Chapter 108

Sparring with Leona-san .

As for the results so far, I was at the mercy of her movements .

‥ …… No, I didn’t think I could keep up with someone who has trained in their techniques for years .

“I won’t be able to hit just by punching randomly . ”

While crushing the ice on my right arm with a knife, I looked at Leona-san in front of me .

Leona-san’s fighting style is tricky using ice magic and swordsmanship .

Probably, when she fought against Karon, she used the same tactic as she does now and surpassed his attack .

“I didn’t mean to look down on you …”

She was stronger than I expected, that’s probably what it was .

I took a small deep breath and calmed my mind then opened my free right hand .

If I hit and kick like I was doing before, I won’t be able to win .

“Leona-san, I’m glad I was able to fight with you today . ”

“Wh-what’s with you all of a sudden?”

Leona-san was confused and frowned at my sudden words .

“After all, I have a lot to learn . I haven’t trained enough, and I don’t know any fighting techniques at all . Until now, my fighting style has been nothing more than brute force and the power of a trained body . ”

Even if I was about to lose, I was able to overcome it together with my friends .

However, there may be times when I’ll have to fight alone without relying on my friends .

“I noticed my immaturity . All I have to do now is make up for it . ”

“… You sure are positive …”

“Otherwise, I won’t be here . ”

If I’m not positive, I would have a broken heart somewhere along the road .

In my words, Leona-san moved her lips a little as if to say something . It looks like she’s muttering something, but I couldn’t hear it because of the distance .

‥ …… I was a little worried, but let’s hear about it later .

I changed my feelings and held my fist .

“Currently my attack is being read, so it would be counterproductive to go along with it . ”

There is nothing more dangerous than a sticking blade .

Therefore, I will break her reason by breaking through the front without any tricks .

Leona-san is poised for me, who is a little low . I don’t have any weapons in my hand, but I’m not so disdainful of a person .

“I’m coming……!”

I kick the ground with all my might and head towards Leona-san .

It’ll be good to end this with a close-combat fight . Thus I have the intention of defeating her with a single blow!

“I won’t hesitate to use my power either!”

“!”

Leona-san shook her fist and swung her ice sword .

The big sword that emits something like frost approaches me at a speed that does not seem plausible from her thin arms .

“I’ll just break them again even if you remake it!”

“Try it if you can!!”

The size does not matter even if the material changes .

While trying to break the sword with my fist——At the moment when my fist touched the big sword, the blade popped like a balloon, 

“!? This is …”

The blade popped, a large amount of frost covered my upper body, and my field of vision was dyed white .

…… Tsk, the sword is just a decoy! The purpose is not to attack, but to block my view!

The moment I came to that conclusion, I could hear the sound of something hitting on top of my head .

“Catch my sword!”

Something came down from above my head with the voice .

With my view covered in white, when I jumped backwards, a sword made of ice fell on the ground in front of me with a rattling noise .

She blinded and restrained me to block my movement ……!

This person’s skill is too versatile!

“This is not the time to rest! Usato!”

“I understand!”

Leona-san who grabbed the ice sword created from her palm started slashing .

I hold my fist to intercept her immediately, but when I see the three ice swords floating from her back, my smile cramps .

“This is the least I have to do against you …!”

“Kuh”

At the same time I was avoiding her slash, three ice swords attacked me as if homing after me .

The movement was monotonous, but it still attacked at different timings, so it was quite distracting .

“I can’t believe you can still respond to this!”

“I’m getting desperate, though!”

Right now, I have to deal with four swords .

The real threat is Leona-san, but the floating ice swords that’re attacking me with a time lag do not give me a chance to fight back .

Somehow, while handling the attack, I smashed the ice sword that Leona-san swung down, but it was soon repaired from the broken part .

I know right . It’s ice, so she can fix it right away .

I’ll stop destroying her sword and hit Leona-san directly . At this rate, I can’t do anything and I’m likely to be pushed back .

“Hmm!”

I crush one of the ice swords with a powerful fist and hit Leona-san on the main body .

I jumped up from the spot and avoided the remaining two, I made a half turn in the air to match the attack of Leona-san who pierced in accordance with the jump, and dropped the heel with momentum .

However, the ice sword that I crushed earlier transformed into a circle and was deployed as a shield in front of Leona-san, blocking my kick .

“Hmm !?”

“Such force!”

It was only a moment that was blocked .

However, Leona-san used that momentary gap and stepped into this place at once, making a direct hit on my empty torso .

Although I grabbed the tip of the ice sword, the momentum did not stop and it pierced my solar plexus and I was blown backwards in the air without being able to move .

