Chapter 148: Athena is a Good Teacher
Phew…
Qin Chu let out a long breath, his body subconsciously tensing. He hadn’t expected Athena’s magic tutoring to begin in such a way. His expression was rather strange.
“Hero, are you alright?” Loseweisse asked, her expression also a bit odd. She had only seen Qin Chu’s lips tremble slightly, his gaze darting around.
“No, it’s nothing.” Qin Chu finally pulled his wandering mind back. He adjusted his posture in the chair, leaning back slightly, and looked at Loseweisse, who was sitting to his left, “Saintess, your concern is very touching.”
A gentle smile appeared on Loseweisse’s face. “So, what do you think, Hero? If you agree, I’ll go persuade His Holiness to use the Holy See’s influence to stop the duel between you and the Grand Prince. I believe His Holiness wouldn’t want you to be in danger either.”
Loseweisse was surprised to find that the Hero seemed a bit distracted today.
He had already adjusted his posture several times in this short period.
It seemed that although the Hero had accepted the challenge in the heat of the moment after being provoked by the Grand Prince, he was actually feeling uneasy, wasn’t he? His face was even a little red.
It was understandable. After all, the Grand Prince had a reputation. He had always been praised as a dragon among men, and everyone knew that he was a powerful expert. He had even personally appeared on the front lines against the Demon Beasts, slaying many powerful ones. Although there were doubts about who actually killed those Demon Beasts, it was still quite difficult for the Hero, with his current strength, to deal with the Grand Prince.
Qin Chu leaned forward slightly, his hands resting on the desk, his entire body and chair moving closer. His eyes flickered slightly, then he spoke:
“Saintess, I appreciate your kindness, but… I’m sorry.”
Huh?
Loseweisse didn’t expect Qin Chu to reject her proposal. He was clearly restless with fear, what was he insisting on?
“Why?” Loseweisse tilted her head cutely. Although Anastasia was slightly better than Loseweisse in terms of both figure and appearance, Loseweisse was very good at pretending. She could put on the most innocent and pure appearance in front of men.
And men usually didn’t have much resistance to this kind of purity, subconsciously developing unnecessary favorable feelings.
“I know a little about the rules of duels. If I run away this time, what do you think will happen…?” Qin Chu asked rhetorically with a long sigh.
He would become a coward despised by everyone.
So it was for the sake of face?
Loseweisse sneered inwardly. If he cared so much about face, then he shouldn’t have acted tough before.
Now he knew to be afraid?
His body was even trembling.
What a ridiculous man.
Of course, Loseweisse would never show her true thoughts on her face. She put on a very concerned and caring expression, speaking softly:
“Hero, this is not you running away from a fight, but the duel being terminated due to force majeure. You don’t have to worry about your reputation at all.”
“No, Saintess, you misunderstood.” Qin Chu swallowed and took a breath before continuing, “You’re right…”
Loseweisse became even more suspicious. She felt that the Hero’s speech was a bit incoherent today. It seemed that this duel was really putting a lot of pressure on him.
“But what I care about is not my reputation. Using the Holy See’s influence can indeed forcefully stop this duel, and we can claim it’s due to force majeure… But what do you think those nobles and commoners will think? They will only think that the Hero ran away from a fight, understand?”
Loseweisse’s breath hitched. She realized that she had oversimplified things.
Could Wadsworth, Augustus, and Saint Monique, those three old foxes, not have thought about the danger Qin Chu faced in a duel with the Grand Prince?
Impossible.
If there was real danger, those three old geezers would definitely jump out even faster than Loseweisse. They could even come up with more perfect solutions, such as the Grand Prince suddenly dying, or crippling most of his strength, or taking away his ability to speak, and then throwing him into the arena to be easily dealt with by Qin Chu.
This way, the Hero would gain fame, the morale of the Allied Forces against the Demon Beasts would be boosted because of his strength, and they could even gain the Hero’s favor. A triple win, a complete victory.
But now, these three old geezers were sitting still, without any reaction at all. Why? Because they had other, more important things in mind.
What they cared about more was the Hero’s true strength.
Although Qin Chu had been hiding his strength and pretending to be weak, ever since he suddenly defeated Horn and subdued Violet, these three old foxes had begun to suspect his true strength…
The Hero’s true strength was directly related to how they would treat him.
Beating up the Grand Prince at the banquet, in the eyes of ordinary people, was just Qin Chu being dishonorable and launching a sneak attack, catching the Grand Prince off guard.
But these old foxes knew very well that if there was really a difference in strength between them, then even if Qin Chu used a wine bottle for a sneak attack, the Grand Prince could have counterattacked and killed him in the next second.
But in reality, the entire process was almost entirely dominated by Qin Chu. The Grand Prince had almost no chance to fight back.
This made the three old geezers even more suspicious of Qin Chu’s strength. They could use this opportunity to test his true power, and as for the Grand Prince, he was just being used as a stepping stone.
Otherwise, with Wadsworth’s tight control, the Grand Prince’s challenge letter wouldn’t have even been sent out.
Compared to these three old foxes, Loseweisse was still too naive.
Qin Chu composed himself, “Saintess, have you thought about it too? The Hero is supposed to bring hope to the Heavenly Continent, to save this world. If the Hero runs away from a fight, what kind of blow would it be to the morale of the Allied Forces against the Demon Beasts? It’s unimaginable. They might even doubt whether they can really defeat the Demon Beasts with such a Hero.”
“So I must participate in this duel. Even if I lose, I can’t run away.”
Loseweisse finally understood and felt a little ashamed, “But the Grand Prince is really dangerous… His personality is very extreme, he’s capable of anything…”
Qin Chu suddenly smiled, “Saintess, how can you be sure that I will definitely lose?”
