June 17, XX15. 5:00 A.M

            Eric POV

            “So you’ve come…” I said. My days were coming to an end. Regrets... I have many, but I have done everything I could, all that matters is to finish the rest.

           The sun had yet to rise. I sat on the grass of my backyard waiting for his arrival. I thought he’d still be asleep, but he came immediately.

Hawk… the Player who I thought of as my son, the Player who did all my requests for me, and the Player my daughter loved. If only the Player I thought of as my daughter were here, I’d be fine passing one.

            “That sword…” said Hawk as he noticed the sword lying beside.

            Icebrande was the name of my treasured sword. It was of Artifact Rarity, meaning only one of each existed in the whole of Reality. The sword’s beauty transcended most swords. The blade refracted the light passing through its light blue translucence. The blade was as thin as the thinnest ice but as hard as the hardest diamond. Its snowflake-shaped guard, which was darker blue but still translucent, separated the blade from its hilt. The hilt itself was mostly translucent blue darker still than that of the guard except for the three navy blue diamonds on each side of the hilt. Icebrande was Water Elemental. When used by Players, the natural Elements of their Abilities still overwrote their weapon’s Element, but their normal attacks followed the weapon’s Element. There were no advantages in having the same natural Element as your weapon.

            So long had I lied about fearing my own sword. Ever since that day, I thought I’d never use it again, but now here it lied.

            I stood up and pointed Icebrande at Hawk. “Duel me. No using Abilities.”

            Hawk did not question why. He didn’t even ask why. He felt the resolve in my words and accepted.

            These Players were yet to learn this, but Character could participate in Duels and Battles; however, Characters could challenge Players, but the other way around was impossible. Characters were only forbidden from fighting in Dungeons and the World Map outside certain Quests.

           My ability with a sword definitely rusted from being away from it. My age had passed its pinnacle. However, I could comfortably spar with most non-titled Players of the First Generation during my prime.

            The 5 second countdown for the Duel began.

    Hawk was an offensive analytical type fighter. Analytical fighters had a common weakness: they could be fed incorrect information due to their initial defensive patterns; however, such tactics failed on Hawk. He attacked aggressively from the start and forced his enemies to react, allowing him to analyze his opponent. The longer the Duel went, the more advantage Hawk had due to this analysis. If I did not end this Duel quickly, I would definitely lose.

    As I predicted, Hawk charged at me the moment the Duel began. His attacks were quite troublesome since he had two swords, but I could see it… Despite his intelligence, his sword talents were mediocre at best. Also, since Kard also dual-wielded, I knew using two swords took a lot more concentration that one sword. His swings were easy to read and predict.

    Taking advantage of the gap between his attacks, my sword slashed through his chest and deal 18% of his Health. I landed the first strike.

    Hawk did not falter, he continued attacking aggressively. The amount of pressure he applied would make most Characters break down mentally. But—

    Once again, I managed to land a hit on him. This time, my sword pierced through his abdomen and left him with 60% Health.

    This attack forced Hawk to step back a bit and make distance, but I didn’t allow him. I began chasing after him before he even started to step back. This time, I was on the offensive. Hawk’s greatest weakness was his defenses. Unlike the predictable programmed AI, an experienced fighter’s swings were unpredictable. Hawk spent a lot of effort to block or evade my attacks and was left no breathing room for counterattacking.

    As expected, an opening appeared soon enough. I held no remorse and took advantage of the opening and brought Hawk to 41% of his Health.

    I was prepared to evade the counterattack after striking, but what happened was out of my prediction. Hawk’s counterattack swings happened before my sword even landed. I lost 19% Health from his two swords. Due to this, I was forced to step back, ending the offensive momentum I had.

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    There was only one conclusion. Hawk knew eventually, the offensive pressure would create an opening for me to exploit. Unbelievably, he accepted his own weakness and predicted when the opening would happen and instead of trying and failing to defend then, he attacked instead.

