After two days of training, Ryoshi stood before a colossal metal door.
Ryoshi inquired, "I go through here, right?"
Beth confirmed, "Yeah."
Ryoshi puzzled over the method. "How?"
Beth suggested, "Turn it into ice or something."
Ryoshi acknowledged the suggestion. "I... That's a good solution! Sometimes I forget I can turn things into ice."
With a touch, Ryoshi transformed the door into pure ice.
"Now, DISAPPEAR!!!" Ryoshi commanded.
The door obediently reshaped itself into a giant ball, which Ryoshi rolled aside to enter the next room. It was vast, filled to the brim with mountains of energy drink cans.
"GOD DAMN! Somebody must be having the time of their life here!" Ryoshi exclaimed.
A voice greeted him, "Welcome!"
Startled, Ryoshi turned to see a woman with short green hair, a blue tank top, and orange shorts.
"AAAAAH!!!" Ryoshi yelped.
The woman teased, "You scream like a girl."
She then leaped onto a small hill of energy drinks.
"My name is Genrugi Ochigawai," she introduced herself.
Ryoshi pondered her surname. "Ochigawai... Ochigawai... That last name..."
Genrugi confirmed, "Yes, my nephew is Enerida Ochigawai."
Ryoshi complimented, "He's a cool guy. So, what do you do?"
Genrugi explained, "I use the energy electricity sacrificial ability."
Ryoshi speculated, "By the number of cans... Soda?... you have, you probably have very strong attacks but need to recharge."
Genrugi corrected him, "Good guess, but no..."
Ryoshi admitted defeat. "Welp, that's the end of my guessing streak... Surriku No Ha."
Summoning his magical weapon, Ryoshi declared, "Let's start this!"
Genrugi retaliated with a ball of green electricity, which Ryoshi blocked with his sword.
Ryoshi thought, DAMN, How am I already out of energy?
Suddenly, Genrugi teleported to Ryoshi, delivering a shock to his chest. Ryoshi collapsed to the ground.
I... can't fight anymore he realized.
Genrugi taunted, "Already out of energy? Energy electricity allows me to drain large heaps of your stamina and energy, converting it to my own personal energy."
Ryoshi, undeterred, resolved, "That is crazy... I know what to do though... ICE MANA BURST!!!"
Activating his ice mana burst mode, Ryoshi stood up, preparing to counterattack.
Ryoshi confidently declared, "Alright, this energy should be enough to win."
Genrugi, observing his confidence, taunted, "Cocky, are we?"
She leaped into the air, hurling two waves of green electricity at him.
Ryoshi reacted with a swift gesture, causing both waves to solidify into ice, which dropped harmlessly to the floor.
"Ta-Da!!!" Ryoshi exclaimed triumphantly.
But before he could celebrate, Genrugi teleported behind him, delivering a powerful punch to his back, electrified with her energy.
I'm being drained! Ryoshi realized as he felt his energy waning.
Acting quickly, Ryoshi retaliated by deeply stabbing Genrugi in the waist with his sword, leaving it embedded there. Genrugi, wounded, stepped back, wailing in pain.
"You almost got me!" Ryoshi remarked, pointing accusingly at her, the sword teleporting back to his hand.
Genrugi, undeterred, charged up both her arms with green electricity, ready for another attack.
"You're going to drain yourself of energy soon!" Ryoshi warned.
"You too," Genrugi retorted.
Ryoshi remained confident. "I'm pretty sure I can survive."
Genrugi lunged forward, launching a barrage of punches, but Ryoshi skillfully dodged each one, countering with a powerful headbutt.
"Ah! What is wrong with you?" Genrugi exclaimed in pain.
Seizing the opportunity, Ryoshi leaped back, conjuring a gigantic surge of ice that engulfed Genrugi.
"HAHA I WIN!!!" Ryoshi proclaimed victoriously.
However, his victory was short-lived as the surge of ice suddenly exploded with green electricity.
"Haha... I didn't win..." Ryoshi admitted, realizing his miscalculation.
Genrugi, now charged up, grabbed three cans of energy drink and swiftly drained them all.
"Now I'm all charged up!" she declared, crushing the cans and charging towards Ryoshi with renewed vigor.
Undeterred, Ryoshi focused his energy, slamming his hands together and invoking his ice magic.
"Ice Magic: Ice Spears!" he commanded, summoning three large spears above his head.
Ryoshi's confidence surged as all three spears hurtled towards Genrugi.
"Why YOU!!!" Genrugi retaliated, unleashing a massive beam of green electricity that obliterated the spears. She then contorted backward to dodge Ryoshi's slash, but he managed to nick her with his blade, freezing some of her hair in the process before leaping back.
"When did you get so fast?" Genrugi demanded, clearly caught off guard.
"IIIIIIII dunno..." Ryoshi replied with a smirk.
"I'll just end this here! Mega charge bolt blitz—" Genrugi began, but her words were cut off as she was impaled on both sides of her neck by curving spikes of ice.
"What!" she exclaimed in shock as Ryoshi approached.
"Is it painful? Let me just..." Ryoshi's voice trailed off as he froze her neck, rendering her immobile.
"Better?" he asked innocently.
"You cocky BASTARD!!!" Genrugi seethed, the ice breaking off her neck as she vanished.
