NBAA Vol. 5 Chapter 3 Part 5
“R-Reito-kun?”
“What!? Are you trying to scold me, you little brat!!”
When the Beastman was about to stand up, he noticed something strange – he wasn’t holding his cigar anymore.
He looked around puzzled before realizing that Reito had taken his cigar.
“Cigars are bad for your body, old man.”
“When did you…”
“While you were talking…”
“How did you…!?”
Even Mina, who was standing next to him, hadn’t the faintest idea how Reito had managed to steal the cigar.
Reito, who was done showing off the assassin skills that he had learned from Aria, tossed the cigar back to the Beastman and laughed.
“I’m not any old brat. Are you trying to fight?”
“Haha… It appears I underestimated you. My mistake.”
The man laughed in a dry voice at the boy half his age and scurried away.
Mina was about to ask Reito how he stole the cigar, but the guard in the Waiting Room called out for them, “Number 20!! Reito and Mina, it’s your turn!!”
“Um, yes sir!!”
“That was fast… We’re ready!” Reito replied.
Reito and Mina stood up and were guided by the soldier.
The soldier confirmed their number and promptly left the Waiting Room, walking into the corridor. They followed behind him.
“The first match will start soon. The moment the gates open, you are to enter. Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir!!”
“I’m ready!!”
“Good luck in battle.”
Mina clutched her Mithril spear and Reito equipped his Magic Ring. The soldier took a bow before walking away
Reito did some light stretching and then slapped himself on the face to get in the zone.
“Alright… I’m getting excited!!” (Reito said like Goku)
“What!? I don’t know if that voice suits you… But, let’s do our best.”
The gate slowly parted in front of them, and they looked out at the arena before them. It was shaped like a circle. It made Reito think of the pro baseball stadiums he used to go to as a kid. Around the perimeter of the arena was enough seating for about 10,000 people. A few thousand had already taken their seats.
A woman’s voice rang out, “Next… We have our third battle of the afternoon section!! How far will our challengers be able to go this time?!! Here they come!!”
“LET’S GO!!!”
“They’re gonna get fucked up real quick!!”
“I bet they are going to last 5 minutes, so I hope they at least make it that far!!”
The cheers and jeers of the spectators poured in one after the other.
Reito and Mina passed through the gate into the arena before the gate slowly began to shut behind them. There were gates in all four directions. They had emerged from the south gate. There was a commentator box in the front row. A rabbit-shaped Beast Girl was holding a magical tool that looked like a microphone. She kicked off her announcement.
“Here we go!! It looks like we have a co-ed pair!! And the two of them are in their mid-teens!! One of them appears to belong to the Hailstorm Guild. I also feel like I’ve seen this boy somewhere… The battle begins in 10 seconds.”
Mina was surprised that the young girl in the commentator box recognized her. Reito looked at the East Gate. He used his perception skill to notice something moving.
“Okay, let’s go!! Open the gates!!”
“GREEEEHHH!!”
A swarm of goblins appeared when the commentator gave the signal. There were 20 in total and they were clad in leather armor and equipped with iron spears. Reito looked at them and thought about the Armed Goblins of the old Empire. He squinted his eyes.
“Greeh!!”
“Greeh!!”
“Reito-kun, step back!! I’m going to… Ah!?”
“Greeh!!”
Mina charged the swarm of goblins, but they moved out of her way before she could get a swipe at them. Reito, who didn’t have a weapon, aimed straight ahead. He figured that would make it easier to take them down.
The Goblins are very intelligent monsters and some of them even know how to use weapons like humans. However, they weren’t very blessed with skills in picking up on danger.
“Okay!”
“Greahh!?”
“Greeeh!?”
Reito let out a small yell before sticking out his fist. He sent the first goblin that came running at him flying. The other goblins looked stunned and stopped in their tracks.
“Yeah… If it’s just goblins I don’t need to use Physical Reinforcement.”
“Greeh!!”
“Hey now!!”
Reito dodged the attack of a goblin who snuck up from behind. He picked up the spear of the first goblin that he blasted away.
“It’s a spear… I’ve never used it, but, ‘Thrust’!”
“Greegh!?”
Reito used the skill he developed in his fight against the Battle Golems to stab one of the nearby Goblins in the back.
Mina looked at him and squinted.
“W-, Wow!! You can also use a spear?”
“No, but… Ah man, it’s broken.”
“Greeh…!?”
The handle of the spear, likely of shoddy material, snapped in half after piercing the goblin and its leather armor.
Reito reluctantly dropped the spear and got ready to fight bare-fisted, but the surrounding goblins appeared to pick up on the difference in strength between themselves and Reito and didn’t dare approach him.
“What’s this!? What do we have here? The young boy everyone thought was a mere magician has pierced a goblin to death!? Is he some sort of guard?”
“H-, Hey!! I didn’t know there was a rule change!! Are two advanced guards allowed to participate together!?”
“Give me back my money, damn it!!”
“There we go!! Go all the way!!”
Many of the spectators had bet on how far he would go. Some of them were happy with the results while others were angry.
Mina didn’t feel good being bet on, but she picked up her spear and swung.
“Rotation!!”
“Grah!?”
“Greh!?”
