by Yuu Tanaka
“Grah!”
“Urk!”
Colbert’s counterpunch blew Fran away. Like Cruise, he could block and attack at the same time, but Colbert was far more dangerous. Fran managed to block in time, but I took a huge hit to my durability. Colbert’s punch would’ve severely injured Fran if she had taken a direct hit.
“Let’s go!”
“Haaa!”
Fran handled her sword better than Colbert did his hands, but he had six of them now. The arms snaked about, blocking Fran’s strikes as they came. What was worse, although Fran managed to damage his mana arms, Colbert could repair them instantly. They were the perfect shield.
The perfect shield was also the perfect weapon. Unlike human hands, they didn’t follow the laws of physics, and could stretch and make impossible strikes from odd angles. Colbert’s Advanced Punch Mastery only multiplied this effect. He was used to attacking with his bare hands, and now he had more hands to use.
“Raaah!”
“Urgh!”
The mana arms finally caught up and punched right through Fran’s lungs.
Greater Heal!
The spell instantly healed her injury, but she was still reeling. Colbert exploited this gap in her defense and rushed her with a flurry of blows. It didn’t take long for an even larger gap to form.
“I’ve got you now!”
What?!
Colbert’s mana hand engulfed me. It wrapped tight around my blade and refused to let go. I managed to Telekinesis my way out, but he was only trying to stop me for a second. Exploiting the tiny gaps in his opponent’s defense was Colbert’s game plan.
Fran managed to avoid his blows, but she was clearly hurting. Elza said that the Dimitris Style used Spirit energy to destroy an opponent’s insides with some kind of reverberation. All of Colbert’s attacks had this effect. Fran was still getting hurt even when she blocked his blows. Her barrier was doing its best, but it wasn’t quite enough. It wouldn’t take long for her to collapse.
Fran, Colbert’s attacks aren’t your normal physical attacks. I’m putting points into Physical Resistance!
Hm. Got it!
I put eighteen points into Physical Resistance. It was enough to rank me up. Our strategy involved me saving up a sizable amount of EP that I could distribute during the fight. It was a hard gamble, but it allowed us to adapt to whatever opponent we were up against.
Physical Resistance is at max level. Skill has been upgraded to Physical Immunity.
Well, I got the Immunity skill…but I could worry about that later. This would give us the upper hand.
Go, Fran!
“Hm!”
“What the—?!”
Colbert was shocked as Fran charged right into him. His attacks had no effect on her. She abandoned all attempts at defense in her mad dash. It seemed like a reckless maneuver, but Fran took all of Colbert’s blows head-on without suffering damage. The skill made her look invincible, but I was panicking the entire time.
Lumina was right! Physical Immunity is a huge drain!
The slightest hit took a thousand points of my mana. The Immunity skill was powerful, but it came at a high cost. Lumina had warned us about its double-edged nature a few days ago…
“Teacher, while your ability to absorb skills is powerful, there is something you need to be wary of.”
What do you mean?
“The Immunity skills, for example. Very few monsters possess these skills, but you must be careful about absorbing them.”
“Why?”
“Using them consumes a large amount of mana. They are also difficult to manage, since they never turn off. You could end up draining your entire pool if you fight the wrong enemy.”
Basically, if you used Flame Immunity in a volcano, you’d drain all your mana in a second. Among the Immunities, Lumina warned us about Physical Immunity in particular. The skill naturally occurred in ghost- and spirit-type monsters, so she couldn’t imagine what would happen if a creature with a physical body came to possess it. Just walking might be enough to trigger it.
Lumina also warned us about skills that nullified the effects. The gods had balanced this world so that there were skills which could overwhelm Immunity. Skills with the word Penetrate—or Godflame, which the gods themselves possessed—were capable of this. The Flame Sword Ignis had the Godflame skill, and there were records of it completely burning those with Flame Immunity to cinders. The Beast King’s Class Skill, Golden Flame of Extinction, was likely also of this kind.
