by Yuu Tanaka
The commentator signaled for the start of the match. “Begin!”
“Ha ha ha! You think that tiny whip can penetrate my thick muscles?!”
Shwoop! Thwack! Poof!
“Wha?”
Shin was dumbfounded. He looked at his hands, wondering where his giant hammer had gone. A heavy thud came from the stands followed by the panicked screams of the audience. Amanda had sent the hammer flying right into the wall. A single crack of her whip was enough to fling it all that way! I knew Amanda was good, but this was ridiculous. Then again, she was able to deal significant damage to the giant Linford back in Bulbola, so this wasn’t even close to her full strength.
“Wh-wha—”
“Now, let’s see how long you last.” As Shin was still processing what had happened, Amanda cracked her whip.
“Gah! Ack! Oof!”
“Come on, now!”
Ten seconds passed, and a bloodied mass of meat lay twitching in the center of the arena. Amanda hadn’t moved an inch. She was whipping up a Mach Five storm. Shin had no way of escaping or blocking her lashes. He was forced to take all of them head on.
“I guess you really are big and slow.”
Amanda was strong. That was not news.
Amanda’s so good!
She is.
The match lit a fire in Fran’s heart, but considering her love for battle, it only added fuel to the blaze. The round continued to the final match of the day.
It’s between Elza and a guy named Jakusho.
Amanda hadn’t won her block yet. Elza was still in play. Now there was a fight we wouldn’t miss.
“Our next contender comes all the way from the far eastern continent of Capur! Hailing from the Hagane archipelago, a swordsman who has dedicated his life to battle: Jakusho!”
Hagane archipelago? I’d never heard of it. Jakusho looked like a samurai. I had seen people clothe themselves with something like a hakama, but Jakusho looked like a ronin right out of a Kurosawa Akira film. He was thin-faced, wearing a long sleeved haori over his shoulders. The black haori looked quite dashing paired with the light blue kimono underneath.
He’s using an actual katana, too. That 500 Attack value is no joke.
His blade was still in its sheath at his waist. It wasn’t enchanted, but its power suggested that it was made by a master swordsmith.
“He cut his opponent’s sword in two during the first round. Can he do it again?! He’ll be up against Ulmutt’s own perfect storm: the Maelstrom, Elza!”
Elza the Maelstrom? That was her nickname? How fitting.
“Well, aren’t you a handsome young man,” Elza remarked.
“…?”
“You’re going to burn me up with that fiery stare of yours.”
“E-excuse me for asking, but…you are a woman, yes?”
“How rude! How could you ask that of a fair lady?”
“I-I apologize…”
Jakusho sounded like a decent fellow. The poor guy probably didn’t know what to think, let alone focus on. Still, he proved his mettle when the match started. He discarded all confusion and treated Elza like any other foe, drawing his blade, which was as sharp as his battle aura.
“Prepare yourself!” he said.
“Oh, I’m ready any time you are!”
“Ergh!”
Well, maybe he hadn’t completely gotten used to Elza yet.
“Yeeeaargh!”
His fighting stance reminded me of the Satsuma Jigen-ryu I’d seen in comic books. The people here probably had a different name for it, but that was the image that came to my mind. Jakusho kicked the ground and charged forward, bringing his sword down on Elza. The samurai had become one with his blade. Even Elza didn’t have time to react. The crowd gasped with anticipation as Jakusho’s sword buried itself into her shoulder, but Elza proved herself to be one of Ulmutt’s finest. The blade should’ve cut her in half, so everyone was shocked to find that it stopped midway through her collarbone.
“What…!”
“Tee hee. Gotcha!”
That was the result of a perfectly timed Barrier and Steel Body, but that wasn’t all. She also braced her muscles, tightening her body’s hold on Jakusho’s sword. Try as he might, the samurai couldn’t pull the blade out of Elza’s body. Elza pulled him into a submission hold, and Jakusho immediately surrendered. Elza’s enjoyment was on full display for the audience to see. The contrast between Jakusho’s drained look and Elza’s revitalized appearance was a terrifying sight.
