Dyon turned his pure gaze to Mithrandir. "You should thank me Madame Norville."
Mithrandir furrowed her eyebrows, gritting her teeth in anger. "What could I possibly have to thank you for?"
"Can it be possible that you don't have an understanding of your own manifestation?"
Mithrandir's eyes narrowed, seemingly understanding what Dyon was trying to get at.
"If you want to make further progress in your cultivation with me, it won't be possible. I have a fiancee and I'm quite loyal," Dyon said shamelessly, "but, I was at least able to give you a helpful hint, no? So, you're welcome."
"You! – " Mithrandir was shivering, not knowing how to respond to Dyon's shamelessness. Who asked him to help her again?!
All this time, Zaltarish had a boiling volcano within him. His face showed no signs of anger, but he was already plotting Dyon's downfall. He had no doubt that he was much more powerful than Ores, but, wasn't Dyon also much more powerful than Ores as well? He felt a discomfort within him, and for the first time since he manifestated his soul, he doubted himself.
But, his pride wouldn't allow him to cave.
"I see. Your talent is indeed barely adequate for your arrogance," Zaltarish spoke softly, but his voice seemed to quiet the entire surrounding areas.
Uncle Acacia had long since returned to his seat. Having turned the event over to the younger generation, he was content to sit back and watch things unfold.
Dyon turned away from Mithrandir, smiling faintly towards Zaltarish, "and you are?"
Zaltarish didn't seem too bothered by Dyon's response. In fact, none of the male geniuses who remained seemed to bother with Dyon at all. Almost has though him crushing Ores had nothing to do with them. In their eyes, Ores had no only underestimated Dyon, he had barely used his fully potential because of his pride.
He didn't stimulate his bloodline and he used no techniques. In fact, he only used 2 of the wills he knew. How could a young master of a major family only have an understanding of two wills? To top it all off, he didn't even use his understanding of will paths at all. It was clear he hadn't put Dyon in his eyes, which is why he lost.
However, would they make the same mistake after witnessing this? Of course not. So, why would they bother acknowledging Dyon?
Zaltarish sighed. "However, judging by your response, it's clear you're lacking in any other qualities necessary to lead a campaign. If it was just about strength, of which yours barely qualifies, why would we need leaders at all?"
Dyon chuckled, understanding Zaltarish's meaning. "Ah, so you think I'm stupid because I'm so clearly challenging you all without any understanding of who you are, correct?"
Although Zaltarish didn't expect Dyon to pick up on what he meant so quickly, he didn't let this bother him, "since you understand, doesn't that make this easier? Can we have a leader who only knows how to charge ahead, without any use of tactics?"
Dyon laughed as though he had just heard the funniest thing in the world, "I'm the one who doesn't understand, hm?" Suddenly, Dyon looked up towards Ri, "Ri, could you let me see the array plate for a second?"
A devious light flashed in Ri's eyes. With a smile, she took it out of her ring and threw it down towards Dyon.
Dyon casually caught the plate between two of his fingers before flicking it towards Jonas.
Confused, Jonas caught the plate. Looking down, his eyes flashed with a sudden realization.
"Tell me fellow student Jonas, do you recognize this array plate?"
Jonas nodded heavily.
"And what does this array plate mean to you?"
Zaltarish's expression turned serious for the first time. He had no idea what Dyon's intentions were, but he felt like he was being played.
Jonas took a deep breath before saying, "about a year ago, members of our guilds went to the main continent to gather supplies as our island isn't vast enough to be self-sustaining. While there, we found a truly profound array plate and purchased as many as we could find. Although blacksmithing requires a vast amount of knowledge that strays from array theory, it is still considered a branch of the olden array alchemy. This being because the best of weapons always utilize the best of arrays to strengthen and boost them…
"We were never able to find out who the master behind those plates was… but, over the past year, we've made vast improvements because of it… can it be that Junior Dyon has an understanding of where this came from?"
Jonas' breath was hurried. Although he didn't like Dyon because of what he did to his younger brother, he also couldn't hate Dyon since he hadn't actually injured Sebastian.
Dyon chuckled. Originally, he had only wanted Jonas to appraise the plate and say how useful it would be to their guild. He hadn't expected that his work would have already given the Elvin Kingdom such advantages.
Dyon didn't respond to Jonas' question though. Instead, he lifted up his hand, inscribing the very same first common level array in the air. Except, this time, he held nothing back.
16 swirls appeared. Although they were vastly slower than what Dyon could do, the speed at which the array formed still made the surrounding observers draw in a breath.
RING! RING!
Jonas trembled. 'Heaven's chimes….'
The bells didn't stop. It seemed they were intent on continuing until the array was used. So, Dyon flicked his wrists, using his human-world made storage device to take out a common array plate.
Slowly, the common level array melded with the plate, causing its once brown and dull body to shimmer with a blinding gold. It was only then that the chimes ceased.
Dyon didn't seem to care about this though, instead casually tossing this plate to Jonas as well.
"How do those plates compare?"
Jonas looked down, his hands trembling. "They can't be compared… the one you just created is far above…"
Comments