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”So, have you decided on which eight of our people will be participating in the tournament?” Inquired Bell curiously.
”Hm? Yeah, more or less. I just went with the eight that had the highest power levels after the two of us, and told the rest that, if they’re interested in taking part in the tournament, they’d have to challenge one of the current eight and defeat them in a duel in order to take their place,” I informed her in response.
”That is…a valid selection process, I suppose, but I must say, it is a bit…lazy,” She replied wryly.
”I mean, it works, right? Why go for a more elaborate method if a simple one will suffice?” I pointed out objectively.
”Fair enough, I suppose. Anyway, you said that you had something to tell me?” She responded.
”Yup, I just wanted to ask you if you want to participate in the exhibition matches that’ll be separate from the tournament?” I asked her.
”Oh, for those with power levels above the tournament upper limit? Hm…I think I will. After all the life and death battles against extraordinary levels of power, I think going all out and being able to fight seriously in a more casual and less dangerous and stressful situation sounds rather appealing,” She responded after mulling it over.
”Cool, I was planning on participating too. Though, uh, if I end up having to fight Kuro, I think I might just give up on the spot,” I grinned sheepishly.
”When we first encountered him, our power levels were probably on par with or even greater than his, and despite that, he still defeated the both of us with relative ease. And now, he possesses a power level that is several times greater than ours…I cannot imagine even putting up a decent fight against him one on one,” She mused wistfully.
”Yeah, I know, right? And if we don’t stand a chance, I doubt anyone else will either. Though, I suppose, he might ease himself into it and not go all out right from the start, so initially at least, there might be a slim chance,” I suggested optimistically.
”Very slim, even if he does hold back, he will not let his guard down, that much is for certain,” Sighed Bell in reply.
That’s for sure, that guy really knows how to stay focused and alert during a battle. Back when I fought him, I remember it feeling like I couldn’t find a single opening at any point, and even if there were any, I certainly wasn’t skilled enough to exploit them.
And besides, even after all this time and having seen him in action several times at this point, I’m pretty sure that I still haven’t seen all the tricks he’s got up his sleeve. Which is, you know, just a little bit terrifying.
And also makes me really, really glad that we’re on the same side now. I mean, if he really felt like it, he could destroy this entire world in a few hours. And that’s definitely not an exaggeration. If I remember right, he wiped the nation that used to be in this area, Silvland, right off the map in just a matter of minutes.
Three of the nations that used to exist in this world were reduced to massive craters…and this is the biggest one. Both the nations of Goldway and Bronztan were destroyed by Blood Crystals, crystals that use real flesh and blood as materials and are the most destructive explosives ever created in this world.
Of course, Blood Crystals aren’t the kind of thing you can just easily mass-produce. First off, because the creation process is super messed up, not to mention that this world is small, so the number of people living in it really isn’t all that high, in the grand scheme of things.
And second off, because they take several decades to create. From what I’ve heard, the organization that took Goldway’s place and became known as The Valaque Empire, had a pretty big stockpile of the stuff, but it’s long-since been used up. Belia’s Weathering Magic can speed up that process, but I think this work is far better off without dangerous weapons like Blood Crystals.
Also, speaking of The Valaque Empire, from what I’ve heard, this world had Zombies at one point! Sure am glad that we were up in the floating island while that was happening, being turned into a Zombie, of all things, feels like a really, really shitty way to go.
I mean, yeah, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit curious to see what the Zombies in this world were like, but at the same time, I’m totally fine with never seeing one.
Think about it, how often do things actually go right in Zombie movies and stuff? Hardly ever! Well, there was that one weird Zombie romcom movie, which was surprisingly good, now that I think about it.
Anyway, my point is-…wait, what am I talking about? Specifically, how’d I get to talking about Zombie movies when I started with mulling over Kuro’s abilities?
”Sylvar, are you okay? You’ve got a weird expression on your face,” Remarked Bell, snapping me out of it.
”Huh? Oh, uh, sorry, I just happened to end up deep in thought over nothing in particular,” I grinned sheepishly in response.
”I…see?” She replied uncertainly, not seeming to understand what I meant.
Guess her mind has never gone off on random tangents out of nowhere, huh?
”By the way, I had a thought, Bell…how about we help train those that are going to participate in the tournament? We’ve just been sitting around for the most part since Samsara’s defeat, we probably shouldn’t let ourselves get too rusty,” I pointed out.
”Hm, yes, I suppose that you do have a point…,” She responded with a nod.
I kinda didn’t tell her the whole reason. The truth is, during the time I was on the run from Sant’s forces, I got really used to frequently being in the middle of combat, and after a while, I really started to enjoy it.
And since things have been so peaceful and idle lately, there’s no real urgency to stay in top form all the time, so a lot of people are slacking off these days. Which, I mean, is fair enough, things were constantly hectic after the floating island was brought down, and now that we’ve got peace, it’d be stupid to not take full advantage of it and enjoy it.
That said, every now and then, I get the urge to fight. And, admittedly, also the urge to kill, but that one I’m suppressing as best I can. Well, I’ve still got well over eight hundred years left in my lifespan, assuming I live out the maximum lifespan of an Elf at a thousand years.
From what I know, all Elemental Sages tend to live out close to the maximum lifespans of their respective races, unless they’re, you know, killed before that. Some even go a few years past that mark.
But only three of the past Elemental Sages have actually died naturally, the rest were all either killed or volunteered to be sacrificed and replaced once they were past their prime.
It should go without saying that every Fairy Elemental Sage would have done that if they could…but none of them ever lived long enough to try. The Fire and Water Sages tend to have pretty powerful offensive abilities, but since they were always symbiotic with the Fairies, they rarely stayed in a single host for too long, since Fairies are the most fragile of our races.
Seriously, a normal person could probably crush a Fairy to death in their fist if they manage to grab hold of one while they’re still in their smaller states. And even in their bigger states, they’re pretty much about as durable as a regular human.
Well, not that it matters anymore. The remaining Fairies that reside in Idyll, they seem to have resigned themselves to simply dying out, they’ve completely stopped even trying to reproduce, and some of them have died of self-starvation. Most of them do still eat, but they seem to be in a daze while they do so, and some of them just straight up don’t bother eating at all.
The most loyal race, huh…I disagree with that notion, what they had wasn’t loyalty at all. They were just brainwashed. Like programmed drones that just mindlessly carry out their commands with no second thoughts. Yeah, they really were just like machines.
And now that I really think about it, even their personalities were relatively uniform. I wonder, if I’d been reincarnated as a Fairy instead of an Elf, would I have been a mindless drone like the rest?
I’d rather never have to find out…and besides, I wouldn’t change a thing about my current situation. Yeah, life’s pretty good in this world right now…
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