“The blood of the Blue Leopard enhances all of my physical abilities. I am not the same man you fought earlier. Prepare yourself. Blitz Blade!”
Zehmet disappeared.
CLANG! A high-pitched ring resounded throughout the arena.
“Ungh!”
Fran could only block Zehmet’s strike. The attack came out of nowhere. It felt like he had teleported.
“Didn’t expect you to block it the first time…haaaa!”
Awaken was buffing him. He got an additional thirty to all of his stats, pumping his Agility to over two hundred—on par with some A-Rank adventurers. This was the power of an evolved Blue Cat! This man was the fastest fighter we’d seen to date!
Adding to his already immense speed, he used Flash Step and Leopard Paw to run circles around his enemies. He chipped away at them with Blitz Blade, whittling them away at maximum velocity. A weaker adventurer would’ve been torn to shreds.
Fran avoided all of his meaty strikes. She had spent a lot of time practicing her Sense skills in the dungeon and could anticipate where Zehmet’s attacks were coming from. As long as she could see them, she could deflect them.
“Impossible…!”
Zehmet panicked. As strong as Fran was, he didn’t expect her to defeat his evolved form. He was more experienced, more skilled, more powerful than her. Panic turned to power as he intensified his assault. Zehmet’s plan was to break through Fran’s defenses with sheer speed, but his velocity came at a cost. His attacks were indeed faster, but they lost the feints and combinations which made them so dangerous. His speed might have overwhelmed other fighters, but it had little effect on Fran. In fact, his greatest weapon made him predictable.
“Stone Wall.”
“Ack…!”
A knee-high wall erupted in Zehmet’s way as he came in from behind. The spell launched his body several feet in the air. He was like a bike rider who’d rammed into a guardrail at full speed.
“You saw right through me…?!”
Zehmet was shocked by Fran’s spells, each perfectly anticipating his attack. He really shouldn’t be talking to himself in a fight.
“Inferno Burst.”
“Guh!”
Fran launched a Flame spell at the defenseless Zehmet, but we had underestimated Leopard Paw. He managed to execute something like an Air Hop by kicking out mid-flight. I thought we had him, but the Blue Cat managed to dodge our killing spell.
Damn it!
This guy didn’t know how to quit! No wonder he was the leader of his own mercenary band! But Fran was still in complete control, and I was intent on watching her from the best seat in the house. I remained calm as Inferno Burst dispersed before my eyes, but Fran managed to be even calmer.
“Vernier.”
“When did you…?!”
Fran used the shade cast by her Flame spell to prepare her next attack. She was already accelerating when she saw Zehmet dodge Inferno Burst. If the spell didn’t take him down, then she’d do it herself.
“Haaaa!”
“Gaaaah!”
Fran wasn’t going to lose a battle of velocity. Not even against an Awakened Zehmet. Her sudden speed shocked him, as though she had teleported right behind him. He had never fought anyone faster than him, and was powerless to defend against her. He threw his left sword at her while thrusting his right, but his desperate swings bore no fruit. Fran stored the thrown weapon inside her Pocket Dimension, while the other blade merely grazed her cheek.
“Urgh!”
“Aaaargh!”
In the blink of an eye, she had chopped Zehmet’s foot right off. Dismemberment was probably good enough to secure her victory, but Fran considered the possibility he could recover and threw him out of the ring. Blood gushed in an arc from his amputated foot as he slammed into the wall. Fran stood alone in the center of the ring and smiled. Victory was hers.
“And she’s done it again! An astounding match from both fighters! Did you catch all that, folks? The agility, the grace, the violence? Because this commentator sure didn’t! They were rolling around at the speed of sound!” the commentator blared in resignation.
The fighters of the match had the speed of A-Ranks.
“Your winner is the Enfant Terrible, the Swordceress, Fran! At twelve years old, she is the youngest finalist this tournament has ever seen!”
The crowd burst with applause. I guess Fran just broke the age record.
After her victory over Zehmet, Fran left the clamor of the crowd behind. An official guided her back to the waiting room.
“Congratulations on winning the first round.”
“Hm.”
“Your next fight will be the day after tomorrow. It will be held at the same time as today.”
“Got it.”
“That will be all for now. Feel free to enjoy yourself.”
After making the requisite announcements, the official left and we discussed our plans for the rest of the day.
What now?
I want to see the fights.
Good idea. I think we can make Colbert’s match.
Hm. I want to watch the others, too.
Fran had never had the chance to watch others do battle. Seeing how other combatants handled themselves would be a good experience for her. It would raise her spirits, too.
Let’s get going, then.
Hm.
As we were about to leave the guild, the tournament official called out to us again. “Are you going to watch the fights?”
“Yeah.”
“May I recommend a change of clothes? The spectators might recognize you and cause a ruckus.”
Tournament fans would be able to tell who Fran was at a glance. With all the money riding on the fights, it wasn’t hard to imagine that she would be called out by sore losers and perverts who had a thing for little girls.
“I’ll be discreet.”
“Thank you.”
Nothing a little Stealth and Conceal Presence couldn’t fix. She took a hooded cloak from her Pocket Dimension, put it on, and resumed her trek to the arena. Contestants were allowed to use the back entrance—Fran only needed to flash her adventurer card. Even then, the seats were absolutely packed.
So many people.
No wonder a lot of folks are standing around.
There were no empty seats, and I was beginning to wonder if Fran would have to stand like everyone else. After a few minutes of searching, we
