Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"It's concerning that you may have actually learned nothing from everything we've been through. I think I would prefer our chances with other contenders, even if the few that remain are likely to be monsters in their own right," Skullius said while shaking his head.

He didn't even want a part of his consciousness lying to him that since Rias was a Master, he could be killed as easily as he had done some of the other contenders of the same stage.

Finding out the hard way that a good technique could outweigh the benefits that even Incandescent Stage experts had, wasn't on his agenda.

"That supports my stance. There's probably not that many contenders left, and looking for them isn't our greatest option. The Inhibiting Angel on the other hand... We know where to find him, and we could benefit from him, and his 100,000 Units."

"Or we could die fighting him," Maxim said, with her face expressing her sentiment clearly – duh. "There's no time limit on the Royale right? We have a rule breaking procession with us. Taking our time to hunt down the remaining contenders is best. What's the sudden rush?"

Tallo disagreed simply with the look on his face.

Skullius... also disagreed with how Maxim felt, but he didn't show it.

He wasn't up for wasting too much time because he anticipated that whatever was supposed to happen by the EverSword House's machinations, would happen sooner rather than later, yet at the same time, heading for the Inhibiting Angel, Rias, as an option... he considered to be suicide.

So in essence, Skullius agreed with neither Tallo nor Maxim, but didn't have a solution of his own. Additionally, he didn't want to voice his concerns if they could be heard by the entirety of the witnessing audience.

"Something terribly bad is going to happen if we stay here for too long. I for one, don't want to linger more than is needed. The three of us can deal enough damage to Rias with a perfect plan. Enough Units for each of us guaranteed. Half guaranteed. Vaguely guaranteed."

Skullius almost felt dizzy.

Why would Tallo just blurt that out?

Maybe it was because he had a connection to Guissepo, and that's why he felt more sensitive than others about what he set loose from his mouth, but still...

"Guaranteed, huh?" Maxim said as she pursed her lips. "That theory of yours... it's become pretty popular among many contenders. You really believe it?"

"I have a sneaking suspicion that it is true. My master believed the same," Tallo said. "What do you think?"

The Mage had turned to Skullius who had buried his face in his palm.

Perhaps he was the odd ball for feeling uncomfortable freely discussing this while knowing many suspicious eyes and ears were on them. He didn't even find the topic worth bringing up when he was asking about Maxim's reasons for participating in the Royale moments ago.

Well, maybe it made no difference, even if he was sure Guissepo was closely paying him some attention.

Therefore...

"Yeah. I think it's true too," Skullius relented, but didn't say it with as much certainty. "But, my stance is still the same. Attacking Rias, as you yourself said, is a really bad idea. If it was up to me, I'd say we should move more quickly to find other contenders. Regardless of what Baddan says."

Tallo gave an expressionless look towards Skullius.

If it seems as though this group should have made it closer to the mountain or perhaps even reached it already, since Baddan could stop the clouds from hindering their speed completely... that sentiment, was correct.

Baddan had stressed against the trio's arguments hours ago, that approaching the All-Guiding Appairitoni carelessly, went against his belief. They had been moving at a sufficiently fast speed before, even with the detours, but it was evident that for Skullius, Maxim and Tallo, it wasn't enough.

Tallo, who had begun learning all about Baddan and his clansmen had discovered that there was no wiggle room to argue against the Sky Watcher's decision another time, which was why he was convinced that what Skullius proposed just now, wasn't going to work.

"That won't do. We might as well cut our losses if that's the case, and try going at it without Baddan's help... If you're up for sticking with your own idea that is," the Mage said with a sigh. "Maybe I should look for better partners."

That last comment of his earned him a threatening glare from Maxim.

Skullius lost himself in thought.

Then...

"You might be right. Maybe we are wasting time as it is, and Rias is our best bet," he explained as he ejected two items from his storage.

One was a Draw Bubble, and the other... was another Draw Bubble.

Over the journey from the hallowed grounds of the Cluster beasts to right here, the trio had come across bizarre items. Some were harmful, placed in odd places to attract attention. A few had already affected curious Cluster beasts that had been wondering, like the Seducer Skullius had come across, and some were beneficial instruments that could easily be missed.

Between the three of them, the trio had found six objects that they split among themselves.

Three Draw Bubbles, two crystal-shaped objects and one hook-shaped plant with a sky-blue hue.

Skullius had identified the two crystal-shaped objects to be the Scatter Crystals that Guissepo had mentioned in his introduction, and the last, was called a Snatcher, an item that could steal a tenth of the Units from anyone who had Units, just by flinging it at them.

"I know the Snatcher is making you a bit more confident about fighting Rias for Units, and maybe you are right," Skullius said while gazing at Tallo. "Our only options present slow solutions, and maybe Rias is the answer. But before heading to him, I think we should gather up as many items as we can find, and use them against him. I for one, would feel safer that way."

"Between me and you, we can find out the effects of some of the more... harmful objects around, and use them strategically against him."

Tallo crossed his arms which were hidden behind his scaly robes.

