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Chapter 111: Tournament (3)
Leaving himself open, Incus did a spinning side kick, which sent Steinen backwards.
"Compare status."
╔═══[Stat Points Comparison]═══╗
Strength:
Incus [79] < [59] Steinen
Agility:
Incus [65] < [45] Steinen
Vitality:
Incus [50] > [73] Steinen
Mana:
Incus [51] < [32] Steinen
Intelligence:
Incus [50] < [33] Steinen
[Skills Comparison]
Skill amount:
Incus [9] < [3] Steinen
Skill potency:
Incus < Steinen
╚══════"✧"══════╝
'I have a slight edge. If it weren't for my body being enhanced, then I would have had to work three times harder to improve my stats… I wonder how many monsters I'd have to kill for that result.'
Spinning the spear from side to side, Incus struck at Steinen's abdomen. But it didn't make a dent in his armor.
Growling, Steinen swung his blade at full strength. Although Incus was out of range, the force still hit her, causing her to be pushed slightly back.
"I told you not to hold back! What do you think you're doing?"
"Fine, if that's what you want."
Incus then spun the spear, wind gathering around her from the inertia.
"That's my technique!" Radeius protested.
Lunging forward, Incus thrust the spear at Steinen's abdomen.
"Burgh!"
Steinen was then launched into the air, sent flying across the arena as his chest piece began to crumble.
'Impossible. My feet left the ground? Just a few months ago, Incus was nothing but a weakling that couldn't make me budge!'
While he was still in the air, Incus jumped up and did a slamming axe kick. Steinen blocked with the flat end of his great sword, but he was still launched into the ground.
Shifting the great sword to the side to see where Incus was, this move was a mistake because Incus was already getting ready for an axe kick.
Incus slammed her foot down, making Steinen's body groan in pain.
Sliding back, Incus got into a fighting position.
Throwing his great sword to the side, the ground crumbled due to the sheer weight of the mass of steel.
Getting into a boxer's fighting stance, Steinen marched forward and threw a barrage of punches that held devastating power.
Because of his tall and lean physique, Incus was wary of entering his striking distance.
All she could do was pat the attacks to the side.
'Come on, big boy. Show me an opening.'
Stilling her nerves, she stepped within his reach and landed an elbow to his abdomen.
Simultaneously dodging the attacks aimed at her, she continued to follow up with every single technique that was built into her body.
Jabs, crosses, elbows, hammer fists, spear hands, back fists—no techniques were spared.
Steinen: [Vitality: 34/73]
Incus: [Vitality: 46/50]
Because of the onslaught of attacks, her fists grew bloody. She had not trained her endurance but had heavily relied on her inherited stats.
Not only that, but in every single battle where it got rough, Steinen would always step in and take the blow, which prematurely stunted her growth.
Getting grabbed by the shoulders, she got kneed, but she blocked it.
However, her forearms were left bruised purple.
"Tsk."
Jumping into the air, she torqued herself free.
"I'm quite disappointed, my lady. I thought that you would be able to do more than this."
"Quit acting so smug. If you're going to mock me, then show me your face."
Focusing her vision, she began looking for a possible outcome to win as countless formations formed in her head at a quick pace.
With a sigh, she pulled back her hair.
'I win.'
Slowly swaying towards Steinen, she then disappeared with impossible speed.
Making her hand flat—a spearhand—she then gritted her teeth.
'Thousand Spear Sky!'
Making himself like a turtle, Steinen absorbed the attacks.
With hazy eyes, he raised a fist and did a thrust punch, but it was deflected by Incus' hand, which was broken by the spear technique that shouldn't have been possible to do with an arm, yet she still did it nonetheless.
"Such great madness!" Instructor Distal spat joyously.
"Stand down, Steinen. You'll die if you try to fight me."
But Steinen didn't listen and threw a punch, not at Incus but at the ground. A smoke screen of dust covered the arena.
'Damn it, that was sloppy of me—'
Interrupting her train of thought, a punch landed on her face.
Closing her eyes, she activated [Mana Sense].
Sensing movement, she turned around and threw a punch. However, her fist landed on a piece of rubble that was thrown.
She was then grabbed and slammed onto the ground.
"Urgh…!"
Instinctively, she covered her face.
Reminding her of sour memories.
'Screw this.'
Standing up, she activated [Limit Surge]. Sensing movement, she focused on whether it had four limbs or not, which it did.
