NOVEL NEXT Chap 21´7: Susan's announcement.
"I want to hear a loud round of applause for Director Susan! She'll give a few words before the friendly match and the tournament final." The announcer gives the stage to Susan. I can hear the crowd's loud cheers and applause filling the air.
"Thank you all for coming. I hope you've been enjoying the tournament and the fair these past few days." Susan pauses for a moment. "It's a great honor to welcome you every year. It shows us that we're doing things right, and we'll keep improving to make each year better." The crowd reacts with powerful shouts.
"I want to announce something. In the upcoming friendly match before the final, my daughter Areci will be fighting. Many of you might think her opponent doesn't stand a chance against one of the greatest talents of the decade, but you'll be surprised." I glance to the side—Areci looks slightly flustered.
"Her opponent today, named Maki, is not inferior in talent to Areci. I also want to announce publicly that Maki Vichag is my protégé and disciple. He's under my direct tutelage." The audience falls silent for a few seconds, then bursts into screams of excitement.
"You can imagine how strong he must be to be my protégé. This match will be very entertaining to watch. I won't make you wait any longer—thank you again for coming." Susan finishes her short speech, and the announcer introduces us.
Areci and I walk through the roaring crowd and applause inside the stadium. I'm amazed by how many people are here—I can't stop looking around. Is this what a football player feels like when playing for one of the world's top teams? Surrounded by tens of thousands of people.
"Don't get nervous, you'll do fine." Areci pats my shoulder to encourage me.
"I'm not, just a little surprised. You seem relaxed." I'm surprised by her calmness.
"You get used to it over the years." Areci looks around the stadium. "But I still get a bit nervous every time." I nod quietly.
In my past life, I fought before thousands of people, but never this many. Counting those watching the broadcast from home, it could reach tens of thousands—but it's not the same as seeing them while walking toward the stage.
As we step onto the platform, the crowd noise fades slightly. There's a layer of mana coming from the floor—apparently, it's covered in countless enchantments. It doesn't just protect the spectators.
Areci never trained with me, so I don't know her affinity. She decided to keep it secret until today. The announcer finishes speaking and signals the start of the match.
Is that a rare skill? She's intentionally showing me it's a single affinity, not two. Magma! She has a rare skill just like her mother. She pulls out a red and black sword—much longer than mine—and it looks like it's made of a material of equal or even higher quality than my blades.
"I didn't expect a rare skill." I shout at Areci.
"We haven't even started fighting and you're already complaining." She smiles fiercely at me, and I return the smile.
We both charge toward the center of the arena. The first clash of swords shows me the enormous difference in strength—her strike almost destabilizes me in one blow. I have to adjust my stance to respond to her next slash, which pushes me back a step from the sheer power.
Her speed is slightly above mine, enhanced by fire as well, and that molten rock armor looks hard to break. This is tough from the start. I'll have to compensate for lack of raw strength with technique.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
I focus as much as possible using my mental ability. My brain sends electric impulses through my body to react faster while keeping my mind calm to respond properly to each move.
Our exchange of blows happens at maximum speed. Her swordsmanship is impressive—it's clear how long she's trained to master it. Her fencing is below mine, but she compensates with strength and defense.
Neither of us lands a clean hit. When I gain the upper hand through skill, she increases her power, forcing me back, and I have to reposition and regain ground bit by bit.
I can see bursts of fiery mana with each of her movements—it's very similar to my Gravity Burst. Her control surprises me. When she pushes me back, she uses more than double the mana for the skill, yet she doesn't lose balance or suffer side effects like when I broke my arm the first time.
Minutes pass, and I finally decide to use my crushing zone to tilt the battle in my favor. The pressure slows her movements—I can see her frown as gravity presses down on her—but then she smiles, which gives me a bad feeling.
For a moment, it feels like my gravity isn't affecting her as much as it should. My Personal World detects a small space—just a few centimeters around her body—where I have no control.
Is that her Banner? I focus to study her ability better while shifting to defense, and yes—it seems to be her Banner. Did she already level it up? This reminds me of Melany—she explained this to me back during the inauguration party.
Her speed only decreases slightly. We're almost equally fast now; I only have a small edge thanks to my electricity and gravity enhancements. I manage to land an almost clean slash on her stomach, but it doesn't pierce her entire armor—I just click my tongue.
I empower my swords with my death affinity—I hadn't used it until now—and she responds by doing the same. Neither of us can die because of the safety collars.
In a small gap in her defense, I manage to cut her arm, piercing through and dealing minor damage. Areci doesn't flinch. She gathers a massive amount of mana and swings her sword at me—my block isn't fully effective, and her blade pierces my defense, sending me flying several meters away.
"Is it time to go to the next level?" I ask since she didn't chase after me, just planted her sword into the ground.
"If we keep going like this, it'll take hours. Let's make it more exciting." Areci summons two magma soldiers beside her. I almost smack my forehead in frustration—those soldiers have the aura of grade-4 monsters.
"You're really eager to win." Seeing her skill, I can feel her will to defeat me. I create two dozen Joyeuse blades at full power to counter those monsters.
"I'm not the only one." She laughs as she watches my swords aiming at her soldiers.
We both rush toward the center again. I have to jump to avoid a small magma eruption from the floor, and Areci moves to the side to dodge my Electrifying Fierce River—we both evade another round of attacks.
Her magma golems are being held back by my swords; each one wields a long spear and blocks my blades whenever I try to catch her off guard. Likewise, I must block her golems with several swords when they charge at me.
The pressure has increased for both of us. A single mistake or wrong step would leave us badly injured. I'm burning more mana—my ice affinity is clearly disadvantaged against heat. I have to constantly rebuild my swords and send them again.
Her golems are also taking damage; Areci must keep injecting mana to maintain them at full strength.
I dodge another lava eruption from the ground while sending a pair of enhanced spheres toward her back. She dodges one and blocks the other with her sword.
This is turning into a battle of physical, mana, and mental endurance—one mistake could change everything. Areci surprises me by suddenly appearing right in front of me—her movement ability has never been this fast, it's almost like she teleported.
I react just in time to use one charge of my own movement skill. She appears again beside me, swinging her massive sword. I end up using all my remaining charges and still can't shake her off. I have to block her heavy blow awkwardly and nearly fall to the ground.
I gain a moment by increasing the pressure of my crushing zone, enough to block her second slash more comfortably. She doesn't give up—she keeps swinging, again and again.
I construct a Joyeuse behind her, forcing my mind as much as I can. She uses that split-second delay to swing her sword infused with fiery mana toward my leg. We both land hits at the same time—she breaks through my defense and cuts my right leg cleanly, while my ice sword pierces her left thigh through her armor.
We both jump back, removing the lingering effects of each other's skills almost simultaneously. "Can't you go easy on your big sister?" Areci asks, and I can only roll my eyes. We ready ourselves for another round.
"Older sisters should take care of the younger ones." We both smile and charge toward the center once more.