Severing the telepathic link between us was the signal for Hestia to start fighting. Still hiding under her [Sanctuary] barrier, she shot out one [Fla Spear] to show that she acknowledged my challenge.
Dodging it, I cast [Haste] on myself. Despite the high mana cost and my relatively low mana pool, I still found the effects of that spell good enough to warrant using it. Speeding up my movents might be the only way for to dodge Hestia's "firework show" if I can't cast [Shadow Dash] in ti.
Like Hestia, with [Chant Revocation Lv. 10], I don't have to do ever do the Incantation part of spell casting ever again, which ans that I can cast spells nearly instantaneously. Of course, once it was ready to activate.
Once my spell was finished, Tasianna started casting and shooting [Ice Spike] around the arena, piercing the ice spells into the rock.
These ice projectiles were freezing to the touch and lethal, as they were large enough to drill a hole through sobodys stomach. Once she was finished, the arena was littered with shadows that I could use my spells on.
Previously, the area where we are currently fighting at was just an empty field of rock and earth. Most of the trees had to be cut down or bulldozed away just so we had enough space to fight in. Without any trees in the vicinity, the chance of a forest fire was lowered but it also took away locations that I could use [Shadow Dash], [Dark Tendrils], and [Shadow Snake] at.
["You didn't have to do this, guys,"] Hestia called us out while scratching her head. ["If you had asked, I would have gladly made so rocks for shadows."]
Knowing that we weren't willing to talk, Hestia simply activated all her buff spells without waiting for us to answer.
Heh, all those buffing spells are really unfair. Her stats are skyrocketing.
Giving Hestia liberal use of her spells and skills ant having to fight against a fully buffed dragon girl. Those buffing spells helped compete with the trolls, and now I have to fight against it.
Only when your own tools are directed at you, will you recognize how powerful they are. However, I planned for that.
Activating [Shadow Armant], I shrouded my whole body in a misty dark cloak.
[Shadow Armant (Full Body)] inflicted on [Young Shadowstalker Cadejo, Saori Segawa]
["Madam Saori, the red mist around your eyes has just gotten larger,"] Tasianna stated.
It seems the mana around my eyes tended to turn red whenever I fight; visible enough that you could even see it in the darkness. The cloud of red mana might have grown larger due to fusing with [Shadow Armant].
["I don't know what you guys are thinking about but try doing that under suppressive fire!"] noticing that we were slowing the battle down, Hestia began shooting out multiple [Fla Spear] at us.
Using [Haste]'s effects, I slipped through each spell's trajectory, dancing around this firework.
Hestia showed a thumbs up and smiled, ["I wish you could show so of those moves when we dance together, Saori! I'll turn up the difficulty of this bullet hell, ok?"]
With that said, a wall of earth erupted from the ground and sent up into the air before I could react to it. Multiple different projectiles were then shot at like a machinegun, aiming to take advantage of my lack of aerial movents.
However, knowing this would have been possible, Tasianna already prepared a [Frozen Shield] spell beforehand. Casting the spell, a large tower shield made of ice began blocking so of the shots.
["Ahh! It's lting! My shield is lting too fast!"] Tasianna cried in panic.
That's all the ti I need, Tasianna! I said internally. One string; grab my arm and pull down! Dark Tendrils!
Locking my eyes on one of the shadows created by Tasianna's spells, a dark tendril shot out of the ground, towards my direction.
["As if I will let you, Saori!"] shouting those words, a [Sacred Smite] flew out of Hestia's hand and dispersed my spell upon contact.
Yet, that is exactly what I needed her to do. As she used [Sacred Smite] instead of [Holy Smite], the shining projectile didnt stop after destroying my spells but continued flying, all while shining a brilliant light bright enough to project a shadow of myself onto the ice shield.
Turning my head around, I imdiately shrouded Tasianna with [Shadow Armant] and then used [Shadow Dash] to enter the realm of darkness with her, escaping the bombardnt before it destroyed the shield.
["Stay calm like always, Miss Tasianna."] I comforted my fairy companion sitting in one of my dress' pockets.
