“Wow!! Liolikin won!”
There was not a trace of pretense in Vigdis’s cheering.
She, too, just like Reysir, must truly wish to keep spending time with Liolikin in the days ahead.
But her joy at her friend’s victory lasted only a moment.
“But… do you think I can win, too…?”
It seemed she was immediately reminded that she would have to go up on stage next. The muscles of Vigdis’s face tensed up in an instant, betraying her anxiety.
Is it that she’s instinctively foreseeing her own defeat? Or is she simply nervous?
“You’ve barely been training your body and learning the sword for less than a year, and you’re already worrying like this—isn’t that a bit arrogant?”
“…Huh?”
“I mean, it’s too soon to be so concerned about winning or losing. Right now is the time to crash, break, and grow through the experience.”
There are no second chances or repechage in this tournament.
If you make it to the semifinals, you can lose once and still compete for third or fourth place, but if you lose in the first round, you’re out, no exceptions.
The main tournament has only just begun.
‘And wasn’t it just a moment ago that Liolikin, the coward who used to freeze up in every match out of fear, stood tall, competed, and won?’
If Vigdis were to lose now, wouldn’t the disappointment be crushing?
Such thoughts led me to offer a bit of advice, almost unintentionally.
‘Karbaldr is officially supposed to like Vigdis, so saying this much should be fine!
Just in case, though.
With my chin raised in a look that dared her to challenge my words if I was wrong, I looked at Vigdis.
As befits Karbaldr, I made sure to look as smug as possible.
“Ah..! I see. Everyone else has been training far longer than me… I guess I should go into the match with the mindset of learning from my opponent.”
Vigdis relaxed a little and smiled sheepishly.
Judging by that reaction, it didn’t seem likely she’d get too discouraged even if she lost.
“You’re thinking the right way. Don’t stress yourself out—just give it your all.”
Reysir cut in, offering her words of encouragement.
It was a fitting intervention, as it was about time for Vigdis to head to the stage.
“Thank you both! I’ll be back!”
“Nya, meow-myang~!”
After listening to Yor’s send-off, Vigdis left the stands.
Along the way, she crossed paths with Liolikin, exchanged a few words, and then hurried off toward the stage again.
Liolikin, too, resumed his steps and quickly scurried back to where we were.
He glared at me with his eyes wide open.
Until now, I hadn’t bothered to describe Liolikin’s eyes, since I hadn’t planned on keeping him close, but since I’d mentioned Aether colors earlier, here’s a brief description.
His irises are also ivory-colored, so at a glance, it’s hard to distinguish between the whites and the irises; when he opens his eyes wide like that, he looks all the more menacing.
And with hair as bright red as blood, he truly looked like a demon from legend.
‘But despite his appearance, he’s just a teenager eagerly waiting for some praise…!
Internally tongue-tied by the gap between appearance and reality, I spoke as calmly as I could.
“Not a bad match.”
“Th-that’s… it?”
“…You did well.”
“A-and?”
“……Better than expected.”
In the end, Liolikin managed to wring three compliments out of me.
Only then did he sit down, grinning from ear to ear in satisfaction.
“Congratulations! Just one more win to go!!”
“Y-yes…!”
Letting Reysir and Liolikin’s banter pass me by, I turned my gaze to the stage.
Just then, Vigdis and her opponent were stepping onto the stage.
“Come to think of it, this is the eighth match, right? There are sixteen matches per grade in the first round, so we’re exactly halfway! What does that mean? It means that among the students who’ve already appeared, or those two currently on stage, only one can make it all the way to the finals!”
The announcer was hyping up the mood, tossing out questions and answering them himself.
“So, did the future finalist already compete and return to the audience, or are they still on stage for you to watch?”
The answer is the latter.
“In any case, let’s get the match started to find out! Vigdis, Nidhr. Are you both ready?”
Both Vigdis and Nidhr, the expected runner-up, nodded together.
The two seemed to have exchanged brief words—perhaps a greeting?—while the announcer was chatting. I couldn’t hear what they said, but in any case, they had both drawn their swords.
The announcer confirmed the weapons in their hands and signaled the start of the match.
The first to attack was Vigdis.
She didn’t probe lightly to gauge Nidhr’s skill, but swung her sword at full speed with all her strength.
After saying she’d enter the match with the mindset of learning from her opponent.
She was doing exactly what she did when sparring with Reysir.
True to her runner-up status in the original story, Nidhr easily deflected the incoming sword and pointed his own blade at Vigdis’s throat.
Normally, the match would end here.
But Vigdis, unfazed by the cold steel at her neck, stepped forward.
Surprised, Nidhr tried to pull back his arm, but the blade reached Vigdis’s throat first.
However, the sharp edge did not pierce her neck.
It merely slipped over her skin, scratching but not cutting.
‘That’s thanks to Vigdis’s Aether Attribute.
