Ascension: Online

The moment the mayor announced the start of the match, the elf let go of her bowstring, shooting a lightning-fast arrow towards Hina-nee.

Unfortunately for her, Hina-nee was faster.

Using Vanishing Clouds, she avoided the arrow with ease, passing straight through it. The elf's eyes widened as she took out something from a pouch attached to her waist and threw the dust all over the floor as smoke began to rise.

Hina-nee stopped running towards the elf and looked around at the grey fog shrouding her, blinding her vision. The smoke also prevented the onlooking audience from seeing what was going on, much to their dismay. I wasn't particularly worried about Hina-nee, but it would be a lie if I said I was perfectly comfortable with standing here having no idea what is going on in there.

Suddenly, a figure dashed out of the smoke - Hina-nee. She had sweat on her forehead, but she appeared to be relatively unharmed. This was a smart choice - fighting within her opponent's domain would only cause her to be disadvantaged.

Hina-nee focused her gaze on the smoke, as if preparing for something. Then, without any warning, an arrow shot out from within the smoke, headed straight for Hina-nee's head. Luckily, she had been anticipating this, so she tilted her head slightly and avoided it by a narrow margin.

Soon after, the smoke dispersed. The elf was revealed. She and Hina-nee stared at each other intently, gazes filled with respect for the other.

"You are good, just as expected," the elf complimented. "Most others would have died in my smoke trap, but you managed to block or avoid all of my shots."

"Heh, I could say the same to you. I must admit, the sudden smoke bomb took me by surprise," Hina-nee smirked.

"Yet you still managed to escape unscathed…" the elf sighed. "I admit my defeat."

Hina-nee frowned in confusion. "What… why?"

"The smoke trap was the only trump card I had. Without it… I am nothing more than a target for assassin-types like you. I do not wish to die, so I will forfeit now. I know when I've lost."

"Hm… well, if you say so," Hina-nee sighed. "I won't say no to a victory."

"To be honest, my arrows are poisoned and my bow is huge - an anti-fighter or tank weapon. It is just bad luck, I got paired against my only counter - an assassin."

Saying this, she walked off of the stage, leaving Hina-nee slightly confused.

"By forfeit, the winner of this match is contestant #14!" the mayor declared.

Hina-nee returned to us soon after that, but she wore an dissatisfied expression on her face.

"Why the long face?" I asked in concern.

"Well… I wanted to fight her properly. Didn't think she would just surrender," Hina-nee exhaled, sighing deeply.

"Interesting mindset. I can't say I relate - I would never refuse or feel dissatisfied about a free victory."

"Same," Furuwa added. "Fighting is a troublesome thing. If my opponent were to acknowledge the difference in strength and merely surrender, that would save a lot of time for me."

"Hm… I suppose so, but I was genuinely enjoying that fight," Hina-nee pouted and pursed her lips.

"Don't worry… you'll get your chance tomorrow, at the main tournament," I chuckled. "The people who make into that won't just forfeit easily."

She seemed unconvinced, but the sad look on her face was gone.

"The next match… 69 versus 204!" the mayor declared.

"69… that's her," I muttered, glancing over to the stage.

Nadeshiko Nakano stood on one end, a grin on her face. She took out her massive scythe, one that caused the audience to gasp in surprise in a bunch of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. On the other hand was a young, handsome young teen. He seemed to be roughly sixteen years of age, two years older than me.

The teen bowed politely, keeping his eyes closed. "Greetings. May I ask for your name, beauty?"

Nadeshiko glanced at the boy in disdain, as if disgusted. "Cringe."

An eyebrow twitched in the boy's expression. "… Pardon?"

Nadeshiko made a little shooing gesture with her free hand, not even bothering to look at the poor boy directly.

"Sorry, I don't like fake, nice guys like you. Besides, you're weak," she said, then glanced in my direction in the crowd. "I prefer… bad boys, especially ones who hide their strength, hehe~"

I met her gaze, narrowing my own in annoyance. Several audience members turned to look at me, before whispering to their friends.

"Oh? And - with all due respect - how do you know I am not merely hiding my strength?" the boy on stage asked, apparently not giving up.

Nadeshiko scanned his body up and down, then smirked. "Well, I guess we'll find out soon, won't we?"

"Very well. What do you say, we make a bet on it?"

"Hm? What bet?"

"If I beat you, you let me have a chance at chasing you."

"Oh? Sure. But what do you like about me anyway? Is it my body? My face? Hehe, no way it's my personality~" Nadeshiko giggled. If I didn't know better, I would think she was an innocent young girl.

"I love girls who can kill without a second thought. They are strong."

Hearing the boy's words, Nadeshiko froze. Slowly, she looked downwards, her long black hair covering her face.

"… Strong? STRONG? Heh… hehehehe~! HAHAHAHA!" she reared her head back, laughing like a maniac. "If you think this is strength…"

She twirled her massive scythe around, setting the sharp edge mere inches away from the boy's throat.

