Chapter 14 - Entrance Exam(Part 8)

"Huh, you're equipping your weapons ahead of time?" Inquired Arkiela, as I hid several throwing knives inside the sleeves of my hoodie, strapping them across my forearms.

"Well, given her speed, this is a necessary precaution. The split second it takes to chant, open a Slot and then take out a weapon could be fatal against someone who's as fast as she is. It's too bad I don't have any rubber bullets," I sighed wistfully, as I latched a katana onto my belt.

I used to buy rubber bullets to train with, it was a lot cheaper than wasting actual bullets on target practice. But once my accuracy was at a high enough level, I stopped buying rubber bullets as I saw no reason to keep practicing.

I mean, I took on new jobs at least once a week, I never went through a prolonged period of time where I stayed out of action, so getting rusty was never a concern.

I'd prefer not to kill Aura, but I doubt I can beat her without using my guns. I'll refrain from using one of my many submachine guns or my shotgun, I'll stick to a pair of handguns instead. I'll target her limbs, the Healing Potions of this world should be able to fix any damage I inflict to those areas.

I thought about using my flamethrower, but since her Total Immunity Skill includes Heat Immunity, fire will have no real effect on her. Well, I could use it to burn through the oxygen inside the barrier that surrounds the arena when the fight begins, but that'd affect me too, obviously.

And since her Total Immunity included Lightning Immunity, my tasers are ruled out too, so that just leaves my various bladed weapons, grappling hook, grenades and smoke bombs, batons, laced needles and a few other options.

Yes, those are a lot of options, but I doubt I can hit her with most of those, I might just end up wasting them. Hm, maybe I should try something a bit more unorthodox to start with. Yeah, like my-...

I then glanced up as someone knocked on the door of the room I was in, before the handle twisted down and the door swung open, one of the organizers stepping in.

"It's almost time for the final to begin, so make your way down to the arena as soon as possible," He remarked, before leaving and shutting the door before giving me a chance to respond.

Rude.

Guess a lot of people aren't too happy with someone like me, a guy with no Magic whatsoever, making it all the way to the final. I bet the majority will be rooting against me, I doubt I'll have many supporters in the audience, if any at all.

Well, it doesn't matter, whether people choose to cheer for me or not, it's inconsequential. It doesn't change anything for me.

"Alright, then. Let's get this tournament over and done with, shall we?" I remarked, standing up as I took out a couple more weapons from my Item Box and latched them onto my belt.

"Hey, even if you lose, I can probably sway the organizers' impulses to make them lean in favor towards recruiting you into the Guild," Pointed out Arkiela.

"Yeah, if I lose, do that. After all, me getting into the Guild and subsequently gaining a way to reliably make a living in this world increases my chances of survival, which in turn increases your chances of survival. But that said, I'd rather not leave it upto chance. So, I'll do everything I can to win this fight and ensure that I get into the Guild," I stated, as I headed for the door...

...

"I have to admit, despite the fact that I got the feeling that I'd see something interesting from you before the tournament started, I didn't think you'd make it this far. But I'm certainly not complaining, you present a pretty unique challenge compared to everyone else, I've never seen anyone fight the way you do...this should be fun," Grinned Aura, an excited gleam in her eyes as we both stepped onto the arena.

I already figured this from watching her previous matches, but she really enjoys fighting, doesn't she?

"I have to disagree...this is gonna be rough for me," I replied wryly, as I limbered up.

"You better not hold back against me. I'd like to beat you while you're going all out," She smirked, cracking her knuckles.

"Be careful what you wish for."

"The final match of this year's entrance exam for the Astaroth Guild will begin in five! Four!"

Alright, this is it...I've come this far, and I'm not going to be edged out right at the finish line of the competition, at least not without a fight.

"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

As soon as the countdown ended, Aura shot towards me rapidly, lightning crackling around her metal claws as she closed in on me, slashing at my throat.

I swiftly tilted my head back to just barely evade her slash before unlatching a pair of the weapons I'd equipped and whipping one of them towards her with a flick of my wrist.

Her eyes widened in alarm as she quickly arched back her body, grimacing as I clipped her chin with a slight thunk, before she sprang back as I swung the second weapon across at her face, evading my swing and backing away warily.

"You use some pretty weird looking weapons, don't you?" She mused as she rubbed her chin gingerly.

These weapons could easily be made even in this world, but clearly, she's never seen anything like this before. I bought these on a whim because I thought I'd be cool to learn how to wield them, and I ended up hitting my face with them a whole lot when I first tried using them.

A pair of two pieces of wood attached by a chain, the iconic weapon wielded by a certain teen mutant turtle with an orange mask...it's a pair of nunchucks.

"What's the matter? Aren't you gonna attack?" I inquired tauntingly, standing my ground as I spun the nunchucks around.

