Chapter 68: The Hypnotic Potion

Gern shuddered. Now, he only wanted to finish quickly and be done with it; Lilia shouldn’t stay here with him any longer. He feared some mishap might occur later, and that would be truly undesirable.

Several more powerful sword auras were unleashed. This time, a faint smile played on Lilia’s lips, and just as before, she stepped forward, her sword flashing to parry.

Battle Qi converged upon her longsword. Though she couldn’t unleash it as an attack like Gern, it greatly enhanced the sword’s strength and sharpness.

After parrying Gern’s strike once more, Lilia felt her bottleneck loosening further. She began attempting to unravel the mystery behind Gern’s Battle Qi slashes.

As the sword aura assailed her again, a flash of understanding sparked in her aqua-blue eyes. Then, with a sweep of her longsword, an invisible sword aura erupted.

However, this sword aura still seemed far too weak compared to Gern’s. It merely delayed Gern’s sword aura for a brief moment before the attack resumed its advance.

This time, Lilia had no intention of meeting it head-on. After dodging the sword aura, she waved a hand at Gern.

“Gern, hold on a moment. I’ve touched the threshold of a Third-tier Knight.”

Lilia then sat cross-legged, beginning to circulate the Battle Qi within her body. Wisps of flame, accompanying the circulation of her internal Battle Qi, transformed accordingly.

Gern moved to Lilia’s side, guarding her. Though this was within the academy, and no one would obstruct Lilia, a measure of protection was still necessary.

Should anything happen to Lilia, he would be able to step in and protect her.

Lilia’s advancement proceeded smoothly, her aura steadily rising. Before long, her aura stabilized at the level of a Third-tier Knight.

She had already been on the verge of reaching the Third-tier Knight threshold; with Gern’s guidance, it was a natural progression.

A soft exhale~ A stream of turbid air escaped her lips, and she suddenly opened her eyes.

Her aqua-blue eyes sparkled brightly, and especially after seeing Gern, her gaze was as if she had discovered a priceless treasure.

Gern instinctively took a step back, fearing Lilia might make an outlandish move.

Seeing his reaction, a mischievous smile curved Lilia’s lips. ‘Now that she had also reached the Third-tier, little Luoya shouldn’t be able to suppress her.’

‘Once that happens, I’ll pin little Luoya to the bed, and then…’

The more Lilia thought, the more excited she became, as if she had been injected with a burst of adrenaline.

“Gern, do you dare to spar with me again?”

Lilia was brimming with confidence this time. Both being Third-tier, and with her own magical enhancements, she refused to believe she couldn’t force Gern to use magic.

Based on her observations over such a long period, she had noticed that Luoya, when appearing as Gern, almost never used magic.

Thus, she speculated that Luoya’s disguise must be a rather peculiar form of illusion magic.

Constantly maintaining the casting of a single spell would inevitably lead to a significant drain on the caster’s magical energy.

To sustain their appearance, the caster would have to minimize their use of magical power, lest their energy be depleted and their true form revealed.

‘This time, she would make Gern transform back into the little dragon girl right before her eyes, and then thoroughly torment her.’

For some inexplicable reason, Gern felt utterly uncomfortable under Lilia’s scrutiny, as if he were being targeted by some monstrous beast.

He was somewhat reluctant to accept Lilia’s challenge this time, but seeing her resolute expression, Gern ultimately gritted his teeth and agreed to her request.

“Very well, I’ll spar with you once more.”

****

After an exhilarating battle, Gern found himself unable to gain the upper hand; he was relentlessly pushed back by a full-throttle Lilia throughout.

Having broken through to the Third-tier in both cultivation paths, her strength had reached an utterly terrifying level, one that Gern, with his single path, simply couldn’t contend with.

Even with Gern’s combat experience from his previous life, he only managed to avoid a swift defeat.

Had an ordinary Third-tier Knight faced Lilia, their grave-mound would likely be three meters high by now.

For Lilia, who had just broken through to the Third-tier, to possess such formidable strength was truly terrifying.

If not for the fact that this was Gern’s small courtyard, and indeed academy property, preventing both of them from using large-scale destructive abilities, Gern might not have been confident in lasting this long.

A sigh escaped Gern’s lips. He lightly exhaled, wiping away the sweat beading on his forehead. This was only the second time since his rebirth that he had faced such immense pressure, and he conceded this defeat wholeheartedly.

“Miss Lilia, you’ve won.”

“No, no, no, Luo— *cough* —Mr. Gern, you were the victor.”

Lilia was in no better state than Gern; her body was also drenched in sweat. Her heavy academy coat had been shed, leaving her only in a thin white shirt.

The sweat-soaked white shirt clung to Lilia’s form, outlining the young woman’s perfect figure with a unique allure.

“Hm? I won? Your Highness, please don’t be modest. If you hadn’t held back, I’d be sprawled on the ground right now.”

Gern offered a helpless, wry smile, gaining an entirely new appreciation for the young woman’s talent before him.

