Magic and Combat Techniques

“No need to head into the forest for combat practice today. For now, your sparring partner is me!” Leona said, her eyes erupting with flames as she stared at Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye suddenly felt like he was being watched by a large feline.

A super beautiful big kitty!

Zhang Ye nodded and asked, “Then... how should we spar?”

Leona replied, “Your physical body is currently at the early stage of Tier Seven. I will suppress my strength and speed to the early stage of Tier Seven to fight you, and I’ll suppress my mana level to match yours as well.”

“We’ll fight first. During the fight, I’ll teach you how to train yourself.”

“However, during the sparring session, you cannot use any magic. You can only use pure mana to reinforce your physical body. Do you understand?”

“Got it!” Zhang Ye nodded, feeling a bit impatient to start.

With their levels suppressed to the same point, he wanted to see how much he could actually do.

Of course, he absolutely didn't dare to hope he could actually defeat Leona.

As a Saint-tier powerhouse, and according to her, someone who had fought for every bit of her strength, her combat skills were bound to be terrifying. As for winning against her... he’d think about that later.

“Then, here I come!” Zhang Ye said.

“Come at me!” Leona nodded, crossing her arms with a smile.

Zhang Ye took a deep breath, and as he injected mana into his feet, a surge of powerful energy immediately welled up.

He already understood that injecting mana into the body could temporarily enhance one's physical attributes.

The next moment, Zhang Ye stomped the ground and lunged directly at Leona, throwing a punch at... her chest.

It wasn't because he was a pervert... well, he was, but at this moment, he simply didn't want to hit Leona’s beautiful face with his fist.

Even though he knew he couldn't hurt her, he still didn't want to do it.

Hitting her chest would be fine, and the feel would be good, hehe...

Seeing this, Leona leaned her body slightly. Zhang Ye’s fist brushed past her chest without touching her in the slightest.

Zhang Ye didn't stop. He pivoted on his foot, twisted his waist, and swung another punch at her.

Through these days of combat, his physical coordination had improved significantly, making such movements easy to perform.

However, even such a swift strike was easily dodged by Leona.

For the next ten minutes, Zhang Ye launched a continuous assault, yet he failed to touch Leona even once.

She kept her arms crossed the entire time, looking completely unruffled. With light taps of her toes, she swayed her body just enough to make Zhang Ye miss every single time, always by a hair’s breadth.

Moreover, Zhang Ye knew that the reason he missed by a hair’s breadth was entirely because Leona was doing it on purpose.

In other words, that “hair’s breadth” could actually be understood as “infinite.”

Zhang Ye was only a tiny bit away from Leona—give or take a few billion light-years.

Once the ten minutes were up, Leona made her move. Her body flickered slightly, and Zhang Ye felt his vision blur. She was already right in front of him, and then she lightly flicked her finger.

Zhang Ye could feel the mana within Leona’s body circulating in a wonderful pattern before gathering at her fingertip.

Bang! The next moment, Zhang Ye was sent flying backward for dozens of meters, only stopping when he crashed into a tree.

“Cough, cough!” Zhang Ye clutched his chest, his breathing ragged. It took a while for him to steady his breath.

He looked up and asked, “Big Nana, why was that flick so powerful when you only used a little force?”

Even though her physical strength was suppressed to the same level as his, that flick was actually more powerful than his full-strength punch!

Leona shook her head and didn't answer his question immediately. Instead, she said, “Your movements are redundant and your range is too wide. You’re wasting energy while leaving yourself wide open. Your power-delivery techniques are worse than mine were when I was ten years old.”

Zhang Ye scratched his head sheepishly.

His hair had grown out a tiny bit, and it felt pretty good to scratch.

Only then did Leona answer his question. “This is how a Warrior utilizes mana.”

“Unlike a Mage, who uses mana externally through magic—by chanting, drawing circles, and so on to release mana and cause damage—a Combat Technique is for internal use. It involves circulating mana through various patterns within the body to form ‘moves,’ which can also be called ‘Combat Techniques.’”

“External versus internal—that is the fundamental difference between Magic and Combat Techniques.”