The name registered in the skill window: [Ironblood Body (鐵血剛體)].
A trait that increases bodily durability, making her impervious to blades.
Originally, it only hardened her skin, but thanks to {Disposition: Endurance}, it also reinforced her bones and organs.
Unlike Liolikin’s [Armor of Protection], which has the clear weakness of exposed joints, Vigdis’s [Ironblood Body] enhances her entire body, leaving no such weakness.
So, at first glance, Vigdis’s ability seems far superior—but that’s not really the case.
Unlike [Armor of Protection], which automatically repairs damage by consuming Aether, Vigdis’s body accumulates injuries unless she receives healing.
In fact, her defensive power is actually lower.
And most importantly…
[Ironblood Body] is a skill that hardens the body, not one that transforms it into something else entirely.
She’s resistant to physical attacks.
But against fire, strong acids, and other such attacks, she’s as vulnerable as anyone else.
‘If not for the setting that compressed, filtered Aether counts as physical damage, this skill would be nearly useless!
That setting is all that saves it from being an afterthought.
In any case, for these reasons, after Vigdis joins Reysir’s party in the original, she plays the role of the tank.
But when part of Karbaldr’s Einherjar Team, where Liolikin is already a tank, she took on the role of a damage dealer.
‘Judging by the way she ignored the blade at her throat and kept moving, Vigdis’s disposition is much closer to that of a dealer.’
Not that it matters to me, since after breaking her engagement to the original body, she’ll join another team.
It’s just a natural thought that crossed my mind.
Even with a protective skill, overcoming instinctive fear and pushing your throat into a sharp blade isn’t something just anyone can do.
‘Maybe she moved instinctively, thinking there’d be nothing to gain if the match ended instantly… But still, for a rookie with zero real combat experience, that’s no small feat!’
Apparently realizing that threatening Vigdis’s vital points wouldn’t make her surrender, Nidhr coated his sword with yellow-brown Aether and launched a fierce attack.
To win against Vigdis, after all,
You’d have to either force her out of bounds, accumulate damage until she falls, make her drop her weapon, or inflict a blow strong enough to overcome [Ironblood Body]’s defenses.
There are only these four options.
‘Well, inflicting a blow strong enough to pierce [Ironblood Body] seems impossible. You’d need at least as much brute strength as Liolikin!
There is a way to deal attribute damage, but that doesn’t apply here.
Nidhr’s Aether ability is [Earth Domination], which is considered a physical attack….
‘But he’s aiming to win the tournament using swordsmanship alone, without relying on his Aether Attribute. Even if he has a trait that works against Vigdis, he won’t use it!
He’ll save it for when he faces Reysir in the finals. That’s what happened in the original.
In other words, he’s so confident he can win without using Aether skills that he doesn’t bother.
And sure enough, Vigdis was now being overwhelmed.
“Uh, um…? Th-that guy… he’s, uh, super strong…?”
Liolikin, who would have to face Nidhr in the next round, looked flustered.
Unlike Vigdis, he couldn’t just do his best—he actually had to defeat Nidhr.
“Yeah. And it doesn’t even look like he’s going all out.”
“Y-you can tell that?”
“If you watch his movements and expressions, sort of. Plus, he’s not using any Aether skills. That means he has plenty of leeway.”
Reysir, looking grave, fiddled with his eye patch.
Knowing his personality, he wouldn’t use [Truth-Reading Eye] in a tournament—certainly not when the stakes aren’t life or death.
Doing so would make the match unfair.
‘But this time, it’s different.’
Liolikin started hopping anxiously, lamenting that he should have beaten one more person in the preliminaries.
Seeing that, Reysir let out a small sigh and lifted his eye patch, exposing his right eye.
I raised my hand, extending my index finger.
‘If he turns his head my way without covering his silver eye again, I’ll poke him.’
About two minutes passed as I watched Reysir, nervously swallowing.
Then, covering his silver eye again, he turned to look at me.
“…What’s with your finger?”
“What’s wrong with my finger?”
I hurriedly curled my index finger and hid my hand behind my back.
Reysir’s uncovered left eye narrowed, looking at me with suspicion.
“You weren’t even watching the match, just staring at me. Don’t tell me… are you…?”
“Why’d you suddenly lift your eye patch?”
“Uh…?”
“Aren’t you supposed to keep that eye hidden?”
When I returned the suspicion, his narrowed left eye flew open, and his golden pupil trembled.
“Well, um… this eye patch doesn’t breathe very well, you know? Sometimes I need to air it out… And with so many people here, who’s going to bother looking at my eyes? So it’s fine.”
“If you say so.”
Even as I said that, I kept staring at Reysir’s eye patch, my expression still dubious.
I didn’t believe him at all, but wanted to give the impression that I was willing to let it go.
That way, Reysir couldn’t raise any complaints about my finger, either.