Best to keep your distance if you have to go up against her.
Hm. She’s strong.
Sure, but…uhh, never mind. Just don’t let her grab you.
“Hm!”
Two days after Fran fought Cruise, the third round of the tournament was upon us. As expected, Fran was going up against Colbert.
Despite predicting our opponent, I was quite nervous, but Fran seemed calm. I’d taught her some meditation exercises, and she took to them immediately. I was no expert, but I knew what it was supposed to look like. Sit on the floor, close your eyes, focus on your breathing. She had been sitting in this meditative state for well over ten minutes.
“Zzz…”
Wake up!
“Bwuh!”
Look, if you’re going to sleep, you might as well lie down.
“Didn’t mean to.”
At least she wasn’t nervous. Still, Gaudartha sure was taking his time. Usually he’d be done by now, and an attendant would be telling Fran to get ready, but it was another five minutes before Fran got her summons.
“Fran, please make your way to the arena.”
“Hm!” Fran fluffed Jet for good luck and got up. She grinned as she left the room. “Let’s do this.”
She wasn’t overly tense or overly relaxed. Perfect.
Teacher, we have to give it our all today.
Should I help from the start?
Hm. I want to finish the match as quick as possible.
The request was unusual for Fran. She wanted to skip the pleasantries of gauging her opponent and go right on the offensive. I agreed with her. Battle junkies tended to watch the opponent’s movements to gauge their ability. It allowed them to understand what their foe was capable of, but it came at the cost of their defense.
Colbert was likely to engage in this same practice. Fran would gladly exploit that for the sake of a formal audience with the Beast King. She had no more reason to hide from Rigdith. He wouldn’t mind her showing how strong she really was.
We walked down the familiar hallway and entered the arena. The crowd greeted Fran with more intense applause this time. I finally understood what people meant when they said an atmosphere was electric.
“The dark horse enters the arena. After claiming victory in the previous two rounds, will she continue her blaze of glory?! The rising superstar: Black Cat Fran!”
Fran was the first to enter the ring. The roar of the crowd echoed through the stadium. I could pick out a few distinct voices. Some of them were angry about money they’d lost on the first two matches. Even more cheered her on, having supported her from the start. Then there was the loud applause of her fellow adventurers.
The last group surprised me, but it made sense when I saw that they were Elza’s underlings. They probably got direct orders to support her. But the sight of macho adventurers cheering on a little girl was still odd, and the people around them watched with slightly disturbed looks.
Fran smiled back, clearly not minding the attention. The audience cheered at her display of cuteness. Why yes, she was cute indeed, thank you very much.
The crowd greeted her challenger with as much fervor as they had Fran.
“And now, the Swordceress’ challenger. He made a name for himself beating things up with his bare hands: Steelclaw Colbert!”
I checked Colbert’s stats again and found that they hadn’t changed from the last time we met. Of course, part of it might be concealed under the Dimitris Seal, and we couldn’t rule out the
possibility of Fake Identity, either. We had to be on our guard.
“Hey, little lady,” he said. “Been expecting you.”
“Hm. You too.”
“Ha ha ha. I can’t go around losing to the lower ranks. I’m a B-Rank, remember?”
“Do I count as lower rank?”
“Not really, I don’t think… Still, I won’t lose to you on principle.”
“Agreed. I need to win this, too.”
“Guess we’re in the same boat.”
Sparks flew from their stares. While it wasn’t enough to create a fireworks display, their fighting spirit was heavy enough to quiet down the raucous crowd. They watched with bated breath as Fran and Colbert took their places.
“Second match of the third round. Begin!”
“Here we go…”
As we predicted, Colbert dropped into a defensive stance and waited for Fran to make the first move. He was confident that she would open the match with measured strikes here and there, but we had every intention of kicking right into high gear. No hard feelings, Colbert!
Stone Wall! Fire Wall! Wind Wall!
I cast three spells immediately. The walls of stone, fire, and wind formed a cramped tunnel around Fran and Colbert.
