So I’m a Fish, So What?

Gazing at that mighty serpentine figure, my anticipation for the upcoming fight reaches its peak.

Control yourself, Tomoko, There’s only one last item I need to prepare for this battle.

I grow two large spikes from both of my palms, after which I proceed to alter their shape using both Shapeshifting and Trickster.

Don’t think of my spikes as disposable hidden weapons, they’re still considered part of my body as long as I’m still in contact with them.

Not only do they have the same exact stats as mine, but stats boosting skills also work on them.

A few seconds later, the spikes are gone, replaced by two exquisitely designed weapons.

Their shape resembles a combination of a spear and a glaive, but their length is only a bit longer than my arm.

An odd choice, I know. It’s the one I found myself most comfortable with nonetheless.

The glaive part allows me to use a style similar to the double short sword one that I’m most familiar with, while the spear part can be used to deliver piercing stabs that target specific areas

Lastly, the short length solves the most critical defect of spears and glaives, the inability to fight in confined spaces.

It's a very unique weapon if I do say so myself, but I still need to derive a suitable fighting style for it.

And what’s the quickest method to do that? Fighting, of course!

 

Switching off my stealth skills, I unleash the full might of my Champion’s aura to provoke the water dragon.

An immediate response reaches me in the form of a weak dragon’s breath attack.

Both of us know it isn’t meant as an attack, it serves as nothing but an opening ceremony to our upcoming battle.

This fight is one between two monsters who have struggled to climb all the way up to their current strengths, even if each has their own way.

Whether it’s my overly cautious approach, or his territorial expansion approach, we both recognized each other as opponents the moment we decided to give all of our advantages up and fight head on.

Kicking off the fight, I steadily swim towards him while releasing a bunch of spatial blades his way.

Although Spatial Slash is a low-level skill, it would stupid to just let yourself get hit, y’know? No one knows what crazy enhancements and skills I have injected into it, after all.

Just as expected, the water dragon swiftly responds by conjuring a large ice shield to block and moves out of the blades’  trajectory.

The sudden presence of a new magical construct disrupts the space nodes in its immediate surroundings and renders my spatial blades effectively useless, but that’s not all what he has planned.

This isn’t some turn-based RPG game, and we certainly aren’t gonna be waiting for our opponent to attack.

Just as my spatial blades started shredding through the ice, the dragon takes advantage of my supposed momentary loss of vision to cast a spell.

Centered on me, a high-speed water vortex suddenly starts forming around me.

A normal vortex can at most hold me in place for a fraction of a second before dissipating, but this is by no means a normal one.

Its rotational speed is off the charts and there’s a low pressure area at my exact position.

Yeah… spare me from getting caught in that. I’d probably turn into powder if that happens.

Instantly launching a Short-Range Teleportation spell, my body disappears from the center of the vortex and reappears upside down above the water dragon’s head.

My spear was about to stab through his head, but his speed abruptly increased, resulting in a last second dodge by him.

Already resorting to temporary stat boosting skills, are we?

Well, two can play this game, y’know? It’s only fair for us to fight on equal grounds after all.

Spending 5000 skill points, I acquire both Mental and Magic warfare on the spot.

Activating both along with the Wyrm Power skill, all of my stats temporarily gain a 200 point increase.

It’s not much compared to his 2500+ stat increase, but it’s the thought that counts!

I can’t just let him freely cast stat boosting skills and not respond! I wanna be a cool k– gain some proficiency in those important skills too!

Sensing a change in the waters behind me, the runes on my fins softly light up as I rapidly descend.

Not even a second later, a huge claw that’s emitting a poisonous purple aura passes through my afterimage.

Seemingly confused about why his claw didn’t feel like it connected even though it clearly went through me, the dragon pauses.

Detecting his momentary distraction, I swiftly ascend and swing my glaive at his serpentine body while injecting poison into the blade, then hastily teleport away.

The attack successfully connects, leaving a large gash on his side, but the pain causes him to break free from my illusion.

ROOOAR!

Astonished by my sudden position shift and his injury, the dragon uses magic to freeze the waters in a 10 meter radius around him.

Uhhh, even if you somehow catch me using that, won’t you be trapped in there as well…? What’s the p–

My internal monologue comes to a stop as, and I kid you not, this guy just proceeds to fucking swim through the ice as if it doesn’t exist!!

What the heck?! You’re a freaking water dragon, not an ice mole!!

