We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The way home.
“Hey, Mistral.”
“What is it?”
We were on our way back to the Mimicho Race village. In the forest, we were reflecting on our fight with the baboon.
“About the fight just now. Did you give it your all, Mistral?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. It just felt like you were holding back, Mistral.”
“In what way?”
“Well, you have a finishing move that can even shatter Grandpa’s scales, yet you only used it at the very end, right?”
“That’s true. But does using a technique mean you’re giving your all?”
“What do you mean?”
“Before I answer, tell me, what did you feel during this battle?”
“Uh. I was completely useless.”
“In what way?”
“I’ve been taught the Dragon Sword Dance by Grandpa and Dragon Arts by Jiludo, but none of it was useful this time.”
“How so?”
“Because my Dragon Arts are too powerful and would damage the forest if I used them. And with the Dragon Sword Dance, the baboon’s sheer mass overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t even perform the dance properly.”
“Indeed, it was too heavy with each blow from the baboon, making it difficult to even parry, let alone dance,” Mistral said.
“Yeah. I could attack, but if I can’t defend, I can’t get into the flow of the dance.”
“To cut as if dancing, and to parry. That’s the essence of the Dragon Sword Dance, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. But this time, my defense was crushed, and I was completely useless.”
Mistral gave a wry smile at my dejected shoulders.
“But when we spar, you’ve been parrying my attacks skillfully lately. I’m not as strong as the baboon, but I’ve been hitting you with considerable force, you know?”
“That’s true. I’ve gotten better at parrying your strong blows, Mistral.”
“The baboon and I. Both of our attacks would crush you if you took them head-on, but what’s the difference?”
“Is it physical attacks versus weapon attacks?”
“I can parry weapon attacks, but I can’t parry a direct punch?”
“At least, that’s how it was this time.”
When attacked by Mistral or someone with a weapon, I could change the angle of my sword or deflect the force to alter the trajectory of their attack. No matter how heavy the blow, if I could flow with it, it wouldn’t be too difficult, and the forms of the Dragon Sword Dance wouldn’t be broken.
However, I couldn’t properly deflect direct physical attacks like those from the baboon this time. Normally, if attacked with a blade, the attacker would be the one getting injured, I thought.
“You were overwhelmed by the opponent’s fighting spirit, weren’t you?”
“Muuu, maybe so.”
“When you spar with me, you might be a little too accustomed to it. There’s no killing intent, and each blow has a uniform power, perhaps that’s why.”
“Perhaps?”
Mistral’s attacks were easy to parry, in a bad way. She was holding back, and as she said, there was no killing intent.
And I, too, was unconsciously less fearful because it was a sparring session.
But this time was different. Intimidated by the genuine killing intent and overwhelming physical power, I might have been instinctively recoiling.
I explained my self-analysis.
“You can fight demon races with weapons without any problem, but you were scared this time?”
“No, it’s different. I felt fear when fighting Ruilala, a demon viscount, but I could control it. But today, after taking a blow at the beginning, and being caught off guard by the pain, my instincts might have just panicked.”
“Certainly, that initial surprise attack was tough. It caused the warriors to falter as well, and we almost fell into the opponent’s trap.”
Magic beasts are truly cunning. They are always thinking about how to turn the battlefield to their advantage, how to trap and toy with their opponents.
“But your provocation saved us.”
“That was because I didn’t want to fight on terms favorable to the baboon.”
The baboon’s surprise attack had made me and the warriors anxious. If we had continued fighting like that, it would have played right into the baboon’s hands.
So, I deliberately provoked it with a sarcastic remark. To enrage the baboon and rob it of its calm judgment. Its attacks would become predictable when angered, and it wouldn’t be able to use escape arts and get away when it was at a disadvantage.
“Provocation is a valid tactic. So, it’s not like you were completely useless. Besides, you were the one who created the opening for the attack, weren’t you?”
“Thanks to the sharpness of the White Sword.”
“Possessing an excellent weapon is a prerequisite for becoming an excellent warrior.”
“Yeah. I’m grateful to Grandpa for it.”
Even with excellent combat skills, if the weapon is dull, one cannot unleash their full potential.
I believe my Dragon Sword Dance is only effective thanks to the sharpness of the White Sword and the durability of the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword.
“So, how does my movement this time connect to my first question?”
“Fufufu. It’s still too early. One more question stemming from this conversation. While it’s true you couldn’t parry the baboon’s attacks this time, I, on the other hand, took them head-on. Why?”
“Mumumu. Actually, that was a question I had too.”
If I were more accustomed to fighting opponents who primarily rely on close-quarters combat, I might have been able to parry the attack. However, no matter how accustomed I was, I don’t think I could have taken the blow head-on.
Mistral is an excellent warrior, but she looks like a woman and is by no means muscular and robust like Zan. No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem possible for Mistral’s slender arm alone to withstand the baboon’s fierce onslaught.
Could it be that Mistral is actually incredibly heavy? I’ve never hugged her, but if she’s heavier than the baboon, she wouldn’t be blown away and could withstand it… but that’s impossible, right?
