The Weapon Is Finished (3)
Surprised, I ran over to Giren. He opened another brand-new box for me, and inside, a light brown whip was coiled up.
The handle grip was made of pale leather and braided like a three-strand plait.
"Whoa! It looks awesome! Mr. Giren, the whip is finished too!?"
"Yeah. You brought in better materials than I expected.
Once you register the user by pouring mana into the magic stone in this grip, you’ll be the only one who can channel mana into this whip."
Oho. Sure enough, the tip of the grip was slightly bulged, and a round little stone was set into it. So it wasn’t just decoration, it was a magic stone.
Because of that, it also worked like a stopper, so it probably prevented the whip from slipping out of your hand.
I grabbed it and tried swinging the short whip without flowing mana through it.
Whun~ BASH!
Whun~ BASH!
Oh! It made a much better sound than when I practiced with the vine whip. Well, in the forest the grass and trees cushioned everything, so of course it wouldn’t make a nice sound.
"Looks good. That length is too short for anyone else to use, so it’s basically a dedicated weapon for you. Go ahead and flow mana into it."
Since he said so, I immediately poured mana into it. The magic stone smoothly absorbed the mana.
When it lit up with a flash, the stone turned a slightly pale yellowish color, matching the grip so it no longer looked out of place.
While holding the grip, I focused on letting the mana flow through the entire whip. Just like with the vine whip, I could feel it circulating very naturally.
"Mr. Giren, the flow of mana is incredibly smooth!"
"Oh? Is that so? Well then, you should probably practice with the whip too. This time I’ll be your opponent. My weapon is normally a polearm, so I’ll use this staff instead. Is that alright?"
"Wait… Dad, Vio is still only five, you know? She hasn’t even done weapon training yet, so that’s too much!"
I had been excitedly listening to Giren explain how to handle the whip, and now Kathe’s dad, Taddy, was offering to be my sparring partner.
But then Kathe, who had woken up, looked shocked and tried to stop him.
"Oh, Kathe, you’re awake. Are you okay now?"
"Yes. That was embarrassing… My dad never goes easy on anyone, even kids. That’s why it’s dangerous for Vio.
Wait… huh? Vio, you use a whip? Well, since you’re small, choosing a long-range weapon might be a good idea."
It seemed Kathe had completely passed out earlier from running out of mana, so she hadn’t seen my sparring match with her brother.
For the record, my main weapon is the dagger. I plan to fight right up on the front lines.
While I was thinking that, her brother Gars explained what had just happened in our match, and Kathe became even more shocked.
Meanwhile, Taddy completely ignored the kids, took my hand, and led me to the center of the yard to face him.
"First, attack however you like. Once you can move around a bit, I’ll start attacking too. Dodge while attacking. The match ends if you surrender or run out of stamina."
"Yes! Please take care of me!"
"What!? Vio, are you serious?"
"Now now, Kathe. Just watch for now. That kid’s amazing."
"Yes. She uses her small size very well. Kathe, you’re also small compared to us, so there might be things you can learn from her."
"Brother… Mom too…"
Just like when he sparred with Kathe, Taddy stood there holding a long staff.
I positioned myself outside the range of the staff and decided to swing the whip from there.
"Huh? From that far away, it won’t reach…"
"Yeah, that whip’s way too short."
I could hear Kathe and her brother saying that, but it was fine.
The whip was only about fifty centimeters long in total. The grip was just a little over ten centimeters, about the same as my dagger. I had even asked for it to double as a belt so I could normally carry it around my waist.
But when mana flows through it, the whip extends.
That’s exactly why it had to be made from monster materials.
When I told Dad what I wanted, he checked what materials were needed, and we found something in Mom’s Magic Bag that exceeded the requirements.
Dad gave it to the Guildmaster, and through him it was officially treated as if Dad had purchased it before being passed on to Giren.
According to Dad, it was material from a monster in a high-level dungeon.
Mom must have been a pretty capable adventurer, huh? I used the materials without asking, but since it’s for my weapon, she’ll forgive me, right?
The whip I swung straight down lashed out at Taddy like a snake
But he simply stepped aside and avoided the tip.
That was really fast, yet he just casually dodged it with a tiny movement, what kind of eyesight is that!?
When the whip returned to my hand, I swung it sideways. The whip stretched out, trying to wrap around Taddy’s body, but he just used the staff as a pivot and lightly jumped over it.
For someone with such a huge build, he moved incredibly lightly.
