Kari was also shocked by Eryk’s answer to Hellen’s question. She already had confidence in his strength. Even before she had seen him fight, Kari had felt oddly confident in his abilities for reasons that not even she understood, but that was different than this. Hearing that Eryk had created his own Spiritual Technique at such a young age surprised even her.
“Well now,” her mother murmured, eyes narrowed as a strange smile appeared on her face, “I think I am beginning to truly understand what you see in this boy. He’s incredibly talented.”
Kari shook her head. Her mother didn’t understand at all. She was basing her thoughts on what she believed made someone attractive, but what she believed was attractive didn’t really attract Kari. What attracted her to Eryk was not his power, abilities, or talent as a Spiritualist. She was attracted to his kindness and inner strength. She was attracted to how he treated her with respect and dignity, not because she was the Princess of Astralia, but because she was Kari, a girl who loved reading books and dreaming about adventure. She was attracted to his love for reading, to how knowledgeable he was, and to how they shared the same passion.
Of course, she was also attracted to his appearance, that gorgeous green hair, those beautiful eyes, and that slightly feminine face. She didn’t say that out loud, though. Just admitting it to herself was embarrassing enough.
“I don’t believe him,” Geirolf scoffed, knocking Kari out of her thoughts. She turned a glare on him, but he just clicked his tongue. “I’ll never believe that someone who isn’t even as old as me could possibly create their own technique, especially one that is so advanced.”
“It is a little hard to believe, but I do not think he is lying,” Mykkel said.
“He is not lying at all.” Earland placed his hands on his knees and learned forward, studying Eryk with a look of newfound respect in his eyes. “You can tell from how familiar he is with that technique that he is the creator. The way he uses it makes me think he’s spent years mastering it.”
Everyone was silent for a moment as they contemplated Earland’s words.
Geirolf scoffed again.
“Che, I still don’t believe it,” he muttered to himself.
* * *
Hellen studied me with a stern frown for several seconds before, shifting her feet across the ground, she adopted a traditional sword stance.
“My apologies,” she murmured. “I have not been taking you completely seriously up to this point. I’d heard about how close you and Princess Kari are, so I wanted to test you to see what kind of man my student has fallen for. However, you are indeed an adversary who is worthy of me giving my all. That is why I will now attack you without holding back.”
A warm feeling hit my chest when Hellen mentioned how her student had “fallen for me.” Even hearing about how Kari felt secondhand gave me a good feeling. However, I did my best to shake away the warm and fuzzy sensation filling my heart. I was in the middle of a battle, after all.
“In that case, I suppose I will get serious as well.”
I removed the Dragon’s Tail Ruler from my shoulder and grabbed it with two hands, holding the weapon in front of me as I spread my feet shoulder width apart and knelt a little.
The two of us squared off with each other. Neither of us moved at first. Though we had already gotten the measure of the other person’s abilities, there was no telling what had been held back. I was pretty sure Hellen hadn’t revealed even half of her abilities. Furthermore, I was holding back a lot of tricks as well.
A Spiritual Aura suddenly erupted from Hellen like flowing water, but just as quickly as it appeared, it was sucked back in. Her body became coated with a light blue layer of Spiritual Power as she entered the Second State of Spiritualism. However, even after entering this state, Hellen did not move to attack me.
Since Hellen seemed warier of me than I was of her, I made the first move.
I used the Flash Step to suddenly appear behind her. With a grunt, I swung my ruler and channeled lightning through it, activating its ability to unlatch the segments and attack from a distance. Hellen didn’t try to block my speedy attack this time. She leapt backward as the ruler’s tip slammed into the ground, but that wouldn’t be enough. My Spiritual Power soared as a burst of lightning surged through the ruler and exploded against the ground.
A large dragon formed out of the lightning as it raced across the ground toward Hellen, who danced across the arena floor. She swung her blade numerous times, creating streaks of water that appeared to dance through the air, before she grabbed the sword in both hands and slammed it into the ground. I felt an intense surge of Spiritual Power. Then a dome of water appeared around Hellen out of the water streaks. My lightning dragon struck the dome, but the attack couldn’t penetrate it. In fact, the lightning was negated seconds after it hit.
* * *
“What the—how did Hellen do that?!” ask Geirolf.
“How did she do what?” questioned Mykkel.
“Don’t ‘how did she do what?’ with me, you parrot!” Geirolf snapped as he pointed at the dome of water. “How was she able to negate that guy’s lightning dragon? Isn’t water supposed to conduct electricity? Everyone knows that!”
“That isn’t necessarily true,” Kari said as she watched the lightning attack do nothing. “It is true that water is generally weak against lightning, but that isn’t because water naturally conducts electricity. What makes water weak against lightning are the impurities found in water. However, Hellen’s water is incredibly pure. It is so pure that lightning has absolutely no effect on her water.”
At Kari’s explanation, Geirolf went silent. She was Hellen’s student. Kari knew more about the woman’s technique than anyone else, so much that not even Geirolf, normally so antagonistic toward her, could dispute what she said.
“It looks like Eryk might be in a bit of trouble,” Mykkel said.