“You’ve grown stronger through my training. But remember there are people stronger than you out in the world, Fran.”
“Hm.”
“And do not let your guard down just because you have an Immunity skill.”
“Got it.”
Fortunately, we had the ability to equip and unequip skills as we pleased. The Immunity skills would make a fine addition to our arsenal, as long as we used them at the right time and place.
But I’m definitely not going to unequip it when fighting Colbert!
I used Absolute Barrier, just in case. It was a high-level skill I got from maxing out both Mana Barrier and Physical Barrier. I thought it would nullify all attacks, but apparently it could only block magical and physical attacks. It decreased the damage of Colbert’s strikes, though, further reducing the maintenance cost of Physical Immunity. But I couldn’t say that things were going in our favor.
Fran, we need to finish this, quick!
“Hm!”
Fran held me above her head, looking to end the fight in one strike. Her stance left a hole in her defense, which Colbert was eager to exploit.
“Dimitris Combat Ultimate! Internal Rupture!”
Colbert charged his mana arm and corkscrewed it toward Fran’s torso. It landed, but she didn’t even wince.
“Damn it! How did that not work?!”
The attack was nullified, all right, but only at the cost of almost a thousand mana. I couldn’t imagine the damage the corkscrew would’ve inflicted without Physical Immunity. Colbert really was worth his salt, but now we were prepared to go on the counterattack!
“Hm!”
Fran jumped high into the air and prepared her strongest attack. She used Elemental Blade and added it to mine. Then she readied a Pressurized Quickdraw imbued with Vibroblade, Venomfang, and Increase Weight. Her form was perfect because of Sword King Mastery, and her signature move was deadlier than ever.
Colbert could easily dodge such a telegraphed vertical, of course, but I wasn’t going to let him. I locked him in place with Telekinesis and Wind Magic. My hold wouldn’t last long, but Fran only needed a second. Colbert crossed his mana arms in front of him to form a shield…
“Haaaa!”
“Gaaaargh!”
But Fran cut through all of them. She cut through his physical arms as well, and dragged me through all the way from his left shoulder to his waist. Although she didn’t manage to cut his physical arms off entirely, the damage to his lungs was apparent. My flaming blade singed his organs, filling the air with the smell of cooked flesh. His lungs were pretty much dust.
Still, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down. Colbert was strong, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a trick or two that allowed him to come back from the brink of death. Our mana reserves were almost dried up.
Keep going, Fran!
“Hm!”
She shifted me to her waist and launched a horizontal slash with the force of Pressurized Quickdraw. Shockingly, Colbert still attempted to dodge. He focused his mana and stretched out his phantom arms to strike back. Our mana would be finished if we nullified this attack. I elongated my blade. We had to end this fight right now!
“That’s not going to—”
You’re not getting away!
“Aaagh!”
I felt my blade cut through Colbert’s trunk just as his mana arms reached Fran. His belly opened up, spraying blood all over her face. The mana arms dissipated as their master lost his concentration.
“Dammit…” Colbert gurgled as he collapsed to his knees.
He keeled over, absolutely still. Blood rushed from the open wounds, flooding the arena with red. His insides, in their heavily poisoned state, followed suit. It was an awful sight, and we couldn’t minister to him since we had expended the last of our mana in our final attack. Fortunately, the guild was there to intervene and immediately tended to his wounds. The Healing Mages were old pros, curing the poison with magic and liberally applying healing potions over his fatal injuries. Fran was announced as the winner, and the crowd exploded with applause.
“And she does it again! What a finish! Swordceress Fran pulls through! The dark horse of the tournament seems unstoppable! Will Diamond Wall Gaudartha stop her winning streak?! Tune in next time!”
She threw one last glance at Colbert before leaving the ring.
Will he be okay?
Don’t worry. He’s in good hands.
Hm. Good. I want to fight him again someday.
That was her only reason for worrying. B-Rank he might be, but I didn’t think Colbert would be able to shake this off so quickly.