Dad was the same way in combat, he made no sound when he moved.
I swung right and left, the whip cracking loudly against the ground, but every strike was avoided.
"Vio, that long-range attack ain’t gonna do nothin’ against a Gold rank. Shorter’d probably work better for ya."
That was the first advice Dad gave me.
He was right. No matter how fast I moved it, it was still limited by my own muscle strength. To a Gold rank, it probably looked slow enough for them to swat a mosquito.
I stopped sending extra mana through it, returned the whip to its original short length, and ran toward Taddy.
Then I began rapidly swinging the whip in small motions using my wrist.
"Oh! Now that’s… a bit… annoying."
Until now Taddy had been handling the staff with one hand, but apparently he found this bothersome. He grabbed the staff with both hands and started batting the whip away.
And even then I still couldn’t hit him? What is this!?
While swinging the whip in a figure-eight pattern, I changed my targets, his feet, his face, his torso, but he avoided everything with the staff.
So frustrating!
"Hahaha! Alright then, I’ll start attacking too."
While I was burning with determination, Taddy seemed to be getting into it as well and declared his attack.
He swung the staff down from overhead, so I twisted my wrist and tangled the whip around it, pulling it down.
I tried to strike his now-open face with the whip, but he spun the staff around, and it came at me from the opposite side. I jumped back to dodge.
"Oh? You dodged that."
He followed up with a series of thrusts. I swept them aside with the whip while aiming for his wrist, but he simply pulled his arm back and avoided it.
At this rate, it didn’t feel like I’d land a single hit.
Maybe I could pretend to keep the whip short, then suddenly extend it by sending mana through it.
Thinking that, I carefully watched Taddy’s hands and tried to read his next move.
"That level of focus from a child… interesting."
"Alke, are you sure she’s not really your daughter? She’s more hot-blooded than Tonga and Ronga."
"’Fraid not. She’s a foundling. But Vio’s a real hard worker. Makes teachin’ her worth the trouble."
"Vio…"
Taddy swept the staff from the right.
I stepped back just enough, wrapped the whip around the tip of the staff, and tried to yank it downward. But Taddy held the staff tightly, so of course he didn’t drop it.
Instead, he swung the staff upward with both hands.
So I went flying into the air.
If this continued, I’d get slammed down behind him, so I flicked the whip and freed it from the staff while directly above Taddy.
"Oh? You escaped. But up there, you’re completely defenseless."
Noticing his prey had slipped away, Taddy grinned and readied his staff again.
If he thrust upward now, there’d be no way for me to dodge.
He pulled his elbow back, gathering power, and thrust the staff upward.
So I cast "Wind Wall."
Rotating blades of wind wrapped around me, forming a sphere of wind that swallowed up the wooden staff Taddy had thrust forward.
Brrrk, crunch, scrrrrch…
Whoa. It sounded just like sharpening a pencil in a sharpener.
When I landed and canceled the spell, the adults were all standing there staring blankly.
"Ah! I was supposed to be testing the whip, but I used magic at the end. Does that mean I’m disqualified?"
I panicked and used magic without thinking! This was supposed to be time to test the whip’s usability, but I got too excited!
"Kuh… hahaha! That was interesting. Not only close combat, but you can also use magic without chanting. Impressive.
Alke, my Kathe can’t keep up with this girl in sparring. If anything, my daughter might end up learning from her. For now, my wife and I will be her sparring partners. Next time, you can combine magic as well."
"Vio, that was amazing! Come to think of it, you could already keep up with everyone in martial training. I guess my first impression of you was too strong. Please let me spar with you too!"
"Yes. My specialty weapon is this bastard sword, but I can also use polearms.
I’m planning to return to adventuring seriously, so I’ve been training my body again. I’d like to spar with you as well. Vio, please take care of me."
Instead of scolding me for using magic, they promised they’d keep sparring with me in the future.
Kathe had only just reached Copper rank, and apparently she planned to start seriously tackling dungeons in autumn or winter.
Starting next month, I would be allowed to enter the shallow parts of the forest too, so I definitely wanted to work hard and get better at handling my weapons.
Thea also said she was good at combining magic with close combat, so she would teach me that style as well.
The Vice-Guildmaster was already giving me special training in magic, so I was probably going to improve even more.
The fine adjustments to the daggers would take about two more days, but the whip was finished.
Giren also showed me how to use it as a belt, and with that, the extremely intense weapon unveiling came to an end.
What do you think about this chapter?
