Gink’s Point of View:
What is this beast? A small thought crosses my mind for less than a fraction of a second. If I relax even slightly or let my mind focus on anything else, that sharp sword in front of me will split an arm or a leg apart.
My twin axes move from side to side, blocking every possible slash. I feel powerless as I’m pushed backward and forced to fight defensively; I’m always on the offensive, always taking a step forward no matter who I’m facing.
Today, I’ve crashed into a gigantic wall. I’ve been forced to change my fighting style, and it’s because of someone in the same rank as me… and apparently, he’s holding back quite a bit, according to what he said.
I finally find a moment to retreat. Ocol’s fast sword forces Maki back long enough for me to catch my breath. Ocol and Ocip are facing him now, keeping him occupied as best they can.
At first, I was genuinely surprised when I saw Maki dodge Anmo’s surprise attack. It’s a powerful ability capable of hiding the first strike from almost every sense, and we even burst out our Imra and mana to confuse Maki’s senses.
Our timing was perfect. It looked like we could hit him, but no, that never happened. He simply moved his head and paid no more attention to it, as if that attack had been nothing to him.
His body moves with impeccable skill, every movement perfectly planned and executed so that he’s never placed at a disadvantage. Even the few times when more than five of us managed to surround him, it made no difference. He forced his way out of the encirclement and cleanly defended himself against every attempt.
Is he really holding back? I can’t help thinking about it again. I know it, I know perfectly well that Maki is holding back, but a part of me refuses to accept it. My pride wants to believe that he’s giving everything he has just to stand his ground against us.
As the team’s tank, Ocip is having the worst time out of all of us. His defenses are cut apart like butter most of the time, and his armor has taken quite a few dents… at least we don’t have to worry about the repair costs. Everything is coming out of his pocket.
Taifu tries to drive his twin daggers into Maki from his blind spot while Ocol sends a quick slash toward Maki’s chest and I try to bury my axes into his shoulders from above. The young noble’s body moves flawlessly, dodging every one of our combined attacks.
In midair, he uses his strange gravity magic to spin around and gain even more momentum before slamming his sword against Ocip’s massive shield. Our shield-bearer was trying to smash him away with his shield using all his strength, several of his abilities already active.
Once again, our attempt amounts to nothing. The collision between Maki’s sword and Ocip’s shield creates a shockwave, and both of them remain almost exactly where they were. In an instant, Maki managed to match the strength of one of our physically strongest members. It’s honestly absurd.
Our two ranged attackers see the opportunity to finally launch their spells. Blades of water and fire shoot toward Maki’s body in the air, and just when I think we’ve finally got him, the same thing as before happens again.
The gravity around his body bursts outward in powerful currents, slowing down my companions’ fast constructions. It isn’t enough to stop them completely or reduce their attacking power, but it buys him exactly enough time to escape.
Maki’s body moves at a ridiculous speed to escape his disadvantageous position. How can his body withstand that much force? The bodies of Ruby Ranks are strong, one of the most powerful characteristics we gain when advancing in rank, but I’ve never met anyone with a body as resilient as his.
Is he healing himself internally at this speed? Terrifying. His healing ability is quite well known throughout the territory. People sometimes call him “the Immortal” because he keeps healing and healing no matter how many mortal wounds he receives.
Stolen novel; please report.
I can’t believe he’s actually healing himself, but I can’t think of any other way his body could withstand this for so long without breaking as if it were flexible. Some of those movements would be impossible without pushing his muscles and tendons far beyond their limits.
I charge at Maki again, my twin axes infused with my electric affinity swinging with every intention of splitting him in half. I don’t see even the slightest possibility of landing a serious blow on him if I don’t attack with the intention to kill.
It seems my team has understood that as well. Our already coordinated attacks become sharper and more precise. Each of us has raised our strength by one step, but together, the improvement is far greater than simply adding one step to each person.
We manage to gain the advantage in less than a minute. Maki instantly goes on the defensive, and seeing that look of confusion and annoyance on his face fills me with euphoria. Some of my frustration disappears as I watch him concentrate so intensely on defending himself.
My axes finally manage to break through his defenses and tear across his chest and abdomen after a collective attack from my entire team, one that ended with nowhere left for him to escape.
I can’t smile after cutting him. I actually feel a little frightened. His control over gravity magic is no joke. He nearly stopped all my momentum by sending powerful, continuous bursts of mana directly against my attack.
This little demon has mastered an extremely powerful affinity despite being so young. Many people choose not to pick affinities like this because of how difficult they are to master. Mana consumption is another important factor, yet this kid in front of me has basically told both problems to go fuck themselves.
For an instant, all of us stop. It feels as if we’ve reached some kind of milestone in our battle; even Maki has stopped to look at the cuts across his body.
“You guys are acting like I owe you money. I didn’t kill your parents either.” Maki jokes as he raises his gaze.
None of us laugh. It was certainly funny, but we can’t laugh when the person making the joke is releasing suffocating pressure and such overwhelming bloodlust.
His wounds close rapidly as if nothing had ever happened. Wait… When did his wounds heal? I didn’t even notice. By the time I looked down again, his wounds had already closed, and his strange training clothes had repaired themselves as if nothing had happened.
The real fight begins a few seconds later. Maki stops laughing as well, his concentration soaring to the heavens as he shoots like a rocket toward the nearest person. He doesn’t seem to have any particular plan in mind. He simply wants to trade blows.
“Did we win?” I look at Maki standing in front of us. My entire team dropped to the ground when Maki suddenly decided to end our training session. Their bodies are sprawled across the rocks, badly bruised.
“Why does it feel like we lost? All of us are on the ground and you’re still standing.” Taifu complains as he pulls a bottle of water from his storage. We all follow his example, taking out water to wet our throats.
“Yeah, no matter how you look at it, we didn’t win.” Anmo complains. Even he ended up injured during the fight.
It was a real headache trying to stop Maki when he focused on attacking our ranged fighters. We already had enough trouble keeping him under control between all of us, and it became even harder when he focused on our supports, especially because matching his speed was so difficult.
“My mana tank is almost empty. Gravity mana consumes more than I thought.” Maki scratches his head awkwardly. “I don’t feel as exhausted as you guys because of my life affinity… but soon you would’ve turned the tables and I would’ve ended up losing.” Maki says it completely seriously.
I feel mana trying to enter my body. No, it isn’t trying to invade me. Is it asking for permission? Once I realize who it’s coming from, I allow it inside. The life mana closes the multiple wounds across my body, most of them cuts caused by those two twin swords.
I’m not the only one being healed. All my companions are being healed except Ined, who also has a life affinity. I watch Ocol’s arm regenerate at record speed. I thought we would have to visit a powerful doctor to restore his arm as soon as possible, but I had forgotten who we’d been training with.
“Are you sure you’re human?” Jhonchi asks Maki once all of us have been healed. His question makes all of us turn our heads toward the young noble.
“Why is everyone looking at me like that? I’m just as human as all of you, just a little special.” Maki shrugs and smiles slightly.
“A little special, huh.” Anmo simply comments, and all of us laugh.
“If you’re just a little special, then I feel like some ordinary rabbit that could be born in any random litter.” Taifu tries to make an analogy. It isn’t entirely accurate, but we all understand what he means.
“We should eat something before starting the next round once we’ve rested.” Maki’s words leave us stunned. For a moment, we all stare at each other in disbelief at what we just heard, but a second later, we’re smiling.
Yeah, I want a rematch too. This victory feels hollow, and I can already feel the improvement.