The courtyard fell utterly silent.
Faced with Paul's startled question-"Why did my Battle Aura disappear just now?"-
Cui Ciyou showed no sign of panic.
He lowered his wooden sword and gave Paul a faintly apologetic, helpless smile.
"Ah, about that..."
Cui Ciyou scratched his cheek, his tone so matter-of-fact that he might have been discussing something perfectly ordinary.
"Paul, you weren't imagining things."
"That was probably... caused by my innate constitution."
"Your constitution?" Paul froze, clearly unable to follow his reasoning.
"Yes."
Cui Ciyou nodded and patiently explained,
"I have something extremely rare that I call a 'magic nullification constitution.'"
"It isn't a move or a skill. It's more like... a talent I was born with."
Cui Ciyou gathered his thoughts before continuing:
"When I concentrate intensely, a 'field' naturally forms around my body that can suppress, or even eliminate, the flow of magic power."
Cui Ciyou looked at Paul with sincerity in his eyes.
"Battle Aura and magic are both, at their core, magic power."
"Different kinds of magic act on the space outside the body, or combine with substances in the air to produce attack magic involving wind, fire, water, earth, and so on;"
"Or they connect with beings in other dimensions to become summoning magic;"
"Or they take the form of Divine Strike, Healing, and other magic."
Cui Ciyou went on to explain Battle Aura. "Battle Aura is fundamentally magic power, too."
"It simply acts on your own body, strengthening your muscles, stamina, speed, and so on..."
"Or it can be unleashed as Battle Aura, sword energy, and other forms of ranged attack."
"So within my 'Magic Nullification,' it naturally gets suppressed and stops working."
When he finished, everyone was silent.
They were all left dumbstruck by an explanation that sounded like pure fantasy.
A living, humanoid