33RD GEAR - FLU’S ADORABLE TRANSFORMATION
I know this novel's genre is fantasy, sports, and comedy… but it immediately turned to horror after the Speed Battle between Prez Ericka and Captain Tezza. Ever since their match ended, I ran for my life and tried hiding below the outdoor stage.
“Where are you now, magicless runt? You can run… You can hide… You can cry… ”
Prez had this scary smile on her face. She dashed forward and then backward, scanned the surroundings left and right, then she finally found me hiding behind a big water jug!
“Found ya!”
“Eeeek!” I cried like a little bitch.
I immediately crawled backward and tried to run away. But that was a mistake because who in the right mind would run away from a Speedmage? I’m just a normal human being, so there’s no way I can live through this!
“Ah, shit!” I cursed as I saw Ericka block my path.
“Come here, Jonathan Wardenorth. Let’s have a little talk back to our bench.” Ericka made an adorable smile and then grabbed my hand.
We walked back to the tent dedicated to the Merry Knights Guild with Ericka’s arms locked on mine. Some Speedmages would mistake us as a couple when in fact we don’t. It’s quite opposite really as our useless president is about to kill me.
When we entered the tent, Cruzo was there sitting on the bench while munching his corn chips. “I told you that you won’t escape Prez.” He said.
“Ahahaha. Fuck.” I muttered to myself.
Ericka finally let go of my arm and then looked me in the eye. Her face is blushing and she’s also pouting. The killing aura she got on her body was immediately transformed into something warm and comfy.
“You are mistaken. I am not here to murder you, even if I wanted to. Instead, I am here to say my gratitude.” Ericka crossed her arms and then looked away to hide her embarrassment. “Thank you for keeping my attention and emotion away from the pressure of the Speed Battle. I wouldn’t have made it the whole fight without you.”
“Y-You’re welcome, I guess.” I wryly smiled as I scratched my head.
“As your senior and the president of the club, I will overlook your trash talks to me. In fact, I want you to talk trash like that whenever I participate in a Speed Battle.” Ericka said while blushing.
“...So you like S&M?”
“Shut up, magicless dwarf!” Ericka roared.
Is it me or Prez looked so adorable right now? Ericka seemed to be a perfect girl on the outside and a whack on the inside. She’s prideful, stubborn, and always looked so serious. But once you get to know her more, you will see that she’s chaos stirring inside, especially in her stomach. She’s full of flaws but she tries to hide them by making faces.
“Try trash-talking me in public and I will freeze up your ass!” Ericka scolded.
“O-Okay, I will try not to publicly call you useless president.” I submitted.
Ericka finally settled down to grab a bottle of mana potion then glugged it. Just before I could look out to the Triangle to see whose match is next, I saw a semi-bald-cut girl with a dark complexion and silver eyes. She greeted me with a smile.
“Hello there, Merry Knights.” Captain Tezza said.
“Oh, hello Captain.” Ericka greeted as soon as she finished drinking her mana potion. “Nice game!”
“Yeah, good game.”
The two shook hands and then all the tension between them during the Speed Battle was now gone. Captain Tezza held her hips and cocked her head.
“So how are you? Doesn’t feel sick anymore?” Captain Tezza asked.
“I’m fine now. Thanks to our depreciating coach, I was able to keep up with the pressure.” Ericka proudly said, but I think she just glared at me.
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“Good to hear. I was worried that you are going to throw up during that battle.” Captain Tezza said.
“So even the other guilds know about Prez’s vomiting problem, huh? What a useless president we got here.” I muttered.
Ericka heard it so she kicked my shoe! I cried in immediate pain!
“Yeowch!”
“Hahaha.” Captain Tezza laughed. “Anyway, how’s Fluonessia Asahime?”
“Oh, Flu’s in the changing room. She said that her battle will be after the current game so she already went ahead and changed into her Speedmage Suit.” Cruzo answered while still munching down on his chips.
Flu’s Speedmage Suit, huh? I never got the chance to see it back then, and I’m kind of curious to see how she looks. I mean, Prez’s new Speedmage Suit just changed color motifs from white to black, but it still gave her a more awesome look. I also guess that her old Speedmage Suit does not fit on her anymore, and that's just a theory I will never say out loud... or else I'm dead.
Who knows what kind of transformation Flu will get in her proper Speed Battlesuit?
Zoom!
Speak of the devil. Somebody just arrived that made the whole tent almost blow up due to the sonic boom of her Wind Accel.
“Sorry for the wait!” Flu raised her hand like an excited student ready to answer a recitation.
