Chapter 154: The greatest skill under the heavens, part 7
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
◆Almeria◆
I now knew why Roland had insisted on training me at night.
The assassin swung at me, but I parried her blade with my nose.
「…」
A flash of silver appeared both to the left and right. The agility and dexterity I now possessed was all because of my special training.
「Wow」, she said with the gaze of a cat who had spotted a wounded mouse.
Okay, I’ll be fine, I said to myself, relaxing just a tiny bit.
At the same time, her leg came down on me from above and hit the side of my head before I could react. I was flung into the air. I saw stars and was a little disoriented from the impact, but stood up as soon as a cottage broke my fall.
「…」
Out of all the advice he had given me, Roland had never told me to run away. I remember asking why, but received no answer to the best of my memory. I finally understood why — because running away only gives your opponent another opening to attack.
I still wish he’d told me that to start with, though.
When I activated a skill, ‘Returner’, the pain and dizziness disappeared in an instant.
「Fascinating. You seem able to restore the condition you were in before the fight. A special skill that allows you to take hit after hit after hit… but the Heroine isn’t just a punching bag, is she? That’s like calling a rat catcher the greatest hunter to ever live.」
She figured it out really quickly…
But now that I can use my skills, three minutes should still be a trifle.
‘Returner’ allows me to restore myself to full health at any time. As long as I don’t lose consciousness or get killed in one blow, I can activate it as many times as I need to.
「Well, well… looks like every hit I land must be fatal, or else I’ll never be able to kill the Heroine.」
「Do not underestimate me.」
An ethereal sensation ran through my body.
「You have three skills」, observed the assassin. 「Man, isn’t that kinda overkill? Most people only have one!」
It felt like something similar to ‘Appraisal’ or ‘Skill Reader’ had been used on me.
「J-Just how many skills do you have?」
「I expected nothing less of a special girl like you」, she replied, ignoring my question entirely. 「You have an offensive skill, a defensive one and even a healing one… that basically makes you a self-sufficient, one-man army.」
I let her blabber on.
I once believed that as long as I’m around, the world can be saved. I’m not just top percentage — with a three-pronged skill, I’m the hundredth percentile of the hundredth percentile. On top of that, I (apparently) possess an unusual amount of magicka that allows me to execute magical sword techniques that few others who walk this Earth can.
She’s right — I am special.
At least that’s what I had believed until that strange man entered my life. He had been tasked with taking care of me, but instead of acknowledging my superiority, he had spoken to me as if I was a run-of-the-mill wench from an unremarkable village.
『I’ll let you save the world.』
I’m powerless on my own.
「‘Self-sufficient’ is such an austere way to put it. I much prefer ‘Trinity’, which was coined by someone a long time ago.」
The effect of ‘Returner’ may have been revealed, but as long as my defensive skill can still be used, I’ll be fine. I started channeling ‘Bulwark’, the defensive skill with its power proportional to my remaining magicka.
「Huh…」
It’s… not working?
「Why, isn’t this convenient. Oh, it scales with my magicka.」
A rainbow-colored barrier had appeared in front of the woman. Damn, I thought, so you activated my skill for yourself.
「Adapt, improvise, be calm. You can’t afford to be shaken, my dear Heroine.」
Annoyed by her Roland-like ‘advice’, I stared at her. She tossed her knife at me, which I bent my neck to dodge. If she has to fight with her bare hands, there’s no way she can kill me or knock me unconscious with a single blow.
Hearing the signature swoosh of a metal blade being unsheathed beside me, I looked to the side and found her standing there, brandishing the sword she had just stolen from me. How did she get there so quickly, I wondered. I thought my eyes had been following her the whole time.
She aimed the blade at me and swung with the intention of cleaving me in two.
「…!」
‘Returner’ will have no effect, but it’ll also be game over if the blade finds its mark. Fear not, for I still have the third skill up my sleeve. It’s the skill that makes me the Heroine, but it can also break me.
In short, if it fails to land, I’m dead.
I activated ‘Indignation’.
Remain conscious, I told myself, gnashing my teeth. I channeled the shapeless lightning bolt meant to strike my opponent and took it myself instead.
「Guwaaaaa!?」
Lightning permeated the air, giving the surroundings a radiant, luminescent glow.
「Tch.」
She quickly put some distance between us.
My body was convulsing all over from the skill, but I managed to hold on. I remained conscious.
‘Returner’.
「I won’t let you do that again!」, she yelled, closing the gap she had just made.
Hook, line and sinker.
「‘Indignation’!!」
I harnessed the lightning bolt, aiming it at her this time.
With a deafening, almost explosive sound, the lightning bolt made contact and lit the entire area up. I then used ‘Returner’ to patch myself up.
「If you think you can rush an attack against me, you’re out of luck.」
「What an impatient attack」, came her voice from behind me. 「The impetuousness of youth.」
There was nobody in front of me, and my back was completely defenseless. I have to dodge every attack successfully, but if just one lands…
That makes three times I’ve lost sight of her — when she kicked me, when she stole my sword and now. Drat! To think that despite all that training, I still let her disappear from view…
At that moment, a shadow noiselessly appeared behind her back. I didn’t train so much just to run away, I thought in a corner of my mind.
Three minutes to find an opening after you arrive.
I had created an opening for him by allowing her to attack me during the recoil. Given that opening, he was a hundred and ten percent sure that he could get the kill.
And as always, he didn’t attack from the front.
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