Chapter 77
Mage Duelist, A Class Unto Itself
The minute we got into the Fort, Pierre left me so quickly, I would have thought I had the mange. I didn’t, I checked, and as far as I could tell my Sabrina form was considered very pretty, as apparently my own base Attractiveness shone through in this form as well. Meaning, I must have somehow seriously frightened the guy. That said, I don’t quite know what I could have said or done to offend him so gravely. I know it had something to do with the murder cats, but honestly that was just good business, befriend one pack of murder hobo cats, so that you can walk freely in a zone. I mean that is no different than healing an elite squad of hunters and letting them also go forward in a particular zone either. It’s just that in this case the pack of cats is likely less annoying than the people would be. At the very least I think murder cats are a little more my speed than say Duchesses trying to bond me via a slave contract.
Come to think of it, bonding with a pack of wild cats might be the same thing as a slave contract. I mean, I figure the duties and obligations are mostly the same, bend over backward for said cats, heal said cats when it is time, pet them when they want, never when you want, then get out of their way. Huh, well on the bright side I don’t think I mind that form of pet slavery, as I would to being bound to a humanoid. Hmm, one point towards realizing that cats are smarter than humans. These were my thoughts as I went about entering the Fort, though I was stopped relatively quickly.
“You there, you are a magic user are you not?” A man wearing so many layers of magical items and regalia that would make a rainbow jealous, stepped forward and directly into my path.
“Yes, I’m a healer.” I say, realizing that trying to hide my magic class would be nearly impossible, thanks to my titles being on full display.
“That you are, and a Simulacrum Master?” He questions.
“Yes.” I answer, though I am not quite exactly certain where this line of questioning is heading.
Hearing my comment, he nods to himself, then begins to pace in front of me, sauntering as he moved, each step a disguised movement of magic, and magical items.
Looking at the man before me, I see that this person too is a hidden class trainer.
Title: Magical Duelist Trainer
“I have to ask, what exactly is a Void Healer, or for that matter what is a Simulacrum Master?” The man asks.
Hearing his questions, I can’t help but feel my own questions coming to life. “Well by that measure what is a Magical Duelist?” I reply.
At that the man, this Duelist just pauses before me for a moment, and seems to stare at me, as if taking in the full breath of my character.
“How about we have a friendly competition instead. We both seem to have questions we would like to have answered by the other, why not make it into a competition of sorts. I will show you what it means to be a Magical Duelist. In this, I propose a proper Mage’s Duel, you have heard of them before, have you not?”
I nod.
“Very good, we have a duel of five rounds, where I showcase each of my different skills. If you win, each of my different skills. If you win, I will teach you the skill being displayed. If I win, you show me something unique about your class. If you cannot show me anything unique about either of your classes, then you will offer to teach me the class, or someone of my choosing. Sound fair?”
Quest Unlocked: Dueling the Duelist: Trigon BiFrost has challenged you to a magical duel. The terms are, you will compete in five rounds, where Trigon will showcase a new and unique skill specific to his class. If you lose, you must explain an advantage of your class. If you win, Trigon will give you a quick overview of the skill being used that you can practice on your own. If you lose three or more of the rounds, you will teach Trigon one of your unique Classes. If you lose all five rounds, you will teach someone of Trigon’s choosing one of your unique classes. Rounds Remaining: (5/5). Rewards: Experience, New Class Unique Skills. Do you accept?
Seeing the message, I couldn’t help but feel that this was sort of a set up. As the conditions of the quest were clearly different than what was being discussed, it appeared as though this quest had been taken and failed multiple times before, thus the reason the conditions for success had changed. Basically, if I won one of the five duels, I wouldn’t have to teach one of my unique classes to anyone other than the duelist. If I won three duels, then I just gave up information about my classes and nothing more. Also, it was pretty obvious that whatever class I gave up information on was the one that I would be expected to teach. Pausing mentally, I could understand the purpose for this type of quest, or at least the rationale for why a class trainer stuck out in a fort would want to challenge another wandering class trainer. The idea being that they were out here alone, and by having someone with the class of Void Healer out here, then they would drastically increase their survivability. That said, the quest did seem to be a bit skewed in the way of the Duelist.
“So, let me get this straight. You, a duelist, wish to duel me, a healer. Where you get rewards for completely embarrassing me in a duel that you yourself initiated. While I only get you to train me in your class unique skills? Then, should I lose all rounds, as is likely the case, you will have me teach one of my unique classes to your men here?” I ask.
“Actually, since we are negotiating, I only care about the Void Healer class, you can keep your Simulacrum Master class to yourself for now.” Trigon, the Duelist, said.
At that I nodded, not truly surprised by the admission. Then just as it was said, the quest I was offered changed.
Quest Unlocked: Dueling the Duelist: Trigon BiFrost has challenged you to a magical duel. The terms are, you will compete in five rounds, where Trigon will showcase a new and unique skill specific to his class. If you lose, you must explain an advantage of your class. If you win, Trigon will give you a quick overview of the skill being used that you can practice on your own. If you lose three or more of the rounds, you will teach Trigon your unique class of Void Healer. If you lose all five rounds, you will teach someone of Trigon’s choosing your unique class of Void Healer. Rounds Remaining: (5/5). Rewards: Experience, New Class Unique Skills. Do you accept?
