Chapter 109: Sage vs Elephant Beastkin

Ryuushin, Merdie, and I, along with Merdie’s dad Leo, broke through the second round of battle.

Merdie and Ryuushin could also deliver long-range blows and slashes; they won while their opponents couldn’t even touch a single hair on their heads.

Leo enjoyed his battles as usual.

The beastkin who went against him were a bit pitiful.

And so, we were going to fight in the third battle round, but—

"Master Halt, are you perhaps considering using that sword?"

I was practicing my sword-drawing moves while gripping the hilt of Hakoku when Leo stopped me.

"... Can't I?"

"Currently, the use of weapons is permitted, and if it's the beastkin, they could easily avoid arrows. Even if we do not have swords, our fangs and claws' sharpness exceeds that of swords."

"Then I'd like to use a sword, too."

It wouldn't be fair if my opponent had a sword while I was the only one empty-handed.

"No matter how you look at it, that sword is not an ordinary one... Do you want to cut the beastkin of this country? Is that it?”

"No worries, I'll hit them with the back of the sword."

"No, that's... a double-edged blade."

Afterward, Leo became stern, so I could only borrow a wooden sword to fight in the battle.

Sorry, Hakoku.

I'll let you have a turn one of these days.

The wooden sword was light, though not as light as Hakoku, and the length was also nice. It was easy to handle. I was just worried about its strength.

Wouldn't it break if I went all out on that elephant beastkin with high defense power?

It's been a while; might as well do that.

I released magic from my palm that was holding the wooden sword.

I imagined my nerves stretching out towards the wooden sword as I gradually incorporated mana into it.

The wooden sword turned black from the design to its tip.

Even if you injected mana into it in the normal way, it wouldn’t turn like this.

Using fine mana control, I reinforced the fibers of the tree to increase its strength.

This ordinary wooden sword then turned into something that could break an orichalcum sword.

I call this my Ink Blade Transformation.

By the way, this Ink Blade Transformation was also possible for non-wooden swords.

For example, imagining the reinforcement of metallic bonds while incorporating mana resulted in the Ink Blade Transformation of an iron sword.

To be honest, I didn’t really understand metallic bonds that much, but it happened, so I just used it without thinking too deeply about it.

No matter what sort of sword—no, it didn’t have to be a sword; even a fallen tree branch lying over there could turn into an indestructible, strongest weapon thanks to Ink Blade Transformation.

I frequently used this technique before Hakoku fell into my hands.

Mana reinforced the wooden sword, but once it completed the Ink Blade Transformation, it would still remain as a black sword even without replenishing the mana.

By the way, 100,000 worth of mana was consumed to make a single Ink Blade, so I doubt there would be other people who could create this individually.

“Guess this is it.”

I tried to swing the completed Ink Blade.

Yup, the strength seemed fine.

It had been a while, but it went without a hitch.

“Ahm, Master Halt. W, what’s that?”

Leo asked.

“I used magic to increase its strength. It doesn’t especially increase the sharpness, so this much is fine, right?”

“Y, yeah. Well, in that case…”

Leo also acknowledged it, so let's go with this.

I climbed the stage.

On the other hand, the elephant beastkin waited for me on top of the stage and then spoke to me.

"You have my gratitude for using another sword. I plan to forfeit this match should you use that sword."

"I, is that so."

Wasn’t a beastkin possessing an Anti-Magic Skin supposed to be able to block even Hakoku's blade?

"I did not think you would adjust for me. That's how huge the gap between you and I is. Let me go against you with all I have!"

The elephant beastkin began releasing his magical power.

As expected, those who continued winning until they reached this stage in the Martial God's Warrior Tournament had well-built magical suits.

"Here I come!"

The elephant beastkin charged towards me.

He sped toward me at lightning speed.

It was as if a wall was charging toward me.

— though it’s not on a level my body, strengthened with the magic suit, couldn't avoid.

I sidestepped the elephant beastkin as he rushed toward me, then I hit him on the right shoulder with the Ink Blade.

"Aaarrrrgggghhhh!!"

The elephant beastkin rolled off the stage while screaming.

" — Eh?"

I, I didn't hit him that forcefully, though….

Now that I think about it, I only experienced attacking demons and warlocks with this Ink Blade. He was probably hit with an amount of power that shouldn't be used against people.

…Sorry, somehow.