Ascension: Online

The five of us returned to the battlefield after we finished eating. While we ate, I flipped through the book Ming Hong had given me — it contained quite the myriad of useful hidden arts. While most were Basic level ones, there were some Intermediate ones as well and even an Advanced one.

Normally, an Advanced hidden art would've cost 3 AP to get, which could be spent on other useful skills. This was really a steal — back when I made the choice to form this deal with Ming Hong, I knew this would be worth it.

If I totaled up all the hidden arts in the book (around thirty in total), the overall value of it would be roughly equivalent to 41 AP — 20 Basic hidden arts, 9 Intermediate ones, and 1 Advanced one. If I perform further calculations… since I was Level 32 right now, 41 AP would take Level 42 to reach. I essentially just saved a whole ten levels' worth of AP.

Of course, some of the arts in there, I already knew from obtaining them via my System, so this was exaggerated slightly, but it was still certainly an amazing deal. Knowledge is power; money is artificial — when you have a lot of it, that is.

We took quite a bit to eat, but when we got back, there was still nearly an hour until the semifinals began. So, to maximize efficiency, we decided to head out of the city to get some training done.

I tried out some of the hidden arts listed in Ming Hong's book, of course. I found out that five of them would turn out to be extremely useful ones I would end up using a lot — Vines of Binding, Ring of Fire, Hailstorm, Wind Wall, and… The Dragon's Shadow.

Each of these did exactly what their names suggested, but the Dragon's Shadow, the only Advanced hidden art in the book, was different, No, it did not summon a real dragon, but it was still quite powerful nonetheless. I could use it as a trump card to either fight or escape.

Through this short training session, I managed to level up to Level 33. Hina-nee and Furuwa both reached Level 32. Nadeshiko reached Level 49, only a step away from 50 and reaching the next cultivation stage.

Not going to lie, I was kind of excited to witness her breakthrough. From the light novels and manga I've read back on Earth, cultivation breakthroughs were all really intense and serious moments, but… when I became a Nascent Cultivator, I didn't feel all that much. Hina-nee's and Furuwa's breakthroughs were also quite… anti-climatic, if you will.

I didn't know if this was just because it was the first cultivation stage or whatever, but I certainly hope I would be able to witness a real cultivation breakthrough right before my very eyes.

*****

We returned to Qilian City right before the semifinals began. We were careful not to use too much energy during our training session, so we just focused on weak Magic Beasts and Monsters. Nadeshiko, on the other hand, didn't have to fight in the tournament anymore, so she just let all hell break loose and slaughtered everything she saw.

"I welcome everyone back to the tournament," the mayor, Zhen Yuhan, declared loudly as the audience settled down. "The semifinals will now begin. There are four contestants remaining — Sakura Hina, Chiaki Furuwa, Ling Tian Yu, and Igarashi Kaze. They are all guaranteed a spot in the Blessing Nature Sect, but the final champion to receive the grand prize is yet to be determined."

"One of us we'll have to face each other," Furuwa muttered.

"Hehe~ I can't wait to fight Kaze-kun again," Hina-nee giggled, giving me Nadeshiko vibes.

"I want to fight him too…" Nadeshiko licked her lips and smiled like a little devil. "Carve him into pieces… all mine…"

I cringed and instinctively took a few steps away from her drooling face and lovestruck eyes filled with hearts.

The mayor cleared his throat once the audience quieted down from cheering. "So — without further ado, the first match of the semifinals will be between… Chiaki Furuwa and Igarashi Kaze!"

The two of us exchanged glances. I wore a dark grin on my face, and she had a smug smirk that didn't fit her. Not her old self, anyway.

Wordlessly, we separated and walked onto the stage from two different ends.

*****

"Looks like my rematch came sooner than I expected," Furuwa said as she drew her sword and pointed it at me.

"Perhaps," I replied with a light shrug. "But is that a good thing or bad thing, I wonder?"

"For me, good. For you? Not so much."

I scoffed. "Big words. Remind me — you were also this cocky last time we fought too, huh? Look how that turned out."

She adopted a combat stance, eyes with a glint of steel in them.

"Enough talk. I'll crawl back up right where I fell."

"Is that so? Then…"

I took out Dokujin from my boot and got ready to fight as well.

