"We met again, Lia Silver... My previous opponents were barely decent, but I think you won't disappoint me…"
Miki cracked her knuckles as she stared at Lia with fierce eyes.
Last time she saw Lia, she was in the market area, and that was just a friendly exchange between two candidates.
But things are different now; both of them have a goal to achieve, and none of them will back down from this fight now.
Lia unsheathed her sword, placed it around her waist, and replied with a smile on her face.
"Same, I am looking forward to this fight too… But let me tell you first, I am planning on winning this match!"
Hearing Lia's words, Miki also smiled in excitement and took her fighting stance.
"That's exactly what I had in mind too!"
Both Lia and Miki have something to prove, and neither of them can afford to back down easily.
Miki wants to prove herself worthy of her father's throne, while Lia wants to prove herself worthy of standing beside Rio and others.
*And with great excitement in the eyes of both candidates! We are going to start this exciting battle!"
*3…2…1… Fight!*
[Feline-style martial arts: Explosive rush!]
When the commentator said "fight," Miki, who has a faster reaction time, immediately used her skill.
Compared to her, Lia's reaction was a bit delayed.
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Rising Drill Thrust!]
In response to Miki rushing towards her at an astonishing speed, Lia bent her knees a bit and covered her sword in condensed silver mana that spun around the tip of her sword like a drill.
She twisted her wrist upward and launched that drill-like attack directly at Miki's heart.
*Clang*
Miki jumped in an instant, hitting Lia's sword from the side with her fist, easily deflecting the attack.
But Lia was already ready for this outcome.
'I have fought a much faster guy before; this much speed is nothing!'
Lia immediately stomped the ground and forcefully changed her position by cracking the earth.
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Descensions Claw Surge!]
Miki condensed the mana around her fist and used claws to attack Lia from mid-air.
However, Lia had forcefully shattered the ground and changed her own position slightly, resulting in Miki's attack falling in the wrong place and not hurting Lia at all.
Seeing the attack fail, Miki twisted her body and landed in a faraway place, thus making some distance between herself and Lia.
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Straight line charge!]
Obviously, Lia didn't let go of this opportunity; she immediately thrust her sword forward and launched at Miki like a cannonball.
Her attack was fast and abrupt.
Lia was sure that this attack would land, but it actually missed.
Miki bent her spine backwards as if it were made of some elastic and flexible fiber, easily dodging the attack.
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Rising Claws!]
While still bent in that unnatural way, Miki immediately used her leg-type technique and condensed mana in the form of claws at her feet.
She struck in an upward manner, as if she were trying to scratch a solid surface.
Lia reacted quickly, using her sword to defend herself from the attack.
Still, the impact of that attack was extremely strong, pushing her back quite a few meters.
'She's extremely agile; perhaps her cat bloodline gives her an amazingly flexible body…'
Lia ignored the small claw mark on her wrist and immediately pressed forward with an 'A.O.E.' type attack.
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Consecutive Mana Blasts!]
Lia thrust her sword toward Miki several times in a single second, and each attack carried condensed mana, which fired condensed shockwaves in Miki's direction.
This attack isn't really fatal, but it can at least narrow down Miki's escape routes, and that's what Lia was aiming for.
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliteration type: Shockwave!]
When Mike attempted to avoid Lia's previous attacks, it narrowed her escape routes, rendering her flexibility and speed useless. Finally, Lia used one of her strongest attacks, the 'obliteration type' attack.
She thrust her sword at Miki, and an immense and strong shockwave hit Miki directly in the chest.
'This should do some damage.'
Before Lia could relax, Miki bent her knees and launched at Lia like an arrow.
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Destructive Ray!]
As if she had completely ignored Lia's previous attack, Miki immediately hit Lia's sword with an extremely strong kick.
The impact of that attack caused Lia to lose her footing, and she flew away a few meters before landing.
'She ignored my attack!? That shockwave-type attack did no damage!?'
Kai's voice resounded in Lia's head, as if noticing Lia's shock.
