Chapter 83 83: Form

In that moment, both of them simultaneously attacked.

'What?'

Rio widened his eyes, processing the feedback from [Auto Sense]. In almost every way, there was an attack that came for him. Well, almost. He nudged his hand, checking their reactions.

In that instant, both of their eyes narrowed — silently watching him as they continued to run towards him.

'It's confirmed then. They can somehow know my reactions,'

Rio thought, his hand raising. Even if they knew — it was useless. Even with his 20% strength they were not as fast as him. He waited patiently at the middle, his gaze watching both close in to him.

In that moment, both of them arrived at his position. Arcuied swung an arc to his body, while Eugene stabbed the spear . Rio frowned, his body sidestepping — however, as soon as he moved — Arcuied changed the trajectory of his attack, turning the swing to a stab. Eugene did the same, the spear immediately swung in arc.

'What?'

Rio's eyes widened, his body immediately trying to dodge. However, a loud tear echoed — he suddenly leaped back, retreating from the two. He stared at his body, noticing his clothes tattered and cut from the attacks.

"Just what did you to them?"

Rio frowned, asking. They were much faster...much stronger, but more importantly — they knew what they were doing. Unlike the last time, they could utilize their power more efficiently and perfectly.

[Hm, in the Martial Artists community, we have this thing called...'Form'.] Faust answered, emphasizing the last word. ['Form' is an ethereal state in whereas the body's complete martial instincts are awakened — their mind, body and reaction are all synchronized to perfection, creating a perfect battle form of no weakness and yet efficient attacks.]

"...How do you unlock or use this form?"

Rio asked, his eyes staring at both of the kids. Both Arcuied and Eugene immediately shifted their gaze to him, their hands gripping tightly on their weapons as they prepared to attack once more.

[Anger...or something beyond determination, it's hard to explain. Not everyone has the same qualities to be able to use 'Form'.] Faust explained, his body hovering in the air. [The first requirement is to have a goal. The second is to have an indomitable determination. The third is the drive. You need to have a goal...and while you're searching for that goal, you have to be beyond determined at all costs. And finally, the drive. The drive is the conflict or adversary that forces you to break the limits of determination. After that, you get 'Form'.]

Rio nodded, listening intently as he observed both Arcuied and Eugene's movements. Not only were they faster, but their footsteps moved in a pattern — swift and sneaky, instinctually knowing the tempo when and where to move.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to get a bit serious too."

Rio muttered, his hand raising as he assumed a stance. He wasn't going to use his Sorcerer powers, rather he was going to use his Rank E Miracle Core — similar to them. He manipulated the magical power in his body, reinforcing his hands and feet.

In that moment, he dashed in to Arcuied. Rio raised his hand, running towards Arcuied in a flash. He clawed his arm — grabbing Arcuied's face as he slammed it to the ground.

Arcuied widened his eyes, unable to react fast enough. He tried to raise his hands the instant he felt danger — but at the moment, his face was already clawed while his body was already slammed on the ground. He choked, spitting out saliva.

"It shouldn't hurt that much. I only used Rank E Magical Energy..." Rio said, his hand grabbing Arcuied's face once more — this time he threw Arcuied into the air. He nudged his hand, clenching his fist.

Suddenly, he turned his back — slamming his fist to person trying to sneak behind him. Eugene gasped, feeling like a large boulder falling onto his solar plexus. Eugene flew through the air, dropping to the ground as his body made a loud thud.

Arcuied gasped, both of his hand clenching the sword. Above Rio, he prepared to fall — he pointed the sharp tip of the sword at Rio's head, intending to stab him from above.

"Unfortunately, you really can't do anything with that," Rio muttered, his body stepping to the back as soon as Arcuied closed in. In that moment, he clawed his hand — grabbing Arcuied's face once more. He raised Arcuied's body, staring at him.

"Hm, hm. Not bad. You still have fire in your eyes."

Rio praised, his hand immediately slamming Arcuied's body to the ground. Arcuied gasped, his body aching from pain as his eyes turned white, unconscious.

"Alright, one is out." Rio said, his body approaching the fallen Eugene. His footsteps echoed through the room.

