Michelle

Her first match had gone well, all things considered. People were upset about losing money, but she would prove that she was worth betting on in the coming matches.

Today would be her only match, but if she made it through all the way to the end, she would have two matches both tomorrow and the day after.

Those who were participating in the tournament weren’t allowed to watch from the stands. That was just fine with Michelle, however, as her armor and face stood out in a crowd.

It’s a shame our equipment can only be repaired after all the matches are done for the day. Otherwise, I could have my wives with me between matches tomorrow.

That rule also meant that if someone’s armor or weapon was destroyed in their next match tomorrow, then they would just have to fight like that in the following one. The same was true for the final day as well.

The other fighters in the waiting area were now giving her more appraising looks rather than the ridiculing ones from before, though many were still skeptical.

They just have to see me fight for real. I hardly used any of my tricks against Goreth. A better opponent for me will also showcase that this armor can take a beating.

After half the matches were done, there was an intermission with live music and dancers, then the remaining matches were held.

Having seen all the matches and some of what her competition was capable of, Michelle met up with her family.

———

The second day went similarly to the first when Michelle stepped out for her first match. She was also embarrassed again by acting as a walking advertisement. She reminded herself that the others would also experience the same thing when they fought as a team.

Her opponent this time was an angel woman using fire magic. Armor for wings was nearly impossible to produce, so winged people usually compensated with barrier-producing enchantments.

She has [Fire] and the [State] modifier… That modifier is going to be troublesome. The red and purple combination makes her feathers look gorgeous, though.

Having that modifier meant the angel would be able to heal and buff herself, and apply debuffs to Michelle whenever the fire contacted her. The size of her mana pool would allow her to naturally resist them to an extent, but not entirely.

My armor should take the brunt of it. But this'll be hard. And I don’t have as much experience with aerial combat as I would like.

There were no rules stating that people couldn’t use their wings in a fight. Plenty of monsters were capable of flight, so tournaments didn’t prevent anyone from doing that in a match.

There are plenty of ways to bring down a flying enemy, though.

Michelle’s smirk was hidden by her helmet. Those who were capable enough with their magic didn’t need wings to fly.

The signal light flashed. Blue. Blue. Blue. Red.

The angel woman, Nomi, took flight immediately and shot lances of flame around Michelle to limit her movement.

“Nomi’s flames are surrounding Michelle from all sides! Where will the elf run?!” the commentator’s voice rang out.

Michelle ran forward and upward, creating a foothold of ice beneath each step, and using more ice around her body to further lift and stabilize herself.

“Michelle is running on ice midair! Nomi’s wings aren’t the advantage she was expecting!”

Undeterred, Nomi continued blasting flames at Michelle, with all the missed shots hitting the barrier that protected the spectators.

Michelle fired back in turn with her ice and it became a battle of shooting each other’s attacks down as they drew closer.

Nomi was wielding a lance, and despite its cumbersome size, her speed wasn’t hindered at all. The angel repeatedly attempted to pierce Michelle, and she in turn used her sword to deflect those attacks and try to reach her.

Enough of Nomi’s flames were hitting Michelle that she was growing weaker from the debuffs, so she decided to gamble. During an attack from the lance that was swinging into her sideways rather than trying to pierce her, Michelle intentionally let it hit her.

“Oh, and Michelle takes a hit! She's falling! Is this the end for her?”

Oof, that hit much harder than I thought it would.

Undeterred, Michelle changed her sword into its whip form and cracked it forward, wrapping it around Nomi’s leg. Using ice to reorient herself midair, Michelle went into a large spinning motion that slammed the surprised angel into the ground while also shredding her greave.

“And Michelle used an unusual weapon to turn the situation around! Nomi went crashing down instead! What an upset!”

The angel wasn’t out yet, however, so Michelle threw more ice spikes at her, and that finally caused enough damage to end the fight.

Michelle landed and retracted her weapon into its sword form and resheathed it.

“Michelle wins! It looks like Dialu Ammirosa’s work isn’t just boastful bragging, after all!”

Oh shit! Thanks for the extra boost, commentator guy!

During the fight, her armor had been scorched, stabbed repeatedly when Michelle wasn’t able to deflect an attack in time, and received that heavy impact at the end.

Unlike her previous match, the crowd went wild this time. Michelle retracted her helmet and bowed again, unable to stop herself from smiling a little.

Since they were currently in the second round of matches, the commentator now interviewed the losers of every match.

“Nomi, what did you think of your match with Michelle?”

Panting, she replied, “She’s tougher than I expected. Even had I known what to expect beforehand, I’m not sure I could’ve won.”

“You’re not mad about her weapon’s sudden change?” he asked, fishing for drama.

She shook her head. “It’s normal to keep things hidden in a fight. I’d appreciate it if she stopped glaring at me, though.”

The commentator stepped over to Michelle, who had been walking back to the waiting area. “Did Nomi do something to offend you, Michelle?”

“No, this is just my neutral expression. This,” she made herself look actually angry, “is what my glare looks like.”

The commentator flinched and yelped, just as Jereth had. “I-I see.”

