The city was wrapped in the festival’s atmosphere, but that didn’t mean we could neglect our daily training. We decided today would be a day of hard practice.
「Tch…」
「That’s right. The advantage of the Invisible Jail is that it cannot be seen. Block what must be blocked, evade what can be evaded, and your opponent will more easily lose their balance」
Aina pressed me with a fierce assault that seemed merciless to my eyes. I barely managed to defend myself with my sword and the Invisible Jail.
If there was an opening, I was supposed to attack… but there was no such thing to be found.
Before the Invisible Jail shattered, I layered a new one, but my MP was already running dry.
I wanted to retreat to drink a magic power potion, but the memory of swinging clumsily and collapsing in exhaustion after being struck down lingered fresh in my mind.
Even so, at this rate I wouldn’t be able to summon the Invisible Jail in full strength. So, in my other hand, opposite the Mana Eater, I drew another blade from my magic space.
It was a light sword that could be wielded with one hand.
Named 『Yin-Yang Blade -Yin-』, it shared traits with the Mana Eater. When it touched a body, it did not cut flesh but the spirit. The part struck would be unable to move for a time.
If physical damage corresponded to STR and VIT, then this weapon targeted INT and MND, making it far more suited to my stats.
The Mana Eater stole magic power, and the Yin-Yang Blade stole freedom.
Rather than killing, both were specialized in obstructing the enemy.
The advantage of the Yin-Yang Blade, however, was that without activating its ability, it could cut normally as any other sword.
I still wasn’t used to this style, but the plan was to defend and drain with the Mana Eater, while waiting for the chance to land a decisive strike with the Yin-Yang Blade.
Aina, wary of me, once slowed her attack, giving me space to create distance, but not enough to drink a potion.
「Tch!」
「Haa!」
In that instant she closed in, slashing upward in a sweeping arc from below.
I reacted just in time but barely managed to bring both swords together to block.
As expected, I lost in raw power and was blown back, rolling across the ground.
「Ugh! Pft, pft… ahh… that hurts…」
「My liege, are you alright?」
「Yeah… I guess I’m getting a bit tougher」
After being blown away so many times, my stats were bound to improve whether I liked it or not.
Even so, I still couldn’t make a dent in her…
「Your defense has gotten better, but your offense… not so much. Dual-wielding was an interesting attempt, but your proficiency is still far too low」
「Yeah… I figured it might help when I can’t create distance with the Invisible Jail, but my off-hand feels clumsy」
Originally I thought of it as a backup. I started practicing in case the Invisible Jail couldn’t block everything.
But sure enough, my left hand was awkward.
Like a right-handed batter trying to swing left, my movements were stiff.
「The idea itself isn’t bad. Since you have the Invisible Jail for defense, using dual blades to increase your offensive options makes sense. But in your case, even if you’re dexterous, you lack the power to stop an enemy’s attack with one sword」
「Guess I need more strength training…」
「And when you created distance earlier, you hesitated about how to attack, didn’t you?」
「Yeah… even if I step in, my footwork is too slow…」
「I see… then that must also be trained」
Aina helped me up, and I drank a magic power potion before raising my swords once again.
The moment Aina raised hers, the fight was already on. There was no signal to begin.
Fine then, this time I’ll go first!
I braced my legs, summoned the Invisible Jail, and leaned forward to charge Aina.
『Space Magic has reached Level 6』
『Skill Acquired: Vector Accel』
「Wha!?」
The sudden level-up threw my forward stance completely off balance. Just before falling, I stomped the ground hard.
In my panic, I accidentally activated Vector Accel, and the skill just happened to trigger at the spot I stomped… then, after storing up force, I suddenly shot forward at high speed.
「What…!?」
I thrust out my other foot in a rush to balance myself, but the scenery blurred past as Aina’s shocked face rushed closer in an instant.
Wait, she still has her sword raised! If I crash into her now, I’ll get skewered!
Before I could think further, Aina tossed her sword aside and caught me as we collided.
「Ow, ow, ow… Aina, are you okay…?」
I called out to her as dust rose around us from the crash. From beneath me, her voice came.
「Ah…… I’m fine… but, um… your hand…」
My hand… wait!
This is… that classic situation, isn’t it?
I know this one. My hand must have landed on her chest.
But hold on a second, what I feel is hard.
I flex my fingers, but it’s definitely solid!
「Even… over armor, you don’t mind…?」
Ah, of course. Aina is wearing armor.
Cursed armor…
「I prefer soft ones…」
「I… I see… If you had said so… anytime…」
Her cheeks flushed, Aina brought a lightly clenched fist to her lips and turned her gaze away.
The sight made my heart skip a beat, and I felt the strong urge to teleport straight to a hot spring with Point Gate right this moment, but…
「…Before that, let’s do some research」
「Afterward then… understood. You mean that plate with the arrow I saw under your feet, correct? What was that?」
「Yeah. My Space Magic leveled up, and I gained a skill called Vector Accel…」
I shifted off Aina, pulled her to her feet, and explained what had happened.
