Magic, she will use ‘Ruten’ to disperse it. She forces her opponents to use their trump cards, break it, and hunt them down. Miss Layla won the battle she had in Magic Academy with just that tactic.”

‘Ruten’ and throwing knives…

In addition to that, she has that Rainbow Mana ――

“She has a lot of hands huh”

“Seal, are you scared?”

“No way. On the contrary, it’s getting fun. I don’t think I’ll be bored.”

“You’ve grown a lot in the last few days. But still, not as good as Miss Leila.”

“The difference that isn’t filled on the board is managed outside the board. Tomorrow, I will use one whole day until the duel to prepare to win.”

‘Sealing’ is a technique that can beat anyone if the conditions are met.

Do everything to meet the conditions… that’s what a Sealer is.

If I don’t have enough hands, I’ve no choice but to increase my hands.

I already thought what I need in my head.

After that, I had a spar with Pearl, who imitated Layla’s fighting style, and completed my trainings.