alwaysunqualified

  Chapter 23 – First tournament arc. part 5

  Before I realized it, the next girl stood in the ring in front of me. "What was her power again? Wait, I haven't seen her fight yet. Is she a noble? Or was I too distracted by the twins during her matches?"

  “Date starto!”

  [Target: A girl who should file a police report.]

  Confusion washed over me until time halted, and memories surged back—the bouts from yesterday where she faced bewildered opponents, maniputing reality to kill them. I remembered the announcer's procmation of my victory and her introduction as she stepped into the arena, then everything went white. Her power was to alter reality.

  'She managed to make it so I hadn't seen her fight, and I was too distracted during her introduction to remember the announcer revealing her Blessing. How terrifying could this power be at higher levels?' I pondered, imagining myriad terrifying applications.

  “Not as strong as you would think. She still has to follow the rules,” remarked a voice I hadn’t missed forgetting, deciding to make her presence known.

  “The same ones you aren't telling me about?” I question her not really expecting a straight answer.

  "Yep," she replied, as if to spite me, giving that straightforward answer without any digressions or sarcasm.

  …

  “Hey, don't look at me like that; I have to be vague and cryptic. Deceit-chan prefers it that way. We just can't outright lie, or Truth-chan will be upset,” she expined with a shrug, absolving herself of any bme.

  “Didn't you just give me a straightforward answer about the rules there?” I questioned, finding her statements contradictory.

  “Did I?” She responded, as though the answer were obvious. Her slight smile and head tilt only added to my growing headache.

  Deciding to ignore her and focus on the task at hand, I turned my attention to my opponent standing across from me. She was a girl in a light yellow sundress, complete with a straw-like hat. With her short brown hair, she looked like a typical te teen human girl.

  [Name: Jahn Smith Level: 91 Affection: 17 Likes to constantly switch her appearance due to her frustration with her pin looks. None of her secondary bloodlines activated, rendering her entirely human.]

  “You know what they say, it's always the ones who seem the most normal who are the kinkiest. And boy, is she one kinky girl,” she complimented, giving the girl a thumbs-up.

  I was grateful for the time freeze clearing my mind, or my strategy would have been completely different, and I probably would have lost. Despite what the goddess suggested, the fact that she affected me before time stopped is arming in itself, regardless of what she might be able to do with her Blessing in the future.

  I pulled up my mom's card, recalling our discussion where she assured me this was the ideal opponent to leverage her abilities against. Her Quick Clean Blessing, she expined, could counteract Jahn’s Blessing. Changing reality was deemed a negative element by the world, and thus, it was something she could cleanse.

  I slotted mom's card and let time resume. Immediately, I felt an attempt to affect me, but it was scrubbed away as quickly as it appeared. I cast Quick Clean on the arena, channeling my mom's extensive experience cleaning rooms. This allowed me to cover every possible area around me in one smooth motion. With a second fluid motion, I withdrew my dle—the same one I had used to knock out that guy—and struck the very confused girl in the jaw, likely cracking her bones.

  She gave me a surprised side-eye look, which didn't st long as my dle connected with that eye, twisting her body with the impact. Her hands hit the ground, bouncing her body back onto her feet just in time for my dle to sm into her nose. After taking another step back, she finally took a fighting stance, one that resembled mine when I first started training, indicating her ck of experience. I easily slipped past her guard and cracked her on the chin, sending her flying.

  I had to stop after that. The excessive movements caused me tremendous pain. The girl was in far worse shape, with blood seeping from her mouth and her eye beginning to swell. It appeared she had no healing or defensive Blessing other than what she could muster with her still-trying-to-activate reality-warping ability.

  I exhaled, allowing my muscles a brief respite before I geared up to continue. It seemed I could win this way; it would just require some time to accumute damage on her naturally resilient body. However, I had almost seven minutes remaining, and if necessary, I could reslot her card.

  Fortunately, there was a much simpler strategy avaible with my mom's card.

  [Mana Resupply: Infuse your mana into another at a higher rate - maintain an extra supply of mana]

  With my limitless supply of magic and this card's ability to Infuse magic, what do you think would happen to her? My mom had used this technique on some people during her training days, and from what she's told me, the outcomes are far from pretty. When their magic overflows, exploding is the least of their worries.

