"Was it all just for a dramatic moment during the encounter?" I asked.
There would be no way for me to have the balls to ask this question if our relationship was still the same as it was back when we said our goodbyes before parting ways.
And it didn't matter that back then, I wasn't any wiser about Levi's true strength.
This changing relationship was the same reason why I wasn't sure how to refer to Levi before. After all, I was now apparently stronger than him, despite being at least two cultivation ranks below him.
Whether or not Levi lied to make me feel better or for any other reason, wasn't for me to judge. Yet, if I were to accept and acknowledge his words, then what our relationship would be?
'It's less about the rank and more about how he behaves,' I thought, averting my eyes when Levi gifted me with a pretty cold look.
"You didn't have to spell it out loud," he muttered. Levi then shook his head.
"Okay, okay, my bad," I laughed out a little, just enough to imply it was all just a small joke made in good faith, yet not hard enough for Levi to have any chance of assuming I was making fun of him. "Changing the topic, can you tell me more about that technique you used?"
In a sense, one could consider this a manipulation on my part. Just like a kid would come to their parents to ask something ridiculous only to then 'concede' and ask for its true objective that would appear far more reasonable.
In this scenario, though, one could say that I first poked fun at Levi to make him restless only to then bring out the big guns.
The truth, though, was far simpler.
Ever since I saw him nearly teleport around without any prior preparations, I couldn't help but wish to obtain this ability as well!
'My mage's tower, despite how I can move it around, still makes me pretty damn slow.' This was one of the downsides of my greatest source of power that I have yet to find some countermeasures against.
And Levi's method of manipulating aura to move appeared like just the right skill!
"To ask an overascender about their hidden skills..." Levi muttered, his voice betraying how he was still slightly unhappy about my joke from before. "But now that you saw it, I don't see why I shouldn't explain it," he added with a sigh.
Levi then slowed his pace a little so that the noise of the air brushing past our ears would subside a little.
"Young miss, that might be interesting for you too," Levi called out while turning his head over his shoulder.
"I'm all ears," the girl said, leisurely jogging along, just two steps behind the two men.
"Sensei..." I said in a suggestive tone, urging the man to start.
Now that I caught the scent of an ability that could potentially save my life, I couldn't help but be excited over the idea of learning.
"Young miss... for you, this technique will be quite useful. But if I'm right about what I felt about you..." Levi muttered as he turned his eyes towards me only to avert them a short moment later.
'A skill not for me?' I thought, bewildered by Levi's statement.
Right now, the ability to leave the scene posthaste was the one thing I lacked the most. And, despite that, he still believed it wouldn't work with me?
'Wait, no, I can't think like that,' I quickly came to my senses. 'How the hell is he supposed to know how I fight?' I asked myself, baffled by the massive logical error I casually ignored.
Levi judged my ability... I didn't actually know how. And with this limited judgment of his, he could hardly picture what sort of techniques I used to become as strong as I was right now.
"Well, I will let you judge it yourself," Levi then added before releasing a deep sigh.
Once again, I couldn't tell whether he arrived at similar conclusions as me or if he noticed some small changes in my expression.
But in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. And I wasn't going to waste my precious time and brainpower thinking over things that weren't any sort of issue at all.
"Before I begin," Levi raised his eyes at me. "I do not see any arcane weapon on you," he pointed out. "Do you have it hidden or did you perhaps..." Lei's words slowed down as his tone turned colder the further he got with his sentence.
I..." I hesitated to give the answer.
Not because I wanted to hide my abilities or how I lost my last arcane weapon during the fight with a mana monster.
No, I hesitated because I genuinely wasn't sure how to reply.
"I don't have anything pointy or slashy that could classify as an arcana weapon," I admitted after giving the question a moment of thought. On the other hand, my greatest strength comes from the natural extension of arcane," I added.
"Huh?" Levi raised his eyebrows, involuntarily slowing his steps down even more, now only moving at a speed that would make a world's champion at running proud.
"I'm talking about formations," I elaborated a little. "By deploying a considerable number of them, I can create space where, to a certain degree, my control over my own spiritual energy is neal absolute.
"That sounds... Wait, what are formations again?" Levi then asked, taking me by a surprise.
formations might not belong to the most popular field of study one could enter. Yet, by no means was it some sort of toy that those who knew them would use to play pranks on their friends.
No.
"Formations are set of magically infused artifacts. Each of the formations can perform single or several different tasks at the cost of its user simply driving their energy through it," I patiently explained.
"Ah, so an extension to the arcane I taught you," Levy muttered, a ray of satisfaction flashing through his years.
"That's right," I nodded my head as I replied. "I basically applied the concepts you taught me about arcane and implemented said concepts when making my first formations," I revealed without no shame at all.
"Then I guess I was both right and wrong," Levi summed the situation up. "If its hard to move within all those formations, then learning my techniques would surely help," he admitted. "But on the other hand..."
"Other hand what?" I asked.
"If you are controlling arrays at a huge distance... No, the more I think about it the less desirable for you it becomes," he then admitted.
"Can you give me a reason, at least?" I requested, ready to buy my hopes in the dust.
"It's simple," Levi sighed. "You already have all your arrays to take care of while fighting," he pointed out. "Teaching you how to add a massive distraction...?"
Levi shook his head.
"I'm sorry, brother, but it would only handicap you."
Levi took a deep breath as he brought his eyes to the.
Someone else could possibly follow Levi's advice and drop the topic. But I wasn't just a random someone else.
"If you claim it won't work for me..." I started, ready to keep on negotiating. And then, a devious smile appeared on my face. "Then how about we conduct a small duel?"
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