Chapter 347: Falling Fish

———Lynda———

<1: 57 pm>

“Nine hundred-something gets her the tickets, right?” I asked Luik as we all waited for the next person to volunteer themselves to be the sacrifice.

“It gets her the exit tickets but not the skip tickets.” She clarified. I see. I’m surprised they haven’t revealed everything the challengers could get by now, at least up to the highest record.

“Well, that was certainly a pleasant surprise. I thought only the bottom of the barrel and the tippy top would’ve joined. To think the modest middle is also involved.” Rousi what in the world are you saying, don’t act like you’re not a part of ‘modest middle’ as well.

“We’re out here creating a class system now?” I said in confusion and mockery. I think it’s best if we don’t speak about it and make it turn into something more metaphorical and actually manifesting itself in reality.

“Come on, nothing that serious.” He dismissively replied before the next person arrived onto the stage below. I wonder what happened during the intermission for people to become more daring. Maybe they were riling each other up behind the scene out of the stadium.

“It’d be wise to not spread those terms around.” Kroin gave him a soft warning despite his excuse. No one is going to pick it up without focusing on his voice specifically, but being cautious of the wordings couldn’t hurt.

“Ah, this guy is no good.” Histon complained the moment he finished appraising the man on the stage. Another spear user, he doesn’t look strong.

“How come he gets to judge?” Rousi said with annoyance.

“Because he’s not trying to make up a nonexistent problem.” I explained it to him right before the crowd momentarily went loud due to Rico’s voice going through the speaker and other people in the audience also discussing his chances, all the voices overlapping when the fight was about to begin makes it hard to continue the conversation at hand.

The approach Emmie used for each fight is at least a bit varied based on who is fighting her. With a spear like that she normally can’t out-range her opponent. Bamboo or not it is still a sword and those naturally have a shorter length than a spear. If it was that massive scythe she has then it would have been an entirely different story, almost nothing can out-range that.

“By the way, Histon. What did your kid sister say about the fight? You met her during the break, right?” Trener asked, curious about how the other challengers felt about the fight. Luik seems content enough but what about the others?

“She said it could be better.” He replied as if that is seriously all she said, just that one sentence. I felt like it could be elaborated a bit more, I’m pretty sure she is not a girl of few words like Luik.

“In that case… Ah right, no training in the dungeon.” Trener caught himself before he could say something stupid. “I mean… Histon, maybe you should let her tag along more often.”

“Absolutely not, she’ll just slow me down.” He uses the same excuse as always. “She’ll get more than enough practical experience next year, there is no need for me to drag her along.”

“...Isn’t it this year that she turns eighteen?” Trener pointed out.

Histon doesn’t look like he’s willing to say anything, and there’s not much to add from any of us since it’s far from the first time we talk with him about it.

“...So, Luik, what can you do with a golden spoon, do you think?” I asked since our group has gotten awkwardly quiet. No one is paying attention to the fight or each other.

“Probably pawn it off to one of those shady merchants assuming they are made of genuine gold. To the ones from that group specifically.” She answered. I do consider them quite a good place to pawn off anything if we’re strapped for cash, but they operate late at night which can be an issue sometimes. It’s not as if they’re running legitimate business either, if someone snitch it could cause an uproar.

“Really have to wonder why they brazenly appeared here.” I said, since this is supposed to be one of the safest places on Earth. We still don’t know why they are allowed to run amok like this, it doesn’t seem like they are associated with this school or Wiina or anyone else we know to be highly influential.

“At the very least, nothing harmful came out of it just yet.” Luik pointed out. Probably one of the reasons they can roam around, but considering the type of stuff you can buy and sell it’s hard to call them perfectly fine… “If it’s basically all gold then obviously I can’t use it for anything. The mana gem might get used up as a last resort item without a blacksmith around…”

“Do you even have a super strong spell to overcharge?” I pointed out, since she focuses almost entirely on swordsmanship. Most spells she has are meant to bolster her fighting style or are defensive measures.

“Not really, so the most I can do is turn it into a makeshift bomb.” She is quite honest about it. She’s not lacking in ranged spells, but those are meant to cover for any shortcomings rather than being an alternative fighting style on its own. “Glery would probably find better use for it, but I’m sure she can get enough points to earn it.”

“She folds under pressure, best not to make her go on stage.” I replied before Glery could make a reaction. She works best under isolated conditions or when she is really locked in. An environment like this isn’t suited to her style, she will unperformed.

“Then I suppose there is nothing to be done about it.” Luik replied, dropping the topic entirely and not following up with anything else to talk about.

The fight went about as expected and another person fell with a low score to show for it…

“...We still don’t know what we’ll get, that’s weird.” I pointed out. Despite the collective scores reaching multiple mystery gifts threshold, what the items actually are still haven’t been revealed. Nothing has actually been revealed on both the individual and group score. We’re almost done with the event and still nothing concrete to strive for, how weird. “It’s like… Nah, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.”

