Kapricorn Shteiner
"Good work."
"Ah, that was fun."
Daniela said as she returned. As for Neyti, it was as if the ghost that had been haunting him was gone. He seemed refreshed.
"Miss Daniela. Thanks to you, I feel a renewed sense of purpose."
"That"s nice. Well, it"s my turn now."
I said to the grinning Neyti as I got up from my seat. When I looked over my shoulder, my opponent, Kapricorn Shteiner, also stood up and then proceeded to stare at me for a second before moving forward.
"Asagi. Are you all right?"
"Well, I"ll manage. Besides, it"s not like I can be killed out there."
"That is true, but… There is something odd about that one. Be careful."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Daniela looked anxious as I patted her on the shoulder. Then I walked towards the stage, sword in hand. I would fight with a one-handed sword today. Of course, I had practiced and fought with many weapons, but for days like these, it was best to use what you were the most familiar with. And the Glampanzer, with its double-edged armor stone blade, fit perfectly in my hand. It was heavier than steel and more durable as well. It had cut through many enemies up until now, and yet there wasn"t a single chip in it. That reminded me of just how skilled Kasil the blacksmith from Valdorf really was.
Now, we were up on the stage. Kapricorn was standing still with crossed arms and had eyes fixed on me.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Don"t mind that. I wouldn"t even call it waiting."
"You"re a lot more talkative than I thought."
"Well, I have my moments. Perhaps it is because of you."
"Haha. I"m flattered."
We bantered as if we were old friends.
"And now, we fight. Let it be a good one, without holding back."
"Yeah, to a good fight."
We shook hands then. Kaprikorn"s grip was tight. And something about the hand felt feminine. We were about the same height, but I was definitely the less modelesque one.
"And now, the fifth battle will begin."
As the referee"s voice boomed, I lowered my posture and unsheathed my sword. I was used to this solid weight now, and it felt like an extension of my own arm. On the other hand, Kapricorn had at some point, produced the same dark blades which were held between the fingers as in the preliminaries. Three blades in each hand. Six in all. The thumbs were free.
"Begin!"
And with that, I activated Legs of the G.o.d Wolf on both legs and shot forward. As I was still taking stock of my opponent, I didn"t go at full speed. Of course, I was still on the fast side. My current speed was actually quite similar to Legs of the Forest Wolf. It was like when I was running towards Spiris as the wyvern chased us.
Kapricorn"s facial expression remained the same. Well, the eyes, anyway. And so I raised my sword and swung down.
"…Eh!?"
Clang! The sword struck the ground and chips flew in the air. Kapricorn had been in front of me until the last possible moment; then there was no one.
At the same time, I sensed a presence at my back. Relying solely on that feeling, I rolled forward. Two short swords stabbed into the floor where I had been.
"Nice one."
Kapricorn was standing behind me. A cold sweat ran down my back. I didn"t think that anyone but Rachel could move faster than me at this point. Even that blackened Loup-garou had seemed slow to me.
However, something seemed odd… Was Kapricorn really that fast? Maybe that"s not what it was. I don"t know. I could ask.
"How did you do that?"
"I don"t think it will make for an interesting fight. Telling you things."
I suppose so. I hadn"t really expected to be told anything either. Well, there was one thing I learned within that last few seconds.
This was not the kind of person to toy with or a.s.sess before going all out.
"You are quite fast yourself. Your legs are quite famous, but I am still surprised by them."
"Liar. You didn"t look remotely surprised!"
I made a mental note to not pay this banter too much attention as I swung my sword again. This time, Kapricorn stayed in sight and merely lept back to dodge it. And so I pressed in and raised my sword for another swing. That"s when the short swords came flying.
"Woah!"
I frantically hit them out of the air. Thanks to this, there was now quite a distance between us.
Ugh. I was becoming nervous. I had never faced someone so skilled before. I didn"t have much experience in these kinds of fights. My skills would usually allow me to trample over enemies or take them by surprise. But facing another swordsman as we glare at each other…it did a number on your nerves.
Even the decoy bracelet was little comfort.
"…Hmm?"
As I desperately watched Kapricorn"s every movement, I noticed something strange. The hands. They were holding six blades.
"…Eh?"
I took a few steps back and glanced towards the ground. Three swords had been thrown at me. And yet, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Hehe."
"…How did you do that?"
"There is beauty in mystery. Asagi boy."
"Perhaps you have too many secrets."
"Secrets are the key to a woman"s appeal. Hah!"
Now that the mystery of her gender was out of the way, she attacked. This time, she kept them instead of throwing them. Her arms were crossed firmly in front of her as she dashed forward.
I stood my ground and held the flat of my blade towards her to block the attack.
"HAHH!"
Her charge turned into a front sault. The turning force gave power to her left hand as it swung down.
"Huh…!"
It was harder than I was expecting as I received it with my sword. However, that wasn"t the end of the attack. A series of kicks a.s.saulted me. Then she jumped back and landed on the ground. To return the favor, I too did a front sault with the help of silver and green wind and swung at her.
"…There!!"
However, she dodged it. It was as if she had completely vanished from the spot. And then her blades would suddenly shoot towards me from the side.
However, I had been watching out for such an attack, and was able to knock them down. I still didn"t know what was happening, but I had seen the moment she disappeared.
"Still not sure how you did it, but I did catch it this time."
"Oh…?"
"Most people would think they were seeing things…"
I hadn"t even blinked the first time. And there was a small part of me that doubted it was due to incredible speed. It had been a mystery. But after the second time, I was sure that it wasn"t speed.
Besides, I remembered how I hadn"t seen her at all during the preliminaries.
"It"s shadows, isn"t it? You can travel between our shadows."
"…It"s nice to meet someone with good instincts, once in a while."
"Uh, thanks."
She raised her hands and shook her head in admission. She seemed a little disappointed, but not angry.
"You are probably the only one in the group who would figure it out."
"Flattery won"t get you anywhere in this fight."
"Haha. Oh, I agree wholeheartedly."
She readjusted her swords with a pleased expression as she continued to talk.
They entered my ears in a way that no words had done before. It was almost familiar, like a voice I had heard during my childhood. They were words I never expected to hear in a place like this.
"Shadow diving. Yes, no one in this world would think of something like that. Why, it"s straight out of a comic book. Don"t you agree? Asagi?"
Thank you so much for all of the recent support! It"s been a real life-saver and I am incredibly grateful.