["Yes, it's like the other tis. I just need to stay put and let you guide us out of here."] Tasianna ekly responded.
The dark world wasn't pleasant for anybody joining for the ride. They could neither see nor were they able to move without . While it is convenient to use this to transport everybody to a new location, it was also unclear what would happen if they accidentally let go of .
Shaking those thoughts away, I swiftly swam through the dark sea and jumped out of a hole to re-enter the world of light.
"Bwah?!" the first thing I heard was a cute yelp.
Still only half-way out of the shadow, the person who gave off that surprised cry imdiately used her tail to attack , probably having noticed with [Prediction] or [Detection Sensor].
Still, under the effect from [Haste], my reflexes responded by grabbing her tail, using it as leverage to pull myself out of the shadow world. Now fully outside, I jumped over the kick that was aid at my stomach.
Turning her body around for the kick, the girl with brilliant crimson hair dressed in a blue dress finally noticed .
As our eyes collided with each other, I activated my [Bloodlust] and [Terror Aura] at the sa ti. While I couldnt activate [Bloodlust]'s secondary effect, as I wasn't actually trying to kill Hestia, it still projected the raw bloodlust that my race [Young Shadowstalker Cadejo] could freely emit.
"Kyaaaaa!" Hestia unconsciously let out a loud shout in a panic, enough that her shivering body forced her to jump backward instead of attacking .
A good thing to know when you fight Hestia is that when sothing doesnt go according to her plan, then she will panic. Although, with all those parallel minds, she can quickly recover from it in a millisecond by having them pilot her body.
It must be infuriating to know that she can even react to a surprise attack if the ambusher gives her even a tiny fraction of ti to react to it.
Fortunately for , I also knew that the girl can be a bit of a scaredy-cat.
Her first instinct when she's confronted with sothing she's scared of isn't to attack but to dodge backward and assess the situation. Her defensive skills and her parallel minds are enough to respond to any attacks during this window of vulnerability, though, so she's rarely in danger.
This, of course, doesn't work against her phobia, though.
During the ti that Hestia needed to readjust herself, I was already finished with my next spell [Dark Bolt]. Conjuring up a dark elental missile, instead of shooting it at my opponent, I grabbed it with my shadow covered hand.
Using [Shadow Armant] once more, I ordered the spell to transform into a dagger and then jumped at Hestia to continue the attack.
Hestias crippling weakness to dark magic helped with my attack. Her [Draconic Barrier] would protect her body from most attacks, but it couldnt stop the burning sensation on her skin inflicted by dark magic spells.
She might have bought [Dark Resistance Lv. 1] but it only made her a bit more resistant to my dark spells. It frustrated her that despite enduring so many of my spells, she wasnt able to get that skill naturally.
Well, it was inconvenient outside a battle, but it was very good to know when I have to fight her. The bracelet is close enough to be grabbed!
"What the hell! Why are you taking this so seriously, huh, Saori?!" evading all my sword strikes, the girl called out for my actions. "This is supposed to be a spar! If you're gonna be like this, then don't bla for having you sll like burned hair for a week!"
Having said that, Hestia gnashed her teeth together, creating a spark.
["Princess Hestia, please wait! I'm here, too!"] the desperate plea from Tasianna was left unheard.
["Quickly! Tasianna. Left. Now!"] I shouted.
Dodging backward Hestia closed her mouth, allowed the spark to build up unperturbed.
Realizing that my attempt was thwarted, I threw the [Dark Bolt] dagger at her. She caught it before it hit her head but imdiately dropped it like a hot rod.
anwhile, Tasianna shot an [Ice Spike] to my left as I ordered. Using the flying projectiles shadow, I cast [Dark Tendrils] on it and let then grab , dragging out of Hestia's dragon breath.
["Spark Inferno Blast!"]
A breath attack, large enough to be called a fla rocket, smoothly burst out of Hestia's mouth and narrowly caught by the tail, singeing off a few hairs.
