Snack Blade

It wasn't a full-fledged official siege, but a mock one — still, the scale was enormous.

Even though this was merely team selection, a plaza the size of an entire city was packed with people waiting for the Mock Siege Battle to begin. Vendors hawked all manner of goods along the streets, and crowds of spectators could be seen settling into what looked like stadium seating.

"Vlack put a lot of care into this one, you know. And word is it might even get broadcast live on TV..."

"On TV?"

"Not the public networks, mind you. Those are being saved for the official siege."

Yena strolled through the crowd with her shoulders squared, radiating confidence.

I'd seen it a few times before, but it was no exaggeration to say that DeoEn's influence had long since blown past the level of an ordinary 'game.'

It wasn't for nothing that Nutri Company, the corporation behind DeoEn, had become the number one company in the world.

After walking through the plaza for a while, we finally reached its center, where we found a man handling paperwork while surrounded by a throng of people.

A large-framed man with black hair. He wore black armor, though it was so thin it seemed more decorative than functional — he'd almost certainly wear something far heavier in actual combat.

He was busy barking orders in every direction, but the moment he spotted us, his face lit up and he came over to greet us.

"Ah! You've all come together. Wonderful to see you. I'm Vlack, a streamer."

Vlack — the host of the Mock Siege Battle and the one who'd sent me the invitation — extended a hand for a handshake.

Firm.

I took it.

...He's strong?

The pulse of black mana dwelling in his body was anything but ordinary. It was no fluke that people spoke of a "Big Three."

He'd hold his own even against Leo standing right beside me — if anything, in certain respects he might be far ahead of her...

"Um... excuse me?"

"Ah, my apologies. I was lost in thought for a moment."

I'd been holding his hand far too long.

Vlack nodded with a dazed expression, while Yena was staring at me like she couldn't believe her eyes.

What's gotten into her all of a sudden?

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing? It's nothing, really. Just... fascinating, that's all."

"?"

Yena wasn't the only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one acting strangely, so I checked the chat window to see what the fuss was about.

Ah. That's what they're on about.

I held back a snort and shook my head.

"You're much stronger than I expected, so I was just taking your measure. Your mana is nothing ordinary."

The sheer quantity of mana dwelling in this man called Vlack — at this level, wouldn't he have rivaled the Sword Masters of the old days?

Humans were a nothing-special ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠race compared to the Celestials and the Demonkin, but a Sword Master changed the equation entirely. He couldn't hope to handle the middle ranks, but against a young Celestial of the lower ranks, he could trade a fair number of blows.

Not that he'd win, of course.

No matter how strong a human became, the gap between species was something no one could ever truly overcome.

Vlack asked, looking genuinely intrigued.

"Come to think of it, I've heard you use rather extraordinary techniques. Can you really sense things like that?"

"Yes. When you use a technique, you draw on the mana dwelling within your body, don't you? That's more than enough to feel."

For me it went without saying — I'd never learned my techniques through a system — but DeoEn's users might be different. Still, no matter how much the system restricted which skills you could use, in the end it was the person doing the swinging. If you personally manipulated your own mana, you could absolutely feel it.

The chat was still utterly lost. Yena and Vlack seemed equally baffled.

...Though honestly, Yena should be capable of at least a flicker of it by now.

She'd already imitated Spear's Roar, faintly but unmistakably. She herself had no idea, but it meant that somewhere in her subconscious, Yena had moved her mana all on her own.

Swoosh.

Just then, something tugged at my sleeve from below. Again.

"I-I think I get it!"

"Lady Leo?"

"Th-that thing, when I use Spirit Descent, something kind of... wriggles around in there, you know? Like a tingly, zappy feeling...? Oh, by the way, Spirit Descent is when you become one with a spirit!"

I know.

It was a technique that let an elementalist merge their body with a contracted or bonded spirit, momentarily becoming that spirit. Elementalsists usually reserved it for moments of crisis or when they needed overwhelming power — and I'd actually experienced it myself, once.

It wasn't much of an experience, honestly.

We merged, but compared to the spirit, my Celestial blood was far too dominant, so I didn't grow any stronger at all. If anything, the spirit's own essence got so muddied by the merge that one of them fled in tears, swearing never to do it again.

Unless you were a Spirit King, Celestial blood simply couldn't be endured.

I nodded.

"Exactly. It's probably a very similar feeling."

"Oooh..."

"The power of spirits and the flow of mana aren't all that different at their core. It mostly comes down to what people call elemental attributes."

"Is that so?"

"Mm-hm. Once you get comfortable with that power, you'll be able to use your own original techniques without relying on skills at all."

That was, in fact, exactly how true elementalists had always worked.

Vlack had been listening in a daze, but he seemed to snap back to reality and spoke up.

"Ah, anyway — we've set up a lounge over there for everyone until things begin, so feel free to rest. I still have a few things to take care of."

"Thank you."

"So what WAS that, seriously?"

"What was what?"

"That sensing thing. Are you for real?"

The lounge was surprisingly spacious. Cool air flowed through it — hard to believe we were in a building in the middle of a desert — and it was lined with all kinds of snacks, comfy sofas, and plush bedding.

Yena flopped onto a sofa and asked again.

"That independent mana thing, whatever it's called. Can you seriously use it?"

"You already have, Yena."

I settled onto the sofa across from Yena. Beside me, Leo was eating a pudding, and when she saw me sit down, she held it out to offer me some. I told her I was fine, then turned back to Yena.

"I was just standing there to mess with you. In reality, you succeeded — barely, at the most microscopic level."

"...I tried it again ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after, and it didn't work."

"If a technique came easy from the start, it wouldn't be a technique."

It was a skill I'd honed through tremendous effort myself. She wasn't about to get it handed to her.

Not that Yena's current level was something to sneer at, of course.

"Operating mana is an incredibly fundamental method. If you can just learn to wield it well..."

I reached into the snack basket between the sofas and picked out a single cracker — one of those long, stick-shaped ones, like a Pepero.

When I channeled the mana within my body into it, a faint shimmer of mana rippled across the cracker's surface.

"Like this."

What should I even call this?

A Snack Blade?

"Whoa. Insane."

"Yep. Just used it, plain and simple."

Whoosh. The mana in the cracker scattered and dissolved.

The cracker, now returned to being an ordinary cracker, melted away crisply in my mouth.

"As long as you can use it, you can apply it anywhere. That said, that doesn't mean skills are bad or inferior. A skill with an 'always' guarantee — fixed output and a clearly defined cost — is undeniably useful."

Every technique I used was an imperfect one. They'd all been built around who I used to be. Because I'd never optimized them, my weakened body couldn't produce their original efficiency — and optimizing them now would take more time and resources than I had.

A skill, on the other hand, always delivered its original power under the right conditions, guaranteed. In the end, each had its own trade-offs.

"...I swear, every time I see stuff like this, I have no idea what you actually are, Lily."

"Who knows."

"'Who knows' my foot. Last time you were going on about being an alien or whatever."

"That part's true, though."

Celestial or human — either way you looked at it, I was nothing of this Earth.