159 The Magic Eye, Opened

"Come and get me, Tura. You're officially my first test subject."

I figured my provocation would piss her off. In the Original Story, she was an emotional type, just like Allen. And let’s be real—fury doesn't exactly help in a fight. It makes you sloppy and your attacks predictable. It was a cheap move, sure, but I had the inside info.

However—

"I won't fall for that trick," Tura said.

She quietly backed away, putting distance between us again as she readied her wooden sword. Wow, that was fast. Way too fast for Cecil to have coached her. I guess they aren't partners just for show. She actually learned how to control her temper. Great.

Just then, Shari called out to me.

"Weiss, I'm ready! But... our weapons are at such a disadvantage."

"Yeah, I know. For now, let's just see how she moves."

Honestly, even for me, the durability gap between a literal stick and a proper wooden sword was terrifying. This was Tura, the strongest in Duran. I could probably blast her with magic, but I really wanted to save my mana until I actually found a decent weapon.

She must have been spooked by my weird eyes, though. I figured I'd wait and see—wait, nope, she has no intention of waiting at all!

"—Shari, jump!"

Exactly one second later, Tura unleashed her one-hit kill technique. I dropped into a crouch to dodge while Shari launched herself into the sky. Cecil, catching on to that tiny nuance, started screaming.

"Fancent! Predicting the future? That is so cheating!"

Hah, naturally. I should've known she'd catch on after just one exchange.

Just as Cecil said, I had evolved my Flash—my Time Lapse. Call it a [Magic Eye], if you will. I’d sublimated my Dark Attribute to the point where I had an ability that could rival a Spirit's. I could see approximately one second into the future. There was a cooldown, but it was inconsistent—probably some annoying calculation between my skill level and my mana capacity. Plus, it drained me like crazy. Even I’d get exhausted if I kept using it. It had taken forever to get the hang of after I first unlocked it, so this was the maiden voyage.

But man, was it convenient.

Ah, I can still get stronger.

But—

"Good grief, I can't even get close like this..."

Tura was trying to wipe us out from a distance. Maintaining a Defense Formula eats through mana, and this stupid wooden stick definitely wouldn't survive another Time Lapse. It was time to show them what having a partner actually meant.

"Shari, show 'em what you've got."

"—Right!"

Shari dropped low and pressed her hand to the ground. In that instant, she triggered her [Blessing of Healing]. Power surged through my body immediately. At the same time, I activated my own ability while charging forward.

As Tura and Cecil’s mana and physical stats were funneled into me, a massive blessing rained down. I was faster, stronger—exponentially so!

"Tura, that dinky wooden sword isn't gonna cut it!"

"—Guh!"

I slammed my stick into her wooden sword and shattered it. Thank God for Shari. Honestly, that ability suited her way better than it ever would’ve suited me. She’d probably only gained it because we were partners. It was the result of literal blood, sweat, and tears—a technique mastered through pure, stubborn obsession.

"We hasn't just been sitting around either!"

To my horror, Cecil, who was right next to her, leveled her index finger at me. Her thumb was cocked back like a hammer—she was holding her hand like a gun. That concept shouldn't even exist in Noblesse Oblige! But there was no other way to describe it. I threw myself into an evasive roll just as a thin, razor-sharp Mana Cannon shrieked past the tip of my nose. The density of that shot was insane.

Hah—she really thought this through.

The secret to Tura’s one-hit kill relied on her scabbard—maximizing her Iai speed to boost mana and power. Cecil must have mimicked that, compressing her meager mana into a tiny, concentrated point. Like putting your thumb over the end of a garden hose to make the water blast out. She'd managed to take a small mana pool and create a massive, instantaneous explosion of power. It was a technique that spat in the face of conventional magic logic. She definitely got the idea from Tura. If I didn't already know what a gun was, that would have definitely hit me.

Hah, this is why the Noblesse are so interesting!

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm more than just a swordsman. Bad luck for you—you're facing me."

I triggered my [Magic Eye] again. Tura lunged right; Cecil scrambled back to the left. A solid split-second decision on their part, but... totally useless.

"—Mana Cannon (Wind)!"

It was a basic spell, but with Shari's blessing, the power was doubled. Plus, my Impulse of Destruction was already melting their mental resistance. At this range, I couldn't miss. I leveled both hands at them.

And then—.

[Tura Enizi. Cecil Antwerp. First elimination due to mana leakage. Nameplates transferred to Weiss Fancent.]

Just like that, the two were forced to teleport. Tura and Cecil's names appeared under mine. Including Shari's, that put us at nine points.

"We did it, Weiss!"

"Yeah, you did great too."

I tried to pick up Tura's fallen wooden sword. However, the second I took it in my hand, it shattered. Guess I can't even have that, huh?

Just then, a scream echoed from the mountain. My weapon was still nothing but a wooden stick. I looked at Shari.

"Ready?"

"Obviously."

Hah, she's starting to get more and more like me.

The next moment, we were sprinting.