You have to be kidding me. How was it even possible for her to dodge that? There would have been almost no time to dodge, and she wouldn't have even know where that would have been coming from. Yet, there she is, nowhere near the place the spell hit.
Okay, this might seem bad, but there must be a way to still win this... Oh, fantastic, she's using her soul magic again to create that scythe thing.
"The thing is, this isn't fun anymore."
Oh, god, she's in front of me. My body can't move in time, and with Togeshi so far away and Akane out of mana, they can't help me.
But, the moment she's about to possibly kill me, she stops, backing up.
"Huh? What do you mean I can't kill him?" She seemingly spoke to somebody, who, I of course don't know.
Well, despite the fact this is an incredibly lucky break, I'm still more confused than anything. And who wouldn't be?
She continued speaking, "Okay... I guess that makes sense, but can I at least beat them all so I can move on further through the tournament?"
She went silent for a moment, possibly hearing the reply of the person talking to her. Her expression turned into one of a frown, continuing.
"I never get to have any fun around here..." She sighed, looking up at the announcer who was currently just as confused as everybody else, "Hey! I forfeit this match!"
"Hm..? I see..." he cleared his throat, "As Team Truth has forfeited, the victory goes to Team Ohre!"
we... won? This doesn't exactly feel like a victory, though.
"Yeah! We did it1" Togeshi didn't share my feelings, as he was already cheering. Akane seemed happy that we won, too, so I guess it's all fine.
Hm? The girl we were fighting is already leaving. I guess she has somewhere to be, but I'm a bit suspicious of her considering everything that has happened.
However, hopefully, we'll never meet again. After a bit of confused silence by the crowd, they cheered for our victory.
I stood up, completely exhausted both physically and mentally, and left with Togeshi and Akane to return to the waiting room.
...
The waiting room was a nice place everything considered. It was a large room, enough to fit at least fifty people in one place comfortably. The floor was made of a dark wood, that seemed to be kept care of thoroughly, and the walls were of a lighter type of stone. There are many chairs and places to relax, and there are guards outside the door at all times. In here, all contestants in The Tournament are to wait here for their matches. However, they are allowed to venture out back into the city or even watch the battles from where all the spectators watch. Actually, the contestants get some of the best seats, watching the fights from wherever they desire, except for where the king and other royalty watch from.
The people who have lost their battles are also allowed to stay in here until the tournament of their designated category is over, to allow for conversation between contestants. That's how we were able to speak with The Rising Sun after our battle, actually.
In fact, they're still here, right in front of us actually.
"That fight you guys had was super amazing!" Tanya, seemingly especially excited, commented on our bout against the Soul Magic-user. "I can't believe she was able to take all three of you on at the same time!"
Amazing might be the wrong word. Maybe, instead, incredibly horrifying would fit the former scenario better.
"Although, what happened at the end there?" Of course, she was confused about why she forfeited. None of the spectators can actually hear what's happening, so that makes sense.
"No clue! But, she must have known she had no chance of winning or something!" Togeshi laughed to himself, an unaware smile on his face.
Akane sighed in response, "Don't kid yourself, Togeshi, we would have lost if she didn't forfeit..." She looked completely drained of all energy, I guess having almost no mana left will do that to you. She wasn't wrong, though.
"Eh? I could have fought for another ten hours! Eventually, I would have won, even if I was alone!"
"Sure you could have!"
And as you can guess, thus began Akane and Togeshi arguing. You know, listening to this was kind of nostalgic, honestly.
Hm? What's with that guy that had the poison attribute? I believe his name was Fara Vhran. He looks pretty... frightened? I'm not sure of a better word to describe it other than that.
"Is he alright?" I spoke to Tanya, pointing to Fara.
"Huh?" She turned her head to Fara, staring at him for a moment before continuing, "Hey, what's up, Fara?"
He breathed in and out slowly, turning his head to look at both of us, "That... girl, the one you were fighting with. She's my sister."
"Huh?! You have a sister?" Tanya seemed especially surprised, even more so than anyone else here. Togeshi and Akane were still busy arguing, however.
"Yes, I do. Multiple, actually... but, she was abducted seven years ago, along with her twin brother. Even so, I'm sure that was her. She's too similar for it to not be her."
Well, looking at him, he does look quite similar. The same curly black hair and eyes. As well, they both have slightly similar mana inside of them. An interesting phenomenon, once mana has been absorbed by somebody, it changes slightly in a way where each person has a unique feeling mana signature. Family members seem to usually have more similar mana to each other.
"If I am not pushing my boundaries to ask, why do you look so afraid, then?" The Crystal Magic-user asked a question all of us were probably thinking.
"I... I ran away from my family a long time ago. I was just surprised to see one of them again." He avoided eye contact with everyone, looking mainly at the ground.
I can't exactly just accept that... something about this all just feels off.
>Chapter Y.12, end.<