Chapter 57 – Devon's Dastardly Magical Interference
Acting on instinct as the tomato hurled by the deadly Petunia cannon whistled straight towards his face, Devon concentrated his gaze on the fast moving projectile, and called upon a foreign sensation that he experienced several times now since landing in this new world.
That is, the slight sensation of magic coursing through his veins, which was still unfamiliar and untuned, but he could feel it coursing through with instinct alone. Converting his physical stamina into another energy source that other accomplished mages in this foreign world referred to as 'mana', Devon directed his mana towards redirecting a gust of wind towards the tomato, slightly pushing it off course by just a few degrees.
But even a few degrees off, applied early enough in the projectile's travel path, could amplify the tomato's trajectory into a miss of the magnitude of a quarter of a meter.
And that is exactly what happened. The tomato barely missed his head by half an arm's length, and both Lady Ann and the hulking monstrosity by her side she referred to as Petunia looked confused.
Devon immediately felt a bit of energy drain from his body from the mana expenditure and his inefficient conversion of his physical stamina into mana, but he didn't fully understand the properties of what he was conjuring yet. He was only acting on instinct, with guidance from a possible hidden talent that he picked up during his 'just give me anything' random selection of talents in purgatory.
"Petunia, did you miss, darling~" Lady Ann said with a bit of bitterness in her tone, the eighteen year old black haired loli aristocrat making a disapproving sound with her tongue. "Having a bad day today, dear?"
"Mmm…" Petunia grunted, shaking his head and nearly knocking off the blonde pigtail wig that was horribly loosely affixed to the crown of his head with a few bob pins tied between his natural short dark brown hair. The servant girl near Lady Ann immediately leaned up and fixed the pigtail as best as she could.
It was clear the power that this eighteen year old black haired short girl held in her hands. Whoever her father was, they must've been very powerful for her to command such respect at such a young age.
But Devon didn't have the luxury of thinking about that right now.
At the young lady's insistence, the giant of a man she called Petunia loaded up another tomato in his grip. While the other noble girls could have their thrown tomatoes picked up from the field by designated slaves and reused, any tomato slung by Petunia was instantly destroyed upon impact with either its target or the ground. That was the sheer power of his throwing strength, powered by massive biceps and muscles that would make even the Hulk envious.
There was only one thing Devon could do, because ducking and diving was virtually impossible because of Petunia's throw speed. He had to rely on magic and redirect every single tomato thrown his way, to be able to survive for so many hours until midnight.
The next tomato came at blistering speed.
Devon concentrated again, his rabbit ears bobbing up and down above his head as he directed another gust of wind to edge the tomato's trajectory to the side ever so slightly. Again, the tomato missed, this time by an even larger margin.
"Petunia!! What's wrong with you today?" Lady Ann said in a bit of a fuss. The black haired noble had an angry spoiled expression on her face as she stomped the ground once.
"Sorry, lady Ann. The wind is strong today," Petunia replied with a baffled expression on his face, unsure of how he managed to miss twice in a row. This was unprecedented for him as well.
The other noble girls chucked tomatoes at Devon, and he didn't bother redirecting them. Two of the vegetables hit his balls, and his bulge, which stung just a little bit.
"Ten points~"
"Wow~"
"Maybe we can beat Petunia this time, heehee~" Ella said, her blonde locks bouncing on her shoulders.
"Grrr!" Lady Ann pouted angrily. "Get closer then, Petunia, and stop missing!"
"Okay," the giant man replied, taking two tomatoes from the basket and walking for a closer shot at Devon.
Devon held his breath and began to collect mana in his body once again, drawing upon his stamina reserves and converting his energy to mana in an inefficient manner.
Happy new year!!!