Flu’s outfit was… astoundingly alluring. She is wearing black tights that emphasize her long slender legs, a black tight backless top that shapes her round bosoms, a white skirt, detachable sleeves with pink lines on them, and black-and-red tight gloves. There’s even a ribbon below the nape of her neck that makes her bare back a lot more cute and daring.
I see that she matched the color motif of her pink edgy Speedmages shoes, and the addition of black made her a lot cooler. I’ve never seen a Speedmage as beautiful as her before.
“Wooooow!” Captain Tezza, Prez Ericka, and Cruzo applauded.
“That looks beautiful on you, Flu!” Ericka praised. “Are you sure you’re playing a Speed Battle and not joining in a beauty contest?”
“Prez is right! Your outfit is awesomely cute! Ten out of ten!” Cruzo beamed with a thumbs-up!
“I’m pretty sure the boys will turn their heads on you once you participate in the Speed Battle.” Captain Tezza said with a smile.
“R-Really!?” Flu pumped her fists and her eyes are glittering. Her face is also blushing, and her smile is wide.
I was the only one left without a remark. I don’t know what or even how to speak. Words are not even sufficient to describe a divine Class S beauty like her.
Flu noticed that I was just staring at her, so she immediately turned red.
“U-Um, Coach… Does this look weird after all?”
I slapped myself back to reality to regain my lost intelligence.
“N-No! Not at all! It looks awesome on you!” I said with a blush on my face.
“Awesome! I’m glad that you liked it!” Flu raised her hands energetically. “Yosh! Now I’m ready to run!”
“Happy to see you more lively than usual.” Captain Tezza said. “You’re fighting one of our Captains, right?”
“Yep, yep! It’s Captain Haruka Firangel!” Flu answered as she pumped her fists.
“Good luck out there then.” Captain Tezza said. Before she left, she looked at me with her somewhat sinister silver eyes. “I will be fighting against you now, Jonathan Wardenorth?”
“M-Me?” I pointed at myself.
“I will be Captain Haruka’s navigator. You know, I am taking grudges seriously because you have beaten me two times already. Let’s see if I can beat you by being a navigator myself.”
After Captain Tezza said those words that seemed like a challenge, Merry Knights was the only one left in the tent. I was kind of nervous when I learned that Tezza Flaschk will be a navigator for the other captain of her guild. She is a natural-born leader with innate charisma and experience way ahead of mine.
My view suddenly crossed with Flu with a determined glare at me. She looked so cute up close, especially when she pumped her fists once more.
“Don’t worry, Coach! I will do my best and get our win!”
<>
As soon as the 26th match ended, the next Speedmages took their starting positions on the 1st Checkpoint Tower.
Captain Haruka Firangel is a short woman with long dark brown hair and red vampiric eyes protected by eyeglasses. Her Speedmage Suit looks like a long black gown with red lines and a tight turtleneck and tights underneath it. Her Speedmage Shoes are the black-and-red Fire Dragon X5 model that is well-suited for Speedsters, so I am guessing that she is a Speedster herself.
Haruka Firangel is dubbed the Blood Flame Princess of the Cool Escape. As I have heard, she is way faster than Captain Tezza. She is the fastest Speedmage her guild can offer.
I immediately talked through the mic to give Flu instructions.
“Flu, the opponent is most likely a Speedster. You have two options: first, you can try her on a race. The second option is preferable: after touching the 2nd Checkpoint Tower, yield immediately and ambush her before the 1st Checkpoint Tower. Your call.”
“What would you suggest, Coach?” Flu answered.
“I want to find out how fast she is, but it’s risky.”
“Then I will take her up on a race!” Flu energetically said.
I just smiled with a “Heh!” sound. We have no guarantees that we can win against the fastest Cool Escape Speedmage, but I love that Flu is up for the challenge.
“Let’s have a good fight, Captain Haruka!” Flu greeted her opponent in a friendly manner.
“Aaahhh, fine!” Captain Haruka irritatingly answered as she scratched her head.
The two competing Speedmages went to their ready positions as soon as the referee raised his hand.
“On your marks… Get set… Go!”
Fweeeeet!
“Wind Accel!” Flu boosted forward with the same overflowing wind energy!
On the other hand, Captain Haruka just stayed in her position. One, two, three seconds. What are they doing? Didn’t they hear the whistle?
I looked at Captain Tezza who was the navigator of the opponent. She had this menacing smile as if she was planning something.
“Do it, Haruka.”
“Aaaah, fine!” Captain Haruka irritatingly replied as she touched her Speedmage Shoes. “Bloodfire Accel!”
In just a blink of an eye, Captain Haruka overtook Flu with her overwhelming liquid flame boost!