How did this all happen...? I really don't understand it, but I ended up becoming an adventurer due to Ashin wanting to a couple of months ago. I really didn't want this to happen, to be honest, I wanted to be hired as a healer for The Capital, but I ended up being roped along with Ashin since we've known each other since childhood...
And now, what's worse is that we're competing in the tournament Draila hosts every year. I don't even know how to fight people! Yet, we somehow ended up in the semi-finals, not because of me, of course.
And, worse of all, I have to fight a magic knight! We were separated from each other, so now I have to fight all alone. This seriously isn't fair, the only things that I have are my above-average mana... sure, Lesser Regeneration is good for small injuries and stuff, and with time, it can even heal a limb with enough time, but I really don't want to get hurt.
I can't even properly use Focus Mana, meaning my spells are much weaker than they could be. I'm not really even that good at coming up with spells on the fly, either.
And then, there's the person I'm fighting. She's a magic knight. How is this even fair? Why can magic knights compete in the tournament? Shouldn't they be busy protecting the kingdom or something? I really don't want to fight against someone like her...
"Just going to stand there? Well, that's fine with me! Fire Magic: Lingering Flames!" Surrounding her and pretty much everywhere else in the near vicinity, including where I was, was covered with small floating flames. They were a bright orange colour and moved not even an inch from where they stood.
As a fellow mage, I have to admit it, creating so many separate flames so far away from her was really impressive, but that just proves how unfair this really is! I'm not some talented person like everyone else in my party, I'm just normal! I can't even use the one skill that makes me somewhat unique.
Maybe I should just quit all this and get a normal job...
I can hold those thoughts off for later, though. Right now, I really don't want to get hit by this spell. They're slowly moving closer to me, so I should probably do something about it...
"Water Magic: Water Ball," I cast a large ball of water, of which enveloped several of the flames, destroying the spell.
"Oh, you can use water magic? Well, that's pretty inconvenient for me! I'll deal with this swiftly, then." Looking aside from the fact that's pretty menacing, she didn't do anything after that, other than smile.
However, without me noticing anything out of the ordinary happening, an explosion triggered behind me, knocking me closer to her, while also hurting a lot...
"The thing about this spell is that once the fires touch anything, they explode. So, you might wanna lookout for that!" Apparently, she managed to add an attribute that causes the flames to explode, too. That just proves how much more proficient she is at magic, much more than me.
That's it then, there's no way I could win this...
Wait a minute, if I get hit by all of these explosions, I could actually die depending on how strong they are. With that in mind, I can't just give up now! This person is obviously irresponsible, having someone like her win the tournament could be problematic considering you get a reward from the king himself if you win!
Fine, I guess I won't just give up and lose then. There's one thing I hate more than anything else, and that's people who are reckless with life!
Okay, I know this has never worked before, but it has to just this once... hoping it will just work won't actually do anything, but I have to at least try something.
"Water Magic: Water Ball..." I begin to cast the spell, once again a sphere of water appearing in front of me.
"Trying that again? It's useless! That spell can't swallow more than three flam-- Why... why is it getting bigger?" She attempted to mock me but was surprised by the increasing size of the spell.
Just because a chant is completed doesn't mean I'm done casting it... okay, just condense as much mana as possible into the spell. More and more mana becomes converted into water mana as the spell becomes larger and larger. Now, it had consumed almost every flame close to me... and also, due to its size, I was now inside of it too.
This might seem really bad, but all I have to do is keep concentrating on casting the spell... I've now added as much mana as is possible for me, and now it's grown to be quadruple my height and just and wide. However, I'm not done yet. I've never been able to use it before properly, but it has to work now...
I activate Focus Mana, attempting to concentrate the mana even further, focusing almost the rest of my mana into the spell.
Wait, no way, it actually worked? I've tried to do this properly at least a hundred times, yet it succeeded? Usually, activating the skill would cause the spell to fail, so what did I do differently now?
Either way, my spell swallowed all of the flames, but she managed to back away in time.
"Hey... you're not seriously planning to send that huge thing at me, right?!"
Oh, that's actually a decent idea... I mean, I first cast this spell just to deactivate her's, but if I sent it at her, it could do a lot of damage.
Thinking about it, I shouldn't do that. A healer is supposed to heal, not hurt, right? What do I do, then? I don't really want to lose...
Ah, I've got it, I'll use the spell as a distraction.
I sent the spell at her, and seeing this, she attempted to run out of the way. However, due to its large size, she couldn't get out of the way in time.
Right before it makes contact, the spell loses its form and falls to the ground, soon disappearing. However, right behind it was me, and she couldn't see me before due to one, the water, and two, her running away in fear.
I activate Physical Boost to catch up with her in time and manage to trip her.
Okay, there's one last thing I need to do! Using the rest of my mana...
"Electricity Magic: Static Strike!" I activate my only close-range spell, enhancing my right hand with surrounding electricity and finally shocking her with the same spell.
A few seconds went by, and she couldn't move due to the electricity paralyzing her.
"As Elana Izint has been unable to move for over ten seconds, she is now out!" The announcer spoke up, announcing her loss.
Wait... did I seriously just win?
-Side Chapter, end.-