Once it passed , it flew through the [Sanctuary] barrier and then destroyed a part of the arenas wall, causing the forest to once again catch on fire because of my companion's irresponsible usage of fire.
I also would like to note that she can burst up into fla when she's angry or annoyed...literally.
["Oi, Hestia. I told you this was a spar!"] I reconnected my telepathic link to scold her for her reckless attacks. ["A bit slower and I would have lost my tail! Were you trying to kill there?!"]
["Then tell what that [Bloodlust] activation was supposed to be, huh?"] she spoke while stomping the ground and shaking her fist. ["Besides, I could have thrown that inferno blast out the mont Tasianna cast her spell. I deliberately waited for you two to figure sothing out. You guys never were in danger in the first place!"]
["So that was revenge for that scare?!"] I spat out befuddled. ["Wasn't that too extre?! You destroyed a section of the wall and the forest is on fire...again!"]
["The forest will live. Ever heard of slash-and-burn agriculture? The trees will regrow stronger and mightier,"] she dismissed my environntal concerns with a wave of a hand. ["Enough of that, tell how did you do it? How did you escape that bombardnt and entered my barrier?"]
I raised a brow, mumbled to Tasianna, "shield", before answering Hestia's question. ["It was thanks to you, of course."]
She tilted her head at my answer, brows frowned in a questioning look, so I had to continue, ["It was your [Sacred Smite], Hestia. Once it dispersed my [Dark Tendrils], it projected my shadow onto the shield. I used it to [Shadow Dash] to the shadow under your feet, which is being cast by the sun."]
Hestia looked under herself, noticing her shadow and sighed in exasperation, ["That's stupid. Your shadow wasn't even connected to the ground and you can still do that?"]
I shrugged, ["The shadow world doesn't follow the rules of the light world, after all."]
Simply saying, "I guess", Hestia readied herself back into a fighting stance.
Compared to her more carefree pose during that firework show, her current one suggested that she had no intentions of dispelling [Sanctuary], willing to fight up-close and personal. Claws ready to defend herself up close, her legs postured to jump at at any ti, and her right wing was spread out with multiple magic circles ready to activate.
["Make sure to avoid getting mauled by my claws. I can heal you up, even your heart, if your Health doesn't drop to zero."] her eyes were razor-sharp, and her smirk seed to have disappeared. ["Just make sure to dodge anything that cos to your head. I don't know if I can heal mories."]
["If you could, you would have healed yours a long ti ago,"] I said.
["..."] Hestia's mouth was agape, as she slowly recovered from my words. ["That will probably be the only ti that you will be able to hurt today, Saori. I thought you were the adult here."]
["I once overheard from my students that you should banter a bit when you fight against each in video gas,"] from my mories, I could rember Nagata-kun and Mikami-kun continuously bantering with each other after they played together the last night.
Obviously, as a teacher, I had to warn them not to do that when their studies are that much more important. Still, it was amusing to watch them being so competitive with each other, so much so, that I questioned why they were playing together when they obviously didn't like it.
["You have interesting students, Segawa-sensei. Never heard you talk about them much until now though, he he,"] letting her guard down from my joke, I was able to buy and Tasianna a bit more ti.
["There was never a need to do so, Atsuko-chan,"] this was the first ti that I addressed Hestia as "Atsuko", even though I was the one to give her that na. Her confusion about being addressed that way was clear for everybody to see. ["Maybe I'll talk about them so other ti. Today? We need to end the fight, agreed?"]
["Well, I guess you are right,"] Hestia bent her legs. ["Wind Blast!"]
Noticing the large magic circle behind her back, I quickly shouted, ["Tasianna!"]
Tasianna popped out of my pocket and answered, ["Already done, Frozen Shield!"]
Having bought Tasianna enough ti to fully chant the spell, a shield of ice began materializing before . anwhile, Hestia's spell activated, launching her body like a rocket towards us. Before the shield fully blocked my sight, I could see so fire in her mouth.
["No use! Fla Blast!"]
Shadow Dash!