“… Ughhh!”

Although I barely defended in time, I landed while making one revolution on the ground without killing the momentum of the thrust .

It’s the magic bullets that Kazuki showed at Lukvis .

It was done with three swords …… and she herself was fighting as well .

Kazuki is stronger, but when it comes to techniques, Leona-san is better than senpai and Kazuki…!

“Th-That was dangerous … . . Really”

Raising my face, a number of ice swords are falling down .

I avoided by rolling sideways and the ice sword continued to fall toward me without giving me a break .

“You’re seriously trying to beat me …! Leona-san!”

As it is not clear as it is, I generate a large healing magic bullet with my palm, throw it at the ice sword that is pouring down here, and knock it down all at once .

“…! It broke !?”

“I have no regrets here either!”

I threw a healing magic bullet at Leona-san, who was upset at me breaking the ice sword in the air .

Even if an ordinary opponent gets hit by it Leona-san would easily prevent it . In fact, that was the case with Fegnis, the captain of Samaria .

Therefore, I fought with her using a healing magic bullet without any restraints .

“Magic bullets …!?”

Using the healing magic bullets to destroy the Ice swords, she created an additional ice sword and shot it .

It is certain that the ice sword that will be pouring down from now on is woven with magic bullets that stop my movement . Besides, unlike the dagger I mentioned earlier, it is falling so that it will be drawn to me .

In order to get closer to Leona-san without being able to stop moving ―――,

“It’s just a matter of avoiding everything!”

I have trained my eyes and body .

Then, I should just believe in myself and move forward .

Instead of hesitating, I stepped further forward .

“Oooh …!”

I looked at the ice sword that was falling like rain with my eyes and avoided it while running .

Leona-san showed an astonishing expression as I was rushing towards her, as the ground was scooped out and ice fragments were flying in the air .

“Tsk!”

“I’ve caught you!”

The cold air was removed by hand, and I held my fist near her waist .

The fist was blocked by the ice shields piled up in the air, but regardless of that, I shook my fist and hit Leona-san with the shield directly .

“Dang …”

“It’s too shallow …!”

Did she jump back to lessen the blow! If so, let’s hit directly next!

I raise my fist and try to charge again .

Leona-san, who looked at me painfully while landing on the ground, throws away the broken ice sword from the middle that she would have used for defense and closes her eyes .

“I guess there’s no choice but to use it …”

She muttered and began to put magical power in both palms .

It’s not just about storing magical power like before . The clear and beautiful light blue magical power becomes darker as magic is poured .

“— Let’s do it!”

That alone made me understand what she was trying to do .

That’s why I had to stop her at once .

At the moment when I tried to kick the ground with all my strength and close the distance at once, the colour of her magical power changed to a dense one at a speed that was incomparable to me .

“Oraaaa!!!”

Before something is done, I’ll have to put a stop to it .

At the moment I swung my fist down, Leona-san put her hands on the ground with a surprisingly calm movement, muttering the words with a voice that I could barely hear .

“— System strengthening”

At that moment, a wall that gave off a strong cold air appeared between me and Leona-san .

Strengthening herself with ice magic .

The hero, Leona-san created an ice wall by strengthening herself .

The ice wall was so transparent that it was hard to tell if there was a wall there .

However, I could immediately understand that it was not just a wall because of the intense cold air that was emitted .

“——This looks bad!? …… Guuh”

Before even thinking about punching the ice wall that appeared before me, I applied the brakes on my feet and stopped .

Although I had a strong pain in my leg, I managed to stop just before I hit the ice wall .

“…!?”

I don’t think it’ll just only hurt if I punch such a wall! At worst I’ll be blown away from my consciousness!

How could she do this with such timing!?

Leona-san who is at the end of the clear ice, breathes on her shoulder and looks at me regrettably .

“… With this, it’s decided …?”

‥ …… If I can find a way to go around this, I can defeat Leona-san .

The game has already been decided .

She failed in the final bet with the technique of strengthening herself .

‥… If I want to win, I have to go directly to Leona-san …… .

“It’s different …!”

There is no way I can make a detour here .

This is Leona-san’s trump card .

That’s why my current power is … She wants to know how well my fists can communicate …!

“I’m going! Leona-san !!”

“…!? Usato, what ——-“

In front of the wall, I wasn’t concerned about winning as I put my fist up .

I slammed a serious fist that I could put out in my current position against the ice wall .

“Oraaaaaaaaaaa !!”

The intense sound of metal noise echoes in the training ground .

