I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World

Should he tell Lytheron his true mana node count or not? If Lytheron was already this underwhelmed by the 'frankly insane' node count Zephyr had already mentioned so far, then what would he think of Zephyr's if he revealed that he awakened with a single node.

Lytheron noticed his hesitation and frowned deeper. "Why do you hesitate? Do not tell me it is even lower than this!"

Zephyr had an evidently conflicted expression on his face as he debated between telling the truth or inflating the figure, weighing the pros and cons…

Aegis was surprisingly quiet, leaving the decision up to Zephyr himself.

And in the end, Zephyr, with a grimace on his face, looked down at the elf, "...one," he whispered.

Zephyr had thought he'd have to repeat the word again, but from the deathly silence that reigned in the cavern after his whisper, he was sure Lytheron had heard very clearly.

The sounds of their breathing was the only thing that could be heard for a long, tense minute as Lytheron went still.

Zephyr had no choice but to actually peek an eye open at the elf when the silence got unbearable.

And the elf in question was simply staring at Zephyr with an absentminded look, as if searching through his wealth of knowledge and experience to try and explain the existence of someone like Zephyr.

Because of this wealth of experience, it was even more absurd and incomprehensible to him. It contradicted what his life experience and in-depth historical knowledge told him was possible.

This was all because he had already seen a spell Zephyr had executed just an hour or two ago. A spell that was not remotely possible for someone who awakened with a single mana node to execute. Not even one born with eight nodes could do something like that.

To his knowledge, execution of such a spell to the level of proficiency Zephyr had displayed could only be done by, at the very least, a thirty-two node awakened!

If he hadn't seen Zephyr's execution of the novel spell, then he would not have been as surprised.

Already, even as Zephyr had entered the cavern at first, Lytheron had sensed his presence and assessed the energy levels he gave off. One that contradicted with the level of spell he had running.

But he'd had no choice but to follow what he sensed and placed Zephyr as a sixteen node awakened, something that had bothered him throughout their whole talks. He'd been using every subtle method he knew to probe Zephyr further, just to ascertain whether he was wrong or right.

Yet, here was Zephyr saying he was a single node awakened.

"Sir?" Zephyr called out softly, jarring the elf out of his overthinking.

His eyes refocused on Zephyr, searching his face for any sign of deceit. "You must think me a fool! A single node?! You expect me to believe you awakened with a single node?!!"

Zephyr's expression hardened immediately, "I don't care what you believe!" He snapped without any inhibition, "you asked me a question, and I answered! Just because it may not fit whatever you think is possible does not mean I am lying!"

"You dare raise your voice—" Lytheron's eyes narrowed.

"Fuck that!" Zephyr cut him off with venom. "You don't own me! I'm not your subordinate or lackey, man! Whatever nonsense etiquette you have from the past is history now! I have no obligation to defer to you unless I decide to myself!"

Lytheron's face spoiled immediately, and the other monsters in the room began to get agitated.

"You have no reason to defer to me…?" he chuckled dangerously.

Zephyr's eyes went cold, and he jumped back multiple steps, widening the gap between them, his mind immediately reaching for various spells, visualizing them and waiting for the slightest trigger for his mana node to execute.

He was actually willing to fight Lytheron there and then!

Lytheron watched in stunned astonishment, before his chuckle morphed into a full blown cackle of utter disbelief.

"You actually want to fight me? You actually dare to fight me!" A heavy mental pressure suddenly descended on the cavern. And this time with more vengeance.

Zephyr had already braced himself, but his knees still buckled in fear.

He struggled to stay on his feet, fighting the urge to cave in and collapse to the ground.

As he struggled, a small grin slowly began to spread on his face and he sent an instant thought to Aegis, who executed his order… and within nanoseconds, sent a response of confirmation to Zephyr with a slightly surprised tone.

'I knew it!'

He grinned fully after the confirmation, straining to raise his head to look at the elf before him. Zephyr had been suppressed to the point where he was in a squatting-crouching position, but still, his knees had not touched the floor.

"Yo! Is this all you can do?!" Zephyr dragged out through his teeth, egging Lytheron even more.

The elf's eye twitched in anger. He'd never felt so insulted in millenniums. But he simply let out a low, dangerous chuckle instead.

He'd realized the reason for Zephyr's audacity.

"It seems you have figured it out…" He snorted, "but so what!" he charged at Zephyr, willing a score of unstable, black, sickle-like blades of pure spatial magic into existence...

