Chapter 121 - 89: It Feels So Good to Have a Powerful Backer
Mo Ning said nothing in response to Aya’s remark about him "only knowing how to hide behind a pretty woman."
But Anya spoke up. "Sir Deacon, there’s something you don’t know..."
Aya cut the Noble Lady off rather crudely. "Serial number! Name!"
He was asking a question he already knew the answer to—a deliberate act of retaliation.
Anya had shattered Kanda’s sternum with a single punch in front of everyone, dealing a heavy blow to the Junior Deacon’s authority.
Although the Noble Lady had, objectively, been a huge help, Aya had no intention of letting the grudge go.
Anya answered calmly, "Serial number 238, Anya."
Aya felt a thrill of vengeance and gave a satisfied smile. "Tell me, why did you report Kanda?"
Anya spoke quickly. "My companion, Mo Ning, discovered that Kanda was a suspected spy sent by the Dark Wizards and told me about it.
"Just now, before that ghastly thing in Kanda’s stomach was about to burst out, it was also Mo Ning who signaled for me to act.
"As it turns out, Mo Ning’s judgment was spot on. He not only rooted out a deeply hidden spy for the academy, but he also weakened the monster, saving many lives."
The Noble Lady’s tone was neither servile nor overbearing, and it even carried a perfectly measured hint of a smile.
But her words were a soft yet firm rebuttal.
She was countering his claim that Mo Ning "only knows how to hide behind a pretty woman" by pointing out that Mo Ning had performed a great service for the academy.
To belittle him was to belittle a hero of the academy.
It was a gentle rebuke, delivered precisely, cleverly, and flawlessly.
Aya was left speechless.
The expression on the small portion of his visible face froze for an instant.
The Junior Deacon glanced at Mo Ning again. There was less contempt in his eyes, and his expression was clearly not as arrogant as before.
Aya looked at Anya again and snorted. "’Devouring Demon Vine’? Even if a whole swarm of them had popped out, I could have easily wiped them all out."
Anya said nothing, merely lowering her gaze slightly.
Mo Ning also remained silent, but in his heart, he couldn’t agree.
He had already run a post-mortem analysis with his cheat—he imported the entire battle into the [Eye of Truth] to replay, deconstruct, and simulate it, frame by frame, second by second.
The analysis showed that if the Blood Vines that burst from Kanda’s stomach hadn’t been weakened by Anya’s punch, and both had self-destructed at full strength, the number of Blood Vine Silks would have nearly doubled.
Although the [Fosa Flame Beam] was indeed powerful, if faced with two full-strength Blood Vines self-destructing simultaneously, it could at best intercept only eighty percent of the Blood Vine Silks.
The remaining twenty percent—at least seventy or eighty strands—would have rained down on the unprepared new apprentices like a torrential downpour.
The death toll would likely have been several times higher, perhaps even exceeding ten people.
Therefore, the Junior Deacon’s words were just a desperate attempt to save face and praise himself.
Aya’s gaze turned back to Mo Ning. He adopted a scolding posture, his lips parting slightly as he prepared to speak.
Mo Ning preempted him at just the right moment. "Serial number 256, Mo Ning."
Aya once again had that choked, uncomfortable feeling.
Facing two new apprentices, the Second Level Apprentice felt a rare sense of having his hands tied.
Aya’s lips moved, preparing to ask another question.
Once again, Mo Ning cut in at the perfect moment. "I possess the ’Mark Retrospection’ Spiritual Trait.
"After we entered the Secluded Path from the dormitory area, Kanda happened to be walking in front of me. I unintentionally saw a patch on his arm that looked like a birthmark.
"My Mark Retrospection potential suddenly activated at that moment, and I saw some strange symbols within the patch.
"That was enough to tell me that the mark was originally a pattern, merely disguised as a birthmark. That’s why I concluded that something was definitely wrong with Kanda."
This so-called "Mark Retrospection" wasn’t a term he had just made up.
This spiritual potential actually existed; he had read about it in a treatise on Spiritual Traits in the Royal Library. People with this potential had a certain chance of triggering a magical Magic Power retrospection when seeing certain things, allowing them to obtain more information.
However, it was purely a support ability, and because the activation chance was extremely low, very few people paid any attention to it.
The benefit of being well-read was that even his lies were seamless.
Aya wanted to ask, "What symbols did you see?" His lips were already slightly parted, but the Junior Deacon was always one step behind.
Mo Ning raised a finger, his speech quickening slightly. "I saw these patterns."
A crimson glow lit up at his fingertip. The light was faint but exceptionally stable, without the slightest flicker.
As his fingertip moved rapidly, the crimson glow swam through the air, leaving behind a clear trail of light.
The trail didn’t dissipate or blur, like a red thread frozen in the air.
The name of this Sub-zero Level Trick was—[Light Track].
It had many functions. Drawing symbols in the air with one’s bare hand was just one of them; it could also be used for illumination, warnings, or leaving marks in the dark.
The reason Mo Ning had solidified this Witchcraft Model in his Spiritual World was precisely because he valued its versatility.
Aya glanced at Mo Ning again, his expression a little surprised.
For a new apprentice, learning [Light Track] wasn’t difficult—it was just a Sub-zero Level Trick.
But to draw more than a dozen consecutive symbols with such a high degree of stability, as Mo Ning was doing, was not so easy.
It required extremely stable control over one’s Magic Power, maintaining the same frequency and intensity with every stroke. Very few new apprentices could achieve that.
Mo Ning continued to speak with ease. "At first, I didn’t recall what these symbols represented.