Volume 2 Chapter 5: The wind priestess
「However, I won’t let up!」(Sonia)
Even though I had changed my stance, Sonia offense didn’t become weaker.
Like a storm, her wind blades approached me.
…Swift and sharp wind blades.
It was unbelievable, without the need of much time, they were brought forth by just her swinging her arm.
What was called wind had a light color and its power was probably about the same as that of an axe cutting down trees.
Therefore, for a while now, instead of warding off the wind blades I was avoiding them instead.
Obviously, even if I had switched my stance, the fact that these wind blades posed a threat didn’t change.
My offensive power hadn’t gone down but it wasn’t like my defense had gone up either.
In fact, you could say that it had gone down because I changed to an offensive stance.
However…
「Hah!」 (Slava)
With magic power imbued on my fist, I struck the wind blades.
When magic power collided against magic power, a sound akin to striking iron reverberated.
1 time, 2 times, 3 times…violently, like a sword fight, loud sounds kept pilling one after another.
Different from how it was before…instead of warding them off…I was crushing them.
The violent sounds informed of a change in the flow of the battle.
「…Tsk」 (Sonia)
The one who thought that was troublesome was Sonia.
I wasn’t warding them off nor evading them, I was just intercepting all of them.
A state where I kept advancing towards her. …That displayed to her, that I was firm like the walls of a castle.
It’s said that offense is the strongest defense. Against attacks from long range, instead of just waiting…
「…tsu」 (Slava)
It’s better to just advance.
With clasped fists, I accurately smashed the approaching blades and took a step forward.
Sonia took a small step backward.
That small movement that was easy to overlook informed me of something…that the state of the battle was shifting.
「Ooohhh!」 (Slava)
With a heavy step to signal the start, my body burst forward.
While getting away from the line of fire of the blades, I kicked the ground.
Even then, the blades would still hit my body, but I didn’t receive a direct hit.
While taking care of them with my fists…I ran!
Moving forward while swinging my fists, I was able to somewhat take them down.
Since the match started, I was the one who had first shown a crimson streak from his cheek, but I had finally arrived at a point where I could reach my opponent.
Even these wind blades that boasted of a quick rate of fire would fall a step short against close quarter attacks made from this distance.
The wind blades stopped and the storm turned quiet.
Having gotten this close, there were no longer any merits in using sorcery.
Besides…if I’ve gotten this close, by the time a wind blade reached me, my fist would have struck Sonia.
「Incredible, a normal opponent would have lost by now」 (Sonia)
「I should be saying the same thing. …However, it won’t end like this, right?」 (Slava)
「Aren’t you more than aware of it? That this just marks the beginning!」 (Sonia)
Without giving any signs, we both released magic power at the same time.
The magic power she used for sorcery was now circulating throughout her body, you could easily say that said magic power was like the source of a storm.
I won’t lose just because of this. I’ve been refining this for over a hundred years, I clad myself in magic power that unlike Sonia’s was calm.
The sorcery she had shown was impressive, but as one would expect, if we are talking about fighting, she’s better at this.
This…simpler method of clashing fist against fist!
Our magic, which had swollen up, was reaching a satisfying level.
Before long, my magic power intersected with Sonia’s…and the 2nd round started.
「Brisk!」 (Sonia)
As one would expect, the first one to take action was Sonia.
I could see that she was confident in the speed of her attacks.
However, that was by no means self-conceit.
While in terms of power it couldn’t be considered deadly, its range could be compared to Chester’s.
Obviously, having shortened the distance, they weren’t as hard to see as the attacks from that old man, but their speed was still fast enough to surprise me.
Even if 「Surging waves」 is an offensive stance, the Shijima style is still a style specialized in defense.
If I want to go on the offensive, I can’t afford to let her even get a step ahead.
Her wind sorcery was the kind that didn’t make any flashy noises. Sonia closed the distance between us in an instant.
