PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

The only problem Desmond faced was widening the defensive walls, which were now high enough that one could see into the Astryd residence even though it was on top of a small hill. Due to all the secrets Desmond kept and his need for privacy, Desmond had spent considerable effort and resources to prevent espionage.

The entire Astryd estate, except for its entrance, was now surrounded by what might as well be a barrier of densely foliage trees that covered the whole field of vision into the estate. Anticipating that his training would be rather flashy, Desmond also procured an arcane relic that held a perpetual illusion over the courtyard, keeping anything that happened inside hidden.

Due to the countermeasures, no sign of abnormality was shown from outside despite the enormous display of power when Desmond and Sasha crossed fists.

As Desmond had hoped, whatever he would throw wasn’t enough to take on Sasha in her unleashed form. Clenching his teeth and asserting his will, Desmond squeezed out as much mana as he could, causing a wave of blue flames to erupt from his body.

Desmond’s gloves devoured the mana at an alarming rate, showing no sign of stopping. Firming his stance, Desmond lashed out with a volley of punches, each one firmer and heavier than the last, each unleashing new blue shockwaves.

Desmond’s efforts were commendable, displaying combat prowess unique to someone who had yet to take the second step on the path of mana, but the reality was cruel. For Sasha, someone who stood firmly in the two-star class and was now in her purest form, Desmond’s attacks required, at best, little effort on her part.

All it took was a smile of mesmerizing beauty from Sasha for the fire flower under her control to bloom, releasing a microburst of vermilion fire that completely vaporized all of Desmond’s attacks.

That’s how frustrating it was to go up against someone who outranks you in power and surpasses you in controlling a mana element. Desmond could be considered a genius in many ways, but Sasha wasn’t even slightly inferior to him; the only difference between the two was that Sasha did not share the same passion for fighting.

.....

The shockwave from Sasha’s attack was enough to scatter even the blue gloves on Desmond’s hands, who no longer had any aquatic mana to sustain the manifestation. Such a crushing loss was a hard pill to swallow, but Desmond didn’t seem upset; for him, Sasha being that strong was a good thing, this way, she could be safer.

Seeing that Desmond wasn’t upset or depressed, Sasha heaved a sigh of relief. Sasha might be somewhat ignorant regarding social relationships. However, she still understood that men could be rather proud about certain things, and she worried that she had hurt Desmond’s pride.

Now that the demonstration was over, Sasha returned to containing her true form, absorbing all of the liquid fire within her body. As Sasha returned to normal, Desmond dragged his exhausted existence back to the porch where the others waited.

At first, Silvia had trouble processing the whole scene, but her mental strength still allowed her to snap back and observe everything with sharp eyes. Silvia knew that Sasha was strong, but she never thought that she would be powerful enough to overwhelm Desmond so easily.

The sheer power displayed by both Desmond and Sasha was enough for them to be considered among the most powerful human beings on earth, at least by known figures. Though, Silvia had her doubts about Sasha’s humanity, given all the strange traits displayed.

While it was accurate that some espers displayed peculiar physical qualities, among which Silvia included herself, given what Silvia knew about Desmond and how extreme the changes in Sasha were, it was not odd to doubt the humanity of the girl with vermilion hair.

Not caring one bit that Silvia was clearly lost in her thoughts, Desmond interrupted her. “It’s almost frustrating how strong Sasha is, don’t you think?”

Reflexively, Silvia replied. ” I thought you were just as frustrating.”

Shrugging, Desmond replied. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Silvia Rolled her eyes at Desmond’s shamelessness, after which she immediately questioned Desmond’s intentions for such a display. Desmond, by his account, sighed somewhat tiredly and proceeded to explain.

In short, Desmond wanted to help Silvia become more powerful, and Desmond’s logic was quite simple: if being as strong as I am now, I’m still unable to properly take care of my family, maybe I need trusted people strong enough how to help me.

Desmond’s reasoning sounded somewhat strange, but Silvia understood immediately. Silvia’s cold nature didn’t make her the best at reading emotions, but such a thing wasn’t necessary for the current occasion; it was clear that Desmond was upset and concerned about what had happened that day.

As much as it pained Silvia to admit it, Desmond was right about one thing: she wasn’t strong enough to keep her teammates safe. Compared to other espers her age, Silvia was powerful to the point of being unfair, but in the grand scheme of things, she was still incomparably weak, especially if she was compared to Sasha or Desmond.

As if that weren’t enough, Silvia could also be considered pretty ignorant of her powers if she was compared to Desmond; that became clear after Desmond told her about mana.

“I understand what you mean. I guess part of the reason you showed me such a show was to give me a glimpse of how someone with more experience uses mana. Compared to what you just did, my ice spears are child’s play.”

Showing an unsure attitude, something uncharacteristic of himself, Desmond replied. “You are correct, at least for the most part. In fact, there is a reason why I specifically asked Sasha to help me.”

Seeing the confused expression on Silvia’s face, Desmond resigned himself and explained. “Like I said, I need strong allies, and in a way, I do. No one in this house doesn’t have a great deal of power at their disposal. My intention is to have more allies of equal power, but that’s not something that can be achieved overnight, even if you have the talent. The problem is that, with the war going on between our country and our neighboring country, time is not something I have. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m too far from the point where I can fight an army on my own. Right now, I don’t have what it takes to influence this war on a larger scale.”

Shrewd as always, Silvia saw where Desmond was going. “Looks like you already have a plan in mind, but you don’t have enough pieces to make your move.”

Desmond smiled wryly; dealing with Silvia was easy and complex at the same time precisely because she was such a brilliant woman. “You are right. Therefore, I would like to help you grow stronger as quickly as possible. In the past, such a thing was not possible for me, but I believe that right now, I have just what it takes to achieve it, although I will need Sasha’s help.”

Desmond radiated confidence, but the gleam of curiosity at the unknown in his eyes did not escape Silvia’s senses. Due to what had happened between the two, Silvia had learned to trust Desmond more and more, but she had not yet reached the point where she would blindly follow his words; maybe she would never get to that point.

Seeing the doubt written all over Silvia’s face, Desmond looked helpless. Dealing with Silvia was always a challenge; although Silvia couldn’t be blamed for this, strictly speaking, it was Desmond who was unreasonable in asking for absolute trust.

Feeling that words alone would not get things going, Desmond decided to reveal the ace up his sleeve, or in this case, the tattoo up his sleeve. Silvia’s attention was drawn to the tattoo on Desmond’s wrist that illustrated a ring of hundreds of black and white feathers.

Desmond’s wrist tattoo was one of the rewards he got from his most recent adventures in other worlds, it was supposed to fulfill a very specific function that Desmond had been looking for, but there were quite beneficial side effects.

While it was true that Desmond still got what he was after when he got the tattoo, the secondary benefit was almost as good as the primary, if not even better. In short, Desmond went from being entirely oblivious to the laws of the arcana to having in his possession a preliminary understanding and mastery of a very peculiar law.

Usually, it would take a great deal of time, effort, and understanding for him to wield even the slightest power over any law unless it was a naturally awakened law, like Claire’s telekinesis. However, the tattoo on Desmond’s arm served as the focus and physical core of Desmond’s understanding of a law intrinsically related to the original function of the tattoo.

Because it was not a naturally understood law, Desmond still needed time to broaden his understanding. Still, even with his current mastery of said law, Desmond believed he could accomplish what he set out to do.