Ascension: Online

The other two duels concluded soon after.

On one side, it seems that Hina-nee emerged victorious against Jim. I expected that - this was Hina-nee we're talking about here, after all. Her black belt in karate was not just for show.

As for the other battle, however… Horiya ended up being the one who won, contrary to my expectations. I had fully anticipated Ichigo to win, but perhaps spending all your stats into LUC like Horiya did really worked. Still, that was a method I could not adapt, since my LUC stat could suddenly increase or decrease based on daily happenings. I wasn't about to invest my precious SP into an uncontrollable, unpredictable stat like that. Luckily (haha), I didn't choose to go with this strategy since the beginning - otherwise, I probably would've had a mental breakdown after seeing my LUC stat drop just like last night.

So, the three contestants for the final fight were Horiya, Hina-nee, and I.

"Sheesh, mate, yer sister is one bloody hell of a fighter," Jim chuckled, walking over and patting me on the shoulder. He had tons of sweat on his head, even though he was usually relaxed and pretty laid-back. From this, it was clear just how skilled Hina-nee was in combat - not to mention she was about five levels behind Jim, who was the same level as me.

"Yeah… tell me about it," I muttered with a wry smile.

"Heehee, you're flattering me too much!" Hina-nee giggled. But despite this innocent appearance, when she got into a fight, she was like a completely different person.

"Let's get on with it. The finals!" Ichigo shouted, pumping his fist into the air. "Igarashi, Horiya, and Sakura-senpai. Who'll be the one to win?"

"U-Uh, about that… I think I have a stomachache," Horiya murmured quietly, and attempted to run away, but Ichigo dragged him back.

"Nah nah nah, kid. You beat me, so now you gotta face Sakura-senpai. Go on, no wussing out now."

I began to wonder if Ichigo let Horiya win on purpose just so he wouldn't have to face the fighting demon known as my sister.

"H-Hina-nee, do we have to do this?" I asked quietly. "Can I not surrender before we fight?"

"Heehee, don't be like that, Kaze-kun. I want to see just how much you've grown," she said, hugging me gently from behind. "I'll be gentle, don't worry."

I gulped in fear. Her definition of 'gentle' was hardly the same as mine.

However, there was no way Hina-nee would just let me run away here, so I had no other option but to face her head-on. We slowly backed away from each other and got into position for the fight as everyone else made space and remained a short distance away as spectators.

"Alright. Everyone in position?" Ichigo asked, looking around. "Sakura-senpai, Igarashi, and… Horiya. Wait, Horiya?"

We all looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"The hell?!" Ichigo yelled in fury. "He was just here a moment ago!"

"I saw him. He logged off," Furuwa explained nonchalantly, leaning against a tree.

"WHAT?! Why didn't you stop him?" Ichigo cried in frustration. "Agh, you're telling me I purposely lost to him for nothing?!"

Furuwa snorted in annoyance. "You have no one to blame but yourself."

"Well well, it's okay~ this is better anyway! I can fight Kaze-kun without any third-party interference!" Hina-nee exclaimed with a happy smile.

"Right…" I muttered uncomfortably, then discretely used 'Inspect' on Hina-nee.

[Name: Sakura Hina]

[Gender: Female]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 10]

STR - 20

AGI - 40

INT - 5

DEX - 20

MAG - 0

LUC - 5

An AGI stat of 40. This was going to be troublesome… but unfortunately for Hina-nee, mine was double hers thanks to my level advantage and the fact that my stats leveled up passively. Since her physical body was still connected to Earth, she did not possess that skill.

"This is goin' to be one hell of a fight," Jim cackled as he watched on from the sidelines. "Both sides, ready?"

Both Hina-nee and I nodded, and Jim chuckled.

"Alrighty. 3… 2… 1… go!"

Hina-nee immediately dashed towards me. Her speed was much faster than I expected of a player with an AGI stat of 40. I assumed it had to do with her karate training and such. She spun her Sai around in her hands to confuse me, and then sliced at me with one of them without any mercy.

Like I said, when Hina-nee was fighting, she was like a whole different person.

I quickly dodged backwards. My AGI stat of 80 was really coming in clutch here - in fact, had it been any lower I think I may have needed to use a skill such as 'Vanishing Clouds' to get out of that one. In all honesty, Hina-nee's current AGI stat was closer to 60 than the 40 shown on her profile.

"Heh, you're pretty fast, Kaze-kun," Hina-nee smirked and followed my dashes.

Every time I dashed away, she followed and attempted to strike me with her Sai. This continued for a whole minute before I finally decided to fight back - I hadn't just been running away doing nothing. The reason I spent so long just dodging was because I wanted to get a grip on Hina-nee's attacking and movement pattern. And now, I have.