As Aina stood, brushing dust from her rear, I used Appraisal to check the new skill.
『Vector Accel
Creates a plate marked with an arrow.
When weight is applied, it forcibly accelerates the target in that direction.
Acceleration depends on the amount of weight applied, magic power infused, and resistance to magic.
For spells, acceleration depends on the magic power infused and resistance to magic』
So… in game terms, it’s like a forced-movement tile?
As the description says, it forcibly moves you in the direction of the arrow.
It seems spells can also be accelerated, though unfortunately I can’t cast magic myself. Still, maybe it could deflect incoming spells?
…Though honestly, if it’s just about deflecting, the Invisible Jail seems more reliable.
But since the Jail weakens if too much magic power is poured into it, maybe this would be more efficient in certain cases.
I explained the Appraisal results to Aina and tried summoning several plates around me.
Forward, back, left, right, above, below, by placing them vertically, I could apparently set them in any direction across the full 360 degrees of space.
And as expected, positioning required Area Pointing for space coordinates.
「So this is the plate from earlier…」
Aina reached out toward one of the floating plates.
「You shouldn’t touch it. It activates with weight, so if you touch it, you’ll probably get launched in that direction」
「I see… so that is why my liege suddenly accelerated and came charging at me」
Aina pulled her hand back but kept observing. Then she picked up a small stone from the ground and placed it on the plate.
With little force, the stone flew about a meter before falling.
「So if the weight is light, it doesn’t fly very far?」
If simply placing something on it makes it fly, then maybe arrows or swords could be launched as well? But it didn’t seem to work that easily.
「I suppose you could call it convenient… but just barely」
「Indeed. It seems like it has many uses, and it is a good thing for my liege to gain more options. That earlier acceleration was impressive… but the problem is you are not used to the speed」
「Yeah. I probably won’t manage unless I get used to it through practice」
It was a timely skill to solve the problem of slow stepping speed, but it would take repeated training before he could handle it.
「Fufu. My liege’s face earlier looked terribly flustered」
Of course it did. Even if the sword was only poised in front of me, the tip was right there. And being forced to rush straight into it… there was nothing but fear in that.
「Hey, my liege. Do you think I could use that acceleration as well?」
「I think so. It doesn’t say it’s limited to me…」
「Hmm. Then may I try it?」
「Ah… I don’t mind, but if you wear armor, the extra weight will increase the acceleration」
「I see. Then I’ll take it off to make myself lighter」
Right there, Aina began removing her armor, revealing the sweat-dampened innerwear beneath.
Through the slightly sheer fabric, the outline of her bra was clear. Then she continued removing smaller pieces like her greaves.
「Alright. I’ll start from over there, so set it at my feet!」
「Got it. Be careful, alright?」
「I will. Do it」
As Aina asked, I calculated her coordinates and placed a Vector Accel plate there.
I kept the magic power output weak, just to test the effect.
「Here I go. Hup」
When Aina placed her foot on the Vector Accel, just like me she paused for a brief moment, then stepped forward with her other leg.
Even with a weaker output, she advanced three or four meters in a single step, needing several more to steady herself afterward.
「I see… One more time, but stronger this time, if you would?」
「Y-yeah…」
Aina adapted to the movement in just one attempt.
The distance she covered with only a small amount of magic power was impressive, but I was used to seeing her move like that only at night. Under the clear sky, with her chest swaying so vividly, my eyes were completely stolen by the sight.
「Here I go!」
「Yeah」
This time, I poured a bit more magic power into the Vector Accel plate.
「Mmph… My liege, this might be bad!」
「Eh?」
Aina shot forward with a loud burst, rushing straight toward me.
Wait, hold on. I didn’t put that much magic power into it, was the thought that crossed my mind before she crashed into me.
At the moment of impact, Aina pulled me into her arms and twisted her body so I wouldn’t slam into the ground, saving me from scraping my back raw.
「Ow…」
「Forgive me, my liege. I tried stomping down with full force… but the charge was longer than I expected, and I thought it might turn out badly…」
Her words trailed off.
When I looked up, her face was bright red.
「Oh!」
This time, my hand had landed squarely on her soft chest. Her top and bra had been pushed up, and my palm could feel the full, supple sensation directly.
「Hya! M-My liege, why are you moving your fingers!」
「If there’s a breast right here… it would be rude not to move my fingers」
She did say “anytime” earlier.
And besides, no one’s watching, ah.
The gate guard, a tanuki beastkin girl, met my eyes before quickly turning away, pretending she hadn’t seen anything. She was probably curious after hearing the sound of our impact. Her face had turned bright red. Sorry about that.
「Anyway, we’re both covered in sand. Let’s go to the bath」
「Y-yes… but, um… please be gentle…」
「That’s a difficult request…」
「It is not…!」
I opened a gate with Coordinate Transfer and took us to the hot spring.
We stripped off our clothes right away, I undressed Aina, then pulled her with me into the water.
After washing off the dirt, we enjoyed a break in the resting area that was anything but restful, and then returned to the bath to soak again, slowly easing away our fatigue.
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