We are all standing around the combat area while the first fight between Milo and Luna is already in full swing. Milo is trailing behind so far and is already breathing harder than at the very beginning. Luna is already preparing the next attack with her rapier. Milo heals himself with a weak instant heal; everyone watches tensely to make sure they don't miss anything and also to learn. I look at Milo, who is currently preparing an invisible attack. A small smile appears on my face because I am happy that everyone has already learned a bit. Luna doesn't notice this attack at all. None of the others notice either; apparently, they are not yet far enough along to complete these assignments I picked out for them. I suppose I'll have to wait a few more months until they can defeat these monsters.
Luna is running toward Milo when he disappears in just a single step. He is the first of them who has managed to take this step. Luna is about to parry his strike, which comes from behind as Milo appears there too. Luna ducks quickly, causing Milo to swing into the air. The invisible magic he cast previously is an ice lance, which is now flying toward Luna. She jumps quickly, but in doing so, she forgets that Milo is already winding up for a second attack. Everyone watches intently to see who will win. Luna fends off the blow from the air and casts a fire-ice magic from close range, causing her hair to light up again. The fire-red side looks as if her hair were made of beautiful, combed fire, and the snow-white side shines like smooth ice. Milo just grins and is hit by the magic. But it is not Milo who flies away, but Luna—this time even out of the combat area. This action by Milo didn't even take a second.
"What was that?" Luna asks and looks at Milo, who stands there, completely exhausted and with a small scratch. But since the second-to-last tournament, we have made the rules: either fly out of the ring or be incapacitated.
"Milo has won this fight. Applause!" I say, while Milo holds up his left arm as a fist. As a victory pose, he slowly falls to the ground and loses consciousness. Kira does not hesitate and heals him quickly. Whether it is internal pain or external, Kira can now heal both, which no one else in this world can do—not even I. Milo is slowly fit again; he is still lying on the cot, but otherwise, everything is okay with him. The next fight is between Lisa and Suri, probably the most interesting fight today. The two go onto the combat field while I already prepare the fireball for the start. Suri keeps one hand on the bow and the other on the arrows. Lisa already grabs her daggers.
The fireball explodes in mid-air, thus the fight begins. Lisa runs toward Suri, who is currently drawing her bow with five arrows. She jumps high into the air with her beast-kin abilities, so high that even Lisa cannot reach her, letting a total of 150 arrows rain down on Lisa. Everyone takes cover for fear of being hit, but the arrows are shot in such a way that they do not exceed the edge of the combat field. Lisa dodges some elegantly and parries others. Three arrows hit her in the shoulder and both arms. She falls briefly to her knees and pulls the arrows out of her arm. She flings the arrow from her shoulder back and hits Suri lightly on the cheek with it. Suri flies to the ground and Lisa is already running toward her. She winds up for an attack; Suri parries it with the bow. While Lisa's strike is only a feint, she casts a spell with the hand in which she quickly stashed her dagger. Her hand begins to glow blue and slowly emit lightning. Suri tries to move but cannot, as the tension of the lightning has already paralyzed her. Lisa takes the blunt side of the dagger and strikes Suri on the neck, although she narrowly dodges without really having control over her body.
Suri was the one, after Kira, who has trained the most in recent weeks, which is very noticeable in the results. She can now hold her own in close combat with the stronger ones, and in long-range combat, she is even stronger depending on the territory. But unfortunately, the fight is already decided. While Suri dodges, a massive electric shock of over 10 million volts pierces her, which would normally sizzle a person. But we are now at a level where this would only happen in the billion range. I end the fight and Kira heals the unconscious Suri and drags her out of the combat field, which is currently regenerating.
"Wow, how is that possible? It's healing itself! Min, what have you done again?" Lilly asks with a questioning and enthusiastic face at the same time.
"I have only created a new type of magic stone: land regeneration," I reply to her question as if it were a matter of course. The next fight begins a few minutes later after Kira has finished healing Suri, as the next pairing is Kira versus Lilly. Unfortunately, the end of the fight is obvious. Kira has indeed become really strong, but Lilly is simply one of the strongest in our group. Lilly sprints off with her greatsword directly at the start of the fight, and it is far too fast for Kira to react. She can just barely establish a small and weak barrier and then retreats. She quickly casts a poisoning spell and flings it at Lilly, but she simply dodges and runs toward Kira again. This time Kira only jumps backward, which Lilly expects, pushing her out of the combat field with a small shove. I declare the fight over and Lilly has won. Kira goes to the cot next to Suri and Milo; you can see in her eyes that she is sad. She apparently wanted to show that she doesn't need to be protected. But she doesn't have to show that; perhaps she doesn't notice, but it is already enough to know that the person is there and alive—as protection in battle.
The penultimate fight is between Milo and Lilly. The fight starts immediately, whereupon Milo appears directly behind Lilly with the one-step movement. Everyone starts to marvel as Milo appears behind Lilly, thinking of course that it is an easy way to win. Milo winds up for a blow, but Lilly simply parries it quickly with her greatsword.
"Huh, but Milo was faster!" Luna says with an astonished voice, and a confused "Huh?" comes from the others as well.
