I Tricked a God

The military camp bustled with a life of its own, everyone busy with their own tasks.

No sooner had Kael and his new companions ventured deeper into the camp than the din of hundreds of voices, the ringing of metal, and the commands constantly exchanged between soldiers began to echo from every direction.

Everywhere, people were busy.

Some hurried about on errands, carrying crates of supplies or bundles of documents. Others escorted wagons that rolled slowly along the camp's broad roads. Somewhere in the distance came the shouts of officers overseeing the changing of the guard.

Of course, there was no shortage of the usual activities one would expect in a military camp.

Lookouts stood watch atop the walls, carefully scanning the surrounding forests. At regular intervals, patrols crossed their path, methodically making their rounds through the fortifications.

But before long, Kael realized that the camp existed for far more than just guarding and fighting.

On one of the spacious training grounds, several small squads were conducting drills. Divided into groups, the soldiers practiced formations, coordination, and the use of techniques. From time to time, streams of mana flared across the training field, followed by the irritated shouts of instructors ordering the troops to start over.

A little farther on stood an entire row of large tents, where skilled craftsmen were hard at work.

Some sat at long tables, dismantling damaged equipment. Others repaired armor, replacing bent plates or reinforcing fastenings. Nearby, several portable forges were operating, where blacksmiths heated metal until it glowed red and confidently worked it with their hammers.

The ringing of their blows carried far across the camp, blending with all the other sounds.

“Interesting...” Kael thought as his attention settled on a group of alchemists.

Gathered around several cauldrons and stills, they were vigorously debating something, periodically raising their voices. One of them energetically waved a reagent-stained hand, clearly trying to prove his point, while the others argued back, pointing at the contents of their flasks.

Watching them for a moment, Kael merely smiled faintly.

“Judging by the looks of it, they've been arguing for quite a while already...”

But the very next moment, something else caught his attention.

Along one of the camp's inner walls stood several large greenhouses, each covered by a shimmering translucent dome of mana.

Even from a distance, it was obvious that special conditions were being maintained inside. Among the neatly arranged rows grew herbs of many different shapes and shades.

Studying their colors and forms, Kael immediately noted, “Some herbs work best when they're fresh... I wonder if I'll be able to use them.”

The longer he looked around, however, the more clearly he realized that the camp was far from uniform.

Most of the camp consisted of tent encampments.

The tents themselves, however, looked surprisingly sturdy and well made. Heavy fabric was stretched over solid frames, and many of them were surrounded by additional protective structures and awnings.

As he passed one such tent, Kael glanced inside through its partially open flap.

Several neatly made beds stood within, while a blue flame burned at the very center, giving off neither smoke nor sparks.

“Convenient...” Kael noted inwardly.

Continuing to follow Hector and Magpie, he soon noticed another small tent encampment.

About a dozen tents had been arranged in a wide circle, forming a kind of central courtyard. At the moment, a large soot-blackened cauldron stood there, sending thick steam into the air.

A tall, broad-shouldered soldier stood over it, stirring its contents with a long wooden paddle.

Several of his comrades were already seated nearby, chatting among themselves while occasionally glancing toward the cauldron.

Before long, however, Kael's attention drifted away from the appetizing aromas and shifted to another part of the camp.

Farther ahead, the rows of tents gradually thinned out, giving way to proper wooden buildings.

Even from here, he could make out several sturdy two-story structures built from the same dark violet timber used throughout the region.

Unlike most of the camp's other structures, these buildings looked permanent.

“Considering our squad is elite...” Kael thought, turning his gaze toward the buildings.

He never finished the thought, but the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly.

After all, the prospect of living in a proper building was far more appealing than spending the next several years in a tent.

Rather than keep guessing, Kael decided to ask directly.

“Senior...”

“Just use my name,” Hector interrupted with a smile. “Our squad has a strict hierarchy when it comes to orders, but not when it comes to how we address each other.”

Kael simply nodded and, without any hesitation, immediately asked his next question.

“Will I be living in a tent, Hector?”

Hector merely grinned and, adjusting his glasses, replied with obvious satisfaction, “It seems you don't quite understand where you've ended up...”

At that answer, Kael was about to ask what exactly he meant, but instead of explaining, Hector simply pointed farther down the road.

