VOLUME 4 CHAPTER 12: THE MATCH PART 1

Ryouma pulled out the katana from its sheath, and confirmed that there was no damage. Not even a single sign of wear could be seen on the blade.

The adamant.i.te used in the blade of this katana is extremely tough. Unless he does something absurd, the thin blade of the katana wouldnt wear down even without cladding it in Ki. He could even cut iron plates. If he were to clad the blade in Ki, then he could cut enemies into pieces like he would an armor.

Adamant.i.te becomes more durable and tougher the purer it is. But at the same time, its resistance to heat and corrosion also increases, making it harder to work with. The methods of forging the katana is the same as with a normal one, but theres a world of difference in the heat of the forge and the time required.

The adamant.i.te used in Ryoumas katana is 77% pure. The limits acknowledged by blacksmiths all over the world is said to be only 75%, so Ryoumas adamant.i.te that surpa.s.sed that limit by another 2% is a high-purity adamant.i.te.

But even then, that limit of 75% is what you could call a base point from where you can do anything, so there are plenty of people who create adamant.i.te weapons by mixing adamant.i.te with iron, creating an alloy with a purity of about 60%, to make it easier to work with. But even then, its still a luxury, so there are barely any stores that sell them.

When Ryouma pulled out his weapon, Elia and the others immediately noticed it. Riera was able to tell what material the katana was made out of, but although the other four werent privy to weapons, even they could tell that Ryoumas katana wasnt just a common weapon. A sense of caution rose within them.

Sebasu confirmed the rules.

There are no restrictions on the magic, weapons, and tools that can be used. The winner will be decided by the referee in this case, me. When I decide that one of you girls has already lost, then youll have to withdraw from the fight. Once all five of you has withdrawn, you lose. In the same way, if Ryouma receives a powerful attack first, then it will be his loss. Is everyone in agreement with these rules? [Sebasu]

At those words, Ryouma and the girls glanced at each other, and then they all agreed.

Then Start! [Sebasu]

Fire Ball [Elia & Miyabi]

Rock Bullet [Mich.e.l.le]

Immediately after the match began, the three magicians from the girls side fired their magic.

Ryouma dodged the ball of flame fired by Elia and Miyabi, and he easily cut down the rock projectile fired off by Mich.e.l.les Rock Bullet.

But before Ryouma could begin his counter attack, Riera came slas.h.i.+ng at him.

Ha!! [Riera]

The duel between Riera and Ryouma began, and the sound of clanging metal resounded within the vicinity.

Rieras swings were quite fast, and had a decent amount of power behind them. Seeing that, Ryoumas appraisal for her rose up.

(Her styles a bit textbookish, but while Im holding back, she is able to respond well to my attacks If I were to compare her to the students and adventurers Ive fought so far, then I guess shed be around the level of a D Rank adventurer? Shes still lacking in experience, but thats something shell continue to pile up from here on)

As he thought that, Ryouma parried the descending blade aimed at the crown of his head with his katana. And then using the force of the attack, he entered Rieras right flank, and he struck the backside of his katanas blade at Riera. However, Riera was able to block that attack by raising her s.h.i.+eld up.

Immediately after, Riera took the sword that Ryouma parried, and swept with it sideways from beneath the s.h.i.+eld, difficult to see.

Ryouma retreated, and dodged the sword. He took some distance. But it was at that moment, that magic came flying at him from the side in the blink of an eye. The magic that came shooting at him were three fire arrows. The girls clearly had no intentions of holding back with Ryouma as their opponent.

Water Wall [Ryouma]

At Ryoumas magic, a wall of water immediately rose up midair, blocking the three fire arrows. Ryouma decied to change his target. This time, he tried attacking Elias group. As the water wall that blocked the fire arrows collapsed, the moment it fell to the ground, Ryouma rushed up to Elias group.

Youre not going anywhere!! [Kanan]

Before Ryouma could reach Elias group, Kanan blocked his way, and kept him at bay.

(I see, so Riera-san is the vanguard, while Elias group is responsible for magic attacks and support, while Kanan-sans role is to stop those that get past Riera-san)

As Ryouma thought that, Kanan began to release magic power. Having sensed that with his Magic Perception, Ryouma was able to understand that the magic power Kanan released filled her two bracelets.

(Dont use magic tools)

Lets go!

As she said that, Kanan shot off like a bullet toward Ryouma.

(I have plenty of margin to deal with her, but shes a lot faster than expected)

Ei! Take that! Ha! [Kanan]

As Ryouma deal with Kanans consecutive attacks, he began a.n.a.lyzing the situation.

