The Magician of Sound

Chapter 16 - Another Problem?

(AN: Feel free to correct me If I'm wrong.)

"Yeah. I researched some melodies that work best for magical beasts and humans. Both magical beasts and humans have four categories of brainwaves. Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta.

"I won't explain everything to you since it's not related to this. I'll try to explain this as simply as I can since it'll be useful for you to know so we can make a better plan.

"Beta brainwave dominate our usual state - Aroused, alert, concentrated, but also somewhat stressed.

"Alpha is when we're in a relaxed and focused state. It's the ideal state to learn new information, analyze complex situations, and more.

"As for Theta... you'll have a dream when you sleep, while in Delta state, you won't have a dream.

"This is a bit complicated to explain. But don't expect for this trick to work if the magical beast knows that the sound came from me. Since they move following their instincts, I can only use this skill to lower their guards, nothing more," Kai explained.

"There are two other skills that I can use. I have an improved neutral magic shield. And the other one... I don't think I should tell you about this since I won't use it unless I'm forced to. Just a heads-up, even I won't escape unscathed if I use it."

"..." Ayaka looked at him dumbfounded. She unconsciously dropped her jaw, and her eyes were hollow.

Kai looked at her shocked look. He tried to wave his hand in front of her eyes, but to no avail. He then patted her shoulder a few times until she woke up from her daze.

"Ah!"

"I... I just realized that I haven't put enough effort this entire time," Ashamed, Ayaka said while looking down.

She remembered what her grandfather said. Kai was an unorthodox magician. All of her skills came from the records where she could quickly learn it. She just followed the instructions and eventually mastered the skills.

But Kai didn't have such a thing. Kai researched everything by himself, experimenting and perfecting them through trials and errors. She finally realized why Kai could trounce her.

She shook her head furiously. She couldn't feel down at the moment because they would fight magical beasts after this. Kai only explained his skills a little as he only told their uses, not their principles.

Another reason why he told her his skills was because according to Tasha, this pairing thing would be valid for their entire year. It would be a hassle if they didn't know about at least their partner's basic knowledge.

He didn't know whether Ayaka knew about this pairing rule since she suddenly asked him to be his pair. Well, he didn't really mind it either.

He knew Ayaka was smart and strong. He didn't have a big goal like becoming the strongest or killing S-rank magical beasts. He only wanted to survive in this chaotic world.

Having a partner like her would increase his chance of survival. He was not a hero or a good person, he was just a logical person... or at least someone trying to become one.

"So, I assume your Sound Insulation Room is for fighting a single magical beast only. While your... What's the name for the one that affects brainwaves?"

"Melody Resonance."

She nodded, "Your 'Melody Resonance' is for a group fight. To lower their guards or something."

"You're basically right," Kai nodded his head.

"All right. Since that's the case, how about using your Melody Resonance to lower the monster's guard? We can then ambush them together."

"I'm fine with that," Kai agreed with her plan.

"Then we should go now," Ayaka said.

Both of them then started moving toward the group of ten magical beasts. When they arrived, it was a group of ten bulls. The rank of these black-colored bulls was E.

Considering Ayaka's and Kai's skills, they weren't that dangerous. They hid behind a tree around five meters from the bulls. Kai then started using his Melody Resonance.

He was planning to make the bulls sleepy. It might be hard to make the bull sleep, so Kai's objective was to lower their guards down, at least enough for them to make a surprise attack.

"Melody Resonance."

A magic circle appeared beneath his feet. The magic circle suddenly produced a deep and soothing tone.

The sound traveled through the air and reached the magical beasts' ears. They didn't realize that they were being affected by Kai's magic.

The bulls, who were previously energetic, stopped moving after a minute. It wasn't that they were sleeping, it was just that they were just sleepy enough not to want to move their body.

Although Ayaka knew it was due to Kai, she was still affected by it. She pinched her hand to stay focused.

Kai looked at her and nodded. She nodded back, and both of them immediately jumped toward the bulls.

"Burn to Cinders, Flares."

A few fire whips immediately killed three sleepy bulls. Kai didn't have such superior firepower, which was another reason why he used two swords. It was so he could increase the little firepower he had.

Kai beheaded two bulls. The bulls suddenly woke up from their entranced state.

"Moo!" With that wake-up call, the other four bulls also woke up. Kai immediately killed another two bulls while Ayaka killed one with her spear. The last two bulls were immediately enraged and charged at them.

Kai only dodged to the side to avoid the bull's charge and sent its head flying with his sword. At the same time, Ayaka jumped upward and stabbed the bull's back with her long spear, thus killing it.

