Tournament Main Round (3)
Tournament Main Round (3)
I'd rarely found water particularly threatening as an element.
Probably because I encountered it so often in daily life—and because water in everyday contexts simply isn't dangerous.
The water you gulp down when you're thirsty every day is water. The water you casually pour over your head when you're feeling grimy is water too.
Because of that, water as an element never felt very menacing. I'd never been the type to treat the water I eat and drink every day as some kind of threat.
But I knew, intellectually.
That among the phenomena composed of water, there were some more than capable of taking a human life.
'No.'
Water Energy clinging stickily to my skin. Oppressive, heavy air.
The eruption of mana and Innate Talent, and the violent surge of water that exploded from the ground where the spear's tip had driven deep.
The broad stage was being dyed black and blue.
Shadows crawled across the floor, plunging it into gloom.
A tremendous wave swept the ground in a single surge, and around Baek A-rin at the center, the stage had begun gradually submerging beneath the water.
The water encroached steadily. The stage—easily larger than several soccer fields combined—was slowly staining itself a deep blue.
'Tch...'
Facing that, I screamed internally.
'Cheap...!'
It was cheap. It was cowardly. That was what I felt.
Right before the sparring started, she'd rattled me with weird remarks, then launched a surprise attack the moment it began.
And if that wasn't enough, she'd unleashed her Expansion Ability before I'd even recovered my stance.
A shocking development in many ways.
Even as I trembled with a strange sense of betrayal, a corner of my mind acknowledged that this was exactly the sort of thing Baek A-rin would do.
A dual nature: outwardly gentle and lively, inwardly cold and decisive.
- Swooosh!
Flustered as I was, the sound of water still reached my perked ears.
The instant my Observation picked up a blue line cutting across my perception range, I kicked off the ground.
A jet of water pierced the spot where I'd just been standing. I dodged the blue line as it lashed out, whipping and writhing.
- Scraape!
A blue water jet scored the floor and carved straight across the wall in one sweeping line.
Craaash! A vibration that slammed against my eardrums... the violent grinding roar and explosive boom that followed made the corners of my lips twitch involuntarily.
The floor and walls of this stage were sturdy. The foundation was built from durability-guaranteed materials, reinforced further with multiple layers of defensive magic.
The deeply etched cutting scar that ran from floor to wall drew a cold sweat down my back.
A water jet... was nothing like the stream from a showerhead. It wasn't even in the same category to compare.
The intensity rivaled an industrial waterjet cutter. In practical terms, it was far more devastating than even that.
Seeing me dodge, Baek A-rin let out a whistling breath and swept her hand through the air.
Following her gesture, water droplets rose into the void.
Droplets the size of a human head bubbled and seethed—then, swooosh!—fired off fierce jets of water.
'Tsk.'
I clicked my tongue and pulled up my mana at the same time.
Mana spread throughout my body to maintain my strengthened body, and the mana blooming over my frame coalesced into an Aura that wrapped around me.
Bang! I kicked off the ground and dove beneath the oncoming water jet. The ends of my hair brushed against it as I slipped past the stream and shot forward.
One water jet dodged.
The water droplet floating behind Baek A-rin was enormous.
And it wasn't just one. From droplets numbering well over ten, just as many water jets carved through the air.
Not just straight-line trajectories either. Writhing like whips, the water jets lashed and slashed across the stage, shredding everything in their path.
Three jets slashed in quick succession. More followed right behind.
Facing those jets cleaving the air with murderous force, I kicked off the ground without a moment's hesitation.
'Observation Authority.'
I didn't perceive the world with my eyes. I simply drew in information from the surrounding area, analyzed it, and acted accordingly.
I observed the water jets' trajectories. I predicted how those trajectories would change. Based on the observed data, I calculated my next move.
This was familiar work by now.
I moved according to the calculations. My grown body followed the calculations well. Twisting and dipping low, I let the water jets skim past by a hair's breadth.
For trajectories I couldn't evade, I thickened my Aura and deflected them.
The water jets' output was certainly impressive, but not powerful enough to pierce through my Aura in a single burst.
Again, my feet slammed the ground.
The distance closed.
'The floor.'
I hadn't relaxed my guard in the slightest. It was the ground I was kicking off—or more precisely, the water steadily filling the stage—that I was wary of.
Attribute-type Unique Abilities are heavily influenced by the environment.
In a location saturated with the corresponding attribute's energy, they demonstrate far greater power. Conversely, when the surrounding environment is dominated by energy incompatible with the attribute, their output often diminishes.
Expansion Ability.
Tidal Wave.
The Azure Sea Expansion Ability centered on environmental domination.
From the ground where the spear had struck, a massive volume of water was still gushing ceaselessly.
