Chapter 303 (Self Edited) – Next Generation of the Seven Heavens
Hildegard let out a breath while looking at the spot where she was supposed to move due to the foolish Satya asking the girl to fight Soma.
The size of the room was about three rooms, which were stayed by Hildegard and others. Since the room was large as a standard, it was a reasonable size. At least it would be large enough for ordinary people to train.
The problem was that the two people facing each other weren’t ordinary.
“…There’s such a place in the shrine, huh?” (Hildegard)
“Well, if you stay locked up all the time, Eleonora also will feel sick, and she needs to move to the extent that her body doesn’t get dull. She also can’t move around quietly.” (Satya)
“That’s why you made something like this in the shrine. You’re doing a lot for her, isn’t it?” (Hildegard)
“Well, she’s my important eyes and limbs.” (Satya)
After glancing at the smile on ‘her’ face, she turned her gaze upwards. What was spreading there was a clear blue sky.
Being able to put oneself in such an environment without going outside the shrine was certainly a preferential treatment. However, whether the person herself wanted it or not was another story. Hildegard shrugged her shoulders when she thought that.
This wasn’t something that she should think about. Rather, what she needed to think was another person.
“Even so, I feel like this was very sudden.” (Hildegard)
“Is it? Being a companion means that you entrust your back to them, right? So, isn’t it normal that I want to know her ability?” (Satya)
“Well, you’re right. I’m not going to say anything since you said it yourself.” (Hildegard)
This G.o.d didn’t decide the Seven Heavens out of nothing.
Hildegard had never heard of it before, but there was no doubt that it was done for this world. Even if she personally thought about it, there was no doubt that the other party was G.o.d. In that case, everything that was decided was for this world, and the Seven Heavens was no exception.
Aina was one of the successor candidates and it was highly likely that she would be one of them. Hildegard didn’t know how ‘she’ chose Eleonora , but ‘she’ must be considering Aina thoroughly. Of course, the fighting power as well.
There was no reason not to confirm it.
“Anyhow, I don’t have any other thoughts.” (Hildegard)
“Oh my, that’s surprising. I thought you would blame me more.” (Satya)
“Soma agreed to you without complaining, right? If he were thinking something wasn’t right, your neck would have been flying by now. He’s so nice to Aina to the extent that I become jealous.” (Hildegard)
“Personally, I have the image of you being jealous of anyone, no matter who she is… Well, I wish Soma-kun had proved my innocence. I’m not going to hesitate to do it if necessary, but I would like to save extra effort if possible. Above all, it’s better not to have preconceptions.” (Satya)
The judgment that Soma would have made was that it would probably do no harm to them including Aina, and not because ‘she’ was up to something. Rather, she was sure that Satya was up to something, but… ‘she’ was G.o.d. Even if she was doubtful, she thought that Satya wouldn’t do things without benefit. Maybe.
Well, if something happened, then, it would be a good idea to think about it at that time, and that was when Soma wouldn’t forgive ‘her’. If so, what Hildegard should do at the moment was to watch over this situation.
“…By the way, it has been a long time since we’ve faced each other like this. Or is it actually the first time we’re having a one-on-one match?” (Soma)
“…Yeah. It’s a good thing to fight shoulder to shoulder in a practice or something similar at the Academy, but I didn’t get to fight you during training. In the past, I used to shoot magic at you, but it wasn’t a fight.” (Aina)
The words exchanged were as usual and easy going, but the air was clearly different.
Satya wanted to measure Aina’s ability. It didn’t mean something like winning or losing, and ‘she’ didn’t specify how much Aina had to do. However, the two of them didn’t seem to care already.
It could be well understood by looking at such a scene. Soma often said that he had already reached the top of the sword, so that he didn’t get involved in fighting, but the essence of Soma was still to seek and to fight.
When it came to fighting, he never went easy and never gave up. Although he said anything like hating to lose, his eyes were always on winning.
Above all… it was fun for Soma. The smile on the mouth proves that.
Of course, it was also true that he wanted and sought magic. However, that being said, Soma was still on the path of the sword.
He was there unknowingly, or was already part of himself already. Otherwise, it wasn’t possible to achieve the heyday of the previous life by the age of fifteen. If not, it wouldn’t be possible to reach the top of the sword.
