- Shari -

"Peras!? Ehm, I mean captain? I guess you are in the wrong place here! Advanced ones are in the other lane!" (Shari)

"Well, everyone saw how you won back then, so I'm obviously not fit for the other course. I believe I am right where I should be. Isn't that right Kaleb?" (Peras)

"If my captain says so this must be the case." (Kaleb)

Everyone here is against me!

He's totally out to get back at me for that duel!

Using a considerably long blunt two-hand sword I am still rather sure that this thing will slice if it's used by him.

I remember how that guild lady said that some people can use the magic in their bodies to strengthen themselves.

I am sure Peras is one of those.

"Prepare yourself! This starts now!" (Peras)

He doesn't lose any time to rush at me.

* Okay, fast-processing on!

I start with my general approach of trying to make him stumble by grabbing his leg.

The problem is, he knows this by now and manages to jump above it while deflecting my two sword tendrils with a single strike of his sword to the side.

"Cla-clank"

He has really some power in his arms.

Both of my weapons fly away and almost stab someone.

I manage to readjust the direction of my tendril to his leg, but he effortlessly cuts through it in one fluid motion.

This time it works out for him as I had to increase the density and reduce the liquidity to get an adhesive effect.

He's advancing a bit too fast for my liking.

Part of the problem is that it seems like he's now used to my way of fighting, but worse is that he lost all fear of me.

The weapons aren't sharp and by now he knows that I won't use my slime to dissolve him.

I throw two more swords at him, but this naturally doesn't work.

I need to come up with something and that fast.

Even with high-speed thinking, he crosses the distance in a blink.

The next sword doesn't even impede him.

If I could at least keep him from slashing my weapons away with that sword...

Without a weapon, he wouldn't be much of a threat.

This could work!

I form another appendage with a sword and let it rush straight at him.

Naturally, he can parry such an obvious move but this isn't important.

It should divert his attention just long enough so he wouldn't notice that the tentacle behind the weapon was considerably thicker than usual.

While he could now strike another of my weapons out of my grasp, I can simply grab a different one.

His!

He's uncomfortably close and might be able to reach me with the next strike.

Unfortunately for him, his weapon is so large that there's quite a bit of surface for my slime to cling to.

And I put a lot of mass into this tentacle.

It's dense, thick, and very sticky.

With a weapon, he might be able to strike through, but the only one he has is now in my clutches.

While I have to admit that he's really strong and for sure able to push the weapon through my mass he can only do so if I hold still.

Yet we are struggling here.

I won't do him the favor and allow him to focus his strength.

Instead, I yank the weapon to another side whenever he's able to readjust his grip to the direction I'm pulling it to.

Since I don't feel any strain with this body I am positive that I will win a battle of attrition.

If nothing happens I can do this.

Naturally, something happens as soon as I have this thought.

Completely confusing me, Peras lets go of his sword and jumps in my direction.

I absolutely didn't predict that he would abandon his weapon.

But now he can cross the distance unhindered.

What does he intend to break the stone with?

He will need a weapon if he wants to strike.

Yet I've forgotten that there is one.

Or rather two.

My two remaining shortswords.

He actually manages to reach them, even though they're embedded within my arms.

All I can do is hold against his attack.

Yet as those blades are smaller, Peras has an easier time fighting against my efforts to push him back.

I can somewhat deter him by shoving at him with as much slime as I can gather, while at the same time I struggle with him for my weapons, but we're almost equal.

Yet when I start to believe I have a chance he again lets go of the blade in his right hand and directly reaches for the stone.

I can't pull it too far back, as the space at my back is only the safe space for my core, so doing so would be against the rules.

Yet now his hand comes too close.

This situation reminds me far too much of Chris.

At most I have seconds before he gets the stone.

If only I could push him away somehow…

Wait!

This position!

I form a third appendage in my center directly reaching out to his chest.

Then I let a wave pass from the furthest point at my rear and direct it through my whole body.

When it passes my arms I can't maintain any stability there and his hands can undeterredly reach through my body for the stone.

But before they connect the wave reaches the furthest point of my new appendage and passes directly into Peras' body.

* Impact!

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The reaction is immediate.

I can feel how force erupts at the endpoint.

Like this, the power sends him flying and subsequently crashing into the ground behind the line.

I won!

"Urgh!" (Peras)

But maybe also possibly badly injured Peras which might severely backfire on me.

For now, he doesn't manage to get back up and just groans on the ground.

Fortunately, a healer is present since it was never thought that this practice would commence without incidents.

However, I am sure the bigger concern was Liqu.

"He has some broken ribs and sprained wrists. I will need some time for this." (healer)

Uh, yeah.

Using enough force on a human to send him flying for a considerable distance might have bad effects on the body.

And that his hands were embedded in my sticky body while the rest flew away can't be good either.

Just then I remember that spreading the force the wrong way might also cause the energy to run rampant within the target.

I mean, the wall didn't fare much better.

No one here can know how close I was to turning Peras' innards into stew.

"Everyone heard it! The healer will be occupied for a while. So please, refrain from overdoing this practice!" (Kaleb)

Then he looks directly at me.

"This includes you! Whatever you did there, you're banned from using that technique again." (Kaleb)

After this, whoever is positioned against me has now a new sense of caution.

Yet this is to my advantage as I can use this to overpower them with time on my side since I don't tire out as they do.

Yet I on the other side feel how the heat in my core is slowly rising since I wasn't able to do it without high-speed processing and this practice puts me under some kind of long-term strain.

