After cutting off the connection to the communication magic item, Yuuki finally let out a quiet breath.
"To think I'd obtain the Ki technique this easily… even I didn't expect that."
He spoke softly, satisfaction flickering across his face.
He hadn't had Mariella deliver the Ki notes to him right away. Instead, he'd ordered her to send them to Domina first. When dealing with someone like Yami, caution was non-negotiable. Only after Domina had checked them thoroughly would Yuuki take them for himself.
"There's no rush anyway. The Black Bulls' next target is the Underwater Temple—plenty of time."
Yuuki mulled it over in silence.
The Underwater Temple lay near the southern coastal town of Rakue, hidden within a powerful underwater magic zone. Normally, the turbulent currents caused by the dense magic made entry extremely dangerous, even for high-level mages.
Only on the night of the full moon did the magic weaken enough to allow safe passage.
By Yuuki's estimation, the next full moon was still a week away.
More than enough time to study Ki.
The next day.
The tavern's business remained as lively as ever. After a period of steady operation, profits had stabilized—daily turnover hovered around ten thousand yul, with margins reaching an astonishing sixty percent.
The reason was simple: tofu-based dishes.
They sold at a premium, yet cost almost nothing to make, driving profits sky-high.
For reasons Yuuki couldn't quite explain, Rebecca had seemed noticeably downcast ever since recovering from her last illness. Despite the booming business, she showed none of her usual cheer.
Yuuki had asked her about it, but got no clear answer. In the end, he chalked it up to mood swings—everyone had off days now and then.
"Finral hasn't shown up all afternoon… That means the Black Bulls have already set out for the coast."
Standing by the tavern window as he cleared a table, Yuuki gazed outside, thinking quietly.
Finral had been monitoring the place for some time. Even if he wasn't particularly diligent, he always checked in periodically.
This long an absence spoke volumes.
"In that case… it's time I took care of my own business."
A sharp glint flashed through Yuuki's eyes as he withdrew his gaze and secretly contacted Mariella.
Moments later, Mariella appeared in his room via spatial magic. Drawing on her previous experience impersonating him, she once again disguised herself as Yuuki.
Meanwhile, the real Yuuki had already left the tavern.
This time, Mariella would need to maintain the disguise for longer—but Yuuki wasn't worried in the slightest.
As an assassin, disguise was one of Mariella's fundamental skills. Fooling ordinary people was trivial for her.
The reason Yuuki usually stayed in the tavern during the day and only acted at night wasn't primarily to hide things from Rebecca and the others—it was to avoid drawing Valtos's attention.
Valtos, who wielded spatial magic, oversaw affairs around the royal capital. His White-Eye organization had countless operatives, and Yuuki's own intelligence-gathering inevitably overlapped with Valtos's territory.
Now, however—
Due to Licht's suspicions, Valtos's manpower and authority in the capital had already fallen into Yuuki's hands. Finral's surveillance had also ended.
All Mariella needed to do was maintain appearances.
Yuuki no longer had to worry about exposure—from either the White-Eye group or the Magic Knights.
At the border of the Clover Kingdom.
Near the edge of the strong magic zone used to train Mana Skin.
This time, Yuuki didn't enter the zone. Instead, he sat atop a towering slab of solid rock, carefully studying the sheets of paper in his hands—the notes on Ki.
One night had been more than enough for Domina to examine them.
Just as Yuuki had expected, Yami had tampered with the pages. Traces of extremely faint Dark Magic lingered on them.
Anyone who touched the papers would be marked by that dark mana.
Fortunately, the pages now in Yuuki's hands had already been treated. There was nothing to worry about.
After reading through every line, Yuuki narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"It really is completely different from mana sensing."
"Ki, in essence, refers to the presence generated by living beings—their gaze, breathing, scent, muscle movement… all of it combined into a form of living energy."
Living energy?
Yuuki let out a dry chuckle.
"So it really is an entirely different system."
"Using Ki to predict an opponent's movements… No wonder it's ideal for close-quarters combat."
The thought only deepened his interest.
With Replication Magic, Yuuki wasn't limited to a single style of combat. What he sought was versatility—powerful spell combinations and a reinforced physical fighting ability.
Especially after his clash with Mereoleona, Yuuki had been forced to confront a harsh truth:
His close-combat prowess was lacking.
As for unifying all magic systems—
He still lacked a concrete direction. Replicating magic endlessly raised his strength, but something was missing. A qualitative leap that had yet to occur.
Snapping back to the present, Yuuki stored the papers away in his subspace.
He had memorized everything.
Now came practice.
"Ore Magic: Talos Puppet Legion!"
Yuuki leapt down from the rock as a powerful surge of mana erupted.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground trembled.
One by one, humanoid figures made entirely of ore burst forth from the earth. Each resembled Yuuki in form as they emerged around him.
In the blink of an eye, fifty ore puppets surrounded him—and charged simultaneously.
Whoosh!
The nearest puppet struck first, swinging a punch toward the back of Yuuki's head.
Hearing the wind split behind him, Yuuki dodged instinctively and countered with a spinning kick. The blow didn't shatter the puppet—it merely forced it back a few steps.
The rest swarmed in.
Without using mana or Mana Skin, Yuuki had no choice but to take their attacks head-on. The ore puppets were incredibly hard, and their blows carried serious force.
Getting hit hurt.
Amid the relentless assault, Yuuki focused entirely on sensing Ki.
An hour passed.
At once, all the ore puppets froze, standing rigid and motionless.
Yuuki stood at their center, brow deeply furrowed.
His clothes were in tatters, and bruises of every shade marred his body.
He couldn't dodge every blow—some hits he'd even taken deliberately, all in pursuit of that elusive "feeling."
"Nothing… I still can't sense it. Where did I go wrong?"
He frowned, utterly unconcerned with his injuries.
His training method should have been correct. Though the puppets weren't living beings, they were magical constructs—and their movements still generated something akin to Ki.
"…Maybe my conscious intent is too strong."
After some thought, Yuuki slowly closed his eyes, abandoning sight entirely and entrusting everything to his other senses.
The next instant—
The motionless ore puppets moved once more.
(End of Chapter)
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