“You have me at somewhat of a disadvantage here. As a healer I might not be able to cast the same spell you can, let alone with the same precision and accuracy.” I state, trying to see if I can get a free demo of what I will be up against. I am intrigued by this, but I don’t want to get committed to a duel I can’t possibly win.
“Very well, we shall be doing channeled spells. You can cast any channeled spell you wish, while I will be casting Blame Burst. The minute my flames touch you, you lose, likewise the minute your channeled spell touches me, I would lose.” He said.
“So, I have to get my spell past yours, then through those magical defenses you have going there, then to you? While you just have to get your spell to me?” I ask.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Chuckle.
“Ah, so you are not as blind as the others who have come through here before.” The duelist said.
At that, I almost laughed at the irony of the comment. That almost had to have been said on purpose, as I am completely blind, but can see everything thanks to my maxed-out merit of Angel’s Sight.
“I think I’ll pass.” I say. I get it, a remote outpost, way out in the middle of nowhere, the likely motivation for this quest is that this duelist is bored and looking to enact some type of entertainment. They are also in possession of a dueling class that apparently has quite a few skills. “I tell you what, you seem like a good sort, how about I heal you and we call it a day.”
The Duelist pauses, and stares at me. Finally, after a moment, the Duelist lets out a long sigh. “Fine, have it your way. No duel.”
At that, I get the notification that I have been waiting for.
Quest Cancelled: Dueling the Duelist: Trigon BiFrost challenged you to a magical duel. However, you did not accept the quest in a timely manner.
Now I know what you are thinking, why do this? Why cancel a duel that had nothing but upside? Well to be simple the fact that there was no reward for maxing out my winning all five matches meant that the system put my chances at doing such an event at near zero. Also, I did not want to be forced to possibly take on the Duelist class. If I won all five matches, the logical assumption would be that I would then take on the Duelist class as a tertiary class, seeing as both my Primary and Secondary class are high enough to warrant such an act, I wouldn’t put it past the system. Then I would be forced to be a Magical Duelist, which meant I would have to be stuck in a class that would forever be mediocre, as at most I could only put 25% of my experience towards the third class. The breakdown would go 50% for Primary, then the remaining 50% would be split between my final two classes, meaning I would level exceptionally slowly with both my secondary and tertiary classes. In case you were wondering, the greatest number of classes anyone could have is six, one main that gets 50% of your experience and five others that each share the minimum allowed 10% experience. With Magical Duelist as a tertiary class, it all but guaranteed that I would forever be a minor note to this Magical Duelist, meaning I would be forced to learn and grow the way this class trainer thought would be best, which invariably would be with magical attack spells and hunting. So, while I have no doubt that some of the class skills might be phenomenal, they are nothing compared to taking a relatively unknown concept and making it your own. I might have been spoiled by being able to evolve my two unique classes, but that also means that I can grow and develop as I want.
“Though now that the duel of apprenticeship is over, what do you say to a friendly spar?” The duelist asks, a overly competitive testosterone smugness filling their voice. I’ve experienced moments like this before, moments where people are bored and looking to flex. While I am at a much higher level than this duelist, I favor healing. In fact, I don’t even have any focused magical items. Other than my grossly under leveled Mage’s Guild, and other soul bound gear, I am drastically underdressed for my level. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I must be frugal with my acquisitions, meaning things like top end gear, or enchanting supplies to make top notch gear is beyond me. I do have Art as a possible fall back for Enchanting, by now thanks to my reading through every Rahul and the Maiden, for enchanting reference instructions only, I feel that I have a fairly good grasp on Enchanting as a whole. Unfortunately, I still cannot practice that skill, as it is one of the most expensive skills to master, as the components are expensive, and the rewards at first are highly unworthwhile. That is why I choose to wait until after I turn 14 and get rid of my Broke flaw that I will be able to do so many amazing things, like keep money I steal, and sleep in a bed with silk sheets, heck maybe even non-wool sheets would be a nice change of pace. But I digress, I am being asked to spar.
I pause and wait for a moment but realize that there is no quest prompt for this.
“Just a friendly spar, no wager?” I ask.
“I tell you what, to give you incentive, how about this. I will train you in one of my classes sacred skills, if you beat me in just one duel.” The Duelist says.
So, it has changed, going from earning a possible five for putting up one of my two unique classes up for collateral, to just being able to win a skill, based on a duel.
Quest Updated: Sparring with the Duelist: Trigon BiFrost challenged you to a magical sparring contest. You will compete in a single round magical duel, where any spell is allowed, the first person to land a strike on the opponent’s body wins. Nothing will be gained if you lose. Rewards for winning: Experience, New Class Unique Skill. Do you accept?
I have to say that these terms are a lot better than the previous deals. Also, it is clear that there are some types of Skill sets to be learned, Skills that are normally tied to a rare class.
“Fine, I accept your challenge, but I must warn you, I do consider myself to be quite the Magical Duelist,” I declare, wanting to give the man an out.
