Dream Life Vol II Chapter 41.2: “Beatrice Laval”

　Terry’s friends are also following us around on their own, probably in their spare time. Of course, I had nothing to do with them. They were neither party members nor disciples. To begin with, I don’t have a fixed party.

　I am a beast, and as a member of the King Tiger Folk, which is said to be the strongest beast folk, it was difficult for me to make friends with them because they seemed to be frightened when I gaze at them. I had formed a party with him a few times, but after completing a few requests together, they would dismiss the party, saying something like “I’m too different from them in ability.” If that was the case, I should have joined a party that was more competent, but the members of such parties were already fixed. So, there was almost no room for me.

　It was the same with men. Why do men like big breasts? Men would come to me for my breasts. However, after sharing a few nights together, they would soon say goodbye to me. He would say, “I’m losing my confidence as a man.” Of course, I would have dumped him if he didn’t look at me and only chased after me because of my breasts.

　I digress. In the end, I had no choice but to do it solo. I had to help out at various parties, so I had a wide range of friends.

　Because of this, there are guys like Terry and the others who call me “Sis” and idolize me, but I don’t take care of them to the extent that they have a need to call me that.

　When we got to the training ground, I picked up a spear for training and then let him choose a wooden sword. If what Ian said was true, he would be a magical swordsman at his age, and I wanted to make sure of that.

　He chose the sword without hesitation and asked, “What about magic?” I thought he was a really funny kid. If you are the top of the academy, it is normal to compete with magic.

　I had planned to make him use magic from the beginning, so I said, “At this distance, it’s going to be difficult to just cast a normal spell. I’ll let you shoot first.” At that time, I had misjudged his ability. I was sure that even though he was a genius, he was only ten years old and had probably had some sword training based on his footwork, but I thought it would be impossible for him to combine it with magic.

“Then let me attack first.” (Zack)

　He said this and began to cast a magic spell that I did not know.

　When he finished chanting the spell, a transparent bird flew out of his right hand. Even though we were in the middle of a mock battle, the transparent bird had a beauty so realistic that it was stunning.

　I quickly regained my composure and readied myself to intercept the bird. To my surprise, it soared to the ceiling in a circular motion.

　For a moment, I did not understand what had happened. But I sensed something dangerous from the transparent bird that flew up, and I paid attention to it and to him at the same time. While I was wondering what to do, he cast the same spell as before.

　I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it.

　In this place called Doctus, I often work with magicians. Naturally, I am proud to say that I know more about magic than most adventurers in other lands.

　That is why I was stunned by his insane ability in invoking two magic spells in parallel.

　His insane ability did not end there. He attacked from behind with the first magic he sent out, and then aimed at my feet with the next magic he sent out. I have never seen anyone in Doctus manipulate an object sent by magic at will. We were in the bosom of this magician’s guild.

　However, if that was all, I could still handle it. But that wasn’t the only thing about him that was scary.

　He had left the magic flying and put me in a situation where I was forced to respond to it, and then he took advantage of the situation. He showed such quickness that I couldn’t believe he was just a kid, and he came at me.

　I was determined to stomach the attacks. I knew that I would not be able to defend against all of his attacks. Then, I decided to give up on the magic that flew at my feet and deal with the frontal sword attack and the magic that came at my head, which could be fatal in real battle.

　I was on fire for the first time in a long time. Perhaps it is the blood of the King Tiger Folk that makes me so, but when it comes to fighting, my mood is uplifted. And when I met a strong enemy, it became even stronger.

　Yes, I was feeling passionate because of a ten-year-old boy.

　He approached me as if he was flying at full speed. I did the same, using every muscle in my body to leap toward him. He looked slightly puzzled, as if he had not expected my action.

　That’s when I realized.

　He is a genius, but he lacks experience. But I instinctively knew that he was aware of this too.

　I thought it was funny.

　I attacked him with the best I had.

　I followed his gaze and avoided the magic coming from behind. But then I remembered that it was magic that could move freely, and I knocked it off with my spear so that it wouldn’t come back.

　He looked surprised, but I was pleased to see his expression and grinned. I then proceeded to thrust my spear during his confusion.

　As I expected, he was inexperienced. When I changed the speed of the first and second blows, his response quickly took a backseat.

　He was not wearing protective gear. I knew that, so I took it easy on him, but when the tip of the spear entered his range, he sputtered and thrashed about, spitting up.

　I was careless. I knew that no matter how well trained I was, I should never have hit a 10-year-old boy.

　As I was reflecting on this, a magic aimed at my leg hit me in the left thigh. At the moment of impact, I was prepared for pain, but it seemed that he took it easy on me, and even though it was a wind magic, it disappeared without damaging my leather armor.

　I was surprised for the first time today. Ordinary magicians do not change the quality of their magic. Even in mock battles, they may weaken the power of their magic a little, but they rarely perform such subtle tricks as changing the sharpness of their magic.

　He vomited up gastric juices and was ready to stand up.

　Even though he received a blow that even a grown man couldn’t stand up from, he stood up with his sword as a staff and said normally, “Would you like to have another battle? This time without magic.”

　I lost my composure and could not answer. I wondered how much rigorous training he had to go through to be able to stand up like this. The young men watching in the back would have taken at least enough time to rest after taking this much damage.

　The people watching around me seemed to be at a loss for words, thinking the same thing.

　As I remained silent, he looked a little annoyed and asked, “Well, are we done here?” He asked.

　I muttered in a hushed voice, “Who are you?” I muttered in a hushed voice.

　He answered my monologue with a disciplined tone.

“I’m Zacharias Lockhart. A student at Tyria Magic Academy. Nothing more, nothing less.” (Zack)

　I didn’t know what to say to him, so I just said, “Haven’t seen something like you in a long time.”

　Then I remembered that I had received his magic and said, “I’m sorry I was so surprised… Earlier, I was looking down on your magic.” I bowed my head.

　After that, we had a hand-to-hand combat without magic.

　His swordsmanship was astonishing for a child of his age and seemed to exceed that of a seventh rank swordsman over 20 years old.

　Above all, his speed was amazing.

　He attacked me at a speed that would make me, a beast, take him seriously. The difference in reach between a spear and a sword was too great to let him get into my pocket, but even so, he easily avoided my spear. Of course, if I really tried, I wouldn’t lose, but even so, his skill made me think that I want to take him seriously.

　Furthermore, his attacks were varied.

　I could tell from his stance that he had learned traditional swordsmanship, but he also attacked with foot strikes, and did some crazy moves like somersaults. If it had been a younger group instead of me, they would have been at the mercy of his movements, and he would have taken the initiative.

　And the throwing knives on his waist was probably not just for decoration. He didn’t use it this time, but if he had been as talented at throwing as he was with his sword, it might have been difficult for me to take advantage of my spear’s reach.

　Unfortunately, his stamina didn’t last. I wished I could go on a little longer, but I flicked the sword and thrust the spear at his throat.

　He thanked me with a satisfied smile.

　I wondered for a moment, but soon realized his intention and felt a little embarrassed. Then I said, “You don’t need to thank me,” and lowered my spear.