WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 42

Unlike with my previous battle against Grant Leucht, this time, I was the one who started the fight. I swung the Dragon Tail Ruler in a vertical arc, channeling lightning through it to undo the locks that allowed the segments to separate. Linked together by my Spiritual Power, the segments moved like the tail of a dragon as I willed them to attack Hellen.

I narrowed my eyes as Hellen stepped forward to meet my dragon tail attack head on. She raised her blade just as my attack struck, but then something happened. Hellen stepped to the side and used her blade to gently knock my attack away. It happened so fast I’m sure most people would have missed it, but I saw how her counter worked. It was almost like she was using the momentum of the Dragon Tail Ruler against me.

Channeling more lightning through my weapon, I willed the segments to curve around and attack Hellen from behind, but her instincts were impeccable. She leapt to the side just before my attack struck. The tip of the Dragon Tail Ruler crashed into the ground. The earth shattered in that spot, cracks spreading across the arena floor to resemble a spider’s web.

“That is a very unusual weapon,” Hellen said as I retracted the segments, locking them back into place. A simple straightforward assault of this level wasn’t going to work on her. “I have never seen anything like it in all my years as a Nevarian Spiritualist.”

“I call it the Dragon Tail Ruler.” I set the weapon on my shoulder. “The blade is made in segments that lock together when I’m not channeling Spiritual Power through it.”

“And you use the lightning element to link them together like a chain, which lets you control the movement of the segments.” Hellen nodded. “You have a very impressive amount of control. The only thing I’m curious about is how you can control your Spiritual Power so precisely without the need to use movements to properly channel your Spiritual Power.”

“I’ve always been a bit special.” I shrugged.

“So I see.” Hellen narrowed her eyes as she wove her sword back and forth. The water coating her blade undulated. “In that case, I hope you would permit me to see just how special you truly are.”

I smiled. “Feel free.”

The woman rushed forward faster than most humans could, but it was not fast enough that I couldn’t see her. It was certainly no Flash Step. I kept the ruler on my shoulder as Hellen suddenly spun around and swung her sword, creating a massive wave of water that shot from her blade and threatened to consume me.

I used the Flash Step.

To an outside observer, it would have looked like my body suddenly flickered out of existence for a moment, almost like a blink. The wave of water slammed into me. Then my body suddenly blurred, the wave swept past me, and then I reappeared again. A loud crash echoed behind me as the wave slammed against the wall, though I could tell from the sound that it hadn’t caused any damage.

Hellen narrowed her eyes as she swung her blade several more times, spinning and shuffling on the balls of her feet to channel the energy through her sword. 16 crescent-shaped water blades shot from her sword. They came in different attack patterns that followed the flow of her movement. A vertical slice, a horizontal cut, a diagonal slash. Each attack was different, which created a myriad of patterns that would have been hard for a normal person to avoid.

The first one reached me. I used the Flash Step. My body seemed to blink before the crescent blade shot past me. I did this 16 more times, and each time my body seemed to disappear and reappear as the attack sailed past me and struck the wall. When all 16 crescent blades had flown by, I turned my head to look at the wall, which now had 16 gouges in it. That was going to require some impressive repair work.

“That strange ability of yours,” Hellen began in a curious voice, “is it the same movement technique as that girl, Fay Valstine?”

“It is,” I allowed. There was no sense in hiding it.

“However, your use of that technique is far more fluid than hers.” Hellen narrowed her eyes as she analysed my ability. “Not only are you clearly more experienced with using it, but you do not have to use any movement to activate it.”

“That is also correct,” I said.

“May I ask who taught you this technique?” asked Hellen.

“No one,” I answered. “The Flash Step is a Spiritual Technique that I created by myself.” I paused, and then smiled. “With some help.”

***

Eryk’s words caused everyone to become silent. While the majority of people didn’t know much about Spiritual Techniques, everyone was aware of how difficult it was just to learn a Spiritual Technique, nevermind create one. That Spiritual Technique Scrolls taken from ruins were so valuable could be directly contributed to the fact that it was impossible for all but the most talented of individuals to create their own techniques.

Kari was also shocked by Eryk’s answer to Hellen’s question. She already had confidence in his strength. Even before she had seen him fight, Kari had felt oddly confident in his abilities for reasons that not even she understood, but that was different than this. Hearing that Eryk had created his own Spiritual Technique at such a young age surprised even her.

“Well now,” her mother murmured, eyes narrowed as a strange smile appeared on her face, “I think I am beginning to truly understand what you see in this boy. He’s incredibly talented.”

