"I never would have imagined," Eva said, her voice laced with genuine intrigue. "That someone could go toe-to-toe with me, even with my vampiric powers mostly restored, without using a single drop of magic. You've become quite the enigma to me, Axel."
As she spoke, the blade of shimmering energy she had manifested—a weapon that looked for all the world like a beam sword—dissipated into nothingness.
"From my perspective, showing so many of my cards just to secure a draw feels a bit... lackluster," I admitted.
"Hah! Don't be so modest. Besides, raw physical combat isn't your true specialty, is it?"
I blinked. "You caught that, did you? You're right. My expertise is as a pilot—specifically, for humanoid weapons."
"Humanoid weapons? So your world has realized such things through technology. It sounds like a remarkably advanced place. Then again, I suppose you'd have to be from such a place to have the means to wander through dimensions."
I lowered my arm, finally releasing her throat, and waited for her to continue.
"Your abilities are, frankly, extraordinary," she said, ticking them off on her fingers. "That slime, your reinforcement techniques, the way you pull weapons out of thin air... But when we actually clashed, your movements felt slightly unrefined. Crude, even, relative to your obvious combat experience. It's the movement of a man used to operating a machine, not someone who has spent centuries honing their own flesh as a weapon. That's how I knew you weren't like me, or the mages at this school. Still..."
Eva glanced down at the ground. There lay the charred, blackened remains of the beginner's staff.
"To think you could partially neutralize my Dark Blizzard with a novice spell like Ignite. No one short of a fool with mana reserves rivaling the Thousand Master could pull off a stunt like that."
I could only manage a wry smile. "Maybe so, but if I'm going to snap a staff every time I cast a spell, incorporating magic into my combat style is going to be a headache."
"Nonsense. That's an easy fix. The problem is simply that the catalyst can't withstand the sheer volume of your mana. You don't need a beginner's toy; you need a proper focus. Wait here."
Eva closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she snapped them open, a smug, predatory grin returning to her face.
"Chachamaru is on her way here with your two 'guardians' in tow. I've instructed her to bring something special. Look forward to it."
"Wait, is it really okay for you to just give me things like this?"
"Consider it a reward for fighting me to a standstill at eighty percent of my power. Besides, your blood... its flavor notwithstanding, its effects were overwhelming. Consider this a token of my gratitude as well."
"Well, if you're sure..."
"Don't overthink it. It wasn't mine to begin with, anyway."
"It wasn't yours?"
"I told you, didn't I? I am a True Ancestor, over six hundred years old. To the mages of the world, my very existence is a taboo. They put a bounty on my head. Over the centuries, I've had many 'guests' come to collect. Most of what I own are the legacies—or rather, the spoils—stripped from the bounty hunters who tried and failed to kill me. This is just one piece of junk from a very large pile."
I see. She hadn't just been living as a vampire; she'd been living as a hunter of hunters.
"That reminds me," I said, recalling our exchange. "Earlier, during the fight... was that a body-reinforcement spell you used?"
The speed she'd shown when she blinked across the distance was easily on par with my Accel command. If that was the baseline for a mage's physical enhancement, I was going to have to re-evaluate my entire tactical approach to this world. I'd always pictured mages as glass cannons who sat in the back line.
"Hmm? Ah, you mean Shundo—Flash Step. Technically, it's not a spell. It's a technique any high-level practitioner can use. It has its share of drawbacks, though."
"Flash Step?"
"Yes. You focus mana or ki into your feet and kick off the ground to move at high speeds over short distances. With your combat instincts, you could likely master it without much trouble. But then, you already have that instant reinforcement 'command' of yours. You probably don't even need it."
I considered that for a moment. If I have the spirit command, do I really need Shundo?
But then a thought struck me. Accel increases my overall speed. If I used Accel and Shundo simultaneously... would they stack? It was worth a shot. Even if it didn't work, having more options was never a bad thing.
"I'd still like to learn. It's better to have more cards in my hand. I'll practice it later."
"Suit yourself. More importantly, let me see that slime of yours again."
"Sure." I opened the Spatial Vault and extended a tentacle toward her.
"May I touch it?"
"The digestion and absorption properties only activate when I want them to. It's perfectly safe like this."
Eva reached out, poking the slime with a finger before patting it with her palm.
"Interesting... the texture is quite different from the slimes I'm familiar with."
"So they do exist here?" I asked. In a world with mages, slimes seemed like a given.
"Yes. Though they aren't from this world, strictly speaking. They're from the 'Other Side.'"
"The Other Side?"
"Did I not mention it? The Magic World—Mundus Magicus. It's a sort of parallel dimension to this one. Think of it as a world straight out of a fantasy novel. Dragons, slimes, the whole lot."
That piqued my interest. If I could capture a dragon and raise it on a ranch back at the White Star's kibbutz... wait, no. I have a Summoning Magic skill. Does that mean I could potentially summon a dragon?
"Eva, how does summoning magic work?"
"That's a difficult question. It's not my forte, and summoning is a high-level discipline. I only know one method: subduing a creature through raw power and forcing it into a contract. I've heard you can negotiate contracts too, but that's not my style. I'm a Puppet Master; my pawns are usually dolls."
"So if I want to summon a dragon, I'd have to go to this Magic World first?"
Eva nodded. "Most likely. There might be a few dragons hiding in the remote corners of this world, but finding one would be a losing bet."