Different from how Chester and I simply kicked the ground, I could see how she just didn’t go in a straight line.
In that case, does it have a bad affinity with my style of warding off attacks?
In the short moment it took Sonia to close the distance, I observed her figure.
…I can feel wind magic in her arms.
It was similar in shape to the wind blades and it had a green color, it feels as if she’s imbuing the wind blades on her arms.
The magic power she clad her body in was nothing like what she did before, it was calm unlike the storm like magic power she displayed previously. As expected, I could only see a small flow of wind.
In that case…I’ll forget about warding it off and catch the hand that was trying to mow me down with my hands clad in magic power.
As expected, the arm that splendidly tried to mow me down was clad with wind blades. A red string ran through the palm I used to catch it.
I can’t really say I didn’t take any damage.
However, I took the hit skillfully.
I took a look at Sonia’s face beyond the blade I stopped.
「…tsk」 (Sonia)
I saw an illusion of her face warping beyond that mask.
The wind user turned pale.
She probably realized the importance of me taking hold of her arm, Sonia pulled her arm away in an attempt to run away.
It would usually be a good reaction. Running away from an impending crisis was a really good judgement.
…If she wasn’t facing an opponent of the Shijima style that is.
By putting strength into running away would also display at the same time that there was currently force everywhere throughout her body.
Also…it means that said strength will give birth to a 「Flowing stream」.
「Ah…!?」 (Sonia)
As if the strength she put into running away was helping me, I added just a bit of strength.
When I did so, as if it was a bowl which water was overflowing and lost its equilibrium, Sonia’s body lost its balance.
The Shijima style was a martial arts style that made use of the flow of power. As long as there was a flow, I’ll show them that I can invert it.
…Well, I know that this is just a metaphor, but what’s important is the idea behind it.
However, although I had destroyed her posture…I was a bit troubled at the moment.
The speed at which Sonia had tried to run away was far higher than what I had expected.
Even then, I had somehow been able to crush her balance, but it would be hard to follow up with a powerful technique in this situation.
…. In that case.
In this instant where she was defenseless, I didn’t draw near her, I took Sonia’s arm as the origin point and wielded it as if to draw a circle.
As if drawing a circle…though I guess that wouldn’t be the correct way to describe.
Because what I drew was a semicircle with the ground as its stopping point.
「Kuh, gahah!」 (Sonia)
Having been attacked at a moment where she was defenseless, Sonia’s back hit the ground hard.
Her lungs were crushed by the impact and she probably felt quite a lot of pain.
However, this doesn’t mark my victory. Because at the moment she was in mid-air, she had collected her magic power on her back.
If possible I would have liked to land another hit, but displaying her skill…at that exact moment, by using her body as a spring, she forcefully escaped.
However, the damage Sonia had taken wasn’t low.
Having your lungs crushed would bring unimaginable pain. You wouldn’t be able to breathe and you would be hit by both sharp and dull pain…
Anyway, I should say just as I would have expected of her here, since she was able to recover her posture in that kind of situation.
…However, this was a good opportunity.
Simply put, unlike animals, it would be hard for her to ignore the pain.
Now that she’s faltering, I’ll press forward.
「Kuh!」 (Sonia)
Even though her movements had turned somewhat dull, Sonia earnestly defended against my blows.
That being said, even if it was Sonia, she was unable to defend against them perfectly and she couldn’t help getting hit by some of them.
However, Sonia didn’t collapse.
While striking her this thought crossed my mind. …Just as I had thought, the Shijima style’s…my blows still need improvement.
「Damn it, don’t get carried away!」 (Sonia)
This time, while under the storm of blows, probably having finally regained her breathing, Sonia made a scream filled with fighting spirit.
In an instant, she broke out of the storm. Magic power stronger than what she had shown before…a strong wind like that of a tornado.
My body being far lighter than that of my previous life was easily swept away by said wind.