Following the gesture, Kael spotted a small gate at the end of the street. Beyond the stone enclosure stood a three-story building that looked as though it had been assembled from three separate sections, connected by bridges and walkways at different levels.

The building was constructed from violet timber in a severe, utilitarian style, completely devoid of decorative elements. Even so, it conveyed a sense of solidity and strength.

As though it had been built by people who had no interest whatsoever in beauty, but cared deeply about practicality.

Kael couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

“Is that where our squad lives?”

Hector nodded.

“That's right. The Doomgrin Squad currently has around fifty members. But not all of them take part in combat operations. Some of our comrades are more valuable behind the lines.”

Hearing that, Kael nodded in understanding before glancing at Magpie with a faint grin.

“Don't tell me she's one of the valuable support staff.”

The remark immediately made Hector laugh.

“No. Magpie is a first-rate fighter and a terrible healer. But for some reason, she just refuses to accept that.”

“If Grendy made more healing potions, I wouldn't have to do it!” Magpie protested loudly, making no attempt to hide her indignation.

Instead of continuing the subject, however, Hector suddenly seemed to remember something else. Resting a friendly hand on Kael's shoulder, he leaned slightly to look at the guild insignias on his back.

“By the way, I noticed you're both an alchemist and an inscriber...”

An interested smile appeared on his face, and genuine curiosity flickered in his eyes.

“Come on... tell me, what kind of crazy stunt did you pull at the Imperial Academy?” Hector asked with a teasing grin. “Brewing some forbidden concoctions?”

Kael raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What are you even talking about?” he asked sincerely.

Hector laughed again and, judging by the look on his face, had absolutely no intention of abandoning his theory.

“No offense, but they don't assign normal people to our squad.”

Adjusting his glasses with a practiced motion, he narrowed his eyes slightly and continued,

“Judging by your insignias, I'd guess you'll be spending most of your time helping us behind the lines. Which means you must've made a name for yourself by doing something bizarre in one of your crafts...”

Having finished, Hector grinned with satisfaction, clearly convinced he had already formed a fairly accurate impression of the new recruit.

Instead of reacting as expected, however, Kael merely shook his head.

“Nonsense. I never did anything strange. I was personally trained by three Archmagisters.”

He said it so matter-of-factly that it sounded like the most ordinary thing in the world.

The effect, however, was exactly the opposite.

Hector and Magpie both came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road, as though they had walked into an invisible wall, then sharply turned to face Kael.

For several seconds, they simply stared at him, trying to decide whether he was joking or completely serious.

“What did you just say?” Magpie was the first to ask, staring at him in disbelief.

Even Hector stopped smiling, studying the young man intently over the top of his glasses.

Kael, in turn, narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

“To be honest, I don't understand why I was assigned to the Doomgrin Squad either. As far as I know, I had an excellent recommendation from the Imperial Academy. The Archmagisters didn't want to let me go to war at all.”

While Hector merely parted his lips, seemingly lost in thought as he immediately began piecing together his own theories, Magpie reacted in a completely different way.

Throwing up her hands, she suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“What incredible luck!”

Then, stepping closer, she unceremoniously planted a hand against Kael's chest and flashed him a broad grin.

“You might still be a pup now, but one day you'll be a real pillar behind the lines!”

She never got to finish.

Kael immediately brushed her hand away and said reproachfully, “Did you forget your promise? I tried your poison, so call me by name.”

“You didn't inject yourself with it!” Magpie shot back instantly.

Rather than argue, however, Kael simply chuckled slyly.

“You never specified how I was supposed to try it.”

For a moment, the young woman was genuinely at a loss for words.

Taking advantage of the pause, Kael spread his hands with complete composure.

“So be a dear and keep your promise.”

Magpie crossed her arms over her chest with a pout and, turning her head away, muttered under her breath, “Cheater. You're just like Hector...”

Hector, as though he hadn't heard the remark at all, merely laughed cheerfully.

“Come on. We're almost there.”

With those words, he started walking again, leaving the others with no choice but to follow.

The conversation gradually died away, and a minute later the trio came to a stop before the very gates Kael had noticed from afar.

