"Now! May the second round of the Annual Gratsudale Tournament begin!"
"Let's start off with a bang, shall we?!"
Arnold lifts up his sword and a magic circle appears above it. He swings his sword down, hitting the floor and a stream of fire shoots out, charging towards me.
I dodge and maneuver around the fire.
(So it follows me huh.)
Two magic circles appear at both my sides and earth walls grow from the floor up. Two more magic circles appear on the wall and a green vine grabs my arm.
"Take this!"
Arnold swing his sword again, this time twice and two bigger streams of fire charge towards me.
(Wow.)
"How'd you like that show?! You aren't dead, are you? Hahahaha!"
"You certainly have an impressive variety of magic."
"Eh? H-How? When did you even-"
I walk around the walls of fire holding the green vine that grabbed onto me.
"I guess you didn't account for me simply cutting it, did you?"
"Tch!"
He dashes towards me and our swords finally clash. He strikes quick and fast but I easily keep up with him making even more frustrated. After a bit more sword fighting, he jumps back and throws 5 fireballs at my direction. I evade them with ease and send back a few of my own. He strikes them down and comes at me again with his sword.
"How about I go on the offensive this time?"
I change the flow of the fight by striking hard and quick, pushing Arnold back as he barely keeps up with my onslaught.
"Grng-"
"What's wrong? Didn't expect this did you? How did you think I beat Vario?"
"S-Shut up! Don't get cocky!"
He summons an earth wall to separate us and take a breath but I give him no chance to rest as I cut through the wall and continue attacking him.
"Damn bastard-!"
The continuous onslaught of strikes continues until I stop suddenly. He uses the momentary pause to try and gain an advantage by encasing me in another wall of rock.
"Got you now! Escape from this, you piece of shit!"
"This again? Is this seriously all you can do? The son of the Duke of Gratsudale Kingdom is this weak? How disappointing. I hoped for somewhat of a fight but I couldn't even get that."
"You fucking bitch!!"
Out of anger, Arnold uses a strong fire spell to cover the area around me in a wall of fire.
"I'm not finished!"
He increases the spells destructive power by making the flames bigger, covering any escape point. A moment of crowd silence and the sound of the flames passes.
"This is quite a powerful spell. We're you trying to kill me?"
"W-WHA-"
The earth wall crumbles and the flames disperse into the air as I walk out unscathed.
"Who the hell are you?! To break out of a spell of that level unscathed shouldn't be possible!"
(It's called a barrier. A simple level 1 spell and yet, a very effective defensive spell.)
"I've dragged this out for way too long, so I say we end this, what do you think?"
I summon two dark circles on Arnold's wrist, which attach to him restrain him.
"What is this?!"
The circles slowly pull him into the air, leaving him no room for resistance. I then summon 15 black spikes across from him and line them up.
"W-W-Wait!"
A look of pure fear for his life takes up his face.
"So, you don't hesitate to use a powerful fire magic spell that could have possibly killed me but when faced in the same situation, you piss your pants? How pathetic. You had this coming."
"D-Don't kill me!! S-Stop!!"
"Say hey to God for me, will ya?"
"I forfeit!!!! GRG-"
"Hahahaha!!!"
Each of the black spikes puncture straight through him, leaving a gaping hole in his chest. His lifeless body drops to the floor as my laugh echoes throughout the dead silent arena. Faces full of fear and cringe fill the crowd from what they have just witnessed.
"Arnold Hylinspurg has been rendered…. and is unable to continue….. The winner…. and moving to the next round... R-Ryuki T-Tetsuyo…"
Suddenly, everyone goes nuts.
"H-He k-killed him!!!"
"Murderer!!"
"O-Oh my God!!!"
Guards and security come rushing out.
"Hey hey hey! Settle down everyone, he isn't dead. It's illusion magic. He's just passed out, see?"
I shut down the illusion magic, the black spikes, and hole in his chest return to normal. The guards check him and confirm that he is not dead.
(Any decent mage could see through this but in a crowd full of normal civilians it's impossible. Plus, Arnold is reckless, probably doesn't study, and has built confidence over party tricks and one decently powerful spell. He's probably been running around intimidating people with it and that's why he was so cocky. Now look at him. Haha, I love being overpowered.)
~A few moments later outside of the arena~
"Ryukiiiiiii"
(Fu-)
I don't even get a chance to breathe in the air outside of the arena before Valerie pounces on me.
"You're getting too familiar, you know that right?"
"Hehe, you're so amazing Ryuki! Although, I was terrified because I thought you actually murdered the Duke's son!"
"No, maybe I went a bit overboard with that illusion magic. But eh, he tried to kill me anyways so it doesn't really matter. By the way, can you let go of me? I want to walk and I can't do that while you're practically implanting your entire body on me."
"Fine, I'll let you go for now."
She unwraps her arms from around my abdomen."
"Where's Jincheng?"
"Oh, he left in the middle of the match. Said he had to go take care of something and that he wouldn't be back until nighttime."
"I see. Hey… what's with that face?"
Valerie's face fills with a mischievous grin.
"That's means I have you all to myself today! Hahahaha!"
(Oh Great Goddess of Light. I beg of you once again. Although you never answer my prayers, please just this once help me?)
…
(Whatever.)
"Alright! This day is going to be perfect. I'll go home and set everything up, so you can wander around for a while. Give me an hour! Don't come in until after, alright?"
"Fine."
"See ya later, Ryuki!"
"Yeah…"
(May as well entertain her.)
~15 minutes later~
I wander through the town, watching people as they pass by.
(I wonder, if she sells seashells by the seashore, can she get sued for selling seashells off of someone's property?)
I continue pondering random thoughts until I spot a familiar face.
(Is that… Valerie's mother?)
I approach Mary, who is carrying a decent amount of groceries.
"Hey, need help with that?"
"Oh, Ryuki! How pleasant to see you here. And there's no need. It isn't that much. Thank you though. You know, since I ran into you here, may we talk for a moment?"
"Of course."
We stop and sit at a nearby bench.
"So about my daughter. She's pretty clingy isn't she?", she chuckles.
"Yes she is. I'm not too bothered by it though."
"Valerie was really close with her father. She was attached to him, you could even say. Like an extra pair of arms and legs. As you probably know by now, he died years back and ever since then, Valerie hasn't been her true self. I can't spend as much time with her as I used to since I have to run the inn all day. But ever since you came along Ryuki, I feel as if Valerie has returned to her old self. I don't know what you did to make my daughter get so attached to you so fast but please keep doing it. This is the happiest she's been in years."
"Well, although she's pretty clingy and over the top sometimes, I find her company oddly enjoyable. So you can be assured that I'll continue whatever it is I'm doing."
"Thank you so much Ryuki. You're such a kind young man. I hope you make my daughter happy someday in another way as well, haha."
She smiles and walks off.
(Well, I can certain see where Val gets her big smile from. Anyways, I guess I'll walk around some more until she's ready for me to come.)
~An hour later~
(Guess it's time I head back. If she isn't ready yet, oh well.)
I make my way back to the inn.
(The hell is that smell? Smoke? Did some idiot try cooking? Ha, it was probably Valerie. I bet that's why she made me wait to come into the inn.)
I continue walking while taking in the smell of smoke.
(Why is it getting stronger…?)
I increase my speed as I continue down the direction of the inn.
(I'm detecting fire. What the hell?!)
I make a full sprint towards the inn, heart rate increasing, blood pressure rising.
(Please don't tell me it isn't what I think is. Please. Please. Please.)
I finally catch a view of the inn.
"No…!"