Chapter 47 (Patreon)

-Rin’s PoV-

We are transported to a stage that mirrors a dilapidated ruin for our final qualifier battle. The surroundings depict remnants of a place that was once teeming with life. Stone walls, weathered by time and nature, stand in varying states of decay, whispering tales of a bygone era. Moss covers the cracks and crevices, while vines ascend the walls like inquisitive spectators. Scattered stones form irregular paths, compelling us to tread cautiously and honor the history imprinted on each weather-beaten surface.

“Okay girls, let’s do this just as we agreed to from the drawlots. Frostia and I will vie for the middle orb, Zephyr will head for the top orb, and Blaze will take the bottom. May your heart guide your magic!" Wren, or rather Terra as she's known in-game, reiterated our strategy while using our customary phrase to wish each other good luck.

"May your heart guide your magic!” we replied in unison.

After the little pep talk, All of us went our separate ways. I found myself navigating through the baren ruins on my way to my destination. Some were adorned with intricate carvings, now softened by time's touch. Patches of sunlight peek through the canopy above, illuminating forgotten corners and revealing the intricate details of once-grand architecture.

As I arrived at the bottom orb, a man in a blue-themed custom knight set greeted me. As I recall from the briefing earlier, his in-game name is Renz. He is fast at blitz tactics so much so that Zephyr would have a hard time against him. Looks like I hit the jackpot, He’s the weakest of their team in terms of close-quarter combat, therefore, he shouldn't pose much of a threat against me. I guess luck is on our side, but for now, time to appeal to the fans.

“Feel the heat of justice as I blitz through the darkness for a brighter tomorrow! Blaze, here I go!” I exclaimed as I did my cute fan-service pose for a better impact.

Yes! I did it flawlessly this time! I think I’m getting the hang of this!

I celebrated my improvement while making a self-satisfied smile.

“Hmph! Acting all cutesy won’t make me go easy on you. I already have the cutest sister in the world. You look plain in comparison to her. Besides, if there is anyone I would ever fall for, it would have to be someone who possesses the same kindness and adorable qualities as my sister., so don’t bother wasting your time flirting.”

“Urk!” I received a nasty blow to my psyche.

Who’s flirting, you creepy siscon!? It is required by our agency to say those kinds of things! I don’t have a choice here!

"That’s it, I won’t go easy on you, so you better prepare yourself!" I declared as I pointed my sword at him.

"Hmph! I won't have it any other way," he rebuked as he took his stance.

I hastily composed myself for the upcoming battle. Let’s just get this over with as soon as possible so that I can assist my teammates. Call it intuition, but I have this persistent nagging feeling in my gut telling me that they would need my help in this match.

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"In the cold embrace of winter's art, I'll thaw away troubles and mend every heart! Frostia, ready to start!" the ice mage, Frostia, spouted with gusto.

“By the strength of stone and the power of earth, I'll stand firm and protect what's worth! Terra, going forth!” Terra, their shielder matched her teammate’s enthusiasm.

I stared at them in disbelief. They look way better in person than just watching replays. This is bad… they’re capitalizing on my greatest weakness. The power of cuteness.

What a terrible match-up for me. I only hope Liz could handle this alone without me needing to interfere to more than being her support as I would loathe myself if I had to take matters into my own hands.

“Kyaaa! They're so cool in person, right Kat?! I've always been a fan of the Magical Atelier streams!” Liz entered fan-girl mode.

“Stop praising your opponent and take the match seriously,” I chided her.

“I am taking this seriously, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun in the process,” she pouted.

“Fine, whatever you say,” I conceded.

“Okay, here I go!”

Liz, wasting no time, charged at her opponents. She prioritized going for the ice mage in order to cut off their damage output completely, the staple way to deal with this kind of popular lineup.

For her opponent's part, the shield user intercepted her before she even got near the mage.

“I won’t let you! I will protect my friends, even if it costs my life!” Terra declared as she blocked Liz’s advances.

Just as they were about to collide, Liz vanished into thin air by using her blink weapon skill.

The shielder was undeterred by the sudden disappearance of her opponent. She countered with a weapon skill of her own.

“Not on my watch! Earth Prison!” she declared while slamming her shield on the ground.

Liz appeared next to the mage but was met with a cage of earth.

“What! How!” Liz exclaimed in disbelief.

“Now Frostia!”

“Roger! Ice Meteor!” she shouted for dramatic effect.

The mage conjured a huge meteor made of ice from above Liz’s position, ready for impact. That spell takes a long time to cast but will definitely one-shot her if it hits. Their ice mage has complete trust that her partner can trap Liz’ therefore casting the offensive spell preemptively instead of going for a defensive spell… how admirable.