She began to raise a hand towards me, before pausing for a moment and lowering it. She then shot towards me again, her arms and metal claws crackling with lightning.

She must have been about to fire a Spell at me, before deciding against it, probably after recalling how I captured and shot back one of my previous opponent's Spell with my Item Box.

She got low as she closed in on me, sweeping her foot across towards my ankles to try and trip me up. I leapt up and swung both nunchucks down at her, grimacing as she caught them both, biting her lip with a hiss of pain as the impact presumably stung her palms, before she gave them a sharp tug, pulling me towards her and slamming her forehead onto mine.

I gritted my teeth and let go of the nunchucks, quickly backing away as I drew out one of my handguns and fired at her right foot. She swiftly lifted her foot, the bullet hitting the floor of the arena before she chased after me, unleashing streaks of lightning in my direction as she tossed my nunchucks away.

But the streaks of lightning weren't aimed at me, they were shooting across either side of me, boxing me in instead of hitting me. My eyes widened in alarm as I realized she used her lightning to keep me from springing away to either side, making sure I can't dodge her if she attacks me head on, which is exactly what she was doing.

I fired another bullet aimed at her shoulder, she responded by tilting her body across, grimacing as my bullet grazed her skin, drawing out a trickle of blood as she picked up her speed.

I swiftly put away my gun and drew out my katana as she closed in on me and leapt towards me, slashing up at her as she got within the reach of the blade. She deflected my swing with the metal claws on her left hand, before driving the claws on her right hand straight towards my stomach.

I tilted my body back while simultaneously swinging my right foot up towards her, her claws striking my midsection and tearing through the leather armor of my hoodie as she unleashed a burst of lightning, a look of surprise appearing of her face before she gritted her teeth with a stifled gasp of pain as my foot slammed onto her stomach.

The bulletproof body armor I'm wearing is an insulator, so unless she hits a spot on my body that it isn't covering, I won't get electrocuted by her lightning.

So long as her strikes stay within the region of my torso and shoulders, I won't get zapped...that said, her metal claws are pretty sharp, and she's physically stronger than she looks, she could probably cut through my body armor in two or three strikes...

She then sprang back as I swiftly slashed at her head with my katana, a shallow cut appearing across her forehead as she fired out a bolt of lightning from her mouth, which shot towards my face with a vicious crackle.

I quickly tilted my head across to the left, grimacing as the lightning bolt struck the top of my right ear and a few strands of hair, a sharp pain bursting out from the top of my ear as the right side of my face went stiff and numb.

I can't believe she tore through my hoodie so easily, I tested out its durability with my blades, and it would take a lot of force to cut through it. Maybe her Arcane Class Lightning boosts the penetrative power of her metal claws? Or maybe having an Arcane Class gives you greater physical prowess, I think Arkiela might've mentioned something like that...

This fight is more or less even at the moment, but then, she's not fighting at the speed she displayed in her previous match. But I suspect that's about to change...

"Looks like you've realized what's coming," She remarked as I took a defensive stance, before continuing, "Yeah, it's gonna be too difficult to beat you in this state, you're pretty capable and skilled. So, let's take things up a notch ajdnsee how you do against this...now, [Emerald Black Lightning Cloak]!"

As she uttered the chant, intense, brightly glowing streaks of lightning crackling around and coating her entire body as she crouched low, her gaze fixed on me as her hair stood up on end.

I took a step back, getting deeper into my defensive stance and bracing myself, holding my katana up. She then shot towards me with a violent, electric flash bursting out, barreling towards me at a blinding speed.

I was barely able to react, swiftly lowering and tilting my sword across to my right side as she closed in on me and shot past me in the blink of an eye, a loud clang echoing out as her claws struck my blade, the force of her strike knocking me slightly off balance and leaving a couple of cracks across the blade as I spun around, just in time as she shot towards me again.

I got low and unleashed a rapid horizontal slash straight ahead as she closed in on me, but I was too slow to react. She grabbed my wrist, her metal claws digging into my skin, my body stiffening up sharply as the lightning coating her claws electrocuted me.

As she drove the claws on her other hand towards my chest, I used all my strength to move my free hand towards my hip, unlatching a tranquilizing mist grenade from my belt and letting it drop to the floor, as I sharply turned my body across, her claws tearing through the leather fabric in front of my chest and grazing the bulletproof body armor before she abruptly let go of me and shot away as the grenade hit the floor and exploded.

I held my breath as the tranquilizing mist burst out around me, before a sharp pain burst across my back as she sprang up behind me and struck me between my shoulder blades with her claws, sending me stumbling forward.

I spun around and swung my katana across at her throat, she responded by driving her metal claws up towards the spot where she'd cracked the blade, snapping it in half upon impact before swiftly kicking my stomach to send me stumbling back and then zipped away, vanishing from my sight.