Hina-nee lunged towards me, Sai in hands. She sliced down with one of them, but instead of moving out of the way this time, I narrowly avoided it by twisting my body. Surprised by my different reaction this time around. Hina-nee's eyes widened slightly as they met mine. I grabbed her wrist with my left hand to restrict her movements.

However, she had two weapons - her other Sai in her left hand struck downwards, about to hit me.

But I still had my weapon as well.

With my right hand, I blocked her Sai with my Dokujin. We remained in that position for a while, neither of us giving in to the other. I could've kicked her in the stomach to send her flying backwards, but I just couldn't do that to Hina-nee. She seemed to feel the same way, as she could've kicked me too. Neither of us did, however.

Eventually, we both leaped back a short distance, resetting for another round.

"You don't have to hold back, y'know, Kaze-kun," Hina-nee said with a smirk.

I smiled in return. "I could say the same to you."

"Alright - time to show you what your onee-chan is really capable of!"

She leaped towards me even faster than before and began stabbing her two Sai rapidly. Even with my high AGI stat, I couldn't avoid all the strikes, so I had to block some with my dagger. Slowly, I was pushed backward, until I finally decided to use my skills.

'Vanishing Clouds.'

I was propelled backward, since this skill worked in all directions. However, Hina-nee also shared the same skill, so she used it as well to close the distance once more.

"Tch… I already used Vanishing Steps on Furuwa…" I muttered quietly as I deflected her attacks with my high agility and reflexes thanks to my AGI stat.

At this rate, Hina-nee and I were about even, although if looking at stats alone, I should be stronger than her. However, her years of karate training made up for the difference in our stats, and I didn't have a whole lot of options in terms of skills either, since I already used my trump card against Furuwa, and Hina-nee knew about my hidden arts - she wouldn't just sit there and let me cast them. That's why she was following me so closely, not giving me any breathing room. A profound tactic. Even with this, however, we were only even in strength.

But she still had one final trick up her sleeve.

As we continued to exchange blows, her eyes suddenly seemed to lit up. I frowned a bit in confusion, but didn't pay it much mind since I was too busy trying to block and dodge all of her attacks. However, that would be what would spell my downfall.

Unlike before, where she would attack separate locations of my body with her two Sai to make it hard for me to defend against, she now suddenly aimed for my chest with both of her weapons at the same time. My eyes widened and I attempted to block her strike with my dagger, but one hand against two wouldn't work. Because of this, I was forced to support Dokujin with my other hand as well, on the backside of the blade.

But then, despite me having successfully guarded against her attack, Hina-nee smiled. And it was then that I knew - it was too late.

She suddenly reached out with her legs, performing a sweeping motion that caused caught me by surprise. I had been so busy focusing on the upper half of the body that I neglected the bottom half. I had fallen straight into Hina-nee's ploy.

I tried using Vanishing Clouds to get of this situation, but Hina-nee's leg already tripped me over. I fell backwards, landing on the soft dirt. Hina-nee pointed her Sai at me with a triumphant grin on her face.

I slowly raised my hands up in surrender, and Hina-nee held out her hand. I took it, and she pulled me back up before hurriedly throwing her Sai onto the ground and hugging me tightly.

"Are you okay, Kaze-kun? Did that fall hurt just now? I'm sorry…"

"Uh, I'm fine," I muttered, unsure of what to do after witnessing this sudden change.

"Really? You sure? You're not really injured anywhere, are you?" Hina-nee backed away and inspected my body up and down for any sign of a wound. I shook my head.

"I'm really okay, Hina-nee. That was a good fight."

"Heehee, yeah. You were a lot stronger than I expected!" Hina-nee replied with a smile, ruffling my hair.

"Good bloody fight indeed," Jim chuckled, walking over and clapping. "Both of ya were pretty skilled."

"As much as I hate to admit it… I agree," Furuwa added with a sigh. "Sakura-senpai, if you don't mind me asking… what was that skill you used at the end? I noticed your eyes suddenly lit up for a brief moment, as if they were on fire."

"Oh, that was the 'Reveal' skill in the Assassin skill path," Hina-nee explained. "I activated it, and it told me that Kaze-kun's weakness was in his lower body."

"And she capitalized on that by pretending to launch a full-scale attack on my upper body to distract me from her real target…" I sighed in awe.

Ichigo gulped in fear. "Okay… I can see why Horiya logged off. If even Igarashi got clapped this hard, Horiya would've gotten obliterated on a goddamn atomic level."

"Heehee, I would've shown mercy," Hina-nee laughed innocently. "Maybe."

Yeah… she wouldn't have. Not at all.