“Ooh…”
The goblins were sliced down one after the other. It looks like Hailstorm only has skillful adventurers after all.
Mina used another battle skill.
“Piercing Frenzy!!”
“Grahh!?”
Mina’s spear pierced the heads of five goblins dead on.
The two of them persisted without any trouble before finally taking down all the goblins.
The spectators roared and the announcer girl’s voice rang through the arena.
“Wow!! They managed to defeat all the goblins in the blink of an eye!! It’s a record for the day!! However, two minutes have passed. It’s time for the next monster to be released.”
As if responding to her words, the North Gate was opened and a swarm of kobolds appeared.
“GRAAAHH!!”
“Kobolds… Wait, what is on their arm?”
Do they have claws…?”
8 kobolds had appeared in the arena, and they were all equipped with steel claws on their hands.
The kobolds charged after Reito and Mina.
“Graaah!!”
“Grooow!!”
“What!?”
“Hey now… let’s retreat for a second.”
Reito used the swordsman’s “Dodge” skill to avoid one kobold after the other.
Mina swung her spear to try and control them, but they wouldn’t stop.
“Ngh… Reito-kun, sorry!! I’m the front guard. I’m supposed to be protecting you…!!”
“I don’t mind. I don’t think you’re used to defending…!!”
“Groow!?”
When Reito punched the kobold in the stomach as he dodged its attack, a new skill appeared in his field of vision.
<Technical Skill Acquired: Counterattack>
Reito was surprised that he managed to learn a new skill under these circumstances, but he figured it was because he was engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
“I see. It increases the strength of my counters.”
“Grann!?”
<Battle Skill Acquired: Elbow Strike>
“What? Maybe I have more physical combat talent than I realized.”
When Reito smashed the face of the kobold behind him with his elbow, he learned a new skill.
Reito was a little surprised before he tried imitating the same footwork he saw Gonzo use.
“How about this?”
“Grann!?”
<Battle Skill Acquired: Kick Strike>
He was able to acquire the skill with the kick. He was surprised at his unexpected talent and turned the kobold into a punching bag.
“Fist Strike!!”
“Grahoo!?”
“Bullet Strike!!”
“Gragh!?”
“Headbutt!!”
“Groowl!?”
“Woahhh!?”
The last one wasn’t technically a battle skill, but the crowd went wild watching him run through the goblins in hand-to-hand combat.
However, Reito was getting tired of fighting in a way he wasn’t used to.
Mina, not overlooking that, helped ward off the kobolds with her spear.
“Reito-kun!! Don’t overdo it!! Leave it up to me!!”
“Got it… Ouch, I really got cocky.”
Reito hid behind Mina and used “Recovery Boost” to regain his strength.
Mina was left alone to fight. She skillfully turned her energy toward defeating the kobolds.
“Grah!!”
“Take this!!”
“Grahh!?”
She pierced the final kobold’s arm and took it down.
But, too much time had elapsed and the next monster was about to be released.
“Here we go!! Two minutes have passed. They won’t have time to take a breather. The next monster is coming out!!”
“Greeeeeh!!”
After the kobolds, five orcs appeared. They didn’t have any weapons, but they appeared to be larger specimens with red fur in patches.
Mina noticed that and told Reito, “Those orcs seem to be from another region. Watch out!! We don’t know if they fight like normal orcs!!”
“Got it.”
Reito was on guard and got in position to use his magic. He thought about using “Ice Block” to make some sort of makeshift weapon before the orcs began leaping.
“Greeehh!!”
“What!?”
“Huh!?”
Orcs are usually slow and sluggish monsters, but the orcs in the arena were hopping 6 meters in the air before coming back down.
Reito dodged them to the left and right. They slammed into the ground forcefully when they landed before leaping again.
“Greeh!!”
“Woah!?”
The orc did a flying kick.
Reito got his hands ready and used a defensive battle skill.
“Parry!!”
“Greeh!?”
Reito parried the orc with his left hand and its huge body fell to the ground.
He fixed his posture and stuck out his palms.
“Wind Blast!!”
“Grahh!?”
The attack repelled the right hand of the orc and sent it flying. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the “Counterattack” skill he had just acquired, but it was a stronger attack than usual.
“That’s convenient… Hey now, ‘Lightning Strike’!!”
“Nghh!?”
Reito enveloped his right arm in an electric current that formed a tornado. He punched the orc sneaking up from behind him and sent it flying away. The orc’s entire body was fried before dying.
Reito approached another orc and clenched his fists.
“Bullet Strike!!”
“GRAHHHH!?”
Reito planted his feet firmly on the ground and spun his entire body, starting with the ankle, then the knee, then the joints, his abs, his chest, his shoulders, his elbow, and his forearms, delivering a knockout punch. It was the pride of his punching skills. He usually fought with a sword, so he had few chances to show it off.
“H-, Hey!? Is he really a magician!?”
“Are you sure he’s not a martial artist!?”
“I’ve never seen that kind of battle skill.”
Reito’s battle skills shocked the spectators.
He didn’t like his magician status being questioned, so he decided to show everyone that he truly was a magician.
“Ice Chain!!”
“What’s this!?”
Numerous ice daggers appeared around Reito. The spectators were awed at the never before seen magic.