Spirit Beast Technique. (T/N: In chapter 166. I referred to them as Ki beast. But calling it spirit beast gives more meaning)
It's a qualification that can only be earned once the martial arts skill level reaches 10.
However, to truly use it, one must master refined Ki control and be favored by the spirit beast dwelling within the skill. No matter how talented a person may be, they cannot use it in their lifetime without these conditions.
And now, the Spirit Beast Technique that Mickey is trying to use is a sword technique, and its beast is a lion.
This lion favors courage.
And when Mickey stepped forward to stand at the frontline more than anyone else to help his companions escape, the lion finally acknowledged him.
However, mere acknowledgment doesn't mean it will lend its full power.
It only lends the parts that seem to suit that person.
In Mickey's case, it was the five claws of the right paw for protecting himself and tearing apart opponents.
And now he's about to use a Spirit Beast Technique that combines these two aspects.A red, visible mane made of Ki energy overflowed abundantly from around the dagger's guard, and from the blade tip, five red claws extended suddenly through Ki power.
Then Mickey charged toward Jeanne's massive body, which was dancing like a storm.
His target was just one cube right beside Jeanne.
It wouldn't lead to victory, nor did it have any meaning.
But a man who would back down here has no business making it this far in the dungeon.
Burning with fighting spirit, even if it meant nothing to the opponent, he wanted to at least get one hit in.
With just that feeling and burning fighting spirit, he used the flowing mane of Ki to deflect and avoid getting run over by Jeanne's tail and legs while getting closer and closer.
Once Mickey got near her feet, even Jeanne had to respond.
Those five red blades looked dangerous even to Jeanne's eyes.
Though she didn't know what he was planning, there was no need to let him do as he pleased.
"Neigh!"
"Uooooooh!"
There were probably less than ten seconds to the end.
Even if she stopped destroying cubes now, Jeanne's victory wouldn't be affected.
So she faced him with her whole being, intending to stop this man.
Just her presence alone would be enough to terrify normal people, and when she stood directly before him with an intimidating glare, even Mickey felt fear trying to creep into his heart.
But he bit his slightly long front teeth into his lower lip, using the pain to drive away the cowardice.
Then, armed with just the dagger bearing the mane and five claws, he charged forward even more.
"Neigh!"
"Ooooooooooooooh!!"
That's the spirit.
As if saying that, Jeanne let out a light neigh before throwing a right-handed punch at Mickey, holding back just enough not to kill him.
Even though it was held back, the strike released from that massive body came with a thunderous roar.
Mickey didn't flinch from it, instead increasing his speed with the spirit to crash right into it.
Then just before the fist would hit, he leaped diagonally upward, using the mane as a cushion to spin sideways and deflect it, then ran up Jeanne's arm.
Of course, Jeanne tried to shake him off, but his speed was faster than expected, and before she could, he had closed in right before her eyes.
Thinking he might attack her face, Jeanne reflexively brought her left hand up to protect it.
But Mickey's target wasn't Jeanne, but only the cube beside her face.
Mickey ignored the inserted left hand and jumped, raising his knife toward the cube.
Watching this through the gaps between her fingers, Jeanne hesitated for a moment whether to let him be or interfere.
That one cube wasn't particularly precious to her.
However.
This man seemed to believe that by destroying it right before Jeanne's eyes, he could elevate his numerical defeat into a moral victory.
Whether to acknowledge that or not was the crossroads of whether to move or not - but Jeanne bet on her pride and denied such a halfway victory.
"Neigh!!"
"What- You're in my waaaaaaay!"
Jeanne extended her left hand that was protecting her face even further forward, blocking Mickey's path.
The cube was now beyond Jeanne's left palm from Mickey's view, behind the back of her hand.
Mickey raised his knife with its five red claw blades and swung it down with enough force to slash through that palm.
"Gu-gah!?"
But the reality is cruel.
Unable to cut through Jeanne's hard skin, he was swatted away along with the left hand and slammed into the stage.
As Mickey's consciousness grew hazy with his body embedded in the stage floor, he watched as Jeanne crushed the cube he had tried to destroy in her right hand, as if showing off.
[Time's up! The match is now over. The winner is... Jeanne! This adds a third victory point to "Tatsuro's Team"! *clap clap*, *boom boom*, *poof poof*]
"Neighhhhhh!"
"How... frustrating..."
One raised a victory cry, while the other let words of frustration slip from his mouth.
Then as Jeanne transformed to her [Adult Form] and was about to return to Tatsuro and the others, she noticed Mickey still embedded in the floor, unable to move even though the match was over.
After hesitating for a moment, Jeanne walked heavily toward Mickey.
"Hm... What are you- whoa"
Silently, Jeanne gently bit Mickey's arm and pulled him up from the floor he was embedded in as gently as possible.
After letting go and seeing that he still couldn't walk on his own, she took the small man by the scruff of his neck and carried him all the way to the enemy team's waiting room.