“Uhm! Kat, a little help here?!”

It was also an impeccable prediction from the Defender to trap Liz. Coupled with a perfectly coordinated attack from the mage, these players are extremely skilled. As expected from an organization-sponsored team. Well I thought this might happen, good thing I also prepared my spell pre-emptively. Time to save my partner, yet again.

“Recall!” I cast the spell I was holding onto as a counter-play.

*BOOOM

Liz vanished before the impact of the gigantic chunk of ice crushed her into nothingness, then reappeared right next to me, unharmed.

“Whew! I almost died there! Thanks, Kat!”

"I told you not to underestimate them,”

“I'm not! They’re just really good!”

She’s right about that. They are contracted players after all by a huge company like Atelier. Besides being able to practice all the time since it is their job, they also have the backup of professionals ranging from psychological performance-enhancing healthcare benefits all the way to state-of-the-art training facilities, equipment, professional coaching staff, and many more advantages normal players can only dream of. That in itself is a huge advantage and adding to their natural gift and skills at the game for them to be contracted to begin with, they are not to be underestimated. I think it's time we get serious too.

”Liz, we have to do it.”

She stared at me in disbelief. “Whaaat? I thought we were saving it for the main tournament.”

Liz in her current state can probably win one-on-one, but two-on-one would be a daunting task, and I won’t risk her losing her here just to save up one of our trump cards.

“No, we need to do it.”

She stared at me, reading my expression. When she realized my solemnity, she readily agreed.

“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do it!” she stated, determination evident in her eyes.

Sensing something wrong, our opponents readied themselves for whatever play we had in mind.

I used their momentary apprehension and their wait-and-see tactic for me to finish my next spell.

“Greater Haste…” I murmured.

My orb turned pure white after casting the chronomancy spell instead of the customary golden-white glow of the light orb. Liz was enveloped with the customary whitish light of a hasted player. Suddenly her movements became a blur as she quickly rushed towards our opponents, giving them little time to recover from their stupefaction.

“Wha-?! Their support is a dual caster! Our manager never mentioned this,” the ice mage exclaimed in shock.

“Frostia be careful! She’s going after you!” the defender warned her teammate while attempting to intercept Liz.

With a calculated move, Liz darted forward, her increase of speed due to the haste buff caught the shield user off guard. The shielder, reliant on defense, struggled to adjust to the sudden burst of agility of Liz, her heavy shield momentarily lagging as my partner weaved through her defenses.

“Ice Tendrils!” the ice mage exclaimed.

Their ice mage conjured countless frosty tendrils she had pre-casted the same time I was casting greater haste. With a series of lightning-fast maneuvers, my partner ducked and dodged, exploiting the split-second openings created by her burst of speed while skillfully dodging all the countless ice tendrils attempting to ensnare her at a hair's breadth limit.

The shielder rallied, attempting to intercept Liz's lightning-fast movements, but the sudden acceleration disrupted the shielder's usual rhythm, leaving her in the dust, scrambling to readjust her poise.

Sensing an opportunity, Liz closed the distance with the enemy DPS. With a swift critical strike, she exploited the split-second vulnerability of the unguarded ice mage.

Frostia

HP: 52%

“Ack! Terra, help!” Frostia frantically pleaded all the while trying her hardest to survive Liz’s unending hasted attacks.

“My weapon skill is still on cooldown! Hang on!” Terra said as she rushed to help her teammate.

But she was too late, Liz’s hasted mode was too much for a mage to handle in a melee scenario. Liz relentlessly punished the undefended ice mage, depleting her health to zero.

Frostia

HP: 0%

“Ugh! It’s all up to you guys, good lu-” she did not get to finish her sentence as she disappeared, into motes of light.

Her friend seemed crestfallen at failing to intercept Liz. I cannot blame her for failing to protect her partner though. She was caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed and couldn't regain her composure in time, as she hadn't anticipated a haste buff to suddenly enhance my partner. Dual casters are a rarity due to the scarcity of dual orbs in the market. Moreover, possessing a dual orb necessitates a complete alteration of a player's skill build, rendering it unsuitable for max-level players who rely solely on single orbs. It was fortunate that I acquired one while I was still at my level 70-ish, with a surplus of unused skill points, enabling me to swiftly modify my skill build to allocate points for chronomancy spells.

“...Sorry Frostia, but I don’t think I can last long on my own against these two either,” Terra murmured, downcast as she failed to protect her mage.