  I casually flipped the dle in my hand as I began to approach the girl slowly, mainly due to the pain, though she didn't need to know that. My proficiency with the dle made my movements appear effortless. I activated Mana Resupply, inundating her with magic. Her eyes widened as she hastily tried to use this newfound surge to counter my Blessing, but like all her previous efforts, it was nullified.

  Finally, I halted right in front of her outstretched fists and activated Calming Aura while effortlessly knocking her fists aside with my dle.

  She attempted to take a step back but ended up tripping over her own feet, falling onto her backside. With the effect still active, I offered a calming smile as I kneeled down to her level, my dle still gently spinning in my hand.

  “I can do this all day. How long do you think you can st?” I said, channeling the stoic energy of my earth mother from the impasses of my youth. I fshed her the most charming smile I could muster after the words left my lips.

  [Carm has activated]

  She looked both frightened and intrigued, as if I were something she knew she should avoid but couldn't bring herself to do so.

  “I-I give up,” she finally conceded.

  Good girl.Walk awayMaking my choice, I stood up, the dle still spinning, as I began walking back to my starting position.

  “You couldn’t hit her just one more time to get her to one hundred? Really? Now I’m going to be annoyed about it all day, not to mention the mood you’ve put poor System-chan in,” she compined, hands on her hips and wearing an exasperated expression.

  Next to her stood a smaller figure, eyes closed and cheeks puffed out, looking away from the screen.

  [Name: Jahn Smith Level: 91 Affection: 99]

  Seeing the affection score at 99, I too felt a twinge of regret. For once, we all agreed—I had missed an opportunity given all the possibilities her card opened up. She might be the first one I try to isote a date with, but that’s a thought for the future.

  The announcer reappeared in the ring just as I returned to my spot, her microphone twirling like my earlier spinning dle, before she began to speak. “And so falls another challenger, a seemingly invincible opponent, a maiden with the astounding ability to warp reality itself, has met her match. Our champion rendered such a terrifying ability moot, neutralizing the unneutralizable. And as her Blessing of reality manipution faded like stars at dawn, our champion, armed only with a humble dle, showed why no weapon should ever be underestimated.”

  “For as he subdued the dominator of reality, it was not with blows of wrath that the curtains were drawn, but with words of kindness. He spoke of choices, with care, and of the paths we each choose for ourselves. And so, with grace and a spirit unbowed, his opponent conceded, not to the dle’s loving taps, but to the overwhelming kindness of a heartfelt plea. Thus, we celebrate not just a victory, but a testament to the true essence of power, of understanding. And now I pose a question that stirs the soul—will the heartfelt words reach his next challengers, as they did our st, valiant contender?” she continued, making it sound as though I hadn’t just threatened the girl into surrendering.

  "Come forth, maiden shrouded in the mystery of eternal resilience, steps into this hallowed ring where legends are born and tales are woven into the fabric of eternity. What sorcery, what divine Blessing flows through her veins, one might ask? For no bde can cleave her spirit, no fire scorch her will, and no storm drown her resolve. She is the unyielding force, the undying ember, the eversting echo in the halls of valor!" As the announcer heralded her arrival, a girl appeared opposite me, waving at the crowd. It seemed like no opponent is ever going to take me seriously.

  “I know, the nerve of these girls, just because you're a kid right now. I, for one, would never do that to you,” she boasted, and even the system turned to give her an unbelieving look. “What?”

  “Let us now turn our gaze to the unfolding scene, as we eagerly anticipate the divine Blessing our champion will unveil to contend with this extraordinary girl. Will he draw upon Blessings unseen, harness powers untold, or will the divine throne finally fall into another's hands? May the mightiest prevail,” and with those words, she was once again gone.

  “Date starto!”

  [Target: A quick shot girl.]

  [Name: Lenore Crowe Level: 138 Affection: [Already taken]Perfect gifts: Hacksaw, Scalpel.]

  My next opponent epitomizes a drawn-out battle; she mainly prevails because no matter what her opponent throws at her, she always gets back up. She has long bck hair, providing a stark contrast to her pale white skin and fading gray eyes. Her attire is essentially a fashionably torn t-shirt.