(Honestly speaking, she doesnt have a lot of skill behind her attacks. She seems to have practice the basics a lot, but as expected, shes fast. Also, on top of being a member of the dog beastmentribe known for their high physical skills, shes probably also using physical strengthening magic. Kanan shouldnt be able to use magic, so its probably the effect of those two bracelets she has. Moreover)

Fuu.

O-Oops, that was dangerous [Kanan]

Ryouma aimed for the opening in between Kanans consecutive strikes, but just like Ryouma did awhile ago, she jumped back, and dodged. Kanan wasnt able to predict Ryoumas move, but she was somehow able to barely dodge and defend agiainst Ryoumas attack.

(Kanan-san seems to have good eyes and reflexes. It seems she dodged my attack after seeing it. Shes able to follow my attacks with her eyes. And although shes just barely managing to, shes able to deal with my feints.)

Sora!

Here, Ryouma decided to try something out.

He wielded his katana with only one hand, and struck it out, getting Kanans attention to one side. As he did that, he took his remaining free hand, and struck lightly from Kanans blind spot at her side.

Tch, not yet!

Ryoumas fist didnt seem to have had much effect as Kanan immediately began her counter attack. But because of the attack from her blind spot easily being able to hit her, Ryouma was able to understand that Kanans strength actually resulted from her good eyes and the magic tools that she had equipped. Moreover, although he was holding back, the fist he struck out at Kanans side before would normally have plenty of effect. The fact that had little to no effect on her meant that she was in fact in possession of a magic tool imbued with physical strengthening.

And then just as Ryouma expected, Kanan fought by activating the two magic tools on her arms.

(She might have talent, but she still has a long way to go. With the magic tool shes D No, taking her ability into consideration, she should be E Rank. Without the magic tools then F Rank. Shes plenty strong enough to deal with goblins. Now let me try putting out a bit more strength from here on)

Five minutes later.

Ice

Flame Lance

Lance ! Again? [Elia]

Thats strange Our magic is completely being crushed. [Mich.e.l.le]

Ryouma stopped testing them a little, and started pus.h.i.+ng harder against the five girls. The two vanguards fought tooth and nail with Ryouma, keeping him from attacking the three girls at the back. Support continued to come from the girls at the back, but the magic they fired were all stopped by Ryoumas own magic. They were at their limits.

I know Ryoumas crazy strong, but what the h.e.l.l is that! Tch, from the right!

At Miyabis words, the three girls who had gathered into one spot, moved to the right, dodging Ryoumas magic. Since the match had begun, these three girls hadnt separated from each other. If they were to scatter, and fight separated, then Kanan and Riera wouldnt be able to protect them.

The one shooting the most magic amongst the three is the one with the most magic power, Elia. As soon as s.p.a.ce is made between Ryouma and the two vanguards, Elia would fire off her magic to support the two girls. Miyabi and Mich.e.l.le also used their magic, but because they didnt have Elias magic power, they couldnt fire as recklessly as she did.

HaFu!

Stun Arrow

Kanan began to show signs of fatigue, while Ryouma still looked to have plenty of stamina left. Kanan reached her limits, but before she could get cut down, Rieras electric magic came flying at Ryouma, allowing Kanan to step back as Ryouma had to dodge the attack. This time it was Rieras turn to exdchange blows with Ryouma. Like this the two vanguards subst.i.tuted with each other to keep Ryouma at bay.

The power Ryouma is demonstrating is already sufficient to supress an average D Rank adventurer party, but Kanan and the others are persistently enduring. Ryouma could defeat them if he wanted, but seeing them try so hard, he decided to keep this up to see how long they would persist.

Around that time, the people watching started cheering for the five girls.

Do your best! [Spectator 1]

Youre doing great, girls! [Spectator 2]

Go at him with the intention to kill! [Spectator]

At some point in the match, the spectators started cheering for the five girls. However, the only ones who could hear their cheer were the other spectators, Sebasu, and Ryouma who was fighting with strength to spare. The girls who were being cheered were far too caught up in the fight to have the luxury to spare. They couldnt hear anything from the spectators at all.

(Its always like this, but still no one really cheers for me, huh? Well at least no ones booing.)

As Ryouma was thinking that, Elia and Miyabi casted their magic, and Mich.e.l.le called out Riera and Kanans name in a loud voice. After that, she made some sort of signal with her hand, and the two girls wordlessly nodded.

The girls were clearly planning something. Ryouma could bring out his full power here, and crush the vanguards before they pulled off whatever they were scheming, but Ryouma decided to wait and see what they would do instead.

After a few seconds of keeping vigil, Rieras movements suddenly changed.

Haa!!! [Riera]

(Her movement is different from before! Is she planning to finish it here?)

