The Duels of Professionals Pt. 1

Akiol watched his opponent carefully. If what Rosadell said was true then he would be against a skilled sword user.

The red haired warrior asked, "Mind if I get your name?"

"Isn't it common curtesy to give yours first?" Akiol asked.

The warrior sighed and facepalmed, "True I suppose, the name is Driven. My class is warrior if you couldn't tell."

"Akiol, don't have a class but I use the sword."

Driven grinned, "No class huh? Well at least your a sword user. I have been itching for a good fight."

"Haven't seen much of a challenge?"

"I suppose."

Akiol sighed, "Very well then, let's begin."

Driven readied his sword, his grin faded and it slowly formed into a more serious face. Lifting his foot he slammed it into the ground.

Akiol's eyes widened, as soon as Driven's foot touched the ground he was in front of Akiol. The speed wasn't something he was able to see, so it surprised Akiol greatly. Akiol hurriedly jerked his head back, Driven's sword missed his neck by a hair.

"Ha! Very nice!." Driven complimented.

Akiol frowned at the situation, it was too sudden. The enemy moved faster than he could see? Was it a pure disadvantage of speed or was it a skill that teleported the user. There wasn't enough information to gather from the initial swing for Akiol to make a good judgement.

Swinging his sword in retaliation, Driven was slightly startled and made an 'oh' sound while dodging. Not about to let him get away, Akiol caught up and swung towards Driven's neck.

The strike was parried and counter-attacked. Dodging Driven's swing and attacking back. Driven spun to dodge, using the momentum he swung in response. Akiol blocked this swing and a loud 'clang' sounded.

The two looked at each other for a split second before continuing the assault. Their blades danced, sparks flew and the rhythmic sound of their blades meeting was pleasant to the ear.

Driven's blade began to glow with a dark aura. When Akiol blocked the blow he was sent sliding back a few meters.

Driven raised his arms in an apologetic position, "Sorry that I had to use a skill, but if we continued I would win. That would be a little to quick for me."

"What makes you so confident in that?" Akiol asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You're indeed skilled with the sword, but your movements seem off. With that I can confidently claim I will be the victor."

Akiol was sure he had fully adjusted to his weaker self. He no longer felt awkward swinging his sword. So he had no clue the reason why Driven came to that conclusion.

Driven smiled, "Fear not, I won't embarrass you. I will simply use strength you cannot beat. Take it as my thanks for entertaining me. Even if slightly."

A strange rune formed at Driven's head, their skin turned a shade darker.

Driven grinned, "This is one of the rare 'berserk' skills! Multiplying my power in exchange for a backlash! With this my power increased by two times!"

Driven rushed forward, clearly much faster than before, swinging their blade at Akiol. Barely blocking the blow Akiol felt the recoil as it knocked his hand out of the way. Driven went to stab Akiol's chest, but Akiol grabbed the blade. The stab could have killed him, he didn't have enough time to move his core. The stab would have split his core in half. He didn't know what would happen at that point.

"You grabbed my blade. . . ?" Driven was momentarily taken aback.

Akiol kicked towards Driven, it was dodged but Driven temporarily retreat. His eyes a tad more cautious.

If Driven was going to step things up, so was he. Activating [Aura Boost] he added his multipliers to speed. Akiol began to glow a bright yellow.

When Akiol used [Aura Boost], depending on what multipliers he chose, he would begin to glow. This glow didn't come from him, but rather the inch thick aura that surrounded him. Since every time Akiol used this skill he was focused on fighting, he never realized this fact.

Akiol rushed forward, swinging towards Driven. Driven hastily went to block, to his unpleasant surprise the attack was a feint. Akiol was already on the opposite side of him, slicing his ribs.

<-140 hp>

Akiol whistled, "Nice armor."

Driven flinched in pain and asked a bit fearfully, "What was that?"

"One of those 'berserk' skills you mentioned I would assume. Granted I don't have anything like a backlash."