    I waited for a few seconds, expecting Hawk to once again charge at me, but once again, he defied my expectations and simply waited in place. I couldn’t comprehend his actions. Clearly, his best shot at winning would require him to be in the offensive. Even if he repeated the tactic he used, I had more Health and would end up on top.

    I took the offensive and charged at him. The instant my muscle twist, Hawk charged at me as well. Even if this was his aim, it still made no sense. My sword talent far surpassed his, so going attacking each other head one led to my victory.

    His twin swords hit me once again. The moment we entered each other’s range, we began our attacks at the same time. His made a counter-clock wise spinning slash. While this attack took time to execute, it countered my downwards swing by evading it during the attack movement. The hits brought me down to 54% of my Health.

    Once again, we stood in place, waiting for the opponent. In the end we repeated the same pattern as before, and once again, his attacking movement countered mine and left me at 31% Health.

    Can he predict me already? No, if he could, he would’ve applied offensive pressure already. So why did he come out on top on those two exchanges?

    The third time, I chose a more careful approach and refused planned to stay on the spot. Hawk immediately rushed at me unlike the previous attempts, surprising me. Due to this surprise, he landed yet another double hit on me, but I retaliated in time as he stepped back. Hawk and I were at 19% and 23% Health respectively.

    The next hit won me the Duel. On the contrary, if only one of his swords reached me, I would survive. As long as I dodge one of the swords, I won.

            Hawk tried to strike me with both swords as expected. All that’s left was to let one of them hit me and counterattack.

Duel Winner: Hawk

            The message appeared on the side. It was my defeat.

            I realized why I lost. Due to the positioning, his right blade was easier to dodge, so I chose to evade that one; however, in the last moment, he changed the trajectory of the right sword and landed. Hawk did not have the battle experience to be able to change the course of the attack in the heat of the moment. In other words, the change in trajectory was preplanned. This hypothesis was supported by the hand of choice. He used his dominant hand for the final play.

            “I lost, huh…”

            “That was stressful…” said Hawk, stretching his arms.

            “It was because you were too careful in the end and chose the safe play, which I could predict.”

            This confirmed my hypothesis; however, something still remained a mystery. The reason I was careful was because he came out on top on those two simultaneous charges.

            “How did you come out on top both instances we charged at one another?”

            “As you suspected, I could predict you.”

            “But if that’s true, then--”

            “Only on the very first strike could I predict you.”

            Only when Hawk said it did it hit me. While he lacked the battle experience to predict my combination of attacks, the first strike was different. The first strike would always be the most predictable strike due to the lack of pressure exerted before it and the natural tendency of fighters to expect the first hit to not connect.

            “You’ve passed the test. Icebrande is yours now.”

            Hawk’s eyes lit in surprise. The ownership had been transferred.

            “Is it really alright?”

            “Yes. I’m sure that’s best for the sword as well, since Liza will not take up the sword.”

            Stunned in surprise, Hawk did not react.

    “I’ve already bought the Item Shop Liza rented. I‘ll bequeath her the money I hid. I’ll tell her about it later.”

In the end, I went with my words. I would not tell Liza the truth.

    “The last thing. This house will no longer have use. I have already confirmed with the system. Once I die, this house’s ownership will be transferred to you.”

    As I said this, tears fell from Hawk’s eyes: tears of joy. Enjoy it kid, this was the reward for all the help you gave my family. Sure, this compensation was probably greater than deserved; however, to me, this was not compensation; this was inheritance.

    I hugged the crying Hawk as he fell to his knees. In his tears, he barely managed to mumble, “Thank you…”.

    The system posted a restriction in the giving of my house: The house could not be sold. This was to prevent the Player from reselling the house to acquire tremendous amounts of money and break the game balance.

            Dove POV

            Since Hawk left a message about his absence earlier this morning, I trained in the Alley after I woke up. Of course, I had a general idea of where he was.

            As it was just about 8 in the morning, Hawk found me in the middle of training. His eyes were red, but he had a large smile on his face. He explained to me everything that happened.

            I could not believe it. We acquired such favor and rewards for treating the Character kindly. It appeared Hawk was in awe as well.