'I'm fucked.'
That was the extent of Soren's thoughts when he heard Amelia's words.
"Fight? Why? My rank is 96, plus I'm a magician, isn't that a bit unfair?" He spat out desperately.
He knew Olivia was standing behind him, but now wasn't the time to protect his insignificant pride; he could easily toss that away if it meant he would survive.
But as if spitting in the face of that declaration, Amelia just shrugged.
"Your magic is interesting."
'Damn it!'
'Why weren't you focusing on Alex?'
'Why me?'
Soren had already considered the option of capturing Amelia's curiosity back when he first chose the [Concentration] skill, but back then, he had shaken it off as being a stupid, arrogant thought.
'I mean, why would she be interested in me when the Hero was revealed on the exact same day?'
Soren felt like screaming, but he was also aware that it was impossible to change what had already happened.
'There's nothing I can do about it now, though…'
Amelia was already in her battle junkie mode, meaning no matter what Soren said or tried, there was no way of escaping the fight she had asked for.
"Sigh."
Luckily, even though Soren was struggling internally, Amelia still had not moved from the crater.
This alone was her consideration for the fact that Soren was weak, letting him make the first move.
Upon noticing this, he decided to take advantage of it rather than rushing in blindly.
"Olivia."
"Y-Yes?"
"Can you use your blessings on me?"
Noticing that Soren was actually planning on fighting Amelia, Olivia turned as pale as a ghost.
"S-Soren, you can't be serious? You're not actually going to fight her, are you?"
He raised his hand and pointed at Amelia while looking at Olivia.
"I don't want to, but… do you think she'll let us go?"
Olivia didn't even bother responding to Soren's obvious question and instead just started praying.
"I call to you, goddess, hear my name and help thy champion. 「Minor Blessing of Mana」"
After repeating her prayers a few more times, warm light flowed into Soren's body.
.
[Minor Blessing of Agility has been applied!]
[Minor Blessing of Strength has been applied!]
[Minor Blessing of Mana has been applied!]
[Minor Blessing of Divine Power has been applied!]
.
[Unique Skill [Blessing of Aryn] has increased [Minor Blessing]'s effectiveness!]
.
[Status Window]
Name: Soren Arden (1★)
◈ Stats
Strength - 2.0 (0.7)
Agility - 2.6 (1.3)
Mana - 2.6 (1.3)
Divine Power - 1.6 (0.3)
.
Blessings.
These were what made Olivia an almost fixed party member throughout the PVE content of TKS all the way until end-game.
The ability to raise a character's stats by a varying amount depending on proficiency.
On top of that, all of Olivia's divine incantations had their strength increased by 30% thanks to her unique skill.
'It's a pity the base is so terrible.'
The reason why blessings were so incredible, especially late game, was that stats weren't additive but multiplicative, so even the addition of a single stat point can be a complete game-changer.
Even so, even with all of the blessings added, all that meant was Soren's status window was now only slightly below average instead of the bottom of the barrel trash he had been prior.
"Sigh… Well, whatever, it's better than nothing."
"Did I do something wrong, Soren?" Olivia said anxiously.
"No, you did perfectly, it's just that the person we're dealing with is Amelia…"
"Ah… Uhm– Good luck! I'll support you!"
"Thanks…"
'I really don't want to do this, but it's unavoidable.'
"「Inventory」"
Reaching into his inventory, Soren pulled out the handaxe that he had previously used against the thieves.
Since he had passed out right after the battle, he forgot to clean the axe, meaning it was still covered in dried blood.
Pushing down the rising urge to vomit, Soren inspected the weapon, holding his breath so as not to breathe in the bitter metallic scent that he hated so much.
'Luckily, it's still in good condition.'
"Haah."
Then he let out a breath to calm himself down and put his left hand into his cloak pocket before forming a magic circle.
It was his attempt at hiding what spell he was casting; he doubted it even mattered, but he knew he needed every advantage possible.
Woooonggg—
The moment the magic circle was completed, Amelia spoke.
