Catalyna placed a finger against her plump lower lip as her smile widened. “I might have said something, though I didn’t think she’d take my words so seriously.”
I clenched my hands into fists as my arms shook, but then I took several deep breaths and relaxed. Catalyna studied my actions with that curious smile of hers. The look on her face, when combined with her appearance, could probably bring ruin to a nation.
“Are you angry with me?” she asked.
“No.” The tension eased from my shoulders. “Of course not. It was a battle. You are supposed to use every means at your disposal to win.”
Catalyna’s eyes held a mischievous glimmer. “That’s too bad. I was wondering what you would do if you were angry.”
Rainer coughed into his hand as if to make us focus on him instead of each other. “Can I take your conversation to mean the both of you are ready?”
“I have been ready for a while now,” I said.
“You know I’m ready,” Catalyna added.
“In that case, this battle is officially underway.” Rainer chopped his hand down. “Fight!”
I wasted no time. The moment the battle had commenced, I used the Flash Step with the intention of appearing right in front of this woman and swatting her with my Dragon’s Tail Ruler, but she must have expected that. Catalyna spun around in a circle. Lightning shot from her sword and into the ground. When my foot touched the surface, it created a short jolt that traveled into my foot and disrupted my Spiritual Power.
Catalyna wasn’t done.
Immediately after disrupting my Flash Step, Catalyna shifted on her feet and thrust her sword out several times. Six balls of crackling lightning appeared in the air before her. As soon as they formed, she smacked them again with her sword, causing them to turn into powerful bolts of lightning.
Narrowing my eyes, I spread my feet apart, removed the ruler from my shoulder, and danced. I shuffled along the ground, spinning around in circles as I swung the ruler. Lightning flowed through my arm and into my weapon. The segments suddenly unlatched from each other and flew through the air, acting like a dragon’s tail as they smacked into each bolt of lightning, negating them with an even more powerful lightning current.
I retracted my ruler and then thrust it forward. The segments extended once more as it flew toward Catalyna, who merely grinned as she stepped left, and then smashed her jagged blade against one of the segments. Lightning surged from her sword. Arcs of electricity flew off her blade as she gritted her teeth and released a hoarse cry. My ruler was finally knocked off course. Clicking my tongue, I retracted it, the segments locking back into place.
Wearing a wide grin, she twirled around like she was dancing, swinging her sword in complex patterns. Each time she did, it formed a line of crackling Spiritual Power in the air. One line became two, two became four, and four became sixteen. Once the number of lines reached sixteen, the crackling power within them was unleashed.
It burst forward like a tempest, a giant wave of pale lightning that suddenly shifted, transforming into a pack of ravenous wolves. They stamped along the ground, lightning exploding from their feet, burning the arena floor.
It was the same attack that defeated Fay. Seeing it again made me see red. I think that was why I responded the way I did.
Lifting my ruler above my head, I channeled water through the weapon this time instead of lightning. My Spiritual Power surged as I pulled moisture from the molecules in the air. Water swirled around the ruler like a whirlpool before agglomerating on the segmented weapon. It hardened, condensed, and then lengthened into a twelve-meter-long blade that was tall enough to be level with the second-tier stands.
“RRRRAAAAA!!!”
I swung the weapon down, slicing through the Lightning Wolves Asunder Technique like it was made of parchment. Catalyna was quick to jump out of the way. However, even as she avoided my initial attack, which had been long enough to reach her, she couldn’t avoid the water wave that was created when I channeled even more Spiritual Power through the technique. The massive wave slammed into her, sending her tumbling across the ground before rolling to a stop. She luckily didn’t take any damage thanks to her Spiritual Aura. Even so, as she looked up at me, her face finally displayed something other than arrogance.
Shock.
I was in no mood to deal with her.
Letting go of the water element, I channeled lightning into my fist, and then slammed it into the ground. A powerful ripple spread across the surface. It didn’t do any damage to the ground, but it did negate Catalyna’s first lightning technique, which stopped me from using the Flash Step.
Catalyna was just standing up when I appeared in front of her. She was lucky enough to have kept a firm grip on her weapon, which allowed her to block my first swing. Sparks flew as I slammed my ruler against her sword. The strength of my swing was enough to make her stumble backwards. I took another step forward and swung from her left side, but Catalyna didn’t allow it to hit her. She had realized from taking my first attack what would happen and backpedaled instead.
I stomped my foot on the ground.
Several spears made of water shot from the ground and tried to impale her, with the first one actually breaking through her Spiritual Aura. Sadly, her reflexes were quite impressive. Even though she was surprised by the sudden attack, she increased the speed of her backpedaling and twirled around to avoid them.
Clicking my tongue as the distance between us increased, I tossed my ruler in the air, caught it by one of the segmented ends, and then threw it at her. I didn’t think Catalyna’s eyes could get that wide as I chucked my weapon at her. She avoided it by twisting her body violently to the left. My weapon struck the ground behind her, piercing it and sinking into the hard surface with a loud cracking sound.
And then I used the Flash Step again.