"… Show me."

"Both sides are ready!" the mayor declared gloriously. "The match will begin in 3… 2… 1… Go!"

Furuwa's body immediately began glowing as she applied various buffs to herself. Taking advantage of this brief lapse, I decided to try out some of the hidden arts I just obtained.

I waved my arm across the air in front of me, whispering my incantation in the process.

"Intermediate Pyromancy Art — Ring of Fire."

Immediately, a circle of raging flames appeared around Furuwa, completely enclosing her inside. Her eyes remained as calm as ever, as if she had expected this move.

She jumped out of the ring with her temporarily increased agility, dashing towards me.

"Oh, not bad," I chuckled as I met her strike with Dokujin. "Those flames are pretty high. I never expected you to be able to jump out of that."

"Heh. Don't underestimate the stat boosting abilities of the Knight class-!" she yelled, attempting to overpower me with brute force.

However, I pushed back in turn, using my exceptionally high STR stat to the point that it's a cheat.

She gritted her teeth and backed away a slight bit, knowing my strength was higher than hers. In all honesty, I could've beaten her right then and there by grabbing her arm and demilitarizing her, but I was thinking of the bigger picture here. I wasn't going to let her win, but I wanted to make it seem like she put up a good fight.

All for the judges to see. We were putting on a show — Furuwa didn't know that, but that was perfectly fine. Better, even. This way, she could truly fight with all of her strength without having to worry about anything. That was the effect I wanted. The genuineness needed for this act to seem realistic and believable.

We were in the heat of melee combat now, so using more hidden arts was out of the question. I wanted to make Furuwa seem strong, but I didn't want to lose this either, since that would ruin my plan.

She dashed towards me once more, swing her sword and using her range advantage wisely. I used a mixture of dodging and blocking to swiftly avoid her attacks, but I was slowly being pushed back, near the edge of the stage.

Alright… that's enough. Now, it's time to end this.

Right before I fell off of the stage, I used 'Blink'.

In an instant, I appeared behind Furuwa and attempted to place my dagger at her throat, but she somehow reacted to me in time and ducked down before performing a smooth sweep kick.

I jumped up to avoid the attack and leaped back a bit, resetting for another round.

"Tch… crafty as ever," she spat.

"I could say the same to you," I scoffed. "How did you even react to that?"

"Hmph," she smirked. "You don't tell me your secrets. Why should I tell you mine?"

"That's fair, I suppose, but… reaction speed or not, you're not winning this."

'Vanishing Steps.'

Turning invisible, I stopped moving.

Furuwa was expecting me to try and attack her from behind, like I did just now. So, this time, I would strike her directly in the front, where she least expected it.

This was all part of my combat plan and strategy. First, give your opponent a false understanding of you. Then, strike the exact opposite.

I closed in on her immediately, and indeed, she wasn't even trying to block her front. While she was facing me, her full attention was focused on her back.

Unfortunately, her sword was still in a defensive posture here, so it was difficult to find an opening.

But that was fine.

'Reveal.'

Using this simple yet extremely powerful art, Furuwa's body turned black and white for a second, with a single spot right below her abdomen highlighted in yellow. That was where I had to strike.

I stabbed forward immediately, not showing any hesitation. Right before my blade drew blood, I stopped. Furuwa's eyes widened as she felt the prickling sensation of a dagger on her stomach, just as my invisibility ran out.

"You… used such a dumb tactic on me?" she gasped, as if unable to believe I really just pulled that off.

"Dumb? No tactic is dumb — as long as it works," I smirked.

She gritted her teeth in frustration at having lost a second time to the same person, but she knew when she was defeated.

Dropping her sword, she sighed.

"I surrender."

"The winner is Igarashi Kaze!"

I spun Dokujin around in my hand before dropping it back into my boot in one swift motion

"You overthink things, Furuwa," I said quietly right before I walked off the stage. "You have to be ready for the most basic of strategies… even if your opponent is far stronger than you."

"… Tch, I know."

She was angry for sure, but not at me. It was at herself for being weak.

But that was fine. Weakness is a virtue. Weakness enables improvement. As long as she learned from this experience, it didn't matter how many times she lost, how many times she failed. For as long as she keeps getting stronger and stronger with every defeat…

… There is always a tomorrow.