Lance General 1

Camus lowered his stance, holding out one an open palm at me. “Before we begin, I want you to throw a punch at me right here.”

“What?”

“A punch, right here in this palm that I have so elegantly held out.”

“Just a punch?” I confirmed, confused.

“An augmented punch, one that you would throw at your enemies.” He spread his legs a bit wider. “Come on, I’m ready.”

“Okay.” I shrugged before clearing the few feet of ground between us. Planting my foot just below his extended arm, I turned my hips, waist, shoulder and arm in one fluid motion. Mana coursed up, flowing in conjunction with the punch to produce a concise, explosive effect without wasting a drop of mana.

As soon as fist was about to hit Camus’ palm, however, it suddenly felt like I was trying to force my fist through a thick layer of tar. I could see my own fist slowing, barely making a noise, as it fell gently into Camus’ open hand.

The old elf grabbed my fist and bobbed it as if we were shaking hands. “Hello.”

I snatched my hand out of his grasp. “What the hell was that?”

“You’re a smart lad, figure it out,” the elder answered.

Gazing down at my unharmed fist, I went through what had just happened. After my initial surprise died down, it was fairly easy to deduce that he had somehow used wind to cushion my punch, except I had barely felt any mana fluctuations surrounding his hand.

“Figured it out yet?” Camus asked.

My brows furrowed in thought. “You somehow you used wind to slow my punch.”

“A tad broad for an answer, don’t you think?” The elder let out a chuckle. “I had an inkling during these past few days but your duel with General Varay was what made me sure.”

“Can we try that again?” I asked, taking a step back.

He held up his palm again. “Sure.”

I punched him again, resulting in the same effects. I punched him once more, not able to grasp how exactly he was using wind to achieve this effect.

“One more time,” I said, frustration leaking out of my voice.

Basic mana theory stated that collision of like elements weakened each other or canceled completely based on mana output.

Utilizing the theory that I had learned from one of the many books I had read as a baby, I augmented my fist with wind attribute mana.

I restrained my mana output since dispersing Camus’ technique wasn’t my goal. As I punched again, this time I felt it. The air pressure.

My fist struck more firmly this time, sounding a solid smack that made the elf take a step back.

He rubbed his injured hand. “You caught on quick.”

“You used air pressure!” I beamed excitedly. “You created a vacuum around me and highered the air pressure in your palm to slow down my fist.”

The elder tilted his head. “You use strange terms, but it sounds like you got the gist of it.”

“That’s brilliant! How did you think of doing that?” I asked, unable to contain my excitement.

This was a world where scientific progress was miles away from where I had come from. However, Camus had figured out how to utilize an advanced principles of air pressure on not just himself, but on his opponent as well to create a powerful effect.

Why didn’t I think of that? I asked myself. I had the knowledge in me, yet I failed to apply it to such an important aspect of this world.

Camus’ voice snapped me back to reality. “You’re probably thinking ‘why didn’t I think of that’, right?”

I looked up. “Y-Yeah.”

“It’s what I suspected early on,” Camus answered. “Hester, Buhnd, the princess, and myself are all here because you wished to immerse yourself in all elements in hopes that you pick up little bits of how we utilize our magic so you can incorporate it into your own style, right?”

“Basically,” I agreed.

The elder’s voice grew sharp. “Well, the problem lies in that your ‘style’ is so skewed toward offense, that you never even thought to use the myriad of elements that you have at your disposal in defensive measures, aside from the blatantly obvious way of raising a wall.

“You’ve only thought of wind in the form of either a blade or a tornado. You think of earth as a spike or a wall, yet truly mastering these elemental affinities mean knowing the subtleties of their nature that might not always be visible or geared toward killing your enemy,” Camus chided, his usual sardonic demeanor gone. “I saw you studying those marks on the ground during Buhnd’s duel with the princess. Do you know what that’s from?”

The obvious answer would’ve been a crater from an attack, but I knew that wasn’t it so I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”

“Master’s in earth magic can redirect the force of an opponent’s attack into the ground below them. Doing so accurately can negate nearly all of an attacker’s physical assault.”

I stood still, unable to form a response.

Camus let out a sigh. “You’re technically in a higher position than me so I suppose it’s rude for me to lecture, but let me just end with this. Your utilization of the elements is good—great, in fact. However, you constantly choose to shape your spells and attacks around either hurting your opponent or buffing yourself to dodge your opponent, and while that may be good for one-on-one duels, the battles you’ll face won’t always be like that. The time you have here is short, so let’s make it count.”

I realized it had been a while since I’ve been lectured like this. It left a sour taste on my tongue but it was humbling.