Descending Into A Novel-Chapter 46:Grace Hand-to-Hand Arts

After catching up on his sleep, only being interrupted by the need to teleport Ellen to class. Raymond continued with his magic research.

Raymond felt immense frustration at the challenge. Yet he also felt really excited to finally have something that tested his own skills this much.

It was a uniquely limiting challenge for him. Trying to figure out how to get the results he wanted while keeping the mana requirements to be as low as possible. Normally, he wouldn’t even bother with things like this.

Each time he failed, he would sigh and redo the engravings. Each time he achieved a minor success would he celebrate. Although he mainly failed and didn’t succeed much, he didn’t give up.

He just kept retrying new things over and over again.

He already knew the end goal, Borrow Future Strength as a spell very well. But as an engraving was different.

Engravings were essentially just spells cast via mediums. Using ambient mana or stored mana rather then an individual’s mana. Usually, it consisted of carved patterns into objects that would channel the surrounding mana.

But that was exactly the problem. Borrow Future Strength was a 7th circle spell. Modifying a few parts here and there might let him bring it down to a 5th circle spell, but even a 5th circle spell was far out of his reach right now.

But he persisted anyway. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so fired up about magic. Even if it didn’t work out, he would still consider this to be a fruitful lesson—at least he had learned something new.

He was so engrossed in his own notes that he hadn’t even realized when a presence snuck up behind him. Putting a hand on his shoulder and causing him to jump up slightly

"Raymond. I brought you lunch."

Settling back down onto his chair, he turned only to find Ellen. Holding a plastic takeout container in her other hand.

He accepted it gratefully, he had been feeling pretty hungry for a while now. "Thanks. What is it?"

"Soup, it’s made with monster meat, it’s healthier and helps provide more energy."

"Thanks...?"

Suddenly, he didn’t feel as hungry anymore.

She clearly felt his disapproval at her choice. Clearing out some space on the table, she set it down next to a few of his freshly bought notebooks. His previous ones were already almost finished.

"Don’t complain, it costs more than regular beef you know? Besides, monster meat is more nutritious and just so happens to be a pretty good source of food."

"Yeah yeah sure, isn’t class starting soon? Should you be here?"

Lunch break was only an hour long, given that it must have at least taken her around ten minutes just to walk here. That was twenty minutes of her lunch break gone.

She gestured at the plastic bag she had set down—opening it up. Raymond didn’t realize it until after she pointed it out but there were two containers inside.

"I brought mine as well. Stop doing what you’re doing and come eat already."

She paused before adding, "Also, you should really clean up this place."

He looked around, other then the engraving on the floor which had a pristine area around it. The surroundings were littered with old paper notes, random used up magic components, the occasional container for said magic components, and embarrassingly—it took Raymond far too long to be able to find his ’bed’ he had made two days ago when he had been suffering from mana burn.

In his defense, it was disguised in a sea of other objects which made it hard to distinguish it.

"I’ll clean it up later."

After a quick meal, Raymond couldn’t help but admit that the monster meat soup tasted remarkably good. He supposed the academy did have top of the line chefs who could make anything you wanted but this monster meat surprisingly tasted like regular beef.

Very high quality beef, but if he was unaware he doubted he would have been able to tell.

Setting aside the containers, she asked him. "You learned the Grace Hand-To-Hand arts?"

"?"

"Yesterday, I saw you using it against Arthur. The Grace Hand-To-Hand arts."

"Ah. I just saw you using it and I copied you."

Now it was her turn to look confused.

If anyone could just see someone using arts and copy it from them. The entire world would be filled with people using high grade art.

Arts were more then just ways to punch or kick. Arts were methods to manipulate your mana in specific ways to obtain a certain outcome. Usually to enhance the power of an attack. But Arts were so much more then just that. Depending on the Arts, they could transform your body, heal others, manipulate substances and even let you see into the future.

Arts were split into two different levels—before and after core.

Despite Ellen not having formed a core and thus not having her own unique mana type. Her World Crossing Bow Arts still formed a golden light around her bow and arrow. Because her arts was one of the few that worked for individuals with or without. Able to convert any and all mana into the mana type required.