We decided to check in on him, and asked the tournament attendant where the infirmary was. Colbert was lying in bed when we came in. The Healing Mages had done their jobs, but he still needed to recover.
“How are you feeling?”
“Little lady…you killed me out there.”
“It was either you or me.”
“Fair enough. Can’t believe I lost after taking off the seal…ugh!” Colbert held his head in pain.
“You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah…I just went a little crazy. But this always happens after I use Asura.”
That was the skill which sprouted his mana arms. The skill probably improved his reaction time as well as improving his sight. His heightened senses allowed him to cope with Fran’s Sword King Mastery. The way he manipulated the mana arms would’ve taken up a lot of brain power. No wonder he was getting headaches.
“You’re strong. Strongest I’ve ever fought.”
“Thanks.”
“You’ll be up against an absolute beast next, but I think you can win.”
“Of course.”
Colbert had Gaudartha in mind. Fran responded with a grin that said she couldn’t wait. A normal person would think her crazy, but Colbert only chuckled. “That’s the spirit.”
“Hm!”
They chatted for a while, and Fran eventually left. She didn’t want to place undue stress on Colbert while he was still recovering. As she walked away from the infirmary, I could make out his faint cries.
“No! I definitely got carried away! Am I gonna get kicked out of Dimitris…? Knowing Master, I’m definitely getting expelled…!”
I could picture him holding his head in distress. The warrior in him wanted to spare Fran the sight of his embarrassment. I chose to pretend I hadn’t heard that.
All the best, buddy.
“Hm?”
Nothing. Let’s get going.
We left the infirmary and headed for the seats. We could learn a thing or two from the fights today, assuming we beat Gaudartha tomorrow. There were six matches left to go. The first of them was already wrapping up. Yet again, Amanda made quick work of her competition.
“I wish we could’ve seen it.”
Well, you know Amanda. Elza’s up next.
She would be fighting a C-Rank adventurer—a technically proficient lancer. I was looking forward to this one. The seats were completely filled, though… Could we just make our own seat with Earth Magic? As I weighed our options, a voice called out to Fran.
“Hey, are you the Swordceress?” a middle-aged man asked.
“Hm?”
The man had a shish kebab in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other—the picture of a sports fan enjoying the show. Although Fran had pulled down her hood, he was sitting and could still see her face. That was how he recognized her.
“I-It is you! Are you here to watch the other fights?”
“Hm.”
“Well, in that case, feel free to take my seat!”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course! Your wins have made me a lot of money. Enough that I don’t have to work for the rest of the month!”
That was good to hear. Apparently, the man had been betting on Fran since round one. Maybe it was just in case Fran caused an upset, but the fact remained that he had supported her since the beginning. That was nice of him.
“Just shake my hand and we’ll call it even. I can’t wait to tell the boys!”
“Sure.”
“I’ll keep rooting for you. Good luck!”
“Hm.”
And that was how Fran legally secured a seat for herself. She shook the man’s hand and he left looking like a million bucks. He would still watch the fight, albeit standing.
Good for us.
“Hm.”
Fran sat down just as Elza’s match began. In line with what we’d heard about him, Elza’s opponent was agile. He wasn’t fast enough to create a gap in Elza’s defense, but he chipped away with his spear regardless. Unfortunately, chipping damage wasn’t going to work against Elza’s rock-hard defense. Elza charged at the spearman without so much as pausing to feign pain.
The lancer managed to dodge, but he saw the great hole the blow left behind. The sight of it was enough to chill his blood. His movements grew more awkward after that. He escaped unscathed, but one wrong move would be the end of him. We’d also had battles where this was the case, but this match was looking particularly grim. The lancer needed to be more aggressive to have any chance of winning, but Elza’s terrible mace kept him away.
