WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Wizard of the Abyss
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 80 - Selection (11)
Could an elementary schooler defeat a professional MMA champion bare-handed?
No. Of course not.
But if that elementary schooler had a gun—and knew how to use it properly—and there was enough distance between them—
Once one started stacking up these assumptions like that, the story would change.
I stacked them up. Dercia could not use anything above 2-star level, nor could she move from her spot. She wasn’t even a Fallen, so in truth the restrictions placed on her were harsher than in the scenario mentioned above.
The problem was that the gap between us wasn’t comparable to the one between a kid and a fighter.
If one had to compare, then it would be more like the difference between a normal human being and a fighter jet.
"You, of all people, wouldn’t have failed to notice this, since you’re smart.”
Dercia flicked her hand lightly, and the sky collapsed.
A wall of wind. If I stayed still, I would absolutely get crushed to pieces. I fired Thunder Gale upward instead of at Dercia, creating a tiny safe pocket of space around myself.
-Koooong...!
Everything outside that small area I stood in was pressed flat as if squeezed by a hydraulic press.
That didn’t mean I was safe. Before I could even catch my breath, the ground shook.
-Crack!
I twisted my body backward just in time, but my robe got slightly cut.
Without my Tide Sense, I probably would have been cut in half. Boulders erupted from below like blades, blocking my path.
And where I threw myself to avoid them, there was a sharpened spear of wind waiting for me.
"!"
I forced my body to twist again. My training with Brimdal helped me immensely.
Feeling my waist scream with pain, I raised my head and—
"...Hah."
I found tons of stone blades aimed at me.
Front, back, left, right, within 10 centimeters from each other.
The slightest movement and they would drive themselves through my body.
Anyone could see the fight was over. A completely one-sided defeat. It only took her 20 seconds.
That was how it ended.
"You should have fully understood that you couldn’t expect an outcome other than this.”
"..."
I glanced around.
Roughly thirty stone blades, forming a cage so tightly I couldn’t even twitch.
Usually, that was what people would call a defeat. Dercia didn’t look pleased, only as if this were the inevitable conclusion.
"So this is not my victory. This is a kind of contract where we exchanged reasonable conditions so both sides could obtain what they wanted.”
"You are correct."
In her mind, I was never even trying to win.
Because from her perspective, the restrictions placed on her meant nothing. Only 2-star magic and no movements? Even with those restrictions, no matter what the child before her tried to do, it could never reach her.
Since my defeat was inevitable, it had to mean that I desired the condition that would apply upon my defeat.
That was why she didn’t really care about the terms I set in case of my victory, no matter the risk.
Because both she and her opponent understood that it would never come to be.
"Shall we end things here? Or would you like to continue a little longer?”
"But there’s one thing you’re misunderstanding."
"...?"
Watching her tilt her head slightly, I spoke calmly, declaring,
"The me you know, Dercia, is the me from several months ago, right?”
"That’s correct."
"I haven’t exactly been sitting around doing nothing in all this time, you know?”
"Yes. I would assume so.”
Dercia agreed as if I had pointed out something utterly obvious.
"I’m aware you’ve worked hard. You even went to train under a Knight in the meantime. However, I can’t say that it was truly the correct approach. Of course, you rarely act without thought, but still…”
"Would you like to check for yourself?”
"...Later. I’ll examine you more thoroughly then.”
"You should have a look now.”
She subtly furrowed her brows.
With clenched fists, the stone blades gradually closed in around me.
It was as if she was asking me, “Do you not understand the position you’re in?” and also “Stop babbling and accept your defeat.” But—none of them touched my skin.
"...?"
Dercia’s expression shifted to a puzzled one; though the blades continued to tremble, they were unable to advance any further.
Only then did she seem to realize something, her eyes widening.
"...Oho."
"Do you like it?”
"Had you tried to use water pressure like that in the past, you wouldn’t have been able to even speak. I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve succeeded in reducing your burdens.”
"Yes."
She seemed rather impressed that I managed to resist her magic with my water pressure.
—She didn’t know.
She didn’t understand the link between me gaining my second star and the reduction of my burdens.
I slowly stepped out of the encircled zone. Meanwhile, Dercia’s blades kept trying to press towards me.
She wouldn’t be able to overcome it with just a 2-star’s output.
The restriction to her star level had been for this very moment. Dercia looked at me and nodded in understanding.