This time, I was right behind her. I reached out with my hand and summoned lightning to my fingertips. The ruler shook a little before it flew out of the ground and toward me. I caught it by the hilt and, keeping a firm grip on it, I swung the ruler at Catalyna with nothing but brute strength.
My attack struck true this time, and as Catalyna opened her mouth in a silent scream, I felt a moment of satisfaction. The moment passed as the woman was sent rocketing across the arena floor. She slammed face-first into the ground, and then tumbled head over heels. I could almost hear the sound of her bones being jostled as she struck her head against the ground several times before coming to a brutal stop.
Her Spiritual Aura was already gone, having been destroyed when I struck it with my ruler. I was sure she could make it again, though. She was still conscious and hadn’t run out of Spiritual Power.
Catalyna pushed herself onto her hands and knees. She winced several times as she turned over and sat on her backside. I finally got a good look at her face, which was covered in bruises, dirt, and had blood running down her nose and mouth. She reached out to touch her nose and didn’t flinch when she cracked it into place. Even though I didn’t want to, I felt my respect rise for her, just a little. I hadn’t held back that much when I attacked her.
“You really don’t know how to hold back.” She winced.
“I apologize. I lied back when I told you I wasn’t upset.” I smiled at her. “I am angry at you. Very angry.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Catalyna giggled like a girl in love, which caused me to frown. “Well, this is what I asked for, so I can’t complain. Anyway, I forfeit. I realized after fighting against you these last few minutes that I don’t stand a chance if you decide to get serious. This fight is yours.”
Despite the fact that she had just surrendered the match, Catalyna didn’t seem very depressed. Her cheeks were a tad flushed, an enchanting smile lit up her face, and there was a glazed-over look in her eyes. It was a dangerous expression. Warning bells were going off in my mind.
“The winner of the first semifinals match is Eryk Veiger!” Rainer announced.
The crowd cheered an
d screamed out my name, clapping and stomping their feet, but I could hardly be bothered to pay attention. My mind was still reeling from everything. Fay’s words back in that room, Kari’s tale and desire to have her best friend back… all of it weighed on my mind like an anvil.
Catalyna stood up and limped toward the entrance. One of my attacks must have damaged her left leg.
“The last match of the semifinals is between Kell Kriger and Torgny Leucht,” Rainer stated. “Will the two of them enter the arena?”
I walked out of the arena and down the hall. Two people passed me while I was on my way to the waiting room.
The first person was Torgny, who merely snorted at me as he walked by. The second was Kell.
Kell was not a very large man. In fact, he was quite thin. He had a feminine face and a lithe, graceful figure that made him seem a little womanly. Add in his long hair and it was easy to mistake him for a woman if you didn’t notice his Adam’s apple. I felt some kinship with him for very obvious reasons.
He wore armor similar to Catalyna’s. The gleaming breastplate on his chest looked freshly polished. Shoulder pauldrons fit snugly together against the segmented armor that ran down his arms. Unlike Catalyna, who used a sword, he had no weapon. Several plates jutted from his knuckles.
“That was a good fight you had with my cousin,” the man complimented as he walked by. “Wait for me in the finals. I’d love to have at it with you.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed as I realized the entire Kriger Family was full of nothing but battle maniacs. Silently making my way back to the waiting room, I entered and looked at the people inside. Most of the people who’d lost were still around. Only a few seemed to be missing, probably due to their injuries. These Spiritualists who’d proven themselves to be among Nevaria’s elite were not so thin-skinned that a loss would keep them from watching the rest of the battles. After all, there was no telling what you could learn simply by observing how other people fought.
Dante was standing by the place that Fay and I had been using to observe the battles.
“You really don’t hold back even against women, do you?” he said as I walked up to the window and leaned against it. Torgny and Kell were already in the arena.
“Would you hold back against Empress Hilda if she asked you for a spar?” I asked.
“Good point.” Dante chuckled as a slight blush crossed his face. “That woman would never forgive me if I took it easy on her—not that I can actually afford to take it easy on her. Even when I go all out, I can never win a single match.”
“How strong is Empress Hilda?” I asked.
Just as I asked that question, Rainer shouted the word “Fight!” and the battle began. Neither Torgny or Kell wasted any time. Their Spiritual Auras flared to life, a brilliant red and yellow respectively. Crackling lightning slammed against exploding fire in a battle for dominance. The two opponents were clearly sizing each other up.
“That’s a good question.” Dante crossed his arms and hummed as he looked out the window. “To be honest, I don’t think I could give you an accurate estimation of her strength. That said, I can tell you that she can defeat any one of us in a one-on-one or two-on-one match ten out of ten times. The only time me and my brothers have ever won against her was when all three of us teamed up together. Even then, she always gives us a run for our valis. We usually have a fifty-fifty chance of winning.”
I nodded while watching the battle as it commenced. The pair retracted their Spiritual Aura, encasing themselves in it like an extra set of armor. The Second State of Spiritualism. Torgny slammed his battle axe into the ground, splitting the earth apart and causing several fire pythons to burst out and slither toward Kell, who moved his hands in circular patterns. I was not surprised when several orbs of lightning appeared around him and shot forward, striking each of the pythons and blasting them apart.