“Elnea, your gaze is lewd. Don’t look at people with strange eyes.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
It seems I unconsciously stared at Mistral’s entire body.
“Did you perhaps think I was heavier than the baboon?”
“I-I didn’t! Really!”
That was close. Can Mistral, like the Ancient Dragon Species, read people’s minds? I almost received the merciless hammer of judgment.
“But I really don’t understand why you could take the attack head-on and not be blown away, Mistral.”
“Really?”
“Really and truly.”
Mistral looked at me with a troubled expression.
“If that’s the case, you still have a long way to go.”
She said with a wry smile.
“Guhuu, could it be that I’m overlooking something important?”
“Yes, that might be your next challenge.”
“Uwah, is that so? I was thinking of practicing coordination with everyone next.”
“Coordination will be important in the future, but this is a more pressing challenge.”
Am I strong or weak? I thought I could match the black-armored magic sword user and the high-ranking demon Ruilala, but then issues like this come to light.
“You’re strong in one-on-one confrontations. But you still have a lot to learn when you’re caught off guard or can’t move as you want.”
Indeed. I have almost no experience fighting multiple opponents. That’s why I was trying to learn coordination, but there were other weaknesses that Mistral pointed out.
“When we get back, I’ll consult with the old man.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
I was a bit dejected. After all, I had trained so hard, received so much recognition, and had gained some confidence. And now, to find out I still have so many challenges ahead.
“Fufufu, don’t be so down. You are strong enough as you are, and you should be confident. It’s just that battlefield skill cannot be acquired overnight.”
Mistral leaned in and encouraged me.
“That’s right. Even after fighting for five hundred years, we still find challenges with every battle. It was the same this time. We struggled because of our misjudgment in dealing with an opponent whose attacks were difficult to penetrate.”
Carly, who was walking beside us, joined the conversation.
“It’s not like we haven’t encountered baboons before, and we’ve fought far more terrifying magic beasts. But even we struggle at times. It’s a good thing to find challenges with every battle. Fear the time when you have no more challenges and no more room for growth.”
Astra, holding hands with the Wind Spirit girl, also spoke to me kindly.
“When growth stops, and an opponent you cannot defeat appears, that is true despair. As long as you have challenges, rejoice in the fact that you can still grow.”
“That’s right. Reflecting on battles is necessary, but finding challenges from them and overcoming weaknesses is important, isn’t it?”
“Yes. That’s how people gradually become stronger.”
“Will I ever catch up to Mistral?”
“I’m still growing too, you know.”
“Gunun. You could stop for a little while, you know.”
“Oh? If you stop, will you catch up immediately?”
“I might even overtake you!”
“Fufufu, I look forward to that.”
“Hahaha, Elnea, you’re so positive.”
“To catch up to and overtake the Dragon Princess. By then, you’ll already exceed the caliber of a Dragon King.”
“If you’re stronger than the Dragon King, aren’t you the Dragon King?”
“Because the higher title than Dragon King is Dragon Princess.”
“Come to think of it, that’s true.”
There’s a hierarchy to titles, you see. Originally, there was the title of Dragon King, and a woman who was stronger and achieved great deeds than the person holding that title appeared, so Old Man Sleigsta created the new title of Dragon Princess. In a sense, Dragon King is a subordinate title to Dragon Princess. So, if a Dragon King were to surpass a Dragon Princess, they would no longer be a Dragon King.
“I’ll be waiting, expecting you to be the first to hold this new title.”
“Gwah, that’s an immense amount of pressure!”
I might be aiming for an impossible goal.
Mistral and the Mimicho Race people laughed as they watched me panic at the difficult road ahead.
“By the way, you still haven’t answered my question?”
The topic had shifted to my future challenges, but I hadn’t gotten the crucial part.
“You don’t know?”
“Sorry, I surrender.”
“Fufufu, I can’t help it. In short, I couldn’t use my finishing move because I was busy taking the baboon’s attacks.”
“Were you at your limit just defending?”
“Yes. I was channeling my Dragon Energy into defense.”
“Ah!”
So that’s how it was. Here, I finally understood the truth of the matter.
Mistral was using her Dragon Energy to block the baboon’s attacks. When I channel my Dragon Energy into physical ability, I seek speed. The faster the movements in the Dragon Sword Dance, the more moves there are, and the more powerful it becomes.
But Mistral channeled her Dragon Energy into defense, nullifying the power of the baboon’s fierce assault.
And she couldn’t unleash a grand technique powerful enough to break through the baboon’s defense while in a defensive state. It was only after she switched from defense to offense, attacking when the Mimicho Race provided an opening, that she could unleash her move.
“It seems you’ve reached the answer. There are situations where one must focus entirely on defense, depending on the time and circumstances.”
“This time, Mistral bore the brunt of the baboon’s attacks, allowing us to attack.”
“That’s how it was.”
“This is also a form of coordination, isn’t it?”
“Of course. I was focusing on defense, trusting that you and the warriors would attack.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“But still,”
“Hmm?”
“You weren’t putting your all into it, were you?”
Mistral gave me an enigmatic smile in response to my question, but she didn’t answer.
