Chivalry of a Dark Knight [Batman x Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry]

CH14: Accept Fate (prt 3)

"You know about Mana Defense and Mana Emission, right?"

"Of course." Bruce nodded, remembering that he did read up on the subject.

"Now think about everyone you fought so far. Or better yet, think back to your battle with Saijou-senpai. Don't you think it's weird that you were able to beat up a C-rank with just your fists?"

The dots connected in Bruce's mind as he thought back to his previous battles with Iwadare, Nene, Ikki and then finally Saijou. His eyes slowly widened as it became clear to him and he wondered to himself why he didn't notice it before. Was it some kind of involuntary instinct?

"I think I understand where you're going with this." he murmured.

"Right." Stella nodded. "Mana doesn't just stay inside you, it actually flows around you like a skin tight suit of armor, that's Mana Defense."

To further emphasize her point, Stella activated her 'Empress Dress'; surrounding herself with a field of flames.

Once again, there was that twitch that Bruce felt. His eyes narrowed, it was unmistakable this time and he was left to wonder what it could possibly be. Luckly, Stella didn't seem notice his troubled expression and continued to speak.

"My own Empress Dress works the same way, all I've done is just use my flames to power it up. But now, you can see what it looks like."

She then deactivated her Noble Art before resuming her explanation.

"To sum it up, a Blazer wouldn't be effected by regular physical attacks but with every punch you land, you're actually concentrating your Mana to your fists and breaking through their defense." she concluded.

Bruce recollected his previous his previous research and reminded himself that Mana Defense was basically a defense mechanism that Blazers use unconsciously.

In addition to what Stella said, the strength of this force-field-like barrier depends on the amount of Mana a Blazer has. An E-rank knight, for instance, will only receive bruising from a fired bullet but knights as high as B-ranks can tank much more powerful blows. He could only imagine how durable an A-rank would be.

"So you see, you DO have control but something is stopping you from having TOTAL control." Stella said as she shook a pointed finger towards him. "Something...that's not allowing you to be one with your magic. We just need to find out what that something is."

Bruce 'hmm-ed' and nodded, the information wasn't particularly useful but it did offer some insight on where a solution could be found.

"Alright, so what's next?" he asked.

"Well, while we're on the subject, why don't we go over Mana Emission?"

Stella gave him the gist of it. Basically it was a technique where a Blazer use their Mana within them to enhance their physical attributes. For example, they can increase their base speed to superhuman levels by flowing Mana in their legs or increase their strength by flowing it into their upper bodies and so on.

Like with Mana Defense, this was something that Blazers did unconsciously but a perfect understanding of this phenomenon can allow some Blazers to have an edge over others.

"But, did you know that you could use Mana Defense the same way as Mana Emission?" Stella asked with an excited grin. "Here, let me show you."

The young girl took a few steps away from Bruce to put some distance between them.

"Now summon your Device. Go ahead. " she called to him.

Bruce wasn't sure what she had in mind but he did as he was instructed.