The coldness of the ice wall made my exhaled breath white, and the fist felt like freezing coldness .

The serious punch I released .

Then, slowly release my right hand and look at the struck place .

There —–,

“…! Haha …”

The ice wall that I struck as hard as I could had no cracks .

It’s different from the time with the Wicked dragon . This wall was so hard that I could even be sure that I could never break it .

Strengthening magic .

The strengthening used by Leona-san is to create an ice wall that no one can break .

No,someone as skilled as her would make a wall as troublesome as this . In fact, because her opponent was me, I would’ve been injured if she timed it right as I was punching .

“I still don’t have enough training …”

While recognizing my immaturity once again, I saw Leona-san who did not move with both hands on the ground .

She can be seen through the ice wall, she shook her upper body and was about to collapse .

“Leona-san !?”

When I rushed to her sideways and supported her in a hurry, she looked apologetic with a little out of focus .

Ark-san rushed to this place like me while supporting her, and was informed of the end of the sparring .

“Leona-san, are you okay?”

“Sorry, I’m sorry … my magical power is running out . It seems that I’ve overdone it a little … It should improve after a while …”

Certainly, if you use that much magic, it wouldn’t be strange if the magical power was exhausted .

Besides, system strengthening uses more magical power than ordinary magic .

For the time being, I apply healing magic to cure her fatigue .

“It’s amazing . Leona-san’s system strengthened . I didn’t think it would prevent even my best punch . ”

“Haha, it can’t be broken even by Karon . It’s also the only technique I can be proud of … . but I failed that too . ”

While looking up at the ice wall that still exists, when she said that, who had become much more complex, laughed powerlessly .

“If I hit that wall with my strength head-on, it was Leona-san who won . ”

“… But I didn’t even land a hit on you . ”

“Well, I stopped it with brute force . ”

Honestly, the moment I stopped, there was a considerable load on my legs .

It’s okay to heal immediately with healing magic, but if I make a mistake, I may have lost consciousness due to the impact of hitting the wall .

‥ …… I couldn’t even joke or laugh at the shock I rushed into …… .

“Are you okay!?”

“Yeah, I’m out of light magic … Thank you Usato, I’m fine …”

Leona-san, who said that to Ark-san who ran up, stood up by herself while wandering .

Ark-san confirmed that Leona-san and I were not seriously injured, and relaxed his shoulders .

“Well, I was wondering when to stop . When Usato-dono wanted to punch Leona-dono in the form of a demon, I was always ready to stop, but it seems that I didn’t need that either . “

“Did I have such a scary face?”

In the form of a demon, I’m becoming more and more of a monster …

Ark-san showed a bitter smile at me, looked sideways at the ice wall created by Leona-san’s system strengthening and let out a voice of admiration .

“Is it a system strengthening that excels in defense? Apparently, it has produced ice that does not contain any impurities, is that correct?”

“Ah yeah . You seem to know about it …”

Leona-san affirms Ark-san who considered that while stroking his chin .

Ice without any impurities? I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s a substance that is stronger than I think because it was made with magical power .

“To prevent even Usato’s fist …”

“Oh yeah, it didn’t feel like it’s going to break at all . It’s the first time I felt like this . ”

“As expected of the knight that Mia Rak is proud of . ”

Leona-san looks a little bad at the complimenting words of Ark-san .

Ark-san stopped talking to her as to what she had guessed, and turned her gaze toward me .

“Well, Usato-dono . Did you get anything from sparring with Leona-dono?”

What did I get?

I nod to Ark-san’s words .

“I have power, but I’m not utilizing it . When I fought with Leona-san, I was keenly aware of how much I was fighting with my senses and power . ”

“It’s enough to understand that, because it’s important to be aware of everything you do . ”

I am an amateur when it comes to fighting .

However, I can’t be an amateur forever .

“There’s not much time to train . I will ask Usato-dono to learn only the basics of fighting . In your case, if you can properly prepare your posture and attitude, you will be stronger than ever . ”

“Posture and attitude”

“Usato-dono is a little overpowered . First, we must be able to control your own power . ”

Control my strength .

Is that what I need to be stronger than I am now?

I have no choice but to learn it . I’m sure it will be necessary for future trips .

“I will cooperate . I will do my best to fill in what I lack within this period . ”

“If Leona-san’s power is added, it will be like going against100 people . I can really rely on her . ”

“Well, being told like that…”

I nodded to her, which she turned a little red, I struck my cheeks and face her again and bowed down .

“Thank you!”

The last few days until the special armor was made .

I will retrain to gain new strength in this place