“Besides, I’m also working hard to cultivate. I’m receiving guidance from Athena and learning some magic. Maybe it will come in handy,” Qin Chu blinked, “Athena was just here tutoring me…”
“Athena?” Loseweisse seemed to relax a little, “If it’s Athena, then maybe she really has the ability to help you turn the tables. Athena knows a lot about potions and strange magic formations… These can temporarily increase your strength, although they often come with some side effects.”
“Yes, Athena is a very good teacher,” Qin Chu nodded repeatedly, praising her, “It’s just that her teaching style is varied. Sometimes it’s like a violent storm, sometimes like a gentle spring rain, nourishing things silently…”
“After a session of her guidance, my mind becomes empty, I don’t even want to think about anything.”
“At times like this, cultivating magic becomes twice as effective with half the effort.”
Loseweisse chuckled, covering her mouth, “Well, Athena’s personality is a bit eccentric. Please bear with her…”
As she spoke, Loseweisse stood up gracefully, “Since you already have a plan, Hero, I’m relieved. However… Hero, please be careful. I will be cheering for you. But it doesn’t matter if you lose the duel, please prioritize your own safety. The Heavenly Continent can’t afford to lose you.”
“If you get hurt, Hero, Loseweisse will be very sad,” the Saintess said softly, her face slightly red.
As she spoke, she also peeked at Qin Chu with gentle eyes.
Honestly, this kind of behavior was too powerful.
Qin Chu couldn’t help but shiver.
As Loseweisse was about to leave, Qin Chu also stood up to see her off. His clothes had become neat at some point.
When Qin Chu returned to the room after seeing Loseweisse off, Athena had also come out.
Her cheeks were still flushed, and she seemed a little angry, “Saying that I have an eccentric personality, she should look in the mirror and see what she looks like.”
Then she glared at Qin Chu angrily, “You, you actually made me hide under the desk? I could have just stayed here. It’s fine to meet Loseweisse…”
Athena was curious about her own reaction. Normally, she should be very angry, even explode, but she wasn’t. Strangely, she didn’t even dislike this feeling very much.
At this moment, Qin Chu suddenly thought of something, and he slapped his head, “Right, Miss Athena… There’s something I need to tell you.”
As he spoke, Qin Chu reached into his storage ring and took out a diamond-shaped crystal, handing it to Athena.
Athena was thinking about other things and felt a little impatient. After all, this wasn’t what she was yearning for right now… However, she quickly realized that this was Lord Jie Luo’s soul fragment.
She suppressed her slight irritation and took the soul fragment, examining it carefully. It didn’t seem to have any problems… After a few seconds, she finally noticed it.
A surprised and joyful expression appeared on her face, her voice even trembling slightly, “Lord Jie Luo’s soul fragment, has it healed a little?”
Although it was still covered in cracks, there seemed to be slightly fewer cracks than before.
Overjoyed, Athena didn’t even notice her own words, directly calling him “Lord Jie Luo.”
Fortunately, Qin Chu didn’t notice this.
Could it be that what happened last time accelerated the healing of the soul fragment? This thought quickly occurred to Athena, and she felt a surge of emotion. As expected, the sacrifice she made for Lord Jie Luo was useful.
If that was the case, this sacrifice had to continue. The more she sacrificed, the faster Lord Jie Luo’s resurrection would be.
At this moment, Qin Chu’s words made Athena’s face turn pale.
“After last time, I noticed that there are fewer cracks on this thing. Could it be because of that? Haha, if that’s really the case, then doing it a few more times might be able to resurrect the First Hero.”
Athena’s mind buzzed, and her face instantly turned pale.
A strong sense of fear surged in her heart. Could it be that Qin Chu had discovered their secret? What was he planning to do? Was he going to completely destroy the soul fragment? She instinctively wanted to stop Qin Chu. This absolutely couldn’t happen. If the soul fragment was completely destroyed, Lord Jie Luo might never be resurrected.
Seeing Athena’s expression, Qin Chu’s face turned strange, “Miss Athena, I was just joking, you didn’t take it seriously, did you? How could anyone be resurrected like that?”
Athena forced a smile, her gaze darting around, as if she didn’t dare to look Qin Chu in the eyes. She said with some embarrassment, “You know, the First Hero had a good relationship with us. After all, we fought side by side for many years, we do have feelings for him. Hearing the words ‘First Hero’s resurrection’ suddenly, it was a bit of a shock.”
“By the way, do you still need my magic guidance?” Athena changed the subject abruptly, giving Qin Chu a charming glance, and quickly adjusted her mental state. After seeing the cracks on Lord Jie Luo’s soul fragment starting to heal, the last bit of resistance in Athena’s heart disappeared completely. The self-moved and self-satisfied feeling brought about by self-sacrifice reached an unprecedented peak, and the slight resistance in her consciousness completely vanished.
Fortunately, Qin Chu didn’t seem to be a very observant man. He didn’t seem to notice the slight change in Athena’s emotions, his attention completely captured by her words.
His gaze became fervent, “Of course, there’s an old saying in my hometown, ‘Learning is a boundless sea, and hard work is the ship.’ In order to reach the peak of wisdom, it’s nothing to suffer a little. I can endure it.”
Athena didn’t care about anything else anymore, as long as her heart didn’t fall.
Lord Jie Luo, look, this is the sacrifice I’m making for you.
For you, I’m willing to do anything.
…
In the next few days, Qin Chu and Athena secluded themselves, diligently studying magic, not receiving any guests.
On the night before the duel, a special guest arrived at the Grand Prince’s residence.
Wadsworth!
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