"!!!"
Nux's eyes widened in surprise.
He realized what Astaria was talking about.
"Y-You are directly using Mana!"
He spoke.
"Indeed."
Astaria's smile widened and she nodded.
"Unlike normal Cultivators, who use Elements present in the Mana to partially use the strength of Mana, we, the Emperors directly manipulate Mana.
The Purest form of power.
We use Mana to strengthen our punches, we use Mana to increase our speed and we use Mana to strengthen our defenses.
We use Mana for everything.
We have the perfect attack, defense, and speed,
That is the reason the Emperors are the strongest."
"T-Then if you run out of Mana…
Does that mean I can defeat you with raw strength?"
Nux questioned.
Astaria, however, shook her head,
"It is not that simple.
The Mana we emperors use is not the Mana we have stored inside our Mana.
The Mana we use is the Mana in the air."
"What!?"
Nux's eyes widened in shock.
"Indeed, the Emperors manipulate the Mana present in their surroundings to fight. They do not use their own Mana.
So… for you to defeat us using your raw strength… it would only be possible if all the Mana in the world is dried up, which is of course…"
"Impossible." Nux completed.
"Indeed." Astaria nodded.
"So you are telling me that since Emperors will not use up their own Mana, they can continue to fight for as long as they want?" Nux questioned and again, Astaria shook her head.
"Well, there is also our physical stamina, we can't fight for a long period of time since even we will eventually get tired.
Also, it is not like we do not use Mana at all.
We need to use some of our own Mana to stimulate the Mana in the air.
So although rare, there are cases when even Emperors run out of Mana."
Astaria explained.
"…"
Nux turned silent.
"What happened?"
Astaria questioned.
"This is absurd…"
Nux commented.
"Please, I don't want to hear that from you."
Astaria shook her head.
"Why are you even telling me all this? It is not like I can Manipulate Mana…" Nux questioned.
Soon, however, his expression changed as he questioned,
"Or are you saying that there is a way for me to use Mana directly just like Emperors?"
Astaria, however, chuckled and shook her head,
"That is not possible, don't be ridiculous."
"…"
"The reason I am telling all this to you is that if you know this fact, then you can use this to your advantage in a fight against the emperors."
Astaria spoke.
Nux narrowed his eyes.
Astaria smiled, "Think about it, Emperors are strong, however, when it comes to raw strength, you overpower them. What would happen if you attack them before they have the chance to gather Mana?"
"…"
Nux turned silent and started thinking about what Astaria said.
"If I attack them before they could put up their defenses…
Then I can defeat them."
Astaria's smile widened,
"Indeed."
"So if I somehow manage to launch a sneak attack, then I can defeat an Emperor."
"Correct." Astaria nodded.
"However, things are not that simple."
"Hmm?"
Nux tilted his head in confusion.
"As Emperors use Mana around them, their sensitivity is higher than normal cultivators, sneaking up to them… is a task that is close to impossible since they would react to even slightest of change around their Mana.
And as you know, every being affects Mana in some way or another, so as soon as you go near them, the Mana will be affected and they will be alerted."
Astaria explained.
Nux's frown deepened,
"Then what's the point of telling me all this? I can't defeat Emperors this way, now can I?"
He questioned.
To be honest, if Emperors are sensitive to Mana, even if [Conceal] worked on them, he still wouldn't be able to sneak up on them.
[Conceal] affects his presence, it has no effect on the surrounding Mana.
"Nux, if defeating Emperors was that easy, anyone would have done it. Just because you know how Emperors fight doesn't mean that you would be able to defeat them.
What I told you was a way.
I showed you the way to defeat an Emperor.
I told you their weakness.
I told you, my weakness.
How you take advantage of this depends on you.
You have to think outside of the box, you have to come up with a way yourself, because if I knew about it, I would have done the impossible and would have defeated the Emperors when I was a King Stage Cultivator."
Astaria spoke and Nux turned silent.
Astaria was right.
What she shared was incredibly informative, it was something that barely a handful of people in the entire world knew, now how he would use this to his advantage depended on him.
"Of course, that doesn't mean the training is over. The training hasn't even started.
However, what I will train you for is not 'how you can defeat an Emperor', I would train you on 'how to defend yourself against an Emperor'.
I would train your reflexes, I would train your control over your Skills, I would train your swordsmanship.
I would refine you and turn you into the best warrior there is."
Astaria announced.
Hearing those words, a smile appeared on Nux's face as he spoke.
"I am looking forward to the training, Lady Astaria."
"I hope you still keep this attitude after we are done."
Astaria tilted her head as she smiled wickedly.
Nux, however, wasn't intimidated and smiled as well,
"Don't worry, I will keep up this attitude till I defeat you.
I promise you,
You won't have to wait for long,
Astaria."
Astaria wasn't offended that he called her without using honorifics, rather, her smile just widened as a sword appeared in her hand.
"Alright then, let's see if you are actually capable or are just full of words."
A glint shone in her eyes as she looked forward to another spar,
Nux, however, suddenly stepped back as he replied,
"Didn't you have to meet Teacher Arvina?"
"…"
Arvina finally recalled.
"…I forgot about it."
Nux smiled wryly.