Kari shook her head. Her mother didn’t understand at all. She was basing her thoughts on what she believed made someone attractive, but what she believed was attractive didn’t really attract Kari. What attracted her to Eryk was not his power, abilities, or talent as a Spiritualist. She was attracted to his kindness and inner strength. She was attracted to how he treated her with respect and dignity, not because she was the Princess of Astralia, but because she was Kari, a girl who loved reading books and dreaming about adventure. She was attracted to his love for reading, to how knowledgeable he was, and to how they shared the same passion.

Of course, she was also attracted to his appearance, that gorgeous hair, those beautiful eyes, and that slightly feminine face. She didn’t say that, though. Just admitting it to herself was embarrassing.

“I don’t believe him,” Geirolf scoffed, knocking Kari out of her thoughts. She turned a glare on him, but he just clicked his tongue. “I’ll never believe that someone who isn’t even as old as me could possibly create their own technique, especially one that seems so advanced.”

“It is a little hard to believe, but I do not think he is lying,” Mikkel said.

“He is not lying at all.” Earland placed his hands on his knees and learned forward, studying Eryk with a look of newfound respect in his eyes. “You can tell from how familiar he is with that technique that he is the creator. The way he uses it makes me think he’s spent years mastering it.”

Everyone was silent for a moment as they contemplated Earland’s words.

Geirolf scoffed again.

“Che, I still don’t believe it,” he muttered to himself.

***

Hellen studied me with a stern frown for several seconds before, shifting her feet across the ground, she adopted a traditional sword stance.

“My apologies,” she murmured. “I have not been taking you completely seriously up to this point. I’d heard about how close you and Princess Kari are, so I wanted to test you to see what kind of man my student has fallen for. However, you are indeed an adversary who is worthy of me giving my all. That is why I will now attack you without holding back.”

A warm feeling hit my chest when Hellen mentioned how her student had “fallen for me”. Even hearing about how Kari felt secondhand gave me a good feeling. However, I did my best to shake away the warm and fuzzy sensation filling my heart. I was in the middle of a battle, after all.

“In that case, I suppose I will get serious as well.”

I removed the Dragon Tail Ruler from my shoulder and grabbed it with two hands, holding the weapon in front of me as I spread my feet shoulder-width apart and knelt a little.

The two of us squared off with each other. Neither of us moved at first. Though we had already gotten the measure of the other person’s abilities, there was no telling what had been held back. I was pretty sure Hellen hadn’t revealed even half of her abilities. Furthermore, I was holding back a lot of tricks as well.

Since Hellen seemed more wary of me than I was of her, I made the first move.

I used the Flash Step to suddenly appear behind her. With a grunt, I swung my ruler and channeled lightning through it, activating its ability to unlatch the segments and attack from a distance. Hellen didn’t try to block my speedy attack this time. She leapt backward as the ruler’s tip slammed into the ground, but that wouldn’t be enough. My Spiritual Power soared as a burst of lightning surged through the ruler and exploded against the ground.

A large dragon formed out of the lightning as it raced across the ground toward Hellen, who danced across the arena floor before she slammed her sword into the ground. I felt an intense surge of Spiritual Power. Then a dome of water appeared around Hellen. My lightning dragon struck the dome, but the attack couldn’t penetrate it. In fact, the lightning was negated seconds after it hit.

***

“What the—how did Hellen do that?!” ask Geirolf.

“How did she do what?” questioned Mikkel.

“Don’t ‘how did she do what?’ with me, you parrot!” Geirolf snapped as he pointed at the dome of water. “How was she able to negate that guy’s lightning dragon? Isn’t water supposed to conduct electricity? Everyone knows that?”

“That isn’t necessarily true,” Kari said as she watched the lightning attack do nothing. “It is true that water is generally weak against lightning, but that isn’t because water naturally conducts electricity. What makes water weak against lightning are the impurities found in water. However, Hellen’s water is incredibly pure. It is so pure that lightning has absolutely no effect on her water.”

At Kari’s explanation, Geirolf went silent.

“It looks like Eryk might be in a bit of trouble,” Mikkel said.

“That is not necessarily true either,” their mother said, smiling. “Do not forget that during the Honor Duel, Eryk also used another element.”

At her words, everyone quickly remembered the Honor Duel, when Eryk had fought against Albert and cut through the other man’s techniques with a water-encased hand.

“I think this battle is about to get a lot more interesting,” Mikkel said, speaking for all of them.