“Tch!” He reacted immediately and broke through the ceiling, but I had anticipated that.
“Inferno Burst.”
Inferno Burst.
We both cast a flame spell this time. Fire filled the tunnel and chased after Colbert as he made his escape. The intense heat was already melting the stone walls, but the inner reinforcement of fire and wind prevented the tunnel from collapsing. This attack served a two-pronged purpose: It kept Colbert from escaping, and focused the flames into a backdraft. His escape path was already consumed by bright red fire.
We kept the pressure on. We knew that our opener wasn’t enough to incapacitate the B-Rank adventurer.
“Wind Bullet!”
Stone Bullet!
Since Fran and I couldn’t see Colbert through the flame and smoke, we aimed for his aura. The shots of stone and wind would confirm his location, and then we could begin our real attack.
“Haaa!”
Let’s go!
I couldn’t remember the last time I used Telekinetic Catapult. While I couldn’t reach maximum velocity in the short tunnel, it would be enough to deal significant damage…or so I thought.
“Nryaaaa!”
Whoa!
Just as I was about to lodge myself in his trunk, Colbert punched the flat of my blade, deflecting me. It threw off my trajectory, and for a moment I was convinced he had knocked me into the day after tomorrow. He blocked Telekinetic Catapult—the finishing move of our opening combo—with ease. Colbert was burnt in some places, but the spells didn’t seem to have slowed him down.
He was strong. We needed to end this fight before he got serious.
I used a wind spell to adjust my trajectory, and Transmogrified my blade into a spiked ball. I used Elemental Blade, too—Thunder element.
“Whaaat?!” Colbert shouted.
He wasn’t expecting a sword to come to a full stop and turn into a spiked ball of electricity. How much Defense did he have?! My spikes could easily penetrate steel, but Colbert’s leather armor was not having it. Fortunately, the thunder element gave my blade a shocking quality.
“A-a-a-a-a-a-a!” Colbert screamed as electricity coursed through his body. Lightning still worked.
“Stun Bolt!” Fran followed up with another thunder spell. Good! Colbert was glowing and shedding blue sparks.
“Urgh…!”
“Time to end this!” Fran shouted. “Gale Hazard!”
She used a wind spell, intent on taking the win while Colbert was at a safe distance. If we learned anything from the Cruise fight, it was that fighters had an insane tendency to make comebacks. The spell blew Colbert a good twenty meters, and he was on trajectory to hit the stands.
Fran kept watch, waiting for the impact. If Colbert somehow changed directions, she would force him back with another spell. We stayed on our guard…
“Hrmph.”
Did he…use a Return Feather?
Colbert was gone. That much was clear, but where was he? I looked around, but couldn’t spot him anywhere.
“Up.”
Above?!
Colbert was in the air above the ring. He didn’t have to worry about getting knocked out from up there, and he could watch all of his opponent’s movements. It was a good spot to make a tactical retreat, and a good use of a disposable item. That said, it opened him up to attack as he fell.
“Hm!”
Fran wasted no time in exploiting Colbert’s descent and shot off some wind spells, focusing on speed and range instead of raw damage. Meanwhile, I launched some flame spells to confuse him. The fire would end the match if it landed. Our combination should have knocked him out of the air, and we hoped it would knock him outside the ring, but Colbert crushed our expectations. He punched our spells out of the air, dissipating them into energy.
He’s charged his fists with mana!
Colbert accelerated down towards Fran, probably with a movement skill like Air Hop.
“Haaaa! Raaagh!”
He punched the air, forming waves of impact that shot towards us. While each blast was relatively weak, there were many of them, and Fran prepared herself by casting a wide-area barrier.
Our blast of flame was enough to block Colbert’s shockwaves, but he saw it coming. He was trying to stop Fran for long enough that he could recover.
He landed safely and stared at Fran as he dropped into an impenetrable stance. Fran met his gaze with equal intensity.
“Phew,” he said. “That was dirty.”
“I saw an opening and I took advantage. That was all.”
“I guess you did. I didn’t expect you to be such a good mage. Honestly, I’m kind of shocked that you hid it from me for so long.”
