Water Prison
I sidestepped frantically, staring at the guy who had closed the distance to just two steps away in the blink of an eye.
“Hyaaah!”
The moment I pulled back, Pedri thrust the tip of his sword toward me again.
But dodging attacks? I was pretty confident about that.
I wasn’t a physical fighter, so my body wasn’t lightning-fast, but as long as the speed wasn’t completely overwhelming, I could predict where my opponent would strike and slip away one step ahead.
After all, humans don’t just swing weapons—they get swung by them too. Changing the path of a committed strike always takes a tiny delay.
That delay could shrink with training, but these kids weren’t anywhere near lightning speed.
Not compared to the Shabel Mercenary Corps, anyway.
A wave of pity washed over me as I remembered their tearful sacrifices. Those poor, grateful souls. To think they’d martyr themselves just to help improve my real combat skills.
“Th-this is—!”
It seemed Lasshamu had been watching my matches quite intently.
Apparently convinced that knocking me down before I could chant would secure his victory, he was stabbing and slashing without giving me a single chance to open my mouth.
Too bad for him. Undine and I didn’t need to chant to make things work.
And wow, you swing that sword way too wide. Plus, it’s ridiculously predictable!
Now I finally understood what people meant by an “honest blade.”
“Ugh!”
I didn’t have time to open my mouth while dodging his sword, but I wasn’t getting hit either.
I was weaving around quite skillfully, and the more I did, the more his sword tip began to waver.
Still, even I was starting to reach my limit.
More precisely, it was a stamina issue.
I’d love to keep playing with him, but I guess this is far enough?
[Undine. Trap him.]
The proper skill name was One Water Breathing, but I usually just shortened it to One Breathing.
Even without saying that much, we understood each other perfectly.
There were countless differences between mages and Spirit Masters, but the coolest one was definitely this.
“Uwaa… glug glug!”
Unlike mages who had to chant, calculate, adjust angles, and carefully fire off spells, Spirit Masters communicated with intelligent beings called spirits. That made us far stronger than mages in chaotic situations like this.
Even if my own judgment grew hazy, the spirit’s judgment remained crystal clear.
Even if he treated me as the master and focused his attacks on me, if he didn’t stay wary of the spirit, this was bound to happen.
Water rapidly gathered around Lasshamu Pedri’s head and in an instant enveloped his entire body.
The more he struggled, the larger the mass of water grew.
Undine sensed my will and acted exactly as I wanted.
Trapped inside the water, clutching at his throat, Lasshamu’s eyes were filled with disbelief at the situation.
“You thought you just had to stop me from chanting?”
“Glrrgh!”
“What should I do? Spirit Masters and mages are completely different, you know.”
Honestly, fighting a Spirit Master felt a bit like two-on-one.
If I summoned multiple spirits, it would feel like fighting an entire group.
I’m not saying this just because I’m a Spirit Master, but spirits are seriously amazing.
The idea that the stronger your affinity and synchronization with a spirit, the more powerful you become—that was exactly what this was about.
When I first heard about it in class, I couldn’t quite picture it, but experiencing it in real combat made everything click.
This was what it felt like.
Becoming one with the spirit.
Undine and I were on the same wavelength. We understood each other without words.
“Hehehe.”
I placed a hand on my hip and laughed for a moment. This felt good!
“Making a fuss when you can’t even swim.”
“Gwaaah! Glk!”
No matter what you say underwater, no one can hear you, right?
I watched with a relaxed posture as Lasshamu flailed inside the water droplet. Soon enough, it stopped being fun, so I waved my hand dismissively.
“Undine, toss him out.”
Yes, Master.
The water droplet containing a person rolled slowly across the arena floor with a clack clack clack.
The moment it left the arena, it burst like a soap bubble.
It was no different from the other matches so far.
I flicked a droplet of water at the commentator, who was standing there in a daze.
Well, technically Undine flew over and splashed him.
“The ten seconds aren’t up yet, right?”
—Ah, uh. Yes!
This was almost too easy. It felt downright anticlimactic.
‘Guess even prestigious families aren’t all that.’
I only thought it inwardly out of politeness, but it really was funny.
No matter how good your sword is, if you can’t swing it properly, it’s over.
“That’s impossible!”
Lasshamu Pedri, now outside the arena, stomped his feet while soaked to the bone and shouted. But losers always had plenty of complaints.
So what if it was a little underhanded? Winning is what matters!
I was heading back to the waiting room with light steps when a red-haired man suddenly blocked my path.
I’d been humming a tune and walking along, but the next thing I knew, he was standing right in front of me.
It was eerily quiet.
Who the hell is this guy?
The man who had abruptly appeared and blocked my way had almost no presence, no expression, and no words.
“……?”
“…….”
Since he was silently staring at me, I stared right back.
We stood there awkwardly facing each other for a while.
“Hyuuung!”
The one who came running was Lasshamu Pedri.
Nearly in tears, he clung to the leg of the man standing in front of me.
Oh, they really do look exactly alike—just one small and one big. They’re practically identical?
Red hair, nearly identical faces. Lasshamu Pedri’s older brother.
I got it now.
“Robenin Pedri?”
Even someone as clueless about information as me knew that much.
Robenin Pedri was so famous that his name and details reached my ears whether I wanted them to or not.
That was what fame looked like.
Robenin gave a barely perceptible nod, then finally moved his heavy lips.
“You……”
“Jeanie Crowell.”
“Jeanie Crowell.”
“Huh?”
It sounded like he’d pronounced my name correctly just now. Was I imagining it?
“Will you not fight me?”
What kind of nonsense was this all of a sudden?
Was he trying to get revenge because I bullied his little brother?
“Brother! That girl, she——”
I’d thought so for a second, but apparently that wasn’t it.
Because Robenin looked annoyed and shoved Lasshamu’s whining face away.
Lasshamu was pushed back by the force and fell pathetically to the ground. I almost felt like helping him up… Brotherly love really is a cold thing.
“You want to fight?”
“Mm.”
“You and me?”
“Mm.”
So the genius that Elan boasted about was actually a battle maniac?
Wanting to fight a ten-year-old girl.
From the outside, you look like a full-grown adult!
And you’re the undisputed favorite to win the youth division!
You’re so overwhelmingly strong that people joke the youth division’s runner-up is basically the real champion.
“I don’t want to.”
I hated the idea so much that my eyes narrowed into thin slits like earthworms.
“Why?”
“Why should I?”
“Well……”
I took advantage of the moment Robenin glanced toward the arena and bolted.
My instincts were screaming at me.
This guy is crazy—do not get involved!