Chapter 59

‘

[Human : Elant][Level: 38]

Status:

[HP: 7995/7997]

[MP: 6181/6191]

[SP: 6891/6941]

’

A good thing I had gotten over my new-species stupefaction syndrome regarding the elves, because as it happened, my first opponent was an elf. A tall lean man covered up in black gold armor except for the head, an obvious err in his judgement, wielding a sword in his left hand and a heart shaped gold on black shield on his right hand. Either he was left handed, or he was trying to throw me off my game, either way, my initial steps were already unsteady and confusing.

I had around two-thousand points on him in regards to [Stamina], in return, he had close to three-thousand points on me in the [Health] department. It was a matter who would better use their advantage the best.

Other than myself at Level 36, the next low Level was 38, with the highest being Level 42. Most of the competitors were actually at around Level 40, with only less than an eighth below Level 40. But I wasn’t that far behind either, given that I was one Attribute point away from Level 37, I considered myself to be at Level 37.

I thrusted forward, holding the staff in a standard pose with the hands at one end of it. He moved back fast as he brought his shield for a block against the thrust, using enough force to knock it away from its target. The impact was so intense that I felt the staff rub raw against the inside of my hands, reminding that I had forgot to actually were the gloves before the fight began.

I could feel the anger and disappointment well up inside me at such a so-me thing to do. The enemy that loomed before me now wasn’t a competitor in The Grand Competition, but two puny gloves trying to wiggle out of their role as my hand sheaths. I would fight them with everything I had, accepting nothing less of submission.

Our weapons clashed together, but even though I had the advantage in leverage, I still came out the worse for it and not because of my gloveless hands. I would guess that he had at least ten points on me in terms of [Strength]. But I was an experienced fighter in The Grand Competition, a little difference in [Strength] wasn’t something I couldn’t handle. I recovered smoothly, my feet maintaining their stance as I tried to keep the surprise from my face, which I know I failed miserably.

I surged forward with speed, forcing him back, but he responded with flawless form, leaving no openings for me to take advantage of. How cool would it be if I managed to take down my opponent within minutes of the fight starting? What kind of power and Skills could help accomplish such a feat? And had anyone ever done it before in The Grand Competition?

As all those thoughts raced through my mind, my body kept pace with the fight going on. Maybe I could have achieved such a feat had I focused my everything into the fight? Not that I wasn’t. I hadn’t been in a real fight for close to two weeks, I had thought that I would be out of touch with everything, but I seemed to be as sharp as ever, if not more so. My staff always seemed to be where I wanted it to be, moving into openings even before they opened up themselves. Even under the onslaughter of superior [Strength], I found myself holding my stance, my breathing coming in easy and controlled. Compared to the tortures I had put myself through in the two weeks of training, I didn’t feel like I was pushing myself hard enough.

He gave ground, performing a ground up sweeping motion with his sword as it glowed white. A white projectile shot towards me, encased in a misty cloud, maybe it was meant to obscure its exact location, but I knocked the projectile without issue to the side, shattering on impact.

But before I could recover the staff, he was already in my reach, using his off-handed shield to knock the staff back, not willing to give ground. He moved with strength and grace, trying to break my stance as I settled to mid hold for the close-quarters combat. I could feel the staff strain and the Mana inside it stir for each strike to the shield or parry it made. He never seemed to take any moment to recover from impacts, speeding up with fresh fury for each hit I landed. I had thought that with the minimal training I had put in [Agility], I might find myself at a disadvantage, but that wasn’t the case. Unless he was holding back, or had a Skill that could let him gain more speed, I was far faster than he was.

If our [Health] wasn’t so disparate, I would have smiled at my luck. With my speed and endurance, I could easily run circles around him until I whittled his [Health]. But it was just too much for that, all he would need is to pin me down once, and with that [Strength] he had, he would have me out in no time.

There was no way I was going to give him such an opening to use against me. I threw a [Fire Ball] at him, forcing him back a little. I threw a few low kicks at him, just testing to see how well I had trained myself. They felt much better than the clumsy attempt I made during the Baronies, but he easily avoided them as he tried to close in again.

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And I met him head on, pushing him back again. He was stronger, far stronger, but that strength meant nothing if he couldn’t get to use it on me directly. I avoided as much direct strength confrontations as I could, even I could feel my staff creak with strain in the few times such happened, leaving my joints jarred to the bone.

His face bore a determined look as he matched each of my steps perfectly, properly countering each move I made. It was a little concerning at first, but the longer we engaged, his movements became more and more predictable. Ease descended into me as he kept falling for the same feints and traps.

Even simple feigned misses still managed to draw him out, leaving himself open for follow up attacks, some of which even came close to hit the neck hard at the windpipe. But he wasn’t half as bad either, in a few occasions, he managed to glaze me with some of his projectiles, leaving a chill running through me. Not enough to immobilize me, but enough that they would be a cause of concern if I were any slower. I took pride in my [Agility] as I pushed forward.