Fortunately, they were able to finish them in an instant. Ayaka's plan proved to be effective.

"We did it," Ayaka said with a smile.

'To think about the plan yourself, to tell it to your friend, and to execute it perfectly and to get good results. Such a thing would always make people happy.'

It was what Ayaka felt. Kai only nodded his head with a smile.

"We're going to the next group," Ayaka said while pumping her fist.

They went to the other group in Kai's options. It was a group of blue lizards. Surprisingly, these lizards were able to walk on two feet. These lizards were a bit skinny, considering they were magical beasts.

They used the same strategy. But because they weren't close enough, Ayaka's Flares only managed to kill two. So, with the first wave of attack, they only managed to kill four lizards.

Both Kai and Ayaka engaged with three lizards each. Because the lizards managed to escape from that state instantly, Kai and Ayaka struggled a bit to kill these lizards.

After around two minutes, they finally managed to kill all of them.

"Do you find any good targets?" Ayaka asked.

"Well, there's another group, but this one seems pretty hard, since it's a group of thirty. This area seems to be quite difficult, since most of the magical beasts are in groups."

"All right. We should do what we can. So we're going to kill them for now. We can search for another later." Ayaka said

Kai nodded.

Kai led her to the targets' location. It turned out to be a group of wolves. Kai sweatdropped. He murmured, "It is going to be a bit troublesome."

Hearing his murmur, Ayaka asked, "Should we change our target?"

Kai wanted to nod his head, but suddenly, a loud howl echoed through the forest.

"Aooo!"

Kai and Ayaka immediately looked at the wolves. It turned out that they were spotted by one of the wolves.

"Not good!" Both of them said at the same time.

The wolves immediately ran toward them.

"Move around while killing the wolves one by one," Kai instructed.

"Understood." Ayaka nodded her head, and both of them immediately started running away.

Of course, the wolves immediately caught up with them.

"Burn to Cinders, Flares."

Ayaka tried to attack the wolves with her Flares, but because of the wolves' agility, all of them managed to avoid her magic.

"Ayaka... you can fly, right?"

"Yes."

"Then follow me," Kai said.

"Got it."

They suddenly headed to the left of their base. Kai wanted to lead them toward a fifteen-meter cliff.

On the way, Ayaka thought about killing all of them with her firepower. However, Kai told her not to do that since it would attract the nearby magical beasts' attention.

If they didn't want to attract other monsters, they could only parry every attack from the wolves while making their way toward the cliff.

Kai could hear more than a hundred monsters nearby. This was the exact reason why he forbade Ayaka from using her full power. It would attract them.

After two minutes of continuous running, they finally arrived in front of a tall cliff.

"There's only a cliff here!" Ayaka shouted to Kai.

"Up there. We're now pretty far from the monsters. You can blow these wolves away from up there," Kai shouted.

"Oh. So that's what you were planning. Grab my hand." Ayaka said while stretching her hand. Normally, she would be embarrassed, but she forgot about it at the moment.

Kai immediately grabbed her hand. At the same time, a magic circle appeared on her back, which soon turned into a pair of wings.

They immediately flew toward the cliff. She released Kai's hand after they reached the top of the cliff.

The wolves also climbed the steep rocky cliff skillfully. Looking at this, Ayaka used another magic.

"Scarlet Explosion!"

The magic circle shot out a small fireball toward the center of the wolf pack. The small ball exploded and released massive heat.

It killed most of the wolves from the pack. But the three wolves in the front managed to escape the explosion and reached the top. They jumped forward, trying to bite Ayaka with their sharp fangs.

Kai immediately went in front of her and made a shield to block the wolves' charge.

"Aoo."

Their charge was immediately stopped by his shield, and he immediately moved to the left while swinging his sword. Ayaka smiled and used her magic.

"Burn to Cinders, Flares."

Because of their previous move, the wolves were incapable of changing their direction. With their current position, it was absolute for Ayaka to kill two of them.

Kai already predicted that and swung his sword to the third one. Finally, they killed all of them, except for the pack's leader.

Ayaka and Kai jumped from the cliff and fought with the leader. After a minute, even a C-rank wolf would die from the continuous attacks from Kai and Ayaka.

"Aooo!" The wolf leader let out its last howl before it fell to the ground and died.

"We succe-" Ayaka wanted to say, but before she managed to say it, Kai pushed her to the side.

"Roar!" A white ape suddenly jumped off from the cliff, trying to attack Ayaka with its fist.

Kai pushed her, and he became the target of the fist.

"Not good!"