Walking up to them, Hector placed his palm against one of the gate's leaves and calmly pushed it open without a word.

The wood let out a long, creaking groan.

The gates slowly swung apart, revealing the inner grounds of the complex.

The first thing that caught Kael's eye was the spacious courtyard.

Right at its center lay a training ground paved with reinforced stone tiles, while off to one side stood an open pavilion beneath a canopy. Inside was a long, massive table surrounded by benches, as though it had been built specifically for shared dinners, meetings, or lively evening gatherings.

Despite the size of the grounds, the place did not feel empty or abandoned.

Quite the opposite—it was immediately obvious that someone was always living here and spending most of their time here.

Kael, however, had no chance to take it all in.

He had barely taken a few steps into the courtyard when a clear female voice rang out from somewhere above.

“The new recruit's here!”

Kael slowly turned toward the voice, lifting his gaze.

The next instant, a petite, slender young woman lightly leaped down from the roof of the pavilion.

She landed on her feet so effortlessly that the height seemed to mean nothing to her, then immediately straightened and walked forward.

Her bright pink hair was gathered into two neat buns on either side of her head, while the rest flowed freely down her back, reaching almost to her waist.

But it wasn't the unusual hairstyle that caught Kael's attention.

The young woman was staring straight at him.

And she looked at him not as though he were a new comrade, but as if he were a longtime rival she had finally been waiting for.

As she slowly walked to the center of the training ground, the young woman never took her eyes off him for even a moment.

“Why is she looking at me so aggressively? Another weirdo?” Kael noted inwardly.

Out of habit, he assessed her aura, and almost immediately gauged her approximate level of development.

“Still a Mark Mage...” he noted calmly to himself before adding a moment later, “But she's close to breaking through to Soulbound Mage. Either way, she's still stronger than I am...”

Before Kael could finish drawing his conclusions, however, the young woman suddenly pointed a finger at him and shouted, “Fight me! I'll personally find out what your skills are worth!”

Faced with such a direct challenge, Kael merely raised an eyebrow and answered without the slightest emotion, “Thank you for the offer, but I'll decline.”

The answer clearly did not satisfy her.

Letting out a scornful snort, she planted her hands on her hips and immediately declared, “You don't get a choice! You're the weakest one here now, so you have to do what everyone says! Even me!”

The moment those words left her mouth, a sly smile spread across Kael's face.

“So that's what this is...”

Shaking his head, he suddenly chuckled quietly.

“If you're insecure about your strength, don't take it out on me.”

Standing beside him, Hector merely grinned with interest, clearly beginning to enjoy the spectacle. Then, almost casually, he added, “Lumi, this guy's an artisan. His combat skills probably leave a lot to be desired...”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“And he's going to help me make potions,” Magpie immediately added. “So stop picking on him.”

For some reason, however, that show of support had exactly the opposite effect.

“No!” Lumi flared up instantly. “You guys are always picking on me!”

Hector simply laughed good-naturedly and replied with an innocent smile, “That's because of how you react, dear Lumi.”

“You damn fox, don't call me dear!” Lumi shouted back at once.

Hector opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment a calm, deep voice came from the direction of the entrance.

“Fight. I'd like to see what the new blood can do.”

The voice was not loud, yet it carried such quiet confidence that it instantly drew everyone's attention.

At the same moment, Kael, Hector, Magpie, and Lumi all turned toward the speaker.

Standing by the entrance to the main building was a tall, broad-shouldered man with long turquoise hair cascading freely almost to the middle of his back.

He wore nothing but black trousers and boots, making it impossible not to notice his bare torso, which was covered in countless old scars. Some looked like claw marks, others resembled deep cuts, and a few were so unusual that it was difficult to tell what had caused them.

Yet the scars were not the most striking thing about him.

Despite his rugged appearance, the man's face was surprisingly handsome. A broad jaw, sharp gaze, and piercing eyes blended perfectly with the light stubble and a mysterious smile, as though he always knew something that everyone else did not.

Seeing him, Kael couldn't help lingering on the unusual color of his hair.

“That color...” he thought. “Is he from the Lunar Mage Branch?”

He never had the chance to finish the thought.

The moment the others noticed the man, several voices rang out almost at once.

