“Second match of the third round. Begin!”
“Here we go…”
As we predicted, Colbert dropped into a defensive stance and waited for Fran to make the first move. He was confident that she would open the match with measured strikes here and there, but we had every intention of kicking right into high gear. No hard feelings, Colbert!
Stone Wall! Fire Wall! Wind Wall!
I cast three spells immediately. The walls of stone, fire, and wind formed a cramped tunnel around Fran and Colbert.
“Tch!” He reacted immediately and broke through the ceiling, but I had anticipated that.
“Inferno Burst.”
Inferno Burst.
We both cast a flame spell this time. Fire filled the tunnel and chased after Colbert as he made his escape. The intense heat was already melting the stone walls, but the inner reinforcement of fire and wind prevented the tunnel from collapsing. This attack served a two-pronged purpose: It kept Colbert from escaping, and focused the flames into a backdraft. His escape path was already consumed by bright red fire.
We kept the pressure on. We knew that our opener wasn’t enough to incapacitate the B-Rank adventurer.
“Wind Bullet!”
Stone Bullet!
Since Fran and I couldn’t see Colbert through the flame and smoke, we aimed for his aura. The shots of stone and wind would confirm his location, and then we could begin our real attack.
“Haaa!”
Let’s go!
I couldn’t remember the last time I used Telekinetic Catapult. While I couldn’t reach maximum velocity in the short tunnel, it would be enough to deal significant damage…or so I thought.
“Nryaaaa!”
Whoa!
Just as I was about to lodge myself in his trunk, Colbert punched the flat of my blade, deflecting me. It threw off my trajectory, and for a moment I was convinced he had knocked me into the day after tomorrow. He blocked Telekinetic Catapult—the finishing move of our opening combo—with ease. Colbert was burnt in some places, but the spells didn’t seem to have slowed him down.
He was strong. We needed to end this fight before he got serious.
I used a wind spell to adjust my trajectory, and Transmogrified my blade into a spiked ball. I used Elemental Blade, too—Thunder element.
“Whaaat?!” Colbert shouted.
He wasn’t expecting a sword to come to a full stop and turn into a spiked ball of electricity. How much Defense did he have?! My spikes could easily penetrate steel, but Colbert’s leather armor was not having it. Fortunately, the thunder element gave my blade a shocking quality.
“A-a-a-a-a-a-a!” Colbert screamed as electricity coursed through his body. Lightning still worked.
“Stun Bolt!” Fran followed up with another thunder spell. Good! Colbert was glowing and shedding blue sparks.
“Urgh…!”
“Time to end this!” Fran shouted. “Gale Hazard!”
She used a wind spell, intent on taking the win while Colbert was at a safe distance. If we learned anything from the Cruise fight, it was that fighters had an insane tendency to make comebacks. The spell blew Colbert a good twenty meters, and he was on trajectory to hit the stands.
Fran kept watch, waiting for the impact. If Colbert somehow changed directions, she would force him back with another spell. We stayed on our guard…
“Hrmph.”
Did he…use a Return Feather?
Colbert was gone. That much was clear, but where was he? I looked around, but couldn’t spot him anywhere.
“Up.”
Above?!
Colbert was in the air above the ring. He didn’t have to worry about getting knocked out from up there, and he could watch all of his opponent’s movements. It was a good spot to make a tactical retreat, and a good use of a disposable item. That said, it opened him up to attack as he fell.
“Hm!”
Fran wasted no time in exploiting Colbert’s descent and shot off some wind spells, focusing on speed and range instead of raw damage. Meanwhile, I launched some flame spells to confuse him. The fire would end the match if it landed. Our combination should have knocked him out of the air, and we hoped it would knock him outside the ring, but Colbert crushed our expectations. He punched our spells out of the air, dissipating them into energy.
He’s charged his fists with mana!
Colbert accelerated down towards Fran, probably with a movement skill like Air Hop.
“Haaaa! Raaagh!”
He punched the air, forming waves of impact that shot towards us. While each blast was relatively weak, there were many of them, and Fran prepared herself by casting a wide-area barrier.
Our blast of flame was enough to block Colbert’s shockwaves, but he saw it coming. He was trying to stop Fran for long enough that he could recover.
He landed safely and stared at Fran as he dropped into an impenetrable stance. Fran met his gaze with equal intensity.
“Phew,” he said. “That was dirty.”
“I saw an opening and I took advantage. That was all.”
“I guess you did. I didn’t expect you to be such a good mage. Honestly, I’m kind of shocked that you hid it from me for so long.”
“I could say the same for you. You have more mana now?”
Fran was right. Colbert did have a higher Magic rating than before.
Name: Colbert
Age: 38
Race: Human
Class: Steel Fist
Level: 41/99
HP: 381/508; Magic: 330/452; Strength: 299; Agility: 253
Skills: Disassemble 4; Martial Arts 6; Martial Arts Mastery 6; Danger Sense 3; Advanced Punch Mastery 2; Punch Arts 9; Punch Mastery 10; Breath Control: Harden 4; Brute Force 8; Blink 9; Swim 4; Ocean Resistance 2; Throw 4; Dimitris Combat Arts 8; Dimitris Combat Mastery 8;
Physical Barrier 4; Mana Thruster 5; Sleep Resistance 3; Paralysis Resistance 4; Cooking 3; Hawkeye; Beast Killer; Split Thinking; Spirit Manipulation
Class Skill: Steel Fist
Titles: Bear Killer; Tiger Killer
Equipment: Water Dragon Leather Gloves; Aged Water Tiger Gi; Aged Water Tiger Shoes; Red Maw Bear Bandanna; Red Maw Bear Cloak; Bracelet of Pain Resistance; Bracelet of Physical Resistance.
Was this his unleashed state? His stats were greatly increased, and he’d gained the skills Dimitris Combat, Physical Barrier, Mana Thruster, and Split Thinking. Brute Force and Blink were at higher levels, and the boost in Colbert’s stats was nothing to scoff at, either. A hundred points for HP and Magic, and fifty for both Strength