Arts varied heavily, usually they were just simple techniques like a fist art or a sword art. Only working for individuals with a mana type similar to the mana required for the arts.

The Asteria Armoury Arts was one of the few that worked for awakened with or without a core. But if one wanted to practice it after forming a core, astral-attuned mana was a necessity.

"You learned it...by watching me use it?"

"Yeah, wasn’t that hard actually. I already knew how it worked roughly but seeing it be used without mana really helped."

Raymond knew the basics of it already, but seeing it in action helped to cut away a lot of the fog.

It was like watching a tutorial versus having someone explain it to you in person. He could see each and every part that made up the Grace Hand-To-Hand Arts clearly.

How exactly should he stand, switch between different attacks, where to keep his center of gravity, how to stay balanced.

Everything became clearer once he witnessed it in action.

"...can you show me?"

He looked down at his stomach, "We just ate. I’m not in the mood to throw up anything right now."

"I’ll come here after your session with instructor Sienna then."

***

"You actually did learn it."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You thought I was lying?"

"No, but seeing is believing."

He wiped off the sweat on his face, despite only demonstrating it in front of her. Raymond was already tired from his earlier session with instructor Sienna. Now he was panting hard, with sweat forming on his body and soaking his clothes.

It couldn’t be helped, his physical stats were just low on account of him being a mage. His high level may have caused his body to be strong but if there was another warrior with the system at his level, they would undoubtably be able to crush him with a single finger.

Not that it mattered anyways, his stats were mostly sealed. Even if some returned to him, it just made him slightly stronger then the average adult. Which wasn’t really all that much when Ellen could easily pick him up with only one hand.

"It looks...different however. Did you change it?"

He nodded.

She tilted her head, "Why? What’s wrong with it?"

"I’m not as flexible as you or as strong as you. I modified it a bit to make it more suitable for me."

He had basically learnt Ellen’s version of the Grace Hand-To-Hand Arts. Ellen was way more flexible and stronger then him, Raymond could feel his own muscles scream at him if he tried to do some of the things she did.

Raymond remembered when she tried to hit Audrina with an axe kick. Her legs had almost formed a straight 180 degree line with how high she raised it, when she missed and her heel hit the ground instead...

Even with no mana, it still caused a small crater to be formed. Raymond was pretty sure he would have several broken bones if he was ever hit by such a thing.

"You modified it? I thought you said you were pretty bad when it came to fighting in close quarters? Seems like you’re pretty good to me. Maybe even better then me."

He searched through his memories, trying to find when he had said such a thing.

His face suddenly made an o as he remembered.

"I was just lying to Rayez so that I wouldn’t have to learn to fight like that.

She took it remarkably well, "Mind teaching me then? I’ve been looking to improve my own skills in this."

"Why would an archer ever need to learn how to fight like this?"

She countered right back at him, "Why would a mage ever need to learn how to fight like this?"

Touché. She got him there.

"I learned it because of...circumstances in my past. But there’s no reason for you to learn such a thing."

Raymond was basically forced to learn such a thing. But the Grace family wasn’t exactly forcing Ellen to learn their arts, heck they were the most enthusiastic when Ellen first obtained Killian’s inheritance.

A free inheritance consisting of two Grade 8 weapons which were equivalent to an A rank, several high grade arts, and even a method on how to form an emotion-attuned mana core like Killian’s. All of this had practically fallen into their lap for free.

They also just so happened to have the perfect person to learn and use said inheritance. Falling into the inheritance had helped to shed light on Ellen’s true talents in archery.

"Nothing wrong with improving my skills soon. I need all the strength I can get for when he descends."

"You have almost twenty one years to go before he appears. You’re already breaking the records for fastest core formed. Soon, probably?"

Ellen could have already formed her core right now if she wanted to, but she held back so that Raymond could complete his work on Borrow Future Strength first.

She pursed her lips, "Didn’t you already break the record for fastest?"

"I’m a special case."