Chapter 18

~Kuuna's Perspective~

"What are you doing, suddenly taking off your clothes? Are you trying to seduce me!"

The man in front of me turned red and stammered as he shouted.

"Seduce? Why would I need something like that?"

"I'm a Rank 1, but I'm in the upper tier. You haven't used any mana stones at all. There's no way this can be a fair fight."

He continued to stare at my chest, his eyes lingering.

"You're saying some strange things. Do you really think a small difference like that can make up for the gap in our abilities?"

By the time we reached the semifinals, I had a pretty good idea of this man's skills.

He had trained quite normally and was decent.

At least, in my hometown, there was no one weaker than him.

"What did you say!?"

"Let's end the chatter here. Look, the referee is getting worried, and the audience is starting to get restless."

Why doesn't the referee say anything? Is this guy from a special family? But since he's taking a general exam, he doesn't seem to be a noble.

"If you have any intentions, I can go easy on you. I won't hurt you, but in return..."

His eyes gleamed with desire. People who occasionally came to my hometown, Elsie, used to look at us fire foxes and elves with those eyes.

It's disgusting. It makes me feel sick. Besides...

"Since you seem to be misunderstanding, let me tell you. I am the stronger one. Whether or not 'you' get hurt is my choice. ...And for making fun of my friend."

I smiled sardonically and released a little bit of my mana.

Mana increases as you raise your rank and the amount of blessings you have.

However, it only enhances your base abilities. It doesn't create an overwhelming difference in physical abilities.

There's no way a mere upper-tier Rank 1 could be better than me, a golden fire fox.

"Do you think I'll allow that?"

"Wh-what is this?"

"Shall we begin? Referee, the signal."

"Wh-what? Oh, right, yes."

"One more thing. As soon as the match starts, get out of the ring. You'll turn to ashes."

The overwhelming presence of Kuuna made the upper-tier Rank 1, who should have been at a significant advantage, step back.

"Then, the second semifinal match... Begin!"

The moment the match started, I refined my magic and unleashed my full power for the first time in a while.

◇

"That's amazing."

"I've never seen Kuuna this serious before."

The moment the match started, the ring turned into a sea of fire.

Red pillars of fire shot up, reaching the top and folding back to the ground, swirling and rising to the sky again. This loop created a fiery barrier around the ring.

By circulating the fire without letting it escape, she maintained a barrier of such intense heat.

"Is this spirit magic?"

Even for a fire fox, who has a larger mana capacity than humans, maintaining such powerful magic is challenging.

What made it possible was spirit magic.

The air is filled with mana of earth, fire, wind, and water attributes.

Using this mana is what spirit magic is all about.

By offering your own mana as bait, you gather more mana and use their power to cast spells. This allows you to cast spells beyond your own limits.

"Something humans can never achieve, no matter how hard they try."

"Indeed."

However, humans rarely use such convenient spirit magic.

Mana has preferences for the type of mana it accepts as bait. Humans have a type of mana that is generally acceptable to all attributes, allowing them to use all elemental magic. However, using 1 unit of mana might only return 1.2 units, and using external mana results in a loss during spell casting. For a regular mage, the conversion efficiency is about 70%, meaning they can only cast a spirit spell with 80% of the original power using 1 unit of mana.

Moreover, the process of gathering mana makes spell casting slower and less stable.

There is almost no benefit for humans to use spirit magic. Even top-tier mages can only reduce the conversion loss to near zero, but it still doesn't justify the effort.

"Golden fire foxes are monsters when it comes to fire."

"Probably no other race in this world is as favored by fire as they are."

Fire foxes have a slight affinity for earth but are extremely incompatible with wind and water mana.

In exchange, their affinity for fire is outstanding. Normally, using 1 unit of mana gathers 8 units of fire mana.

However, in Kuuna's case, as a golden fire fox, the highest rank, using 1 unit of mana gathers 12 units of fire mana. Additionally, her technique is so advanced that the conversion loss during spell casting is almost zero.

Honestly, it's enviable. Being able to cast spells with twelve times the effect of the mana consumed is unfair.

"How did Kuuna develop the skill to control that?"

At least, it's a realm that a young girl like Kuuna shouldn't be able to reach. Even a player with the best talent and a homunculus body would take ten years to reach that level.

Moreover, Kuuna's fire magic formula is so refined that it's abnormal.

It's almost indistinguishable from player-made magic. Kuuna said her father taught her magic, so he must have created the formula. I'd like to meet him and talk.

"I think it's abnormal too. Casting such powerful magic while gathering mana and taking combat actions. She's a genius."

An ordinary person would be overwhelmed by the excess mana and self-destruct.