  Whether she's shredded to a million pieces or hit with a mind-erasing attack, she just puts herself back together.

  "At least she doesn't get off on it, right?" There was a palpable amusement in her voice.

  'I did not like the way she said that,' I thought, recalling the fights I'd watched her in. She seemed a bit too cheerful while taking hits.

  "Also, the future you wanted me to tell you to stay in the city. Not that it would change anything. But hey, I said I would let you know, so now don't ever say I didn’t do anything for you." After telling me this, she took out a notebook full of notes and crossed off the top item that instructed her to tell me to stay in the city.

  "Hey, no peeking." She quickly hid the notebook behind her back, as if I could actually see anything else in it.

  I have so many questions about how time works here and why she is bringing this up now out of nowhere.

  "Rules, remember? You're way overthinking it anyway," she dismissed my question with a non-answer.

  Refocusing on the girl in the ring, I had a good guess of how her Blessing actually worked. If I still had access to the TV, I could be sure, but the announcer never went out of her way to reveal anything until one of the fighters in the ring figured it out.

  If I understand correctly, in this world, you need a body, mind, and soul to exist. If any of these components are damaged beyond repair, it results in death. Even if you possess a Blessing that renders your body indestructible, targeting your soul could still be fatal—unless your Blessing negates the need for the other two components.

  One of the other contestants possessed an ability that targeted both the mind and soul, but it was ineffective. After much deliberation, the best conclusion I could reach was that her soul wasn’t actually attached to her body at all; she was merely controlling it like a puppet. Combine this with a stealth ability and a way to reconstruct her body, and it becomes clear why she was unkilble.

  With this in mind, I fielded Spectra’s card. On it, she stared out lifelessly with her golden eyes, which, like her twin-tailed hair, appeared slightly translucent. She wore a set of pristine white robes, making her the most normally dressed person I had encountered here.

  As the card took effect, a white robe draped over me, and my body became slightly transparent. This was the first card to alter my appearance directly without invoking a Blessing.

  “It’s a shini-shozoku, this is as bad as you calling everything a kimono!” She excimed as a kimono slid off her in a manner simir to Miki's. “It's a yukata, ugh!”

  Spoiler

  [colpse][Name: Spectra of the DeadLevel: 222Affection: 100Trait:Goddess: The Goddess of Immaterial.Primary Blessing: Soul Reaper tier 6Lesser Blessings: Scythe Master tier 6, Float tier 4, Cold Resist tier 3, Past Sight tier 4, Warm Hands tier 3]

  [Soul Reaper: Master at finding and destroying souls.]

  [Scythe Master: Master at using a scythe]

  [Float: Ability to move freely through the air.]

  [Cold Resist: Resistant to cold.]

  [Past Sight: Can see into the past.]

  [Warm Hands: Your hands remain warm at all times.]

  Looking at the girl, I could see that her body was indeed devoid of a soul, and with ease, I spotted the real her above, puppeteering her body like a marionette. My guess was right on the money. Reflecting on it, I probably wasn't the only one to guess this, but the others likely cked a way to strike effectively or, even if they could, they probably couldn't locate her. If that was the case, then forcing her to continually reconstruct her body and deplete her magic was probably the best strategy they could employ.

  I let time resume, and my scythe slid out of my inventory, floating beside me. When my gaze snapped up, I saw a look of surprise cross her soul as she attempted to throw her body at me and make a run for it.

  I grasped the scythe, spinning it over my shoulders, and moved forward, disregarding the body. I kicked off the ground and ran through the air. With a swift motion, I sliced through her soul, and her body below colpsed, lifeless.

  If her soul had been in her body, the fusion of the three components would have made her more difficult to damage. However, with her soul floating freely, it was an easy win—or at least, that's what I understood from Spectra's knowledge of her Blessing.

  [+100 Goddess points for proving the Goddess wrong; you do in fact have at least 2 brain cells.]

  "Take that, Intellect-chan! I told you he could still do 2+2 even without your silly stat," she said, sounding triumphant yet somehow still managing to make it sound like an insult to my intelligence.