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nLudier’s unique shadow shouted, but there was no response – except for him there were no other thoughts coming through the boy’s mind, as William’s hit seemed to completely shut down the black-haired boy’s brain.

nThe only good part about it was that Ludier’s shadow could feel that the boy’s heart is still beating and he is breathing – with trouble, but still.

nNonetheless, that was a straight-up defeat in one hit, and another victory for the white-haired magicless man.

nThe only thing left was for Zoemi’s unconscious body to fall back down and…

n…most likely die from the impact of the crash landing as all defensive spells got literally wiped off by the hit that launched Zoemi into the air.

nA magicless runt killing a magician… you **er…

nLudier’s shadow muttered n a barely contained fury.

nAlthough the commoner bandits who were hired to kill off his family were already disposed of, and he knew how it happened thanks to Zoemi retrieving their memories and piecing it all together, the hatred for them returned in a twisted version of a shell shock and prompted the unique shadow to take action.

nAs he had already done before he regained his senses, Ludier’s shadow tapped into his host’s mana reservoir and helped himself with a generous serving of mana.

nKid, I’ll be borrowing your body while you are out. Hope you don’t mind.

n——-

n”…or maybe not…?”

nThe white-haired man donning simple clothing and an apron squinted his eyes as the body of the boy he thought he defeated disappointingly easy, went through a change.

nInstead of getting enveloped in murky-black armor, strips of darkness wrapped around his body like wild vines climbing a tree…

n*WHAM*

n”…”

nAlso, instead of smashing against the ground and officially finishing the duel, the boy now ended up landing somewhat properly – and although the place where he landed ended up caving in, the boy himself ended up standing up straightening his back.

n”…haaaaaa…”

nHe also breathed out, releasing a small cloud of pure-white frosty air, and opened his eyes.

nThe pupils remained jet-black, but there was a distinct pale blue light emanating from them.

n”…interesting…”

n*WHOOOSH*

nWilliam muttered, before once again closing the distance between the two of them.

n*CRACK*

n”…?!”

nThis time his punch was aimed at the boy’s face, as the white-haired man was aiming to smash him into the ground this time to shorten the waiting time required to get back to him just in case, but instead of meeting flesh, his fist ended up breaking thought several layers of ice materialized out of the moisture int the air, stopping all the force a few inches in front of his target.

n”I see. So it was just like that? You are efficient against elements created with mana. Isn’t that a piece of good news?”

n”!!!!”

nLudier’s shadow controlling Zoemi’s body snickered and the boy’s lips twisted into a wicked smile, making William flinch and hurriedly jump back.

n*SHING*

nThe white-haired man did that just in time too as the spot where he was just a split second before got pierced by several ice spears that appeared thanks to the magically enhanced process of desublimation.

n”Quite a handy trick – mind telling me whether are more people like you lurking around?”

nAs Ludier’s voice was coming through Zoemi’s mouth, the temperature inside the arena was dropping lower and lower with every word he said.

nSimilarly, a thicker and thicker ice armor was growing onto the black-haired boy’s body, shaping up to become an exact copy of how Ludier’s unique shadow itself looked in the wild.

n”I don’t know what you are talking about, lord Banemor. I am but a humble florist with access to a special attribute.”

nWilliam waved his hand around, shaking off the pieces of ice still stuck into it, and politely laughed off the question.

n”I see. Lier.”

n*WHOO-*

n*SLAM*

n”?!??!”

nLudier said, nodding Zoemi’s head – and William used the chance that the boy wasn’t looking at him to rush at him again, just to be sniped by a block of ice from the side.

nThe white-haired man’s head was assaulted by a cube of ice to the temple, the attack ended up knocking him down with ease as the arena itself was now covered with frost and ice that gave almost zero stable footholds.

n”…what…?”

nWilliam gasped, trying to get back up but failing and sleeping on his side.

nHe felt something warm flowing down his cheek and once he reached for it, he found it out to be his own blood.

n”How many like you are out there?”

nLudier’s walked atop the slippery ice with ridiculous ease and calmly approached the fallen opponent.

n”N… none, of course… my lord, isn’t that how variant attributes work…?”

nWilliam muttered, feeling the cold numbing his muscles and making it difficult to talk.

n”No, they do not, in fact. Oh, and the feeling you are experiencing is your body freezing from the inside – since you don’t have your own mana to stop my mana from invading your insides, I can control the liquids inside of you.”

n”!!!!!”

nLudier shook Zoemi’s head with a grim expression and revealed, pointing the boy’s ice-covered index finger at the white-haired man’s chest, causing him to open his eyes wide clearly revealing his green pupils.

n”Now, your choice – give up, or your own blood and piss will kill you.”

nJust like the temperature around them, one could say that Ludier’s chill was in the negative…

n”Wasn’t this tournament supposed to have strict rules against killing…?”

n”Accidents happen all the time.”

nWilliam laughed nervously, but Ludier merely scoffed through Zoemi’s mouth and lifted the boy’s finger – which caused a wave of pain to spread through the white-haired man’s abdomen.

n”…the geezers were right, low tier initiates have no chance against the poison of mana …”

n”…?”

nWilliam lowered his head and muttered under his breath, making Ludier furrow Zoemi’s brows and…

n”Law of Aquarius!”

n*WHOOOOOOOOOSH*

n”!!!!”

nWilliam called and his body emitted a shockwave that not only caused Ludier in Zoemi’s body to be pushed back but straight up repelled the mana inside and around him…!

n”Round two it is! Law of Taurus!”

n*BOOOOOOM*

nThe white-haired man roared and kicked off the ground – he was slower than before, but judging by the damage his kick caused to the arena, the power behind the charge was exponentially stronger…!

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