WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
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◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈
Chapter 108: Competition
──────
And she certainly seemed skilled enough to take on that role.
“What the hell are you doing, you...”
Before the speaker could finish, their head snapped back so hard it looked as though their neck had broken.
They immediately lost consciousness and crumpled. The whole thing looked like a scene straight out of a movie...
“...”
“...”
As silence settled over the group again, someone noticed a small object rolling away from beside the fallen person’s forehead.
That was probably what had knocked them out.
The problem was...
“...A pebble?”
...They had been knocked unconscious by something that small.
It really was small enough to deserve the name.
Barely the size of a single finger joint.
“No, how could a stupid little...”
A pebble embedded itself in that speaker’s head too.
They immediately passed out.
“Hey, are you all messing...”
A pebble embedded itself in that speaker’s head as well.
“...”
What followed was more of the same. Before anyone could get a word out, a flying stone struck them, and they dropped like sick chickens.
Aiden narrowed his eyes at Elisha, who stood in place, flicking stones around.
The technique was normally called a coin toss.
People with nimble fingers used coins to throw off an opponent’s timing or distract them. But what Elisha was doing now was practically...
‘...A machine gun?’
Ratatatat! Pebbles scattered in every direction like bullets, launched with nothing more than a flick of her wrist. That probably wasn’t an unreasonable comparison...
Some even embedded themselves in people’s flesh like proper throwing weapons.
Amid the assorted cries of “Wah!”, “Whoa!”, and “Aaaagh!”, Alex spoke in a daze.
“...Wh-what... Do people specially modify stones to use as weapons these days?”
The situation was so ridiculous that even such an absurd idea sounded like a reasonable suspicion.
“Oh, these are just pebbles. Want to feel one?”
“...”
Somehow, Elisha had heard that too. She tossed Alex a stone.
After turning it over in their hand, Alex answered uneasily.
“...It really is just a stone.”
“Right?”
As she said that, another stone she threw buried itself in the thigh of someone trying to get back up.
With a sickening Crack!, the victim clutched their broken leg, choking without even managing to scream.
“...Good heavens.”
Alex looked horrified, but Aiden’s expression had also stiffened.
‘...That.’
Probably because he could see the “source” of Elisha’s little performance more clearly.
‘Physical enhancement...’
It was a use of Divine Power that its wielders would never favor.
Of course, enhancing physical abilities through an ability was one of the most basic things a superhuman could do. There was no particular reason people who wielded Divine Power couldn’t do it.
Hadn’t Aiden himself done exactly that with the Pontiff’s skill not long ago?
It was a matter of efficiency. Rather than using Divine Power to strengthen the body, it was far more efficient to shape the power itself directly into a weapon.
The Ki Cultivation Methods used by Imperial knights were the most specialized means of strengthening the body.
Still, there were ways to make even Divine Power work for that purpose.
-System Message
▶ You activate “Skill: Analysis.”
▶ Information on the target is displayed.
In other words...
If she used the “same” method as Aiden.
‘...A multi-ability user.’
The words rose in his mind like a groan.
Someone who could wield several abilities, including Divine Power.
If she could “fuse” Ki and Divine Power to enhance her body, much as he did, then even Divine Power could become a highly efficient means of physical enhancement.
The “haze” mingling like heat shimmer with the colorless flames billowing around Elisha’s body supported that theory.
And this was the result of using that power.
Everyone here had some knowledge of combat. They were by no means the sort of riffraff one could find anywhere.
Yet she was subduing them all simply by standing in place and casually tossing stones. With plenty of room to spare.
In fact, Elisha didn’t seem to be tiring herself out at all.
Which meant...
‘She’s much more experienced than I am.’
She clearly seemed to have fewer abilities at her disposal than Aiden did. But she was far better at combining and using the ones she had.
As though she had been doing it for a very long time.
“Hmm.”
By the time she let out that satisfied hum...
No one was left standing except her, Aiden, and Alex.
She looked over the royals, who lay unconscious without so much as a groan, then turned toward Aiden.
“Um, I, uh, t-took care of them...”
“...”
“Th-then I’ll...”
“Excuse me. Just a moment.”
Aiden rubbed his face and stopped her. Her fidgeting manner was nothing like that of the person who had just performed those terrifying feats.
“...Why don’t we talk a little before you go? Appearing out of nowhere, helping me out of nowhere, then disappearing out of nowhere seems a little cold.”
“Oh, um, this was just something I wanted to do...”
“I’d like to know a little more about you.”
...He could feel Alex staring at him in disbelief.
He wanted to smack them for muttering that the rumors about him being a slick ladies’ man weren’t just rumors after all. But Aiden wasn’t really going to get angry about this.
