We’d agreed to a duel, so Ashley, Filia, and I went out into the wide-open wilderness. Since it was almost dusk, we couldn’t see any other people in the area.
The way Ashley boldly stood her ground, her long red hair swaying in the blowing wind, showed that she was no ordinary adventurer. Even in my darkening field of vision, she shone a brilliant red.
“I’ll give you credit for not running away, at least. But now, Yuri, I’m going to show you what happens when you pick a fight with me.”
“But you were the one who challenged me to a duel.”
“Err. Wh-who cares about the trivial details?!”
“Yeah, true! Long as I can fight, it’s all fine by me.” I honestly didn’t care who started the fight. The important part was that I could give it my all.
“Yuri,” said Filia, “please don’t overdo it.” She’d really come all this way to make sure I was careful…
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
Come on, no matter how much Filia worried, she had to know I wasn’t gonna kill anybody or anything. This was a duel, after all. But a certain someone picked up on that part of the conversation and really lost it.
“What?” Ashley snapped. “You there! The one standing next to him. You think that I’m going to lose?!”
“N-no,” said Filia, “that’s not what I’m—”
“Ugh, you’re just like him! Two unpleasant peas in a pod.”
“N-no way,” Filia groaned. “To think that she’d lump me and Yuri in the same category…”
Wait, what? Shouldn’t Filia be happy to be in the same category as me? What was the big idea, dropping to her knees and hanging her head like that?
I took a deep breath. Let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, enough of this talking stuff. Let’s just start this thing.”
Seriously, I couldn’t take it anymore. I wasn’t gonna wait another second, not with such a great fight ahead!
“Fine by me. I’m going to blast you full of holes!” Flames flowed out of Ashley’s body as she spoke. Her magical energy just kept growing and growing as she took her combat stance.
The heat was so intense that I could feel it from about thirty feet away. “I’m getting real fired up!” I was shaking with joy as I took my combat stance.
About ten minutes later, Ashley’s breathing was getting a bit more ragged. Her body was covered in more than a few wounds, all of which were more than mere scrapes—she was bleeding from several places. However, although her body was covered in wounds, she looked pretty much good to go.
“Nice! More! Come at me more, bring it!” As for me, I was only slightly injured. I’d suffered a few burns here and there, but my breathing remained even.
“Grr…I’m not going to lose…! I…I’ll win, I know it!”
“That’s it! Don’t give up! Come at me with all you got!”
Ashley unleashed her most powerful fire magic. The size and the power of her spell were nothing to sneeze at.
“If you’re usin’ fire magic,” I said, “then I’m gonna use this!”
Muscle magic. The strongest, best magic. The magic known only to those who trained their muscles with single-minded devotion. I used all the strength I could muster and launched my fist at the oncoming vortex of flames. There was a loud fwoom, and my fists caught fire. It wasn’t from her flames, though. My fist had ignited the air.
“Hooaaah!” My fist perfectly split the oncoming vortex of flame in half. I closed right in on Ashley.
“Grr…” Ashley tried to resist, but the recoil from her most powerful magic made her a sitting duck. As she was totally defenseless, I brought my hand down in a karate chop motion, stopping just before hitting the back of Ashley’s neck.
“It’s over. I win.”
“Ah…” Ashley was completely stunned. She looked toward my hand near her neck, her eyes blank. I pulled my hand back away, relaxed my stance, and reverted back from my giant form (nearly seven feet) to my normal size.
“That was pretty fun! Wow, you’re really strong. Definitely S-Rank.”
“I… lost…?” she stammered.
“Let’s do this again, Ashley. My schedule’s open—we can do the day after tomorrow, tomorrow, or heck, even today!”
Honestly, this girl was crazy strong. Probably stronger than I’d been when I was thirteen years old. On top of that, this was only a duel. If this were a match where our lives were on the line, she probably would’ve been even stronger. Just the thought of it got my adrenaline pumping; my excitement kept growing nonstop!
But Ashley didn’t respond.
“Hey, Ashley? Did you hear what I said?” I tried asking her again, but still, no answer.
“Ashley, are you okay?” asked Filia, rushing over to her and casting recovery magic.
“What? Did she get a serious injury somewhere or somethin’?” We’d just been having a duel—there was no way I’d injured her so seriously that she couldn’t move…right?
“No, she doesn’t appear to be all that hurt—” Filia suddenly stopped. But why? I took a closer look…and saw Ashley bawling from her reddened eyes.
“Hrk, guh! Hic! I hate you! I really hate you!” And in a flash, not even healed, Ashley got up and booked it.
Filia and I were left just standing there in the wide-open wilderness. With nothing else to do, we walked back toward Jeepupp.
“It sounds like she hates you, Yuri.” Filia sighed. She looked down. “She probably hates me too.”
“Why?” I didn’t understand why Ashley hated me. I hadn’t done anything particularly bad to her or anything.
“Well, it would’ve been rude to read her mind, so I’m not entirely sure, but…frankly, I worried this might happen.”
“Oh? Well, I’d like to hear why, if you don’t mind.”
“That girl… Ashley, she’s an incredible prodigy. She’s an S-Rank at age thirteen, the youngest person ever to reach that rank.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Being the youngest person ever meant that there was no precedent; she really was the first. No matter what field you’re in, it’s incredible to achieve the unprecedented.
“Because she’s such a prodigy, she probably hasn’t ever faced a real obstacle in her life before. And now that she has run into a wall, in the form of you, Yuri…you know what I’m getting at, right?”
“Hm? What do you mean?” I titled my head. “Shouldn’t someone be happy if they’ve never hit a wall before though?”
“Oh,” said Filia, “so you’re that kind of person.”
Now that was a statement that I really didn’t know how to interpret.
“I suppose that you might not understand even if I try to explain it to you, Yuri… Well, I suppose that it’s just that not everyone has the same mentality as you do,” said Filia, coming to a standstill.
I turned back to look at her, and she waved me off.
“I’m going to go look for Ashley,” she said. “I’m a little worried.”
“I see. Want me to have dinner ready for you?”
“No, I’m all right. Have a good night, okay?”
“Yeah, you too.”
Filia and I parted ways, so I went back to Jeepupp by myself. I’d never been good at dealing with other people’s feelings. If I tagged along, I knew I’d probably just cause even more trouble, so I figured that it’d be better to quietly head back to the inn and do some muscle training. I turned back around to look in Filia’s direction one more time before heading back to the inn.
And…I actually don’t know what happened next. That was between Filia and Ashley.