She slashed down, she slashed up, she cut sideways, and she slashed diagonally. Although she was fighting fiercely before, it still seemed steady, but right now it was as if she was desperate. It was a sort of unyielding style that seemed to want to throw everything at Ryouma.

You would even use s.h.i.+eld bash!? [Ryouma]

Ei! [Kanan]

At this moment in time, Riera joined the fray to aid her, and at the same time, Elia released a large amount of magic power. Even the spectators who were seemed to have felt a part of that power. What Ryouma saw left many of the magicians glued to the scene. They couldnt help but raise a commotion at what was taking place before their eyes. In the next moment

Wh!? [Ryouma]

Elias magic power wrapped itself around Ryouma, and then transformed itself into pressure.

(My body is heavy. My movement is being suppressed)

Ryouma tried to lighten the weight with his Qigong, putting emphasis on defense and evasion, but his body became heavier instead.

(Considering Elias continuing to release magic power, a curse? No. A curse would normally have a peculiar melancholy about it. Theres no such thing here. Moreover, it feels like Im being held by something heavy if so, then)

Telekinesis, huh? [Ryouma]

The moment Ryouma worded that, a color of impatience appeared on the faces of Riera and Kanan, who were both in front of him.

Neutral Magic Telekinesis

Its a kind of magic that exhibits power only on the target through the use of neutral magic power. Its generally used for transportation. The bigger and heavier the object to transport is, the greater the magic power consumption. Moreover, the consumption of magic power is extremely high as the caster needs to continuously pour out magic power to use it. Except for special situations, there are barely any people who use it.

Its a different story for Elia who has a colossal amount of magic power. Shes able to hold down Ryouma through the sheer brute force of her magic power.

Ryouma resisted directly.

Telekinesis! [Ryouma]

I wont lose [Elia]

Ryouma forced back Elias restraint with his own magic power! A battle between Ryouma and Elias magic power began!

Their respective magic power rivals each others, but because Ryouma was better at controlling his magic power, he was gradually able to lift the load off his body. However, Riera who was currently in front of Ryouma wasnt just going to stand and wait for him to finish removing Elias restraint.

Riera rushed up to Ryouma, and she used the sword in her right hand to slash diagonally up from her left. Ryouma tried to bring up the katana he had in his left, but Elia brought her power up to maximum output, stopping Ryouma in his tracks. Moreover, the target of her attack wasnt Ryoumas entire body. Rather she focused it at Ryoumas left hand that was hodling the katana.

(The other parts can move. The only heavy part is my left hand. In fact, it actually hurts a bit if I hadnt used my qigong, my bones would have probably broken.)

While Ryoumas left hand couldnt move, Rieras sword approached. Ryouma gave up on his left hand, and he softly brought down his right hand, and moved it as if he were drawing a circle. His hand met with Rieras right wrist, propping it up, and averting the sword away. As Riera swung downward, Ryouma grabbed her wrist, entered into Rieras right flank, and keeping up that momentum, he rotated around her to her back.

In order to prevent her back from being taken, Riera turned to her right, turning counter-clockwise as she tried to face Ryouma as she pulled her right arm that was currently being grabbed. But at that moment, Ryouma went against Rieras movement. He took a step, spun his body to the left as he pushed out his arm, and as his wrist went pa.s.s Rieras shoulder, he was able to take her back.

Meanwhile, because Riera tried to shake off the hand took that had grabbed her arm too much, her center of balance was focused too much on her back, and her posture broke. Like that she was thrown.

Riera! [Elia]

When Elia saw Ryouma throw Riera, her concentration was cut, and in her anxiety for Rieras safety, she screamed out. Because of this, Ryoumas left arm was freed.

(Move!)

The other vanguard, Kanan, was headed for Ryouma. She ahd struck out with all of her strength, but with a paper-thin difference, her attack was dodged. The next thing that entered her eyes was the backside of the blade of Ryoumas katana.

In the next instant, a dull sound resounded.

Hau~ku! [Kanan]

Kana, tch!

As Riera who was just thrown a while ago began to rose up, she sent a side glance to Kanan upon hearing her pained voice at being hit by the back of Ryoumas katana. At that moment, Ryouma came rus.h.i.+ng at Riera. The other three girls rained magic on Ryouma, but Ryouma wouldnt stop.

Riera managed to block two of Ryoumas attacks after fixing her posture, but the third strike came allowed her chin to meet with the pommel of Ryoumas katana. She fell to the ground.

At that, Sebasu decalred.

Kanan-san and Riera-san has withdrawn from the fight.

Saying only those words, Sebasu used his dimension magic, and in the next instant, he took the girls outside of the battle area, and then he returned to his spot as a referee.

The match has yet to end. Only, now the girls no longer have their vanguards.