***

I frowned as my lightning dragon was negated, but I wasn’t too shocked by this woman’s talent. There were quite a few people who’d learned how to remove the impurities from their Spiritual Water Techniques. I myself had water that was completely free of impurities as well.

Retracting the Dragon Tail Ruler, I made quick use of the Flash Step to appear right next to Hellen’s water dome. I swung the ruler in my hands. There were no techniques used, no special powers. I just used pure brute strength to tear the dome apart. My ruler sliced the dome open and struck Hellen in the side, shattering her metal armor and lifting the woman off her feet.

The dome vanished as the woman flew through the air. She struck the ground hard, rolled several times, and then came to a slow stop.

I glanced at Rainer, expecting him to call the match, but he just smiled and looked back at Hellen. Now confused, I also glanced back—only to see Hellen rising to her feet. She staggered a little at first, but she quickly stood back up and twisted her body as though checking to see how injured she was. Her chestplate was completely destroyed. That attack should have broken her bones. What was she…

“I think I understand now.” I stared at the woman as she picked up her sword, turned around, and faced me. “The reason you are called Water Goddess Brynhild isn’t because of your water, which is so pure it can even negate lightning, but because of your talent as a healer.”

“That is correct.” Hellen smiled as I figured out the meaning behind her nickname. “I am pretty good at using Spiritual Techniques, if you’ll permit me to brag for a moment, but that is nothing compared to my ability to heal injuries on myself. I use the movement generated from being hit to activate this ability, which means it has become almost passive. Any time I am attacked and injured, my wound heals itself.”

“That is pretty impressive,” I admitted, adopting a two-handed sword stance again as I spread my feet apart. “I’m curious to see how long your ability to heal from any injury inflicted will last.”

Hellen held her sword in front of her. “With an attack like yours, I will probably run out of Spiritual Power in two to three bouts… but I want to keep going. You are the first person who has pushed me this far. I believe that if I continue to battle you, I will finally be able to see where my limits are.”

“Then by all means, let us continue,” I said.

This time I didn’t hesitate to use the Flash Step to appear right next to Hellen. Her reaction speed was fast. She moved almost a second after I appeared, backpedaling to avoid any attack I made. She didn’t seem to realize that the person in front of her was merely an after image. Before the after image disappeared, I had already struck her from behind.

***

“What the hell?! There are two of him! How come there are two of him?!”

Kari didn’t think Geirolf’s surprised shouting was necessarily unwarranted, for she felt the same shock he did. It felt like her mind was playing tricks on her. Eryk had used that speed technique to suddenly appear next to Hellen, but it wasn’t just one Eryk that had appeared. There were two. One had appeared directly in front of Hellen, while the other had appeared behind her barely a second later.

Her teacher was struck hard with a powerful swing of Eryk’s ruler. The attack hit her back. Like before, Hellen was knocked into the air, struck the dirt, and skidded forward. Her back had been bent out of place, but it quickly snapped back into place and healed. It was actually kind of gruesome to watch. After the damage was fixed, the woman stood to her feet.

“It looks like this boy can create after images,” their mother said.

Earland perked up. “You mean like how you can create after images by using the Second Stage of the Three Thousand Steps Technique?”

Their mother shook her head. “No. The After images I make using the Three Thousand Steps Technique are merely illusions I create by bending the light particles around a specified location. That boy is literally moving so fast that he creates after images. This Flash Step of his is in a completely different league from my own technique.”

Her words shocked Kari and her three brothers into silence.

***

By this point in time, I was pretty sure the battle had already been decided. I was using the Flash Step to knock Hellen around like a ragdoll, who tried her best to react to my attacks, but it was absolutely impossible for her to predict where I would attack from. Sometimes I would come from behind. However, the moment she caught on and turned to face me, I used the Flash Step again to attack her from another angle.

The longer I attacked her, the less her healing ability worked, and the more bruises began forming on her skin and staying there. That was a sure sign that not only were my attacks coming in too fast for her to heal, but that her reserves of Spiritual Power were being depleted. It wouldn’t be very long before she ran out of Spiritual Power. Then she would be a sitting duck.

Despite how hopeless her situation seemed, Hellen didn’t give up. I had to admire her tenacity. Every time I struck her down, she would stand up again. What’s more, she would actually try to predict my moves rather than just panic and swing her weapon at random. The calm demeanor she kept even when it was clear that she was outmatched made me realize why Kari respected her so much.

