First Battle

(Sun Yao)

The real big one was coming.

The blue pillar of light connecting the wormhole looked even more dazzling against the night sky. Its ten-minute deployment time also meant the invading enemy this time would be even larger.

Something heavy fell from the wormhole, and the top floor's concrete slab let out a cracking groan as a visible breach burst open.

After the dust settled, a tiger monster with bull horns emerged.

It had a muscular build and a ferocious gleam in its eyes. The fur along its back resembled a porcupine's, bristling with long, sharp steel spikes. Its savage face looked like some exotic beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas... though its tail was fluffy and looked very nice to pet.

Most troublesome of all, it was a full size larger than the stone man from this afternoon. Its sheer presence was overwhelming, and at my current height of barely five feet, I had to look up at it.

"Wait! Isn't this too much for a beginner like me?"

"Miss Ceruno, this is Heat Haze. You should know who I am, so I'll skip the unnecessary introduction. I read your file from the Association and understand your magic. Have you thought of any methods of attack?"

Heat Haze's greeting came through my earpiece.

She sounded calm and methodical, surprisingly not nearly as irritable.

Was that fiery attitude this afternoon only directed at me?

"...Not yet. Would it work if I threw the monster off the roof?"

"It looks strong. It might not work, but give it a try first."

"Okay, then I—whoa!"

The Tiger Monster attacked first. It raised a paw and slammed it down at me. I barely escaped with a backward leap, while the air-conditioning unit I had been standing on was crushed into a flattened heap of scrap metal.

Yikes, what terrifying brute strength. So those fluffy muscles really weren't just for show?

"Ha!"

I raised my wand and pointed it at the Tiger Monster.

The ruby glimmered faintly, and a reinforced Magic Membrane appeared around its body.

"Roar—!"

Its earth-shaking tiger roar failed to shatter the reinforced membrane I had coated it with.

Then, that Magic Membrane expanded into a giant sphere. The Tiger Monster lost all gravity within it and, unable to find any footing, could only paddle helplessly in the center of the bubble. But it quickly twisted around and opened its mouth at me.

"Watch out!"

At Heat Haze's warning, I relied on instincts honed by games and instinctively dove to the side. Golden lightning, bright enough to illuminate the night sky, shot from the monster and blasted straight through my reinforced bubble. It exploded against another building in a burst of shattered firelight, and that violent energy even punched through several floors.

Was that power for real?

Even from this far away, I could feel the blast wind whipping up my long hair.

My heart trembled. What would have happened to me if I hadn't dodged that attack?

"Don't worry too much, Ceruno. Monsters of this type lack endurance. He's still a living creature himself, so even if he has a second shot, it won't be nearly this powerful."

Reassured by Heat Haze, I coated myself with a membrane too.

According to Yezi's analysis, forces outside the bubble couldn't affect what was inside unless the bubble itself failed to withstand the attack and burst.

In that case, as long as this membrane remained, I wouldn't get hurt. It was basically like the shield meter common in games.

The bubble was highly resilient. When we tested my magic this afternoon, the Association's magical girls had needed some effort to break it, proving it had a certain defensive effect against ordinary attacks.

"So this is what they call 'a new application discovered in battle'?"

Yezi had really called it.

Heat Haze added, "It might be nothing more than a layer of plastic wrap to this monster, but it should help a little... Be careful."

The Tiger Monster bent low, panting heavily. Heat Haze's experience was right; that attack just now had been its ultimate move, and it had consumed a great deal of energy.

By the usual logic, now that the enemy was weakened, it was time for me to counterattack.

But...

"Um, am I supposed to go up and fight it hand-to-hand?"

"No. Your strength doesn't support close combat, and any force you exert inside the bubble would probably be absorbed by that membrane. So if you want to hurt the monster with your fists, you'll have to break your own membrane first."

Then I should lock it up first.

The Tiger Monster already understood the effects of my magic. Seeing me wave my wand, it flashed aside in an attempt to dodge...

But my magic had no trajectory. As long as it remained within my field of vision, it couldn't escape being wrapped in a bubble.

Aside from lacking offensive power, it really was an incredibly strong magic in every other regard.

"...I should still throw it off the building."

Lifting the hem of my dress, I rushed forward and kicked the bubble with my leather boot. Perhaps my own force couldn't pass through, but the collision between membrane and bubble still sent the Tiger Monster's bubble over the edge of the rooftop, where it floated in the night sky.

"Bye-bye, Mr. Tiger!"

Pop—

The bubble burst.

The Tiger Monster fell from a height of around fifty meters, smashing a deep crater into the plaza below the building. Though the fall had clearly hurt it badly, the Tiger Monster still had enough strength to get up and roar at me.

That height would have been fatal for a human, but it wasn't so deadly for a monster.

Not that it was surprising. The wormhole that had sent it here had been more than ten meters above the rooftop.

"That thing is way too tough!"

"Watch out. It's been provoked and has become more aggressive."

I could see that even without Heat Haze telling me.

But I still had to find a way down.

I created several layers of air cushions in midair as steps, then jumped from the roof of the thirteen-story building.

Who would have thought the Tiger Monster would turn its back on me? Its steel-needle-like back spikes rose one by one, like spears and halberds arrayed for battle.

This was bad.

I instinctively sensed danger.

The next second, those sharp back spikes poured down like heavy arrows loosed from a bowstring, instantly forming an arrow rain that blanketed the sky.

But I had no way to dodge while falling...

"Hey! Don't underestimate me!"

The instant I swung down my wand, the approaching rain of spikes transformed into bubbles filling my vision.

Rather than making one bubble withstand a large number of spikes, it was better to wrap every spike in a bubble that canceled out its force.

The Tiger Monster roared helplessly after its sneak attack failed, but I wasn't as relaxed as I looked. Creating that many bubbles had consumed a great deal of my magic, and I felt lightheaded and weak, like I was short of oxygen.

"Ceruno, I have a question."

Heat Haze seemed to have noticed something.

"If your membranes and bubbles can isolate forces inside and outside, why can you still stand on the street like this?"

"...What do you mean?"

"What about the friction between you and the ground, and gravity?"

"...No, I don't know. But I am standing here."

The bubbles meant to cancel force hadn't worked quite as I expected?

No, that wasn't it.

—What do light and air have in common?—

Yezi's words flashed through my mind, and I felt as if I had grasped something... the truth behind my magic.

"...Maybe I'm actually pretty strong?"

My mutter reached Heat Haze's ears.

"You're bragging before the monster's even defeated? Why not think about how to take it down?"

"No, that's not it... Miss Heat Haze, do you think that tiger needs to breathe?"

"Since it's a biological monster, of course it needs to breathe."

"Then I have an idea I need to test!"

The bubbles around the steel spikes burst above the Tiger Monster's head, and the arrows fired at me fell back onto it. The Tiger Monster dodged furiously, then roared and charged up the building wall. While avoiding the falling spikes, it kicked off the wall and lunged at me with a raised tiger claw.

I raised an arm to block, but its blow still sent me flying. My back slammed a roadside fire hydrant crooked, and the ruptured pipe turned this stretch of street into an artificial rainstorm.

I looked a mess, but I wasn't hurt. The bubble membrane covering my entire body had blocked the blow for me.

The Tiger Monster, having finally landed a hit on me, was invigorated. Violent golden lightning gathered in its mouth as it flexed its claws, while the steel needles it had fired from its back gradually grew back.

And as I looked at the water ball in my hand, I found the answer I wanted.

"Sorry, Mr. Tiger, but it looks like I win this round!"