n

n

n

"Kerren! What a… pleasure to meet you.

" Uttering the pleasantry after a slight moment of hesitation, Irea backed out a single step. With her shoulder brushing past Layn's, she stopped her retreat.

"What interest do you have with me?

"

n'Strange…' Looking at the man that dared to approach them, Layn once again started to doubt his ability to discern others strength. Just from the clearly expensive clothes that he wore covered with gems and sown with golden strands, it was clear that this persona was of relatively high importance or influence. Yet, no matter how the archmage attempted to peer into that man's aura, he still appeared to be complete trash!

n'No, I shouldn't judge according to my own standards!' Shouting in his thoughts, Layn internally cursed this natural habit of his. Carved deeply into his soul after years of venturing through the world, it wasn't something that he could get rid of easily. Even if in this world, it would only cloud his judgement.

nBecause no matter how he looked, Irea's group consisted of trashes and trashes alone. That is if the standard measuring system of the future were to be used. Outside of that clearly faulty system, Layn saw on his own eyes just how capable they were.

n

"With you? Don't think too much of yourself. I came looking for Pasha. Any idea where can I find her?

" Kerren's tone was relatively… normal. Despite wearing super decorative and thus expensive clothing, there was no hint of animosity in his voice, nor any giveaway of some vile intentions on his face.

nBut the fact that Irea backed off when she saw him still weighted down on Layn's mind.

n

"Pasha… Uh, well… She succumbed to her wounds.

" Lowering her head, Irea silently muttered the explanation. So silently in fact, that the man who asked the question clearly didn't hear her.

nYet, that didn't mean he missed the message.

n

"So she died… Pity, truly a pity. She was pretty inventive in bed.

" Rubbing his chin, Kerren appeared to be buried in his thoughts for a moment, before his face twisted in an ugly smile as he looked down on Layn's guide.

"Well, nothing that we can do about this then. So, are you going to take her place then? In my bed, that is?

"

n'Wha…' Hearing the words of that man, Layn almost stumbled on his feet, even though he wasn't walking at all. Even if he wasn't the one to judge, especially without the knowledge about the local culture and how people tackled those topics, the look of disgust and momentary terror that appeared on Irea's face was more than enough for the archmage to gauge the situation.

n

"Do you want me to kill him?

" Asking in the same manner as if he would ask whether to take down the laundry before the storm would hit, archmage looked impassively at the girl beside him.

n

"Ah? What?

" Instantly forced out of her moment of stupor, Irea looked at Layn's face. Unable to spot even a hint of playful mood that would indicate that the man was joking, her eyes widened before she hastily grabbed his arm with both of her arms.

"No, don't. He is two-star veter…

"

nShaking the girl's hands out of his arm without any problem, Layn moved one step forward before placing his hand atop Kerren's shoulder.

n

"Two star what? Is he some kind of celebrity?

" Unable to be bothered to even look at the man whose shoulder he was holding, Layn looked at Irea. But that was only a play of sorts. With his skin gently swooshing over the tiny part of the man's naked shoulder, his entire self finally revealed itself to the archmage.

n

"He is a two-star veteran! Even I don't stand a chance against him, not to speak…

" Before the girl could finish her words, a hand appeared on top of Layn's palm.

n

"Who the ** do you think you are touching! I will kill you!

" With his hand holding Layn's in place, Kerren's other hand shot forward. Due to their proximity, it took him only a fraction of a second to touch Layn's chest… If not for his hand stopping just a millimetre away from Layn's cloth.

n

"See? He tried to kill me. It should be okay to deal with him, right?

" No matter what, that idiot attacked first. All that Layn did previously, was patting his shoulder. Even if he had some kind of backing or high position, no one could blame the archmage for acting in self-defence!

n'Thank God I set that barrier in time… If not for this…' With his aura currently containing Kerran's body, Layn knew everything about him. How strong was that punch of his, how much weight his arms were capable of pulling, how heavy he was, how much energy coursed through his veins…

nNo matter what kind of detail it was, Layn had easy access to it. And it was thanks to this control that he had over Kerran that he was able to gauge the strength of his attack.

n

"Layn… Just let him go. As much as it pains me,

" Irea threw a hateful look towards the face of that expensively dressed man,

" my group still owes him a huge debt. I'm happy that you are willing to help me, but this is something we need to deal with on our own.

"

nWith the skin-to-skin contact and complete lack of defences against any of Layn's abilities, all it would take to eradicate that man from the face of the world was Layn's single thought. But rather than calming himself down by imagining all sorts of spells that he could plan within that man's body, Layn focused on the strange images of that man's insides.

nBecause even though he had no aura whatsoever, a relatively huge amount of refined magic energy was coursing through his veins. Yet, for some reason, no matter how much Layn attempted to map the path that this inner energy of the man was taking, he was unable to do so.

n

"Okay, here you go.

" As curious as the insides of this man were to the archmage, Layn couldn't afford to step on any of the possible landmines. With Irea speaking up for the man despite how he clearly offended her before, it would be unwise to keep going with what he himself believed to be right.

nAfter all, he wasn't in the world that he knew the rules of.

n'Still... ' All it took was a single sprout of annoyance in Layn's mind. Instantly reverting the idea of just letting the man go, the archmage's lips curled upwards as a simple, tier two spell materialised at his fingertips.

nPuff.

nThe sound created by the spell wasn't threatening at all. Even the spell itself was something that Layn and his friends back at the Royal Academy of Magic used to play around, especially during the winter. But for someone that didn't expect its effect…

n

"Wha…

" Unable to even voice out his surprise, Kerren's body shoot through the air, crashing against the wall of a nearby brothel. The wall didn't crumble. There wasn't even any mark left once Kerren's body slid down the stones and fell to the ground.

nIn the end, this was just a simple spell used by mages to throw the snowballs around!

n

"I…

" Stuttering on the ground, Kerren slowly attempted to stand back up, only for his legs to slide off the ground.

nPah!

nUnable to stand up on the ground as if it turned slippery for some reason, Kerren's constant attempt to stand up only resulted in his face constantly assaulting the ground as if it was some frenzied pervert chasing after skirts.

n

"Layn… Didn't I tell you? He is a damned two-star veteran! An ace of the Soaring Dragon group! Just what in the grace of God did you do!

" Irea's face was torn between panic and laughter. Her teary eyes glued to the show that Kerran was providing for everyone.

n

"Two-star? Veteran? Ace? Soaring Dragon?

" Repeating all the titles that the girl used to call the man struggling to stand up, Layn leaned his head to the side.

"To use such names while being so weak… Or maybe there is something wrong with his head, making you guys all take pity on him and go along with his fantastic stories?

"

nAn archmage was someone who had to have perfect control over their bodies, even to a greater degree than magicless fighters. Out of all the warring classes, there were only a few who had the demand of even greater control over one's flesh. As such, it posed no challenge to Layn to take up a look of shock, embarrassment and guilt.

nBefore anyone could react, Layn hurried forward. With just a single touch of his hand, the combo of slippery and repulsive spell disappeared, allowing that alleged ace to stand up straight once again.

n

"I'm really sorry! I didn't know your situation. I hope this great ace of the plummeting chick....dragon could forgive my rashness!

"

n