The thing Raphael used is called a power scanner, a version that can be used in combat.

This thing is rare not because the crafting method or the patterns on the lens are lost but because it requires a lot of rare materials.

It’s made from many types of special, hard mineral rocks, plus a lens from a type of natural crystal with extraordinary durability. Only those with great strength can use those materials to craft it.

In terms of value, it’s far inferior to storage crystals because it lacks practical application. Seeing the enemy’s actual combat power isn’t that meaningful, and at too high a level, it’s not durable enough to withstand attacks.

The top powerhouses on the continent can already gauge relatively well whether an enemy’s combat power is weaker or stronger than theirs. The margin of error isn’t small, but in a fight like that, it’s enough.

Because Raphael wanted to find a way to train the three of them, not long ago he went to some wealthy noble family and ‘borrowed’ it indefinitely.

With this, he can accurately calculate the gap between the enemy and the three of them to decide when he should step in to protect them.

Actually, there’s a cheaper version of the power scanner. It’s basically ordinary glasses, very fragile to wear into battle. But it can be used to assess the combat power of energy monsters to find which one is suitable for absorption.

But Raphael is a demigod. Using that cheap stuff is a bit beneath his status. Now he’s not the drunk, depressed old man from a few years ago, so if he’s looking for something, he’s gonna find the good stuff.

With his strength, sneaking into a noble’s house at night and ‘borrowing’ a power scanner isn’t hard. Later, if he feels he doesn’t need it anymore, he might consider returning it if that noble comes asking for it.

“Combat power is five. Plus the enemy already has a technique, and it’s the control type. Hmm, if they’re in life-threatening danger, I’ll step in.”

The three of them have a combat power of three, the total is indeed greater than five but actually you can’t calculate it like that. You can use weight classes in combat sports as an example, the difference in weight class creates a huge gap.

Among the three brats blocking them, the girl holding the sword at the front saw the kid read the lines wrong and immediately corrected him. Her finger pointed at the ground and she said.

“This road we opened.”

Then she pointed at the surrounding trees.

“These trees we planted.”

Finally she turned her palm toward Iris in a begging gesture.

“Wanna keep going? Then you gotta pay.”

???

Look around you, those trees nearby are at least several decades old. You saying you planted them makes sense?

And what do you mean by ‘this road we opened’? With the little strength of kids, not even contractors, can they open a road?

All three of them found these lines confusing. It looked like something written by someone with a mental issue.

Plus after observing a bit, Michael and Leo also noticed the kids’ movements were a little weird. They were stiff as if being controlled, and their eyes were empty like temporarily disabled.

“Are they being controlled?”

Normally he doesn’t think much of Iris, but when something happened, Michael still asked her first. No choice, when it comes to weird abilities on this continent, she’s the most experienced among the three.

“You blind? You can’t see that clearly? Look closely, behind them there’s a very thin string with energy fluctuations.”

Michael squinted in the direction Iris pointed but didn’t see anything. Leo wasn’t much better, he saw the thread but where were the energy fluctuations?

“I don’t see anything? Ah, looks like there’s a thin string. But nothing else special, though. What if they just got caught on some thread or spiderweb?”

“Oh, forgot that my eyes aren’t exactly normal either. You could call it a small buff that makes me more sensitive to energy. Once you guys level up higher, you’ll probably be able to sense it just as well as me.”

Iris added some ‘normal’ elements, according to her perception, to the human body. So she didn’t consider it anything special, nothing surprising.

“You guys ignoring me? You think my sword isn’t sharp enough? Uhm…”

The girl pointed her sword at them and yelled, then suddenly lowered her voice when she looked at the sword in her hand.

“It’s really not sharp, but if you get slashed, you’ll still get tetanus. Scared now?”

The act was very unprofessional, but the voice had some spirit to it. This was probably enough to scare ordinary people, but unluckily for them, they ran into three who weren’t ordinary.

Iris was a progressive human, so she treated everyone fairly. No matter their age, she’d fight them the same, no distinction between young or old. After all, everyone in front of her was young, none truly qualified to be called old.

“Scared my ass. Even if you’re being controlled, if you dare provoke me, you’re done.”

She immediately shifted into Dragon form and shot up like a cannonball, charging straight toward the girl.

The girl stared at her without any emotion, and the two boys beside her also raised their weapons, ready to fight.

“Don’t kill them!”

Of course, besides Leo, no one else would say that. As for Michael, he simply couldn’t be bothered. Not charging up with Iris to beat up some kids was already him doing a good deed.

To Michael, three unfamiliar kids being controlled were a bit pitiful, but three unfamiliar kids being controlled who dared point weapons at him weren’t pitiful at all.

“Tsk, wouldn’t killing them be faster?”

Iris clicked her tongue, but Leo was a comrade after all. The request wasn’t too hard, so it was acceptable. She’d done this with Michael all the time, so it’d be easy.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep