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Chapter 32: Mock Battle
🕑 Added 2024-04-26 07:47:49 +0000 UTCI looked at the Red Magical Guardian before me and refused. "Um... no. Why should I have to duel with you?"
"What, are you scared?" The red guardians pompously baited me.
"Fel? Why is he being hostile?"
"Some reds tend to be a bit aggressive. They like to compete," Felicia replied.
"Sorry. I have to refuse. I have a meeting with Magical Girl SkyPierce," I responded. I had been attending the CQC combat session with MG Green Harvest yesterday. So, I wanted to explore what classes and training the ranged ones had.
"Come on! Have a duel! Let's bet points too!"
"I am sorry, but I must refuse due to a prior engagement." I bowed and left.
"Tch. She was the top scorer for the F-rank promotion yesterday, right?" He grumbled as he met up with his friends. "Coward."
"Yup, no damage run and 20 seconds."
"I was faster last month!"
"But your aura was decreased by half, right? They ranked her higher for that."
"I wanted to duel with the Blacks, you know. She was in Green Harvest's CQC class but never took on any sparring. She only watched!"
"You sure like to play with fire, huh? Don't mess with her. It won't be pretty. Blacks have a weird temper, you know. One moment they act polite and then another they snap."
[Quest Issued! First Duel!]
[Description: Have your first duel and teach some humility to the arrogant Crimson Assassin!]
[Difficulty: Medium]
[Reward: 150 Points]
"Fel?"
"Well, I guess even the arcane system doesn't like him very much. Will you accept?"
sigh "Alright. Let's do it. I need points." I turned back toward the guy. "Let's have a duel."
"... Yeah! Now that's more like it! Is it five rounds, or ten?"
"Up to you," I said and headed to the sleeping pod.
"Alright! Ten it is!"
"Lily, you don't have to accept his duel," Alice said.
"I got a quest, it was worth it," I muttered. The peanut gallery soon gathered, eager to see the duel.
"I will choose Eden's shopping center, okay? The map is about 100 meters long. I will crush you! Hahaha," the Red Guardian said excitedly. The floating sensation soon dispersed. "Hey, do you want to bet points?"
"Sure. How much will you bet?"
"Well, how about 300 points? Sorry, it might be a bit much for newbies who just enrolled two days ago. How about 20 points?"
"Fel? Can we bet points?"
"Yes. You can bet points in official duels at the Guardian Command or academy," Fel confirmed. "But, don't cheat. You must do your best in these duels."
"300 is fine. Let's go," I muttered. A smirk rose on my cheek at the 300-point bet, but I quickly wiped it away. He might be an F rank, but he seemed confident in his abilities. I should not underestimate him.
[Remaining Points: 1956 (2256-300)]
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Alice, in the Virtual Training Room
I looked at the monitor with worry. She knew Lily was powerful, but she had never experienced dueling other Guardians. Her opponent was Crimson Assassin, a promising dual dagger wielder. His signature stealth attack had netted him ten victories out of twelve in just one month since his enrollment.
"What a bully," Sapphire frowned.
"He will be promoted to E rank next week. Maybe he wanted some easy points by dueling newbies," Red Flame commented.
"He won against you 3-2, right? Maybe he got cocky because of that," Sapphire muttered. I was there, too. To be honest, I don't know if I could even win like Red did. I could maybe overpower or run away from him using stats since his signature only lasted about 10 minutes. That's how good his signature is.
"His stealth attack is hard to dodge, alright. His signature makes him invisible! Compared to that, my signature only increases my stats! It's unfair!"
"1-0, Black Lily leads!" a robotic voice announced the victory.
"Eh?" We turned toward the monitor at once. Lily had just won?
"Round 2!"
"Well, I just gave you that win. I won't be using my signature yet. It would look like bullying then!" the arrogant Crimson Assassin faced Lily upfront. Lily only looked at him, tilting her head. "Noob. Trying to put everything into STR."
"You know, I know you guys are friends and all, and I also know she didn't mean it, but that gaze of hers ticked me off," Red Flame muttered.
"She only seemed to look down on you. She didn't really mean it," Sapphire said. I gave a wry smile. Yuri always had that forlorn gaze. I did snap at her once because of it. She didn't seem to remember it, though. Ever since I became a magical girl, she has become a little bit too reserved around me.
"2-0, Black Lily leads!" Lily made a diagonal slash with her naginata to her left, bisecting Crimson Assassin in two. He tried to block with his daggers, but it was futile. Her strength was way above his.
"Whoa, she can follow up with his movements? She wasn't agility or dex-focused, right?" Red Flame commented.
"She won a tournament. Some beginner skills won't be a match for that. Despite the stat advantage." I replied. Sapphire nodded.
"Shit! Don't get cocky," Crimson Assassin cursed. In the next round, he threw a ball toward Lily, which exploded into smoke, filling the room and obscuring their figures. "Damn it. I knew I needed to attend those HEMA lessons."
"Wan-nyan. What's that?"
"I am Wan-Chan. The device he is using is a smoke ball from the grenade vault. It could produce smoke to hinder your vision. The vault cost 100 points while the ball itself cost 1 point per piece."
"I see. He also looked into the equipment vault, huh. I should look into that with my points."
"Every higher leveled MG needed a sidearm or supporting tools. I recommended you to look into them too."
"3-0, Black Lily leads." Even through the smoke, Lily moved as if she could see him.
"Oi, oi. She's totally crushing him. She should be a bit more considerate," Issen remarked as he stood beside me with Pink Heart. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest with my idol standing next to me.
"Hello, are we unwelcome here?" Pink Heart smiled, her jovial expression soothing my nerves. We are both pink, and I have a ranged signature. We have a lot in common. I aimed to be like her one day!
"O-of course not! Please! It is our honor for Miss Pink Heart to be beside us today!" I stuttered as I bowed to her and let her stand beside me.
"Hello, Mister Issen, or should I call you Issen-senpai?" Red Flame stumbled over his words.
"Issen is fine. No need for such formalities."
"4-0, Black Lily leads."
"What?" We all turned to the monitor at once. Despite Crimson Assassin being invisible, Lily could still track him with her eyes.
"Issen?" Pink Heart asked.
"Yeah. It was the tracking skill. Her eyes gave it away. The moment Lily saw him, his fate was sealed. She stabbed her naginata through the wall, hitting the poor boy. How did she get such a skill at such a low level, though? Was it a special skill for Blacks?"
"He hasn't harmed her even once." Pink Heart commented
"Well, I love brave kids. But sometimes, you need to differentiate between stupidity and bravery." Issen shrugged. "Both of them really need to be taught to measure their opponent."
"What's a tracking skill?" I noted to Wan-nyan as I watched them circle the shopping center, with Lily occasionally touching the wall.
"A tracking skill, as it says, lets you track your opponent."
"Can I buy it?"
"Not at the moment. You needed to advance your class before you could buy it."
"Why did she have it?"
"I have no idea. Black Magical Girl has unique skills. Maybe one of them is similar to that tracking skills?"
"Look! Crimson assassin started at different locations." Red Flame said. "This is where I lose. You won't even know where he is coming from."
"This is where things get interesting. She might lose once or twice. But that stealth trick is just a one-trick pony, you know. There are several ways to counter them. Such as—" "5-0, Black Lily leads." "What?"
"Hey, you need to see the enemy to use tracking skills, right?" Pink Heart asked. "Hm... the way she oddly touched a wall."
"Maybe she has a radar skill?" Issen muttered.
"Radar wastes so much mana, though," Pink said.
"Yeah. But if she has both..."
"In F rank?"
"6-0, Black Lily wins. The match is over." Lily threw her javelin, and it pierced through the wall and the Crimson Assassin. It didn't kill him, but it disabled his camouflage. Lily then chopped him to pieces. The announcer then announced the result.
"Radar shouldn't be able to pass through solid objects, right?" Pink Heart remarked.
"That's why you don't mess with Blacks. They're a scary bunch," Issen smirked and shrugged his shoulder.
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[Quest Completed]
[Description: Have your first duel and teach some humility to the arrogant Crimson Assassin!]
[Difficulty: Medium]
[Reward: 150 Points]
[Weekly Quest! Duel 1/3]
[Reward: 50 Points]
[Remaining Points: 2756 (1956+600+50+150)]
"This tracking skill is so useful," I muttered. I combined the tracking skill with my mana eyes. Once I saw him through the camera, the tracking skill locked onto him, letting me know his position. I was surprised he could go invisible like that, but it would have been useless if I had seen him beforehand.
"He couldn't keep his invisibility skills on the entire match. You'll need to devise a countermeasure if some enemy can maintain stealth continuously."
"Is there an enemy like that?"
"Of course. You usually borrow radar equipment from Guardian Command or the vault. Or use some skill to distinguish them. There are various methods to reveal invisible enemies."
"Such as?"
"Pouring water on the floor is the simplest method. Flour or other liquids work too. According to his past duels, he lost when his enemy activated a sprinkler on him."
"Damn it! How did she know where I was? That's cheating!" the boy cursed incessantly. "This isn't over! I will surely defeat you one day!"
"Anyone else wants to duel with me?" I looked at the peanut gallery, and they all turned their heads and dispersed. I guess I overdid it. I should have lost once or twice to garner interest. The point betting was too tempting to pass up. I earned 300 points from that single bout. But since no one wanted to duel with me, I decided to continue with my errands for the day. That is to attend the ranged combat class by Magical Girl SkyPierce.
I ignored the peanut gallery and went on to meet MG SkyPierce. Unlike MG GreenHarvest, who focused on direct duels and sparring, SkyPierce seemed more relaxed. It felt like I was on a shooting range. I examined the bows, guns, crossbows, and flintlocks on the tables. Despite their antique designs, all of them were Magitech.
"Most of them are kinetic weapons, but some use mana bullets too," Felicia explained.
"Want to try?" Skypierce asked. Her white gown was oddly complemented by her golden bow, like an elf in a golden city.
"Okay." I picked up a bow and went to the shooting range. "Is this the rumored secondhand weapon from seniors?"
"Haha, yes. I personally used that bow about two years ago. Now that I'm C ranked, weapons from the common vault are hardly useful for me. I use a masterwork weapon now. I am three quarter from reaching the arcane vault."
"I see. So it's tier three... it costs ten thousand to open... and tier four requires a hundred thousand..." I felt dizzy just looking at the numbers.
"Yes. But don't worry. If you start saving now, you should be able to open it within a semester or two. You need to be diligent with quest, though."
I then shot the bow, and the arrow missed by a slight margin, not hitting dead center but a circle around it—the ninth ring. The bow felt nice. I think I can use this. But I should be cautious; I am spreading my resources too thin. I need the dimensional storage skill and several other naginatas for me and my clones.
"I see you carry a spear. I thought you would be in CQC classes. Do you want to switch to ranged combat? Even without skill snipe, you seemed to be proficient with a bow."
"Not yet. I could use a bow to hit inanimate objects. But hitting a moving object was still beyond me. So, I doubt it would be useful. But I also use a javelin, so I wanted to learn ranged attacks." I drew my javelin and threw it at the target. The javelin flew straight and hit a centimeter away from the dead center. It still scored a ten. A bullseye. I looked at it, amazed.
"Well, no matter what, a weapon from your vault will always be better for you than others. That's why no MG wants to buy a weapon from another person, except weapons from the masterclass vault for rookies or above. But it could still function well as a training weapon." She noted.
"I see. You did well hitting the target from this distance. So you're an all-rounder, huh… Magical Guardian Flash Strike might be more suitable for you," Skypierce muttered.
"Did Ali… I mean, Shining Arrow learn here?"
"Yes."
"She was fighting rather close to the enemy. Bow distance should be at least twenty meters minimum, but she fought her enemies within a dashing distance…" I muttered.
"Well, her team was lacking in vanguards, so she had to compensate herself. Just because we are ranged doesn't mean we are weak at close combat. Well, the beginners are, but an MG ranked D or above needs some kind of melee alternative, you know, just in case. The same is also true for close range. They needed something if the enemy hit them from far away. "
"I see. Thank you very much, Magical Girl Sky Pierce. I am leaving now."
"Yes. Ah, don't forget to attend the party ranking tomorrow. Even when it's not your match, you should attend to see how other Magical Guardians fight." I leave Magical Girl Sky Pierce and talk to Felicia about that storage skill.
"I see. Ah, by the way, if I buy the dimensional storage now, I will still have about 1200 points left, right?"
"Yes, that is still within a safe margin."
"Let's buy it."
"Roger, nyaa!"
[Unlocked: Dimensional Storage!]
[-1500 Points]
[Remaining Points: 1256 (2756-1500)]
"It would be more useful to have this when I have those harpoons and other spears, huh? Feels like a waste when I only have two weapons."
"You will fill those up soon. Your augment and battle style requires it. By the way, this storage can hold up to 100 kg worth of items. If you want to increase the capacity, you have to buy Dimensional Storage II for 3000 points. It will increase the weight capacity to 10 tons."
"I don't think I'll need it yet," I muttered.
"...a call from Kageyama. I think you should retire for today."
"...Alright. Let's ask for a room. This Guardian Academy has a dormitory, right?"