"AM I STILL NOT IN THAT RANGE OF SPEED YET!?" Ryoshi shouted in frustration.
Genrugi reappeared before him, delivering a powerful punch to his stomach, sending waves of electricity coursing through his body.
"GYAAAAAAAAA!!!" Ryoshi cried out in agony.
Undeterred, he attempted to strike back, but Genrugi deftly evaded his attacks, effortlessly neutralizing his attempts.
"Did you really think that your plan of stabbing me while I was presumingly focused on another thing would work?" she taunted.
"That wasn't my plan," Ryoshi countered, rising to his feet.
"My plan was to make you stop electrocuting me. If you were to grab me after dodging, that would be a problem... but good thing luck is on my side today," he explained, a determined glint in his eye.
"Oh, why you— Oh wait, you're almost completely out of energy! You can't beat me; I have all of my energy!!!" Genrugi boasted.
"That might be true, but let's see what fate says to that," Ryoshi replied defiantly, though inwardly he knew he was at his limit.
With a sudden burst of energy, he invoked his ice mana burst, but the strain was evident. The drawback from this mana burst is kicking in! My mana has been halved... I really can't go for much longer...
"Sorry, kid, but try again on beating me later! Mega charge bolt BLITZ!!!" Genrugi roared, enveloping herself in a formidable aura of green electricity and unleashing a devastating beam.
Refusing to yield, Ryoshi lifted his sword defiantly.
"SKILL 1: ICE REVERSAL!" he declared.
In an instant, the beam froze upon contact with his blade, catching Genrugi off guard.
"OH YOU!" she cried out in frustration, sliding down the frozen beam toward Ryoshi, who could barely move.
With a powerful blow, she struck him across the face, sending him crashing to the ground, his determination unwavering despite the odds stacked against him.
Ryoshi's mind raced as he struggled to stay conscious under Genrugi's draining field.
"I gotta plan..." he whispered, his voice barely audible amidst the crackling energy.
"Since you wanna bullshit through everything so much, how about I suck all the energy out of ya!" Genrugi sneered, her tone dripping with contempt.
Ryoshi's eyes narrowed as he summoned his second skill, creating a tiny snowman beside him.
"Skill 2: Snow Baby," he muttered, his voice determined.
"What is that? You know what, that is just more energy for me! Drain field," Genrugi declared, touching the ground and enveloping the entire floor in sparking green electricity.
Ryoshi's focus wavered as he struggled against the draining effect, his energy rapidly depleting.
All I have to do now is... stay... conscious he thought, his vision blurring as he fought to remain alert.
Genrugi approached Ryoshi's fallen form, her arrogance palpable.
"PHAH! You look stupid with that snowman beside you," she taunted dismissively.
But before she could proceed, the tiny snowman sprang into action, grabbing Genrugi's head with a large snowy hand.
"What is this!?" Genrugi exclaimed in shock as she was thrown across the room and into a wall, her body pinned in place.
"Nobody disrespects Ryoshi like that!" the snow baby declared defiantly.
With a swift motion, it launched itself toward Genrugi, delivering a powerful blow that sent her crashing through the wall and into the next room.
Ryoshi watched in amazement as Genrugi lay motionless on the ground, her eyes rolled back in her head.
"She is!" he exclaimed, relief flooding through him as he realized the danger had passed.
The snow baby hopped onto Ryoshi's shoulder, a silent but reassuring presence amidst the chaos.
Snow Baby, gleefully exclaimed, "Slushy slushy victory!" Its tiny form bounced with unbridled joy, a testament to its newfound name.
Ryoshi, the master of magic, gazed at the creature before him with a sense of pride. "I'm giving you a name," he declared, his voice brimming with affection, "you will now be called Snowy Junior!"
Snowy Junior's response was immediate and filled with adoration. "I love that name!" it chirped happily.
As the exchange continued, Ryoshi's tone shifted slightly. "Alright, you have to go because you're kinda draining my mana..." he trailed off, a hint of weariness creeping into his voice.
"Okie Dokie!" Snowy Junior replied cheerfully, its form starting to dissolve as it melted away.
Meanwhile, Genrugi, Ryoshi's defeated opponent, struggled to comprehend her loss. "H-How did you win..." she managed to utter, her voice laced with disbelief.
Ryoshi, ever the strategist, didn't waste a beat. "You're not unconscious yet? Eh, I'll tell you," he remarked casually, his confidence unwavering. "Snowy Junior is purely made out of mana and has no energy to steal, plus he brings in the element of surprise every time he appears!"
Genrugi's response was feeble, her strength fading fast. "So... you outsmart me?..." she murmured weakly before succumbing to unconsciousness.
With Genrugi incapacitated, Ryoshi turned his attention to her well-being. "Yea... I should probably heal you before you bleed out," he mused aloud, weighing his options. "But I also don't wanna go into that room without being fully healed, so how about this!"
With a flourish of his magic, Ryoshi conjured a couch made of shimmering, healing ice. He then extended a hand of ice into the adjacent room, gently retrieving Genrugi and settling her onto the makeshift bed.
"That should heal! In the meantime, I need to do this," Ryoshi announced, his tone resolute as he encased himself in a block of healing ice magic, ensuring his own well-being as well.