When they reached the door, it opened, perhaps done by the dungeon, so she set Mickey down in front of the waiting room and started walking back toward her own side.
"Mr. Mickey, I'll use life magic right away!"
"Lady Deina, wait on that. You still have your match remaining, don't you? It would be better to conserve your magical power."
"Are you really okay?"
"Lady Beverly, there's no need to worry... Lady Jeanne was clearly holding back. I won't die even if left alone. However..."
"However what?"
"Well... you see, Sir Mirowsz. After being completely defeated and then carried by my opponent, I feel ashamed as a warrior."
While saying this, he leaned against the wall to prop himself up halfway and watched Jeanne's retreating figure with an indescribable expression.
"Complete defeat might be a bit of an exaggeration..."
"Please spare me such soft words. Even when I tried to get at least one hit in at the end, this is what happened... How could that be-"
"Mickey. Take a closer look at its left foreleg."
"? ...Ah"
As directed by the giant Mirowsz, when Mickey looked at Jeanne's left foreleg from behind, he could see that she was walking while slightly favoring it.
That was undoubtedly proof that Mickey had, even if just slightly, managed to get one hit in.
"I see... So I was able to show my mettle at the end..."
"That's right. You managed to wound that hard-skinned dragon, so you did pretty well."
"Well, you still lost in the end though."
"Gaha!"
"Hey- we agreed not to mention that. Beverly!"
When Mickey completely deflated at Beverly's words, Nicolas desperately tried to encourage him.
Meanwhile, on Tatsuro's side.
"Neigh..."
"Jeanne, you got hurt, huh. Come here, I'll heal you right away."
"Neigh♪"
"Jeanne-chan is quite the spoiled one after all~"
Jeanne showed the five cuts on her left front footpad and began nuzzling up to Tatsuro, who was gently beckoning her over.
Tatsuro gently tended to the injured area saying "There there, that must have hurt," while treating it with life magic together with Nana who had volunteered to help.
Since the wounds weren't particularly deep, they were able to heal them quickly without leaving any scars.
"But to think he managed to wound Jeanne while she was in [True Form] and even using [Super Hardened Skin]. Spirit Beast Techniques must be quite powerful."
"Yeah. It looked different from normal Ki blades."
"Was it helpful for reference, Mother?"
"Yeah. While I can't say exactly how I think I'm starting to get a general idea of how it works."
"So do you think you'll be able to do it when your sword skill reaches 10?"
"Ahaha~ well, that's hard to say without trying it."
Though Ai had an optimistic personality, from what she had seen, Spirit Beast Techniques didn't seem like something one could master alone, so she vaguely deflected the question.
While this was going on, the dungeon, which had perfectly restored the dents made by Jeanne's stomping, tail, and when she slammed Mickey down, began announcing the next match.
[Now I will announce the fourth match! *drum roll*... ta-da! The objective is to destroy two of the opponent's cubes. The participants are Athena from Tatsuro's team, And from Fornacis, it will be a martial arts battle with Mirowsz!]
"That's me"
"Hmm. Finally my turn"
Athena and Mirowsz, whose names were called, headed toward the doors.
At this time, Tatsuro made sure to thoroughly convey information about the opponent to Athena.
This time's opponent seemed to be on a different level from the previous ones, so he was extra careful.
"Athena. That guy is a spear user, but he has some skill with power that doesn't belong to that category. Be very careful."
"Is it that dangerous?"
"I can't say what the skill name is, but it stood out strangely. Even without that, he should be overwhelmingly the strongest among the martial artists in there."
"...Understood. I'll go all out from the start."
"Yeah. Try not to get hurt if possible. I'm worried."
"Got it~"
Though her words sounded light, her expression was completely serious as Athena transformed to her [True Form] and donned [Dragon Armor] to use as pure defense without attributes before throwing open the door.
Because they had been talking, her opponent was already waiting in the circular stage, holding a huge four-meter spear and a two-meter spear in his left and right hands despite his already impressive height of two and a half meters.
Still, Athena walked calmly to face her opponent.
"That's an unusual armor you're wearing. Just like a dragonkin."
"You've got such huge spears but you're holding them one-handed? Want me to take the smaller one off your hands?"
"Kah kah kah! No need to worry. My body is a bit special, you see."
"How is it special?"
"If you want to know, see for yourself with your own eyes. Kah kah kah kah!"
Laughing, Mirowsz skillfully spun both weapons in one hand, either because the spears were light or because he was just that strong.
Athena watched this from the corner of her eye while taking a natural stance without bringing out her great scythe yet.
[I will now make two cubes appear that will circle around both of you. In this event, after my starting signal, the first to destroy two of their opponent's cubes wins. Do either of you have any questions?]
"Nope"
"None"
The moment the two replied.
Two cubes appeared around them and began spinning around each person.
This time, it seems victory would come from protecting these two cubes.
[Alright then, let's begin right away! 3, 2, 1... Start!]
And so, the match between Athena and Mirowsz began.