Terra glanced at us, apprehension apparent in her demeanor. She likely knows as we do that she doesn't stand a chance against us both without a proper DPS. With this, the contest for the middle orb is good as won.

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-Ellie’s PoV-

“Annoying…”

“That is not something you should ever say to a lady,” I taunted jovially as I continued to barrage him with wind arrows.

Zephyr

HP: 100%

NambaWan

HP: 37%

This is easier than I expected. He's a ranker just like me but his skills seem to be lacking. Initially, he attempted to engage me in a ranged battle, but once he exhausted his supply of arrows, the fight became significantly easier for me. However, I'm nearly out of mana. My weapon skill allows me to generate as many arrows as my mana can support, but at the moment, my MP reserves are almost depleted. Regardless, it seems to be of little consequence since he's already on the brink of defeat. It's somewhat disappointing, really. I expected more from a fellow ranker.

“You’re playing too passively, you’re boring me to death. Nobody likes boring guys!” I exclaimed.

Oops, shouldn’t have said that, I forgot we were live on stream. Welp, my fans already know me as a blabbermouth who speaks her mind, so I guess it's fine.

I continued to fire a barrage of wind arrows towards him. He dodged most, being extra careful to protect his vitals. Very few made a glancing hit, doing its purpose to chip his HP little by little.

NambaWan

HP: 17%

I’m almost out of mana, but I think his HP is low enough for me to finish this.

I used all of my remaining MP to conjure a large arrow made of wind. He wouldn’t be able to evade an arrow this large and fast. As I finished my conjuration, I released it to finish him off.

“Wind Blast!” I exclaimed as I released the concentrated wind elemental arrow.

The arrow flew straight towards him, even if he managed to dodge it, the arrow would still explode near him, dealing AOE damage. There is no way for him to survive this.

For his part, he rushed towards me, attempting to take the arrow head-on. What is this fool up to now? Had he given up already? How boring indeed.

"Reversal!" he exclaimed.

He perfectly parried my energy arrow, making it disappear completely instead of causing explosive damage. Being unscathed after that means he did a perfect parry. I have to elevate my estimation of his skills, he's passable at the least.

Although, he’s defenseless right now without his weapon skill. I guess I will have to finish this the old-fashioned way.

I drew a wooden arrow from my quiver. I still have 20 left, plenty to finish this once and for all. I drew back the bowstring with my arrow, focusing intensely on the persistent guy darting towards me, then released it. As the arrow sailed through the air, he suddenly moved with remarkable speed, wielding his twin butterfly swords adeptly. In a fluid motion, he spun it, deflecting the incoming projectile with the flat side of one blade. The arrow ricocheted off the sword, changing its path dramatically. Time seemed to slow as I watched my own arrow hurtling back towards me.

“Wha-!?” I exclaimed as I frantically dodged the arrow.

That was a bad move, I should have just taken the hit but I instinctively dodged it. The maneuver left me out of balance, making me susceptible to counterattacks, a moment he did not waste. He continued to close the gap between us and did a couple of combo attacks to not let me escape.

Zephyr

HP: 31%

Shit! I’m good as a sitting duck here without even a sliver of MP to retaliate! These are the few times where I wish I was a melee fighter. Unfortunately, I lack the proper melee skills to handle my own in a close-range fight.

I tried to smash his head with my bow as a last attempt to get out of the sticky situation I found myself in.

He expertly parried my desperate attempt to break free from his combo attacks, then proceeded to finish me off with a strong critical blow.

Zephyr

HP: 0%

Shit! So close to winning, but I still lost! How good is this guy at parrying? I heard rumors of a ricochet parry but I had never seen one firsthand. To even do a perfect parry, you need to apply the right amount of force countering the force of the attack at the exact moment, a window of 0.5 seconds for it to work, leaving you undamaged as opposed to taking minor damage when doing a normal parry. I recall reading on the CoA forums that a ricochet parry, where you deflect the arrow back toward your opponent, requires even more precision, with a timing window as small as 0.1 seconds. That kind of precise parry in order to bounce the arrow back to me was almost impossible in the first place! Unless…

Realization struck me. He was analyzing my attack patterns and the speed of my arrows from the start of the match. He waited for the exact moment my mana was depleted in order to ricochet my normal wooden arrow back at me. What a crazy guy, to risk the match over if I would run out of mana or he would run out of HP first. Someone as cool, calm, and collected as him in the face of difficulty deserves my approval.

“It was a good game, you did well,” he stated as he gave me a genuine look of respect.

I gasped as my heart skipped a beat.

A kind interior beneath that uncaring cool guy's personality, I think he just stole my heart!

I thought to myself as I vanished into blue motes of light.