A strike to the neck, he correctly defended, countering fast, but I had anticipated the counter, ducking low as his sword whistled past where my head had been. But he swung so fast, and forcibly, that he ended up throwing himself off balance. I took the chance and tried a leg sweep at his ankles, and predictably, down he went.

What I hadn’t expected was another of those projectiles that I had learnt where ice, shooting for me as he fell and rolled right back up. I tried my best to get out of it, but it was too close for me to achieve much of anything. I felt it strike through the left most part of my torso, completely ignoring the armor I had on. I felt a coldness like I had never experienced before spread fast throughout my torso, forcing me to stagger a little. My cockiness in the fight was costing me dearly, as I watched my [Health] drop farther. He had managed to graze me on several occasions before, but the latest hit was the most devastating, forcing me to take a Health Potion.

As mad with myself as I was, I was more disappointed with my armor. It was brand new, and it had done nothing to protect me from the icy projectile. I had thought the prior arm and leg glazes had just been him going for the weak spots. I needed to be more careful.

We engaged back again. I was certain that he had taken at least two potions while I took the [Health] Potion, and as much as that looked like an advantage, I didn’t see it as such, with my low [Health], I needed to preserve as much of it as I could. As a result, I entered the new engagement cautiously, aiming to keep my Health for as long as possible while dealing as much damage as I could.

But things didn’t work out as much as I had hoped. With numerous engagements that lasted for more than ten minutes, mostly in my favor, I managed to force him to take all but a Health potion. For me, I still had a [Mana] and [Stamina] Potion to spare.

I relied on [Fire Ball]s and [Wind Gust]s to keep him at bay when he got a little too close, and my staff to deal damage as much as I possibly I could. I felt like my staff was lighter as the fight dragged on, but it somehow seemed to deal more of an impact to the opponent. It was a bit perplexing and I wasn’t going to stop in the middle of a fight to try and figure out why it was working, I would have enough time to do that once the fight was over.

As much as I was getting in hits every now and again, the shield still proved a huge obstacle, always managing to deflect even thrusts and strikes that had somehow made it past his defense. It was frustrating enough that I decided to pay it special attention. Other than a well-placed [Staff Strike] to the shield arm, the only other Skill that I had that could help was the [Hurtling Projectile] Skill. But I couldn’t use it as I was keeping it in store for when it would be able to deliver a crippling blow, both literally and figuratively.

I attacked relentlessly, pushing forward even when I had no clear advantage. I rained down as many strikes at the arm as I could. I wanted to tire it out, to make disarming him that much easier. I kept hitting him, turning strikes into thrusts and back, whenever his shield arm was in reach and open for an attack. I employed [Fire Ball]s and [Fire Bolt]s. I didn’t know whether he had any protection against the fire, and I hadn’t seen any of them washing over him. Even if they didn’t injure him outright, they would still heat up his armor, making it uncomfortable to wear.

I finally managed to get his shield to droop, leaving his hand open. I struck so hard that I was sure the fingers went numb. I quickly followed that with a monumental [Fire Ball], enough to toss him a few meters back, and the shield even further back still.

On another day, we might have fought on almost even footing, but it wasn’t to be. He did a good job making his apprehension look like determination as he got back on his feet. It would have fooled me before, but I had gained a sense of clarity over the two weeks that I was suddenly becoming aware of, his hands were tense, holding the sword too tight. I had read somewhere that a sword grip should be loose and relaxed.

I shot forward, knocking aside his sword as I jumped and swung for a kick to the neck. He managed to lean back, but just barely, I could have sworn I felt my boot drag on something. I didn’t give him the time to recompose himself, swinging my staff as I came down from the kick. I felt the Mana in it stir again, and for the first time I realized it wasn’t in response to hitting the shield or parrying, the Mana in the staff was part of me, and it wanted to be expressed as much as I wanted to express the Mana in me. I let [Staff Strike] activate as the staff reached its apex, coming down hard on his turned shoulder. I quickly returned it on its trajectory, heading for the now exposed chest. He tried to mount up a defense but without the shield, the enhanced staff blasted through, striking at his sternum with enough force to knock him back upright. Even though he had all that armor on him, he still staggered, gagged and I thought he was going to throw up, but he managed to maintain his footing, gripping his sword upright between us like his life depended on it, as he resumed his fighting stance.

I sighed as I moved in for a dismantling. He tried everything he could to keep me at a distance, but he was spent, he lacked the [Stamina] to keep his strength up and his once powerful strikes and defenses had turned to nothing more than paper, with my staff tearing through them to reach his body. I soon had his sword to the ground as I turned the staff in wide arc swing for his unprotected head. I applied as much Mana as I could afford as it came for the hit.

What happened next left me staring at him in bewilderment. The staff struck his head so hard that I was sure I saw it turn one-eighty degrees, with the staff breaking as the collision came to an end. I watched in bafflement as he slowly collapsed to the ground with nary a whisper of consciousness in him.

And through all that, one question ran through my brain, had I killed him?