My match against Tarte began.
She wasn’t being the same timid Tarte as usual.
My intuition was right.
I could already tell from her tactics.
Whenever Tarte and I sparred, she would ascertain the situation first. But here, she suddenly propelled herself forward with all her might and launched a one-handed thrust.
It was the fastest and most effective way to make a move. She was forcing me to take an initiative.
Attacking me from a distance where I, who was fighting with a sword, couldn’t reach was a wise choice.
『She’s fast.』(Lugh)
I did expect her speed to increase thanks to【Beastification】.
But she moved at a speed that exceeded my expectations, and she almost got me there.
…Strangely enough, even though the power of【Beastification】was added to the mix while her physical abilities were already improved, Tarte was perfectly making the best use of her capacities.
It was as if her awkwardness when practicing a while ago was nothing but a lie.
I barely managed to parry her thrust rush with my sword, but she immediately pulled back and switched to a flurry of stabs.
She made good use of space. Being able to attack one-sidedly from a distance that my sword couldn’t reach was the advantage of using a spear.
And her blows were fast… and heavy.
Even though she was continuously thrusting at me, she put her back into each one of her attacks without hitting me with her bare hands.
If she did, I would hit her back to create an opening and close the distance at once, but given the speed and weight of her attacks, I couldn’t resort to that.
I tried to close the distance while blocking her spear, but the more I closed in, the more she backed off.
She made the right decision with a cool head.
I tried to wait for her to catch her breath, but her stamina had also been enhanced.
I feared that if all I could do was block, then I would be the one to go down first.
My hands started to go numb. I couldn’t take much more of this. My defeat was drawing closer.
[I see you’re somewhat different from usual today, Tarte!] (Lugh)
However, there was no way I was going to lose.
If I couldn’t close the distance, then I could just stay back.
I jumped backwards with all my strength.
Far enough so her spear couldn’t reach me. It was time to start over. I would deal with the numbness in my hands and my shortness of breath somehow.
Tarte stiffened for a moment.
In a battle between spear and sword, closing the gap was important for the sword user.
And yet, the fact that I dared to keep my distance was unexpected.
However, her hesitation only lasted an instant, and naturally, she closed the widened gap with an accelerated thrust rush.
…Indeed, her decision was calm and efficient, but monotonous. Using the exact same tactics against me was foolish.
I’d better correct her on that.
I gathered all my strength and broke into a run to match the speed of Tarte’s accelerated thrust rush.
[Wha-!?] (Tarte)
Tarte was confused.
Her thrust rush consisted in thrusting her spear while propelling herself forward in order to increase its offensive power.
However, if I closed the distance like this, there wouldn’t be enough for her to stretch out her spear, drastically reducing its offensive power.
Well, even so, the distance between us wasn’t short enough for my sword to reach her.
But that wasn’t my aim from the beginning.
I wasn’t randomly charging at her, I was going for a thrust rush myself.
My sword couldn’t reach Tarte, but my real aim was her spear, which she was half-heartedly using to attack.
The tip of her spear clashed with the tip of my sword.
And then, the spear shattered.
Of course, the proportionality between the hardness and shortness of a sword was its strong point.
Moreover, Tarte’s thrust was interrupted because I closed the gap with her, so this was the result of our clash.
In addition, there was a difference between Tarte, who was confused and had her weapon destroyed, and me, who had planned to destroy it from the beginning.
I took advantage of the short time Tarte remained frozen to take a step forward and land a short uppercut on her at super close range.
I did that a few times faster than when I pulled back my sword.
Her jaw trembled, and she should’ve lost consciousness there.
However, her reaction was light.
[Well I’ll be damned.] (Lugh)
I smiled bitterly. The moment my fist connected with her chin, Tarte willingly looked away. This weakened the shock and shifted the point of impact even more, which helped her avoid a concussion.
Tarte couldn’t dodge the blow at all.
It was a perfect low blow and a sure hit.
Or so it should’ve been, but she managed to defend against it by reflex thanks to her sixth sense, her animal instinct.
I had no idea【Beastification】could even enhance that.
Tarte’s eyes seemed to light up as she fell back, and the next moment, I felt a blunt impact, and my body bent in a curve.
Tarte’s knee was slammed into my stomach.
[Gah…!] (Lugh)
Then she followed up with her second attack. I couldn’t move in my state and tumbled with a dull thud.
That was when Tarte got on top of me and pinned me down by my shoulders.
[Haah… Haah…] (Tarte)
Tarte looked down at me while panting hard.
Her expression was that of a beast.
The impression of an adorable fox she was giving off with her ears had drastically changed, and now she looked like a real carnivore.
[It’s my loss. I didn’t think I would lose to you, Tarte. Now could you move over, please?] (Lugh)
If Tarte had stricken me in the throat instead of grabbing my shoulders and holding me down, she could’ve killed me.
In other words, she won this match.
So in the end, I lost, huh. Even I was still too green. The moment I landed a short uppercut, I was convinced I was going to win.
Because of that, I got her knee in my stomach.
…Maybe I had become too self-conceited at some point. I had to sharpen my skills again. Believing that it was over without even confirming the enemy’s death was disgraceful for an assassin.
[Lugh-samaaa…!] (Tarte)
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