Before the shield fully broke, beads of lted ice were slowly falling while Tasianna and I rged into a shadow. I barely saw Hestia breaking through the shield as my head was about to be subrged.
Once we were back in the world of shadows, I realized that the shadow we entered, the shield's, was splintered into pieces. So of them were too small for but one was just perfect.
Jumping out of the shadow, I imdiately grabbed Hestia's tail and pulled her backward. Due to my high Strength and her low weight, I effortlessly pulled Hestia's entire body with my right hand. Once her party bracelet was in my sight, my left-hand darted towards it, ready to win this match.
However, before my hand reached it, my [Prediction] warned of an incoming claw, clad in fire. Giving up this opportunity, I cartwheeled backwards and used my legs to counterattack, kicking her fiery claws up to the sky.
Once I was back on my feet, I rushed back into Hestia's face. While it was also dangerous for due to her claws, it was far easier for to do sothing here where she couldn't blow up with spells to her leisure. With my [Shadow Armant] covered body, I began mounting the counterattack on Hestia.
["Droplet Torrent"] Tasianna also began shooting out bullets made out of water at Hestia.
Rushing her down with overwhelming attacks coming from my hands and feet, I used both Tasianna's support and my now dark elental enchanted body to force her into defense.
As we learned from the battle against the trolls, Hestia's [Draconic Barrier] was also susceptible against the elents that she was weak to. Instead of blocking, she had to dodge all my attacks otherwise her Mana and Stamina would take chip damage.
"Wind Blast!" not wanting to stay on the defense any longer, she blew away from her. "Petal Flas! Bedrock Blades!"
Trying to stabilize myself after landing back on the ground, my [Prediction] went wild, warning that attacks had surrounded.
Looking up, I saw multiple flas in the forms of petals dancing in the air, awaiting to dive towards . There were also multiple sharp-looking earth blades, tall enough to dwarf the trolls, swimming through earth and rock to slice up.
["Dark Tendrils!"]
Noticing that my [Haste] has finally worn out, my confidence in dodging all these attacks dropped. Instead of relying on my Agility, I chose to use [Dark Tendrils] to dodge around them.
Choosing the shadow of the approaching [Bedrock Blades], I had the tendrils grab my hand and pull towards them. Releasing myself mid-flight and then recasting [Dark Tendrils] elsewhere, I was able to avoid all the descending blades by maneuvering myself through the air as deftly as I could. Sliding through grabs with the help of these black tendrils, my plan was to find an opening to re-enter the world of shadows.
As I was about to cast [Shadow Dash], a [Terra Wall] suddenly burst from the ground, sending tumbling into the airagain.
"Oooof!" gasping for air, I pulled myself back to the ground with [Dark Tendrils] before all the petal flas crashed into . Still, it was impossible for to dodge all of them, considering how nurous they were.
"Urrrghh..." my left leg received most of the damage. The sll of burned hair and skin invaded my nostrils as my burned nerves were telling to stop despite having [Absolute Pain Tolerance].
Nausea causing sll was even more intense, as I both had [Primal Senses] and a wolf monsters nose. It was revolting.
"Go to sleep, Saori," Hestia said, readying her fingers in a coin toss gesture.
From here, I could see a colorless liquid secreting from underneath her claws. Before flinging whatever toxin she created with [Toxin Secretion], multiple additional [Wind Bullet] ca flying out.
This spell would do virtually zero damage to , nonetheless, their role wasn't to hurt but to slow down, so she could hit with that toxin.
["Tasianna!"]
There werent any shadows large enough for nearby and those spells were too fast for to dodge.
With [Absolute Pain Tolerance], I could still move even under nerve-wracking pain but where was I supposed to run to? [Sanctuary] was still active and the area we were fighting was only as large as a concert stage. I trapped myselfI had nowhere to hide...which ans I have to make it myself!
Burrowing my fingers into the ground, I used my entire Strength to lift a patch of ground up to create my own earth wall to block the incoming wind spells.