Aina was different, but Hildegard was sure that she was simply happy since she had a smile on her face. She was able to fight Soma, and… she could show him her strength.
She could show that he was able to do this now. Although this wasn’t something that could be done normally, G.o.d had set up the arrangement. If not, this situation wouldn’t be possible.
Hildegard understood Aina’s feeling simply because she could relate to what she thought. Honestly, she envied Aina very much. If Aina could be replaced, she wanted to do it.
“It’s no good, alright? This is just a test of Aina-chan’s power.” (Satya)
“I know.” (Hildegard)
She understood, but… that didn’t mean her envy would subside. She gaze at the two with eyes similar to jealousy. Soon, they were ready to face each other.
There was no referee because it wasn’t a mock battle. There was no signal to start.
There were only two people fighting, and another two who were watching them over.
An unknown bird appeared in the sky with a chirping sound, and they clashed in the next moment.
—
Although it was a clash, strictly speaking, it wasn’t something visibly violent. Speaking of the movement, Aina just lifted her left arm and pushed it forward and Soma just swung his arm.
However, Satya, who saw the scene, squinted her eyes and muttered as if impressed.
“Heh… Does that mean your education is good, or is her talent amazing? Which one is it?” (Satya)
“Of course, I would like to say that’s the result of our education, but… at best, it’s about half and half. Plus, the surrounding factor may have something to do with it.” (Hildegard)
“Surrounding… It’s about synchronization and the existence of an instructor, isn’t it?” (Satya)
“As for the instructor, it’s unclear whether she is aware of it.” (Hildegard)
“That’s completely luxurious… I want a friend who has Special Rank skills which should be rare, and can be taught by the Seven Heavens.” (Satya)
“To be taught, is it… I feel like you’re saying it arbitrarily…” (Hildegard)
While Hildegard and Satya were talking about such things, Soma’s appearance didn’t change. Aina was still with her left hand protruded, and Soma was just swinging his arm on the spot. It was a scene that would seem boring depending on the viewers.
However, the scene was in that way because there were only two viewers. If one of them was replaced with someone else, a completely different scene would be unfolding.
For example, if there was a person with Advanced Rank Swordsmanship instead of Soma, he would be covered in flames in an instant. Depending on the skill level, the same may happen even if he had Special Rank skills. On the contrary, if there was a person with Advanced Rank Magic or Special Rank Magic with a low degree of training instead of Aina, she would be destroyed in an instant.
In short, both were doing something quite advanced.
What Aina was doing in particular was amazing, even for Hildegard. Aina didn’t seem to be moving at all, but when she looked at her closely, she could see that wasn’t the case. The fingers on the right hand which hung down were busy because she moved irregularly. She moved as if she was drawing some pattern, and her mouth was moving as if she was muttering something quickly.
But that had nothing to do with Soma swinging his arm and occasionally having sparks around him.
“While attacking without chanting, she a.s.sembles another magic in parallel. Moreover, it seems that she doesn’t only cast a single target magic, doesn’t it?” (Satya)
“Well, at least she’s using various interference magic at the same time to prevent him from detecting attacks. If she simply used chantless magic, she would be cut down by Soma the next moment. In addition to that, it seems that she dares to lose the control of directionality when completing magic.” (Hildegard)
Although it was said lightly, in reality, using magic without chanting requires a considerably high level skill. It wasn’t something that can be used normally to the extent that it was said to be a special privilege.
However, it was a matter if it was only that. As long as people couldn’t unleash anything without chanting, even if they had Advanced Rank skills, it was nothing more than a stalemate against the opponents with Special Rank skills. It was more than that when Soma was the opponent since the magic didn’t even become a stalemate.
However, the reason why Aina had actually succeeded in stalling was that she didn’t simply cast chantless magic. She activated at least five non-chanting magic in parallel, making it difficult for Soma to detect when she would attack.
It was probably less than a second to do that. However, in the battle of this level, that time was more valuable than anything else. If she couldn’t earn that time, she would have fallen down on the spot.
If she could earn time, even if it was a bit, all she had to do was to repeat it. It wasn’t easy as it sounded, but it was a stalemate because it was done.
But of course, if she continued to do that, she wouldn’t win. What Aina was doing was unreasonable, so to speak. If she didn’t do that, she wouldn’t be able to coop against Soma, so she had to adjust herself forcibly. In exchange, her physical and mental strength would be exhausted, and it wouldn’t be long until the balance of the battle tilted.