Eugene bit his lip, raising the spear as he slammed it to the ground. His body was too strained to move. Nonetheless, he grabbed the spear, using it as a handle to stand up. His body swayed as he stood up.

Rio raised his brows with interest. He slowly approached Eugene, admiring the blonde haired student's resolve and determination. He offered, saying:

"Amazing will. This is your last chance, either you give up right now — or attack one last time. But do remember, the moment you attack, I will also attack you."

Eugene hardened his face, slamming the spear to the ground as a loud clang resounded. He manipulated the magical energy within him, applying a skill as the metallic spear was immediately covered with water shaping into a dragon. Moments later, the spear transformed into a terrifying artifact with a water dragon hovering above its tip.

Rio nodded, it seems the kid had made a decision. He assumed a stance instead of attacking — he raised his hand, staring at Eugene as he taunted. "Come."

Eugene responded in kind. He wielded the spear with mastery — where the spear moved, the dragon followed. He dashed in as he held the spear tightly. His movements became faster and faster, as if aligning with his ferocity — the water dragon also raged. He closed in to Rio, thrusting the spear as he roared:

"RAAAAAA.....!"

Eugene thrusted the spear, the dragon following as it opened its maw — targeting at Rio as it aimed to devour his body. In that instant, Eugene saw a blur — it was a fist. Before he could process the attack, his eyes already rolled itself and turned unconscious.

"...What a great skill,"

Rio praised, looking at his body. His clothes were a tattered mess. Cut, and destroyed, exposing his well defined body to the room. He shook his head, staring at the Eugene and Arcuied.

...Eugene and Arcuied both were ready unconscious. Some part of his mind wondered if he had gone too far, but he quickly removed it — there was no too far in combat. He wasn't teaching them to train, he was teaching them to fight.

Suddenly, he heard loud footsteps — snapping him out of his thoughts. Rio stared at where the noise at, noticing Amber call out servants before running towards Eugene. He shook his head, letting Amber handle the others.

[Hm, hm. I know of their flaws and talents now...] Faust muttered, his head nodding. [What do you plan to do with them?]

"I plan to train them more. Give them skills and weapons, basically raise them," Rio answered, his body approaching the coat he removed earlier. "Speaking of which, you do have a large arsenal of skills right? Perhaps you can give some to them?"

In that moment, Faust smiled.

—

Arcuied wearily opened his eyes, his body aching from pain and strain. He tried to stand up, but a rough hand suddenly held him to the ground. He turned where the hand came from, his eyes widening as he saw a blurry figure wearing a labcoat — their hands holding onto odd chemicals.

"..Wh-what are you doing?!"

Arcuied asked loudly, his body struggling to stand up.

"What do you think?"

The figure in the labcoat spoke, his hand adeptly mixing the chemicals as it turned into a different color. Arcuied saw the color turn to red. — he tried to struggle until he heard the voice.

"Xiao Long!?"

Arcuied asked loudly, his eyes widening. That was definitely Xiao Long's voice!

"Oh, so you know me... huh? I guess I have no choice but to throw this at you."

Xiao Long said, his hand holding over a potion. The potion had a deadly skull warning attached.

"Hey! Stop this!"

Arcuied shouted, his body struggling to escape however as he moved — he heard the clattering sounds of the chains behind him. He turned his back, noticing his body tied by chains. Oh no...!

"Hey, hey, don't worry. The chains are not that important. It's only used to prevent you from dodging this potion."

Xiao Long said, his hand swaying the potion. His lips curled into a smirk. From Arcuied's eyes it looked like a madman's evil smirk.

"Enough."

A voice suddenly resounded from behind them. Rio came in the laborator, his eyes staring at both of them. He frowned, saying:

"Stop with the jokes, Xiao. I need Arcuied now."

"Alright, alright. I just wanted to scare him a little." Xiao Long sighed, his head shaking. He opened the potion as he approached Arcuied's tied body. He flipped the potion — the red liquid falling to Arcuied's body.

Arcuied widened his eyes, his body feeling slightly better as the red liquid slowly integrated with his wounds, lessening the strain and pain of his body. It was a healing potion. He turned his head, looking at Xiao Long as he asked:

"It was a joke?"

