I couldn't have heard that right, there’s no way he actually wanted to fight me…right?! The chances of winning were lower than zero, there was no chance!

Arga pulled away and kept Alice hidden behind her. She held one arm on her sword just in case, even if there wasn’t much she could do there wasn’t any point in being defenceless.

Beads of sweat ran down the side of my face, I was completely outmatched in every way. Forget Ilinore, this guy would be able to take her down without breaking a sweat.

“Still…”

I clenched my Chakram and ran ahead, I must have gotten only three feet before he held out his hand to stop me.

“Hold it.”

I stomped my foot onto the ground and buried it into the dirt, to break my momentum.

“W-what…what is it?”

“I changed my mind, I don’t think it would be very good of a matchup.”

Was he chickening out? No, it couldn't be that, he was above Gold rank. He meant me…it was a bad matchup for me then. Was it sympathy then?

His attention shifted to the fake shielder off on the sidelines and turned stern. “Veldor, step in for me.”

The fake shielder seemed pretty confused, he even pointed at himself to make sure he heard the right name.

I didn’t get much of an impression of him, I guessed that he was a silver rank at most. What angle did he have for trying to make me fight someone weaker than himself, didn’t he want to stop us?

“To strike another person in favour of a monster from the Tower, you must have your reasons. I can’t very well just let you take her but I can give you the chance to prove that you’re worth listening to. Prove it to me, to us.” He glanced at the attentive eyes around us.

I felt a heavy weight drop onto me like every set of eyes around me was holding me down. Their stares didn’t let up, I’m sure any one of them thought I was some enemy to mankind or something.

“Veldor is one of our newest recruits, he shares the same concern as everyone else here. He will be your opponent. If you can stand against him, we can discuss matters further.”

My eyes widened.

I get it now, there’s no point in proving anything if his guild won’t buy it. I need to convince these people that I’m serious here, only then will I be able to convince them... If fighting this guy will give me that chance, I’ll win.

“I accept.” I said as I held up the Chakrams to the space in front of my eyes.

The fake shielder took off the large shield on his back and strapped it to his arm, it wasn’t as big as the guild masters but it was still massive…It must have weighed more than me!

It was made from some sort of white metal with Golden lines around its body, similar to the design of his armour. Unlike the Guild Master, he planned to fight with a weapon. He held a long mace in his right hand, I wanted to avoid getting hit by that.

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There was no starting bell, I stood there looking around as I waited for some indication. My eyes darted back to the fake shielder in front of me as he rushed in. I had never seen a shielder fight in person but he seemed like the complete opposite to what I heard about.

From what I’d heard, they always kept in the front so they could absorb the damage with their chunky armour and shields. He charged in front like a tanker would—but why was he so aggressive?!

He swung his mace and it tore through the air, it broke through the space in front of me like a comet. The reach on that pole was no joke, we had a good meter between us and almost hit me square in the jaw. The head of the pole was where my concern was, it seemed to be made of some kind of dark metal that looked as sturdy as his shield. If it was made from the same material as Arga’s sword then I was I was in trouble.

One hit from that and it would be light’s out.

That wasn’t all he had though, after missing the first shot he charged in deeper and followed with his shield. I didn’t have a chance to break through and needed to retreat, I started running out of room.

It was none stop, it didn’t feel like his attacks would ever stop.

“This guy—doesn’t—quit!”

“Hya—hoiya! Hyah—hiyah!”

Arga looked worried as she watched from the sidelines. I didn’t know what to expect from her but the ‘words of encouragement’ that followed were definitely not on the list.

“Where’r ya runnin' too? Show that wannabe shield guy how it feels to get hit!”

I knew I wouldn’t have to listen to it for long though, my next phase of the plan was almost ready.

My back met the wall of the room and I had nowhere left to go. The shielder saw my falter and lit up at the sign of his chance. He had the skill of a silver rank but he seemed way too excited by the small things.

I wondered if I had more experience than him.

He rushed in with the mace raised above his head. “Bludgeon!”

With his austere shout, the head of the mace was engulfed with a swirl of fire. It focused on the large chunk of metal and created a flaming bubble at its head.

The crowd of guild mates all shifted into excited oohs as he released his skill on me. They cheered him on as the attack drove in closer, almost as though they were fuelling his attack with their excitement.

I smirked.

“Rush—” I avoided the sudden crash against the wall. “I’ve got some skills too” I muttered as my hand lifted to him. “Munch!”

The Muncher shot through the air and triggered a wave of gasps from the audience.

“It’s a monster, he summoned it from his hand!”

“Was that a skill, it looked like magic?”

“Yeah! He did the same thing before, with that dragon!”

Their confused comments all fell on deaf ears, I was too engrossed in the battle to hear anyone or anything besides my opponent.

The Muncher's large jaw locked around the shielder's arm, the same one he used to swing that flaming mace. He struggled for a moment as he tried to get it off but he couldn't manage to find a good grip on it. His fingers couldn't hold a grip on the blue misty mass that made up its body. Strands and handfuls of mist filled his hand each time he went in for another grab.

“Argh—what is this?!” He swung his hand about and slammed it with his mace.

Sure enough that did the trick and the Muncher had vanished. Just as he regained his composure, both Chakrams cut through the air.

In a state of panic, he brought up his shield, the blades were blocked but just barely. They bounced off the round surface of his shield and rushed around his head.

His eyes were attracted to the bright green glow that enveloped the blades. It caused them to circle him in swift glides only inches from touching him. Without giving him a chance to recuperate, the blades closed in on him.

The shielder stuck to his name and blocked them, each time. I know I was meant to be fighting him all out but I was impressed. Every time a white blade would cut through the air toward him, he would block it, only for the dark one to follow right after. He was stuck in place, blocking them off and couldn't move.

I held out my hand and gazed out at my opponent.

“I don’t plan to lose here. So do me a favour and lose!”

I didn’t like the idea of showing off my unique skill there but I needed to win and didn’t have the chance to think it through too much. If I held back, there was a chance I’d just end up losing. I needed to use everything I had, without holding back.

“Dragon’s Roar.”