“Oh really, how many people have you beaten?”
I pause, and realize my answer might sound sort of bad, “Two and a half, though one of those was a bird.”
Sadly, this is true. I beat the one auditor twice, then myself a couple hundred times just grinding the skill, those all counted as draws, as I both won and lost each bout. So, the only other competition was Pierre’s giant bird, so two and a half, though I guess I could mention something about having maxed out my Magical Duelist skill and am about to do just that when he responds.
Chuckle.
“Oh, I do think I will be fine in this case.” He says, as he takes up a ready position. “I too should warn you that I have faced over a hundred different foes and won each magical duel. I even beat four marauders who attempted to run wild through town here not too long ago.”
Hearing his boast, I feel that I did the right thing, by not going for the first quest, as this guy is apparently claiming to have beaten the pack of regressors that have been causing mayhem on the upper floors of the tower for so long. I also opt to keep my knowledge of having maxed out my Magical Duelist skill a secret for now. I mean it is not like he is telling me about his Dueling class skills that I can learn from this contest.
“When shall we begin?” I ask.
“On three.”
I nod.
At that I can already see power building up and preparing to be constructed by the Duelist before me
“Three.” The duelist cries out, as he then pulls on the mana that was being concentrated in his core and firing it out in multiple different directions all at once. Three weak strands of magic come out, all looking like tiny pebbles. Instantly, I realize two things, first the magician is holding back in their spells, which I am thankful for, as the power behind these spells is relatively weak, and the spell form is sloppy. There is no other way to describe the spell form, I mean, okay, I get it, I might be a snob when it comes to magical forms, but there is so much inefficiency in his casting that it is making me sick. Maybe this is what happens when a powerful magician purposefully casts a spell weaker than they are capable of. I watch the spells, that I must admit are moving relatively quickly, but they are still easily able to be dealt with. In this case, keeping with the theme of Paper, Rock, Scissors, Lizard, Spock, I choose three flat pieces of paper to pluck out all three spell pellets from the air, while also sending two additional paper Dispels towards the duelist, for a total of five return spells. I too decided to hold back some, as I don’t know what this duelist will do.
Fear.
There is a moment of fear on the Duelist’s face as he realizes that his attack was stopped. Perhaps he didn’t expect that much of a counter from a mere healer, but that is kind of disrespectful, as I am a Void Healer after all, one would assume that adding modifiers like the word Void to classes would imply a greater form of power, right?
With my two dispels out, I am sort of shocked that nothing has come to counter them, it is almost as if he either can’t see my spells, or worse thinks they are harmless due to their compact size. This annoys me, likely more than it should. I mean I am only using a Dispel, but still, there is a lot one can do with a properly placed Dispel, particularly if you target it towards someone. In particular, I target their enchanted robes, now this won’t do much, at least it is not intended to, as I just want to wear a hole through their magical defenses and prove a point.
Whoosh!
However, apparently Trigon finally noticed something interacting with their defensive clothing. That is when they did something extremely stupid, brought on by desperation. I can see it, the moment they realize they are close to losing, as I am burrowing a magically dispelled hole straight through their clothing. They panic, overreact, then in an act of utter stupidity, they react in a way that only makes things far worse for them.
Magical Pulse!
I feel something grab hold of my spell construct, shake it wildly and then suddenly let go. The equivalent would be, imagine you are painting, taking great care to move with precision strokes on a painting that this other person owns, and you are just touching it up. Then during the restoration process, they grab your arm that is holding the paintbrush, hold your hand down, then cause you to spasm wildly smearing paint, jabbing your paint brush through the canvas, and then going wild, only to then let go. That is what happens, as they sent out a magical pulse that while it wasn’t powerful enough to break my concentration over my spell, it did cause my spell to zip around wildly and break through the protective layers of his armor in ways I had not intended.
Instantly the rainbow colors that had been coating the duelist began to fade away into the atmosphere, as whatever the mage had done had multiplied the effects of my Targeted Dispel, but apparently that reaction had been enough to also win the duel. I know, as I receive the system message, but I quickly dismiss that message, as I see the magic of this Duelist coming to the surface as he begins panting heavily, building himself up into a form of a magical rage.
Panting.
“You, you…” He stammers, his mind clearly going crazy as he looks down to take in the fact that his brightly colored magical uniform was now dispelled.
I want to say I’m sorry and begin slightly cowering at his reaction. I could also point out the fact that if he didn’t hold back from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened, as he likely would have won, and I wouldn’t have had time to throw up such an obvious counter. Of course, I know from twenty years of marriage, that telling a man the reason why his fancy toy is broken was because of his own mistake, is a terrible argument to present, at the time of the event. Even if it is true. I know, you are wondering, wait you were married for twenty years? To which I will reply, and free for the last thirty, before my retirement, but that is a different story.
The duelist, seeing my slight grimace at the recognition of what has happened, takes that as a form of admission of guilt, and I can all but see the moment rage takes him and he begins to throw spells wildly, as round two of our impromptu spar is about to begin.
Yeah, this is going to be bad.