"Finally."
The wild wolf grinned in excitement at Soren's actions, indicating that his preparations were complete.
"I'm ready." He whispered to himself.
That was a lie.
It was impossible for Soren to feel ready in this situation.
But that didn't matter.
He kicked off the ground and started running directly towards her.
The speed at which he accelerated was like night and day compared to normal, but…
'It's still not enough.'
His highest stat had only just barely crossed into the D- range; meanwhile, Amelia's lowest stat at the start of the game, not including divine power, was her mana at D rank.
The moment he was within range, he pulled his arm from his cloak and pointed it at Amelia.
"「Bloom」"
Rumble…
All sorts of flora grew around Amelia's legs, seemingly trapping her in place, yet she still stood there with a smile on her face.
Soren didn't stop there, however, the moment [Bloom] had been cast, he immediately got to work on another spell, and the moment it was complete.
"「Gaia!」"
This time, the ground around Amelia softened, turning into a quagmire, making any quick movements useless, yet she still stood with a smile on her face.
Now only a couple of metres away from Amelia, this would be his last spell before the battle truly began.
"「Shockwave」"
Using the slight range to his advantage, he cast the only spell he could without getting close.
Kwaaaaanggg–
Amelia raised the gauntlet on her fist towards the invisible shockwave and blocked it so precisely that you would assume she could see it.
"Weak."
It was a comment that would've scratched most people's pride, but Soren didn't care.
'I know.'
If there was one thing he had learned since transmigrating, it was the fact that he was weak.
Soren pulled his left arm back as a new magic circle was completed in his right.
Then, right as he reached Amelia.
"「Shock」"
Crackling—!
Lightning shot from his right palm and hit Amelia's body directly.
Then…
Whoosh!
He brought the handaxe in his right hand down, slashing at her, but…
Clang-!
"..."
Amelia caught the blade of the handaxe in her gauntlet-less left hand while her right hand was still twitching from the electricity flowing in her body.
It wasn't over, however, as Soren had expected Amelia to somehow deal with his attack and because of that, a new magic circle had already been formed in the time since releasing [Shock].
"「Ignition」"
Ting-♪
Fwaaaa
Raging flames burst forth from his palm, flames stronger than any other he had ever cast before.
.
[Congratulations, [Ignition] has risen from (D+) to (C-)]
.
Momentarily caught off guard by how much stronger [Ignition] felt after crossing the barrier into C rank, Soren only snapped out of it when the flames dispersed.
Although she had just taken not only electricity but also flames to her bare body at point-blank range, she was still completely okay.
The only thing that had changed was that the sleeves of her shirt were slightly tinged; her skin, however, was still pristine.
"Crazy…"
'It's impossible to win.'
It was a fact that he had known from the start, but now that he had hit her with everything he had, he felt it even more strongly.
Step
Her footsteps cut through his thoughts, making him realise that his turn was finally over.
Although he had altered the terrain beneath her feet and even trapped her legs in place, she walked so casually that you'd believe nothing had changed.
She approached slowly, but Soren knew that the moment she reached him, it was over.
Sweat trickled down his forehead as he formed a new magic circle.
Wooonggg—
A grey light poured from his palm as his right hand gripped the handaxe tighter.
Clench
Step
"..."
With every step she took, Soren's breaths grew less frequent.
Step
It was terrifying not knowing when she would act.
"Whew…" He let out a deep breath to calm himself down, then…
Dash–
"「SHIELD!」" He shouted in a panic, not expecting her to suddenly run at the last second.
The moment her feet left the floor, he cast the spell without even bothering to focus on her, as she was too fast.
Shatter
It didn't even last until the impact, shattering completely from the air pressure alone.
'I should've raised the proficiency further.'
He knew he was weak, which was why he had been focusing so hard on offensive magic, but the more he fought these almost impossible battles, the more he felt that he had to improve his barrier magic.
It was just unfortunate that this realisation came too late.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow that would inevitably end the battle.
But the impact he waited for never came…
————「❤︎」————