NOVEL NEXT Chapter 152
In the battle with Samaela, I realized my shortcomings.
I have outstanding flexibility and a soft body, but I lack strength and can’t be robust. Naturally, it’s hard to deliver effective blows to opponents with tough bodies.
But that’s not to say it’s completely impossible. Just like with Samaela, I could keep hammering away at the same spot.
However, doing so wouldn’t have any meaning.
The opponent was an 8th Circle mage, on par with the 7th Rank, and since her ideation had substance, I managed to win.
If she had been a different type of Dark Mage, I wouldn’t have won so easily.
I might have suffered a devastating defeat.
In any case, I pondered how to compensate for my weaknesses.
Should I change this soft and squishy body?
That was impossible for the time being.
If I reached the 7th Rank and underwent a metamorphosis, it would be different from now, but for now, I needed to remain soft and squishy.
So, I decided to temporarily set aside the fighting style I had been insisting on and create a new one.
If striking the surface was meaningless against my opponent, then I’ll attack the inside. That led me to think of the internal attack technique.
How should I apply the internal attack technique? I need to pour my mana into the opponent’s body to tear them apart from the inside.
It’s not impossible, but it’s not easy either.
I need to find a ‘path’ to send my mana into their body and block the ‘escape route’ to prevent my mana from leaking out.
Finding the path will naturally prolong the battle, and blocking the escape route will restrict my actions.
An extended battle won’t stand up to my feeble stamina, and limited actions mean this soft and squishy body likely won’t hold up.
If I was up against an opponent that could be defeated with just one good hit, it wouldn’t matter, but the enemies I’ll face in the future are those who would barely be fazed even after a hundred internal attacks.
To deal with such foes, I need a quick and single blow.
It has to be simple and swift.
And curiously enough, the hint was found in the book left behind by Arisa.
It was remarkably simple, quick… and tailored perfectly to my tastes.
It was mysterious. But I couldn’t get lost in sentimentality.
I laid the foundation based on that and completed my own technique on top of it.
That was called “Fallen Blossom.”
The name… I really liked it.
Honestly, I thought even Luna would nod in approval.
No, maybe she would throw a fit instead.
Luna always used to pick apart most of the names I created.
Would she truly throw a fit or would she accept it?
The chances of her throwing a fit are high.
Yeah. I just hope she throws a fit as usual.
With a bittersweet smile, I grabbed Ashtar’s body.
Though I said I wouldn’t hold her after dropping her on her rear, I couldn’t just toss the Grand Duchess onto the floor.
Ashtar, unconscious, lay in my arms.
Fortunately, she didn’t upchuck anything. No accidents or anything like that either.
Thank goodness. Stella had peed herself after a single hit from my Fallen Blossom.
Since I already knew Stella was a bedwetter, I didn’t comfort her, but Ashtar is different.
Seeing someone you’re not close to wetting themselves… wouldn’t be a pleasant sight.
“Oh, Young Lady.”
Yurasia approached cautiously and took over holding the unconscious Ashtar.
“Did you see well? The senior seemed to use a spear primarily, but there was also a sword included, right?”
“I… I did see. But, to be honest, I didn’t see well. It was too… fast.”
The corners of Yurasia’s mouth drooped weakly.
“How much did you see?”
“Um… I definitely saw the Young Lady getting hit by the hammer, but before I could see it, I missed it while it was all fluttery like petals in the air.”
Yurasia, holding Ashtar with both hands, shook her body as if she was imitating me.
That sight was so pitiful, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Did I really move that clumsily?”
“It… It wasn’t clumsy! It’s just that… um, I can’t really move properly right now.”
Yurasia pouted her lips and shot me a glare.
“And that shiny thing you always use. The glimmering one.”
“Deity.”
“…Right. Deity. That one still wasn’t visible.”
Hmm… I had tried to slow down the speed just to show Yurasia, but it seemed it was still too fast.
“You’ll see it soon. By then, you might be able to keep up to some extent.”
“Hmm… I don’t think I can keep up. It’s really scary.”
Having tried to learn the Deity from me, Yurasia had suffered dozens of broken limbs.
In fact, she almost broke her spine last time. After that, she waved the white flag out of fear.
“But… Ashtar’s going to be okay, right?”
“I didn’t use strong magic.”
“Is… is that a relief?”
“Yeah. I didn’t hit her super hard either. She probably just lost consciousness because this must be the first time she’s experienced this kind of pain.”
“Well… your technique is…”
“Fallen Blossom.”
“…Huh?”
“The name of the technique is called Fallen Blossom.”