Irrespective of attribute or anything else, the surroundings—which had once held an ordinary mana concentration—were gradually becoming saturated with Water Energy.
The more time passed, the more the environment favored Baek A-rin.
I didn't have any technique capable of overturning this environment wholesale.
'Get close.'
But the Expansion Ability hadn't been active for long yet.
It hadn't fully manifested. For now, it was still at a manageable level.
Meaning, right now was the most advantageous moment to force close combat.
With that in mind, I closed the distance while staying alert for the water spreading across the floor.
With Baek A-rin's level of attribute control, the water on the floor could, at any moment, erupt into countless sharp stakes.
'......?'
For some reason, no such eruption came from the floor. Baek A-rin simply wore an enigmatic smile and permitted my approach.
The distance shrank. I set aside my questions for the moment, clenched my fist tight, and drew it back.
Rumble! Mana coiled around my fist. My Aura, denser and fiercer than before, blazed with a rough, surging intensity.
Facing me, Baek A-rin also drew one hand back, just as I had.
Water Energy mana became Aura and sheathed her arm. Identical to what I'd done.
And then.
Her Aura, starting at the elbow, began to coil like a serpent winding itself tight.
'?'
Azure-blue Aura—reminiscent of clear seawater and open sky—wrapped around her elbow, then her forearm, then her wrist, in sequence.
She thrust her drawn hand forward to meet mine.
Baek A-rin didn't strike with a fist, but with an open palm.
"One palm."
Along with that soft whisper, the coiled Aura shot forth as though caught in a violent torrent.
Craaash!
The torrent of water blocked my fist. The pressure transmitted through the end of my arm was anything but ordinary. My arm bent backward.
The pressure grew steadily stronger. The initial surging torrent twisted into a vortex that pushed my fist back.
My Aura was being scraped away. I could hold, but I couldn't push through.
I made the judgment and twisted my body to pull free.
Bang! With a deafening report, my body floated weightlessly upward. Without resisting the force, I let it carry me and bounced away at an angle.
My arm, overwhelmed in the contest of strength, cried out in fatigue.
Craaash! The spot where I'd stood had long since been swallowed by the vortex. The swirling maelstrom surged on, only coming to a stop when it finally slammed into the stage wall.
The vortex lost its form and dispersed. The floor and wall drenched by the water composing the vortex were left hideously gouged and shredded.
'Vortex Water Palm.'
In the original work, this was a technique used by a minority of Changhae family members, Baek A-rin included.
A martial art designed for combat applications of Water Energy, which was originally specialized toward support and healing.
I'd known about it. I knew Baek A-rin used it. In the game, I'd confirmed it while ransacking the Changhae family's secret vault.
'Why?'
But it puzzled me. The slight sense of incongruity I'd felt since the start of the fight was growing.
It wasn't strange at all for Baek A-rin to use it, but I couldn't figure out why she'd bother.
Vortex Water Palm. For a member of the Azure Sea line, who specialized in Water Energy, it was an exceptionally useful technique.
But Baek A-rin, who was specialized not only in Water Energy but also in Cold Energy, had little reason to go out of her way to use it.
It was the same earlier. Chilling though it was, I couldn't grasp why she'd deliberately opened with high-pressure water jets as her first strike.
I also couldn't understand why she'd deliberately let me get close, or why she'd deliberately answered with the Vortex Water Palm.
If she'd taken the initiative using Cold Energy instead, it would've been far more threatening...
'I don't get it.'
Did leading with Water Energy attacks somehow make the battle more advantageous? At the very least, the original Baek A-rin hadn't fought that way.
I couldn't fathom her intentions. But that didn't mean I could just stand around gaping.
- Hoooh...
I let out a heavy breath and drew in the outside air.
It was damp. I could feel distinctly that a considerable amount of Water Energy had already dissolved into it.
'Ugh...'
Water still gushed from the spear-struck ground as though it were a water source, leaving much of the stage submerged.
The encroaching water had already reached even this spot, where I'd pulled a good distance back.
Its spread was faster than I'd expected. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before it rose past my ankles—maybe even high enough to swallow my body.
And if that accumulated water was then weaponized, or frozen solid and brought crashing down, I'd be in serious trouble on multiple fronts.
This was an environment that favored the opponent, unless you could wield the same Water Energy yourself.
'In that case...'
Once I'd confirmed that, I tapped into my core.
I drew out a significant amount of mana and spread it through my entire body.
I didn't add it to my strengthened body. It was simply mana that extended throughout my whole frame.
In the meantime, Baek A-rin had only widened the distance and was simply gazing in this direction.
The subtle smile on her lips, her usual ambiguous behavior, her equally ambiguous response just now...
She was a person impossible to read properly in any respect.
'Expansion Ability.'
Clicking my tongue, I manipulated my mana.
'Homogenization.'