"No ti for another [Frozen Shield]? Well too bad but it's checkmate, I guess," under the loud plopping of wind against my wall, I could hear Hestia breathing in deeply.
["Close your ears, Tasianna!"] I shouted, predicting sothing loud to happen.
"Will you grant ,
Will you grant ,
Will you grant your eternal love,
My Heart is yours, so stand with ,
Let's celebrate until we fall!
.
Will you grant ,
Will you grant ,
Will you grant your eternal love,
Trust in ,
Let hear your voice, so tell that you love ! "
While the lyrics of her song were pleasant, her singing couldn't be called romantic at all.
Using [Draconic Voice] and amplifying her voice with [Aerokinesis], her voice shattered the ground around . My eardrums were shaking uncontrollably despite my best efforts to shield them from this ear busting shout.
Hestia knew that she could heal us without any issues even if we were turned deaf from her attacks.
Once her voice destroyed the wall, I was blown away and crashed onto the ground, tumbling. Although my ears were rattling painfully, I was still able to hear my moaning and groaning.
[Exhaustion (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Shadowstalker Cadejo, Saori Segawa]
No! How did my Stamina drop that quickly?! Damndid I mismanage it?
"Have a good nap you two!" now holding the toxin in a wind capsule, she flicked it at us.
Once it landed, the air ball exploded and released a white gas. For so reason what ca out wasn't the toxin but gas? What is Hestia trying to...d...do!
Proficiency requirent fulfilled. [Torpor Resistance Lv. 2] evolved into [Torpor Resistance Lv. 3]
T-This was sleeping gas!
Shit, I miscalculated!
I forgot that she could heat up the toxins with her body temperature, turning them into gas. With the amount of heat her body could produce by simply breathing, it should have been obvious that that was possible. The gas was spreading too fast and I've already breathed so in! We've been had!
["Madam Sa-ori, I have an idea,"] Tasianna sluggishly said.
Tasianna told her plan and that it all depended on how good my stealth abilities were.
Realizing that I had no other ideas, I agreed to Tasianna, ["We can only hope, huh? Ok, let's do it!"]
With that, the white smoke slowly covered us up. We didn't make a move yet. I just stood there, silently focusing, giving it my all to concentrate under the effects of the sleeping gas.
Proficiency requirent fulfilled. [Concentration Lv. 1] evolved into [Concentration Lv. 2]
The seconds counted down. One, two, three, four...and so on. I waited for the perfect ti while being surrounding in a veil of gas, completely obstructing everybodys vision of .
Once I opened my eyes, I was behind the dragon girl and saw her hands on her hips. However, I also noticed that she sensed my presence before I made a move.
"Fool once, sha on you. Fool twice, sha on ," like a predator finding her prey, Hestia snapped her body towards , searing hot claws ready to slice into pieces. "Fool thrice, then go to hell! Spark Claws!"
My reflexes responded to it perfectly but the speed difference between her fully buffed body and my unbuffed one was too large. Even with [Humanization (Moderate)] she equalized any disadvantages she had with magic. This was the power of the magic prodigy and the reason why trying to catch up with her was futile!
Her claws tore through my stomach, chunking off a large piece of muscles and organs.
["Just Blink..."] despite an obvious wound in my stomach, I decided to stay on the offensive instead of backing off.
[Just Blink] was an [Unard Technique] ability that I learned after Tasianna lectured us on how to obtain weapon and martial abilities in this world.
To gain these abilities you had to practice the sa movents over 100 tis and all of them had to be the sa. After you finished the necessary number of moves, you would ask the System, "System I would like to acquire [Just Blink] as an ability".
The number of abilities you may have depended entirely on the [Technique] skill of the weapon. I only had [Unard Technique Lv. 2] so I was only able to learn two abilities until my capacity was full.
The [Mastery] skills are the ones that improved the strength of your weapon's attacks.
You may delete your abilities but Tasianna explained that it was extrely tedious to do so, just like with learning them. She couldn't rember the full details of it as it rarely happened among the fairy warriors and the elf warriors that ca were usually elite that had their ability list perfected, she said.