“That is not necessarily true either,” their mother said, smiling. “Do not forget that during the Honor Duel, Eryk used a second element.”
At her words, everyone quickly remembered the Honor Duel, when Eryk had fought against Albert and cut through the other man’s techniques with a water-encased hand.
“I think this battle is about to get a lot more interesting,” Mykkel said, speaking for all of them.
* * *
I frowned as my lightning dragon was negated, but I wasn’t too shocked by this woman’s talent. There were quite a few people who’d learned how to remove the impurities from their Spiritual Water Techniques. I myself could create water that was completely free of impurities as well.
Retracting the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, I made quick use of the Flash Step to appear right next to Hellen’s water dome. The veins in my arm bulged as I swung the ruler. There were no techniques used, no special powers. I just used pure brute strength to tear the dome apart. My ruler sliced the dome open and struck Hellen in the side, shattering her metal armor and lifting the woman off her feet.
The dome vanished as the woman flew through the air. She struck the ground hard, rolled several times, and then came to a slow stop.
I glanced at Rainer, expecting him to call the match, but he just smiled and looked back at Hellen. Now confused, I also glanced back—only to see Hellen rising to her feet. She staggered a little at first, but she quickly stood back up and twisted her body as though checking to see how injured she was. Her chestplate was completely destroyed. That attack should have broken her bones. What was she…
“I think I understand now.” I stared at the woman as she picked up her sword, turned around, and faced me. “The reason you are called Water Goddess Brynhild isn’t because of your water, which is so pure it can even negate lightning, but because of your talent as a healer.”
“That is correct.” Hellen smiled as I figured out the meaning behind her nickname. “I am pretty good at using Spiritual Water Techniques, if you’ll permit me to brag for a moment, but that is nothing compared to my ability to heal injuries
on myself. I use the movement generated from being hit to activate this ability, which means it has become almost passive. Any time I am attacked and injured, my wound heals itself.”
“That is pretty impressive,” I admitted, adopting a two-handed sword stance again as I spread my feet apart. “However, an ability like that has a severe limitation—namely, it will only last for as long as you have Spiritual Power. I’m curious to see how long your ability to heal from any injury inflicted will last.”
Hellen held her sword in front of her in a standard two-handed grip. “With an attack like yours, I will probably run out of Spiritual Power in two to three bouts… but I want to keep going. You are the first person who has pushed me this far. I believe that if I continue to battle you, I will finally be able to see where my limits are.”
“Then by all means, let us continue,” I said.
This time I didn’t hesitate to use the Flash Step to appear right next to Hellen. Her reaction speed was fast. She moved almost a second after I appeared, backpedaling to avoid any attack I threw her way. She didn’t seem to realize that the person in front of her was merely an afterimage.
Before the afterimage disappeared, I had already struck her from behind.
* * *
“What the hell?! There are two of him! How come there are two of him?!”
Kari didn’t think Geirolf’s surprised shouting was necessarily unwarranted, for she felt the same shock he did. It felt like her mind was playing tricks on her. Eryk had used that speed technique to suddenly appear next to Hellen, but it wasn’t just one Eryk that had appeared. There were two. One had appeared directly in front of Hellen, while the other had appeared behind her at the exact same time.
Her teacher was struck hard with the powerful swing of Eryk’s ruler. The attack hit her back. Like before, Hellen was knocked into the air, struck the dirt, and skidded forward on her face. Her back had been bent out of place, but it quickly snapped back into place and healed. It was actually kind of gruesome to watch. After the damage was fixed, the woman stood to her feet.
“It looks like this boy can create afterimages,” their mother said.
Earland perked up. “You mean like how you can create afterimages by using the Second Stage of the Three Thousand Steps Technique?”
Their mother shook her head. “No. The afterimages I make using the Three Thousand Steps Technique are merely illusions I create by bending the light particles around a specified location. That boy is moving so fast the light particles cannot keep up with him. The afterimages are simply a result of his insane speed. This Flash Step of his is in a completely different league from my own technique.”
Her words shocked Kari and her three brothers into silence.
* * *
By this point in time, I was pretty sure the battle had already been decided. I was using the Flash Step to knock Hellen around like a ragdoll. She tried her best to react to my attacks, but it was absolutely impossible for her to predict where I would attack from. Sometimes I would come from behind; however, the moment she caught on and turned to face me, I would use the Flash Step again to attack her from another angle.
The longer I attacked her, the less her healing ability worked, and the more bruises began forming on her skin and staying there. That was a sure sign that not only were my attacks coming in too fast for her to heal, but that her reserves of Spiritual Power were being depleted. It wouldn’t be very long before she ran out of Spiritual Power. Then she would be a sitting duck.
Despite how hopeless her situation seemed, Hellen didn’t give up. I had to admire her tenacity. Every time I struck her down, she would stand up again. What’s more, she would actually try to predict my moves rather than just panic and swing her weapon at random. The calm demeanor she kept even when it was clear that she was outmatched made me realize why Kari respected her so much.
“Ha… ha… hurk…”
By this point, Hellen was a mess. Her clothing was in tatters, the parts of her skin that were visible had become a black bruise, and her shoulders were heaving as sweat poured down her face, neck, and chest. Despite this, she still kept a firm grip on her sword, which had yet to crack even though it had also taken quite the beating.
