A Quick Finish and an Angry n.o.ble
Not all E-Rankers were weak. Everyone started at G-Rank. But there were different levels of preparation before you started.
For instance, some people became Adventurers after they failed in their business. Or perhaps they became an Adventurer after a long period of recuperation.
Status and skills weren"t the benefits of becoming an Adventurer. They were the result of hard work and effort.
Macadenia Nikke"s acquired skills with throwing knives would have likely been effective on a B-Ranker as well.
"Hehehe. What"s wrong?"
"Tsk… You"ll regret this… I"ll break that smirking face of yours!"
Bandi charged towards Macadenia, who was carrying two throwing knives in his hands.
Of course, Macadenia wasn"t carrying them for decoration. He threw them. One of them went straight towards Bandi"s right shoulder. As for the other one…
"Hmph. Your aim is off!"
"I could say the same for you!"
"What!?"
Bandi dodged the knife targeting her right shoulder, which only served to put her in the path of the other knife, which seemed to be sucked towards her face. She frantically raised her spear and blocked it, but her momentum had been killed. That"s when a third knife came flying.
"Kk…!"
"How far can you defend with one arm!?"
Even with one arm, she adeptly controlled the spear and twisted her body out of the knife"s path. Just as it pa.s.sed her, Badi charged forward once again. Perhaps it was due to her useless arm, but she seemed a little off-balance.
However, Macadenia seemed to have an endless supply of knives, which he launched towards her.
But Bandi seemed determined not to fall for the same trick twice, and she moved out of the way.
"Oh?"
I couldn"t help but say. She was still moving forward, but had used some interesting footwork to get out of the way without losing her speed. And that was in spite of her one limp arm getting in her way. I had never seen anyone move like that before…
"d.a.m.n it…!"
Macadenia began to curse. His knives were missing. He would have to attack with something other than projectiles. Something like a pitfall or magic would work. Of course, those options weren"t open to him.
With no other recourse, Madenia ran back to the sword he had dropped.
"Not so fast!"
Bandi lowered her posture and raised her speed in order to stop him. Then she thrust her spear out.
The sound of the spear-tip tearing through the air was accompanied by an explosion of dust and splinters of wood as she hit the stage.
"Wh-what happened…?"
Heinrich said excitedly as he grabbed the guard rail. How cute.
Though, I realized that I was leaning forward to get a better look as well. I quickly leaned back into the chair. It was a little embarra.s.sing… When I turned to the side, Kapricorn was looking at me. Or so I thought.
"…?"
I gave him a questioning look, but he just turned away. No, he was watching the fight. I turned my head to look back at the action.
The cloud of dust had settled a little, and we could see shadows moving.
They were both there. However, they didn"t move.
By the time everything became clear, the sight we saw was of Macadenia with a spear through his thigh.
Both of them. The timing must have been insane. The spear had gone through him when his legs were aligned.
"Ah… I should have practiced more with the sword."
"Your throwing was impressive."
"Hehe. Thanks."
He dropped his knives with a clang and raised his arms.
"I yield! You win!"
And with that, the referee descended and made the announcement.
"The fight has ended! The winner…is Bandi Ree!!"
The spectators exploded once again. It was a brilliant fight and words of praise now rained down on the two contestants.
The referee then called in a medical team to take Macadenia away to be treated. Now empty-handed, Bandi attempted to come and join us, but the medical team stopped her as they gestured to her wounds. It was as if she had forgotten all about it. None the less, she followed after them.
"Phew…"
That was a lot for a first battle. I had been literally sitting at the edge of my seat. But it seemed like it was over in an instant. I guess that"s just how these things went.
I looked around me, and oddly enough, people still looked very excited.
It showed how satisfied they were.
Well, there was one voice that was an outlier.
"Hmph. That was a terrible bore."
Adlus said with a sigh. But no one argued with him.
"Don"t you agree, Daniela?"
He seemed annoyed that no one answered him, and so he directed the question to Daniela specifically. Of course, Daniela was in no mood to humor him.
Ultimately, everyone gave him the cold shoulder. Silence was gold. I knew that quite well. It was better not to say anything that was not needed. Besides, no one here agreed with his opinion.
Still, in spite of being the previous winner, he seemed kind of unpopular here. Well, I suppose he had lots of fans, but even he didn"t seem to care about that. He only cared about light elves. And just talking to him quickly revealed the character under the costume. And it kept spilling out every time he opened his mouth.
"Adlus, silence is gold."
A m.u.f.fled voice that I had never heard before now rang. Everyone turned their heads to look. It was Kapricorn. So he does talk… However, he wore a low hood and had a cloth wrapped around his mouth, making it difficult to hear.
"Hmm? You wish to lecture me? Know your place. You"re awfully arrogant for an Adventurer."
"You can"t take back what you"ve said. And such crude words only prove to make you inferior."
"Nothing you say can change me. This is what I am. However, there are so many who are below me."