“Um…”
Yurasia laughed awkwardly, seeming uneasy.
“…Yes. That Fallen Blossom… it was really pain I’ve never felt in my life.”
“That’s not surprising. But getting used to it is good. If you experience enough internal damage, you can build some level of resilience.”
“…Ugh.”
It seemed Yurasia was recalling the pain she felt when she got hit by Fallen Blossom, and she trembled slightly.
“But… when will she wake up?”
“She’s already awake.”
“Eh?!”
Yurasia tilted her head and looked down at Ashtar, whom she was holding.
Then she tilted her head again.
“It seems like she still hasn’t woken up?”
“She might have fainted after one blow and feel embarrassed to wake up. If we just leave her here, she’ll wake up on her own.”
“Um… Young Lady. No matter how… unconscious she is, isn’t that a bit inappropriate…? After all… she’s a Grand Duchess… And… if she opens her eyes and no one is around, that would be pretty lonely, so… how about we stay a bit longer?”
Yurasia showed off her good-heartedness.
And perhaps unable to resist that innocence, Ashtar spoke up.
“…Yeah. If I woke up and was alone, I think I would feel very lonely.”
“Ha?!”
Yurasia, startled, tossed Ashtar’s body aside. Ashtar almost fell to the ground but quickly regained her balance and stood upright.
“Ugh… I’m so sorry…!”
“Ah, it’s okay. Yurasia, you were just trying to take care of me until the end. This much is just cute.”
Ashtar chuckled, brushing off the dust from her body and turning her head.
Her crimson eyes bore into me.
“I truly didn’t expect it to end in one hit.”
“Well, no matter how I respond, it feels like I’d just be making you scratch that itch, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“Knowing that, should I try to hide it?”
“Unlike me, the new student, you’ve got quite the generous spirit, senior.”
I smiled back at Ashtar.
Ashtar, who had been silently observing me, wore a somewhat complex expression.
“Junior.”
“Yes?”
“That technique you used to kick my ideation away. What exactly was that?”
“Was it the Reversal Kick?”
“Reversal Kick…? No, that sounds like the name of a kick. I mean the one you used to…”
“Reversal Kick.”
Ashtar’s expression grew even more complex.
“…You place great importance on the names of techniques, huh? Alright, Reversal Kick. Was it a preparation process? I clearly could have bound your ankle, but you somehow dodged it… That technique. Is it the Deity?”
Since Ashtar seemed to recognize the name of the Deity, she must have been listening to my conversation with Yurasia.
But why does she have that expression?
“That’s right. It’s the Deity.”
“Is that… a technique you created and use yourself?”
I quietly stared at Ashtar.
That was a question whose intent I couldn’t quite decipher.
Not the Reversal Kick, but specifically asking about the Deity was puzzling.
If it were another time, I would have answered casually, but Ashtar is a Grand Duchess.
Ronan’s story is said to be passed down through the generations of the van Chaser family.
I felt that answering incorrectly here could become a bit, no, maybe very troublesome.
“I don’t quite understand your intent in asking.”
“Oh… that… Um…”
Ashtar, who had momentarily shut her mouth and entered deep thought, finally sighed deeply and opened her mouth.
“I’m wondering if it’s acceptable to tell the technique I just saw to someone I met for the first time… But since you are a Princess of Eliaernes Eustetia before being a junior, I think it’s okay.”
“Are you saying this from the perspective of Lady Ashtar van Chaser?”
“I don’t want to add the weight of my family name to it, but this is… yeah. It’s somewhat important.”
“Then I will listen as a Princess of Eustetia.”
“Thank you.”
Ashtar smiled with satisfaction.
“However, if it’s a question I cannot answer, I will remain quiet.”
“Then, could it be related to Vice Headmaster Leona Meganberta?”
“It could be, or it might not be.”
“That’s right. You said you would remain quiet. That’s sufficient.”
Gently stroking the ring on her right index finger, Ashtar spoke in a considerably heavier voice.
“Just now, junior… Young Miss Eustetia, the technique you used, the one called Deity, is… a technique only the masters of the North can learn.”
The masters of the North.
That means it refers to the head of the van Chaser family.
Upon hearing that, Yurasia gasped.
I gasped too.
“…The Deity?”
“The name that has been passed down in the family isn’t Deity… but regardless, the movement and flow of mana were quite similar to our family’s, although not completely the same.”
What on earth is this nonsense?
I don’t understand.
How is it that something I alone could use has become something associated with the van Chaser family?
“The Deity that Lady Eustetia uses is said to be a technique bestowed upon our ancestor by Hero Ronan.”
“What the…”
I never did such a thing.