“Captain, you're already back?” Hector asked in surprise.

“How did the mission go?” Lumi immediately asked, instantly forgetting all about Kael.

And Magpie, as always, spoke only about what concerned her personally.

“Captain, make Grendy brew more elixirs!”

Kael, for his part, reacted far more seriously.

As soon as Kael realized who was standing before him, he immediately stepped forward, straightened slightly, and said,

“Greetings, Captain Morkroft. My name is Kael, and I've been assigned to your squad.”

To his surprise, Morkroft lightly leaped down from the steps, tracing a smooth arc before landing softly right in front of Kael.

Extending one hand toward him, Morkroft calmly said, “Welcome, Kael.”

The gesture left Kael slightly puzzled, however, because the man's hand was held out at such an odd angle that he couldn't tell what was expected of him.

“Shaking the Captain's hand would have been a breach of protocol...” Kael noted inwardly, quickly running through the possibilities in his mind. “Is he testing me?”

Then, in the next instant, realization struck him.

“Of course! He wants to see the letter of introduction!”

With a quick wave of his hand, he pulled the red envelope from his spatial ring and immediately offered it forward, convinced he had finally understood the meaning behind the strange gesture.

But just as the letter was about to settle into Morkroft's outstretched palm, the Captain unexpectedly snatched it with his other hand while clasping Kael's with his right in a firm handshake.

Grinning, Morkroft gave their clasped hands a slight shake and said, “I'm Morkroft. From this day on, you're under my command and protection.”

The gesture made Kael tense slightly, though he still forced a smile and replied, “Yes, sir.”

Inside, however, he felt something entirely different.

“Damn...” Kael grimaced inwardly, feeling his discomfort steadily grow. “I can't read any of them at all.”

Glancing first at Morkroft, then at the grinning Hector, and finally at Magpie, who was clearly enjoying the whole situation, he could only let out a weary sigh to himself.

“What an unpleasant feeling...”

Morkroft calmly released Kael's hand and, without another word, broke the seal on the red envelope, pulling out the folded sheet of paper inside.

Unfolding the letter, he immediately began reading.

His turquoise eyes, tinged with pale blue, slowly moved across the lines, and every so often the Captain looked up over the page, as though comparing what was written to the young man standing before him.

His expression hardly changed throughout, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

The others were clearly interested as well.

Hector had stopped smiling and was now watching the Captain intently. Magpie was openly craning her neck, trying to catch even a glimpse of the letter, while Lumi made no effort whatsoever to hide her curiosity.

Kael himself watched just as attentively.

After all, he had no idea what General Salazar had chosen to write about him.

That was precisely why, when Morkroft unexpectedly let out a raspy laugh a few seconds later, Kael instinctively tensed.

Lowering the letter, the Captain looked him over once more and, still grinning, said, “You'll fit right in here.”

The moment those words were spoken, Hector immediately leaned forward.

“What does it say, Captain?” he asked with undisguised curiosity. “What made Kael stand out?”

Morkroft glanced at Hector and replied with a faint smirk, “Well, it certainly wasn't pulling brazen scams, like a certain someone…”

At those words, Hector immediately looked away and smiled innocently, doing his best to appear as though he had no idea what the Captain was talking about.

Morkroft merely snorted before turning back to Kael.

“You've got an interesting situation on your hands, kid...”

Then, pointing toward Lumi, he added calmly, “Get into the training arena and fight her. I want to see what you're capable of.”

At those words, Lumi instantly broke into a delighted smile, while Hector raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Is he actually a combat mage?” he asked curiously. “I thought he was an artisan.”

Morkroft, however, was in no hurry to answer.

Still holding the letter in one hand, he studied Kael thoughtfully, making his already enigmatic smile seem just a little unsettling.

“We're about to find out...” the Captain said, clearly intrigued by the spectacle to come.

As he assessed the situation, Kael couldn't help thinking.

“You can't go against the Captain's orders...” he thought, shifting his gaze to the already-smirking Lumi. “But should I reveal my full strength? No. I'd better deliberately downplay my abilities so I can work in the camp as an artisan...”

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Morkroft suddenly narrowed his eyes, staring directly at him.

“Don't even think about trying to be clever, kid.”