“Ha… ha…”

By this point, Hellen was a mess. Her clothing was in tatters, the parts of her skin that were visible had become a dark black bruise, and her shoulders were heaving as sweat poured down her face, neck, and chest. Despite this, she still kept a firm grip on her sword, which had yet to crack even though it had also taken quite the beating.

“Are you sure you don’t want to give up?” I asked.

Hellen shook her head. “Not yet… my limits… I want to test them, to see how far I can go.”

I nodded. “Fair enough. In that case, I’ll use this next attack to finish you.”

Hellen’s grip on her sword tightened as she readied herself to receive my next attack. I shook my head, then used the Flash Step to appear in front of her. She seemed to think it was another after image and started looking around for my true attack. However, this time, it was no after image. I appeared in front of her and swung my ruler, catching her completely off guard.

My ruler slammed into her chest, and the sound of bones breaking echoed all around me as my attack caused her ribcage to snap. She was using the Second State of Spiritualism. That meant her bones, muscles, and internal organs had been reinforced to the max. However, that meant nothing in the face of my overwhelming strength. It was also clear that she didn’t have much experience using the Second State either. She must have just reached the that state recently.

When the ruler struck her chest, Hellen was lifted off her feet. Blood and bile spewed from her lips as she flew through the air. She landed on the ground seconds later, bounced once, and then hit the dirt and didn’t get up. I walked over to the woman. She was still conscious, her eyes still open. However, she couldn’t stand.

“You’ve run out of Spiritual Power,” I declared.

Hellen’s eyes were half-lidded as she gave me a self-deprecating smile. “You are correct. I do not have enough Spiritual Power to heal the damage from that last attack of yours.”

I nodded as I stabbed my ruler into the ground, knelt before her, and placed a hand on her stomach. Ignoring the feeling of her indomitable six-pack, I channeled the water element through her body. Her ribcage snapped back into place, the internal bleeding stopped, and her punctured spleen stitched up like new.

“You can also use the water element?” asked Hellen in surprise.

“I have a dual-affinity for lightning and water,” I said.

“Which explains why you know all the weaknesses to my abilities,” Hellen mumbled with a sigh. “I’m guessing you are even more well-versed in Spiritual Water Techniques and healing than I am.”

“Well, maybe,” I replied with a vague response before standing up. “There. You are all healed up, though you still won’t be able to move. I can heal injuries, but there is nothing anyone can do for fatigue.”

“Right.”

I looked over at Rainer, who had been watching the battle with something akin to a flabbergasted expression. His wide eyes and dropped jaw were quite telling. He snapped to attention when he saw me staring at him. Coughing into his hand, he made the announcement.

“The winner of this match is Erky Veiger!”

The crowd was only silent for a moment before cheers erupted from the stands. I raised my head to look at the people screaming in jubilation. They were nothing but a sea of blurry, bobbing heads to me, both physically and mentally. There were only two people whose opinions I cared for in this colosseum.

I glanced at one of them. Kari was sitting in her chair beside Empress Hilda, clapping for me with a wide smile on her face. Our eyes locked. I didn’t know if my gaze made her embarrassed, or if there was another reason for her blush, but I smiled and raised my hand to wave at her. For whatever reason, this seemed to make the crowd go even more wild. Meanwhile, Kari’s smile had widened just a little.

Empress Hilda seemed to be studying the two of us with her keen, hawk-like eyes, which made me wonder what she thought about all this. I had never met the empress in my past life. Therefore, I had no idea as to what kind of person she was, though from the way Kari told it, Empress Hilda was a stern woman who was kind but believed wholly in the idea that strength meant everything.

As a pair of medics placed Hellen on a stretcher and carried her out, Rainer said, “Will Fay Valstine and Catalyna Kriger please enter the arena for their match!”

That was my cue to leave. I grabbed my ruler and placed it on my shoulder as I walked toward the exit, entered the hallway, and began moving to the waiting room. Two people appeared before me as I was making my way down the hall.

The first was Fay. The second was a woman with curly blond hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her lower back. Her light blue eyes were sharp like a blade. Those eyes contrasted with her soft facial features, which were fair and seemed more suitable on an innocent young girl than a ferocious warrior.

Her chestplate was big enough to accommodate for her large chest, though it only covered her chest and not the rest of her torso. The ends of a white tabard swished back and forth as it extended from beneath her chestplate, as did the blue skirted end of her dress, which featured long sleeves that were barely visible between the joints in her segmented armored arms. Her metal boots clicked against the ground as she walked, and her jagged longsword swung back and forth as it sat strapped across her back.

