Deep in the woods of Mar Mountain, Oswald and Hannah were walking holding hands as they took in the scenery. The redwood trees surrounded them, Hannah was astonished at how amazing the view was. She was happy that Oswald had decided to take her here.
“Oz, should we come up with a strategy for our duel with Jack and Aurora?” Hannah asked.
“There is no point in doing that. Our duel is in the afternoon.” Oswald responded. “Let’s do like all the other battles we had with no preparation. Besides, we never saw Jack and Aurora fight together, so there will be many guesses of how they work together.”
“I see, but we still have seen how each one fights on their own.” Hannah said. “So we should come up with a plan.”
“The standard strategy would be to attack Jack first because he is a healer.” Oswald said. “But let’s focus on Aurora first.”
“Wouldn't it be easier to take down Jack first?” Hannah said “Aurora is a Defender-Healer hybrid, so wouldn’t she take longer to defeat.”
“But we have fought alongside Jack, so we can predict how he would react.” Oswald said. “Aurora will be tougher, so it’s better to take her out while we have all our energy. We lack a Healer and they lack an Attacker, so we focus on taking out their defense rather than their support.”
“Jack is your best friend, so he might anticipate this.” Hannah said. “They might target you.”
“He might anticipate that. And they are definitely attacking you first.” Oswald said. “I can’t useMagic, so you’re the biggest threat to them or at least they see it that way. You’re just too good that they forget how effective I am at physical combat.”
“Thanks!” Hannah said, blushing and looking down. “So, we do not prepare for the duel.”
“You’re still wrong.” Oswald refuted. “We should relax and clear our minds, so that when it comes time for the duel we can counter whatever they throw at us.”
“You sound like a master martial artist.” Hannah said.
“As the only human with no Magic, I had to learn something.” Oswald said. “And I am also a Deus, so I have access to the best resources and instructors.”
“But you have put in the work.” Hannah said. “If you didn’t put in the effort you wouldn’t be as formidable as you are, Oz.”
“Thank you!” Oswald said, hugging Hannah and kissing her. “It makes me so happy being with you, Hannah!”
“I feel the same.” Hannah said, hugging Oswald back. “I can’t wait to get our Adventurer’s License and explore the dungeons as a couple and with our friends.”
“In two months it’s the exam, we should be able to pass with no troubles.” Oswald said.
“But first you have the Deus Family Tournament at the beginning of December.” Hannah said. “I know you’ll do well.”
“I should be in the top 16.” Oswald said. “It’ll be tough for sure. But I should be able to manage somehow.”
“Then let’s find someplace to eat.” Hannah said. “The sandwiches we packed will taste so good with this view.”
“Yeah, but where?” Oswald said.
“We can sit on that fallen tree over there.” Hannah said pointing at a fallen tree about one thousand feet away. “It seems like it will have a great view.”
“Let’s go then.” Oswald said.
Meanwhile at Moon Cafe, Jack and Aurora were coming up with strategies in the upcoming duel. They were drinking the trademark drink of Moon Cafe, Moon Coffee, which helped people stay awake while also giving them a boost on their thinking speed for a few hours.
“How are we going to counter Hannah?” Jack said. “Can you compete against her?”
“I am a hybrid and she is a pure Defender, so she surpasses me in that regard.” Aurora said. “ANd my focus is more on support. Why did I agree to this duel?”
“We can do this, Aurora.” Jack said, holding Aurora’s hand. “Hannah has slow attacks and they don’t have a Healer, so no healing or buffs on their side. I can buff you, so that you can attack faster, plus now I have a trump card.”
“A trump card, eh?” Aurora said. “What is it?”
“That my dear is a secret.” Jack said, smiling at Aurora. “You better prepare because Oz is going to attack you first.”
“Wouldn't it make more sense to attack the Healer first?” Aurora questioned.
“Usually yes, but they have no healer and Oz is familiar with my fighting style, so you’re his biggest threat.” Jack answered. “They have to take you out first because once they do that, Oz can easily overcome me. So this would be a battle of stamina and Magical Energy.”
“If you are confident in figuring out how Oswald thinks, then we should be able to win.” Aurora said. “I don’t think I have seen Oswald lose a duel.”
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“He has lost before to his cousin Leon. He has never won against him.” Jack said with a worried expression. “Winning this duel will be difficult because Oz and Hannah have been fighting together since sophomore year and this will be our first duel together.”
“Let’s do our best, Jack!” Aurora said, kissing Jack on the cheek. “I have faith in us.”
After a few hours the two couples met at Lee’s Battle Facility. Oswald and Hannah were wearing black tracksuits, while Jack and Aurora were wearing red tracksuits. Amy was in the spectator area closely watching all of them. Oswald had an expression of excitement as he thought about the upcoming fight.
“I can’t wait for this, Jack!” Oswald said in an excited tone. “It’s been awhile since we faced each other!”
“Same here, Oz!” Jack said, smiling. “But, we’ll be taking the win.”
“You sound confident, but it’s us who will win!” Hannah said.
“Then let’s get started.” Aurora said as she took her battle stance.
“I have the advantage. No one is using weapons.” Oswald said as he rushed towards Aurora, throwing a punch.