Driven's eyes widened, such a powerful boost for no backlash?! One thing he did notice was the lack of a damage boost. The damage his enemy did could be considered ordinary. So he still had the strength advantage!

~ ~ ~

"What skills are those?!" One developer asked.

Desk Guy responded, "Let me check. . . oh it's these!"

"Don't do us like that. Tell us already!"

Desk Guy chuckled, "Well the red hair is using the berserk skill 'Dark Arising'. This provides a times two stat buff for two minutes, in exchange for a temporary forty percent reduction in stats for three hours. The silver haired one is using 'Aura Boost'. This one is a bit unique, it normally provides forty percent in a stat boost. But one can exchange a buff for the tripling of another. In this case he exchanged the defense and strength buff for speed."

"What. . . ? Isn't that a bit overpowered?" Someone asked.

Desk guy shrugged, "Ask the guy who was in charge of the berserk skills."

A bald headed man raised his hand at that, "That was me if you want me to explain."

Everyone urged him on, they had a fight waiting.

He cleared his throat, "In short there is a large amount of berserk skills. Some are superior to others. However I was bored one day and made hidden quests in every beginner village. If someone managed to gather all the 'pieces' during the quest they would obtain a extremely good berserk skill. These will evolve further if the player fills the hidden quota or does it through other means."

"So they both got one from the beginner villages?"

"Yes."

The was a bit of a commotion through the developers, but Desk Guy quieted them down to continue watching.

~ ~ ~

"I am going to show you that I am a top tier sorcerer!" Rosadell boasted confidently.

Kan'na downed a MP recovery potion. She rolled her eyes, "Sure, we will see about that."

Rosadell began to incant a spell. Above her the mana began to flow. Kan'na wasn't going to just wait, this wasn't some show.

She used a basic magic circle that fired off a small magic bullet. This his Rosadell's shoulder and interrupted her incantation. Rosadell was outraged, "You can't even fight a proper sorcerer battle?!"

"Oh please, what do you know about sorcerer battles? I'm not idiotic enough to stand around and twiddle my thumbs." Kan'na remarked.

Rosadell's face was filled with anger, how dare she?! Rosadell began to incant another spell, intending to obliterate Kan'na.

Kan'na interrupted her spell casting again. She looked at Rosadell oddly, "Don't tell me you're one of their 'experts' because of your class?"

Rosadell didn't comment but instead raised her arm and cast a basic fireball spell. Kan'na hit it mid air with one of her magic bullets.

Rosadell scowled and quickly cast another spell, "May my enemies gaze be interrupted! Smokescreen!"

Kan'na allowed the smokescreen to happen, it would benefit her more than Rosadell would think.

Rosadell smirked and began to cast, she was going to use one of her more powerful spells.

Kan'na formed a magic circle in front of her eye, this allowed her to see the movement of mana. Something she came up with to aid in her research. What was originally a scientific tool now became a useful addition to her battle repertoire. Seeing a point where all the mana was flowing she fired another magic bullet in that direction.

The spell casting was interrupted again, Kan'na felt a bit of relief. Truthfully she was worried that her opponent would be a decent mage, and her lack of MP would eventually lead to her defeat. However the simplistic battle gave her hope that she could manage.

Out of nowhere a ball of magic flew towards Kan'na. Forming a quick repulsion magic circle she changed the direction of the flying shell. Kan'na was confused, she knew that the spell casting was interrupted. So why was there still an attack?

More attacks flew in here direction, from cannon shells to ballista bolts. Kan'na focused on defending herself. What had Rosadell done?

Kan'na frowned, she made a large gust of wind from another magic circle. This blew away the smoke screen and she was greeted with several siege weapons aimed at her.

Rosadell laughed, "Do you see now? You stand no chance!"

Kan'na calmly observed the situation. While it was dire, it wasnt hopeless. Kan'na has never faced a situation where it was hopeless. If there wasn't an obvious solution she would make one.

It wouldn't be different this time.