Both she and Fay stopped some distance from me. The woman smirked.

“That was quite the showing you gave us. I do not believe we have been introduced. My name is Catalyna Kriger, and I look forward to battling with you in the next round.”

“Eryk Veiger.” I gave the girl my brightest, most cheerful smile. “And before you think about battling me, you should focus on your current opponent. I do not believe Fay will lose to you.”

“Ha!” Catalyna barked as she placed her hands on her hips and threw her head back. “You bring up a good point. This girl has been learning from you, hasn’t she? That technique you both use that lets you move really fast is yours, isn’t it? Don’t worry. I have never underestimate an opponent before, and I certainly won’t do so against someone who defeated an elite Nevarian Spiritualist.” She turned to the blushing Fay and grinned. “I’ll see you on the arena floor.”

With those parting words, the woman began walking again. She walked right past me and disappeared down the hall, leaving Fay and I alone.

A slightly awkward silence appeared between us, but I broke it, coughing into my hand.

“Listen, Fay,” I began, forcing her to look at me. “Do not underestimate that woman. All of your opponents up to now were beginners, including Finn. Catalyna is going to be your first major hurdle. However, I have confidence that you can beat her. In terms of raw talent and potential, you surpass her in every way possible. Your biggest obstacle when fighting her is going to be the gap in experience. She has a lot more than you.”

Fay nodded as she listened to me. “I watched all of her fights so far. Catalyna has a lot more experience in combat than I do. I’m aware of that.”

“You’ll need to be creative if you want to close that gap.” Fay nodded one more time, causing me to smile. “Go show everyone what you can do.”

“I will!” With her face brightening like the Sun was shining on it, Fay walked past me and disappeared.

I continued on my way, entering the waiting room, where several faces turned to me. I was already used to this. However, before I could walk over to the window, Dante came up to me with a laid back smile on his face.

“That was a pretty impressive battle,” he said.

“Thank you,” I murmured, not sure what he wanted. He normally seemed like the type to just silently observe me.

“It was even more impressive,” he began, his face becoming more serious, “because you weren’t going all out.”

I grimaced. “I’m surprised you caught that.”

Dante smiled when I didn’t deny it. “Well, it wasn’t that hard. Unlike Hellen, who looked like she was struggling just to stay conscious toward the end, you didn’t even break a sweat. Even now, your expression is calm and collected, as though the battle with her barely made you exert any effort.”

I wasn’t sure I appreciated how accurate his analysis of my abilities were, but I tried not to let it bother me. This man was one of Kari’s fathers. Being paranoid of him was rude to her.

“Thank you,” I said.

I walked toward the window. Dante followed me. This almost made me sigh, but I withheld it.

“Do you want something from me?” I asked.

“You’re close to Kari, right?” Dante scratched his cheek as he asked me this question.

I could only nod. “The entire reason I entered this tournament was for her.”

That was, strictly speaking, not one hundred percent true. I was also fighting in this tournament for Fay. However, I had already defeated Grant Leucht, so Fay’s problem had been rectified. Kari’s was only half-solved.

Dante seemed a little startled. Perhaps it was my blunt admittance that my only reason for entering this tournament was Kari, but I didn’t care enough to find out.

“So I see. Kari means that much to you.” He cupped his chin and observed me. “And what exactly are you hoping to accomplish by participating in this tournament? What is it that you want from Kari?”

“Want?” I frowned at him. “This isn’t about what I want from her. It’s about what I want for her.” I glanced back out the window. Fay and Catalyna were standing in the center of the arena, getting ready to battle. “Kari is a girl who dreams of exploring the world, adventuring into ruins, and discovering new things. What I want is for her mother to stop caging her in Nevaria and let her travel outside. Kari is like a Phoenix. She needs to soar through the sky in order to reveal the splendor of her wings. She can’t do so if she’s grounded here.”

The more I spoke, the more shocked Dante became, until it looked like his eyes would pop out of their sockets. He recovered with admirable swiftness, however. I had to give him credit for that. After recovering, he looked at me as though he was seeing me in a whole new light.

“I see you really do understand Kari well—perhaps even better than we do.” Dante looked out the window as well. “If you win this tournament, then you can request any one thing from my wife. I can already guess what your request will be.” He smiled. “If I’m being honest, I’m now kind of hoping you’ll win this whole thing.”

“Don’t worry.” I smiled as the battle between Fay and Catalyna began. “I intend to.”