“I could say the same for you. You have more mana now?”
Fran was right. Colbert did have a higher Magic rating than before.
Name: Colbert
Age: 38
Race: Human
Class: Steel Fist
Level: 41/99
HP: 381/508; Magic: 330/452; Strength: 299; Agility: 253
Skills: Disassemble 4; Martial Arts 6; Martial Arts Mastery 6; Danger Sense 3; Advanced Punch Mastery 2; Punch Arts 9; Punch Mastery 10; Breath Control: Harden 4; Brute Force 8; Blink 9; Swim 4; Ocean Resistance 2; Throw 4; Dimitris Combat Arts 8; Dimitris Combat Mastery 8;
Physical Barrier 4; Mana Thruster 5; Sleep Resistance 3; Paralysis Resistance 4; Cooking 3; Hawkeye; Beast Killer; Split Thinking; Spirit Manipulation
Class Skill: Steel Fist
Titles: Bear Killer; Tiger Killer
Equipment: Water Dragon Leather Gloves; Aged Water Tiger Gi; Aged Water Tiger Shoes; Red Maw Bear Bandanna; Red Maw Bear Cloak; Bracelet of Pain Resistance; Bracelet of Physical Resistance.
Was this his unleashed state? His stats were greatly increased, and he’d gained the skills Dimitris Combat, Physical Barrier, Mana Thruster, and Split Thinking. Brute Force and Blink were at higher levels, and the boost in Colbert’s stats was nothing to scoff at, either. A hundred points for HP and Magic, and fifty for both Strength and Agility. His Dimitris Combat skills were on display now. Colbert felt like a completely different person.
Careful. He took off his seal.
“You took off your seal?”
“So you noticed.”
Colbert let out a resigned sigh. Taking off the Dimitris seal for personal gain was forbidden. The act might be enough to get him expelled from his school. I should press him on that point.
Fran, repeat after me.
“Hm.”
We could take advantage of this opening.
“Won’t you get expelled for removing your seal for personal gain?”
“It’s happened to others in the past, yeah.”
“So are you going to get expel
led, too?”
“Maybe.” Colbert frowned.
“Why did you do it, then?”
Fran’s question made him grimace. He shook his head. “I might get expelled, yes. But there’s something more important than that!” Colbert shouted as he returned to his stance.
“Like what?”
“Simple. The honor of the Dimitris Combat School!” he declared confidently.
But “honor,” you say?
“Will unleashing your full power against a child bring honor to the school?”
That got him. “I…”
“Well?”
“Sorry,” he said. “I was getting ahead of myself.”
“You were.”
“Ugh…you’re right. I have no business spouting idealistic nonsense now.” The conversation took a somber turn. I might have gone too far. “I’m sorry. I admit that I’m doing this for my own selfish reasons. I won’t let my beloved Dimitris style be defeated by a C-Rank. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. The Dimitris Combat School is the strongest in the world.”
Colbert’s mana wrapped around his body. Its sheer density made it as thick as full plate armor.
“I could never forgive myself if people thought ill of the Dimitris style! I’ll risk excommunication if I have to!”
Colbert was determined to prove the strength of his school. I had to give him props for it. But his declaration only steeled Fran’s resolve.
“I see.”
Fran was going to enjoy this match to the fullest now. She didn’t much care about winning as much as she loved battling a strong opponent.
“Gale Hazard!”
Fran cast another area-of-effect spell to slow him down, then charged right at him. Colbert was stronger now, but his Advanced Punch Mastery was still the same. Fran had the upper hand in a straight melee. The only thing we had to look out for was his Dimitris Combat skill. I kept an eye open as Fran rushed in…
“Haaaa!”
“Dimitris Combat Arts! Asura!”
“Ugh!”
Two arms emerged from each of Colbert’s shoulders, stopping Fran’s attack. He was able to manipulate this condensed mana like his own limbs, making him the spitting image of the six-limbed god who was his attack’s namesake. His magic arms were strong…strong enough even to stop me with my Elemental Blade.