"… Then you're wrong. So very wrong."

Her eyes held the same cold, dead glare as she had when she was slaughtering others. It seemed what the boy said had pissed her off for some reason. He didn't move an inch, but on the outside he didn't seem to be nervous at all. He had guts - I'll give him that.

"Contestant #69! Lower your weapon. The fight has not begun yet… unless you wish to be disqualified?"

Slowly, Nadeshiko tilted her head and stared into the mayor's eyes. He stumbled back a bit from how crazy and bloodthirsty her gaze was, but he didn't back down.

"I will count to three. If you do not lower your weapon, you will be immediately disqualified!"

Nadeshiko gritted her teeth, but eventually did as told. "Tch… you're lucky there's someone I'm looking forward to killing on this stage. Congratulations, nice-boy-kun, you get to live another few minutes. Enjoy this time while you can~"

"… I have a name," the boy responded. "Sotomura Haruki."

Nadeshiko walked back a few steps, creating a little bit of distance between herself and the boy.

"Really? That's cool. But, hehe, did I ask~?"

"…" the boy was clearly getting annoyed. "Mayor. When are we starting this fight?"

"Right… I will just assume both sides are ready," the mayor cleared his throat, then raised his hand in the air in preparation. "3… 2… 1… go!"

Immediately, Nadeshiko stopped twirling her scythe around. She leaped towards Haruki in an instant, eyes filled with maniacal bloodthirst and killing intent.

"Hahaha~ DIE!"

She swung in front of her in a large arc, but the boy suddenly pulled out an item from his pocket and pressed on it. His figure glitched out for a brief moment, before disappearing for good and reappearing a short distance behind his original location. The sudden motion kicked up some dust from the stage.

It didn't seem like he used a skill or art - instead, the culprit appeared to be the weird device he had used.

Nadeshiko was surprised as well, and she giggled hysterically. "Ara, what's this? An Engineer?"

I narrowed my eyes and used Inspect on the boy.

[Name: Sotomura Haruki]

[Gender: Male]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Engineer]

[Realm: Nascent Cultivator]

[Level: 30]

-

[STR: 10]

[AGI: 10]

[INT: 160]

[DEX: 150]

[MAG: 10]

[LUC: 10]

Maxing INT and DEX… so this player had indeed chosen the Engineer class - just as Nadeshiko said. I never really understood that class, but I kind of get it now, after seeing it being used in actual battle. Essentially, they didn't fight with their own bodies. They fought with their creations and inventions, their tools and gadgets. Not really my fighting style, but it could be helpful at times.

That said, I did purchase two skills from this class just to see what it was, a while ago. Frag Grenade and Proximity Mine recipes - I didn't currently have the materials needed to make them, but I could craft them in the Crafting section of my System now whenever I did get my hands on the ingredients necessary.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder why people would actually select a main class. Sure, this gives you access to some exclusive arts of that class, but at the same time, it pretty much locks you out of any other class.

Yes, you can just spend more AP, but that's such a waste - so much so that most people would choose to just give up on the art instead.

"Do not underestimate Engineers," Haruki said, then took out various orbs of some sort out of his pocket and threw them down at the floor in front of him.

Suddenly, the orbs lit up, emanating a bright blue light from their cores. Beams of electricity shot out of each of them, before intersecting and connecting together to form a fence all around Haruki.

"Just try attacking me now," he snickered with a triumphant grin on his face. "No matter how fast you are, you cannot pass through my defense. Go ahead and try. You have five attempts. Once that is over, I will begin my own attack."

He seemed to be playing the gentleman, giving Nadeshiko a 'chance'. Unfortunately for him, he had underestimated the Assassin class far too much. I sighed, shaking my head. I already knew the outcome of this battle.

Nadeshiko smirked, cackling like a devil. "Hehehe… naive… far too naive!"

She dashed straight towards the electric fence without a second thought, as Haruki's eyes widened.

"W-What are you-"

"DIE!"

Nadeshiko turned into a shadow for a brief moment, gaining a sudden surge of movement speed and passing through Haruki's defenses completely unscathed.

The poor boy's body froze in fear as he realized what was about to happen.

With a maniacal smile on her face, the psychopath Nadeshiko sliced forward with her scythe, lopping the boy's head straight off. The blood from his severed throat spurted out, staining Nadeshiko's face and body - but she didn't care. Instead, she smiled even wider, as her victim's decapitated corpse fell forward limply on the stage.

"E-Erm… the victor is… contestant #69!"

The audience didn't cheer at all for this victory. Some even vomited out of disgust for the gory scene.

Nadeshiko put her weapon away and walked off the stage carefreely, skipping happily along the way.

But just before she left, she sent a glance in my direction, an innocent smile on her bloodstained face.

… How troublesome.