Hope born of solitus

*

There was only a slight gap between my fist and her body, I leapt as close as I could but she made a good decision to keep herself faraway after I deflected her second blow. My strength rushes through the air, blowing a violent gale against her chest. However, it wasn't enough. The wind merely caressed her, I didn't even have enough strength to destroy a small piece of rock with wind pressure.

My body barely surpasses human limit... 'My' body's limit. It might even be comparable to an athletes. I can probably destroy a wooden wall and cause a large indent in a concrete one, but a steel wall wouldn't bend to my will either. I thought I was special, but just because my body was beyond the norm in performance... It didn't mean it was infallible.

Strength, Speed, Sufferance, Sorcery... If there were such stats, as suggested by a previous Lastia, my stats would all be at the C rank. And Sariel's would all be at B. There was such a significant difference in our physicalities and magic that it set us apart by an entire rank. Speaking strictly, the ranks were defined by a previous Lastia as 'the chances I could defeat them when we're both at full strength'.

It is a measurement that's relative to that Lastia. Goblins and giant bats also served as references for C and B rank respectively. The more references are gathered, the more information and accuracy we accrue. Not that any such precise information would be useful at this moment.

My arm was repaired by the energy, but now she knows. She has definitive evidence to believe I can at least prevent any {Swap}s from activating in my vicinity. She's not like a Trace where their body is made of magical energy either, using {Feed} on her will do almost nothing other than make her tired, it can't damage her body.

No...! I can't do anything right now, absorbing the magic in the air for faster recovery is better than nothing! I mustered up {Feed} around my body, its intensity and scarlet pink lustre made a stark contrast from its first appearance. It didn't glow fiercely nor did it block out anything with opacity, it was mostly transparent as it dully occupied a large volume of air over the school rooftop. In this patchwork of magical territory, {Swap} wasn't able to occur. I would sap this place dry of magic in anticipation of the next attack.

Sariel switched up her approach. An expression of surprise betrayed her realisation when {Swap} no longer worked. She was still physically faster than I was, even if I could barely perceive her attacks. In the worse scenario, I could see where she attacked me from, but would be too sluggish to block or take mitigating action. By no means did the situation improve, I was still at a heavy disadvantage if she decided to take me head on instead.

She ran forward. I could see her. I could see her, yet... She was fast. It wasn't to the point where she disappears from my vision, right... It's like watching a car past by. This time, it was heading straight for me. I have to respond early! I lower my knees and entrusted my weight to the ground, my elbows bent until my arms tensed. Like throwing a whip, my hand extended from my body and flew forward. My knuckles trusted through the air towards her forehead, then...

She vanished. No, it looked like she vanished because she was finally up close. But she simply side stepped to my right at the same speed, she forcibly changed trajectory with her body's flexibility. Her leg shot up before I noticed, my awareness only caught on when her foot had already landed on my torso. My body flew backwards rapidly like a thrown rag doll, smashing myself against the concrete wall that formed the frame of the entrance door. There were tall mesh fences surrounding the perimeter, but they looked like they wouldn't hold up under Sariel's power.

I was fortunate to land against the concrete wall as opposed to being thrown off the roof and destroying the mesh fence. But... It still hurt like hell... Right... I definitely broke a few bones, it hurts just to think about it. My entire body cries out in agony as fractures have occurred throughout. The concrete wall must have cracked and formed a crater, looking at the ground, my feet barely reach the base of the wall. The rest of my body was indented that far into the wall.

I grit my teeth and pushed myself forward, lifting my body weight with my abs and back.

"ARGH!!!" (Lastia)

I only took 2 steps forward, but it was enough to make me clench my jaw and narrow my eyes until it could barely see.

"sssssfffffssssffff" (Lastia)

My body is repairing itself with the energy it absorbs with {Feed}, but it's not enough when my injuries cover my entirety. Not good, I'm practically spitting air through clenched teeth to ease the pain, my tears are almost fully obscuring my vision and the pain is causing a migraine that pushes my mind onto the verge of fainting. Sariel approaches, she wouldn't wait for me to recover. I bent my knees and let my body fall lower, I would dodge the first hit but I'll also be immobile. I felt the air brushing above my hair, the pressure was so strong that I could have sworn it shaved a line down the middle of my scalp.

I wanted to lunge at her torso from a lower position, but my legs wouldn't move. This was the end. I raised my forearms, but nothing happened...

I turned my gaze upwards, struggling to make out her expression through the tears. Being riddled with bone fractures sure hindered anything I attempted to do. The battle had practically ended there. Sariel extended her arm, did she plan to pull me up? It's not like the pain in my legs would magically disappear. That was when... She attempted to use {Swap}, which malfunctioned again.

Ah... She was intentionally feeding me magic so I could recover faster. The energy held inside a magical girl or a Trace was many times denser than the magic in the air, it at least soothed the pain enough for me to regain my mobility.

"You... What the hell is your deal...?" (Lastia)

"... A magical girl from a neighbouring school died...

I got impatient and wanted to train you as fast as possible..." (Sariel)

She must have been someone Sariel knew.

" Right, because of that, there's a danger beyond the Traces now. I thought I would never see it again, at least prevent it from happening close to me... " (Sariel)