“A Mage’s strength lies in externalizing mana to construct magic and the resulting destructive effects.”

“A Warrior’s strength lies in using mana to reinforce their physical body and using themselves to deal damage!”

“If magic is a Mage’s weapon, then the body is a Warrior’s weapon!”

“That flick of mine was a move formed by the most basic internal mana usage. It looked light, but in reality, the strength in my finger was greatly enhanced in an instant. Furthermore, at the moment my finger made contact with you, the mana contained within it erupted instantly. That is why it was so powerful.”

Zhang Ye wore an expression of sudden realization.

“And because one must withstand the circulation of mana within the body, a Warrior needs to train their physique. This can be done through the mana flowing within and through external exercise to achieve body tempering. It’s a cycle.”

Zhang Ye nodded.

This was also why there were far more Warriors than Mages.

Mages required cultivation talent. Only with strong talent could one improve the quality of their mana and release powerful spells. Therefore, it was difficult for those without talent to become powerful Mages.

Warriors had much lower requirements for cultivation talent. As long as they had mana and exercised, their physique would be strengthened. They could use a small amount of mana in conjunction with their physical body to exert great combat power.

Of course, this didn't mean Warriors were more desirable than Mages.

At the same tier, the damage magic could cause was definitely higher than the damage a physical body could inflict.

“Now, I will teach you the Combat Technique I just used. It’s called [Flick Flash].”

Zhang Ye was stunned and subconsciously said, “Flick-a-Flash?”

“It’s Flick Flash.”

“Flick-a-Flash.”

“Flick... whatever, suit yourself,” Leona said. “Watch closely. Expand your Divine Sense and observe the flow of my mana.”

Zhang Ye nodded and immediately expanded his Divine Sense to observe carefully.

With Leona’s intentional guidance, Zhang Ye could see the flow of mana within her body.

In Zhang Ye’s perception, that mana flow was extremely orderly. Even though it was just a small wisp of Tier Six mana, after completing one cycle through Leona’s body in that rhythmic pattern, the mana’s aura actually surged. Finally, it gathered in her finger.

Then, Leona slowly extended her finger and gave a light flick.

BOOM!!! A burst of explosions rang out in the air as waves of heat and air currents surged. Zhang Ye was left slack-jawed.

!!(´⊙ω⊙`)!!!

A sonic boom? That was a sonic boom, right?!

Producing a sonic boom with just a flick of a finger—if she used that for a flick on the forehead, wouldn't she blow someone's skull right off?

How terrifying!

“Now, you try it,” Leona said after finishing the demonstration.

Zhang Ye immediately nodded. “Okay!”

Then he closed his eyes and calmed his mind. The pattern of mana circulation within Leona’s body surfaced in his mind; he had perfect recall of the sensation.

He circulated the mana in his body, mimicking that pattern. Soon, the mana gathered at his fingertip.

He snapped his eyes open, a sharp glint flashing within them.

“Flick-a-Flash!”

Feeling the airwave erupting from his finger, Zhang Ye felt incredibly excited.

This is way too strong!

In the future, wouldn't a flick on the forehead send someone flying?

It’s just that the sound of this sonic boom... felt a bit off?

A look of “as expected” appeared on Leona’s face.

Zhang Ye was not only fast at learning magic, but he was also fast at learning Combat Techniques.

Although [Flick Flash] was only a Tier Six Combat Technique, Zhang Ye was the first person who could learn it this quickly!

Of course, merely learning it wasn't enough; he wasn't proficient yet.

Unlike his analyzed magic, his learning of Combat Techniques relied entirely on himself. It required gradual progress, and it was impossible to achieve Perfect Mastery right from the start.

But even so, his learning speed was quite terrifying.

“Not bad,” Leona praised. “Next, I will focus on training your combat skills and teaching you Combat Techniques.”

“I will also train your physique and forge your body into a weapon!”

“Get ready. You might get hurt in the process.”

Zhang Ye nodded upon hearing this.

Since Leona said he might get hurt... then he definitely would!

Emm... he was actually afraid of pain.

But it didn't matter!

When the time came, he’d have an excuse to ask Big Nana for some comfort, wahahaha!