“One-two! One-two!” Laplace chanted as she walked forward, wearing the shoes Tanya had picked out for her. Yes, this pampered Sorceress was actually walking with her feet on the ground—something she had very little experience doing, since she’d spent most of her life levitating via magic. It did seem like a waste to scuff up her brand-new shoes, though.
“Uh, Laplace?”
“What is it? You know, this ‘walking’ thing really is tricky. I need to get more practice in.”
“Can you maybe save it for later?!?!”
Tanya’s voice echoed across the underground labyrinth—the most dangerous dungeon within walking distance of the capital. Before them stood ten, twenty... no, at least thirty Stone Golems that she could see. A ridiculous number, at any rate. They were all more than twice Tanya’s height, and as for their weight... well, let’s not gossip.
“You’re the one who said we should take on a challenging quest, remember?! So the least you could do is pay attention!”
They had graduated from skele-warriors to golems now, and this labyrinth was cursed to spawn golems ad infinitum. Thus, the Guild regularly hired parties to go and clear it out. But something about this just didn’t seem right.
“Are you sure this is a Rank C quest?!”
“Oh... er... I think it said something like ‘Recommended Rank: B or Greater’... but obviously I just used my magic to ‘fix’ that...”
“You used magic to falsify the quest listing?! Oh my god... I’m going to the front lines! This will be dangerous, so both of you back up!”
With a battle cry, Tanya lunged at the nearest golem and slashed it with her sword... but though her mobility was boosted with Wind Magic, the blade didn’t so much as leave a dent. Just made a measly little plink sound as it bounced off.
Her next idea was to go for an Exploding Slash like with the Wyvern in the Western Wasteland—no, what am I thinking?! This is an underground labyrinth! An explosion could bring the whole place down on our heads!
“Ooh, looks like physical attacks won’t work. Perfect.”
“What part of this is perfect, exactly?! Back me up here, Laplace!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. We’re supposed to be showing Nadine what’s so special about Magi-Knights, remember?”
“What?”
Laplace smirked. “It’s time for a private lesson with your personal tutor, the Great and Beautiful Sorceress!”
With a snap of her fingers, the golems began to change form.
“Wha—?!”
Water Golems imbued with the power of Water Magic. Clay Golems, built with a Water/Earth mud fusion. And Fire Golems that could wield the power of Fire Magic.
“Heh heh. Pretty impressive, aren’t I?”
“How are you PROUD of this?! ARE YOU NUTS?!?!”
“It seems we’ll only be able to defeat them with magic-based attacks,” Nadine whispered, her voice tinged with despair.
Tanya shooed her back a few more steps, then turned and held her Not-Excalibur aloft.
“G-Got it... I just need to cast a few spells...”
“Non, non! If we’re going to showcase a Magi-Knight’s true strength, then merely casting spells would defeat the purpose, would it not?”
“Okay, well, they’re really starting to close in on me here! Have you seen their faces?! They look just like statues! It’s terrifying!”
“That’s because they are statues! Now then, the Magi-Knight class is a cross between a Mage and a Knight. The biggest advantage to this is that you can wield mana without the time delay caused by casting or incantation. Instead, you can imbue that mana directly into your sword skills to create magical attacks! Now then, Tanya, let’s start with that Water Golem there. What magical attack would be most effective against Water Magic?”
“...Lightning Magic.”
“Bingo! Now go get him!”
‘Go get him’? That’s it?! Fine, whatever! Tanya closed her eyes. “Initiate mana circulation.”
Were she allowed to use her spells, this is the point at which she’d normally start casting. Instead, she focused her mana directly into the Not-Excalibur.
Lightning Magic, engage!
With that thought, her sword began to crackle and buzz with electrical discharge.
“Let’s do this! Hyaaaahhhh!!!”
Mind you, Tanya had next to no experience with sword techniques, but nevertheless, with the help of her boosted agility, she quickly closed the gap between herself and the Water Golem. And then, with a mighty slash—she sent the creature toppling to the ground, just like that.
“That’s... that’s amazing! A one-hit knockout!” Nadine exclaimed.
“Voilà! Atta girl, Tanya! Your fighting skills are simply superb! Reminds me of the time you fired an Explosion in my direction.”
“What?! She... she cast Explosion at you?!”
“Oh, did we not tell you that story? A direct hit, I tell you. My, was I ever frightened!”
“Excuse me?! That’s not the sort of spell you should cast on another person! And for that matter, how on earth did you survive it?! Are either of you even human?!”
Meanwhile, as the rear guard was enjoying that lively conversation—
“I think I’ve got the hang of this,” Tanya murmured to herself.
Circulate the mana, focus it into the sword, engage, slash. Hell, this is actually a lot faster than casting!
“Next, the Clay Golem! I’ll use Fire Magic to dry out that mud!”
Fire Magic, engage!
“Hyah!” Before the Clay Golem could finish crumbling, Tanya had already moved on to the next. “Now the Fire Golem!”
Water Magic, engage! She swung her sword and a tsunamic wave gushed forth, extinguishing the Fire Golem’s magma.
“Wow...!” Nadine gasped, awestruck. “I can’t believe you can switch between the elements that quickly! You’re incredible, Tanya!”
“Isn’t she? All thanks to her natural mana capacity and years of magical training. It’s not a feat the average adventurer could manage... not without exceptional skill and accuracy, that is.”
“Plus, those sword skills! When did she find the time to learn all that?”
“Her what? Oh, right. That.” Laplace paused. “I think she’s just making those up as she goes along.”
“What?! But her swordsmanship... it’s on par with any trained Knight!”
“I imagine she’s just doing whatever it takes to win.”
“What?!?!”
Then again, she was apparently the sort of person who would cast Explosion on another human being, so maybe this wasn’t entirely out of character for her.
“Another one down! Now to topple that Stone Golem with Impact Magic!!!”
And as Tanya worked her way through the rest of the enemy horde, she found herself thinking—man, this is actually really fun. She could never switch between elements this quickly with regular spells. Plus, the power of her attacks didn’t seem to have a direct inverse correlation with her accuracy, as spells typically did. This kicks ass!
Unable to conceal her elation, Tanya gleefully slashed through golem after golem.
“HAHAHAHAHA!!! Who’s next, huh?!?! COME AND GET ME!!!”
They were on track to finish this quest in under five minutes total.
“Laplace, um...”
“What is it?”
“Is Tanya one of those... ‘demon on the battlefield’ types, by chance?”
“Welllll... I can’t say for sure one way or the other, but... she’s been under a lot of stress lately.”
“Stress?” Nadine stared blankly. You want to call that display of insanity ‘stress’?! I think not! I’m pretty sure these are her true colors we’re looking at!
Meanwhile—
“BOOYAH!!!”
And with a thunderous CRASH, the final golem was shattered. Quest complete.
Tanya’s breaths were heavy and her heart raced—not from exertion, but from excitement. Holy shit, I can actually fight! Being a Magi-Knight rocks!
“You know, I... I think we might actually win the tournament!” she exclaimed.
“Y-Yeah, maybe!” Nadine replied with a forced laugh.
Seriously, you’re so overpowered, you’re basically broken. I’m starting to think this Ryan guy won’t make it out alive.