Like Arch-Mage Ryte had done with the shield Skullius had presented to him in his lies about the Fledgling Null Badubs, and the Null Devil King, Tallo could appraise items, though to vastly lesser degree than Skullius could. The Hybrid Luman had been limiting what he told to the duo when identifying something through the guidance field to not reveal another one his cards carelessly.

"You believe we'd stand a better chance?" Tallo asked.

"It's better than going in with nothing but what? Faith? Even the Draw Bubbles could come in handy."

"You're seriously considering it?" Maxim seemed surprised that Skullius had switched his opinion so quickly after a few short seconds of thoughts.

"If the three of us help each other, I feel more confident about this than I do about sticking here for too long," Skullius replied.

Naturally, he wouldn't tell the two that time was ticking for him on another end, racing past so that he could turn back into the Penetrator once again, thus his hurry.

Maxim sighed.

"I don't have a choice but to go along then," she said.

"Knew you'd see it our way!" Tallo said with a sharp glint in his eyes, much to Maxim's displeasure once again.

Skullius stored the items he had in his hand back.

He knew what all of them could do, but the scale was still lost to him for something like the Scatter Crystals.

Did it do what the Draw Bubble did, but in reverse, and over the same massive distance?

If so, perhaps it would do more bad than good.

No chance he would be using thus!

"I should say though, that if we're going to do this, you're going to have to tell me what your abilities are," Maxim said while eyeing Tallo in particular. "Both of you know what I can do. My technique is pretty simple."

"Yeah, right! You have a lot of auxiliary techniques that we know nothing about. Like, how you moved faster than both of us that time you set to stop Baddan from projecting his Territory," Skullius pointed out with an accusing finger.

Tallo nodded.

"What he said."

"You're no better!"

"And you are?" Maxim interjected.

Tallo snickered at their little verbal scuffle to act as innocent as possible.

"This is what I was here for," he suddenly said, drawing questioning gazes from Skullius and Maxim.

"What?" Maxim said, her hostility quite blatant as she expected another taunting half-insult from the Mage.

Tallo sighed.

"My Master, Arch-Mage Verys, always told me that Magecraft was founded after many styles of combat already existed. After many classes of Form Using, and Arma Using. He told me this so that I didn't look down on anyone who wasn't a Mage. My fellow practitioners, between dozens of Patches, tend to stack tonnes of different spells, unlike with other categories of classes which rely on one, or maybe a few techniques," he explained.

"I've been trying to see if he was right or not – perhaps trying to suppress any malignant thoughts I might have because of a superiority complex. You know, as the genius that I am."

Skullius rolled his eyes.

"And what have you found so far?"

Tallo shrugged.

"I still don't know about you, but for her, I'd see I'm impressed," the Mage said as he gestured to Maxim who was pleasantly surprised.

Her glare toned down, and she looked to the side with a scoff.

Skullius felt a little, under-appreciated. It showed on his face.

"You know you don't count as anything but an Energy Former if you can make mana look, and move like lightning just by 'getting a feel of it when it hits you'... as you said."

·ƈθm "Fair enough," Skullius relented.

He had answered several of Tallo's questions as he had said he would, in exchange for how the Mage had saved his life – teleporting Skullius and Maxim from the third circle to the innermost.

One of said questions had been how Skullius had manifested such a ridiculous showcase of lightning, which had destroyed a sizable portion of the hallowed grounds.

The Hybrid Luman had explained that the same principle he applied to Baddan's core applied to what he had done there too. Essentially replicating how mana within a simple lightning attack flowed.

In light of that kind of mastery over mana, he really didn't qualify as anything other than an Energy Former in Tallo's eyes, and Skullius was happy that the Mage viewed him as such.

To Mages, he often found he couldn't lie to them about being a Mage himself.

On that subject, Skullius decided to satisfy his curiosity in turn.

"How come you can't do as I did with the lightning and with Baddan's mana core? I remember Arch-Mage Ryte telling me my mastery of mana was only equal to that of an Apprentice or something like that," he asked.

Tallo nodded, seemingly seeing this as a good question. Maxim wasn't interested in the complex subject and moved away.

"Most Mages hurry to elevate themselves to forms of Magecraft that don't rely on mana. Ascended Magic or similar. Just like how it is better to use techniques with Aura instead of mana, the stronger types of Magecraft require the user to be able to discern energy types harder to perceive and control. Asides from learning how to recreate their mana core, most advanced Mages don't care for mana that much. And I... haven't been too focused on subjects like altering mana cores. I've been focusing on advancing in the Deception Patch, even though it isn't Ascended Magic."

Skullius took a few seconds to digest all that Tallo had said.

He knew of Ascended Magic. Arch-Mage had explained it and could use it. An example was that Shocked Time spell he had used to keep the Null Badubs in place.

If it was all about what a Mage was focusing on, then it made sense why Tallo couldn't do it.

He was only a Prime Mage after all, one stage above Apprentice.

Skullius had been appreciating the prospect of his sated curiosity, when something knocked against his feet, and at almost the same time, he felt something plant itself on his armour. It was like a piece of paper wreathed in flame.

A loud cackle later, the trio, and Baddan's group found themselves in several measures of trouble.

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