Kael froze involuntarily.

“What?”

The Captain merely smirked.

“I deal with swindlers far more skilled than you every single day.”

The remark caught Kael completely off guard.

“What the... I didn't even say anything...”

As if noticing his reaction, Hector immediately laughed.

“Sorry, Kael. Even I can't fool the Captain. His intuition is practically divine.”

That only made Kael smile crookedly, finally realizing there was simply no point in hiding his intentions in this situation.

“My apologies, Captain.”

“Good,” Morkroft replied evenly, then unexpectedly gave him a shove between the shoulder blades.

The push wasn't hard, but it was completely unexpected. Kael stumbled and practically lurched onto the training ground.

He had barely regained his balance when Morkroft cleared his throat and suddenly bellowed, “Hey! The new recruit's about to fight Lumi!”

The Captain's voice echoed across the entire courtyard.

The reaction was almost instantaneous.

A second later, the thunder of many feet came from inside the building, as though several people had all leaped into motion at once and were now racing each other toward the exit.

The door had not even opened yet, but loud voices were already ringing out from inside.

“What? The new recruit?”

“They've already brought him?”

“I'll bet fifty MMP he'll lose!”

The next instant, the front door flew open with a loud bang.

Kael blinked as an entire crowd practically spilled out of the building.

Some rushed out first, trying to claim the best viewing spot. Others shamelessly shoved their neighbors aside with their elbows. One particularly large man even emerged carrying a wooden chair under his arm, as though he had been preparing for a lengthy performance.

Judging by their numbers, it wasn't the entire Doomgrin Squad—probably only about half of them.

Even so, that was enough to turn the quiet courtyard into a makeshift viewing area within seconds.

But it wasn't their number that surprised Kael the most.

“Damn...” he thought, sweeping his gaze over the crowd pouring out of the building. “Each one's stranger than the last...”

Every member of the squad looked strange in their own way, and not one of them resembled the others.

Even their military uniforms had often been heavily modified to suit their own needs. Some had removed the sleeves entirely. Others had added extra straps and fastenings. A few wore so much custom equipment that the standard uniform was barely visible beneath it.

The first person to catch Kael's eye was a short, muscular old man with a thick red beard. Dozens of vials filled with potions of every color hung from his belt and chest, softly clinking together with each step.

A little farther away stood a towering brute with a two-handed sword strapped across his back. His stern face looked as though he hadn't smiled in years, and the breadth of his shoulders made Kael wonder how the man managed to fit through doorways at all.

Nearby stood a petite girl who looked more like a child than a soldier. Yet the two blacksmith's hammers hanging from her belt looked so imposing that any urge to ask her age vanished instantly.

Not far from her was a tall, handsome man with long silver hair and a bow slung across his back, looking as though he had wandered here by accident from some aristocratic estate.

And those were only the first few people.

The longer Kael studied the assembled squad, the more convinced he became that there truly weren't many normal people here.

Each successive member looked peculiar in their own way, as though the Doomgrin Squad had somehow gathered the strangest people from across this entire stretch of the front under one roof.

Kael's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Morkroft's voice.

“You have one minute to prepare.”

“Damn, I drifted off again...” Kael thought as he returned to the present and turned to face his opponent.

Lumi was already standing on the opposite side of the training ground. She merely waved her arms, releasing pinkish mana that immediately swirled around her body like a faint mist.

Then she narrowed her eyes slightly, carefully studying Kael before declaring confidently, “Since you're weak, I'll limit my strength to your level.”

No sooner had the last words left her mouth than her palms became coated in some kind of oily liquid that shimmered with iridescent colors in the light.

Without taking her eyes off him, she raised her palm to her mouth and began sucking the liquid directly into her mouth.

Watching this, Kael narrowed his eyes.

“That liquid...” he noted inwardly as he observed closely. “Is it the ability of her contracted spirit?”

As he sifted through everything he knew about the powers of contracted spirits, trying to determine what such a strange liquid might be connected to, Kael casually waved a hand and withdrew his combat gauntlets from his spatial ring.

Without interrupting his train of thought, he calmly slipped them on, channeling mana into them and fastening the protective plates around his forearms.

