The Academy’s Weapon Replicator-Chapter 13.2: Fate Manipulation (5) Part 2
"Huff!"
Slevb pushed forward with his dagger, seemingly dragging the fight into a contest of strength.
With my spirit power, mana, and physical strength lacking, I couldn't win this struggle of force.
If this were a contest of strength, that is.
Swish-!
I wove a dagger in my empty hand and slashed at her arm.
No, since I couldn't see it, I swung the dagger at where I assumed her arm would be.
Screeeeech-!
A sharp scream.
She stepped back in pain, but she didn't seem to drop her weapon.
Was it too shallow? It's unavoidable since I can't see.
My left hand is still empty.
Slevb wouldn't understand. My empty hand had slashed her arm.
"...I can see it more clearly now."
A woman in tattered clothes, barely covering her body, almost naked, staggering around.
But her true form is a ghost.
So faint that if she moves quickly, she's easily lost from sight.
Like now.
"…!"
The moment I thought I'd lost sight of her, I rolled on the ground.
I can't afford a half-hearted response against this creature.
I could attack a hundred times, but it ends the moment she grazes me once.
"If only I had Obsidian!"
Obsidian, the metal with elastic properties, I left it at the mansion.
The artifact I requested from Quinie hadn't arrived yet, and I hadn't expected to encounter an outside monster in a low-level dungeon.
Weaving
Workshop No.1
Grade - Normal
Iron Dagger
I created a weapon through weaving.
An actual dagger in my right hand, a woven dagger in my left.
It's my first time attempting dual-wielding. The stance is awkward.
Moreover, the woven daggers cannot be trusted. They disappear the moment they appear in reality, so instead of blocking, they must be parried, and each time, recreated anew.
But what I'm attempting now doesn't hinge on weapon skills.
It's all about baiting Slevb.
"Will this work?"
I swallowed.
The odds aren't great. But against a ghostly opponent, my only chance is to gamble like this.
Slevb seemed a bit wary.
The first thrown dagger, and the sliced arm. She must know I have an invisible weapon in my hand.
However, that wait didn't last long, as she swung his dagger at me again.
Clang! Clang!
Keeping Slevb's faint form in my sight, I parry her attack with my weapon.
Slevb doesn't have any sword skills. She just swings at me, far outpacing my speed.
"Whoo! Huff...!"
My flesh trembles.
My breath feels like it's injuring my lungs.
I completely abandon the thought of attacking and focus solely on defense.
The opponent isn't even using proper swordsmanship. Yet, the moments of blocking are thrilling, as if my blood itself is trembling.
As my attacks don't penetrate, she presses on even more fiercely.
With every sharp blade I fend off,
-I hate.
Her voice is heard.
-I hate the gods.
-The gods who lied to me.
-I curse all the gods who have given me eternal trials.
Her voice is full of resentment and anger. It seems to be only those emotions left, like an attack pouring out vengeance.
But,
"So what...!"
I can't help but gasp for breath from tension.
I'm not a god. I am not loved by the gods. I have a body that has neither divine power nor talent. Rather, I almost got killed by a god.
Clang!
Even parrying it was getting difficult. Is it time?
I raised my right hand holding the dagger. And while blocking his dagger, I loosened my grip.
Clang!
The dagger left my hand with a flashy sound. I made it look like I dropped the dagger to her.
An empty hand without a dagger. A revealed chest. If I were Slevb, I would definitely aim for this opening.
Swish!
The dagger held by Slevb shot towards me in a straight line.
'Please!'
Weaving
Workshop Item No. 3
Rank - Common
Iron Shield
This time, a shield.
Slevb must have thought that the invisible weapon I had was a dagger. She must have guessed that my weapon was a dagger after clashing a few times. If I had another weapon, I would have taken it out a long time ago.
Since she's making that assumption, this shield will work.
Clang!
I swung my shield with all my might. Parrying Slevb's dagger fiercely.
My shield disappeared at that moment, and Slevb's dagger fell from her hand.
Without the dagger, Slevb's means of attack are gone. Since a spirit body cannot exert physical force, Slevb's only means of attack is that one dagger.
Screech-!
Slevb turned her body rapidly with a strange scream. At a speed as if lines were being drawn in the air. She reaches out her hand towards her dagger.
However, I, who knows where the dagger is falling, am one step ahead.
I saw the position she was aiming for and got in position.
I unconsciously held my breath in tension.
Once more, a weave.
Please, hold on.
Weaving
Grade - Legendary
Gram
‘Ugh…!’
As soon as I grasped Gram, a wave of nausea hit me.
Even without the obsidian, I had already used a lot of mana.
However, my opponent was distracted by her lost weapon, and her movement was predictable.
‘If I miss this, it’s only right that I die early!’
I swung Gram from above down towards Slevb.
Swish-!
The sound was brief.
My hands trembled.
Gram had vanished.
Symptoms of mana exhaustion covered my whole body.
On the other hand, Slevb, who had been noisy until now, didn’t even scream. She just silently revealed his entire body.
Thud, she fell to her knees without a trace of pain in his expression.
Was this death?
That’s what I thought when.
-Is this that person's sword?
I heard Slevb’s voice. The sound was faint, and with each syllable, it grew even fainter.
Breathing heavily, yet suppressing the convulsions of my body, I said,
“Do you know the owner of the sword?”
-I’ve been cut by this sword. As a soul.
“…Yes.”
Slevb is hard to damage with physical force. Being a soul, she can’t be touched except by that dagger.
I also don’t precisely know how I was able to cut Slevb.
Is it because the weave is ‘magical’? Or is it a characteristic of Gram itself?
I didn’t know, so I spared my words. After all, Slevb didn’t have the time to hear them all.
-…Is that so.
-Am I still able to reach that person’s sword?
With those words.
Slevb's exposed body gradually disappeared. Not merely concealed as before, but as a complete annihilation.