However, that thod only worked well when it's an ability that has already been established by the System...
Calling out my own custom-made ability, my fist clad in shadow turned invisible for a mont, attracting Hestia's attention. Before she could rember the effects of [Just Blink], my shadow fist punched her in her face.
"Owwwww!" recoiling back from the attack, Hestia was holding her nose. It shouldn't have hurt that much but I believe it's her human nature that made her do so.
[Just Blink] was an ability that I could only use when my arms are covered with [Shadow Armant]. Using the dark misty mantle, it turned my arm undetectable to the naked eye for a single second.
Activating [Stealth] and [Prescence Killer] at this very second enabled my attack to bypass any detection skills. Of course, if the recipient of the attack were to be completely focused, the effects would be easily neutralized as skills like [Prediction] or [Danger Perception] would imdiately warn you to dodge my attack.
While a normal fist wouldnt be very dangerous, if I had used my claws, I could have very likely torn a hole into Hestia's [Draconic Barrier] due to the [Shadow Armant]. I wouldve been able to morph my shadow into razor-sharp claws or pointy spears.
I was confident in Hestias ability to heal herself, but it still felt wrong to do it. If [Shadow Armant] were able to pierce her personal barrier, then what would happen if it pierced her skull?
This was a spar, not a duel to the death. Maybe I was worrying for nothing and underestimated her ability to protect herself. She might be able to defend herself completely against my skills.
However, to risk it was to be irresponsible. We can always try it out at a later ti.
In the ti Hestia backed away, I activated another ability of mine, ["Shadow Descent!"].
Focusing on the coat of darkness in my right leg, I jumped and sorsault with my right leg extended. [Shadow Armant] extended itself, doubling the length of my leg.
While Hestia managed to dodge out of it at the last second, the ground, on the other hand, had to bear the full brunt of the explosive mana from this ability, creating cracks from the epicenter of my kick.
Like Hestia's dragon abilities, my abilities required to have [Shadow Armant] activated to work, which ant I had to spend Mana and Stamina on it.
Seeing how many spells I used today, I should be careful of arcane corruption, but I had to keep moving now that I had [Exhaustion (Minor)]. If I stopped moving now, then I will lose!
Using the montum of my dropkick, I launched my body back up and used another [Shadow Descent].
"You're annoying now! Go away! Spark Fla Veil!"
With the activation of that skill, sparks of fla began to surround Hestia. Even covered in [Shadow Armant], the intense heat created around Hestia instantly sent my feet on fire. As the flas grew, so did the damage. It continued eating up my leg, then my torso, then my head, until all I could see was black.
"...You garm mother did the exact sa thing, Saori..." a shiver ran down my spine as the burned body slowly dispersed into tiny particles of mana. "Sorry, but I cant be fooled by you!"
Get the bracelet, now!
Jumping out of the shadow, I had my arm reach out for Hestias bracelet, however, at the very last second, I saw a white magic circle appear on her hand as she pointed it at my eyes calling out, ["Shine!"]
"Arrrrrrghhhhhh....wrooouuh? Arghhh!" with a hard bump, my head crashed on the hard ground.
"That was a nice strategy but its your loss through submission," trying to open my eyes was burning torture; even if I fought through the pain, I could only barely recognize a face staring down on . "Using a [Shadow Clones] to bait into thinking it was you so I would I fight it while holding back, giving you enough ti to sneak behind with [Stealth] and [Shadow Dash]. I must admit, I wasn't able to detect you until you used that last [Shadow Descent]. Arcane corruption is a real problem, you dummy. And my body felt the tingles when you ca too close."
She found out just because I was this close to my arcane corruption limit? Another miscalculation it seems
"I still wasn't sure about your exact location, but I just needed an approximation for [Shine] to blind you," she continued her explanation. "Once you lost your eyesight, taking you down even with our small Strength difference was easy enough, he he."
["Tch, urgh, I thought that [Shadow Clones] plan was perfect,"] I complained. ["Your gas bomb surprised , but thankful Miss Tasianna made these ice mask with her [Cryokinesis]."]
