Leveling up meant that Lucas had a leg up on anyone who hadn’t leveled up yet, so he was naturally pleased with his progress. However, he still wasn’t sure where he should allocate his points.

On one hand, Perception was probably the most useful for him, considering the future when he would immerse himself in magic training again. But, as of right now, he wasn’t even sure if he could pass this floor, and it would be a waste to place his points in something that wouldn’t help him immediately.

In the end, Lucas decided to just leave it be for now. He had already received the points from his class, and that should be enough for the upcoming fights. Exiting the building, Lucas once again walked through the broken-down streets, paying close attention to his surroundings.

He still hadn’t forgotten his earlier resolution to kill as many as he could, believing it would impact his overall score on the floor, and he was eager to make up for his last floor’s failure.

One thing that bothered him while he was crossing those blocks was how good the scenario was for an archer. They could simply camp in one of the tallest buildings and wait for people to walk by in the streets bellow where they would be easy targets.

Trying not to think about it too much, since he was powerless to prevent it, Lucas quickly made his way through the empty streets until he heard some noises on a nearby street. Very carefully, not to raise attention, he peaked at the scene from the cover of a collapsed building.

Two people were fighting there: a woman holding a big—apparently magical—scythe, and a man using the regular sword and shield coupled with some light armor. At first sight, they seemed pretty evenly matched, with the woman slowly gaining the advantage over time.

Should I attack or wait? Lucas wondered, uncertain. Naturally, he wanted to kill both, but he didn’t know how feasible that was. Clearly, they were at the same level as him in terms of battle prowess, so it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

The only reason he was able to kill the mind mage before was due to him trusting too much in his illusion abilities; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy, even if the mage didn’t specialize in melee combat. That clearly wasn’t the case with these too, who seemed to have a lot of battle experience.

I should wait until they are both tired and then kill them, Lucas concluded after some time. However, to do so, he needed to find a better place to keep an eye on them, or he might end up being the one killed if someone else caught him off-guard. Finding a spot with a good view in one of the buildings shortly after, Lucas sat on a chair and watched it all play out through the window.

Minutes passed, and Lucas soon discovered their strengths. The woman’s scythe seemed to have magic that involved changing its weight on a whim. When she was moving it, it seemed as light as a feather, but when it struck, it seemed to gain hundreds of pounds, pressing her opponent’s shield heavily and making cracks appear on the pavement beneath him.

In this fashion, contrary to what one might expect from that skinny, tall girl, she pretty much had the upper hand in the strength department, thanks to the peculiar gravity changing aspect of her weapon. But that wasn’t all there was to her, because even when her opponent managed to counter-attack, she seemed to easily dodge his attacks with great agility and especially flexibility, almost as if her body had no bones at all.

Surprised by the girl’s prowess in combat, Lucas took a closer look at her and, for the first time, noticed her peculiar clothing choice. Her one-piece suit seemed to be made of a material similar to bright red spandex. She was also wearing something that looked like swimming goggles over her eyes.

Considering how her weapon seemed to have a gravity magic applied to it, he imagined the same happened to her suit, allowing her greater flexibility. He had no idea why she had chosen red as the color, as that would surely make her more visible even from a distance, but then again, that might be the reason behind it.

If Lucas remembered correctly, the voice at the beginning of the floor said something about expecting a good show, giving clear indications they were being watched by who knows how many people. So maybe she expected that the red color would make her stand out more from the others.

Lucas had no idea what benefits greater visibility could provide in a place like this, but he imagined that was something exclusively limited to people who actually lived in that world—probably through fame of some kind once they won the competition. For someone like him, however, who was only doing the challenge and wouldn’t actually be able to enjoy the perks that came with fame, wearing a red target like that could only bring him more trouble and nothing else.

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After watching for a while longer, Lucas also began to realize the man’s armor probably wasn’t simple, either. Even after all that time of constant exertion, he looked as refreshed as ever, and Lucas assumed that was due to a specific trait of his armor because he doubted there was a skill that could do that.

At that point, Lucas began to get a little annoyed. Where did all this fantastic equipment come from? Why was he the only one who didn’t have anything like it? Lucas had looked at plenty of stores in Zoria, and he had never found anything even close to those.