The moment the onlookers noticed his weapon, interested voices immediately rose from the crowd.

“Oh?” someone exclaimed in surprise. “Gauntlets?”

“That's unexpected...”

The tall, silver-haired handsome man with the bow smiled faintly and, glancing at the old man beside him, asked curiously, “What do you think? How does he fight?”

The short, muscular old man with the red beard watched Kael for several seconds before answering confidently, “Judging by the weapon... probably metal or earth elemental magic.”

“You think so?”

“I'm almost certain.”

Kael, however, paid no attention to the conversation. He continued observing Lumi's magic, trying to understand its nature.

Then, the next instant, one of the droplets of the strange liquid suddenly slipped from Lumi's palm and fell to the ground.

The moment it touched the stone surface of the arena, there was a faint crackle, and the liquid instantly evaporated.

At that very moment, something clicked in Kael's mind, and a satisfied grin spread across his face.

“What are you grinning at?” Lumi barked at once, causing part of the liquid she had already drawn into her mouth to dribble back out of her mouth.

Kael merely chuckled slyly and replied calmly, “You'd be an extremely troublesome opponent if I didn't know your weakness.”

“My weakness?” the young woman snorted, puffing out her cheeks so she wouldn't spit the liquid out again. “Don't try to fool me, rookie.”

Kael merely laughed in response.

“For your information, I'm also a member of the Scholars' Guild. So don't underestimate my knowledge.”

Lumi merely snorted.

“We'll see.”

The instant those words were spoken, Morkroft raised his hand and gave a short command.

“Begin!”

Kael launched himself forward that very instant.

His body shot ahead like an arrow released from a tightly drawn bow, moving with such speed that it seemed as though he weighed nothing at all.

Surprised exclamations immediately swept through the crowd.

Several people raised their eyebrows at the same time, clearly not expecting anything like that from an artisan, but no one was more taken aback than Lumi herself.

Only a moment earlier, she had been preparing to watch the newcomer cautiously probe her defenses.

Instead, Kael was already charging straight at her, rapidly closing the distance.

Her surprise lasted only an instant.

When only a few steps remained between them, Lumi exhaled sharply, and an enormous bubble, like a giant soap bubble, suddenly shot toward Kael.

“Ha! Got him!” someone among the spectators immediately shouted.

But the expected collision never came.

Just as he was about to reach the bubble, Kael stopped as abruptly as he had sprinted forward.

From the outside, it looked utterly unnatural, as though his body possessed almost no inertia at all.

The soles of his boots merely slid lightly across the stone before Kael effortlessly sprang backward.

Then something happened that astonished everyone even more.

Having retreated only a single step, Kael instantly settled into a stance and thrust both palms forward almost simultaneously, unleashing a lightning-fast strike toward the incoming bubble.

From the outside, it looked downright bizarre.

Several paces still separated him from Lumi's technique, and Kael didn't even appear to be channeling his mana.

For that reason, most of the spectators didn't even understand what had happened at first.

Yet a split second before impact, some kind of invisible impulse burst from Kael's palms, and the bubble suddenly burst in mid-flight.

Only, instead of simply disappearing, Lumi's technique instantly erupted into a powerful explosion.

A shockwave rolled across the arena.

The spectators' hair was blown backward, while Kael himself was swept away as though he weighed no more than a feather.

But at that very moment, several people noticed something strange.

As his body was carried backward, he sharply threw something forward.

“A dagger?” someone in the crowd guessed uncertainly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Morkroft cut in.

His eyes were practically gleaming with interest.

“No!” the Captain said with a satisfied grin. “An explosive talisman!”

And the instant Morkroft's words rang out, a second explosion thundered ahead.

Overlapping with the first, it created even greater chaos, blending the billowing smoke and dust into a single gray cloud that completely concealed the arena from the spectators' view.

Surprised cries immediately erupted from every direction.

Then the sound of coughing came from somewhere within the haze.

The next instant, Lumi literally burst out from the opposite side of the cloud.

Landing lightly on the balls of her feet, she slid several meters across the stone tiles, leaving thin skid marks behind before snapping her head up.

But Kael was already attacking again.

The moment he touched the ground after being carried by the blast, he immediately lunged forward, using the smoke as cover.

