A bout wasn’t what Ali had in mind but he wasn’t turning it down either. His evaluation in the maze told him little about where he stood, though he was certain he would be informed soon enough. The duel ring battle showed what was possible but, like the evaluation, it kept him in the dark about his capability relative to others. Fighting Belen would be a good measure of where he was.

I also don’t mind knocking her down a notch or two.

Ali accepted the invitation and stepped into the duel ring. He asked Belen about the rules and how the ring worked. The girl replied that both of them would be given 100 HP and 100 MP each. They were free to use any abilities they had with the goal of dropping the opponent HP to 0 first. Once one of the combatants hit 0 HP, then the ring would end the duel and fully heal both combatants to full HP and MP. Therefore, the two of them could go all out without worrying about killing the other person.

“Sounds good,” said Ali as he walked towards the ring.

I will pick the air serpent ability.

<

Understood! Adding Air Serpent ability to your arsenal now….

Addition of new ability complete!

>

Ali entered the ring, ready to put his new ability to the test. Belen had a big smile like she couldn’t wait to get started. The teenager felt the excitement too, especially after watching the other match.

<

Synchronizing stats and abilities with the duel ring system.

Please wait…

Nearly complete….

Synchronization complete!

Now updating rules…

Both combatants are given 100 HP and 100 MP for the duration of the duel…

Duel ends once one combatant hits 0 HP.

>

“Both sides may cast a single defensive ability or a support ability before the duel begins,” announced the PA system above the ring.

A white monkey appeared beside Belen while Ali summoned an air serpent.

“Begin,” announced the PA system.

Ali let loose an air slash, knowing that he had plenty of MP to spare. However, his attack was intercepted by a nearly transparent wall.

Not a scratch? That must be a strong wall.

Meanwhile, his serpent and the monkey engaged in their own battle, allowing him to focus on Belen. Repeated use of air slash yielded nothing as the wall remained strong. Then, Ali noticed projectiles forming near the wall. The teenager moved laterally to make himself harder to hit but the projectile remained pointing at him until they were released at him. Ali dived out of the way.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

<

Hit by projectiles. Lost 4 HP.

Currently, you have 96/100 HP.

>

The projectiles penetrated through his left ankle and right calf, causing him trouble in standing up after the dive. Ali responded with a couple of his air slashes but they couldn’t break through the wall. While Belen readied more projectiles, her monkey jumped on top of him and started scratching.

<

Hit by claws. Lost 12 HP.

Currently, you have 84/100 HP.

>

Then, the monkey backed away for some reason. Before Ali could register what was happening, immense pain went through his entire body.

<

Hit by projectiles. 4 critical hits! Lost 28 HP.

Currently, you have 56/100 HP.

>

Paralyzed by the pain, Ali was at the mercy of the monkey which kept inflicting damage on him.

<

Hit by claws. Lost 24 HP.

Currently, you have 32/100 HP.

>

Once again, the monkey retreated before more projectiles hit Ali.

<

Hit by projectiles. 2 critical hits! Lost 24 HP.

Currently, you have 8/100 HP.

>

A few scratches later, Ali started losing consciousness.

Am I really that weak?

The teenager was about to embrace the darkness when his prompt popped up.

<

Your max HP has returned to 20.

Your max MP has returned to 4.

With the duel ring healing, you now have 20/20 HP and 4/4 MP.

>

Ali looked down to see all of his wounds gone. Suddenly, he felt someone grab his hand and pulled him up. He turned to see Belen pulling at him.

“Hurry,” said the girl. “We cannot be caught using the duel ring.”

Hearing the evident fear in her voice, Ali allowed Belen to guide him until they were once again downstairs. Once they were in the clear, he asked why the duel rings were out of limits.

“Check your abilities,” said Belen.

Curious about what she was referring to, he first checked the air slash but there were no changes there. However, that wasn’t the case for his air serpent ability as he noticed the change within the first three lines.

<

[

Ability: Air Serpent

Level: 1 ( 4 / 26 XP to Level Up)

Level Up Requirements: Inflict damage or kill foes of equal or higher level using the air serpent.

]

>

“My ability leveled up,” muttered Ali.

“Correct, the duel ring is not only a great way to challenge others and improve but your abilities gain XP during the combat without putting you at risk of dying.”

“I take it that they have limited uses or there would be a lineup for them all the time.”

“Correct! And we are never allowed to be in that room except to spectate matches.”

Ali asked how they could gain access to the duel ring. He was told that he would first need to advance up in rank. Their level was for D rank members which was the lowest. As one moved up in rank, one moved up in the compartment levels until one was at the top level at S rank. Based on what she heard, Belen believed that there were better ratios of duel rings to members at the S rank, making it possible to train a lot.

“I just got to make it to S rank then?”

“Wait in line, rookie.” Belen had a big smirk on her face. “I just destroyed you so I’ll be S rank way before you.”

Before their duel, he would have been pissed off with her attitude. However, Ali understood that Belen had the skills to back up her seemingly arrogant claims.

“Then let’s have a race! Let’s see which of us will make the S rank first!”

“You’re on!”