“I do have the same thought, but we’re almost at the end, so let’s just wait.” Kroin chimed in. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are other people thinking the same thing, and that’s why they might not be motivated to fight right now if they can reserve their chance for later.

The guy down there is already defeated. Another low score, and not a lot of cheering from the crowd. Not everyone can be winners, but then again going down there already makes him look more capable and courageous than his peers of a similar weight class.

“...Oh, I recognize this one.” I remarked upon seeing the next person walking into the fray. Another spear user, but at least I am acquainted enough to pay some attention, even if she’s not that strong. The girl with blue hair and eyes, gills and fins on parts of her body and claw-like hands. I haven’t really been paying attention to her growth. We’re not from the same town let alone class, so it's hard to keep tabs on each other.

“She came by many times.” Glery said with a restrained tone. I think if Fiss wasn’t an outsider she wouldn't be so on edge about me being near another girl. She doesn’t sound this antagonistic to Luik.

“Last time I saw her, she was only above average… What did she even do in the Emmie raid again?” I can’t remember what her strength was like at that time.

“No idea.” Glery quickly replied. If she doesn’t know then no one else should. She was never a remarkable figure in the first place.

Speaking of Fiss, she is using a trident, since she’s a fish person and all that. Her gills are rarely visible on her body and her fins and claws are the only thing really indicating that she’s not an unmodified human. I know the fins near her wrists aren’t inflexible but they still look sharp like it could damage her sleeves. At least Glery’s snake hairs can be controlled enough to not bite down on anything randomly.

“Better speed than that claw girl… I mean, that gauntlet girl.” Trener remarked before correcting himself since Glery could technically attack with those slightly inhuman hands. She obviously preferred a weapon over using those, but she could and it wouldn’t be that much weaker than her usual tactic.

*Hurl* *Splash* *Dash* *Block*

Fiss threw out a large ball of water that Emmie easily power through and not losing any momentum before she swung her sword, forcing Fiss to block the attack anyway.

*Clash* *Clang* *Parry*

There is certainly more oomph to her strikes than the others outside of Luik, but she needs a different approach to be able to wear her down at all.

*Leap*

After a few seconds of struggling to repel all the incoming attacks, Fiss ran away and gave herself enough room to gather enough strength to jump up high into the air.

*Drop* *Crash*

She then suddenly fell towards Emmie at a speed that is clearly not just the gravity working overtime, Emmie dodged the dropping cannon ball in time but the force of landing caused her to noticeably be pushed back. I had never seen her use a move like that before.

“Guess she has been working hard.” Anything that can manipulate your movement above ground is nothing to scoff at. It’s one thing that Luik knows how to do it, but a somewhat above average fighter like her is a pleasant surprise. Too bad that didn’t connect, or there might be a possibility of her breaking that bamboo sword later on.

*Leap*

Surprisingly she chose to go for another attempt instead of sticking to something Emmie is more willing to take head-on.

*Drop* *Crash* *Dash* *Swing* *Block*

Another miss. A small dent in the arena that was quickly automatically repaired as Emmie prevented her from going for a third dive strike by closing the gap between them and starting another struggle.

“Doesn’t look like she has anything else to offer.” Glery remarked. That seems rather apparent since she seems to have only one ‘win condition’ in mind.

Hmm… It’s already past two in the afternoon, and who knows how long this will actually go on for. I don’t think it’s more than the usual time at least.

…I wonder if there’s just going to be a day where we can just roam around the school for free again, I think that was pretty neat. I know we can sorta do that on the weekends, but come on, no one wants to use their precious weekends to explore and train here all day.

*Strike* *Tumble*

Soon enough she slipped up and got hit by the sword and rolled on the ground from the impact. She looks plenty exhausted already after all the back-and-forth.

The score she got is… Over a thousand. Not bad considering that the duration of the fight isn’t actually that long. For someone who doesn’t seem all that enthusiastic about dungeon diving she has performed above my expectation.

“That girl, she’s an outsider, right?” Trener asked.

“Yeah, not from around here.” I answered as the person who probably interacted with her the most among the locals.

“Hmm… Well that’s awkward.” He remarked. Is he seriously planning on picking a fight with her or something?

“If she has the spirit of a fighter then it doesn’t matter.” Histon firmly said. I seriously doubt she has something like that…

“Come on guys, at that point it’s just bullying.” I pointed out. No need to provoke someone who is more akin to a fish out of water… Uh. “Enough about that, let’s just see who is going to go down there next.”

…Ah come on another average guy? It’s not looking like some of the stronger students will actually come down. Looks like all of us are betting on that thing. Perhaps it is best to not anticipate anything else from this event for the time being.