"…"
I could hear the others sighing. So even Kapricorn couldn"t handle him.
Kapricorn folded his arms with resignation and sunk deep into his chair. Adlus saw this and sneered before turning away. He probably thought he had won… It was embarra.s.sing to watch.
So, it was time for round two. "Light Dew" Levee Badi and the n.o.blewoman, Alenbia Ef Quingeria. A swordswoman against a sorceress… And while they took different forms, they both used ice magic. In other words, this should be very educational for me. I had learned a lot from Bandi"s use of the spear.
I was interested in watching Levee, as she was an Ranker with an alias and used an ice sword. But I was also curious to see Alenbia"s ice magic. I wasn"t too strong with it and just used what I had, so it would be nice to see what a real sorcerer would do.
"Levee Badi and Alenbia Ef Quingeria! Please rise to the stage!"
The referee called and the two got up from their seats. From what I could tell, Levee seemed quite calm, while Alenbia seemed nervous.
Levee walked up the step very casually. Alenbia"s hands tightly gripped her beloved staff.
"She is very nervous."
Daniela saw it too. I nodded in agreement.
"On the other hand, there"s no hiding that Levee is an Ranker."
Heinrich joined in. He was sitting next to me.
"Well, I suppose she would be nervous then. They both use ice magic but her opponent is a much higher rank."
"Don"t you use ice magic as well?"
He did his research then. Heinrich smiled. I just told him what I had been thinking.
"Yeah. That"s why this fight is so interesting to me. Levee"s ice sword. Alenbia"s fighting style. Well, they aren"t the same as me at all. Also, I feel like they both have great instincts in battle."
"I see. I see."
"I"m a bit of a meathead who just likes to charge forward. So I"m looking forward to Miss Alenbia"s strategy here."
I was basically giving him more information about myself… Still, he would learn it if he just sat here and watched anyway. Besides, a capable fighter should be able to change strategies on the fly. My opponents would be such people.
"Haha. So you like to fight very boldly."
"I"m clumsy. Always have been."
"I-I"m glad for this opportunity to battle against you!"
"Thank you. I feel the same way."
They bowed to each other and waited for the referee"s signal.
"Begin!"
The crowd roared, but both of them seemed to be oblivious of their surroundings as they jumped away from each other.
By the time they landed, Levee had her ice sword in her hand. And Alenbia had four ice arrows hovering in the air.
"Woah…"
"I would expect no less from an Ranker and a n.o.ble."
Daniela answered without any surprise. I would not have likely made much use of that time as far as preparing for an attack. I suppose I only survived as long as I did because of the protection of the Forest Wolf and the G.o.d Wolf.
The two glared at one another. Alenbia seemed to be a.n.a.lyzing Levee"s every move. On the other hand, Levee looked a little bored. Her sword wasn"t even raised. However, she didn"t look away from her target.
As the audience held their breath and watched, Levee was the first to move. She raised her sword in a smooth, casual movement. At that, the three arrows were launched. At the same time, Alembia created and shot out a fourth.
"Heh."
Levee laughed. I knew that laugh. She hadn"t even meant to attack. But Alenbia had panicked and unleased her ice arrows. Still, she was a n.o.ble with an incredible education. She didn"t just pull the trigger. She quickly followed up.
Levee dodged the three arrows with minimal movement and then struck the fourth out of the air with her sword.
The crowd went wild. Levee laughed with a look of confidence. Alenbia frowned with irritation.
"How are you now? Have your nerves calmed themselves?"
"What?"
Alenbia"s narrowed eyebrows returned to normal, and she looked at Levee quizzically.
"Well, you seemed very nervous to me. And I thought if we touched swords a few times…or, oh, you use magic. Well, I thought it would help calm you."
"Yo-you"re worried about your opponent during a fight…!?"
Alenbia suspected that she was being mocked. Her face grew furious. Levee frantically waved her hand to deny it.
"It is not like that. I want you to fight at your best. It would be very boring if your nerves got the best of you, and you lost because of it."
"So you are saying that you would win even if I was fighting at my best… You are terribly confident, aren"t you? A true Ranker. How maddening."
Levee didn"t want to fight someone who would make mistakes. Alenbia found such consideration an insult.
While they sounded polite enough, it was clear that Alenbia wasn"t taking kindly to it all.
Perhaps she had a short temper… I could understand Levee"s position, but it really depended on who your opponent was. Some people didn"t like. It was possible that Alenbia had been trying to hide it and was just annoyed that someone had seen through her.
After all, she was a n.o.blewoman.
"Very well. I will defeat you with all of my power. I, Alenbia Ef Quingeria, will carve my name into your face! Mock me for my rank at your own peril. Because you will die once today!"
Levee seemed very pleased by this. She seemed like such a calm, graceful person. But perhaps she was really a bloodthirsty fiend. You could never know what a person truly was…
Now, let"s see what skills the n.o.blewoman had.
Thank you so much for the donation, maierh.