“But we still have Magic, which you lack!” Aurora said as she made a Magic Shield to block Oswald’s punch. Oswald’s punch was stopped by the Magic Shield and that left a little opening, which Aurora used to throw a kick at him. Before the kick could connect a barrier surrounded Oswald protecting him.
“Don’t forget about me!” Hannah said as she approached Aurora and tried to throw a punch, but before she could throw her punch Hannah noticed something was wrong. “Jack, you fucker. If you could use debuffs why didn’t you use them when we fought the Minataur.”
“I just learned how to use them recently.” Jack explained. “As you can feel both you and Oz are debuffed, while me and Aurora are buffed.”
“Interesting, fighting with a disadvantage.” Oswald said, smiling.
Aurora quickly rushed at Hannah and threw a punch. Hannah was barely able to block the punch with her arms, but that still hurt her. Aurora then started to throw more punches while Hannah was trying to block the attacks. Oswald noticed that Hannah was in the trouble and quickly kicked Aurora, but she put up a shield while continuing to attack Hannah,
“Fuck, I can’t cast Magic!” Hannah yelled. “I hate debuffs!”
I better start secretly buffing myself. Oswald thought as he gathered Mana. I hope no one notices, so I better attack Jack.
Oswald secretly casted a speed and strengthening self-buffs and rushed towards Jack. As soon as he approached Jack he threw a punch. A shield was protecting Jack, so Oswald followed with a powerful kick, which broke the Magic Shield and managed to hurt Jack.
“Damn it, you’re stronger than I anticipated!” Jack said as he re-casted the buffs and the debuffs. “I guess that sparring session with Aria helped you!”
“These debuffs are more troublesome than I thought.” Oswald stated. “It looks like Hannah is in real trouble. Time to go back to my initial plan.”
Oswald quickly threw a few punches towards Jack and he managed to break the Magic Shield. Before Aurora could re-cast a Magic Shield on Jack, Oswald managed to punch Jack as hard as he could. Jack blocked the punch with his forearms, but the impact still managed to hurt him. Aurora quickly castedd another Magic Shield on Jack, so Hannah took advantage of this little opening to cast a quick fireball and shot it at Aurora. The fireball managed to break the Magic Shield and the impact made Aurora and Hannah fall. Jack casted healing on both himself and Aurora as Oswald tried to break the Magic Shield. Oswald, then stepped away from Jack and rushed towards Aurora. Oswald used a jumping kick as Aurora was standing up. The kick managed to break the Magic Shield. Hannah kicked Aurora on the legs while on the ground. Aurora fell to the ground and Hannah put her on a lock.
They are low on Mana. Oswald thought as he observed the Mana Flow of Jack and Aurora. They are using Magic that uses too much energy. And it looks like Hannah used up most of her energy casting that fireball.
Jack rushed towards Oswald as he charged a fire punch. Oswald intercepted the fire punch by punching Jack's fist. Oswald got hurt from the fire fist, but he took this opening to punch with his other hand and managed to break the Magic Shield. He quickly used his hurt hand to punch Jack in the face. Jack recoiled from the punch and Oswald quickly put him in a nelson hold.
“It looks like you’re out of Magical Energy.” Oswald said.
“Those debuffs take more Magical Energy than expected.” Jack said. “I guess I need to practice more.”
“Those Magic Shields were amazing, but your Magic control is lacking, so you’re using too much Magical Energy.” Hannah said. “You need better control of that Magic or you need to expand your Magical energy reserves. That’s why I am still sticking to barriers. Shields use too much Magical Energy.”
“If only I was physically stronger. I could've escaped this lock and given you a fight! ” Aurora said. “Man, we lost.”
“That was a close one, right Oz?” Hannah said.
“Yep, they were formidable.” Oswald said. “But their Magic Control and Magical Energy reserves are lacking.”
Amy came out of the spectator area and quickly hugged Hannah.
“Good job, Nana!” Amy excitedly said. “I knew my cousin could do it. Hehehe.”
“I am super tired.” Jack said. “I shouldn’t have used that much Magical Energy!”
“Same here!” Aurora said. “But it was fun. How are you holding up, Hannah?”
“I wish tomorrow wasn’t Monday.” Hannah said. “I think I need more time to fully rest.”
“I am glad, I only have to worry about recovering my physical energy. Hahahah.” Oswald laughed.
“You shouldn’t laugh at your girlfriend, Oz.” Amy said. “Or else I am not letting her go out with you.”
“Okay, okay. I am sorry. Will you let Hannah go with me now?” Oswald said.
“Apology accepted. Hahahaha!” Amy laughed, then she took out four sports drinks from her bag and gave one to everyone. “You guys need to replenish your electrolytes, so drink them!”
“Thanks, Amy!” Everyone was grateful for Amy’s gift.
“Of course! I knew none of you would even think of bringing water.” Amy said. “All of your minds were too preoccupied with the fight to think of preparing drinks for after the duel.”
Alright, they didn’t notice my self-buffs, so I can still keep my magicless identity. Oswald thought. But they take too much Mana to have them constantly active. Is it more mana efficient to just use them only when necessary? The Mana startup cost of activating the self-buffs is way higher than the Mana cost per second to maintain the self-buff, but this would not work for longer battles.
Oswald saw that everyone was discussing where to go eat, so he joined them. After a few minutes, they all decided to get some burgers from Pia’s Burger, which was within walking distance from Lee’s Battle Facility.