Also, you can’t just build a fortress in the middle of a fight, that’s cheating!

Hey, did that guy just sneer at me?! I dare you to stay inside that hamster ball, you little shit!

Pumping in about 500 MP, I create a huge cloud of poison above the ice dome and encase the entire dome using Telekinesis.

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Poison Synthesis LV 3] has become [Poison Synthesis LV 4].}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Telekinesis LV 4] has become [Telekinesis LV 5].}

 

There’s no way this ice is purely solid!

I betcha 1000 skill points it’s just some tricky micro manipulation that gives off the illusion of swimming through the ice!, a magician's trick!

Confirming my guess, the poison cloud easily penetrates through the ice dome and closes in on the dragon.

See? Don’t even try to play such cheap tricks when you’re up against me!

My Spatial Aware– cough, my intellectual brain can easily see through them!

Having no other choice, the dragon releases the ice dome and manipulates the surrounding water into a tug-of-war against my poison cloud.

The fight enters a stalemate where my low magic stats supported by Sage are tied with his high magic stats.

However, the reality is that I’m actually the one at a disadvantage right now.

Even if this is a supposedly warrior against warrior fight, it is a fact that water dragons are born as gregarious creatures.

My thoughts are promptly true when I detect some sort of mental message emanating from the dragon’s position to all creatures in a half kilometer radius.

… Fuck, calling for backup is cheating!!

A dense barrage consisting of hundreds of different water spells appears from pretty much all directions.

Turning my attention back to the water dragon, I discover that he has already given up the tug-of-war and started condensing a water breath while aiming in my direction.

Sigh… I wanted to have a great fight where we first exchange magic then gradually move towards a thrilling martial arts melee battle, but you just had to go and mess all that up…

Don’t blame me for using dirty methods then…!

Stopping Telekinesis, I relax my body and observe the numerous spells heading my way while waiting for the correct timing.

… It’s now!

Right before the spells land, every single rune on my body bursts into a bright light and an unnoticeable transparent barrier forms around me.

The spells finally meet at their shared destination, resulting in a huge explosion followed by numerous bubbles forming due to the water getting vaporized.

A moment later, the dragon releases his water breath as an extra guarantee.

Blood begins to spread throughout the waters and the bubbles soon give way to the sight of my mutilated corpse.

ROOOAA–.

A victor’s cry starts to make its way out of the dragon’s mouth.

However, it is promptly cut short by the sound of a weapon stabbing through flesh.

The dragon's body freezes, and his head drops down to look at the source of the sound.

His eyes capture the figure of a petite girl with shoulder-length purple hair and an eerie expressionless face holding a strange weapon that’s pierced right through his neck.

However, confusion is clearly written on his face, as he clearly recognizes her as the one whom he just killed.

In the last few moments of his life, he replayed their fight in his mind bit-by-bit in order to figure out the reason why he was defeated, but his increasingly blurred consciousness prevents him from discovering the correct answer.

Gazing at my opponent whose life force is getting eroded due to the strong poison being injected through my weapon, I can’t help but feel a bit of pity for him.

Even if this guy cheated, the fight was still enjoyable at the end of the day.

I would feel awful if I suddenly die without understanding why, so just trying to comprehend his current feelings killed my mood.

“A phantom. An illusion.”

Hearing my telepathic message, his confused eyes immediately refocus on me with a bit of surprise and comprehension in them.

Illusion clearly falls under Heretic Magic which is a rarely encountered branch of magic, especially for dragon creatures who are based around the concept of natural elements.

A few seconds later, the dragon’s now dull eyes are shut close for last time and Manager-san’s voice pops up in my mind.

 

{Acquired skill [Water Attack LV 1].}

{Experience has reached the required level. Individual Illsoir Mejer has increased from LV 1 to LV 2.}

{All basic attributes have increased.}

{Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Destruction Enhancement LV 2] has become [Destruction Enhancement LV 3].}

{Proficiency has reached the required level.. Skill [Satiation LV 4] has become [Satiation LV 5].}

{Skill points acquired.}

 

{Condition satisfied. Acquired title [Dragon Slayer].}

{Acquired skills [Ultimate Life LV 1] [Dragon Power LV 1] as a result of title [Dragon Slayer].}

{Skill [Life LV 6] has been integrated into [Ultimate Life LV 1].}

{Skill [Wyrm Power LV 2] has been integrated into [Dragon Power LV 1].}

 

That’s another victory under this future goddess’s belt!