What he didn’t realize, however, was that Lilia’s definition of ‘winning’ differed significantly from his own.

Lilia had continued sparring with Gern with the explicit goal of making him reveal his true form.

Yet, after hundreds of rounds, Gern still hadn’t shown his hand, a level of composure that truly impressed her.

Their sparring session thus concluded. Both, having endured such high-intensity combat, were utterly exhausted.

Lilia, in particular, had repeatedly employed the Nirvana Art to contend with Gern. Though immune to fire, she couldn’t withstand the rapid loss of moisture from her body.

Now, she felt incredibly parched, wishing she could plunge headfirst into a water barrel.

Gern, on the other hand, was slightly better off, at least not to Lilia’s extent.

They rested in place for a moment. Once their heartbeats gradually returned to normal, Lilia finally rose and began searching for a water source in the courtyard.

Gern also stood, stretching his limbs, then unfastened his waterskin from his waist and drank deeply.

The cool water extinguished the ‘blaze’ in Gern’s throat, and with that single gulp, a sense of profound relaxation washed over him.

Meanwhile, Lilia’s gaze immediately locked onto the only table in the courtyard.

Upon it rested a bottle of transparent liquid, presumably water.

She strode quickly, snatching the elegant bottle.

Without a second thought, she raised it and drained its contents completely.

After the transparent liquid had all gone down, Lilia blinked and smacked her lips, sensing something was amiss.

‘There seems to be an odd taste in this water…’

Carrying her doubt, Lilia approached Gern, raising the empty bottle with a querying gesture.

“Gern, what was in this bottle?”

“Hm?” Gern, who had been resting with closed eyes, suddenly opened them. Initially, he paid it no mind, assuming it was just an ordinary container.

But a moment later, his mind suddenly made the connection, and his violet eyes widened in alarm.

The empty bottle Lilia held was none other than the hypnotic potion he had left there earlier.

In an instant, a chill shot straight to Gern’s very core. He froze completely, as if turned to stone.

“Gern? Gern?”

Lilia’s words seemed to carry a strange enchantment, drawing Gern’s entire soul into their depths.

He shook his head, then hastily raised a hand to stop Lilia, who was approaching.

“Lilia, don’t… don’t come any closer.”

“Gern, what do you mean by that?”

“That thing in your hand… it’s not water, it’s… it’s… hypnotic…”

Gern’s consciousness grew increasingly hazy. He wanted to distance himself from Lilia, but at this moment, he could barely muster any strength.

“Hypnotic? What hypnotic?”

Lilia’s brow furrowed. She quickly stepped closer, seeking a more precise answer.

“No… don’t… come closer…”

Upon seeing the fear on Gern’s face, Lilia halted.

She looked at the bottle in her hand with a face full of confusion, increasingly convinced that its contents were something valuable.

“Gern, was what was in here very important?”

Gern nodded mechanically, like a puppet.

“Yes, very important.”

Hearing Gern’s words, Lilia understood. She looked at Gern with a touch of guilt and spoke softly.

“Um… Gern, I’m sorry. How was I to know this was so important to you?”

“No… no… not that important. I… still… have more.”

Gern still had a few more bottles of this potion, and the academy likely had plenty as well. Even if Lilia drank a few, it wouldn’t impact Gern’s future research.

Lilia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought she might have inadvertently ruined something for Gern.

‘It’s good that nothing’s wrong, good that nothing’s wrong,’ she reassured herself, but then noticed Gern’s body becoming increasingly unsteady.

He swayed precariously, like a candle flame flickering in the wind. It seemed as though Gern might collapse to the ground at any moment.

At this point, Lilia disregarded everything else. She quickly stepped forward and pulled Gern up from the grass.

“Gern, are you alright?”

“You… don’t come any closer!”

Gern wanted to shout, but he was already under the influence of the hypnotic potion. When he opened his mouth, the words that came out were not at all what he intended to say.

“No… nothing, I’m fine.”

“Hm?”

Lilia scratched her head, sensing that Gern was acting very strangely. These words were completely unlike anything he would normally say.

“Gern, what’s wrong with you?”

“No… nothing…”

“Gern?”

Lilia called out again, carefully observing the expression on Gern’s face.

“Yes… I’m here.”

Gern’s cheeks were incredibly stiff, making him look truly like a puppet.

‘Something’s wrong, nine-tenths of it feels off.’ Suddenly, Lilia recalled Gern mentioning something about ‘hypnotic’ earlier. ‘Could it be that Gern was now hypnotized?’

‘Is this potion really that potent?’

With her doubts in mind, Lilia spoke tentatively.

“Gern, sit down.”

Instantly, Gern’s body flickered, and he sat down on the ground.

Seeing Gern like this, Lilia felt as if she had opened the door to a new world, her aqua-blue eyes seemingly sparkling with little stars.

“What a marvelous thing!”

“Then, can it make Gern turn into a little dragon girl?”

“Gern, transform into a dragon girl.”