These masks were actually formally [Ice Spike] as I had a plan to use them to distract Hestia. She still had them ready to use as there wasnt an opportunity to shoot them at her.
However, with her quick thinking, we were able to avoid going to sleep under the effects of the sleeping gas with the help of these masks. Her idea really saved from using my own mana on making masks or taking them out of my storage.
"Shhh, no more talking. [Telepathy] uses mana so it's dangerous to use it at this stage, Saori," Hestia worriedly said. "Wait a minute...where is Tasianna anyways?"
["He he, I might have lost...but my team won't! Now, Tasianna! Shadow Snake!"]
With that signal, a snake made out of mana slithered out of the shadow and attacked Hestia's neck. She caught it in her hand, but it continued to wiggle around.
"What the hell! Saori, stop using mana to control it! You're gonna gain more arcane corruption with this!" Hestia shouted.
However, I wasn't the one controlling it. [Shadow Armant]'s description said that anything clad in it could control my dark spells!
"Haaaa!" jumping out of the shadow snake, Tasianna yelled a war cry before grabbing Hestias party bracelet.
"Fuck!" as if her hand teleported, Hestia stopped Tasianna from taking off her bracelet at the nick of ti by grabbing her.
"Ow! Shadow Snake dive and attack!" Tasianna yelled in Hestia's fist.
Upon command, the snake shrunk down and escaped Hestia's clutches, before grabbing the now dangling party bracelet.
"Shit! Shine!" in desperation, Hestia once again cast [Shine] from her left hand, killing the snake instantly. ["...That was close...that was toooooooo close. Tasianna, you lost through submission."]
["It...no...we nearly won...,"] Tasianna groaned, crestfallen.
Hearing those words, my fist slamd on the ground. My tongue could taste iron as a thick fluid was flowing down my throat as I bit my lips.
It was so close. Just a bit more and the snake would have gotten it. If I wasn't detected after my clone died. If I had only considered the chance of Hestia turning her toxin into gas. If I had not gotten hit by her [Petal Fan]. Dammit!
I was THIS close to proving myself.
["Ahhhhhhhh,"] Hestia sighed in relief. ["That was so exhausting, but it really was an aweso match. I held back but I really didn't believe you guys could deceive that much. I hate fighting against garms and their tricks."]
"Ooof!" sothing hard fell onto my chest.
Touching it, I could feel tangled but still smooth hair flowing on my hand. Moving my hand, a bit closer to my chest, my fingers felt sothing soft and elastic. Pulling on them was fun and satisfying. Once I released them, the object started adjusting itself until it found a good place to set itself on my chest.
["But fighting with and against you is fun, Saori,"] a voice ca from atop my chest, the object was Hestia's head. ["You guys did a fantastic job. Saori, Tasianna, I humbly give my thanks for fulfilling my request."]
["It is a great honor to have served you, Princess Hestia. I have also learned much from this,"] Tasianna's voice ca from above, sitting relaxed on my forehead.
["It was my pleasure, Hestia,"] I said with my lips curled up. [" I was not able to beat you, but it was close enough for ."]
It was a bit uncomfortable, considering her horns are poking my breasts but it was calming that I could stroke her head like this. It had the sa effects as petting a cat while spending a day in a cat hotel.
["Too close, indeed,"] my friend laughed. ["Major Heal."]
With those words, a holy light basked us and healed us from all our wounds from this fight. If it weren't for the arena that we were fighting in, it would have looked like three young won taking a nice break under the noon sun.
I might not have been able to beat Hestia today, but the ti will co. I just have to keep up with her pace on my own path.
Multiple proficiency requirents fulfilled. [Shadow Armant Lv. 2] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 2] [Mana Control Lv. 6] [Dark Magic Lv. 7] [ntal Warfare Lv. 3] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 5] [Fire Resistance Lv. 3] [Wind Resistance Lv. 2] [Battle Mind Lv. 2] gained
Skill requirent fulfilled. [Dark Amp] gained
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