American Isekai - Chapter 120 (Patreon)

Since the summoner battle was taken care of early and Ponteck now won by default, the final warlock battle would be the one and only battle taking place today.

It was delayed by another few hours so people could gather. And once the stadium was full, Umara was up to bat.

I massaged her shoulders while we stood on the sideline. There were tens of thousands of eyes on us, including some powerful ones. I also knew that the Duchess was here.

I didn’t care about all them though. It was already a well known fact that we were together. If anything, acting all chummy with my girlfriend allowed me to rub it into all their faces.

I leaned my chin over her shoulder, speaking in a low tone.

“How are you feeling?”

“Perfect, actually. Although, my focus isn’t really on the battle.”

“What’s it on?”

“The battles after this one. Mainly what I’m gonna do when it’s my turn to face you.”

“Will that happen?”

“Perhaps. If President Carrion has his way though, he might just put me up against Ponteck instead since I’d probably forfeit against you. So I’m not sure if I’d get the chance to fight you. Not that I think it’d go well.”

“Hm.”

I nodded a bit. I wouldn’t want to face Umara properly since beating her would require me to shoot her. And she knew that, so she would just forfeit for me. Carrion knew that too, so instead of letting me get a free pass, he wouldn’t let us meet, at least not early.

I whispered into her ear.

“Remind me to talk to you about how to handle something like my guns.”

“We already have a lot to go over.”

“I know. I’ll have to make another booklet.”

“Hehe, the first one is already bulging at the seams. I was thinking about getting it properly bound too. I might make it into another Grimoire.”

“How about an Orb instead?”

“I don’t like Orbs. I like handling a tangible book better. Helps me think.”

“Mm.”

“Umara Talerria and Grace Jetsee, to your positions!”

Umara was called, her hand reaching up to pat my cheek.

“Wish me luck.”

“My girlfriend doesn’t need luck.”

“Ehh.”

I gave her a juicy kiss on the cheek, her body squirming away before heading up the arena.

I laughed, taking a seat on a nearby platform with Tana and Feiden.

Both of them had already fully recovered. The only reason they weren’t more cheery was because of what happened with Vetsmon.

Currently he was probably getting his teeth kicked in on the training grounds. And being honest with myself, I wasn’t completely sympathetic.

I didn’t care much about the broken bone. As I had told the others, the healing was fantastic so it wasn’t any more than a temporary pain to deal with.

What I was concerned about was Vetsmon’s own drive. In this world, battling like they did was normal, whereas from my perspective as an earthling, any form of combat spurred my full attention and effort. Not to mentio my disadvantages as a summoner. I had to do everything in my power to keep myself alive. I didn’t have the luxury of resilience.

So Vetsmon, who was incredibly talented, tough, and strong, was probably a bit lazy. He didn’t feel the urgency I did. He didn’t feel the same fear. He didn’t have to stand in the face of those who could kill him with a thumb and hold his own against them. If anything, he was rapidly becoming someone who would dominate all others under his knightly power.

Knowing all that, I was glad this was happening. He was finally feeling the level of powerlessness I had all this time. He was getting a small taste of how I had to operate, and understanding what it meant for him to threaten me like he did.

And later, he would be going through even more. I wondered how they would go about teaching him. How they would make him appreciate the talent he had and respect the threat of those he was fighting against.

I couldn’t imagine the monster he’d become if he were to train as I had been. Hopefully they’d be able to pull that out of him, for his own sake.

Those thoughts ran through my head as I watched Umara’s battle start.

…

Grace Jetsee had a perfect water affinity and a working air affinity. This meant her magic was the most versatile it could be, both able to attack with speed and defend with mass.

However, she only conjured her barrier before standing there. As for Umara, she extended her finger and drew it horizontally across her body, a thick blade of wind appearing and launching forward.

It crashed into Grace’s barrier, creating a few splinters. But she did nothing to retaliate, Umara halting as she heard her voice.

“So is that boy your pet or something?”

“Really? You’re doing this shit now?”

Umara let out a huff, thinking it ridiculous that her opponent would let her get in a free hit just so she could insult her.

However, she caught herself after a few seconds, thinking her response was shockingly unprofessional. It seemed she was talking more and more like her boyfriend.

She cleared her throat before deciding to humor this girl. It wasn’t like she would lose, so there was no harm in a little banter.

Grace frowned.

“You two seemed to have already devolved into licking each other like dogs. Is that what you keep him around for?”

“Sweetie, there’s no need to be so bitter just because you can’t get a man. Besides, you say that like ‘keeping him around’ is at all convenient. You’re not the first to degrade me to my face, and you won’t be the last I have to deal with.”

“Please. Even if I were concerned about such things at this age, I surely wouldn’t pick someone from the lowest possible caste. Not only is he a commoner, but also a cold summoner. How could you possibly pick any worse?”

“Well, he likes to tell me I’m the lucky one. And he’s probably right. I didn’t know it at the time, but I got the strongest summoner in Magisterium history.”

Umara smiled a bit, causing Grace to frown deeper.

She couldn’t say he was inadequate. Right now, John was at the top of the Elite Rankings. It was no secret that he was turning out to be an anomaly. Strong for an Elite, yet he was a summoner. Even a summoner who could match up to the average knight or warlock would be exemplary, let aone one who stood at the top of them all.

Thinking, Grace just shook her head.