"Certainly… The spells I entrusted you with were all ones requiring water pressure and your currents at a certain level in order to make them activate. What trick did you use?”
"I have my own methods."
"So you want me to find out through strength, understood.”
Tap—!
Dercia tapped her foot lightly, and sharpened stones burst upward toward the sky.
Very high. I clenched my teeth, sensing what was about to happen.
"A simple lack of power is an easy problem to solve. Like this.”
A rain of blades fell.
However, those raindrops chased after me. Once they entered the range of my Tide Sense, their speed made dodging nearly impossible.
If I were still the version of me Dercia knew, that would have been the end.
But now, my range and precision were on an entirely different level.
"Hmm..."
- Boom! Crash!
Forcing myself to dodge between those guided blades, I charged up a Thunder Gale. Firing it while retreating would weaken the shot somewhat, but my aim was unmistakably Dercia’s torso.
She didn’t even flinch. While I threw everything I had into dodging the rain of blades and casting my spell, she just watched, seemingly fascinated, before drifting into her own thoughts.
"Don’t tell me, Jern. You…”
She stroked her chin as she contemplated something, right as Thunder Gale perfectly locked onto her.
A clean hit. There was no way that it wouldn’t land!
"...No, that can’t be right. And yet, if not, none of this would make sense…”
However, Thunder Gale was split in two before reaching its destination.
It would be closer to getting dissolved than split in two, I guess. Even at that speed, the spell dissolved, separating into wind and force.
The force became wind again, creating a strong gust. Dercia’s robe fluttered in it.
And then, she stared at me in complete and utter disbelief.
"You really, from the very beginning, were seriously intending to beat me?”
"Yes."
If Thunder Gale failed, then I would move on to the next option.
I charged at her, sword in hand. Seeing my determined eyes, Dercia shook her head, utterly dumbfounded.
"No, why would you make such a choice… Jern, you know me, right? These restrictions mean nothing. Because—”
"Because you could instantly materialize dozens of spells that could easily kill me at any given moment…right?”
"...So you do know.”
-Shhk!
Before she could say another word, I twisted my wrist and hurled my short sword at her.
I aimed for her head, but it got stuck in the tree.
So I clenched my fist and threw a punch with everything I had directly at her face. Honestly, I really did want to hit her just once.
"If you know, then why are you doing this?"
"...Ngh."
My fist stopped just a hair’s breadth from her skin. Close enough to feel her body heat.
It refused to move even a little further. It wasn't a matter of strength. It felt as if invisible ropes had locked my arm in place.
Wind pressure, so precise it resembled Telekinesis, prevented me from moving any further.
Dercia didn’t even blink. It seemed like all this had completely blindsided her.
While I struggled to pull my hand loose, she murmured quietly.
"This is not a valid fight.”
"...It is. Because I’m still alive.”
"That’s—”
"Of course, I know you're showing me mercy. But Miss Dercia, would you really kill me…?”
"You were counting on that?”
There was no way Dercia would ever actually kill me.
She stared at me in a slight daze, her expression showing how stunned she was, but then she slowly shook her head.
"And what if I told you I can easily disable you without killing you?”
"—Kgh, kugh…!”
The wind pressure began to tighten around my body.
I tried to resist using water pressure and the currents, but it was meaningless. Even while restricted to 2-star magic, Dercia was still able to perfectly defend herself.
If she hadn’t understood my water pressure and currents, then I might have had a sliver of a chance.
But so long as she knew, she simply refused to allow any force to reach her.
Dercia was a wizard fully capable of such a feat.
As my vision began to blur, I gathered every ounce of strength into my fingertips.
I knew this much. The Arcane Strengthening I had learned to endure the Abyssal Sea.
Because I was in the Abyssal Sea. Even if that other world tried its hardest to save me, that one fact would never change.
But now my world had expanded. Just a little—enough that perhaps I could develop Arcane Strengthening that didn’t just resist against the Abyssal Sea but also the physical world. A world that is not my inner world.
Just like this.
-Tap.
"??"
With a single motion, I flicked out my finger and lightly tapped Dercia’s forehead.
It was a gentle, soft touch.
But that alone probably was beyond her expectations. Her wind pressure wavered, reflecting her shock, which was when I barely managed to slip out.
"K-kgh…Phew.”
"..."
While I caught my breath, Dercia rubbed her forehead with a blank expression.
Her eyes said that she couldn’t believe what had just happened.