"You have to remember one thing: just because you are faster or stronger or smarter, it isn't an immediate victory. You have to look at everything together and use it well," I say in an enlightening voice. Milo jumps quickly into the air while Lilly winds up for a strike with her greatsword. She aborts the movement; Milo lands exactly in front of her while we all watch closely. Lilly ducks slowly while Milo is currently flying in. His gaze becomes more devious as he swings his leg downward, exactly where Lilly is currently crouching since she dodged. She is about to dodge to the right, but one of Milo's daggers is lying there, which he threw there quickly. He kicks her full against the head, whereupon she is pressed to the ground. I am just about to end the fight when she starts to prop herself up again with trembling arms. I let the fight continue while she looks at Milo. In the next moment, she suddenly disappears; we all start to marvel.
"Where did she go?" Milo asks and looks around hastily. There is no trace of Lilly anywhere. Suddenly, he takes a hidden attack from behind, which hits him completely. Milo falls to the ground and Lilly falls to the ground as well. Both try to get up, but both fall over simultaneously and lose consciousness. I decide the fight is a draw and let Lisa win. The next five tournaments also go rather poorly for Kira, but also for Lisa. Neither of them has won even once. Kira flies right out again and then looks sadly at the ground.
"Damn, why do I always fail?" Kira asks herself, sits on the cot, and just stares into the air. I walk up to her and look at her.
"You only fail once you accept the failure. Remember that," I say and then turn to the next fight. Kira watches me walk away, almost gratefully, one might think.
Five months later, they have come a very long way. I am starting to think that they can handle these quests. I decide to tell them on Monday, so in two days. The rest of the day passes in a relaxed manner. In the evening, everyone except me meets in Luna's room to discuss something.
"Okay, is the plan for tomorrow set?" Luna asks and looks at everyone once to see if they all nod. As she expected, they all nod in agreement while Suri takes something out of her dimension hole.
"Good, then let's get started. While Min is sleeping, we should be able to manage it," Kira says with a joyful voice. Everyone leaves the room while I sleep in peace. Suri hangs a string on a nail, Milo hangs the other side of the string across the room with the inscription "Happy Birthday," because tomorrow is my birthday. They decorate everything a bit while Kira bakes the birthday cake. The others are finished inside and are now decorating a bit outside where the table with the chairs stands. They decorate there as well. Luna is also slowly finishing the cake. After everything is done, they go to their rooms to sleep.
I get up first, but as every morning when I get up, I first take a nice bath. Meanwhile, the others get up and prepare breakfast downstairs. I am finished with the bath and go down the stairs. Everyone sits down quickly when they hear me. I look at them confused when I see this.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everyone calls out in unison as I come downstairs. I start to smile and see all the decorations, from garlands to balloons. I sit in my place and see three presents in front of me, which I open directly. In one is a darkness magic crystal, which is only available on black markets; through this, I can try out something I've always wanted. In the next one I unwrap is a new black cloak, but with violet accents on the shoulder, hand, and leg. In the next gift are two new daggers, as the two I usually use broke a month ago. They are black-violet blades; the violet color shines beautifully in the light. I thank everyone for the gifts, whereupon Luna brings breakfast: fried egg with writing made of rice on it saying "Happy Birthday," on the others it says "Enjoy your meal." I can't get the smile off my face. We start eating.
"Wow, this tastes delicious," I say gratefully to Luna, who nods with a smile. We relax a bit, swim a little in the pool I built for us, while Milo relaxes a bit on the lounger. Everyone is in swimwear; the girls wear beautiful bikinis, and I and Milo wear swim trunks. Suri and Milo relax briefly in the water, then they go back out onto the loungers, while the rest of us either sit on the edge and talk or swim a bit.
The day passes with time until we suddenly hear a cry for help. It sounds like a little girl who is in danger. I don't hesitate long, put down the cake we were actually about to eat, and jump across the rooftops while putting on the cloak I only received today. With my new daggers at my hip, I arrive at the roof. Below me is a little girl and three adult men who are naked except for their underwear. The little girl is backed against the wall in an alley. But if I kill them now, the king will notice me, and it would probably repeat itself. No, I don't care. What they are doing is not okay. If I have to, I will even kill the king of this country to let justice prevail. I jump down from the roof and land behind the adult men.
"If you want to play, you'd better play against me, you scum," I say with murderous eyes. The men turn around with a grin.
"Oh, a little boy who wants to play hero. Listen, you kids should never play against criminals," one of the men says.
"Then remember one thing as well: you should never judge by appearance," I reply to his senseless lecture. I start to slowly draw my daggers from the sheath at my hip. In the next moment, I disappear.
"Tss, he got scared and ran aw—"
"I just went behind you." One man suddenly loses his footing and his head slides off his body; he can't even finish his sentence. The others look at him in horror, then at me with fear-filled eyes. But it doesn't matter to them; they run toward me quickly. I do exactly the same to them as to the first; they all fall dead to the ground. The girl watches me, both frightened and fascinated. One of the citizens notices it and calls the guards directly, who come straight to me. I can still tell the girl to trust Luna and the others, but I can't say any more before I am caught. I do not resist and go directly with them. I am brought to the king of the country—a young man who has not a single bit of life experience and radiates this as well. I look at him and he looks at me with a disgusted face.