"Hahaha!"
After hearing the answer from Ide's mouth, Ur immediately burst into laughter. She looked up slightly at Ide and said, "You're saying you don't know magic? Are you joking with me? You killed thousands of people without magic? Or do you think I'm just simple and easy to fool?"
"Uh."
Ide remained silent. Was he supposed to pat Ur on the shoulder and say:
First, I really don't know magic! Second, you really do give off a simple and easy-to-fool vibe?
"Give me your hand!"
Just as Ide was wondering how to answer her, Ur seemed to have laughed her fill. With an incredibly rough movement, she grabbed Ide's hands and stripped off the leather gloves he was wearing.
"What are you doing?" Ide asked, looking at Ur suspiciously.
"Hehe."
"Didn't you say you can't use magic?"
"Then let me see for myself whether you actually have Magic Power in your body. Magic Power doesn't lie..."
Ur stopped mid-sentence, as if a fishbone had suddenly stuck in her throat.
Then, under Ide's puzzled gaze, Ur's delicate small hands began to repeatedly rub and feel his battle-hardened, rough hands.
Ide could see Ur's eyes widening further and further. A hint of daze appeared in the depths of her eyes as she muttered to herself, "This isn't right... There really isn't a trace of Magic Power in Ide's body? Is this a joke?"
"I didn't lie to you, did I?"
"I really don't know magic!"
While Ur was still in a daze, Ide's voice slowly drifted down from above her head. Whether it was her imagination or not, she detected a hint of pride and teasing in his tone.
"If you don't know magic, then how did you defeat those thousands of rebel soldiers?!" Ur snapped back to her senses and questioned him.
"Haki," Ide answered without hesitation.
"Haki?!" Ur froze. She seemed to have never heard of this ability called "Haki."
"Haki is a means for people to transform their willpower into offensive power!"
As Ide spoke, he calmly drew his favorite blade from his waist, then silently concentrated the Haki within his body onto the edge of the blade.
Zzzzzzt!!
Ur heard a piercing sound explode in her ears. She saw a strange, black gas slowly extending from Ide's arm until it completely coated the sharp blade of his weapon. Furthermore, Ur noticed black lightning flickering around Ide from time to time.
Boom!
Next, another explosive roar sounded in Ur's ears. Ide swung the blade forward violently, releasing a pitch-black slash carrying the force of thunder.
The slash traveled for a full kilometer before dissipating, plowing a bottomless trench along its path and completely destroying the mountain forest in the distance.
"Is this Haki?" Ur murmured to herself, her pupils shrinking slightly as she stared at the strike that seemed capable of tearing both sky and earth.
After a long while, once Ur had processed the scene, she glared at Ide and said coldly, "Hey, hey, hey! Since you already possess such powerful strength, why are you so obsessed with magic?"
"Because magic is stronger!" Ide replied with a firm gaze.
"Huh?!"
Ur was stunned. She looked at Ide and shook her head repeatedly, stating, "Though I don't know how you judged that magic is stronger than Haki, there is one thing I must tell you: I have never seen anyone stronger than you."
"That's because you haven't seen enough of the world." Ide laughed, gently rubbing Ur's head with a teasing expression.
"You bastard."
Ur forcefully slapped Ide's hand away, her face flushing red with anger—looking quite cute.
"Didn't you ask me earlier why I was lying in the snow?"
"To be honest, the reason I was lying there is that I encountered an incredibly powerful 'Wizard' and lost the fight."
Ide recalled Imu's almost excessive combat power, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.
"Is... is that so?"
Upon hearing the answer, Ur's pupils shrank in disbelief. "So there really is such a powerful Wizard in this world?"
"So, how about this?"
"I'll teach you Haki, and you teach me magic."
Ide looked directly at Ur's exquisite face. After thinking for a moment, he proposed the trade.
"You said it yourself—magic is stronger than Haki. In that case, I'll just focus on studying magic. That will be enough."
"As for your desire to learn magic, just leave it to me."
Ur shook her head gently. Although she really wanted to learn that ability called "Haki," she hadn't even mastered magic yet. She didn't want to learn too many things at once, lest she bite off more than she could chew.
"Fine."
Ide didn't intend to force Ur to learn Haki; he respected her wishes. As long as he could learn magic, that was enough for him.
"Alright then."
"Since you plan to learn magic, take off your clothes first."
As Ur spoke, she began to actively take off her own clothes.
"Uh."
"So fast?"
"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?!"
Ide watched as Ur removed her thick cotton coat, revealing her graceful and full figure. He subconsciously licked his lips, which were bone-dry from the cold wind.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
"Do you want to learn magic or not? If you want to learn, you have to strip!"
When it came to Ice-Make Magic, Ur became like a different person, looking at Ide with extreme seriousness.
"I'll strip!"
"I definitely have to strip!"
Ide's speed in undressing was remarkably fast. In the blink of an eye, he had removed his shirt and started pulling off his pants.
"Wait, Ide."
"You don't need to take off your underwear."
Seeing this, Ur stopped him, her forehead lined with exasperation.
Hiss.
When Ide was down to just his underwear, he gasped as the cold wind hit him, and he gritted his teeth.
"Calm your mind and feel the energy in the atmosphere."
"If you really want to learn magic, you must first sense the magic particles in the atmosphere, draw them into your body, and store them in your Magic Origin."
Ur spoke very slowly, her voice gentle. Ide subconsciously relaxed and quickly entered a state of "meditation."
"I see... so these blue particles floating in the air are magic particles?!"
Sensing magical energy was no trouble at all for Ide, who possessed high-level Observation Haki. He quickly followed Ur's instructions, captured the magic particles in the atmosphere, and slowly began to draw them into his body.
"Huh?"
If Ur hadn't already known that Ide was extraordinary, she would never have believed his words.
After all, even the most talented Wizards usually need several hours to sense magic particles when they first encounter magic.
"System, open!"
In a place Ur couldn't see, Ide spoke silently in the depths of his heart.