Frigga's Match

He wasn’t familiar with the other three faces, but the last was Frigga. If he were to convert Frigga's capabilities into stats, he would still lose out even now, and he was yet to see his fighting style.

He casually placed his hand on his jaw while waiting for the fight that was about to take place.

After thirty minutes, four figures appeared on the battlefield, facing each other in pairs. Frigga, who was paired with another boy, stared at their opponents—a boy and a girl duo—with ridicule. His partner had a confident smile, while both of their opponents looked worried, uncertain of their victory.

These were normal emotions, as they had all been present at the true weapon ceremony and could still recognize Frigga, who had been picked as a group leader.

Without a doubt, he was a powerful foe. But still, they weren’t going to go down without a fight. Their parents and siblings, who were considered true family members, were watching.

Frigga held a two-meter-long bill in his hand, while the boy beside him wielded a sword. As for their opponents, the girl also had a sword, while the boy wielded two daggers.

There was a thin green line separating the duos, and when the line disappeared, they were allowed to engage.

After some time, the line disappeared, and the boy and girl pair were the ones to charge in. They didn’t believe that either of them could handle Frigga solo, so the boy decided to take on Frigga while the girl tried her best to deal with the other guy and then join him.

Whether she would be able to do this—and how fast she could—would determine their victory. Frigga watched the boy approach him with disappointment. He would’ve loved to fight a certain person first, but the idea of saving him for later wasn’t bad. He just hoped their paths would cross during the contest.

The boy going after Frigga could see that he was deep in thought, which was somewhat of an insult to him, but he planned to use this against him and make him regret it.

But what happened next made him realize that he was the one doing the underestimation.

He leaped forward, slashing one of the daggers toward Frigga’s chest, but Frigga moved his fist at a greater speed, hitting him in the face. With his legs off the ground, the boy was sent crashing and rolling before managing to quickly pick himself up.

“Tch,” he clicked his tongue, rubbing his chin.

“This isn’t going to be easy.”

***

Meanwhile, the girl was engaged with the other boy. They were both using swords and by every attack and parry they made; it was obvious that they had mastery over their weapons. This was thanks to their awakening, but the girl still had an edge over him.

Weapon awakening happened at different ranges. Two people could awaken at the same time, but if they crossed swords, one could still be stronger.

Things like self-derived skills and techniques, along with experience, could later decide how far apart they became in strength.

Someone like Art had an abnormal weapon awakening, most likely due to him already having a decent amount of mastery. So the girl was slightly better than the boy, but she knew this wasn’t enough. She needed to push herself further to defeat him as soon as possible.

“Haaaa!” she screamed, sending out a series of strikes. The boy on the receiving end tried to block as many as he could and hadn’t expected to be pushed back by this girl.

He would’ve sustained several cut injuries if it weren’t for the protective skin placed over them. This protective skin stopped attacks from doing damage to their bodies, so they didn’t have to worry about accidentally killing themselves. They were free to aim their attacks at vital points.

The skin also served another purpose called damage accumulation. The attacks that successfully connected would be recorded, and if the damage accumulation reached a certain level, the person would be forced to go unconscious, resulting in their loss. So they avoided getting hit in vital points, as the damage accumulated would be much greater. Even though their bodies weren’t hurt, they could still feel pain and exhaustion.

The boy knew he had accumulated quite a bit of damage from her and couldn’t stay on the defensive.

After stepping to dodge her slash, he spun around, his sword headed toward her neck, but she leaped back, avoiding it before thrusting her sword at his chest.

It was so quick and precise that he wasn’t able to dodge it, causing more damage to accumulate.

‘I have to win. I can’t lose so soon. Mum has big expectations for me. I have to finish him off with my next attack,’ she thought, taking a fighting stance.

Her opponent already knew it. He couldn’t defeat the girl in front of him… that was, if he played nice. With a smirk, he spoke up.

“Looks like you’re finished. Poor thing. If only your partner had lasted longer.”

The girl’s eyes widened as she quickly looked toward where the other duel between Frigga and her partner was happening. She saw him panting, exhaustion written all over his face. He seemed barely able to stand up.

“Got you!” Her opponent’s voice drifted into her ears as she tried to react, but she was too late. His sword stabbed her in the chest.

He had used all the strength he could muster, and even though it failed to go through her chest because of the protective skin, she still felt the pain, which, although reduced, didn’t fail to make her fall to her knees.

He didn’t waste this opportunity to gloat, kicking her on the cheek and causing her to fall to the ground before stepping on her face.

“Feels nice.”

Her partner, who noticed this, gritted his teeth. Now he had to somehow manage to defeat Frigga, which seemed impossible after exchanging attacks with him. But he still didn’t plan on giving up.

“Hmmm?” Frigga’s lips curved into an evil smile as an idea formed in his mind.

“Why don’t I use you to send a message to him.”

The boy didn’t hear Frigga clearly but ignored this as he charged forward. He moved slower than before while coming up with an attack pattern. It was because Frigga had barely moved from his spot that he didn’t expect him to suddenly lunge forward, thrusting his bill.

The boy managed to escape the tip of the bill but got caught by the hook, which hit him on the chest, accumulating a lot of damage.

Frigga grabbed him by the neck and kneed him in the stomach before tossing him away. After rolling on the ground, the boy clenched his fist, still unwilling to give up. But as he raised his head, his eyes caught sight of Frigga’s weapon heading straight for him. He couldn’t react in time as the tip hit him right on the forehead, knocking him unconscious immediately.

If it weren’t for the protective skin, that attack would’ve killed him. His partner was also unconscious, so Frigga’s team was victorious.

Art let out a sigh after watching this.

“I guess it won’t be easy.”

More matches came and passed, and he was impressed by some people, but others weren’t pushed to the point of getting serious. Now, it was time for his match.

“Huh?” He raised an eyebrow, seeing the face of his partner.