Chapter 177: chapter 177: Group 2 Zagan
[Zagan POV]
"Make sure you win, okay? You will compete against the winners of Group 4, and I heard they are the strongest group this year."
"Babe, I am sure group 1 is the strongest." I asked, while casting a strange glance at Amari.
"No, Kitsuna isn't that strong. This guy who signed up late is apparently level 800, and that's the level he gave. it might even be wrong." Amari explained, making me worried.
"And he is under 16?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you can't join the tournament if you aren't an idiot." Amari said, bonking her head.
"Right, but there is always a way to go around the rule." I shrugged and ignored her cuteness.
"I suppose there is, but Kayda will know if he is lying about his age. Forget about other things and focus on the fight ahead." Amari sighed, waving my worries off.
"Alright, then, let's get this done." I said, grinning in excitement.
"Yo Zagan, are you ready?" Kitsuna asked as she was coming through the door.
"Don't you know how to knock, sister?" Amari said, pouting.
"Yes, I understand, but this situation doesn't require it." She said, as she took out two short swords.
"Sigh, what are you here for anyway?" Amari asked, gesturing to the two short swords.
"Am I not allowed to support my future brother-in-law? Well, jokes aside, I am here to drop off these two." Kitsuna explained, pointing at the two short swords on the table.
"He already has weapons, though." Amari gazed at the two swords hanging around my waist.
"These are not just some weapons." Kitsuna said she wanted to explain something.
"Of course they aren't made out of ice." Amari interjected, annoyed.
"Sigh, Mages won't understand. Just use them," Kitsuna said, ignoring her sister.
"Sigh, babe, let me just use them. they're probably close to being demi-god weapons." I mentioned that she was busy honing her skills at crafting demi-sword weapons.
"Close? Do you two think so little of my skills?" Kitsuna asked, glancing at us as if we had committed a grave offense.
"Well, you ripped people apart with your tails instead of your sword." Amari said, shrugging.
"And?"
"You tromped them and showed people how strong your tail can be." Amari yelled in annoyance.
"Yeah, so they didn't really die? I coated my hair with ice, making it very spiky."
"Even if they didn't die, it does feel like death, and the way they died will give them post-traumatic stress disorder." Amari sighed, holding her head in her hand.
"If they get PTSD for something so trivial, they shouldn't have played the tournament." Kitsuna replied, shrugging at Amari.
"Kitsuna, it is not the case that individuals are equivalent to you. they aren't able to disregard pain and torture as ordinary." Amari explained, shaking her head.
"I didn't see anyone. just one shot killed them." This time, Ktsuna said she was tilting her head at Amari.
"Guys! Stop this. you won't get anywhere at this point, and I need to concentrate on the fight that's coming."
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the yearly under-16 tournament. We will start with group 2's battle royal in 10 minutes. Can all contestants get into the arena?" The commentator said she was getting everyone's attention.
"Well, that's my time to go." I replied that we would exchange our ice swords for mine.
"Good luck, Zagan. Do try them out. though they will help against the tomato girl, I doubt you two will really fight."
"Wait, she's in this group, too." Amari said she was surprised and worried.
"Yeah, and yes, she also has one of my swords." Before she disappeared, Kitsuna said.
"Babe, I am using them." I said this while tapping my scabs with the ice swords.
"…. Fine."
"Thank you. I love you." I kissed her before leaving the room to join everyone in the arena.
"I should really do my best. she would kill me if I failed to pass the group stages." I gripped the ice sword that Kitsuna had given me.
"These are good swords." I smiled, amazed at how effortlessly I merged my mana with theirs.
"Oh, she gave you one, too." Marquis Anabald's daughter noted she was standing next to me all of a sudden.
"Oh, she can also make claymores? Wait, since when do you use claymores?" I was surprised, looking at the giant sword on her back.
"I don't. she just suggested that I should use this for the battle royal. It is easier to kill multiples at once. Her words." Katie replied, shrugging.
