Chapter 131: I'll Take the Offensives Now
Before the offensive of both Zixiang and Changsheng starts, the two of them communicates without even using words, merely looking at each other and already picking up what the other one wants to do, something that they learned in all their days of relying on each other's strength in order to overcome adversities along their way.
And now, another one of this adversity comes to stand right in front of them, their immediate response being attacking him with the most reliable trick in their book, a surprise attack that take into account the flashiness of her armament and move in order for the young man to have the chance to grab the opponent by surprise, a move that often end their battles in matter of moments.
As much as that being the optimal ending that they want to happen though, the both of them already knew that they would have a hard time dealing with the emperor-like young man, they are well aware that they are going to struggle dealing with him if they could even deal with him at all.
With the attack from the lady, Zixiang being ostentatious and peculiar enough that the emperor-like young man's curiosity is piqued, along with the fact that her partner already disappears all too discretely, they thought that they would at least land a good hit on their opponent, a thought that immediately perished in their minds as they watch the emperor-like young man, Diluc, easily deals with both the attacks coming his way.
Raising one of his hands up as he stares at Changsheng already standing behind him, his other hand moves as well, raised up and conjuring a magic circle seemingly prepared in order to deal with the soft-spoken lady's spell or whatever that concentration of mana is.
Seeing the movements from their opponent, both of the two couldn't help but feel surprised, or rather, terrified as while it is true that this move is one that they are most pride of and is used to deal with opponents far stronger than them and it is safe to say that there should be no one of the same age as them can take the attack coming out unscathed, Diluc just stood there as he waits for their attack while propelling himself in the middle of the air.
Smiling as both attack lands contact on him, the emperor-like young man handled them with ease, his body remains standing still as one of his hands hold the other end of Changsheng's quarterstaff with a monstrous grip, while his other hand not even budging at the piercing attack that Zixiang did leaves just as much as a scratch on the wind elemental barrier that he just conjured.
"He's being more and more open to using his second element…"
"And by the looks of it, he uses it quite properly as well…"
"Just properly? There's hardly any difference between his mastery of his fire element and the wind element"
Watching as Diluc handles an attack that even they would deem really dangerous should they be standing against those two with strength equal to them, the instructors talked about the fact that he appears to be far more masterful in his use of the wind element than they initially expected, his second elemental affinity and control not paling in comparison to the fire element he is well known for.
Meanwhile, the topic of the instructors' conversations is currently smiling as he feels both the attack that just hit near him, the attack coming from the young man standing right in front of him making him feel a bit more given that he took it in directly, making him nod as he found out the strength this young man possesses.
"Really not bad, is this something that the two of you practice in your free time?" staring at Changsheng who is bearing a surprised look on his face, Diluc asked quite enthusiastically, his manner of talking completely different to when he was dealing with the three young nobles previously, said manner of speaking throwing Changsheng off guard.
Recovering quite quickly as he recalls that he is in the middle of battle though, he managed to reply as he attempts to pull the quarterstaff out of the emperor-like young man's grip, not really using his entire strength as he thought that he doesn't need to.
"Yeah… there are a lot more of that in the… bag?" as he reveals an excited smile on his previously cold and emotionless face, Changsheng replies with confidence initially filling his voice, only for it to change the moment he realized that he couldn't pull the quarterstaff out of Diluc's hands, making him exert increasingly stronger force in an attempt to break away from the grasp.
"I'm looking forward to it…" hearing those words, the emperor-like young man smiles, genuinely looking forward to what more tricks this duo brings in the fight, the curiosity in him making him all the more excited to battle against these two even more.
After stating his words, he let go of the quarterstaff, forcing Changsheng to take the chance as early as possible, leaping away from him and disappearing all of a sudden, his movements imperceptible even towards the two elven beauties watching somewhere in the distance, showing just how fast the young man is given that the elves take pride in their sharp senses unrivaled within the kingdoms and domains neighboring them.
On the other hand, before Changsheng can even show himself once again, Diluc already directs his attention towards the spire where the soft-spoken Zixiang is, the wry smile on the lady's face revealing her disappointment, neither on their attack nor on her partner, but rather due to the fact that they don't seem to be skilled enough to even leave a good hit on their opponent despite bringing out one of their best attacks.
"Looks like we were discovered…" the lady said as a sigh escaped her mouth, almost as if she is talking to herself.
Proving that she isn't though, Changsheng appears right beside her seemingly coming out of nowhere once again, nodding at her words before he replies, "That's normal, the guys is a monster, I don't think I can even escape if he doesn't let go of my weapon".
"Need to take a short break?" looking at the duo as he spreads his senses all around the area, making sure that no one from the other freshmen would interfere with the match happening between the three of them, Diluc asked with an amiable expression on his face, making the two wonder just where the cold, ruthless young man who previously dealt with the three young noble go, the soft-spoken beauty even muttering, asking whether this is really the same person.
"Can we get a second round?" hearing the words of their opponent, Changsheng was the one who first replied as he looks at the young man with determination in his eyes, something that made the soft-spoken lady beside him change her gaze as well.
"Of course… should we start now?" seeing the looks on their faces, Diluc couldn't help but reveal an approving look, the smile on his face changing from the previous amiable, yet distant smile to a one that appears to be more approachable to the two, who just nodded as a response to their reply.
With both Changsheng and Zixiang agreeing with his words, Diluc nods as he opens his mouth once again, letting out a short, amused laughter before his expression changes once again, this time appearing similar to the one he had when he is taking the battle a bit more seriously.
Seeing his expression, the duo starts feeling like they just made a bigger trouble for themselves, that same expression something really familiar to them as that is the face they often make when they aren't just playing around in battles, causing them to worry as they are not quite sure what the emperor-like young man's next move would be, making them tenses their entire body up as their eyes pays complete attention to their opponent, all while still getting a feel of the environment around them.
Nonetheless, these previous worries are no longer the thing running in their minds right now, the only thing that they are currently concerned with being the surroundings and everything happening around them, their senses heightened to an unusually great degree, prepared for when their opponent make his move.
"Then…" hearing his voice once again after the short moment that felt like some couple of hours or so for them, the duo felt a little startled from this alone, and they become all the more startled as they look at the spectacle the emperor-like young man brew up in front of them.
Crowned with a golden glow on top of his head, Diluc currently has a magic circle conjured right on top of him, the combination of the ardent orange and crimson red of the fire elemental mana along with the calm azure and verdant green of wind elemental mana dancing around a single spell, the intricate pattern of the circle mesmerizing all but a single person within the entire place.
"I'll take offensives now"