[It's a specialty of the cat folk; cats are known for surviving falls from great heights….]
[Similarly, she just now absorbed shockwaves and used them to launch a strong attack in return…]
Lia felt complicated emotions after hearing those words.
'This is the first time I am seeing someone tank such a massive shockwave, though…. Oh wait, I guess Link can do that too…'
At Lia's question, Kai replied in a calm tone,
[Indeed, even among the cat folk, it's extremely rare for a person to be born with such an amazingly gifted physique…]
[She has mastered the core powers of her bloodline and can even absorb your attack's damage to return it back…]
Kai paused for a moment before speaking,
[There's no doubt; she's a genius who was born with amazing talents!]
Lia clenched her sword tightly and inquired in a confused tone.
'Why do you sound so proud though?'
Kai simply smiled slightly and responded.
[Hehe, well, she's technically my descendant, no? I am proud of the fact that my descendants have a bright future…]
Hearing those words, Lia shook her head a bit and gritted her teeth.
'Genius or not… I can't afford to lose here; I must prove to him that I am not weak…'
[You think too much, kiddo… Believe me, that guy will still not look down on you if you suddenly become an ordinary human… you worry too much-]
'No! Even then! I must not lose!'
With a stubborn look in her eyes, Lia took her stance once again.
(The talk between Lia and Kai happened in a single second as they were talking via her consciousness, so not too much time had passed, actually…)
Miki smirked a bit and stretched out her hand, She signaled at Lia and taunted her.
"Come! Let's see what more you have!"
Lia's expression immediately turned cold as a thought came to her mind,
'Kill!'
With that taunting, the atmosphere on the battlefield finally became more intense and serious.
The audience was already going insane after seeing such an intense exchange of continuous blows between the two.
…
VVIP Area.
"Your daughter is certainly a talented individual, Meqham… I was expecting her to be strong from her aura, but her talent to absorb others attacks is also a rare find!"
Meqham Kotov, the representative of the Cat-folks, nodded his head at Ryul's words and replied in a proud tone.
"We don't have many talented children in the current younger generation, only she stands out among them currently…"
"Rest are barely average; that's why all of them didn't even make it past the team battle phase…"
Meqham thought for a moment before continuing,
"Sigh~ if not for her, we wouldn't have made it past the team battle phase at all… That would have been such a shame…"
Gradba, who was sitting nearby, grumbled a bit at those words,
"What's so bad if you lose… Having the courage to fight the strong is what matters in the end! That's the way of a true warrior!"
Meqham shook his head and replied in a calm tone.
"No, I wasn't trying to look down on the kids of your team; I was saying that because my team would really have been too weak for this tournament if not for her…"
After hearing those words, Ashtel inquired in a confused tone.
"Hmm, then how did the others pass the qualification tests before coming here?"
Meqham sighed at those words and replied.
"We don't have as many talented people as your team Astra has; we had to lower the difficulty bar for the candidates, and otherwise I couldn't have even assembled a proper team…"
The other SS-rankers also nodded their heads at Meqham's words; they knew all too well how rare a true genius is.
There are people who try to make up for their low talent with immense hard work, but even those types of people are extremely rare, and most people just give up early.
That's why talented people are favored the most; they don't give up after seeing the hard work, as they know that their progress is fast.
Saying that 'hard work is better than talent' is only true in extremely rare circumstances.
Most people never work hard to begin with, and thus talented people reach greater heights without too much trouble.
Rarely does someone appear to be willing to work hard and compete with talented people.
It's better to rely on the talented than to wait for a hard worker to appear.
(This is the cruel reality of the world, laziness may bring comfort, but it can't bring results…)
…
…
Author's Note.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
It seems that things are going to get more intense now… The battle between Lia and Miki has barely just started!
Question of the day.
Do you think Lia really need to prove herself at all?
1. No (She's being too self-conscious…)
2. Nope (Rio won't leave her behind, she's just thinking too lowly of herself…)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.