The audience laughed at the commentator while Michelle walked away. The angel’s voice rang out, “I stand corrected. Sorry, Michelle.”

Michelle smiled and gave her a thumbs up before vanishing through the doorway.

I just know Amber’s going to watch the recording of that moment just now over and over again.

Back in the waiting room, Michelle sat down, now aware of the beating she took in the fight. She had bruises everywhere, and that last impact, in particular, had really gotten her. A healer walked over and took care of it.

A woman slid onto the seat next to her. “So that’s why you suddenly took up the whip a couple years ago. What an interesting weapon.”

“Oh hey, Worra.” She was a lamia friend they often saw at the Guild. “Yeah, it took a lot of effort to not only make the thing, but to also be able to wield it.”

She hissed amusedly, “I’ll bet. Can I see it?”

“In the arena, sure.”

She laughed. “Fair. Let’s hope I get to fight you.”

———

Amber

“Ahh, that was incredible!” Amber exclaimed.

“The match or the glare?” Sarah asked flatly.

“The glare, obviously! The match, too, of course. Ahh…” she drifted off, replaying the moment in her head.

“Down, girl. Save it for at home.”

Amber pouted, then laughed. “Yeah. I’m really looking forward to the team battles now. It looks so fun to be down there.”

Can’t believe I’m saying that. I never got into fights as a kid. Not frequently, anyway.

They waited through several more matches, this time with Malorei and Nipha, although Senava was gone now. The matches were providing good research material and Amber was getting a lot of ideas as a result.

I’m so glad I brought a sketchbook with me. I wonder what ideas Michelle is getting from fighting them directly?

When it was finally their wife’s second match of the day, Amber put her book away. She wasn’t going to miss even a second of it.

The commentator’s voice reverberated throughout the arena. Michelle was introduced first this time, and her opponent was a kobold named Onne, a diminutive, furry lizard person.

Sarah commented, “A small opponent like that is going to be interesting.”

Malorei added, “Michelle is probably going to get a lot of use out of her sword whip’s second form this time.”

“Especially with him being a wind mage. A small and fast target like that, I wouldn’t want to fight him solo.”

“She’s lucky he isn’t an Awakened opponent. An intelligent person with such a different body shape than hers would likely be outside of her experience.”

“We’ve trained with some Awakened before, but you’re right. That would be more difficult.”

Michelle has a minor advantage against this guy, though. Her character in the game used the same [Wind] magic and [Cutting] modifier, so she has an idea about how he’ll fight. Magic is different between the game and reality, but the basics should still be there.

The light flashed red, and Onne shot upward. Like Michelle, he was not limited to just two dimensions.

The kobold and the elf began bouncing around each other midair like pinballs. Onne’s weapons were only his claws, but he was highly skilled with them, and got in some nasty gouges in Michelle’s armor.

Unlike Onne’s bouncing around, Michelle was moving dextrously and acrobatically through the air, which she had to do to compensate for his speed. The use of Gifts in the tournament was not forbidden, but her motorcycle was not suited for such rapid and precise movement.

“Mom Michelle is dancing!” Diamond commented.

Amber had to agree. Her movements were fluid and graceful, and her whip cracks reminded Amber of ribbons she had seen people dancing with on Earth, although much faster, deadlier, and shinier, because it was made of metal.

Amber was once again reminded of just how much the existence of mana could increase a person’s physical capabilities, even their reaction time.

Michelle was fighting much more defensively this time, and was creating spiked barriers around herself that would get destroyed by sharp blades of wind. She would then use those moments to try to slice him, and occasionally used a wide swing of her whip. Like Michelle, Onne was also getting several cuts and gouges in his armor.

“Ah, she’s leading him,” Roumazi said.

“How so?” Malorei asked.

“She’s deliberately structuring her barriers so that he attacks in specific ways. Onne knows that, but he needs to end this battle fast before he runs out of stamina, so he has no choice but to go along with it.”

Michelle then suddenly made all her shields vanish. She wanted to end it with a direct attack rather than by tiring him out. Doing it that way would’ve been fine, but part of participating in a tournament was providing a show.

And it serves as a better advertisement for us, too!

Onne didn’t miss the opportunity and threw wind blades forward while also slicing with his claws. Michelle aimed her sword and several ice spikes at him.

She had predicted an attack aimed at her neck, so she blocked it with her free arm and a small ice barrier, which proved to be the correct move. Her arm took the wind blade and Onne’s claws pierced through her breastplate, but had been knocked off-target enough to not count as a fatal wound.

Onne’s stomach took Michelle’s sword slash, and the damage was enough that he lost. He fell to the ground, and Michelle created a pile of snow beneath him just before he landed. She then elegantly slid down a ramp of ice she made, finally returning to the ground.

The crowd roared. Her fight had been an incredible demonstration of skill, and her acrobatics throughout were smooth.

She had, in just a few matches, changed people’s opinion of her from doubt to awe.

That’s right! Everyone should be in awe of how amazing my wife is!

“That was certainly impressive,” Malorei said. “Were her skills the surprise you mentioned?”

“Oh, just you wait,” Amber teased.