“Whatever. Everyone knows that he couldn't have possibly reached Rank 1 honestly. He’ll be exposed within the week. Perhaps that will slap some sense into you. Even then though, it might be too late. Nobody will want to marry such a deluded woman.”

“Well, it’s my boyfriend’s job to prove me right. It’s my job to stand by his side. You just sit your pitiful ass down in those stands, bitch. That’s the only place you have the strength to reside.”

Umara raised her hand with a neutral face, two fingers coming together with a snap.

The sound that came from it produced a shockwave that collided with an invisible wall around the arena. But Grace wasn’t spared, her eyes widening before she covered her ears and collapsed with an agonizing face, though none of her screams could be heard.

After that, Umara launched another pressurized lance of air that Grace hastily created a barrier to block. Upon collision though, the barrier was shattered and she was launched away.

She tumbled straight off the arena, the judge raising his arm.

“The Champion of the Warlocks is Umara Talerria!”

“Woo!”

The crowd started cheering as Umara walked down.

She and John approached each other.

“Well done. That was a new spell.”

“Mm. I wanted to save it for the battle against Ponteck. But it doesn't matter that much. I’ve got more.”

“Haha, someone get on your nerves?”

“No.”

“Heh, well, now we get to rest. Maybe we should head back to the hotel. We can lick each other like dogs.”

“Eww.”

She squirmed again as he kissed her neck, the two pushing and puling each other on their way off the stage.

…..

…

The day passed. After Umara’s battle, Ponteck was declared winner by default and information was given for the next battles.

The top three of each division would be fighting for the title of strongest student at the Magisterium, the Crowned Champion. Of course, since summoners almost never decided to battle for that title, there were usually only 6 competitors.

But I would be joining those 6 this year, making it a 7-way battle for the title.

Who I would be fighting was fairly obvious. According to Umara, the normal way they conducted the battles was by having the first, second, and third place individuals fight their equivalent enemy. That meant Ponteck would be fighting Umara, and under normal circumstances, the winner of that match would be declared the Crowned Champion.

But I would be joining, so how this went all depended on who battled who first. That was because there would be at most three battles.

Umara and I could only wait to get the schedule the next day. As for other matters, we couldn’t really bother.

Vetsmon was naturally busy. We didn’t even get to see him. As for Feiden and Tana, Feiden was busy trying to see if he could battle Grace Jetsee, the second place warlock, since Vetsmon dropped out. As for Tana, she was sitting by and relaxing. She was already done and took fourth place, though would be fighting the third place warlock if Feiden’s inquiry went through.

So we had nothing to do. Neither I nor Umara could prepare any more than we had, so we just went to bed with anticipation.

And upon waking, the official schedule was announced.

The announcer gave a small speech out in the plaza just beyond the gates of the Magisterium. There, thousands of people were gathered to hear the news, including Umara and I.

He spoke.

“On the next day, the standard protocol for the Championship battles will maintain! The first, second, and third place knights will battle the first, second, and third place warlocks respectively! However! John Cooper, the sole summoner who is taking part in the Championship, will be battling one knight and warlock respective to each of the third, second, and first places! As well, due to concerns of prejudiced forfeitures in his favor, only selected knights and warlocks will be allowed to battle him, even beyond the top three of each division.

“The first battle will commence 3 hours after dawn, and the final battle will end no later than evening! The arena will open 2 hours before the first battle!”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

I blurted out, catching some eyes.

I was being forced to fight everyone!

Of course, that wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t replacing my friends with their own hand picked goons. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. I was pretty sure I could handle all that regardless.

It was the fact that this would all be happening in one day!

They wouldn’t be giving me any rest! Because apparently that would make things to easy for me. They had to bend the rules every which way in order to make sure I couldn’t win.

For a moment I stood there in thought. Then, just as Umara was about to talk, I huffed.

“You know what? Fuck it. I’m gonna win anyway. I don’t care about their bullshit.”

“...Are you sure?”

Umara quickly followed as I started walking out of the crowd.

I shrugged.

“What else am I supposed to do? Quit?”

“This is obviously unfair, and everyone knows it. At the very least, you don’t need to go all the way, especially if things get dangerous. The only thing I care about is that you’re safe.”

“You see, part of me gets that, and appreciates it.”

“But the other part?”

“That part says fuck that. They’re being unfair, and that’s exactly why I need to double down.”

“...”

Umara was silent as we walked toward the training grounds. I needed some time at the range if I wanted to be sharp for these battles.

Finally, she responded as we arrived.

“Fine then. I’m with you no matter what you do. So long as you live, we’ll figure it out.”

“Oh my. Never had a girl tell me that before. That’s quite the level of trust.”

“Well, it’s my job to be by your side, even when things get risky and worrying.”

“...”

I stopped and turned around, looking her in the eye.

It was risky and worrying. I could sense a bit of her fear. There was now a much greater chance that I would either get hurt or kill someone else. Even Maxwell has been telling me to play it safe and drop out.

But here I was doubling down instead. And Umara was sticking it out on this ship that was treading some dangerous waters. She was choosing to believe in me, through thick and thin.

Should she continue to do so, then my appreciation would know no bounds.

I smiled at her.

“It’s my job to prove you right. Don’t worry my dear, I’m staking my life on this.”

“That’s exactly what I don't want you to do.”

“Anything less isn’t enough. Now come on. You should learn how to handle my bullets. Now’s a good time for you to practice.”

I brought her to the training grounds where the Puppet Master was waiting. From there, we were sent into our own private area where I got some target practice in.

My final day of battle was just over the horizon.