"She really is a weird one." I sighed, reflecting on Shiro's transformation after receiving this new body.
"She was always like this," Anabald suddenly said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I understand that you two were close friends in your past lives. My mother told me that Kitsuna was someone who could easily hide their true nature. Kitsuna's true nature aligns perfectly with the Foxkin bloodline. We speculated about the reason for Kitsuna's survival and transformation into a foxkin." Katie explained, and I was flabbergasted.
"So you're saying she was lying to me while I was friends with him?" I said, glaring at Katie.
"Yes, and no, she never lied to you. she just never showed her true self to you." Katie's explanation prompted me to reflect further on the matter.
"How do you know so much? I am sure I only told Sara this, and Shiro would not have told you either." I asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"Don't think about it too much. remember, she went through a lot, and having a bond with someone helped her stay sane."
"Why do you sound older than me?"
"I am."
"By a few months." I remarked, recalling that in this world, she was indeed physically older than me.
"Oh, right, are we having a truce?" I asked, looking up at her.
"Why not."
"Alright, then you will take the back, and I will take the front." I said, grinning at her.
"Sounds fine to me." Katie spoke as she entered the arena, and I trailed closely behind her.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the second round of qualifiers for the under-16 yearly tournament!!" The same guy from yesterday yelled, grinning in anticipation of the upcoming battle.
"Isn't this world a little too excited now that I hear someone shout like this? Don't you think so?" I said this, looking at Katie.
"No one will die in this tournament. you are just overthinking things." Katie simply said she was shaking her head.
"That's not the point, and based on what you said, I expect a war soon." I said, shivering at the thought.
"Hmm, she did say you are proficient at raising flags. Whatever that might mean."
"Don't think too much about stuff like that." I said I did not want to think about this sort of stuff right now.
"Alrighty then. with all the monotonous aspects of life behind us, let's begin the battle royal! Remember, only 8 can go through to the next round!" The commander announced that he was setting off the bells to initiate the fight.
"Oh, it is already starting." I said, turning my hair up.
"You should keep your guard up at all times, Zagan." Miss Katie reported that she witnessed a man approaching from behind me using her Claymore.
"I knew he was coming." I commented, embarrassed.
"Just do your job." She said this, glaring at me.
"I am." I swung my sword to the side, unleashing an arc of mana that killed people.
"Idiot, use your strength instead of your mana. we will require it at a later time." She yelled, swinging her claymore around as if she had been training it for years.
"How are you so good at using that thing?" I asked I was referring to her claymore.
"Dont know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Well, I've used it in a few matches, but they were never serious, so I don't have much experience." Katie mentioned that I was merely defending the people in front of me during the fight.
"That answered nothing, but whatever you guess, you are just a natural," I said, shaking my head and cutting another rogue girl's head off.
'I hate this, but at least I know they won't stay dead.' Looking at the lifeless corpses on the ground, I thought to myself.
"I told you to keep your gums up!" Katie yelled, pushing me down, narrowing her gaze, and dodging a fire spell.
"Sorry."
"Just shut it." She screamed, shoving me out of her way.
Twisting around, I slammed my one sword into the ground while using my other one to block an arrow.
'I should concentrate now.' Infusing the swords with dark mana, I leaped into my shadow and began moving through the shadows, assassinating people until I returned to Katie.
"Didn't I tell you to not use mana?" Katie exclaimed, glaring at me.
"Sorry, but there is only one girl I listen to." I said, grinning.
"Tch, I now understand why Kitsuna became annoyed with me at that time." She said she was cutting a man in half.
'She managed to kill quite a few people with just that claymore.' I thought looking around while holding a guy back with duel swords was like me.
"It's always annoying to the nobles." Before kicking sand into my eyes, the guy said he was glaring at me.
"You really are pathetic," Anabald said, pulling me back.
"Sorry." I muttered, curious to see how effortlessly she could split the man in half.
"Just shut up," Anabald said.
'I am so weak.'
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone