I looked over at Tasora on the bench. She was still staring straight at me. Even with my firm and polite refusals, she simply would not take no for an answer. Knowing that this was just the way she was, I let her be and went back to what I was working on.
I sat down in the center of the training ground I had rented for five hours with 25 School Points. I haven't checked my balance yet, but I am fairly confident that this amount is nothing; I am, after all, part of the top 10 rankings.
Or so I was told....
I raised my hand and summoned the status window in the air. A transparent light spread open in front of me, displaying my stats.
_________________________________
〈 STATUS PANEL 〉
Name: Matthew Pier Salinin
Weaver: Conceptual Astute Weaver
Race: Human (Stabilized)
Core: Blue
Potential: SS
_________________________________
〈 STATS 〉
Strength: H+
Endurance: E+
Agility: G
ThrumCapacity: A
ThrumRecovery: G-
ThrumCircuit: D
Mind: C-
_________________________________
〈 EXTRA STATS 〉
Charm: D
Luck: ####
_________________________________
〈UNIQUE SKILLS〉
Growth Factor — Rank A
Origin: Verde
Status: Passive
Effect: An authority fragment granted by Verde. Accelerates all forms of growth—physical, mental, conceptual, adaptive.
_________________________________
〈 AUTHORITY SLOT 〉
Authority: Flourish(Limited)
Origin: Verde
Status: Active
Effect: The user can flourish their thrum until it reaches instability, at which point it condenses into a concentrated energy burst and detonates.
Authority: Verde's Curse.
Origin: Verde
Status: Passive
Effect: Reduces Mind Stat by 5 stages unless the user consumes the required nourishment.
Required Nourishment:[Polaris's Blood]
_________________________________
Nothing had really changed, but I checked anyway in case there was some hidden clue I had missed and overlooked.
Let us see. My main method of offense was undoubtedly Verde's limited authority. But this power was incredibly peaky. If normal magic had a power scale that steadily starts at one and rises to one hundred, my authority started at ninety to one hundred. I could not control it at all.
I analyzed my defensive options next. There was only one answer. The most basic enhancement any weaver could use. Bare minimum.
Mobility was the same problem. Technically, I could use my authority for explosive movement. Unfortunately, the same lack of control made that an accident waiting to happen.
I was then reminded of my own head turning like a pendulum, slamming against the ground. I need to remind myself not to use that stupid trick again to dodge an attack.
As for unpredictability, that was a complete zero. I am basically a one-trick pony.
A pony whose trick was sharp enough to cut both the enemy and me.
I had already figured out the only realistic way to bypass the problem. I needed to find a method to expel thrum outside my body, then use my authority on that expelled thrum to make it explode.
Easier said than done. During our one week of hellish training with Kim, I never managed to succeed even once.
The first step was simply to expel the thrum out of my palm.
I collected thrum from my core, envisioning the familiar line stretching from where my core rested in my head down to my hand. Carefully, I focused on extending that line past my palm, a feat still beyond my abilities at this stage.
I kept trying. Again and again. But only my hand itself was coated in a bluish hue of thrum.
A voice suddenly cut through my concentration."You suck."
I flinched.
My hand jerked.
My authority triggered.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!"
The explosion blasted me away. I flew across the room and slammed into the wall with a loud crash.
Pain shot through my back, but my heart dropped even harder. I had accidentally attacked her.
Oh no...
I stumbled up and ran toward the smoke, coughing as I tried to find Tasora.
But instead of a wounded girl, Tasora stood perfectly still, completely unharmed.
I could not sense even the slightest enhancement on her body. Did she take the blast in full force?
Then it hit me again.
This was the monster Finster could not defeat until the much later stages of the story.
Tasora tapped her bracelet, and the device spat out a swirl of light particles. The particles floated for a moment, then calmed and solidified into a wooden sword.
She flicked the blade once, and the shockwave dispersed the dust clouds around us cleanly.
...
I felt a sting of jealousy. A storage artifact would be ridiculously useful. But I had more urgent concerns.
She had brought out a wooden sword.
She likely wanted to spar with me.
"You need a beating."
Ah, I was wrong. This is way worse.
She was simply annoyed that I blasted dirt in her face. My death penalty was officially underway.
Knowing her personality, there was no convincing her with words, and there is absolutely no way I can beat this girl now.
I braced myself and enhanced my legs and hands in preparation for escape, just like the last time.
I expected her to blitz me with blinding speed. Instead, she simply walked toward me. Slowly. Menacingly.
This is not funny. Not even a little.
Every step she took, I took a step back. We continued this pathetic dance until my back pressed against the cold wall.
She kept approaching, her expression blank.
"Haha...Why are all the people who beat me in this world emotionless machines?"
Glancing behind me, I concluded that at this rate, I would be nothing but a trapped mouse.
I crouched low and placed my right hand on the ground.
Then I detonated both my legs and right arm to launch myself upward, trying to escape in the air.
"KABOOOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
I shot into the air like a bullet, but the ceiling was rapidly approaching. Before I could adjust, something clamped around my ankle and stopped me cold.
A single hand.
"Goddammit....."
I tried to explode the leg she grabbed, but before I could, my entire body swung. Suddenly, the ceiling spun overhead as she hurled me to the ground.
This crazy girl actually threw me.
I positioned both hands behind my back and exploded again to regain control.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The sudden direction change made my vision twist. How many Gs had I just taken?
Before I could stabilize, I felt a pull on my shirt.
She had grabbed me again. She was about to slam me like a rag doll.
"You really like to fly," she said.
fuck.
Fuck.
FUCK.
I would not survive another throw. If she tossed me again and I used explosions to redirect, I would faint from the G force. That left two outcomes. I would slam into the ceiling, or she would throw me to the ground again.
I could let her throw me and try to enhance my body, but I still did not know how to do full-body enhancement.
That left me with only one plan.
I grabbed the hand gripping my shirt with my right hand and tightened my hold.
"You want me to eat the ground, right? Then why don't we eat it together?" I said, giving her the biggest grin I could muster.
I positioned my left hand behind me and enhanced it to the absolute limit.
For the first time, my teal eyes and blue hair highlights glowed. A powerful downward force pressed against both of us.
Tasora's stoic eyes flickered with genuine surprise.
I used my authority to full power and detonated my left arm.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
We rocketed downward with terrifying speed. She immediately released my shirt and her sword, using her other hand to pry my fingers from her wrist. She was physically stronger, thus managing to break herself free, but I was not done yet.
I wrapped my left hand around her neck and choked her, then brought my freed right hand behind me and detonated it again. And again. And again.
BOOOOM. BOMMMM. BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!.
I could feel the enhancements in my hand tearing with each strike. The strain was unbearable, but I did not stop.
BOOOOM!.
BOOOOM!
KABOOM!!!!!.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!," I screamed my lungs out, and braced for the impact.
....
...
..
But the impact never came.
A calm voice rose beneath me."Can you let go of my neck now?"
My eyes snapped open.
I was lying on the ground. On top of her. My hand was still wrapped around her throat, desperately.
Her jet black hair shimmered beneath me. Seeing her this close, I realized her body was well developed, and her proportions were not bad either.
I scrambled off her before this gets weird and knelt in front of her.
"I am sorry."
But something else struck me immediately.
Her white hair highlights were glowing, and so were her silver eyes.
That meant she used it.
Her conceptual ability.
The Concept of Time.