The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

No matter how formidable the enemy may be, we will not back down.

Believing in his own strength, he pushes forward.

A noble warrior with undivided kindness.

This is how I envisioned a brave man.

He---Karon---would have been the one who deserved this title.

Unlike a knight like me, who is good at dexterity, he is the strongest and the best knight in Mearaq, with a beautiful swordsmanship that combines boldness and delicacy, and with outstanding commanding ability.

The title that should have been given to him was given to me.

The honor of valor was nothing but a weight on me.

I myself understood that it was inevitable.

Even so, Kalon, one of the most powerful men in Mialak, had awakened to the power of the dragon, had run amok, and was beyond anyone's control, and someone other than Kalon must be the emotional support of Mialak.

And I, his next candidate, was chosen.

I was chosen because I am just a good hand at it. ---That's all there is to it.

There is a boy standing before me now.

Usato, a messenger from the Kingdom of Ringle.

He is facing me without weapons or anything, and he still looks like an ordinary boy who can be found anywhere.

When I first saw him, I was on the verge of being stopped by Kalon. At the time, I only saw him as a boy who had gotten into a fight, and I warned him to run away immediately, but my perception of him soon changed.

He had struck Kalon with his fist with his own body.

I know better than anyone how extraordinary it is to beat Kalon, who has the power of a dragon. I would have understood if it had been a big man, but to see it done by a boy younger than myself left me in awe and astonishment.

<

Those were the words that Mr. Farga said to me after Usato and the others returned from the meeting with Mr. Farga yesterday.

I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut at his words.

He fights with Usato.

What is he fighting for?

What is he putting into his fist?

I want to know, so I have made up my mind to fight him and I am standing here now.

"Leona-san. May I confirm the rules for you?

"What?　Uh-huh.

I nodded in response to Aruk's words.

He nodded in response to my reply and stood at a position about halfway between me and Usato.

"Basically, I use a blade-drawn weapon. Magic can also be used. Fighting seriously is preferable, but please do not get seriously injured. Usato-dono is particularly careless about injuries.

"Uh, okay."

"Acknowledged."

I'll give the signal. If I find it dangerous, I will stop you.

With these words, he left the scene.

Seriously, huh?

I have never fought against a healing wizard before, but I did not expect to be so nervous in a mere hand-to-hand combat. His fist is powerful enough to knock a normal person unconscious with a single blow. And when you consider that it is unleashed with such astonishing agility, it is clear that he is not an opponent you can fight with impunity.

But..,

"It's not that I can't handle it."

Watching his movements up close, albeit briefly, I immediately recognized it.

I immediately recognized what he lacked, a fragile part of him, a weakness.

Perhaps it is difficult to explain. It is not something that can be compensated for overnight, but something that is acquired through practice and actual combat.

"Well then, thank you very much for your cooperation. Ms. Leona.

"Yes, it's my pleasure."

After bowing to us, Usato readied his fist and took a half-step backward.

I bowed back to him, gripped my wooden sword with both hands, and held it horizontally with the tip facing him.

"Well then..."

Aruk-dono's voice echoes through the quiet training hall.

Usato's eyes, which were watching us without caution, turned sharp.

He has changed from an ordinary boy to a fighter.

The air in the training hall gradually becomes tense, and after looking at each other once in turn, Aruk-dono slowly raises his hand upward..,

"---Start!

--- and swung down forcefully.

At that moment, as I was about to fight, Usato was already raising his fist in the air in front of me.

"Ah!"

He closed the gap in one breath!

The overwhelming speed of his initial attack and his extraordinary reflexes sent chills down my spine.

"But!"

In a sense, I had expected this.

I evade his fist, which is advancing to puncture my torso with precision, by stepping out at an angle as if I were sliding.

"In front of you!"

There!

He has overwhelmingly superior reflexes, so he has no time to raise his wooden sword.

With my wooden sword at the ready, I slam my shoulder into his body with an empty fist, knocking him out of his stance. Usato's face, narrowed enough to catch his breath, reflects the look of astonishment on his face.

I push Usato out of the way with all my might and deliver a thrust at him as he falls to the side.

"Whoa ......!　Oh, shit!

"I knew you'd avoid it."

However, the thrust that disoriented him was also avoided by him who leaned his body to the side as quickly as he could.

