CHAPTER 313: CONCERNING DRAGONS 4

 

～Drake’s Perspective～

The vast underground lake—Luminatren.

It was an unnervingly quiet place.

Glowmoss lined the ceiling in beautiful rows, and the mirror-smooth surface of the water reflected it all.

There was not a single ripple. It was a mystical space, to the point that it felt as though time itself had stopped.

And yet—

「Something about this place just doesn’t sit right with me.」

When I moved my gaze, everything looked warped somehow, and because it was all too orderly, even my sense of up and down began to grow vague.

「Indeed… This is a strange place.」

Apparently, Shinku-neesan felt the same odd sensation.

Then, all of a sudden, a voice came from outside my field of vision.

「Haaah… What a drag.」

It sounded ridiculously listless.

A voice that seemed to have shaved away every bit of weight… so light it even made the meaning of the words feel thin.

When I turned around, someone was sitting on top of the water.

A slender body. Long hair.

Her face was beautiful, but the expression pasted across it did not even try to hide her irritation.

And yet, despite the fact that she was supposed to be sitting on the water’s surface, not a single ripple spread outward. That only emphasized how alien she was.

「Like, what’s with that stiff way you’re walking? Seriously hilarious.」

「…Are you the Water Dragon?」

「Huh? Isn’t it obvious just by looking?」

That pissed me off.

It pissed me off a lot.

「Forgive my late introduction. My name is Shinku.」

Even toward someone like that, Shinku-neesan introduced herself with a beautiful curtsy.

True enough, showing courtesy on a first meeting, no matter the other party, was Shinku-neesan’s way.

…In that case, I should give this introduction my all too.

「I’m Drake!」

A front-relaxed pose, straight from Landbulk’s teachings.

When introducing myself, I figured I ought to start by showing off my muscles in their natural state.

「…Drake. Stop posing.」

「Huh…? Why?」

「Stop.」

「Yes, ma’am! Stopping now!」

Shinku-neesan’s gaze pressed down on me.

This is one I should obey.

「Oh, okay. I’m Livia. Also, like, Shinku-chan, you’re cute. That outfit’s totally fire too. But you should really do something about that pointlessly tense posture, y’know?」

After saying that, Livia stood up, flicked a glance in our direction, then turned away again.

「You were Drake-kun, right? You’re not cute. Macho guys are, like, so not it.」

…Did she just reject my entire existence?

「Shinku-neesan, I’m kinda about to cry…」

「If you rise to provocation, you lose. Besides, I think you’re cute, Drake.」

「Huh? Shinku-chan, seriously? Also, like, with the way those muscles are finished… you came from the Earth Dragon’s place, didn’t you?」

「Yes. We spent six full months receiving his thorough instruction.」

「Ugh, seriously impossible. That muscle-brained freak is, like, genuinely gross.」

She actually said it…

「His fundamentals and theories were useful.」

Shinku-neesan answered Livia’s comment without missing a beat.

「Maybe, but, like, they’re not cute at all.」

「Even so, we became stronger.」

「Cute is justice, okay? Bulky and shredded is a no-go.」

「I did not ask for your values.」

「Shinku-chan, you’re way too serious. Doesn’t that get tiring?」

「It does not. And I cannot live as frivolously as you do.」

The air prickled.

This is bad. Girls are scary.

「Well, whatever. So?」

Livia shrugged and twirled her long hair around one finger.

「Are we doing this, or not?」

The instant her eyes narrowed—the surface of the water seemed to distort slightly.

「Hey. I’m asking… can you do it?」

Her tone dropped, and the air grew even more taut.

「A foolish question.」

「Of course we’re doing this!」

The moment she heard mine and Shinku-neesan’s answers, Livia vanished.

「Eh!?」

A presence behind me.

Before I could turn—

「C’mon, c’mon, too slow. Are those muscles just for show?」

「Wha—!?」

She only gave me a light push, a little tap, but my balance collapsed completely, and the ground I should have been standing on sank beneath me like water.

This was a different vector of strength from Landbulk.

If the Earth Dragon was ‘hard,’ then the Water Dragon was ‘soft.’ That was the word that fit.

「Like, everything about you looks so heavy.」

Her voice came from the right.

I turned… but she was not there.

「Over here.」

The opposite side of where my attention had gone.

I reflexively put strength into my whole body, but something flicked the back of my knee, and the power went out of it with a jolt.

I cannot read her presence.

No—she’s making me misread it.

「Wow. You’ve got, like, no sense at all.」

Her voice rang out, deliberately needling.

From behind her, Shinku-neesan closed in without a word and swung her transforming greataxe in its battleaxe form, but Livia, who had been there a heartbeat ago, turned into water and scattered into mist.

「Mm-hmm. Looks like Shinku-chan gets it, maybe?」

The voice came from the middle of the underground lake.

I saw Livia standing on top of the water.

Damn it…!

I could not stop being irritated.

More than at Livia, I was getting angry at my own uselessness.

I closed the distance to Livia in a single bound and swung the ‘Red Ogre’s Iron Club down at her.

This time, water wrapped around Livia’s right hand, and she shifted the direction of my attack by just a little.

It was not that my attack could not reach her.

It’s hitting—and yet—

Is she diverting it?

「Nope. Bad.」

Her voice came from behind me again, and Livia’s fingertip lightly touched my back.

In that instant—

My vision spun, and my body flew through the air.

「Guh…!?」

The moment after I lost track of which way was the floor, I was slammed into the ground on my back.

I could not even break my fall, and the breath jammed in my throat.

「You know…」

She slowly walked over and looked down at me.

The expression on her refined face was pure composure.

「You’re just trying to brute-force everything, aren’t you?」

She had hit the nail exactly on the head.

After letting out a deep sigh—

「That’s lame.」

I stood up, steadied my breathing, and met Livia’s gaze.

「…Fine by me.」

I’m no good right now. I’m not using anything Landbulk taught me…

I needed to calm my heart down once.

She was right.

Right now, I am lame.

That last attack had been nothing but swinging with raw strength. Landbulk would never have struck like that.

From the very first move of our encounter, Livia had seized the pace and kept shaking me down to my heart.

…But I can’t end this while I’m still lame.

Remember Landbulk’s teachings.

Remember the fundamentals beaten into me.

「Intense emotions can become explosive power at times, but if you cannot control them, you may not even be able to bring out your true ability. Keep calmness within your heat.」

Thinking back on it now, every single thing Livia said had been designed to keep shaking my emotions.

She kept disturbing me, so I could not display my strength.

「The most important thing is not what your eyes can see. As long as you are using it as a technique, you are still second-rate. Only once you can use it as naturally as breathing will you finally reach an Ancient Dragon.」

Feel the body’s center of gravity.

When moving mana, do it powerfully… yet smoothly, like the flow of blood.

「There is no need to keep yourself tense at all times. Do not resist the flow of force. Match your impact only at the instant of the strike.」

I let the tension leave me once and steadied my breathing.

Shinku-neesan twirled her Dorenkoi as she waited to match my opening move.

That was one of her habits when she was deeply focused. It looked like she was in top form.

In that case, I only need to think about myself.

「It is all right. Your accumulation of effort will never betray you!」

Inside my head, Landbulk gave me a push with a full-faced smile.

I lightly adjusted my grip on the ‘Red Ogre’s Iron Club, then planted both feet firmly against the ground.

「All right, here I go!!」

「…Oh?」

Livia sensed the change in the air, and her eyes narrowed just slightly.

「That’s kinda fire.」