Frieren placed her staff gently on the sand, like a pillar, waiting for the waiting for the throw impact wind to quiet itself.
Everyone stared at her.
"No way…" one of the Kraft team members said as he buckled to the ground
"We have no chance against this magic, guys!" another cried.
Kraft kept staring at Frieren, his hands resting on his waist.
So that's Frieren's magic… I've never seen it directly. Utterly breathtaking, he thought.
a Magic weathered and perfected across centuries...
"I guess I'm going to have a bad time against it," he muttered as he cracked his fingers together.
When everything settled and everyone lined up,
"So… I think I did it. Could you tell me now?" Frieren asked.
"Not yet, Frieren… not until one set at least."
"Set of what?" Frieren asked, her hand tightening around the staff.
"She didn't even look serious… that's the scary part," someone said behind Kraft.
"Don't give up. Grab another ball from the inventory, make sure it's the best one," Kraft said with a side glance, his expression a calm but unshakably firm expression
"This is the beginning, Frieren. Don't underestimate the Unforgotten Hero," he said.
"Remember the statue!" he added as he held his necklace, pointing it toward her.
"I see," she said, gripping the staff again.
Oh… I may consider making a new statue of me here, he thought as he rubbed a finger along his cheek.
Then he looked at Frieren again. "Thank you for reminding me, Frieren."
Frieren stared at him; she didn't respond, neither out of ignorance nor rudeness, but confusion.
She turned to her teammates. "You can rest. I'll handle the rest," she said as a quiet, pale light unfurled from her staff.
A faint ripple of pale light rolled across the sand, soft but commanding, as if the ground itself listened.
The team stepped back instinctively, not realizing they'd moved.
Kraft felt the hair at the back of his neck rise, though he kept his face composed.
"That glow feels like a warning," said the person holding the new ball.
"Frieren, to make it simple for you… if you throw the ball two more times…"
"You win," he finished, his voice deepening.
"I see. Then I'll make it quick."
A girl stood near the seaside holding a board:
Frieren Team: 1
Kraft Team: 0
"Let's see what that old man can do," Kraft said as he gripped the ball in one hand and his necklace in the other.
Then he threw the ball into the sky.
Thud!
The ball tore through the air like a bullet, but once it reached Frieren—
!!!
This repetitive move… Frieren thought as she raised her staff toward it.
But the ball curved on its own before it touched her staff.
Frieren blinked, watching the curving motion with interest rather than casting a control spell.
How peculiarly curious, she thought.
A laugh burst from Kraft. "When it comes to physics, I am a master!"
The ball curved in a sharp 180°, hit the thread's metal, and dropped into the sand.
Cheers erupted from Kraft's team.
"You did it!" one shouted.
"That's our boss!" another added.
Frieren stared at the ball, spinning slowly as it dug into the sand.
"You didn't tell me that if the ball falls on the ground, it still counts," she said.
"Ah—sorry, sorry. I thought you understood all the rules just by watching our past match," Kraft said as the others gathered around him, cheering.
Frieren released a quiet, almost invisible sigh.
The Frieren team shouted behind her, "You can do it, Frieren!"
Even Kraft, mid-celebration, paused long enough to study her unreadable expression.
The girl holding the score table jumped, the board shining against the sun.
Frieren Team: 1
Kraft Team: 1
"So, what do you think, Frieren? You think that old man still has a chance?" Kraft said.
I really don't understand… what is the point of this game exactly? Frieren thought as she stared at Kraft's group. The evening sun washed the court drenched in gold.
A warm glare skimmed across the sand, stretching their shadows thin and long.
Somewhere behind Kraft's group, the tide whispered closer, steady and unhurried.
Sunny dozed in the palm tree, the commotion below barely reaching it.
Frieren blinked slowly, her expression unchanged, as if the entire match were merely a gentle inconvenience
Kraft clapped. "Okay, okay, guys! Let's continue, Frieren gets impatient when it comes to curiosity."
"I'm about to start!" Kraft said as he grabbed the ball and hurled it into the sky again.
I don't understand why they always get to throw the ball… I never get a turn, Frieren thought, completely fazed by the rule that scorers always throw with a big jump.
Frieren released a soft, unbothered yawn.
One teammate whispered under his breath, "She yawns… during this? I'd cry if she were my opponent."
When Kraft caught sight of her yawn, he frowned, Frieren hadn't moved from her spot.
Underestimating me, huh? he thought.
"Let's see how you handle this one" he said.
Once he shot the ball with powerful force, he noticed something, a layer, almost invisible, in front of him.
A fog? he wondered mid-air.
THUD!
The ball came back toward him.
Impossible… what kind of—
Wait. You've got to be kidding me.
Did she just make an barrier with no outline?... Kraft thought as the ball returned with brutal speed.
...an invisible wall?!
His fist met the ball, and it burst apart with a sharp, concussive bloom.
BOOM!