“That explains why Kari is so strong,” I said.
Dante looked at me like I had said something weird, but he didn’t contest my words, instead turning to the battle and watching it in silence.
Kell raced forward and closed the distance between him and Torgny. Lightning coated his fists and legs as he launched a series of rapid-fire kicks at his opponent, who used his axe to block them. That was not the best idea. That axe was made of steel, which conducted electricity. However, it seemed Torgny had accounted for that. The lightning traveled down his blade, but it dissipated near the hilt.
“I thought the hilt of his axe was wrapped in leather, but it appears to be an insulation material that negates lightning,” I muttered. “I wonder if he came into battle knowing he’d be fighting Spiritualists with a lightning affinity, or if he was just prepared for any eventuality.”
Dante shrugged. “I couldn’t say, though I’m impressed you noticed how he negated that lightning right away.”
Torgny pushed Kell back, but all that did was cause the nimble young man to launch himself into a series of back handsprings. What’s more, each time he flipped back, he released lightning from his legs, which shot at his foe like a lance. Torgny managed to prove his metal by blocking each attack with his axe. Even though his hilt was wrapped in insulated material, he was still pushed back.
As he finished his last back handspring, Kell crouched and slammed a hand on the ground. A wave of lightning rose into the air. It was at least two meters tall, which I suppose was fairly impressive for a C-rank Spiritual Technique that hadn’t been mastered. The wave rushed toward Torgny.
While it looked like the other man was in dire straits, the Leucht Family’s greatest Spiritualist of the younger generation grabbed his axe by the center and began spinning it. As he did, fire erupted from both ends. It formed a pinwheel shape, which then extended even further, creating a wall of rotating flames. The lightning slammed into the rotating fires. Angry noises appeared to erupt from the lightning as it ground against the fire, as though it were upset at not being able to pierce the flames, but then Torgny let out a roar and his Spiritual Power erupted. The intensity of the flames increased before the lightning attack exploded and vanished.
“That boy has quite a bit of power,” Dante said. “I think among the younger generation, he is the one who has the most Spiritual Power.”
“No.” I shook my head. “He might have a lot, but Fay and Kari have more than him. Finn also has more Spiritual Power than Torgny, but he doesn’t have the benefit of belonging to a noble family like the Leucht’s.”
“You think Kari has more Spiritual Power than Torgny Leucht?” Dante looked like I’d knocked him for a loop.
“She has two times more Spiritual Power than that ape does.” I gave the man a look as though daring him to contest me on this.
“Now don’t give me that ‘I’m gonna kill you for insulting my woman’ look.” Dante raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I mean, you’re right. I was just shocked that you were able to notice.”
“Hmph.” I tugged at my bangs, twirling one strand around my fingers. “Kari is the woman I’m hoping to eventually marry. Why wouldn’t I know something like that?”
“Hoo boy. You’re already thinking of marriage, huh? I had no idea you were that serious about her.” Dante rubbed the back of his neck, appearing distinctly uncomfortable by my words.
I shrugged. “Kari is the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with.”
“I am amazed you can say something like that to me with such a straight face.”
The battle in the arena was heating up even more. Torgny swung his axe again and a wave of fire erupted from it and slammed into Kell, but it was blocked by a barrier that had been erected at the last moment. Kell had formed the barrier by using clockwise and counterclockwise rotations with his hands. It was an impressive oval-shaped barrier, but it only covered the front. It could not protect his sides.
The heat from Torgny’s technique must have been exceptionally impressive since it caused Kell’s clothing to burn. When his clo
thes burst into flames, Kell’s attention was torn from maintaining the barrier, which caused it to flicker. Torgny rushed forward in that moment. While Kell did try to resurrect the barrier, I already knew it would do no good. The axe sliced through the yellow barrier and crashed into the ground, but then Torgny swung the ax upward from the ground without pause and it slammed into Kell, lifting the man off his feet. It was a good thing he wore armor, or that attack would have hurt even more.
Kell struck the ground and remained there.
“The winner of this match is Torgny Leucht, who will be going on to the final round of the Spiritualist Grand Tournament!” Rainer announced to the cheers of the crowd. “We will now be going into a short, half-hour remission so our Spiritualists can repair the damage done to the arena. Please use this opportunity to stretch your legs.”
With nothing left to see, I sat down, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes. I might as well meditate for the next thirty minutes.
* * *
“It seems that young man of yours is still hiding a lot of his strength.”
Kari glanced at her mother. The battle between Torgny and Kell had ended, and there was a thirty minute intermission while the damage done to the arena was being repaired. Several Spiritualists who specialized in the earth element were fixing the holes and cracks on the walls and floor. If Kari looked at the arena floor, she could see them dancing across the surface as the earth around them shifted like a living creature.
“What makes you say that?” asked Kari.
“I noticed it before but didn’t think much of it at first.” Her mother paused and narrowed her eyes. “However, after every battle he’s been in, Eryk Veiger has not been out of breath or even so much as broken into a sweat once. None of these battles have caused him to really exert any effort. Even that last one against Catalyna seemed more like him venting his frustrations than him trying hard to win.”
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 4 Page 17