‘...I did choose those words on purpose.’
If he said something like that to someone who clearly liked him, their Affinity would probably change, whether it went up or down.
And if any information appeared with that change, it could provide a clue to her identity.
But...
The system window that appeared next was completely outside his expectations.
-System Message
▶ You make contact with target “-”.
▶ This target’s Affinity is already at maximum. Affinity cannot increase any further!
▶ A special interaction is required to copy skills.
▶ A change occurs in the main scenario!
“...”
...What?
Aiden scanned the window in bewilderment.
He had sometimes received something other than a skill from targets whose skills couldn’t be copied. But this was the first time he had seen a target whose skills he couldn’t obtain because their “Affinity was already at maximum.”
‘...Her name isn’t showing up either.’
Elisha was probably a false name. If it had been her real name, the system window would have displayed it properly.
In other words...
This woman was hiding her identity.
And even the system window couldn’t reveal it.
“...”
Elisha looked at him for a moment, her eyes wavering, then abruptly turned her head away.
Even beneath the dark night sky, he could plainly see that she was red all the way to her ears.
“Y-you’ll probably keep running into people like this throughout the S-Succession Ceremony.”
Still blushing, Elisha lowered her head and stumbled through her words.
“Wh-when that happens, I-I’ll help you, just like I did now.”
“...No, that’s why I’d at least like to know why you’re doing...”
“I’ll be going now!”
Before he could ask anything else, Elisha left him with those words and vanished with a Whoosh!
“...”
“...”
“...Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just thinking how talented you are.”
“At what?”
“Do I really have to say it?”
This time, Aiden didn’t hold back. He smacked Alex on the head.
Of course, even as he did, he kept wondering who this Elisha he had just met could possibly be.
‘...I have no idea.’
He hadn’t learned anything.
But she really was an unusual person.
That much, at least, had left a clear impression.
▣
The Grand Temple itself was an enormous facility, but the island was large enough that plenty of places remained in their natural state.
In other words, there could hardly have been a better place to hold the mock war known as the “Competition.”
“The event will last three days. The royal who builds the largest force and occupies the most territory over those three days will win. Territory is claimed by planting the ‘flags’ issued to each participant...”
In a patch of dense undergrowth, a priest sent by the ceremony’s organizers continued explaining the rules to the assembled royals.
Everyone listening looked indifferent.
By its very nature, this event inevitably favored those who already had a strong support base outside the ceremony.
The gap between participants was so great from the outset that even most of the ambitious ones had probably entered without expecting to score many points in the Competition.
And the same went for Aiden. Things might have been different if Noel or Katia could join him, but he hadn’t intended to bring them along in the first place. Besides, they weren’t eligible to participate.
Naturally, people who had come as attendants couldn’t take an active role in the Succession Ceremony. That arrangement was more helpful to Aiden too.
‘I wonder how they’re doing...’
While the Competition was underway, Noel and Katia were probably watching for the “wild cards” that might appear inside the Grand Temple, as he had asked.
Something was definitely going to happen during this Competition. This was his way of preparing for it.
“...Those are the rules of the Competition. I trust everyone understands.”
While Aiden was thinking that over, the priest finished the explanation.
“And now, we have some special provisions ordered by the Pontiff.”
“...?”
Everyone’s expression grew strange at this addition, which hadn’t been part of the previously announced schedule.
“I will read the Pontiff’s words exactly as written. This is boring as fuck and stuffy as fuck. What’s the point of calling it a competition or a mock war if all you do is peacefully fight over land?”
...As the priest continued, their expressions grew stranger still.
“Therefore, I am adding special rules to the Competition for this Succession Ceremony. Weapons and combat intended to kill are normally forbidden, but this time, anything goes. I’ll give everyone an equal opportunity. Use whatever means and methods you like to beat your opponents down.”
“...”
A murmur spread through the crowd.
“Oh, but don’t worry. You won’t actually die. If it looks like you might, I’ll take care of keeping you alive.”
“...”
“Of course, my power has its limits, so if you really die, you might really die. Well, that would be a shame.”
...The murmuring grew louder.
“And this is the most important part.”
The priest, who had been reading the letter with a frown, squeezed their eyes shut.
As though reading these sentences was sheer torture.
“If combat results in casualties, the dead person’s land belongs to whoever killed them.”
...This time, there wasn’t even a murmur.
“Right, you get the general idea?”
“...”
“Now, kill each other.”
...Aiden’s jaw dropped. He was hardly the only one.
Everyone was probably thinking the same thing.
‘This...’
Was going to be one hell of a bloodbath.
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