Chapter 62
My progress throughout the first fight hadn’t been substantial. I had felt when I gained a level in [Agility], but that was it. But it had been enough to raise me to Level 37. After the fight, I mostly focused on [Strength] and [Agility] in the training facility, not that I could have worked anything else there, other than [Constitution] and [Endurance].
By the end of the day, I managed to gain a level in [Strength] and another in [Constitution], unsurprisingly. I was disappointed that I didn’t gain anything in [Intelligence], especially with how much time I invested in [Mana Cultivation] and trying to get my staff to get all strong and durable. I did everything the books I read in the library said, but I didn’t know how to check whether it had actually worked like that woodworker had done.
There was only one way to test that I knew of, in the arena. I really hoped it had worked, even if just a little bit, because if my staff broke apart in the first few minutes of the fight, I would be more than done for, it’s not like I had taught myself how to use double short sticks. Was that any different from wielding double swords, I wondered. I didn’t know and sure as Mesily didn’t want to find out in the middle of a fight.
My Skills had stayed dormant for the period, not that I had expected them to gain much of anything. It felt like I had reached a plateau where they were concerned. Was that what people talked about when they said attaining Level 40 was hard? Would my Attributes plateau off as I neared the 40 average? Why would they do that? What would be the reason for it?
It didn’t make sense to me, if I kept pushing myself further and further, then I expected to see corresponding results, unless it was some Mana mumbo-jumbo happening behind the scenes. All I could do was wait and see, as Xan had promptly pointed out, with my current progress rate, I would hit the Level 40 threshold before the Counties were over.
…
Another elf? What were the chances? I couldn’t believe that I had landed another elf as an opponent, I didn’t even think there was enough of them for me to keep fighting elves till the final. She was a little on the small side of things in everything, with light-brown hair and a fair complexion. She had a stick just like me, but unlike mine, hers had a sharp-looking shiny metallic thing at one point, specifically, the one pointing towards me.
‘I believe that is what they call a spear.’
I knew Clare had access to more than they claimed they did, and I also remember setting a setting that said something along the lines of not being interrupt when I was in a dangerous situation.
‘The fight has not started yet.’
‘Okay, why are you reading my mind? I thought you were not allowed to do that.’
‘I am not. You are too nervous that you are broadcasting all your thoughts.’
‘I am not! Am I?’
I took deep breaths to calm myself down, just in case I was nervous. I watched her as we waited for the fight to be called, she had on full-on dark brown leather armor with a half helm, full chest, back and arm covering, and flailing flaps that acted as thigh protectors. The upper body armor was so seamless that it looked like a shirt to me.
I half-hoped that she would start doing those swings that people with staffs and spears usually did before a fight, just so I could get a rough idea of how good she was, because her numbers weren’t telling at all.
‘
[Hybrid : Marta][Level: 40]
Status:
[HP: 6687/6687]
[MP: 6687/6687]
[SP: 8540/8547]
’
Also, she was a hybrid? It wasn’t that clear at all, then again, I couldn’t tell that Sunshine was a hybrid when we first met, and I still couldn’t tell. That meant the hybridization happened a few generations back, which begged the question, how long did it take before the hybrid tag wore off a lineage? Because, clearly, there was no way I would look at her and call her a hybrid.
When the fight was called, we began circling each other, throwing test thrusts at each other. It was my first time fighting a spear wielding opponent, of course I was understandably cautious. With that spear point to her weapon, she had an added reach which I lacked, and she used it to nick me a few times within the first few minutes of the fight, forcing me to pull back further.
I looked at the small wet spots created by the leaking blood and found myself wondering whether the spear point was poisoned. Had I already lost the fight before it actually began? Was poison allowed in the fights? I couldn’t recall a rule against using it, but then maybe taking a [Health] potion would do away with the poison. Still, it would cost me a [Health] potion.
I decided to keep an eye on my [Health] as I tried to avoid getting nicked again.
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I moved in for an attack, going fast as I swung my staff, trying my best to slap the spear away and avoid that sharp pointy end. But she moved just as fast, creating distance as I closed in, and going for an attack as I made to take a breather. We circled the arena in a push-pull cycle, trying to score hit points on each other while avoiding getting hit in the process.
By the time my [Stamina] ran half, I had avoided getting hit by either her spear point, or the stick part of it either. But it was nothing to celebrate about as I had landed no hits either. The only good news to come out of the long confrontation was the fact that I could safely rule out poison as something she used, not that I would let the spear nick me anywhere, but it was good to know that that was one thing less to worry about.
We took a mutual break but it was a short thing, barely seconds long, before we were back at it again. Swinging high and low, ducking as the spear got a little too close for comfort. I tried [Earth Grab] as I pushed forward with an attack, but she was too nimble for that to catch her. Or maybe I was the one who didn’t know how to use it well in a fight.
I swung low, aiming for her legs as I leaned back to avoid her spear, quickly moving in again as the spear swung past, changing my hold on the staff for close quarters confrontation. She responded just as fast, pulling her spear in while trying to create space between us, like I would let that happen. I used [Fast Dash] to close in faster than I thought she could react, throwing a [Fire Ball] at her.