Cutting through the gray cloud like a blade, Kael crossed the distance between them in mere moments and appeared directly in front of Lumi, drawing back his fist for a strike.

Only a few moments remained before the blow would land.

That was why what happened next made Kael's heart skip a beat.

Instead of defending herself, retreating, or even trying to counterattack, Lumi suddenly looked up at him with utterly genuine astonishment and, spitting the oily liquid onto the ground, cried out excitedly, “Wow! How did you do that?!”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Kael roared in shock.

He could feel his fist hurtling forward with terrifying momentum, because he had never expected the girl to do something so utterly reckless.

“A punch like this will seriously injure her!”

Realizing he no longer had time to stop, Kael roared inwardly at the last possible instant, “Libero! Channel all mana to my right knee!”

At once, his knee seemed to fill with lead, violently dragging his body downward.

Kael practically crashed into the arena, his punch missing Lumi as he slammed into the stone tiles with a deafening impact. One of the slabs beneath him immediately became covered in a dense web of cracks, while sharp pain shot through the bones of his leg.

“Damn it!” he cried out in pain, but also in relief, realizing that his fist hadn't slammed into the girl's body.

Looking up at Lumi through gritted teeth, he barked irritably, “Why did you stop?! Did you want me to cripple you?!”

Lumi merely raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Ah... It's no big deal. Veridan would've patched me up...”

But the very next moment, she seemed to lose all interest in that topic.

Leaning forward and even forgetting her fighting stance, the girl exclaimed excitedly, “No, wait! How did you throw that explosive talisman? Why was it flying so fast, and why did it feel as heavy as a heavy weapon? It went straight through my second bubble!”

At that moment, Morkroft's interested voice came from behind.

“What do you think, Trixie?”

The little girl with the blacksmith's hammers answered thoughtfully, “I've never seen anything like it...”

Then, as if sinking deeper into thought, she murmured,

“Combat talismans are far more versatile and much cheaper to produce than engraved weapons or inscribed weapons. But they have serious limitations when it comes to flight speed and penetrating power...” As she spoke, she looked at Kael with undisguised interest. “But somehow this guy got around those limitations...”

Then the muscular old man with the red beard spoke up, adding, “Ordinary combat talismans are pretty easy to defend against. You can simply blow them away or alter their trajectory with a stream of mana... But just now... Lumi's bubble was pierced clean through, which shouldn't have been possible. Interesting... Very interesting!”

Morkroft grinned with anticipation and, without taking his eyes off Kael, said, “Now I really want to send you on a combat mission, kid...”

“Oh!” Hector perked up immediately. “Count me in! I want to see what Kael is really capable of!”

“I agree,” came someone's voice from the crowd.

“Me too.”

“And me.”

“How about we destroy the defenses of that beastfolk camp we were talking about yesterday?”

Listening to everyone around him already discussing his future combat missions as though he weren't even there, he could only let out a heavy sigh.

His knee still throbbed unpleasantly after the sudden lunge and fall, which only made his mood worse.

“You're all insane...” Kael muttered under his breath.

In response, Morkroft burst into booming laughter.

“You're no better, kid. Before you were even a Mark Mage, you ran across the entire Capital and threw yourself into a battle between Archmagisters!”

At those words, Kael turned around involuntarily, finally understanding what General Salazar had written in his evaluation.

Only then did he notice that everyone's attention was still fixed on him.

Some watched with curiosity.

Others watched with undisguised interest.

Some were even looking at him with satisfied smiles, while several nodded approvingly, as though they had seen exactly what they had expected to see.

It was at that moment that Morkroft stepped forward and, looking over the gathered crowd, said with satisfaction, “I've seen enough.”

Then he turned to Kael and flashed a broad grin.

“Welcome to the Doomgrin Squad!”

Almost immediately, voices rang out from every direction.

“Welcome!”

“Finally, another lunatic!”

“Hey, Kael! Tell us the secret behind your talismans!”

“Don't listen to them—show me first!”

“Don't even think about it! I asked first!”

With each new remark, the noise only grew louder.

Looking at the crowd, Kael remained silent for several seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and adding hopefully to himself, “At least they welcomed me... Even if it was in their own peculiar way...”