But she has complete control.

"The real battle has begun."

In the ring, which was painted red with flames, I thought I saw Kuuna's tail glow gold for a moment.

I blocked out visual information and followed her movements through the flow of mana.

Kuuna sprinted towards the fourth-ranked opponent and landed a three-hit combo on his solar plexus, jaw, and temple from a blind spot.

After landing the combo, she quickly retreated.

The fourth-ranked opponent swung his sword wildly at an empty space.

"That's brutal."

I honestly expressed my thoughts.

For the fourth-ranked opponent, that field must be hell.

The entire ring is engulfed in flames, leaving no place to run. His body is burned, and the blue phosphorescence of his blessings constantly glows.

His vision is blocked by red, and he can't see Kuuna.

Even if he heals his body with blessings, the heat and difficulty in breathing continue to drain his physical and mental strength.

"Damn, damn."

My enhanced hearing picked up the fourth-ranked opponent's voice.

His voice was filled with frustration, despair, and resignation.

The fourth-ranked opponent began to circulate his mana.

His goal was probably to cast a powerful spell to break the fiery barrier.

However...

"Ha!"

Kuuna's fist, sneaking in from a blind spot, hit the fourth-ranked opponent's solar plexus, interrupting his spell.

It was already difficult to cast spells due to the heat and difficulty in breathing, and with Kuuna relentlessly attacking, he couldn't prepare a spell powerful enough to break the fiery barrier.

Even as a Rank 1 upper-tier, he was still a Rank 1. With his defenses constantly being worn down by the flames and receiving powerful, mana-enhanced punches to vulnerable spots, he would feel pain. ...Of course, the fact that he could still feel pain after being burned all over and hit in such vital spots was a significant advantage.

"Kuuna is beautiful."

Kuuna made no sound. It's a sign of her efficient movements.

Her graceful movements made her look like she was swimming through the flames, and it was even beautiful.

She was fully aware of the difference in physical abilities and defenses between herself and her opponent. In this battle, she never once placed her body within the range of the opponent's sword, except when attacking from a blind spot.

Yet, she would land punches to vital spots the moment the opponent's concentration wavered, steadily stacking damage.

This is a cold-blooded hunt.

The intervals between the sounds of her punches landing grew shorter.

The fourth-ranked opponent was weakening. The weaker he became, the more openings he had, and the more opportunities Kuuna had to land punches.

For the past few minutes, the sound of meat being pounded on a cutting board echoed intermittently. The venue fell silent. Only the sound of meat being pounded in the red, flame-filled ring echoed.

If they were of the same rank, he would have lost consciousness and been spared long ago.

Five minutes later, the fiery barrier began to fray. The flames, no longer controlled by Kuuna, rose to the sky like a dragon.

"Well, did you enjoy my dance of flames?"

Kuuna smiled, still in the same outfit she started the match with, not even breaking a sweat.

In contrast, the fourth-ranked opponent was in a terrible state. His light leather armor was burned to ashes, and blue particles rose from his body to heal his burns. The particles were especially intense from his cheeks, temples, solar plexus, and other vital spots... places Kuuna had focused on hitting.

From what I could see, his remaining blessings were below 30%, and his physical abilities and defenses were devastated.

"Do you remember what you asked me before the match started? Why I took off my clothes?"

Kuuna took a step forward, smiling.

"The only clothes that can withstand my flames are these. They are made from my mother's fur. I took off the others because it would be a waste if they burned."

"Ah, ah, please, spare me!"

"What a shame. If you had surrendered, it would have been over."

Kuuna said regretfully and then disappeared.

No, it was an illusion of speed as she charged forward.

Then, she lightly swung her foot...

"Hey!"

She hit the man's vital spot with a cute voice.

"Ow, oh, ow."

The fourth-ranked opponent collapsed.

For a moment, blue particles appeared, but his blessings quickly dropped to zero, and the particles disappeared. The pain didn't ease, and the damage wasn't healed.

He writhed like a worm.

She probably held back. If Kuuna had been serious, his testicles would have been completely crushed.

Kuuna looked at where Anne and I were sitting, smiled broadly, and made a V sign.

Anne and I waved lightly, and she puffed out her chest and breathed heavily.

"Th-the winner! Kuuna!"

A major upset. The second giant-killing of the day.

The venue erupted in cheers, and Kuuna left the stage amidst the applause.

...But at that moment, we didn't notice. We didn't notice the fourth-ranked opponent's blissful expression as he looked at Kuuna, nor how this match had severely warped his sexual preferences.

"Kuuna-sama..."

No one paid attention to his heated voice.