I quickly tossed my broken katana away and drew out a couple of daggers from my lower back, getting into a defensive position as I varily looked around my surroundings.

Damn it, her speed is just unfair, but it's starting to feel like my eyes are keeping up a bit better than they were before...my kinetic vision and reaction time feel like they're sharper than they've ever been across either of my lives, but maybe it only feels that way because I've never had to strain my senses to this extent before.

As I spotted an electric flash to my left, I quickly spun across in that direction and unleashed a swift horizontal slash with one of the dagger as the flash closed in on me, before letting out a sharp gasp of pain as a rapid force struck my stomach, he knee slamming onto me just below my solar plexus.

As her knee dug into my stomach painfully, she raised her right hand before slashing at my throat as I quickly mustered up as much strength as I could and slammed my palms onto her stomach, pushing her off me just in time, her claws inflicting a couple of painful, but shallow, cuts across my neck before I flung one of my daggers at her face, which she easily evaded by sharply tilting her head across before firing out a bolt of lightning at my chest from point blank range.

My body armor, despite getting a bit scorched, protected me from being electrocuted, but the force of the blast sent me stumbling back with a stifled gasp of pain...damn it, my movements are too stiff and slow, my entire body feels numb, and I can barely move my right hand thanks to her claws digging into my wrist earlier.

As I began to stumble back, I stomped down on the ground with my back foot to regain my balance before planting my feet and drawing out my handgun, taking aim right as she closed in on me again, her right palm slamming onto my chest as I simultaneously pulled the trigger...

"[Emerald Black Lightning Spear]!"

The echo of a gunshot rang out as a sharp, immensely powerful force struck my chest, sending me flying back several meters through the air, the fabric of the hoodie around my chest completely gone and a chunk of my body armor blown off as well.

D-damn it, that didn't electrocute me, but that Spell has some serious force to it, I think I fractured a couple of ribs at the very least, but more importantly...

As I flew through the air towards the wall of the barrier surrounding the arena with immense speed, I swung one of my daggers down at the ground, jamming the blade into the floor of the arena, wedging the blade in between the tiles and abruptly halting myself right as I got within about a meter of the edge of the arena.

I let out a stifled cry of pain as a loud pop echoed out, my left shoulder getting dislocated by whiplash caused by the abrupt halt in momentum. I tried to get back onto my feet, collapsing onto one knee as my entire body trembled in pain, before turning my gaze forward towards Aura.

She was standing still with a pained grimace, clutching her left shoulder with blood trickling down her right hand which was over her injured shoulder as her body trembled shakily, drops of blood dripping onto the floor as her left fingers twitched, unable to raise her left arm.

"O-ow, shit...th-this really fucking hurts, I've never been so forcibly penetrated before," She remarked with a chuckle before wincing in pain.

A dirty joke now, of all times? Hm, I kinda dig it.

"That so? Then, I'm honored to be your first," I responded wryly in spite of the situation, grabbing my left shoulder and trying to push it back into place, but I couldn't muster the strength needed to do so, wincing as waves of pains erupted across my shoulder at the failed attempt.

"Well, this was fun...but it's time to end it. I really hope the Guild chooses to recruit you too," She replied, as the lightning coating her body intensified sharply, and she shot towards me.

Shit, guess this is it...I can barely move anymore, if only she had opted to fire off a large scale attack, I shouldn't have revealed my Preservation Mode before-...hm? Wait, that's it!

"Yeah...right back at you," I said with a slight smirk as I locked my gaze forward to follow her speed as closely as possible, before chanting as rapidly as I could in the instant that she closed in on me, "[Open Slot 38, Preservation Mode]!"

"W-wait, wait, wait-...!" She exclaimed as her eyes widened in alarm, unable to stop as the portal leading into that section of my Item Box opened up just centimeters in front of her.

She inadvertently flew into it without being able to stop, before I quickly shut the portal, letting out a dramatic sigh of relief as a hushed silence fell over the crowd.

I took a few seconds to catch my breath and regain some strength, the numbness starting to fade as I finally got back onto my feet, gritting my teeth as I took hold of my left shoulder, tightening my grip on it before inhaling sharply and popping it back into place, a stifled grunt of pain escaping through my gritted teeth.

I then turned around and walked up to the edge of the arena shakily, before raising my hand up towards the wall of the barrier surrounding the space and chanting...

"[Open Slot 38]."

"...wait, wait-...blaghhh!" She sputtered as she slammed facefirst onto the barrier wall, letting out a dazed groan as she slid down off it and fell onto the ground, a thud echoing out as she hit the ground.

I...I did it. Y-yeah, I won. H-hell...HELL, YEAH!!!

I FUCKING WON!!!!

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