Against Liqu they switched meanwhile to group fights after they realized that the fights were a little too one-sided.

Not that this changes anything.

Albeit, now it proceeds a little bit faster on her side.

However, one of the larger teams was led by Jaren, so I was about to see his leadership skills firsthand.

And what can I say, he gave a good fight.

At one point they started to measure success against Liqu based on how far someone got or how long they survived.

Jaren devised a strategy focused on cutting Liqu's slime tentacles while the group advanced in a slow and controlled way like one unit.

It was a rather horrific scene when they got eventually overwhelmed by Liqu and got taken out one by one, but until that point, they did quite well.

There was even this magical swordsman, but as he was banned from using lightning magic, mostly to keep Liqu from losing it again, he didn't leave too much of an impression.

Yet I didn't fight him, so I can't really judge his abilities.

He could be much better than I grant him.

On my side, if not for Peras there was no one who came even close to that challenge.

I even suspect that the first two were in reality both advanced ones to teach me a lesson.

How did that quote go?

Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

If my evaluation of the count is correct then something like this is absolutely plausible.

I get used to the fights and start to win all of them, even without high-speed processing.

Yet I get challenged when they start to team up against me as well.

And the first team...

"Galos? Balion? You're fighting as well?" (Shari)

They don't look too friendly, something that I can probably attribute to Liqu running wild yesterday.

To be honest, they look fierce.

Galos is equipped with a sword and a shield while Balion wields a two-handed sword.

Yet different from Peras this one looks heavy, accommodating to his large frame.

I know I cannot lose here.

This would show them weakness, which I cannot afford if I want to retain the least bit of authority.

The unconcealed disdain in their eyes motivates me to prevent them from coming close to my core.

But at least I should inquire about my team and show some concern.

It's important that they believe that I care.

"By the way, how is Vela?" (Shari)

On the other side, right now it seems like I've triggered some hatred against my person.

At least Galos speaks to me.

"She still refuses to leave her room." (Galos)

Balion just grinds his teeth.

It seems both of them are fond of her.

"Begin!" (Kaleb)

They advance on me.

Galos with the shield is at it to protect Balion from most of my attacks.

I think I could deal with him.

First, I have to get rid of this vexing shield.

My approach of sending a tendril to glue against it and take it away should help on this matter.

The problem is if I will be able to make it in time.

While I'm occupied with struggling for Galos' shield, Balion proceeds to advance in my direction.

I swipe my leg to the side and attach more slime to make it grow in length.

This way it strikes along the ground, aiming for Balion's leg.

This man is a little too bulky to dodge it and lacks the dexterity to strike fast and precisely enough at the connecting strand to cut it.

Yet at the same time, he is too heavy for me to throw him off-balance.

I have to keep him occupied with numerous attacks from my swords.

However, the strikes only cause a reaction if I whip them at him in a wide arc to increase their impact.

He uses his sword to shield himself from those heavier blows.

This renders both of them stuck.

"What you're doing? Help me!" (Galos)

He refers to the strand which is attached to his shield.

This one is at mid-height so it would be an easy task to slash it with that giant sword.

And the sword is wide enough that I couldn't reshape the slime from the other side.

My strikes occupy Balion, but nonetheless, he can prepare a strike to free Galos.

I should seize this opportunity.

Two swords rush out to stab Balion in the side, while one more is slashing at his knee from behind while he turns to the strand on his right side.

This shows finally some results.

I actually manage to get Balion down on his knee.

Yet he still managed to strike, so that Galos can now rush in front of him and protect him until his partner manages to get back up on his legs.

Two against one is really unfair.

They're now too close to my liking, so I need to come up with a new plan.

For the moment, I keep Galos in check under a barrage of strikes from six controlled swords at once.

He takes some minor damage yet the blades are blunt and won't impede him in a way that would matter.

Balion is already up again.

I shift my focus and prepare some obvious, very crude, heavy strikes aiming for Balion and Galos' heads.

When Galos lifts his shield the way I intended him to I slash with my two remaining swords at his legs.

"Urgh!" (Galos)

This is enough to send him down.

Yet Balion ducked below the attack and gets behind all my swords.

Having no weapon left to reach in time I'm left with no choice.

I let go of everything, raise a swiftly formed arm in his direction, and prepare a sphere of gluey slime inside my body.

* Slime bullet!

He was directly in front of me so he couldn't dodge in time when I aimed for his head.

The mass spreads on his face and takes his vision.

"Argh! What is this?!" (Balion)

His random slashes are still dangerous, but it's just a question of time until I get him down with some controlled pushes and pulls from my reshaped appendages.

Slashing at him would be too much now.

After a while, he's on the ground and just grabs at his face to get the slime off.

"Can we say that I've won?" (Shari)

"Y-yes. Can you do something about... this?" (Kaleb)

He points at this writhing bundle on the ground.

This must be inconvenient.

"Guess so." (Shari)

Leaving my core as far out of Balion's reach as possible I approach him.

"Can you please hold still for a moment? I'm already at it." (Shari)

I lay my hand on his face and simply reabsorb the slime there.

Judging from his look I doubt that this made him like me more.

On the other side, the red face might just come from his irritated skin.

"This was a good try! Go to the healer and let him check you!" (Kaleb)

I guess he tries to play it down.

After this, I have some more fights left and when there are three at once they actually manage to hit the stone.

Nonetheless, I would say I do well.

In the end, I think I made some progress.

Eventually, even this exercise comes to an end.

To summarize this day, many soldiers need to take a bath and have to get their uniforms cleaned.