The Witch Hunter System

"I noticed the mana movements of your magic spell, Rock Bullet, activated before you even started chanting the spell, my Lady. On top of that, it was incredibly fast, far superior to when you conjured the barrier and demolished the cave wall," Vaan calmly explained.

"Such sharp observation…" Linette expresses her astonishment with wide eyes. "With just those three instances, you were able to figure out my specialized magic?"

"Generally, it shouldn't be easy to guess, but the difference between the Rock Bullet and the other two instances of magic casting was too great not to notice," Vaan replied.

When Vaan said, Captain Rhys' calm expression crumpled wryly while he meditated some distance away.

He didn't notice what Vaan noticed at all.

At the same time, Lillias's eyes sparkled. As expected of the man she was interested in, he was rather capable.

She wondered if he had other skills he had yet to reveal.

"However, there is something that I don't understand, my Lady," Vaan mentioned.

"What is it that you don't understand, Vaan," Linette stated before making a gesture for him to continue, "Please speak freely."

"From what I can see, your specialized magic enables you to perform powerful attack magic with lower mana consumption," Vaan mentioned.

"If you had used it on the Rank 3 Dark Hellhound, you would have injured it even if you couldn't kill it; why did you choose to expend all your mana on a barrier instead, my Lady?"

"I… I'm sorry. At that time, I thought that if I didn't use barrier magic, we would have all died under the Rank 3 Dark Hellhound's fangs," Linette lowered her head in apology.

However, Vaan shortly lifts her head back up before shaking his head.

"I'm not trying to blame you, my Lady. I wouldn't dare," Vaan smiled wryly and said, "I was just seeking to understand your choice of magic."

"Of course, using barrier magic to defend was not wrong, but sometimes, the best offense is the best defense, especially if your specialized magic learns towards attack magic, my Lady," Vaan inputted his opinion shortly after.

Nevertheless, it's not like he could not understand Linette's choices.

It was clear to him that she lacked battle experience, and she relied on her household's specialty, defense magic, even though her specialty deferred from it.

Even so, the Delarosa Household's defense magic was nothing to scoff at.

The Delarosa Household's defense magic played one of the key roles in repelling the demons during the Great War against Gehenna Realm's invasion and allowed the Delarosa Household to rise as one of the kingdom's most powerful witch households.

Sometimes, the strongest witch isn't the witch with the strongest attack magic, nor the witch with the highest cultivation; the one who survives becomes the strongest.

"You've said something quite strange, Vaan. Our mother taught us that the Delarosa Household's strongest defense magic is the best offense, not the other way around," Lillias inserted her opinion with knitted brows.

Vaan's statement had completely reversed their mother's, the High Witch Belline Delarosa's teachings.

Nevertheless, Vaan responded to her doubt with a smile.

"That's right," he agreed with a nod before adding, "The strongest defense is the strongest offense, but the opposite is equally true; it depends on the witch's specialized magic. Marquis Delarosa's specialized magic is Earth Reinforcement; that's why the former applies to her."

It was common knowledge that High Witch Belline's specialized magic was Earth Reinforcement; the history books in the academy recorded many of her feats during the Great War.

"However, in Lady Linette's case, the latter applies to her. You can make something weak strong, but it won't be considered the strongest if you have something strong that can become stronger," Vaan stated.

The Delarosa Household's three-hundred years of rigid and traditional belief was not easy to change, but he wanted to point Linette in the right direction and give her god-given talents the chance to bloom.

"Weak can be strong, but strong can be stronger…"

Linette softly muttered before she seemed to have understood something, causing her eyes to shine like the starry sky.

"Thank you, Vaan. You introduced a different train of thought and broadened my horizons," she expressed her gratitude sincerely with a bow, giving Vaan the highest respect any man could receive in a witch kingdom.

"Sister, you…" Lillias uttered with surprise.

Witches can give a man respect where it is due, but they should never bow to one even when they are in the wrong, especially noble witches.

It wasn't just to uphold their reputable status but to cement their authority over men and extinguish any idea they had of rising above witches.

Nevertheless, Linette did not think much about it.

Respect is given where it is due, and gratitude must be expressed and conveyed sincerely when needed.

"Don't overthink it. Vaan's advice is invaluable. There is nothing wrong about a student bowing to her teacher," Linette said.

However, Vaan gave her a forced smile and said, "I'm flattered and honored for you think like that, my Lady, I really do. However, you shouldn't do that again, especially in public."

"If word of a witch bowing to a man ever reaches the queen, not the witch will be heavily punished, but the man will… Well, the queen will behead him. Hahaha, you won't mind if I take some sips to calm my tensed nerves, right, my Lady?"

Vaan made an excuse while pretending to be nervous due to Linette's action in order to move on from the topic and drink some Stalactite Milk.

He was quite curious about the Stalactite Milk's effects on his body.

'Given the system's ability to optimize rewards, I should be able to get something good out of it, right?' Vaan silently thought.

Linette was grateful to Vaan; thus, she saw no reason to stop him before the Stalactite Milk could be equally divided.

After all, her little sister had already taken some sips.

"Of course, please help yourself," Linette permitted with a gesture before suddenly saying, "But how can the Stalactite Milk and my specialized magic help me kill a Rank 3 Dark Hellhound?"

Typically, it wasn't easy for people to slay monsters above their level, let alone an entire rank.

"Oh, that?" Vaan smiled and said, "I'll teach you new magic that will make it possible, my Lady."