I never thought the day would come where we would fight Amanda again.
I wasn’t sure we could beat her, even if we had already defeated Gaudartha, who was at least as strong. I couldn’t shake my impression that Amanda was overwhelmingly powerful, probably because we fought her at an early stage of our travels. Fran was having none of it.
“We’re going to win.”
I know. Our goal’s the gold.
“Hm!”
“Arf arf!” Jet barked, not wanting to be forgotten. The other spectators left as we thought about tomorrow’s match.
“Let’s do our best, Jet.”
“Hm. Let’s go see Elza.”
Sure.
Elza had been kind to us during our stay in Ulmutt. It would do us no harm to visit her after her spectacular defeat. An official told us that she was sleeping in one of the infirmaries. The muscular fighter was still out cold, snoozing peacefully in a king-sized bed. And yet, she looked happy.
“Unngh…” Elza muttered in her sleep. “Mmph. Tee hee.” A line of drool dripped from the corner of her disconcerting smile.
You doing okay, Fran? This doesn’t gross you out or anything?
“Why should it?”
Just checking to see how you’re holding up.
“Should we wake her up?”
She looks fine. Let’s leave her be.
“Okay.”
“Hee hee heh…”
With that, we left Elza and returned to our lodgings. Sweet dreams, beloved hero of Ulmutt.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I hope you’re as excited as I am for the semifinals! Up first, we have a battle between two beautiful belles!”
I was getting used to the roar of the crowd, but they burst into louder applause when Fran entered the ring.
“Winner gets to go to the grand finals! Loser has to fight for third place!”
Let’s go, Fran.
“Hm!”
Fran was already fully buffed and Awakened. It would last for about an hour, so long as she didn’t use Flashing Thunderclap. The fight would be long over before then.
“Making her way into the arena is this year’s eye of the storm! This C-Rank adventurer has defeated all your favorites, even an A-Rank! The Swordceress, the Princess of Black Lightning…Fran!”
Princess of Black Lightning? I like the sound of that! Thanks, commentator!
“Now, this A-Rank has dominated all of her matches so far! Her beauty matches that of Hundred Blade Forlund, and she is the finest our kingdom has to offer…Amanda the Hariti!”
The crowd applauded Amanda slightly louder than they had Fran. And they’d fully supported Fran when she had gone up against Gaudartha, too… Wild beast versus little girl was an easier choice, I guess. Meanwhile, the beauty of a half-elf was not to be trifled with. Even the girls were screaming, their high-pitched voices cutting through the baritone of the crowd. They shouted, hoping their lady would turn their way.
Amanda paid them no attention and addressed Fran with a calm look. “I didn’t think I’d see you here so soon, Frannie.”
“Me neither.”
“I won’t hold back.”
“Hm!”
They smiled at each other before readying their weapons. The Madonna smiling at the pretty girl would’ve been picturesque if they weren’t about to murder each other.
“Hee hee.”
“Hm.”
Fran and Amanda locked eyes to preempt any sudden movements. They were ready to throw down.
I Identified Amanda again.
Name: Amanda
Age: 58
Race: Half-elf
Class: Whip Master
Level: 72
HP: 651; Magic: 808; Strength: 330; Agility: 457
Skills: Intimidate 7; Speedcast 6; Stealth 8; Disassemble 8; Wind Magic 10; Brute Force 5; Flash Step 7; Abnormal Status Resistance 7; Omni Radar 6; Elemental Sword 7; Throw 8; Whip Arts 10; Advanced Whip Arts 6; Whip Mastery 10;
Advanced Whip Mastery 7; Storm Magic 4; Magic Resistance 6; Mana Sense 6; Orc Killer; Spirit Manipulation; Dragon Killer; Enhanced Storm; Mana Manipulation; Enhanced Whip
Class Skill: Sky Whip Arts
Unique Skill: Beloved of the Spirits
Titles: Protector of Children; Dungeon Raider; Dragon Killer; Swift Breeze; Wind Mage; Monster Exterminator; A-Rank Adventurer
Equipment: Sky Dragon’s Beard; Hydra Hide Armor; Venom Gecko Mantle; Mad Eye Bull Boots; Armlet of Sacrifice; Thunderbird Feather; Barrier Ring; Shock Owl Throwing Feathers x24
Amanda was still the all-rounder, and seemed to have gotten even stronger during her travels. Fran had the upper hand in weapon skills, though. Still, we might not be able to beat her in a no-holds-barred brawl, so the tournament rules helped our odds.
Now, that new Class of hers… I was pretty sure she was a Storm Warrior last time. Did she change to Whip Master because it was better suited to the tournament? I’d never seen that Class Skill, either.
Sky Whip Arts: Speeds up the activation of Whip Arts by consuming more resources.
How fast could she go? We had to keep our guard up, especially when her Class had the word “Master” right there in its name. The additional resource cost would prevent her from using it forever, so I wondered if we could score some hits in that time.
The commentator saw that both combatants were ready and announced the start of the fight. “Begin!”
I was casting spells a moment later.
“Hexagon Tornado.”
Thunderbolt!
Thunder Chain!
Tornado Lance!
I anticipated her whip with tornadoes, and locked Amanda down with the speed and electricity of Thunder Magic. I’d invested some points in it after Lumina told us that it was the bread and butter of Black Sky Tigers. Thunderbolt was the one I had the most faith in. It was fast and stunned the opponent when it connected, making it perfect for locking down movement, like a more powerful Stun Bolt. Thunder Chain wasn’t as powerful, but its primary use was in binding the enemy in electric chains.
That wouldn’t be enough to defeat Amanda. Beloved of the Spirits, her Unique Skill, allowed her to nullify a fatal attack. We had to burn down that layer of armor before we could begin to beat her. My spells would hold her down and warrant the activation of her Unique Skill. After that, Fran could move in for the kill with Flashing Thunderclap. We weren’t going to let Amanda hit us with her big attacks, especially when we were faster than her.
We still had the upper hand in melee, despite the striking speed of her whip. I was ready with Physical Immunity just in case she got a counter in. Amanda was probably
