A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Chapter 189: Guide My Blade

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—Saint Claret—

—The Black Manor—

Triss stood on the strong concrete floor of an Arena's stage with her feet spaced apart and her eyes closed as she detected her face toward the sky where the sun shined down its hot rays.

Her arms were bare in the undergarment-like shirt she had on. It left most of her back visible but covered her front well even though it molded so tightly to her well-formed shape. But Triss didn't care.

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She wasn't quite sure she had ever cared about that even before the recent changes she had undergone but now that she was especially being watched by wary eyes who were mostly too scared of her to look at her lewdly, she cared even less.

She had a hand on the pommel of a sword handle and it was on the blade the handle was attached to that any attention that wasn't on her face was directed to.

The blade was a foot and a half wide and its blunt edge was inches thick. A hefty weapon that had quickly become her weapon of choice since her transformation because, according to her, only something this wide pleased her to wield. It soothed her desire to crush as well as cleave.

Triss took a deep breath. The wind whistled and caused her ponytail to sway while the locks of her red hair that had not complied to be put in the ponytail swayed even harder in the direction of the wind.

And then she opened her eyes. They were her normal brown but as they fell on the three she was about to 'spar' against, a fire seemed to burn within them.

"Guide my blade, My Lady," she said in a voice that carried across the Arena.

The three frowned.

A few of them knew who the 'Lady' Triss was praying to was and the ones who didn't know with certainty— as they had not been present during the phenomenon that was still the talk of the Manor— knew enough to shudder at the thought that they were in the presence of a 'Devil-Worshipper'.

And that was what Triss was.

Before her transformation, she had been apathetic to all kinds of religious faith. It was more of a luxury for the ones who were lucky enough to have access to the magical resources of the world.

But now that an infernal fire burned in her heart and fueled her with might she could only ever have dreamed to possess, Triss heartily said 'Fuck you!' to whatever Divine god had existed and had watched her toil. Happily surrendering herself to the will of her Devil Mistress even if she had a choice. Which really, she did not.

The man in the middle of Triss' three opponents recovered from his shudder first and cleared his throat while looking at the two by his sides who were averting their eyes from Triss,

"That's enough of that," he said.

Triss smiled lightly. It didn't touch her eyes and there was no compassion in her voice when she said,

"Chad, Reon, Gina. Are you sure you want to do this?"

She looked at each of them in turn with her attention mostly on the slightest of the bunch; the girl who stood on Reon's left side and was called Gina.

Gina frowned at being stared at so particularly and then she steeled herself and raised her chin as though in defiance.

"We should be asking you that, Triss," Reon, the one in the middle, said,

"You're new and haven't been to many of this but you should know we most encourage one-on-one battles."

"Just one of you won't cut it," Triss said with a smirk and a nonchalant wave and then she paused before she continued,

"But you should know that since I'll be facing three of you at once, I won't have the time or the presence of mind to pull my strikes. I'm not strong enough to be holding back just yet."

"I think we'll be fine," Reon said calmly.

"Pompous bitch," Chad, who stood to Reon's right side, said in a voice he didn't even try to lower.

A growl rang clear across the Arena then and all eyes went to a red-haired handsome young man who was seated in a spectator's seat. Stefan had not liked the insult to his sister and his brown eyes glowered with a readiness to defend her honor.

Chad frowned at his reaction and twitched strangely. Reon pursed his lips while Gina's eyes darted to and away from Stefan's face as though having difficulty coming to terms with her finding him attractive even though he was on the bad side because of his affiliation with his violent, Devil-Worshipping Sister.

Triss didn't look at Stefan. She did roll her eyes though.

"Let's begin," Reon said and took a step back as Chad took more steps forward.

Chad began to twitch and in a second, scales began to appear all over his skin. He immediately gave himself the full protection shift he was capable of as a Feral Meister. He might dislike Triss but he knew he'd be foolish not to take a spar against her as seriously as he possibly could.

Gina fell forward and planted her palms against the ground.

"Gina, don't hold back," Chad said and then he was gone.

Pushing his charging speed to the max through the incorporation of the strength increase he gained through shifting, the Feral Meister charged forward and came at Triss with a claw strike.

Triss lifted her large sword off the ground and made what appeared to be a wide swing with the blunt edge of the sword's blade. With his eyes wide, Chad had to lean as far back as he possibly could to ensure the blade passed harmlessly above him.

To his credit, he turned the move he was forced to make into an attack aimed at Triss' legs to knock her off balance. But Triss moved away and as the kick missed, she brought her sword down and stabbed its blade toward the ground in a move that would and should have cut Chad's extended leg in two had he not quickly placed a hand against the ground and managed to pivot.

Backed by her considerable strength, the tip of Triss' large sword cut through the Arena's concrete ground and as she made to pull it out, Ice crept over, froze the blade, and bonded it to the ground.

It wasn't just the sword that was frozen. It was every part of the side of the Arena Triss was standing at and the culprit was none other than Gina whose face was screwed in concentration as a line of ice formed from where her hands were touching the ground to create the freeze effect.

"Well done, Gina!" Chad yelled. He had been ready for this. He had asked for it.

Gina was a rarity among Lord Aleric's Vykers. Where Flame Mages and Feral-Meisters abound with a few Shadow Vykers here and there, she had become the first to become a mutated Ice Mage. Her ice, coated in Mana wasn't just the normal sort and could even withstand the Flames of her fellow Vykers.

Chad was sure it would hold Triss' sword long enough while also hindering her movement. Of course, Gina had taken care to keep her ice away from where he stood so, with a powerful grip of the concrete with his claws, he propelled himself off the ground and kicked at Triss' jaw.

*Bam!*

Triss' head was forced back and her stance became unstable with one foot off the ground but one hand still on the handle of her sword. Chad didn't notice or care. He just managed to place his feet on a part of the ground —on the part of the Arena that wasn't covered with ice—, and delivered another kick to Triss' midsection.

This time, Triss didn't move.

It took a second for Chad to realize his foot had not made contact with her body but rather the flat side of her sword's blade. It took another second for the Vyker to realize there was a red flame around the blade and that the heat of the blame was now licking at his pants and next at the protective scales that covered his leg.

He kicked off the sword blade and landed on the patch of ground without ice only to realize everywhere was starting to thaw. Gina sent more of her Ice to freeze the ground but an infernal heat radiating from Triss' body kept it at bay.

The burning flames that had been barely noticeable in her eyes earlier were blazing hot now.

And then she was gone from where she stood.

Chad's eyes went wide and, with his claws against the ground, he pushed himself away which was fortunate because the massive blade of Triss' sword landed and created a massive crater at that very spot the very next second.

Acting like she hadn't noticed her missed attack, Triss whipped around in a kick that caught Chad in the chest before he could get sufficiently far enough away…

*BAM!*

… And sent him flying with a cracked sternum.