Chapter 221 - Meteor and Meteoric Iron
Haru the Acrobat—though I'd only ever observed him from a distance, the countless reports I’d read gave me a solid grasp of his general nature.
After integrating all that information, the conclusion I, Uni the Heavy Tank, came to was that I was not what you would call a favorable matchup.
Setting aside the exception that transcended all strengths and weaknesses, the Princess (Iris), that boy was one of the Southern Faction's most formidable duelists… or rather, it was simply that the nature of his [Anima] was far too specialized for player-versus-player combat—
In any case, in a world like Arcadia, with its myriad of character builds, being a “PvP powerhouse” meant nothing less than being an all-rounder, capable of handling any opponent.
Being an all-rounder didn't necessarily mean being a jack-of-all-trades. Even without a thousand abilities, if you had just one that worked on everyone… then even if you changed the meaning of the word, the result was still the same: you were a “powerhouse.”
However, just as the saying goes, there's always that one in a ten thousand.
Irregulars always exist in this world—for example, the [Sword Queen], who could simply blow away the abilities of my prized [Anima] with pure, brute force, defying all logic and understanding.
For example, the [Sword Saint], who, even when caught by an ability, would just shrug it off and land her blade with the pinnacle of skill.
And for example—a ridiculous player who, despite having a head-on melee fighting style, had probably not invested a single point into his vitality (VIT) stat.
He intended to slip past me. Seeing the young man in the distance assume a sprinting stance, Uni tightened his grip on the twin daggers held in a reverse grip.
This [Dual Heavy, Starfall Twin Black Steel], which had only just recently reached its fifth tier, probably wouldn't be very effective against him.
...But, well—that was fine.
Indulging in a good old-fashioned brawl every once in a while wasn't a bad way to have fun.
Fun for me, for the spectators… and also,
"Come on—get past me if you can."
Even if our actual abilities were separated by a gap far greater than our ranks suggested,
I am second in the Southern Faction, Sotalm, surpassed only by the [Sword Queen].
I won't do anything to disgrace myself—and I'm confident enough to at least give my opponent a good time… because I've packed all of that into this avatar I've trained so meticulously.
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—There was no hesitation in my takeoff, and no mercy in my acceleration.
As I descended from the zenith along the maze wall at top speed, I kicked off a massive pillar of water, carving a path through the waterway with sheer momentum.
Two steps so far.
And on the third step, after a brief interval from the first, I unhesitatingly launched into my second [Matoi].
Alright, it's about time you got off your lazy butt and did some work.
It was a full-sprint incorporating consecutive uses of [Matoi]—and with it, I finally met the activation requirement for my passive skill, [Floating Star].
[Boar’s Heart], which had become a dead-end skill, evolved into [Rhino's Heart]. Its activation condition was drastically eased, and its criminal synergy with [Ignition] turned it into a half-broken skill that was practically always active.
This new skill, having evolved even further, had now, believe it or not, reverted to being another dead-end skill… well, that's an overstatement, but its broken nature can be summed up in one phrase: "hard to use."
Its difficulty of use, though different in nature, rivaled that of my trump card, [Rabbit Rapid, Crimson Brilliant Bullet]… and just to be clear, when I say “broken,” I’m not talking about its performance, but its activation condition.
That's because the condition is so absurd you have to wonder if it's even meant to be activated: “output a speed exceeding the avatar's limits without relying on skills or buffs other than passives.”
In other words, for someone like me, it's impossible to activate without using [Matoi]… and yet, befitting its near-unusable difficulty, its effect is extraordinary.
It negates deceleration without affecting my avatar's movements—that is the effect of [Floating Star].
If it weren't for [Arcadia]'s classic brain-installation feature, I never would have understood it just by reading the description.
To put it simply, the skill deletes 'deceleration' from the flow of an action like jumping, which would normally go: jump ⇒ decelerate ⇒ fall.
This means that neither the final result nor the trajectory of my jump to fall changes, but my speed no longer drops mid-air.
So, for a three-dimensional high-mobility warrior, when is the moment of greatest vulnerability? In my two months of sprinting with my current build, my conclusion is that it's during the 'airborne phase' when acceleration cuts out.
While you can mitigate it to some extent with things like a switch jump, reducing it to zero is nearly impossible. And the faster your top speed, the more your deceleration stands out.
It draws attention as a conspicuous opening, and if the opponent gets used to that 'opening'—it could lead to the worst-case scenario for a high-agility build, something absolutely fatal: having your destination predicted.
This skill brilliantly fills that gap—or rather, it literally erases it. I once showed off a full sprint using [Floating Star] to Sora, and her cheeks twitched as she gave me her impression.
—"So people can become… like a beam of light…"
A sprinting jump at top speed, devoid of deceleration.
I don't mean to brag… no, wait, I'm totally bragging—not even Master can keep up with this!
Laughing off the resistance of the water, I covered several hundred meters in just five steps.
Following the route etched in my memory, I dashed past the [Heavy Tank] in the blink of an eye—
—or so I wish it had all gone so smoothly.
That sudden feeling of my avatar's speed dropping without warning was exactly what I expected. Of course, it wasn't because I'd slowed down on my own.
My vision, which had been a blur, rapidly sharpened from nothingness to lines, and from lines to a clear image—what I saw was the smiling face of the young man, his eyes glowing with a green light effect as he locked onto me, a corner of his mouth turning up.
Knew it… but you could've just let me pass on a whim, you know?
Before I could even manage a wry smile born from a feeling not quite resentment,
—[Engage].
The moment the short keyword was spoken, the players prostrated around the young man were enveloped in a blue light similar to teleportation and vanished…
Deprived of my speed, I still possessed immense kinetic energy—in other words, inertia that meant death if I crashed into a 'wall.' And right before my eyes, an unfolded, pale crimson barrier mercilessly blocked my path.
Apparently, there's a novel that burns through 3,000 characters in five steps. What are you doing???
Protagonist: "For a three-dimensional high-mobility warrior—" Could you not talk as if there are other players like you…
Protagonist: "if the opponent gets used to that 'opening'—" Could you also stop using Irori and Master as your baseline for everything…
As usual, most of what he says is so insane it's making my head spin.