It was as if I was hit by a gust of wind with Sonia as the center…before my body collided with a rock, I fixed my posture.
In a rush, I looked at Sonia again and she was already ready to go on the offensive.
….Hmm, I would have liked to keep going on the offensive but I guess it won’t be possible like this.
I slowly made my way to where Sonia was.
The fact that there was no barrage of wind blade was probably because she thought it would be a waste of magic power at this point.
To make such a gust of wind without it being any kind of magic probably meant that she did something quite unreasonable.
If it was me, I would try not to use it if possible and only make use of it if it was absolutely necessary.
Even for Sonia who possesses a big amount of magic power, when she had used that amount of sorcery, she probably had to think about her remaining amount of magic power. From this point onward, she’ll have to think if she wants to use sorcery during the fight.
「Hah. hah…jeez, you sure don’t hold back」 (Sonia)
「You prefer it this way, right?」 (Slava)
I took her words as if they were a question for me and replied to Sonia honestly.
It was true that I had some reservations when it came to fighting women and children but…
When it becomes a fight among martial artists, they are considered martial artist before they are women or children.
Besides, even when she says that, doesn’t she look as if she’s really enjoying it?
「…I won’t deny that」 (Sonia)
Cracks appeared on her mask and along with her words, a part of it fell down.
The mouth that appeared from within the mask…was smiling. As one would expect, it was dazzling.
However, at the same time, the air surrounding Sonia changed and I didn’t fail to notice it.
「However, that’s the end of that. From this point onward, you won’t be able to lay a finger on me anymore. But that only applies to you…「Breeze」」 (Sonia)
Having straightened herself, Sonia muttered that last word as if it was just a raindrop.
Did she just say 「Breeze」?
The magic power that clad Sonia’s body emitted a faint light…and it calmed down.
…Was it some sort of magic?
I was pretty unfamiliar with magic, but if her magic power shone after she said those power it was easy enough for me to see it.
However, the chant was too short.
From what I can see, it’s not sorcery that’s intended to make an attack with.
To begin with, casting magic with such a short word would be only enough to light a small fire on your fingertip, or when it comes to a wind element one, it would only be enough to produce a gentle breeze…
When I thought up to that point, I felt chills on my back that would make you feel as if it had turned into an ice stick.
「Eh…I see. I guess I should say you got me here…」 (Slava)
The magic that gave birth to that breeze. Most likely…no, it’s definitely that type of magic.
At first glance, it would look like it had done nothing, but the magic that carried a bit of coolness…at the same time that she had cast it, had changed shape.
While saying those words, I slowly took some distance. The distance with Sonia…was a bit more than 2 meters.
My cold sweat was gently and softly caressed by the breeze. I should have felt coolness from the low temperature on top of the mountain, but in my mind it gave me the illusion of being frozen in a blizzard.
…I see, this is already her 「Effective range」 huh?
「I guess you noticed. That’s right, you would understand, right? What meaning there is in magic that only causes a soft breeze that is」 (Sonia)
The corners of Sonia’s exposed mouth, rose up.
The eyes that were concealed within the mask probably did too, giving me a provocative smile.
This is quite a big spell.
Usually, the higher grade the magic is, the longer the chant would be.
Therefore, in a 1 vs 1 fight, you probably wouldn’t face magic that you should be afraid of but…
I felt a threat from magic used in the middle of the fight for the first time.
How would someone stop magic that is activated by just murmuring a single word?
Hey, isn’t this quite the impressive magic?
It barely uses any magic power and it’s nearly impossible to stop its activation.
Despite that, its effective range was the whole area around where it was cast, it was that impressive.
「I call this 「Fragrance」. Well, it just a magic that causes a breeze though. I don’t really know if it would be proper to call it a technique. …Well then, shall we start round 2?」 (Sonia)
Smiling as if she was having fun, Sonia took her stance.
I would also take my stance again…but I had quite the bitter feeling inside my heart.
Good grief, how should I attack now…
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