MTLNOVEL Chapter 228: Four Eyes?
The short pony-tailed man, Lincoln, strutted past the trees, closely followed by Paul, the black-haired masked man.
With them standing at their full height, Lillian was able to roughly gauge their height, which she had easily forgotten.
Lincoln stood at a height of around 4ft11 with his blonde ponytail reaching behind his waist.
Paul was around 5ft10, considerably taller than his partner beside him, as well as Lillian.
Lillian, hearing the scurrying of her team members and making sure they had left, responded to Lincoln's rhetorical question:
"Why not, right? I little bit easier for me to fight you, y'know?"
Lillian shrugged at them, grinning as excitement boiled in her blood.
Not a shred of fear or even the thought of losing had crossed her mind. She had her "Lucky" necklace to thank for that with its helpful enchantments.
Lincoln, noticing the excited smile on Lillian's face that seemed to grow larger by the second, couldn't help but comment that it was a smile of his own.
"That's quite the grin you got there... Excited?"
"Uh, huh."
"Me too... But was it wise to send your teammates away? This is a 2v1 now..."
He then watched as Lillian began hopping on the spot, stretching a bit.
The white-haired girl, once finishing her brief preparation, answered in a casual and playful tone:
"I've always wondered what sort of high I would get from winning a 2v1. If that answers your question."
"Extremely confident, huh?"
Lincoln gave her a ridiculing look. Whipping out his wand from his spatial storage and pointed it at her.
Paul, seeing that his partner had entered into a stance, raised his hands, causing strings to magically stretch out from them.
Lillian watched as they did this and went into hers, preparing for the fight that was to come. She stretched out her right hand, manifesting the Regular shortsword into her hand.
Standing upright, turning her body to the side, she pointed the tip of her blade at them.
It was a simple shortsword. Regular cloth wrapping around the hilt, a metal cross guard, and an unusually thin blade.
However, there was something off about it. She felt... She was drawn to a certain point, almost as if she was experiencing tunnel vision.
And she was correct, for this was one of its restrictions.
She would need to fight while having her field of vision narrowed while also having to deal with its last restriction that would prove to be quite the "debuff" to her in this fight.
'Stabs only...'
No slashes, no parrying. She was limited to only stabbing and dodging. If she were to do any that were restricted, she would experience an immediate recoil that would offset her balance.
She took in a deep breath.
She was going to face two formidable enemies while subjecting herself to restrictions. Wasn't she just making it harder on herself?
'I'll win.'
She looked towards Lincoln, finding him opening his mouth and yelling something with a battle-ready expression:
"Well, then! Let's see how long that confidence of yours will last!"
Lillian stared back with the same battle-ready expression of her own.
"Sure. Try not to be surprised if I beat you guys."
***
[10 Minutes Later]
While Lillian engaged with the two enemies, Charlotte and Norman had run a safe distance away from them. They had even begun hunting monsters to increase their score.
Charlotte, wiping her forehead, looked up towards the sky, finding the scoreboards.
[Louis Mana Academy: 243]
[Luton's School of Prestigious Magic: 193]
The enemy team was gradually getting closer to reaching their score... But they just needed 250 more points to win.
Looking back at the way they came from, Charlotte's eyes scanned over the bodies of creatures they had fought and killed along the way.
If they wanted to win, they were going to need to achieve 250 more points...
She looked towards Lillian's name, finding it still without a cross.
She was still alive. Then, she drew her eyes towards Cicillian's name, noticing how it was without a cross.
They had yet to encounter the blood mage.
What were even the chances of finding him in the enormous forest, anyway? It's practically unlikely!
Thinking something similar to this, she turned her attention towards Norman, finding him making sure one of the monsters they had killed was truly dead.
After waiting for him to finish, Charlotte raised her finger at him, "You took your time, sweet time! We have what..."
She raised her eyes, looking towards the timer.
[0h 34m]
"We have 45 minutes left! Let's get a move on and let's go find more monsters to put down."
Norman eyed her before nodding slowly, pushing against his glasses.
"I suppose... Our victory awaits us. We must get a move on to achieve it."
Charlotte's face twitched at his sentence. Something about it put her off. Then, she asked:
"Which way? I shall allow you to pick which way to go."
"..."
Norman raised his hand, and after a moment of careful consideration, he pointed towards his left without looking.
"That way. That way—I detect—has a formidable monster..."
"... Formidable? I appreciate your acknowledgement, weakling."
Norman's eyes widened behind his glasses as he turned to look in the direction that he pointed in.
Standing in between the trees and in the direction he pointed was a young man with white hair and red eyes that held an arrogant light to them.
It was Cicillian...
Clap. Clap. Clap.
... And he was clapping his hands...
"I'm impressed you found me out. Since when did you know I was hiding there, four eyes?"
Norman didn't respond, nor did he show any other expression that would lessen his status as "Cool".
Instead, he turned his body towards him, raising and folding his arms and spoke in a nonchalant tone.
"My abilities of perception far surpasses you. That's how."
In reality, of course, he didn't even know Cicillian was there in the first place. If the blood mage hadn't exposed himself on his own, he wouldn't have known he was there.
Cicillian's face twitched at the insult. He smiled crookedly, "Well... As expected, with someone with four eyes..."