It's hard to catch him with a normal attack ......, so we have no choice but to use magic.

I switch my swords from both hands to my right hand, hide my left hand behind my back so that he cannot see it, and swing the wooden sword in my right hand at him.

He flicks my sword with his fist and tries to get into my pocket again, but at the same time, I throw the ice magic I have generated from behind my back out of his sight and under his feet.

"What?　When did you do that?

The ice solidifies under his feet, and he finally stops moving.

As if to take advantage of this momentary lull, I raise my wooden sword to the upper level and swing it at him. I swung down with the hope that this would be enough to decide the outcome of the fight...,

"This much!"

"This much!　He pulled his foot out of the ground?

Surprisingly, Usato pulled out his foot from the ground sewn with ice and avoided my wooden sword just before it hit him, and then he backturned and moved away from me.

"Phew ......, after all, Leona-san is strong ......."

That's our line. If I had been a better player, I would have lost in the first move."

Amazing physical ability and reflexes.

His ability, seen up close, was nothing short of amazing. Moreover, his power is not something that is easily acquired, but something that is the result of a bloody discipline.

"......What a waste, isn't it?"

I spontaneously muttered to myself.

Usato's fighting style is similar to that of an amateur.

He attacks at close range and avoids attacks when they come. His fighting style, which is not skillful at all, is easy to understand from my point of view.

Even when he avoids my attacks, his movements are a little too exaggerated.

If he has such a good reflexes and such a good physical sight that he can flick a sword with his fist, he should be able to avoid my attacks with a minimum of movement, without making such an exaggerated move.

"And ......"

The biggest waste is his fist.

The attacks that he launches with his physical ability are certainly very powerful, but not all of the power can be contained in his fists.

His arms and legs are raised in a messy manner, and his posture is disordered during the attack, so that the force is not concentrated in his fists, and the power escapes.

It is a terrible story that such a fist is powerful enough to sink an ordinary knight, but such a flawless behavior and fist cannot defeat Kalon.

"......"

The worst possibility I can imagine.

It is that the opponent he fights in the future will see his weakness as I do and strike a fatal counterattack at the most inopportune time.

Kalon, who is currently out of his wits, is no exception.

Even if he loses his reason, there is no possibility that he will fight with the insight and skill he had before he lost his reason.

"Leona?"

"...... yeah, let's continue."

For now, let's continue to work with him.

He generates several magic bullets in his left hand and looks at Usato.

"Close combat with you is chilling. Let's keep a little distance from each other.

Then I will only approach you if I have to.

Usato readied his fist in the same stance as before.

I wield the magic bullet in my left hand as if to reave it, and fix it so that it floats in the air in front of me. The magic bullet fixed in midair changes its shape and turns into a dagger of ice.

"The blade will be crushed, but it will hurt when it hits you!

As soon as he falls back, five ice daggers shoot out at Usato.

One of the main characteristics of ice magic is its versatility.

It can be used as a magic bullet to freeze the opponent, or it can be created in the form of daggers and shot out, as it is now.

"I didn't know magic could do this ......!"

The ice dagger is shot out, and Usato leaps to the side to avoid it and continues to shoot daggers at it.

Usato moves fast, but he is easy to read.

He changes his position so that he can't get too close to us, and limits his escape by firing the dagger first at the place where he is likely to leap out. ......!

"It's ...... really awesome that he still doesn't hit us!"

"I'm trying so hard to avoid it!

Usato, who had dropped the dagger with his hand, which he couldn't evade in time, came barreling toward us at a furious pace.

Terrifyingly, he is trying to get close to us, knocking off all the ice daggers that are coming toward him.

"All at once!"

"How could I have not seen you coming?

At that moment, Usato's right arm freezes, as if he had knocked the dagger away.

"It's not just daggers I'm sending down!"

By weaving magic bullets into the myriad of daggers he shoots out, he has taken advantage of his intercepting maneuver.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to use this opportunity to ice you.

"d*mn it!　No, I can go!"

But Usato did something I had not expected.

He looked at his icy hands for a moment, but then he turned his attention to me and started running toward me again, ignoring his frozen right arm.

"What?

He didn't stop, but instead came at me with a counter-intuitive look on his face as he continued to fire daggers and magic bullets at me... but as if he didn't care that the ice covering his hands was getting bigger with the magic bullets, he continued to fire daggers and magic bullets at me, and then he fired again at me. He is advancing toward us, blocking the bullets with his frozen right arm.