But immediately the first sickle appeared, the heavy, oppressive mental pressure suddenly disappeared…

And within that split second, just as the pressure eased, as if Zephyr had been expecting it, he launched straight at Lytheron like a bullet.

A look of shock colored Lytheron's face.

Shock at Zephyr's decisiveness; the boy had actually charged at him and not away.

And shock at his speed! He was way too fast!

But credit to Lytheron, with his wealth of experience, that shock only lasted for the briefest of moments before he calmly sent his chaotic sickle blades hurtling at Zephyr.

Be careful, host! Those are most likely made from space magic! You have no defenses against anything that involves space right now!

Zephyr processed Aegis' words quickly and reacted within the same beat, twisting and turning his body in ways a normal person couldn't, almost as if defying physics.

He 'spread' his view without focusing on a single thing, taking in everything his eyes could see in front, and from his peripherals. He was no longer thinking, just reacting.

His body danced through the blades like an eel in water, shocking Lytheron further. Despite the elf's purposeful efforts, none of his blades could even touch Zephyr.

He caught the look in Zephyr's eyes. A look that wasn't unfamiliar to him. One of total focus, and yet at the same time, total unfocus.

He can see everything.

Lytheron didn't bother wasting his efforts. He immediately switched to defense as Zephyr stepped within fighting distance.

Extremely quick casting. Lytheron noted as he caught Zephyr executing a spell in less than a second.

His eyes followed Zephyr's hands, watching calmly for what spell he was about to cast, ready to react with the appropriate counter. He had a defensive barrier primed already, but still watched Zephyr for the cleanest counter to whatever spell he was going to cast.

He was going for the least effort approach.

But this detail didn't escape Zephyr's notice.

Just as Lytheron was expecting a spell, Zephyr suddenly made an abrupt stop, leaning back without cause.

What's happening? What's he doing?!

Lytheron was confused, but his experienced mind had already reacted, going through multiple possibilities for Zephyr's sudden action… But none fit the bill.

He didn't like it. This unpredictability... He didn't like it at all.

So just for caution, he spread his barrier spell to cover him from all sides…

But just as he made to do this, he felt every single alarm bell, every fibre of his being down to his very gut, scream danger.

And without the slightest hesitation, instead of a normal barrier spell made with mana, he willed a barrier made of spatial magic. Chaotic and unstable enough that whatever Zephyr was about to do would not reach him.

From experience, he subconsciously protected his vitals first, mainly his head and heart before spreading to cover his whole body…

But he wasn't fast enough.

Slash!

He felt a hot, searing pain cut across from his chest, and through his arm.

With a look of utter confusion, he stared down at his chest…

Huh? What is this?

He struggled to understand what he was seeing.

Blood. Spilling down the side of his chest and through his right arm like a red stream.

How is this possible?

The pain itself wasn't the issue, but rather, the impossibility of the injury. How did Zephyr wound him?

"Fuck!" Zephyr cursed silently where he stood. Lytheron had actually reacted to the spell he had saved in memory!

The elf wasn't an ancient figure for a joke! That reaction was purely out of raw instinct. Totally preemptive! Even before Zephyr had cast the spell, Lytheron had executed that weird, spatial defense already. It was almost like he had some kind of precognitive ability!

It had countered his spell so effectively, surprising Zephyr greatly.

Spatial magic.

That was the counter to his instant cast register memory-saved spells!

He backed away immediately, widening the gap and reassessing his options. He was still intent on attacking the elf!

To an outsider, it might've looked like Zephyr suddenly switched up and attacked the elf without reasonable cause... but it was a carefully thought out probe.

The more the elf had talked and narrated the history of Astralis — the supreme universe — to Zephyr, the more he tried to understand what the elf could gain out of it.

Nothing in the world was truly free. He was sure the price of the knowledge he was getting was going to be revealed when he got to the end. The punchline. Just like back in Komi's world where he'd been dragged into something he had no interest or concern with — though that had been inevitable anyway.

The point was, Zephyr didn't want a repeat of that if he could avoid it.

As Lytheron talked, Zephyr analyzed and reanalyzed everything, from the start… from their first meeting… the pressure he felt…

It was then he finally realized a fact, and suspicious started to grow in his mind.

If Lytheron was so powerful... A Tier 8 Paragon as he'd said…

…then why was he trapped in here…?