In that moment, Xiao Long laughed.

—

Arcuied and Xiao Long came out of the labarotory in the corner of the room.

Arcuied glanced at Xiao Long, sighing. That was a terrifying experience. He shook his head staring at three figure at the end of the room. Professor Rio, along with Eugene and Amber stood as they waited for them.

"Are we late?" Arcuied asked, his body approaching them. He waved his hand in greeting.

"Not at all," Eugene replied, looking back at Rio.

Rio nodded, his eyes staring at the four figures gather together. Well, it was time to be more or less a proper mentor and give them something. Behind him, he could hear Faust hum. He had to thank Faust for this one, right now he didn't have any of the items and skills he originally planned to give them.

"Anyways, you four come close to each other,"

Rio said, his head shaking as he gestured his hand to the four. The four students followed, their body closing in as they listened to him in confusion.

"Are you wondering why I called you four?" Rio asked, his hand crossing on his chest. All four of them nodded simutaneously, staring at him. He said, "Well, it's because I wanted to give you four something."

All four of them tilted their heads as they raised their brows in interest.

"A gift? Is it going to be expensive? Are there any strings attached?"

Xiao Long asked cynically, his eyes filled with suspicion and wariness.

"No, and no, Xiao Long. This is all going to be completely free. Just think of it as an investment to your futures." Rio answered, shaking his head. He continued, his eyes following the four of them. "Alright, let's start. We'll go first with... Amber. Amber, come here."

Amber tilted her head, confused. Nonetheless, she followed as she walked right to Rio's body waiting for the so-called gift.

"Raise your forehead," Rio commanded. Amber raised his forehead awkwardly, her forehead sticking out in the open. Hm, this skill should be the best for her right now... He reached out his finger, tapping at Amber's forehead. "Well, that should be good for you. A foot work legacy technique. It should be enough unil Rank C."

Suddenly, Amber's eyes widened. Her mind being assaulted with a large amount of information — in that instant, she saw the steps of the technique and ways of application of skill. Her body swayed, unable to handle the information properly.

"Hm?" Rio furrowed his brows in confusion. He manipulated the magical energy within his body, tapping Amber's forehead once more as he reinforced her mental defenses. He continued. "It seemed you couldn't yet absorb it all at once. I locked it temporarily. So long as you continue to train with it and achieve some mastery, the technique would completely unlock in your mind."

Though, in further reflection; it made sense why Amber couldn't handle the information yet. Her mental defenses were not yet completely developed. And the skill he transferred to her mind was a legacy technique. Techniques are the application of magic to a weapon, it's the same as a skill...but far more complex and structured. As for a legacy technique, it meant an extremely rare and useful technique.

Amber immediately felt that the infinite store of knowledge was suddenly locked down. Clarity soon returned to her eyes, her body stopping from swaying. She took a deep breath, shifting her attention to Rio as she bowed.

"...Thank you. Do I need to pay something? What do you want?"

Rio frowned, his hand waving in dismissal. He said:

"No need, just as I said. Now go to the side."

Amber widened her eyes, her mouth opening in disbelief. Nothing for a legacy skill?! That was the height of insanity…! The skill itself could start a start a minor nobility house back during Era of Dragons. And now it could fetch for about 10M Credits. She shifted her stare to her other clubmates, checking their reaction.

Xiao was simply speechless and amazed. Arcuied mouthed out a wow as he shook his head. Eugene, on the other hand, had a hard time processing how could the professor hand over such an important skill. He asked Amber. "Is it really a legacy technique...?"

"...I have a hard time believing it too, but yes. It is an legacy technique — plus I achieved minor mastery instantly," Amber said as she tried the technique. In that instant, her body seemed to have turned illusionary — vanishing from human eye. Her body occasionally reappeared, leaving dark feathers on her wake as she swiftly moved through the room.

There was no doubt about it. It was the real deal. All the four of them thought simultaneously as they hurriedly stared at Rio with awe and disbelief mixed with each other.

"Don't make it such a big deal. It's only legacy skills," Rio said, his hand waving in dismissal. It was true. Legacy skills were only good at later potential, but for earlier...they didn't amount much to Rank B above.