"A losing bet, huh?" I couldn't help but smirk at the phrasing.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just... I know a guy who'd say, 'I've never been one to shy away from a losing bet,' and then head straight for the nearest wilderness to find one."
Eva chuckled. "He sounds like a reckless gambler. I imagine he loses quite often."
I shook my head. "Surprisingly, no. He loses most of the time, but when he puts everything on the line at the very end, he always seems to win big."
"...If he loses until the very end, he's still just breaking even, isn't he?"
"Yeah. His girlfriend used to complain about the exact same thing."
Was it Excellen who said that in OG1? Or was it OG2? As I reminisced, I felt a familiar presence approaching rapidly.
"Axel-kun! Are you alright?! You aren't hurt, are you? Let me see!"
Ayaka came charging in, having been led by Chachamaru. She left Chizuru in the dust, diving straight for me and patting me down frantically to check for injuries.
"I'm fine, Ayaka. Neither Eva nor I have a scratch on us."
She didn't seem to hear me. She continued her frantic inspection until her eyes took on a glazed, overly-excited look.
"Haa, haa... Axel-kun's body... it's so small and cute, and yet it's built like a warrior's... ahhh!"
...And there she goes. She'd officially entered her "trip" state.
"Oh dear, Ayaka's at it again," Chizuru said with her usual gentle smile.
"I do not understand. What has happened to Ayaka-san?" Chachamaru asked, tilting her head in mechanical confusion.
"Knock it off! Don't go into heat in the middle of my courtyard!"
Eva whipped out a harisen—a giant paper fan—from nowhere and delivered a resounding smack to the top of Ayaka's head. Normally, the height difference would have made that impossible, but Eva was currently floating in mid-air, her flight stabilized by her restored mana.
"Evangeline-san!" Ayaka shouted, snapping out of her trance and turning her fury on the vampire. "I have half a mind to give you a piece of my mind! What were you thinking, using such dangerous magic on Axel-kun?! A blizzard? Dropping giant ice boulders?! You could have killed him!"
Eva ignored the lecture with a dismissive snort and looked toward her automaton. "Chachamaru. Did you bring it?"
"Yes. Will this suffice?"
Chachamaru held out a metallic object—a heavy-duty bracelet or bracer. Eva nodded and signaled for me to take it.
"Chachamaru."
"Yes. Axel-san, please take this."
I examined the gift. On the outside, it looked like a standard bracer engraved with strange patterns, but the inner surface was etched with fine, unrecognizable script. It looked like it was sized for an adult, far too large for my current child-sized wrist.
"Don't worry. It has an auto-sizing function," Eva explained. "More importantly, that bracer won't shatter, no matter how much of your 'idiot-tier' mana you pour into it. I considered giving you a ring-type catalyst, but I wasn't sure if a ring could process your output. I chose the bracer for its superior processing capacity... though it does have one slight drawback."
"A drawback?"
"Yes. It won't break, but as a trade-off for that durability, its efficiency is... lacking. It will consume more mana than a standard focus would to produce the same effect."
"I see..."
With my SP Boost skill, a slightly higher consumption rate didn't bother me at all.
"Well? For a mage, high mana consumption is usually a deal-breaker. Do you still want it?"
I offered Eva a reassuring smile and slid the bracer onto my right arm. It instantly constricted, fitting my wrist perfectly.
"Don't worry about it. A little extra drain is a small price to pay. Having magic as a reliable option in my arsenal is far more important."
"I-I see. Good! Then you should be grateful to me!" Eva crossed her arms and let out a haughty, floating laugh. "Fuhahaha!"
As I watched her hover, a thought occurred to me. In most games or stories, flight was usually associated with Wind magic. But looking at Eva's status screen earlier, she didn't have a Magic (Wind) skill.
"Eva, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm? What is it? I'm in an excellent mood, so I'll answer anything."
I had kept the fact that I could see her "Status" a secret, and I intended to keep it that way. Information was a weapon, after all.
"In our match, you mostly used ice-based spells, right?"
"Naturally. Darkness and Ice are my affinities."
"Then... are you unable to use things like Lightning or Fire?"
According to her skill list, she shouldn't be able to. But Eva simply shook her head.
"No. While I'm not as proficient with them as I am with my specialties, I can use Lightning or Fire well enough."
To demonstrate, she snapped her fingers, and a small flame flickered to life on her fingertip. It was likely a silent casting of Ignite. It seemed that with enough mastery, even the verbal components could be discarded.
"...Interesting."
I muttered the word to myself. Today's mock battle had been incredibly fruitful. I was starting to understand that in this world, "Skills" were just the beginning.
Name: Axel Almer
LV: 38
PP: 625
Melee: 262 | Ranged: 282 | Skill: 272 | Defense: 272 | Evasion: 302 | Accuracy: 322
SP: 462
Ace Bonus: SP Boost (Consumes SP to increase Slime performance)
Growth Type: All-rounder/Special
Terrain: Air: S | Ground: S | Water: S | Space: S
Spirit Commands:
Accel (4 SP)
Effort (8 SP)
Focus (16 SP)
Direct Hit (30 SP)
Awakening (32 SP)
Love (48 SP)
Skills:
EXP Up
SP Boost (SP Up Lv.9, SP Regen, Concentration)
Telekinesis LV.10
Attacker
Gunfight LV.9
Infight LV.9
Morale Limit Break
Geass (Gray)
Magic (Fire)
Magic (Shadow)
Magic (Summoning)
???
???
Kills: 376
-------------------------------
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