Turning around, she lunged forward and grabbed Steinen by the helmet out of the thick cloud of smoke.
"Pick a number from one to a thousand."
"…None."
A vein on her forehead then grew visible.
"What?"
Chuckling, Steinen raised his hands.
"I yield."
Steinen: [Vitality: 13/73]
Incus: [Vitality: 31/50]
Letting go of his helmet, Incus looked up at the headmaster.
"I won this tournament of yours, so now give me my reward."
Appearing before her, he scoffed as he stroked his long white beard.
"Hoho, we have to do a ceremony first before we can give you anything else."
Scratching her head, she spat on the ground.
"Just give it to me now. I'd rather get rested up and deploy for combat immediately."
Of course this was a lie. She just wanted to reap the benefits.
'Hurry up so I can go and test them out already. Plus that Fire Hero's Sword will complete my arsenal of hero swords.'
Taken aback by the request, the headmaster reluctantly made the pillar that held the rewards appear before them and gave it to Incus.
Although her face looked calm and collected on the outside, she was actually really happy because now her capabilities had improved, making her one step closer to defeating the Demon King.
Taking the rewards, she made the Fire Hero's Sword disappear. The sword had sensed that Incus was a hero, so it became a part of her soul like the rest of the swords.
Turning to face the spectators, she gave a bow, making sure to hide her broken hand.
***
Leaving the stadium, she went to the healer's room to get her wounds tended.
***
Looking up at the sky, Steinen pitied himself. As he was, his father jumped down, picked him up, and unceremoniously left.
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"Wow, that was amazing! Did you see that, Ring? She's so cool! I want to be as strong as her!"
Turning to face Alleus, I put my hand on her shoulder. What a poor soul, idolizing a self-prioritizing masochist.
"You're not too far from being as strong as her, so I believe that you can. Anyways, let's start following Incus." Of course this was a lie, because Incus was an outlier who was extraordinary, and outliers aren't proof.
***
"It seems that the rewards we took from the podium were replaced by new ones, and on the plus side, we get to keep the ones we have."
"Geez, that's pretty sweet, isn't it, partner?"
As we were walking through the tunnel, a strange man was leaning against the wall.
"…You there. Just who are you…?"
Halting, I turned towards him.
How was he able to talk to me? No one was arbitrarily written to be able to be here. Unlike the dorm halls, there were always students walking about.
"Before we continue, walk with us."
I had to stay calm. If he wasn't someone that I knew about, then he must be a character who had been introduced just like Alleus.
Thankfully, the man complied with my request.
"Psst, do you know that guy…?" I whispered to Alleus.
Shaking her head, I sighed. No luck. Not even Alleus knew who this guy was.
"Check Status."
==[Status Window]==
「Information」
[Name: Index Ironwood]
[Class: Warrior]
[Equipment]
◈ Torn tunic (Black)
◈ Lotus Solidity Glove
[The lotus embroidery glows when shifting the weight on an object held.]
[Weapons]
◈ Dull steel sword
◈ Steel short sword
[Description]
「Attributes」
[Physical | lv l: 6]
Stamina | lv l: 5.5]
Intelligence | Lv l: 7]
[Mana | lv l: 5]
「Skills」
[Mastered Sword Technique]
[Mastered Dual Swords Technique]
[Advanced Blade Aura]
[Advanced Mana Sense]
[Adept Perception]
[Advanced Pain Tolerance]
[Unique Skill: Absolute Clarity]
========
Focusing on his description, I was instead met with disappointment because it kept showing as redacted.
But looking at his attributes and skills, just who was this guy? There was no way he was normal. I better get on his good side, or else I'd get killed where I stood.
Hesitating, I asked:
"Just who are you?"
Chuckling, he rubbed his neck.
"I'm the one who was meant to be the hero… until they summoned that bastard." He pointed at Incus.
"W-what? Hero?"
It did kind of made sense, because of his unusually high stats.
Then what was he doing here? An important character like him should be elsewhere.
"Now, it's time for you to answer my question. Just who are you? I've been following you for a while now. How are you able to talk with the instructor? How come you were able to take the rewards without facing consequences? You're clearly breaking some rules of the world, which shouldn't be possible."
A loud thud behind me then echoed—it sounded like the arena's surface cracking.
It seemed that Steinen's father had picked him up.