She raised a brownish translucent shield with no decorations at all just in time to block the [Fire Ball] and the [Staff Strike] that I threw at her in follow up to the [Fire Ball]. The shield cracked on impact, but I was forced to defend from her counter attack, forcing me to raise my own [Mana Shield] when I saw the beginnings of a Mana attack at the top of the spear.
I was a little slow, only managing to block off only half of the attack, and dodge the rest. Having had unreliable shields before allowed me to always be ready for when my shields didn’t work as they were supposed to. As I let go of the [Mana Shield], I released a [Fire Ball] at her, and as much as she tried to defend it, we were just too close and for the first time, I managed to land a hit on her.
The fire Ball] pushed her back a little, and I followed with a small [Fast Dash], keeping the distance between us as small as I could get it. Although our weapons were reach weapons, if we both kept our distances, it could take forever for the fight to progress. As much as I wanted to be careful, I also needed the fight over with. The faster that happened, the less chances the opponent got to take me out.
In close quarters, I was superior but not by much. Minutes stretched on as we collided endless, with her mostly trying to get away from me to regain her reach advantage, while I refused to let that be. With the introduction of Mana attacks into the fight, I gained a further hand at dealing damage, mainly because my [Mana Shield] was a lot more effective than hers. But we were soon running low on nearly everything, especially me and my [Health].
I pulled back with [Fast Dash] as I quickly downed a [Health] potion, but I got a nasty cut as I tried to down a [Stamina] one, losing the potion in the process. I threw a few [Fire Ball]s at her to keep her at bay as I tried to take the remaining potions.
But the [Fire Ball]s were weak because of my low [Mana], and she remained persistent, throwing Mana attacks one after another. I had thought both of us were running low, but… had she somehow taken her potions already? That was fast, I had only managed the one.
I called up her Status as I pulled back again with another [Fast Dash].
‘
[Hybrid : Marta][Level: 40]
Status:
[HP: 6387/6687]
[MP: 5968/6687]
[SP: 8026/8547]
’
Yap, she was back on full. And my [Fast Dash] was a short lived affair as I ran dry in the [Mana] pool, but it gave me enough time to down a Mana potion. I was also surprised to realize that the hand wound had healed up. The [Health] potion must have still being in effect when she sliced me open. With a full tank on Mana, I used my [Mana Shield] to protect against her onslaughter as I finally managed to take a [Stamina] potion. The shield didn’t hold for long, cracking and shattering in less than three seconds.
I threw a [Fire Ball] at her as the shield collapsed, quickly moving in for my own attack. She kept up her momentum, moving faster, swinging and striking more and more. Mesily, she was even doing full on rotations just to gain the necessary momentum for the strikes she was delivering. And as the recipient, I was paying dearly for the brutal attacks she was offering.
My arms felt every jarring vibration as our weapons collided, every time with me coming out the loser as she pushed my staff a little farther away, creating openings that she quickly took and delivered damage, but for each of those, I always made sure to get her on the backswing. But I was coming out the worse too in that department. I was forced to start using [Staff Strike] on each block, parry, and strike just to even out the damage dealt and received.
…
Before long, my [Health] was screaming again at me for attention. But there was no time for me to do anything about it, she might not have had a Skill like my [Fast Dash], but she had something that kept me from really getting away from her. That was how she had managed to attack me so soon after I used [Fast Dash]. Not that she was giving me any chance to activate it anymore.
She swung her spear at me, releasing that Mana slash attack again, but my [Mana Shield] was up in time to fully block it. I reiterated by moving in as her spear was out, trying for a thrust to her torso, a strike to her kidney she sidestepped as the spear finally came back.
But I knocked her spear to the side, using the opening to kick her hard in the chest. She went down fast, and I moved in on her as she tried to get up, swinging my staff hard for her head. But she wasn’t exactly getting up, more like getting to kneeling position with her spear primed as I walked right in.
Even as I realized my mistake, I braced for the stab as I added all the Mana I had left, which wasn’t much, to my swing. I’m not sure which hurt more, being skewed through or watching my staff break apart on her hand. Somehow, she had released one hand from the spear to prevent that attack from hitting her head, but with the way the hand flopped down, it was out of commission. I hoped I had shattered the bones into microscopic bits, but then I remembered that The Grand Competition would cover for that expense, and I got angry.
I knew that my clock was ticking fast, and if she pulled that spear out, it would even tick faster. So I brought my free hand on the spear and held it there somehow. She tried to pull away but her [Strength] wasn’t that much different from mine, even if it had been at the start of the fight, it was no more. For the first time in the fight, I saw fear register in her eyes, she promptly tried to let go of the spear and pull back, but I was faster, I was always faster, driving the jagged end of the piece of staff I still held straight into her neck. I wanted to give her a few whacks just to make sure she went out before I did, but I didn’t have any more [Strength] left in me. I maintained my standing posture just through sheer force of will, watching as she gagged on her own blood, wondering how long it would take before they called the fight.
Boni had been right, people could die here.