“Are you sure you don’t want to give up?” I asked.
Hellen shook her head. “Not yet… my limits… I want to test them, to see how far I can go.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. In that case, I’ll use this next attack to finish you off.”
Hellen’s grip on her sword tightened as she readied herself to receive my next attack. I shook my head, then used the Flash Step to appear in front of her. She seemed to think it was another afterimage and started looking around for my true attack. However, this time, it was no afterimage. I appeared in front of her and swung my ruler, catching her completely off guard.
My ruler slammed into her chest, and the sound of bones breaking echoed all around me as my attack caused her ribcage to snap. She was using the Second State of Spiritualism. That meant her bones, muscles, and internal organs had been reinforced to the max. However, that meant nothing in the face of my overwhelming strength. It was also clear that she didn’t have much experience using the Second State either. She must have just reached this state recently.
When the ruler struck her chest, Hellen was lifted off her feet. Blood and bile spewed from her lips as she flew through the air. She landed on the ground seconds later, bounced once, and then hit the dirt and didn’t get up. I walked over to the woman. She was still conscious, her eyes still open. However, she couldn’t stand.
“You’ve run out of Spiritual Power,” I declared.
Hellen’s eyes were half-lidded as she gave me a self-deprecating smile. “You are correct. I do not have enough Spiritual Power to heal the damage from that last attack of yours.”
I nodded as I stabbed my ruler into the ground, knelt before her, and placed a hand on her stomach. Ignoring the feeling of her indomitable six-pack, I channeled the water element through her body. Her ribcage snapped back into place, the internal bleeding stopped, and her punctured spleen stitched up like new.
“You can also use the water element?” asked Hellen in surprise.
“I have a dual-affinity for lightning and water,” I said.
“Which explains why you know all the weaknesses to my abilities,” Hellen mumbled with a sigh. “I’m guessing you are even more well versed in Spiritual Water Techniques and healing than I am.”
“Well, maybe,” I replied with a vague response before standing up. “There. You are all healed up, though you still won’t be able to move. I can heal injuries, but there is nothing anyone can do for fatigue.”
“Right.”
I looked over at Rainer, who had been watching the battle with something akin to a flabbergasted expression. His wide eyes and dropped jaw were quite telling. He snapped to attention when he saw me staring at him. Coughing into his hand, he made the announcement.
“The winner of this match is Eryk Veiger!”
The crowd was only silent for a moment before cheers erupted from the stands. I raised my head to look at the people screaming in jubilation. They were nothing but a sea of blurry, bobbing heads to me, both physically and mentally. There were only two people whose opinions I cared for in this Colosseum.
I glanced at one of them. Kari was sitting in her chair beside Empress Hilda, clapping for me with a wide smile on her face. Our eyes locked. I didn’t know if my gaze made her embarrassed, or if there was another reason for her blush, but I smiled and raised my hand to wave at her. For whatever reason, this seemed to make the crowd go even more wild. Meanwhile, Kari’s smile widened just a little.
Empress Hilda seemed to be studying the two of us with her keen, hawk-like eyes, which made me wonder what she thought about all this. I had never met the empress in my past life. Therefore, I didn’t know what kind of person she was, though from the way Kari told it, Empress Hilda was a stern woman who was kind but believed wholly in the ide
a that strength meant everything.
As a pair of medics placed Hellen on a stretcher and carried her out, Rainer said, “Will Fay Valstine and Catalyna Kriger please enter the arena for their match?”
That was my cue to leave. I grabbed my ruler and placed it on my shoulder before I walked toward the exit, entered the hallway, and began moving to the waiting room. Two people appeared before me as I was making my way down the hall.
The first was Fay. The second was a woman with curly blonde hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her lower back. Her light blue eyes were sharp like a blade. Those eyes contrasted with her soft facial features, which were fair and seemed more suitable on an innocent young girl than a ferocious warrior.
Her chestplate was big enough to accommodate her large breasts, though it only covered her chest and not the rest of her torso. The ends of a white tabard swished back and forth as it extended from beneath her chestplate, as did the blue-skirted end of her dress, which featured long sleeves that were barely visible between the joints in her segmented-armored arms. Her metal boots clicked against the ground as she walked, and her jagged longsword swung back and forth as it sat strapped across her back.
Both she and Fay stopped some distance from me. The woman smirked.
“That was quite the showing you gave us. I do not believe we have been introduced. My name is Catalyna Kriger and I look forward to battling with you in the next round.”
“Eryk Veiger.” I gave the girl my brightest, most cheerful smile. “And before you think about battling me, you should focus on your current opponent. I do not believe Fay will lose to you.”
“Ha!” Catalyna barked as she placed her hands on her hips and threw her head back. “You bring up a good point. This girl has been learning from you, hasn’t she? That technique you both use that lets you move really fast is yours, isn’t it? Don’t worry. I have never underestimated an opponent before, and I certainly won’t do so against someone who defeated an elite Nevarian Spiritualist.” She turned to the blushing Fay and grinned. “I’ll see you on the arena floor.”
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 4 Page 14