Staring at the armor, Lucas eyes grew wide with greed. He hadn’t found anything useful in the mind mage’s ring, but like the bracelet, that armor was almost perfect for him. With an almost unlimited amount of stamina, he could make full use of his life aura, making him almost unkillable. Of course, that would depend on the limitations of the armor, but that was exactly what he needed, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

He had previously decided to wait for them to tire themselves out before making his move, but considering how that could take a while and not wanting to let that precious armor fall into the wrong hands—not his, in other words—he decided he needed to act soon.

Pointing his finger towards where the fighting was taking place and moving it between the two combatants, Lucas wondered if he could kill whoever he chose in a single shot. Somehow he doubted that—he was too far away, and his shots weren’t exactly subtle. Chances were they would notice the shot coming and probably dodge it, unless…

He had once seen a documentary about wildlife and clearly remembered a scene where a falcon preyed on a seagull at the exact moment the seagull preyed on a fish. Based on his own experience, it was true that during combat—specifically when attacking—a person was most vulnerable, especially to outside attacks. That’s what he should aim for.

Confident in his plan, Lucas descended the stairs from the building. If he was going to do this, he needed to be in a place where he could quickly follow up and engage in melee if necessary. He stopped only when he reached the same spot where he had first seen them, taking cover behind the wall of a building.

Not wanting to make any sudden movements and warn his targets of his location, Lucas slowly raised his finger and pointed towards his red target. He had arrived just in time, when the girl was high in the air and quickly falling with her scythe towards the warrior, who had his shield raised. Lucas could tell by the look on her face that this was not a normal attack, so he didn’t hesitate to shoot straight at her.

The choice of who would be the target of his sneak attack was simple when he really thought about it. It was a simple question about who he thought was the greatest threat. Despite the girl looking visibly more tired than the warrior, he still believed she posed the greatest threat.

It was already hard enough to fight someone who was using a weapon he wasn’t familiar with, and when you added gravity magic to the weapon, well, it was just a plain nightmare.

Lucas actually commended the guy for being able to fight for so long. It was definitely proof of his abilities, but as good as he was, he was still in the realm Lucas was familiar with. He had fought with plenty of people carrying swords by now, and even a shield wasn’t too out of the ordinary.

The girl realized halfway through her attack that something was coming towards her and made a valiant effort, shifting her scythe’s direction to protect her body. Thanks to the gravity shift, the scythe moved at a blinding speed, but it still wasn’t enough to catch up to Lucas’ fire shot. Lucas saw the moment his spell struck her side, sending her tumbling down, and was already on the move.

The warrior, who had been ready to receive her attack with his shield, was left a little befuddled by the recent events, but it didn’t take him long to locate Lucas’ running figure and prepare.

Before entering the battlefield, Lucas had expected the man would find it hard to adapt to this new battle—considering how differently Lucas fought compared to the girl—and that would allow him to quickly gain the upper hand and hopefully finish him off before anyone managed to find them there.

A few seconds into the fight, he realized how wrong he was in that regard. When Lucas entered the fight with his pugilist moves, coupled with his superior agility, it was almost like nothing had changed for the man. His composure didn’t waver for a second, almost like he fought against pugilists with blades on their fists on a regular basis.

Without being able to find a good opening, Lucas was quickly placed in a position where he was forced to keep circling him, only managing to attempt a few jabs the entire time.

A couple of minutes passed like this, and it wasn’t with great surprise that he saw the girl rise from the floor after taking a health potion and walk right back into the thick of it. With a quick glance in her direction, Lucas saw how furious she was—her target shifting from the warrior to him—and it was with great difficulty that he dodged that weird scythe of hers when she arrived.

That his fire shot wouldn’t be able to put her out of commission was no surprise to Lucas, he was kind of expecting she would be fine after seeing the equipment those people had. But he also expected her to take a little longer to heal and that he could finish her off before she had the chance to return. Unfortunately, the warrior had proved to be hard as nails and his attack on the girl hadn’t been strong enough as the health potion seemed to bring her right back to her top form, greatly complicating things for him.