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CA : 104 Death is like the wind, always by my side.
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 16:00:05 +0000 UTCA blue glow wrapped around Ais, making her feel significantly lighter. Her auxiliary magic, Ariel, had been activated!
With the activation of her magic, Ais’s attributes improved remarkably. Her speed and strength were significantly enhanced.
Facing this strange monster capable of martial arts, Ais regained her composure. The monster might be unusual... even skilled in hand-to-hand combat... but with her magic active, it wouldn’t matter. She needed only one strike to take it down!
A flash of blue light appeared under Ais’s feet as she dashed toward the monster like a streak of azure lightning. Her rapier gleamed with the same blue light, its edge seemingly sharper than ever.
However, despite the incredible speed of her thrust... so fast it seemed instantaneous... the monster narrowly dodged it.
The creature, standing its ground, twisted its body at the last possible moment, causing the rapier’s glowing edge to graze past its side. If captured in ultra-slow motion, one might even see the sword’s aura trimming a few stray hairs from the monster’s fur.
“What?!”
Ais’s eyes widened as her thrust missed its mark. This shouldn’t have been possible... her magic was active!
But the monster didn’t allow her time to dwell on the failure. It twisted its body further, pushing her rapier aside with its own movement, and immediately launched a counterattack... a direct punch aimed at her face!
Thud!
The punch landed squarely, sending Ais flying. Her petite body spun twice in mid-air before crashing onto the ground with a heavy thud.
“Oh, my goodness! Miss Ais had activated her magic, capable of one-shotting any monster, but this creature managed to dodge and counter her attack! Miss Ais has been sent flying!” Altair exclaimed.
“Ais! Miss Ais!”
Lefiya panicked, raising her staff to cast magic at the monster. But Altair reached out and pulled her back.
“This is Miss Ais’s battle. Please don’t interfere. Besides, someone as powerful as Miss Ais couldn’t possibly lose to this creature. What you just saw was merely her testing the waters against this unusual monster. She’ll soon show her true strength.”
“Is… that true?”
Lefiya wasn’t convinced. She felt Altair was just making excuses, but she had no proof. After all, Ais was a Level 5 adventurer and shouldn’t lose to a monster from this floor.
But still…
Lefiya had seen it clearly. Ais had been sent flying, and after landing, her face was visibly swollen!
Was this really okay? Wasn’t she injured?
Lefiya tugged at Altair’s shoulder, pointing at Ais’s face as if to make him acknowledge the situation. But Altair seemed determined to ignore it, acting as if he hadn’t seen anything at all.
“Well, Miss Ais is back on her feet now. From her earlier test, she must have concluded that this monster has some degree of skill. But to her, it poses no real threat!” Altair narrated confidently.
No real threat?! It’s a huge threat!
Ais silently denied Altair’s words in her heart but didn’t voice her thoughts. Instead, she focused on the monster in front of her.
That punch just now had landed squarely on her face. If not for her Level 5 physique, a Level 1 rookie would have been killed instantly!
But Ais wasn’t the type to complain unnecessarily. When faced with a strong enemy, her solution was always simple: eliminate them swiftly and silently!
So, no matter what Altair said, her focus now was on slaying this strange, martial arts–skilled monster in front of her!
Gripping her sword tightly, Ais steadied herself and faced the monster once again. The creature clenched its fists and assumed a combat stance, even beckoning Ais with its outstretched left hand.
“Oh! The monster is taunting Miss Ais! My goodness, it’s issuing a challenge! A monster actually dares to provoke the mighty Miss Ais. How could she tolerate such insolence? Surely, she’ll charge in and cut it down! It’s just a monster that would fall with one strike!” Altair exclaimed dramatically.
Perhaps it was Altair’s words or the monster’s provocative gesture, but Ais... usually so composed... felt a spark of anger. With a single step, she surged forward, her figure a blur of blue light as she lunged at the creature.
“Miss Ais is attacking again! She’s so fast... she’s already on it!”
Lefiya blinked in confusion at Altair’s narration.
“Altair-san, what do you mean by ‘she’s already on it’?”
“It’s just a term to describe movement. Generally, it refers to basic displacement skills.”
“Huh?”
Unfortunately, Altair’s explanation didn’t clarify anything for Lefiya. In fact, it left her even more puzzled.
“Oh! This strike by Miss Ais looks like a guaranteed hit. The monster isn’t even dodging... it’s going to take the blow head-on!”
“What?! It missed! That should’ve been a sure hit, but the monster dodged with impeccable precision! Not only that, it’s counterattacking!”
“Miss Ais used her movement ability but doesn’t have a flash step to escape. She’s cornered! The monster lands one, two, three hits! Miss Ais just got comboed! Finally, her cooldown is over, and she’s used her displacement ability to create some distance again.”
As Ais put distance between herself and the monster, frustration surged through her. Her greatest strength... her speed... had been thwarted repeatedly. What was worse, the monster had landed three solid blows!
And what was with this monster’s fixation on her face?! As a result, the once-beautiful swordswoman now sported a face full of bruises.
“Miss Ais!”
Lefiya, distressed, raised her staff again to assist, but Altair grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Don’t worry. Someone as powerful as Miss Ais can’t possibly lose to that monster. She’s even activated her magic!”
But just as Altair finished speaking, the blue glow surrounding Ais dissipated. Her magic, Ariel, had run out!
The monster seized the opportunity, charging at Ais and unleashing a relentless flurry of punches and kicks.
Lefiya’s eyes widened in shock, while Altair realized his words had jinxed her. Time to turn his narration around.
“Oh dear, this is bad! Her magic had just been activated, but it suddenly stopped. In this state, Miss Ais won’t be able to win!”
“Then hurry up and help her!” Lefiya shouted.
“If even Miss Ais can’t defeat this foe, how could we possibly hope to? The monster has full control of the fight now. Unless Miss Ais can activate her magic again... ”
“Magic can’t be activated consecutively!”
“Then there’s no helping it. Unless Miss Ais can master the power of wind without relying on magic, like some legendary wind swordsman…”
At that moment, as Ais struggled to block the monster’s attacks, a deep and ancient voice echoed in her mind:
“Death is like the wind, always by my side.”