Even so, the lancer made up his mind and leaped toward Elza. He slipped past the awful mace and launched multiple strikes in the hopes of breaking Elza’s balance. The crowd roared with anticipation as the lancer’s spinning spear made contact with Elza’s bare chest, but her skin stopped the spear dead in its path. As with the fight with Jakusho, it was like plate armor. The fight came to a dreary end after that. Elza pulled the lancer into a chokehold, and the spearman could only flop about as the last of his will was strangled out. Elza enjoyed his surrender even more than Jakusho’s.
We don’t want to end up in that position.
“But we can deal a lot of damage up close.”
Sure, but…
Was I going to let Elza put Fran in a chokehold? Absolutely not.
We have to avoid close quarters at all cost. Especially her ground game.
“Hm. Very dangerous.”
The rest of the fights weren’t worth watching—they ended too fast to be useful. Forlund took the fourth match in about five seconds. Even the crowd complained about that. Phillip Christon made a good showing in the fifth match, but he didn’t show us anything we hadn’t seen in Bulbola. He hit hard, fast, and strong, and his defense was difficult to penetrate. As for the sixth and seventh matches, Phelms and Royce fought for barely more than a minute. We only caught a glimpse of their full power, but that was enough to know how strong they were.
The third round was filled with powerful combatants. A-Rank adventurers really were more terrifying than the monsters and criminals they hunted down.
We’ll be going up against that kind of monster tomorrow.
“We’ll win.”
I have every intention of it.
The day’s tournament came to a close, but instead of returning to our inn, we went to the dungeon to train. We had just acquired some new skills, and we wanted to prepare for our fight against Gaudartha.
It’s taking up a lot of mana.
Nullifying attacks from weak monsters with Physical Immunity took anywhere from a hundred to two hundred mana per hit. Walking about didn’t trigger it, but the motions of battle were enough to be a significant drain, even without taking any hits. Anything from killing a monster to blocking its attacks triggered it. Half my mana was gone by the time I’d even noticed.
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The skill was strong, though, that was for sure. Unlike Barrier skills, Physical Immunity nullified the shock and inertia of an attack. Even a direct hit from a giant ogre didn’t faze Fran. It allowed her to power through even the deftest of feints. The skill nullified everything from the sharp edge of a sword to the crushing weight of a hammer. Barrier would be our mainstay, but we could use Physical Immunity when push came to shove.
That should do it for skill training. Now, how to deal with Gaudartha?
Physical Immunity was our core skill against the rhino. While it wasn’t feasible for long dungeon expeditions, the Immunity skill could last an entire tournament match.
We didn’t know how much stronger Gaudartha would get after Awakening, but I could imagine him using his greataxe for defense as well as attack. What most frightened me was his general toughness. He had over a thousand HP, further bolstered by Fast Regeneration and Tough Hide. Trying to claim victory through chipping damage was a fool’s errand.
“We’ll use our trump card if it comes down to it,” said Fran.
Yeah. We didn’t get to use it against the Beast King, so it’ll come as a complete surprise. It should throw him off, at the very least.
“Hm!”
I think that’s enough training for today. Let’s head home so you can rest.
“Hang on. I wanna go see Lumina.”
Fran had gotten familiar with the old Black Cat during our stay in Bulbola. Lumina seemed fond of her, too. Their relationship was like a loving grandmother and granddaughter.
You’re right. We should check in with her while we’re here.
“Hm.”
We hopped over to the teleportation room Lumina had made for us. I had acquired a spell called Beacon after maxing out my Dimension Magic. It created a kind of landmark which allowed us to amplify a teleportation spell. For example, a Short Jump usually had the maximum distance of ten meters, but with Beacon it could go all the way up to thirty. Beacon would disappear after a few days, but you could extend its lifespan by charging it with mana. I was sure I could make my Beacon last an entire year if I spent all my mana casting it.
We’d asked Lumina if we could set up a Beacon in her dungeon. With the amplification it provided, we should be able to meet her from any part of the world using Dimension Gate, so we’d asked about it a few days ago.