That was why Aina was setting up another plan. High-speed chanting that couldn’t be recognized as sound, and aerial drawing of complicated magic formation using fingers. While it wasn’t possible to do it with Advanced Rank skills, Aina was preparing a magic while doing other things in parallel.
It was the result of Aina’s training so far, but at the same time, it was impossible with Aina from before. She was using a number of chantless magic, which was said to be impossible to be done in parallel unless it was Special Rank magic. Aina’s talent was outstanding, but even though she had practiced appropriately, there was a limit.
It was that the left hand that made that impossible possible. Originally, the chantless magic was all done at that time. This was because the magic of whatever effect was released on target, and the magic itself was unconsciously prepared.
Since it was done unconsciously, the thoughts devoted to the processing of that part were surely deprived. That was why Aina cut off that part. The magic was a.s.sembled without confirming the target. By doing so, the thought necessary for preparing the magic was reduced, and Aina somehow enabled the current state by turning the thought processing power of that amount to other things.
Obviously the a.s.sembled magic would only explode. It was normal because there was no target to be unleashed, and that was why the left hand a.s.sisted the direction.
If it was the original chantless magic, it wasn’t necessary to show directionality. The advantage of chantless magic was that people didn’t know where and how the magic would be unleashed with speed.
However, Soma understood that its advantages were meaningless because he understood it was done to secure thought processing power.
“Anyhow, she doesn’t come out with a normal idea, and the most frightening is that she is capable of doing it. Did she practice that?” (Satya)
“If so, Soma’s mouth would have tightened a bit more.” (Hildegard)
“I see… I can’t be sure if she just came up with that idea now, or did she think about it and practice secretly. Well, I wonder if there’s a big difference anyway. It’s not something you can usually do to the extent that you practiced before the plan came out. Yes… As expected, it has to be that way.” (Satya)
Hildegard turned to Satya, who had a joyful smile, but soon, turned back towards the two. If ‘she’ was planning something, she should pursue it later, but it seemed that the conclusion of the two was near.
As mentioned earlier, the current situation was that Aina was just forcibly doing it. If something was slightly off, the balance would be lost in an instant.
For example, it was true even at the moment when the magic that Aina was preparing now was completed.
And if that happened, the conclusion would be decided in an instant. Aina wouldn’t be able to create the same situation again, and Soma wouldn’t give the opportunity.
In other words, the match depended on the magic that Aina was preparing. Would it be unleashed and Soma couldn’t handle it, or can he coop with it?
If Soma was really serious about it, he would be able to handle it without difficulty, but if that was said, this stalemate wouldn’t hold from the beginning. This was just a test of Aina’s power. Soma put a limit on his power, and that was also the limit that Soma expected to be sufficient.
If he put more limitations, there was no doubt that Aina would have won this match.
The question of whether there was any meaning was actually very simple. It might not make sense for most people, but at least, it was true between the two.
Hildegard squinted her eyes to see the ending, and finally, Aina’s mouth and right hand stopped moving. It was a momentary silence. All movements stopped for a moment, and Aina’s mouth reopened as if to break the silence…
“–Phew.” (Aina)
It was just a sound. That was it. It was all over.
The next moment, Aina’s body slowly began to tilt, and Soma was in front of her. Given that Soma’s arms were swinging, she didn’t need to tell what happened.
Aina’s limbs lose power, but… still her mouths open.
“Goodness. I knew that I lost my concentration for just a moment, but… it’s that it can lead to fatal injuries.” (Aina)
“Well, isn’t it normal that a momentary opening leads to winning and losing? Especially if it is a battle of this level. Well, I’m honestly surprised that you have been able to do all that.” (Soma)
“Hmm… In the end, I still couldn’t cast my favorite magic. Even if you told me that, I can’t be happy, you know.” (Aina)
The words must be true, but at the same time, not everything was true. A small smile in her mouth and regrettable eyes displayed Aina’s feelings.
“Aah… I still have a long way to go…” (Aina)
Hildegard suddenly thought while watching Aina fell on the spot with a sigh. If she was the one who stood there, could she do it that much? Would she get such words from Soma?
Everything was hypothetical, and Hildegard understood that there was no point in thinking about it, but… then, she let out a sigh while dwelling envy in various meanings displayed through her eyes.