In the Tower of Growth, I'd unconsciously mimicked Calamity Flame. In Sipnaha, I'd also mimicked Azure Sea and White Night.
After being discharged and returning to Siyoram, I'd run various tests to assess my capabilities.
What I'd learned from that was—unsurprisingly—that Calamity Flame, Azure Sea, and White Night weren't the only three things I could mimic.
Thump! My heart throbbed. The subtle Innate Talent expanded from my core and coiled around my entire body.
Everything shifted. The mimicked properties overlaid themselves upon me.
The mana filling my insides flickered and wavered. The Aura wrapped around my body flickered with it.
After a moment of unstable rippling like a torch before a storm, it settled into a clearer blue hue and refined its form.
- Splash.
Water splashed. The slowly advancing waves had risen all the way here, near the wall, and at last covered my ankles.
And then.
My Aura—now bearing the distinctly bluer hue of Water Energy—devoured the water around me.
It wasn't a huge boost, but my Aura swelled slightly.
"......"
- Drip, drip, drip.
Water droplets fell from the ends of my hair.
Expansion Ability, Homogenization.
'Water Current.'
Mimicking and wielding the Azure Sea itself would be far too conspicuous. I couldn't handle the fallout if I did.
But there was no reason I couldn't use a water attribute itself.
Water Energy could be handled through mana manipulation alone.
Water current magic could be handled. Elemental techniques and water spirits could be handled too.
'If you can't wield the same Water Energy, the environment favors the opponent.'
In that case, all I had to do was wield the same Water Energy from my side as well.
I steadied my breathing and slammed my foot into the ground, as if propelling my body forward with force.
Baek A-rin, whose eyes had flown wide in apparent surprise, once again drew back her arm. Water spiraled around it, just as before.
Simultaneously, multiple spheres of water bobbed up behind Baek A-rin and fired off fierce water jets in rapid succession.
Vortex Water Palm.
And the water droplets floating behind her—I recalled the name Water Mirror Orb.
I evaded the water jets as they fired and lashed toward me.
This time, jets of water also shot up directly from the floor, without going through the Water Mirror Orbs.
The Observation Authority let me easily detect their precursors. My body moved well too. Dodging was simple.
- Thwack!
Occasionally a jet grazed me or struck true, but perhaps because my Aura was made through Water Energy, the damage was lighter than before.
I dodged and deflected every frenzied Water Energy attack and closed the distance.
The gap had narrowed considerably. Similar circumstances to just a moment ago.
I too drew my arm back, exactly as before.
I manipulated my mana. Exactly the same.
Aura flared. Exactly the same.
And then...
Rumble...! The Aura covering my arm writhed. Soon it coiled around my elbow like a serpent winding tight.
'Vortex Water Palm.'
We thrust our palms forward to meet each other. Two vortices crashed together at the midpoint and raged wildly.
- Craaash!
The fierce torrents and whirling vortices coiled around each other in chaos. I resisted as best I could, but... I was pushed back. No surprise there.
I twisted my wrist. Just before my vortex was about to be swept away, I shifted its trajectory alone.
Baek A-rin's vortex hurtled past right beside me.
My stance was thrown off.
Not missing that opening, Baek A-rin's Water Mirror Orbs unleashed their water jets.
Six of them. I acted based on observed information.
I dodged three. I deflected two with my Aura, letting them glance off.
The remaining one shot straight toward my forehead.
I didn't make any particular move.
Just before that last water jet struck my forehead—
- Crack!
A water jet fired from behind me shot it down in midair. Countless droplets splattered across my face.
Behind me, a sphere of Water Energy slightly smaller than a human head floated in the air.
Vortex Water Palm and Water Mirror Orb.
Even without the Azure Sea, I could mimic the manipulation method.
My proficiency was lacking? Honestly, how many times had I been less skilled than someone else at the start?
And if I was going to back off for a reason like that, I'd rather slam my head against the wall right here and learn through doing.
Right there in front of me was the perfect teacher to instruct me in Water Energy and Cold Energy, wasn't she?
And that teacher, Baek A-rin...
- Grin.
She smiled, deeper than before.
As if satisfied, she nodded her head, then manipulated her Water Energy once more.
A water current like a serpent coiled around her forearm, and the Water Mirror Orbs floating behind her trembled as they readied their attacks.
In addition, the water covering the floor vibrated in resonance.
It seemed she was about to make full use of that strategically laid water.
Her manipulation of the Azure Sea... more precisely, her manipulation of attribute techniques, was swift and precise enough to draw genuine admiration.
'......'
But why was it?
To me, observing her... the process felt detailed, as if she was showing me to watch and learn.
* * *
【Unique Ability 「Mana Affinity」 is growing】
【Unique Ability 「All-Rounder」 is growing】