Knowledge Thief

Full Concentration

Lee wiped the smile off his face and turned around with an excited look on his face.

May, who looked convinced, said 'Actually there is a way that you can travel anywhere you wanted without even revealing you are the champion.'

'Is it?' asked Lee excitedly.

'Yes, but you have to do something for me in return' said May.

Lee acted shocked for a moment. He then said, 'Ok'

Just as May was about to say something, she stiffened and motioned Lee to hide the bracelet.

Although Lee was surprised, he quickly focused on his hand to make the bracelet vanish. Mana, who witnessed the scene, stood there with a surprised look.

In just a few moments, the trio saw Sica entering the shrine. After entering, Sica took a moment to study both Mana and Lee. When Sica looked at Mana, he could feel a faint bit of power.

As a person who has honed his skills through various battles, Sica could read the underlying strength of a person. He could gauge a person's mental and physical strength just by looking at their stance when facing him.

And that's why he was impressed with Mana. Eventhough she was relatively young, she had a strong heart and fearless eyes. Although he was surprised by Mana, it was well within his realm of understanding.

However, he was more surprised after studying the person next to her. When he studied Lee, he couldn't see a single indicator of innate strength. He felt that he was looking at some object that does not have any will.

He stopped looking at him as he decided, 'there is no way that this weakling is a Champion.'

What Sica didn't understand was that Lee was using all his mental strength to suppress the bracelet. Ironically, the fact that Sica concluded that he couldn't be a champion was in fact an acknowledgement of Lee's feat as a champion.

Sica then turned to Mana and asked, 'Ms. Mana, it seems that you accompanied the champion. Can you please take me to him?'

Mana was a little surprised but quickly answered, 'Oh! You are too late. Your commander took the champion this morning'

'Little miss, I was informed to bring either the champion or you.'

'I am sorry, but I don't know of any champion' rebuked Mana.

'I am sorry for doing this' said Sica and stepped forward with the intention of capturing her.

Eventhough Mana was standing resolute, her mind was starting to panic as Sica's large frame and aura pinned her to the spot.

As Sica thrust his arm to grab hold of Mana, he heard a strong voice shout 'I am the champion!'

Sica turned around to see the lean man standing there with a heavy look on his face. He stood there for a moment wondering whether it was true.

'Are you wondering whether it is true?' asked Lee.

Sica dropped his guard instinctively and humbly replied, 'I am sorry sir. I would request you to accompany me to the barracks.'

Before May's advice, Lee would have looked to fight Sica with Mana's help but now he decided against it. Now he understood that fighting will attract more attention. So he decided that the best way forward is to put all the doubts to rest.

'Ok, lead the way' said Lee. He motioned Mana to stay and then turned to May and said, 'It seems we have to finish our discussion earlier, I hope that will hear about the Bees and Fairy when we meet again.'

Sica then led him to the barracks. They took a while to cover the distance because Lee had to walk slowly because Lee was diverting half his concentration to suppress the bracelet.

As they reached the barracks, he saw a squadron of soldiers marching around the base. If he were not suppressing the bracelet's power, he would have appreciated the uniform marching of the soldiers. However, he was not in the mood right now.

Lee shifted his attention from the soldiers to Gin, who was standing atop the execution stand in the middle of the barracks. As they both arrived, Gin smiled at both of them. On close attention, Lee could see a hint of frustration in her eyes.

'Ma'am, I have brought the champion' announced Sica.

Gin gave an approving nod and shifted her attention to Lee. Much like Sica earlier, Gin was also slightly disappointed by the fact that Lee did not give any strong aura. No matter how she looked at him, he just looked like a regular normal man.

She shrugged off her dissapointment and politely introduced herself to Lee.

'Esteemed sir, I am Gin. I am the commander in charge of Esther's troops.'

Lee immediately bends his knee and states, 'Ma'am, I am not the person you are looking for. I am no champion.'

Sica, who was completely shocked by Lee's action, stood there like a statue. He was completely oblivious of Gin's angry stare, which was directed towards him.

'Sica! What's this?' shouted Gin. Sica, who was woken up from the trance, looked angrily at Lee.

'Hey! Didn't you just state you were the champion' bellowed Sica.

Lee calmly answered, 'Sir, I wished to save a friend. But I never thought you would believe my lie.'

Sica was practically fuming at this stage and he threw a punch towards Lee.

Eventhough Lee could see the punch coming, he made no efforts to dodge it. A small part was because he was diverting his concentration to suppress the bracelet. The most important reason was that he wanted to sell the fact that he isn't the champion.

Since he took the full blow, he was thrown back a few feet.

'Wow! It is painful' he thought as he slowly picked himself up.

Sica, who was still visibly angry, went near Lee and kicked him in the gut. As Lee collapsed to the ground, he proceeded to pummel Lee.

's**t, I was wrong' was the only thought running through Lee's mind. Initially, Lee thought that his physical body has adapted to Elda's power and blocked his pain. So, he didn't mind getting beaten up by Sica while suppressing his bracelet. But now, he understood that his plan was flawed.

He now understood that his mind blocked the pain and increased his focus. With part of his mind suppressing the bracelet, he started feeling pain. That pain added more stress to his brain. So, with each kick, Lee started losing concentration.

Lee was silently praying that Sica would stop while desperately using whatever mental ability he had to suppress the bracelet.

Just as he was about to lose himself, he heard Gin shout 'Stop it, Sica.'

As Sica stopped his onslaught, Lee inwardly praised Gin for her consideration.

'Ma'am, he said he was the champion' said Sica with a frown.

'Stop it Sica, do you really think he is the champion?' scowled Gin. Both of them looked at a a blood soaked Lee, who was struggling to stand up properly. She then sighed and continued, 'It seems that we have failed. Just let him go.'

Sica grudgingly acknowledged the same with a nod. Lee, who had stood up, straddled along towards the exit with an inward grin.

Lee stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice shout 'You there! Wait a minute'

As he looked towards the source of the voice, he saw a beautiful silhouette walking into the barracks. With long green hair and a slender figure, the figure looked like a beautiful angel. The figure wore a strapped leather armour and had a small dagger hanging down the side.

As Lee tried to deduce the identity of the new character, both Gin and Sica hurried towards her and bent their knee. They then saluted in unison, 'Welcome back, mistress.'