Manaless Mage

Chapter 68 How… Just How?

The smirk on Harry's face only widened as he muttered on two words: "Mana steal."

[Mana steal activated]

[+5000EXP]

His eyes widened slightly, the amount of EXP he gained when he used [Mana steal] on Han couldn't compare to this.

Ever since that day when he used the skill on Han, this was be the second time he would be activating the skill.

It wasn't that he was pitying the students and didn't want to steal their mana, it was just that it would be too risky.

The mana sense of the academy instructors was very strong and acute, if Harry tried to steal mana from an Elementalist in the academy, the chances that he would be discovered by an Instructor were quite high.

However, here he was safe from any risks. The librarian in the spell library was only a regular human and the mana sense of the few students in the library was too underdeveloped to even sense him stealing mana.

Harry felt a familiar warm sensation flow into his hand, he didn't resist it as he already knew what it was--mana!

Even though Trent had canceled the spell, his wind mana was still concentrated around his hand and [Mana steal] was greedily absorbing it.

When Trent first noticed he couldn't pull back his hand, he panicked. He hadn't expected that kind of strength from Harry but it didn't take long before he was able to regain his composure.

He immediately started chanting another spell so he could push Harry back, unlike the first spell, this one would be with his main element--his water element.

As he tried channeling the spell, he couldn't find the right mana flow. Not because he forgot how to cast the spell or anything but because his mana flow was just... unstable for some reason.

He kept trying a few more times, but he still couldn't stabilize his elemental mana flow.

He hurriedly tried to pull his hand back, however, he still couldn't.

His spells were mainly focused on long-range, coupled with the fact that his mana flow suddenly got unstable, he was unable to break free from Harry's grip.

His face lost colour as he instinctively did the only thing he could do in this situation; he threw a punch using his free hand.

However, just then, Harry suddenly released his grip and freed his hand.

Due to the unexpected release, Trent lost his footing as he staggered backwards by a few steps.

Luckily, he was able to regain his footing before he hit the ground.

His expression morphed into one of shock as he stared at Harry, those few seconds that his hand was in Harry's grip, he felt nothing short of fear and panic.

In fact, he could still feel the strength of Harry's grip on his right hand. 'How... is he so strong?' He mumbled inwardly.

Harry's lips morphed into a grin as he read the system notification that flashed through his eyes.

[+7000EXP]

[Level up!]

In total he gained 12000EXP. Though the speed at which the skill absorbed Trent's mana reduced after the first EXP, Harry was still glad.

He had also leveled up, he was already close to completing the EXP requirement to level up and the EXP he just gained gave him the right push to finally level up.

His eyes shone as another notification appeared in front of him.

['Mana steal' Level up!]

[Skill 'Mana steal' now level 2!]

[Mana steal] had finally leveled up, though he had only used it twice, it seemed that was all it needed to level up. Probably because of the large amount of mana--EXP, he stole from Trent.

He would have loved to use 'Mana steal' for a little more time, however, the skill reached its limit. Since it was only a level one skill, it couldn't steal mana endlessly.

But now that it had leveled up, Harry was sure the skill would become faster and more efficient.

Trent's expression morphed into a frown, Harry's was simply staring off into space rather than at him. It seemed like he didn't even consider him as someone worthy to look at or converse with.

This naturally made his blood boil in anger. "Are you ignoring me...?" He asked while clenching his fists.

After his earlier experience, there was no way he would rush in recklessly again. If only he had known about Harry's strength, he wouldn't have attacked recklessly the first time.

He didn't know how Harry's strength increased so much but he could only assume that it was either through an artefact or some sort of treasure.

Although it sounded unlikely, after all, even Trent doubted Harry had enough money and connections to get an artefacts, especially one that boosted his strength to that extent.

It was simply what he kept telling himself, rather than admit that Harry was currently stronger... and probably more talented than him, he preferred to believe that it was through the aid of an artefact.

Harry's eyes squinted slightly as he finally shifted his gaze to Trent, his eyes shone with a strange glint as he inwardly muttered: 'Probe.'

He was curious to see Trent's stats, from their earlier exchange, it was obvious that Trent was physically weaker than him.

Though he had won in their earlier exchange, that didn't mean Trent was weak.

Elementalists were known to be quite weak physically, their main power and strength lord in their spells.

That didn't mean their strength was on the same level as regular or normal humans though, they were still a lot stronger than average humans, just weaker than combat mages.

Harry had expected the system to show the information directly, so he was quite surprised by the notification that appeared in front of him.

[ERROR! Skill level too low!]

Harry's brows furrowed slightly as he read through the notification.

'Too low huh?' He mumbled inwardly. He wasn't really surprised by the notification, he had already expected it after all.

[Does the Host want to level up the skill "Probe"?]

[Cost: 1 Skill point]

[Yes/No]

'Yes.' Harry mumbled inwardly. He had no reason to refuse, since it was only one skill point, he didn't really have much to lose.

[One skill point used!]

["Probe" Level up!]

[Skill "Probe" now level 2!]

Meanwhile, Trent's blood kept boiling in anger. The fact that Harry still wasn't focused on him frustrated him to the core, it made him feel like he was being ignored.

Wherever he went, he was used to gathering attention and admiration, though he didn't exactly react to it, he still liked it.

The worst part of it was that the person who was ignoring him was Harry, the anger he felt was worse than when Harry gripped his hand even.

One thing he hated most was people ignoring him, either because he was too weak or because of any other reason.

Even though he was frustrated and annoyed, he still didn't rush in recklessly, he had already learnt his lesson the first time.

'Since you plan on ignoring me... I would simply give you a reason not too...' Trent said inwardly.

He lifted his hands and started chanting another spell, however, just as he started channeling his mana, he noticed something--his mana had reduced!

If he had focused on his mana flow and not on Harry from the start, he would have noticed it earlier. But he was distracted by this thoughts and foolish pride.

'But how...?' Trent was confused. He had only casted one spell, but the amount of mana that he had lost was unusual. He knew he didn't try to overload the spell, unlike Han, he wasn't that stupid... so how come his mana dropped that much?

Just then his gaze went to Harry, and one thought appeared in his mind: 'Could it be th--'

"Both of you!" A loud voice rang out behind them, causing Harry and Trent to turn their heads towards the direction of the voice.

*****

Hey guys, my UTME examination is coming up in about two months. As you know, I have to prepare and read very hard in order for me to pass the exam so the update would slow for two months. This is why the update rate dropped this week, not because I got lazy or anything.

Most of you(especially the Nigerians) know the exam as JAMB, and you also know how difficult it is to pass it. My aim is to score at least 280 out of 400 in the exam but to do that, I have to read very hard.

I'll still update this novel, it'll update 3-5 times a week, I can't say, it depends on when I'm free to write.

Please keep supporting this novel and sending stones, gifts and tickets to this poor author. (This won't increase the coin price)