If only she had remained like that a bit longer. It really was a shame. While I felt regret spreading through my body, the debris around us suddenly started to lift on their own.
The scale was completely different from before. Stones, leaves, snapped roots—everything began to spin into a vortex.
Wasn’t she breaking the rules right now? Feeling uneasy, I called out.
"Er, excuse me. Miss Dercia? This is still 2-star magic, right?”
"—I see. So you’ve grown.”
"Yes."
"Then I suppose I should take this a bit more seriously.”
She was mad.
Her expression looked the same as it always did, but beneath that weary smile I felt fury boiling.
"..."
It wasn't just some instinctual thought. I could tell with certainty.
From this point on, Dercia would no longer be lenient with me.
That meant I had lost my final card, the one where I would make her let her guard down out of boredom.
She definitely was angry, but, ironically, not at me. Rather, she seemed somewhat impressed, nodding at me in acknowledgement.
"Your growth is undeniable. Restrictions aside, you managed to touch me.”
"No, well. That was more or less luck.”
"Hardly. I did not make a single error, so the only conclusion is that you managed to resist my magic, which means you’ve trained in the Knights’ Arcane Strengthening. I was worried you had wasted your time learning swordsmanship, but…”
-Fwoooosh!
All the floating debris swirled into a massive typhoon around Dercia.
It would take only seconds for this massive storm to mature enough to turn mere leaves into actual blades.
"You have gained your second star, learned high-level magic, reduced your burdens, and trained in Arcane Strengthening. You must have worked quite diligently while I was away…”
"Ah, yes. Though of course, none of it would have been possible without your teachings.”
"—So this is what you wished to show me.”
"..."
When I tightly shut my mouth, Dercia watched me with an expression one might be able to call proud, and then she continued.
"You’ve grown. Even without relying on such methods, you can advance. Is that not what you wished to say?”
"Perhaps."
She had hit the mark exactly. I answered with a bitter smile.
"I know I still have a long way to go. Even if I’ve made some progress, it’s just a single step up this enormous mountain before me. I understand that Miss Dercia is trying to create a much easier shortcut for me, all for the sake of saving me.”
"..."
"Maybe one day I’ll change my mind. Maybe I will become the type of person that grabs onto whatever or whoever is around me just to keep myself from drowning. Maybe I’ll even end up joining Scarlet Abyss, or any other place, living only to survive.”
"Then—”
"Not yet."
Still clenching my fist, I looked up at Dercia.
For now she was still taller than me.
"I’m not at the point where I have to resort to such means yet.”
"..."
"I think I can still manage.”
Even if my body froze, even if I was crushed, even if monsters that were intent on killing me lurked everywhere in this world.
I wasn’t the same person I had been a year ago, when I was ignorant of everything.
I didn’t know if this path was the correct one, but I was moving forward.
"...Is that so?"
Dercia gave me a slight nod, as if she understood what I was saying. But her magic didn’t stop.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them again, her expression almost seemed resolute.
"Then prove it.”
"..."
"I can see that you grew beyond my expectations in my absence. But expectations are easily shattered.”
"What must I do for you to believe me?”
"Show me a result that doesn’t just go beyond my expectation but also beyond my imagination."
"...Are you serious?”
"I understand what you’re trying to say. I really do. But that would mean breaking my resolve.”
"Who said anything about resolve…?”
"You must show me.”
I relaxed my shoulders and exhaled deeply.
It was hopeless. I had already used up every option available to me.
In just a few seconds, my body would be torn apart. The storm that had paused during our conversation started to vibrate again.
Sighing, I murmured,
"There are two things I need to say.”
"What are they?”
"First, I haven’t lost yet.”
Ignoring the look Dercia gave me, which seemed to say, ‘You’re still saying that?’, I continued.
"Last time, it had to come to me first. I could only endure less than a second. I don’t know if it’ll be the same this time, but it’s worth trying.”
“...?"
"I also think I can last a lot longer now. That’s the feeling I get, though I might end up the same as last time.”
"...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Last time, I needed to see burning flames in my hands to do it.
But now there was no need for that.
Because I already understood where we were.
"It’s nothing special. I just thought you should know what it means to stand in the same space as me.”
Cold, dark, cramped, crushing.
All of it at once.
As she widened her eyes, realization dawned on her. That was when I declared,
"Right now, you are standing inside the Abyssal Sea."
_______________________________________________________________________
Join our Discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/wetried