"Uhm, Professor? It's me next, right? Right? Right? Right?"

Xiao Long appeared in his position, repeatedly asking. Xiao's eyes seemed manic and greedy, his eyes swirling in desire. For a moment, Rio thought it was a cultist.

"Yeah, it's you...but yours is not a legacy technique," Rio said, moving his distance slightly. In that instant, Xiao Long's expression turned depressed. He continued. "Instead, it's a completely new potion formula."

In that instant, Xiao Long immediately rushed in to Rio — he stuck out his forehead while his body involuntarily shivered from excitement. What was a potion formula? For him, that only meant two things — a complete monopoly of a potion and money. Big money. Gigantic wealth. Colossal credits.

Companies, or guilds, when obtaining or creating a new potion formula — do not distribute it to the public. At most, they create weaker and lower purity variations of the potion's formula and release or sell it to others. All the while, they have the best and most important formula.

Not only that, potion formulas are expensive. That was no understatement.

Rio immediately tapped his finger to Xiao's forehead, transmissioning the information to his head. This time, the potion formula was from him, not from Faust. He had a ton of potion formulas on his mind waiting to be given away or used.

In that instant, Xiao's body swayed — his eyes widening as he felt immense complex information of chemicals and magic assault his mind. Rio reinforced his finger with magic, tapping the forehead again.

Xiao blinked, clarity returning to his eyes. He touched his hand, feeling tears come out of his eyes. That... that formula was. He immediately jumped, shouting in glee. "Woohoo....!!!"

"What did the professor give you? Xiao?" Arcuied asked, his eyes staring in curiosity.

Xiao turned his back, struggling to reply.

"...Hm, alright, it's fine if it's you guys. It's called Minor Clarity Enlightenment Potion." Xiao struggled as he spoke. "It's effects are to enchance the mind and magic by x5. But most importantly...it also enchances the natural accumulation of magical energy of a person's body."

As soon as his words dropped, all the other three went silent, too stunned to speak. To enchance the natural accumulation of a magical energy of a person was equal to increasing the person's talent. The only ones that had them were top guilds and high figures with high connections — that was testament to how rare it was.

Xiao struggled to reveal because exactly of that — one wrong person to give that information to, he could possibly die or get taken advantage of by being reported to a higher ranker.

Immediately, Amber reappeared on Xiao's position, leaving dark feathers in her wake. Amber asked. "Can you form a contract with ou—no, my guild?"

"Alright. Enough for now. Continue that discussion later. Now, Eugene come forward."

Before Xiao could reply, Rio intervened, his voice stern. He gestured for Eugene to come forward.

Xiao took a step back, letting Eugene come forward infront of Rio. Eugene stuck his forehead up expectantly.

"Well, for you...also not a legacy skill," Rio said, his hand tapping in Eugene's forehead. "Instead, I'l share you memories of spear mastery to increase your foundation and spear wielding."

Eugene absorbed the information. Unlike the other two, he barely struggled as he ocassionally shivered while the information was transmitted to his mind. Unlike a legacy skill, or potion formula — he found the memories most beneficial for him.

It was a memory of a man wielding a spear so masterfully that his spear wielding was but an ugly trash in comparison. The man's spear mastery was at peak...every move was elegantly efficient, every swing moved not only the air but the tempo of everything. It was mystical.

"Alright. The last one, Arcuied." Rio said, his hand returning to his body. For Arcuied, he figured that a legacy skill was sufficient. Unlike Eugene, Arcuied's skills were mostly obtained by chance and luck so his arsenal of attacks were in mix and has no proper combo.

Eugene took a step back, mesmerized by the memories transmitted to his mind. He vacantly stared in the air as he watched the memory continuously.

"What's on mine, professor?"

Arcuied asked, taking a step forward as he stuck out his forehead.

Rio frowned, his mind undecided. That would be good, but it could overload the kid's mind... No, maybe he was underestimating the kid too much. Arcuied was the main character for a reason, and he was going to trust that.

"Raise your forehead and try not to fall unconscious on this one. This skill is a bit hard to understand."