"Let's fight, then," I said, locking eyes with Ryu.
Honestly… I was a little scared. Ryu was clearly special-grade. But at the same time… I was excited. I wanted to fight. I wanted to… taste his strength, exactly how he would put it together.
If this were a real battle, I would lose. Even if I somehow managed to block his attacks—which I thought was unlikely—he had a domain expansion. Against that, there was literally nothing I could do. I have no countermeasure against domain expansions, and I don't have my own domain.
Still… I was strong. I shouldn't be weaker than Kusakabe or Uraume. If I faced Naoya again, I'd win now.
I focused on Ryu, steadying my cursed energy.
Then, suddenly, we charged at each other.
I reinforced my entire body with cursed energy, bracing for impact.
We were almost on top of each other when I threw a punch at his face. But before I could even react… my hand slid off his arm.
He had parried it sideways and, in the same motion, punched me squarely in the face.
I flew twenty meters back, landing hard.
I stared at the ground in disbelief.
"What just happened?" I murmured.
I spat out a few teeth, Punch was strong enough to knock my teeth out.
Then I activated my Reverse Cursed Technique.
My RCT… was still weak compared to other sorcerers that had RCT. Regenerating my teeth would take time. But it was better than nothing.
As my teeth reformed over ten seconds, Ryu watched me with fascination, his gray eyes bright with curiosity.
I kept replaying the moment in my head. Ryu was fast… faster than he should be.
Wait… in all my previous fights, my stats were higher than everyone else's. I was stronger, faster, and had a more versatile technique.
Now I was facing someone stronger, faster, and far more experienced.
Ryu broke my thoughts with a calm voice.
"You've only been a sorcerer for twelve days, right?"
I nodded.
"How nice," he murmured. "I never had a chance to cook the food I ate. I had disciples, but none had your potential."
"Oh, please… don't say that word," I muttered to myself.
"I wonder how you'll turn out," he continued, still smiling. "You can even use Reverse Cursed Technique… impressive."
I frowned slightly. I wasn't even fully competent with RCT, but then he spoke again.
"Even on my peak, I couldn't use Reverse Cursed Technique. You actually have an advantage over me. You have learned something I never had talent for... in just 12 days."
He grinned wider. "I hope you're ready for what's coming."
His hair suddenly brightened, like a cannon igniting.
There it is.
I immediately summoned five flame shields, positioning them to protect myself.
Ryu's eyes blazed with intensity.
"Survive this, IKUYO!!!" he yelled.
"Granite Blast!"
He launched five blasts at me.
I maneuvered my shields to block them. They absorbed the attacks, but cracks spider-webbed across the surfaces, threatening to shatter under the force.
An idea struck me. I created seven shields this time—my current maximum technique capacity was twelve shapes. More than that, I would lose control.
I summoned my longsword, surrounding it with flames, and charged at him.
Ryu grinned, clearly enjoying the fight.
"HOW FUN…" he muttered, firing seven Granite Blasts—matching exactly the number of shields I had.
I got closer to him, juggling multiple tasks at once: controlling the shields, blocking lasers, maintaining the sword's flames, anticipating his next move…
My head throbbed under the mental strain, but it was still manageable.
I noticed he had exhausted his seven blasts. One of my shields, deliberately weakened, was aimed to break.
I moved all seven shields to intercept him, pumping cursed energy into six of them to reinforce them.
The weak shield, though, I threw it directly at him after it barely blocked a granite blast.
This shield was unstable, and it was about to explode.
Ryu dodged instinctively—but that was exactly what I wanted. The shield exploded behind him, an uncontrolled burst as I poured more cursed energy into the explosion.
"Heheh… got you!" I yelled, descending with my sword.
He couldn't completely dodge my strike. A long, shallow cut appeared on his chest. His chest hair was singed, leaving a faint, odd smell in the air.
Ryu immediately leapt back, analyzing what had just happened.
Even Yuta, watching from the sidelines, was shocked. I had actually managed to hurt Ryu.
I didn't give him a moment to breathe. I jumped back, creating a ten-meter whip. It lashed at him, forcing him to dodge again. I pressed the attack relentlessly.
The crazed look in his eyes… I realized he was now taking me seriously.
"Granite Blast!" he murmured again.
A single massive laser fired towards me from his hair.
I had five passive shields orbiting me; doing simple tasks would ease the mental strain of multitasking. I repositioned all of them end to end to block his attack, pumping further cursed energy to block his attack.
Four shields were shattered; the fifth was badly damaged.
"Strong shields…" I muttered, but barely had time to process before a punch flew at my face.
I was slammed backward again, sliding twenty meters across the ground.
"Fuck…" I murmured, spitting out my recently regenerated teeth.
I activated Reverse Cursed Technique to heal, but before I could finish, Ryu closed the distance. Four Granite Blasts flew toward me as he charged.
I had only one shield left. I expanded it to cover more area—but the expansion weakened its surface strength, so several blasts pierced through, hitting me.
I was sent flying across the barrier, pain radiating through my body. My shirt had five holes, and burns dotted my skin.
Using RCT would take over a minute, but I started anyway, healing what I could.
Ryu stopped thirty meters away, slowing slightly. He realized I couldn't fully match his strength yet.
He looked a little sad... or was it anger? I couldn't say.
"Ikuyo… Ikuyo… Ikuyo…" he murmured, almost like a chef observing the raw ingredient he wanted to cook.
Yuta brought me the meal I always wanted… I ate until I was full...
I learned more sweets would come after the fight…
How Happy I was when I learned about Yuki and others.
but Ikuyo, she… she was uncooked, unpolished—like raw dough.
"How awful…" Ryu murmured to himself.
"Prepare yourself," he called out. "I'm coming."
"Hold on! I'm not ready!" I shouted—but he was already charging, firing more Granite Blasts.
I summoned shields to block, while preparing my sword defensively. I didn't use the flame aura this time; an extra slot would serve better as a reactive shield than as minor damage.
I created a small chain to catch Ryu's leg. He struggled, but my cursed energy kept it tight.
I rushed at him, still not fully healed—but it didn't matter now.
He smashed through the chain with a Granite Blast and threw more as he charged.
We were colliding, closing distance, creating distance, trading attacks relentlessly. I threw one shield at him; he dodged with ease, clearly learning my tricks.
I kept moving, constantly blocking and attacking, leaving no space for him to prepare his attack.
Yuta watched nervously. This was no practice fight—this was deadly serious. He was ready to intervene at any moment to prevent a fatal mistake.
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End of chapter.