"What, what?　You can't expect that!　I mean, are you still coming at me?

He is supposed to be covered from the elbow to the tip, but he is swinging his arms around, trying to hit me.

Deciding that I can't hold him back any longer with magic bullets, I ready my sword and charge at him.

"Hmph!"

I catch his ice-covered fist with the belly of my wooden sword.

"Ugh ......!"

You manage to fling his fist backward, frowning at the creaking sound of the wooden sword.

My hand was numb from the momentary impact, but he was already in front of me, his unfrozen left fist poised for a right tame.

"Let's go, Leona!"

"Let's go, Leona!"

I felt a bad premonition as I saw his posture as if he was going to make a backhanded attack instead of a blow, but I also made a thrust with all my strength with my numb hand.

At this moment, however, I notice that his gaze is focused not on me, but on the wooden sword that he has thrust at me.

"I'm going to break it!"

"Nah. ......"

His left fist, swung out, smashed the center of the wooden sword, which had been weakened by the blow earlier, with precision.

I let out a cry of astonishment at his skill, which was the result of his dynamic vision and his sword-fearless spirit.

"Now..."

"No, I'm not done with you yet!　Usato!

I am not an easy opponent to lose my will to fight just because my weapon is gone.

Immediately I throw the broken wooden sword in front of him, and step into his pocket as if to sneak into his arms.

He is momentarily blinded by the wooden sword thrown in front of him, and he hurriedly flicks it with his left arm.

"There!"

He then strikes his left arm with a magic bullet, sewing his torso and left arm together with ice.

The restraints would be broken in an instant, but that would be enough of an opening for me!

"Cold! ......, I won't let you!"

You avoid the right arm that is thrust out in a desperate attempt to get out of the way.

Without stopping his forward momentum, he puts his hand on his right arm as he passes by, and at the same time, he pushes off with his foot.

"If you get confused, no matter how much you ......!"

She clamps her arms around his right arm and slams him to the ground, pinning his back against her body.

Usato is completely pinned by his right arm and is forced to the ground so that he cannot move. He let out a yelp of surprise at the technique applied to him.

"A joint technique?

"I don't know what a kansetsu waza is, but it's a form of interpersonal combat used when one loses one's sword.

"Oh, I see. ......"

When I say this while leaning on Usato's back, he replies awkwardly with a slight blush on his cheeks.

Did I harden it a little too much?

But I have to ask him to be patient, because if I put any more pressure on his shoulder, it might come off.

"I'm glad I managed to hold you down. ....... I had to do this to stop you: ......"

If I had made even one mistake, I would have been the one on the ground.

Despite my calm tone, I struggled to calm my racing heart.

The way he snapped the wooden sword.

Perhaps he could do the same with an iron sword. Otherwise, he would not have been able to do it with certainty.

"No, I'm not finished yet."

"...... what?"

I let out a stunned sound at the words of Usato, who was strapped under me.

......Usato is still trying to continue in this situation?　Normally he would not want to continue in this situation, but he is still fighting.

"If I'm serious about this, I can't lose just because of this, ALC hasn't stopped me, and the game is still on.

"Hey, wait a minute, if you continue like this, your shoulder bone will come off!

"I'm used to having my shoulder dislocated, so..."

While still restrained, Usato broke the ice on his left arm and placed his hand on the ground.

My cheeks twitched as he gradually raised himself up without showing it on his face, even though there must have been tremendous pain in the shoulder I was holding fast.

At that moment I remembered the words of Mr. Farga.

We won the match when we held him off.

But this is not a match, but a real fight between him and me. Even if we subdue him with our techniques, if he has the strength to handle the situation, the match will continue.

"......"

His right arm, which should have had no strength, moves back in front of him.

He has more than just physical ability and reflexes. What was truly frightening was his mental toughness to endure any kind of pain.

"Hmph!"

He stands up to about mid-rise and swings his right arm that I am holding down.

I gave up and jumped down from him. Usato checked his condition as he rotated his free right arm, smiled a smile that could be described as ferocious, and readied his fist.

"Come on, let's continue."

The smile was enough to remind him of the smile of the woman called Rose who had been projected by the magic of Master Farga yesterday.