A lost duel?

With the help of the amulet, the two of them managed to leave the vault after their short talk. Jay had to do so as the barrier that protected the vault would have of course blocked him otherwise.

As the door had closed behind them again, Jay opened a portal directly the gates of Arathor.

After another meaningful gaze from Lorette, he took her hand and jumped through the portal, taking her with him to land at the city gates a second later. It took her some seconds to get her orientation back until she looked at Jay with a brimming smile.

Clinging to him she suddenly stated that she just got reminded by him how much fun it was and that she would love to go on some adventures as well. The demand she uttered next stunned Jay for real:

While she wouldn't make any claims, she demanded that he had to take her with him on the next explorations of the vaults as well.

He really appreciated her enthusiasm and gladly complied, but reminded her that she had to search for hints to them first.

Following a short glance around to make sure nobody was watching them, Lorette clung even tighter and pushed her abundant bust onto him and whispered that she of course would do so, but he'd make up for that effort with equal physical from him.

Together they entered the city without having to queue and strolled along the stalls. At the same one he had often halted, Jay fetched some skewers and shared them with a surprised Lorette. While munching on them, they traveled to the big plaza where she explained that she would have to go to work.

After saying their goodbye, she climbed the stairs to the bank while Jay took towards the fort. If he liked it or not, the duel was scheduled for that day at noon, so he barely had a bit over an hour left to get there in time.

On the way there, Jay checked on his system once again, only to find Lorette's name with (affair) written behind it. Whatever it meant, as she got affected by his still dubious blessing, she most certainly could be trusted. Leaving whatever that affair meant for later, Jay summoned his horse the moment he reached the canals and rode towards the Fort.

Once he reached the gates, the two soldiers standing guard welcomed him and told him he already got awaited. A bit speechless, Jay got guided along the already crowded training grounds towards the bases main building by one of the men. Some few minutes later he sat in Field Marshall Whitmore's office and after a short greeting, got an explanation of the duel rules:

They would use no lethal weapons and protective armors, though that didn't mean he couldn't get hurt or seriously wounded. Only when one of them would forfeit or get knocked out cold would the duel end, it was without time restriction. The location of the duel would be the training field like Jay had already guessed, seeing the crowd there but not one actually training.

A real surprise then followed her explanations though, when Whitmore asked for excuse that there would be many spectators. It had been nothing she really could keep a secret and as it was normal on such occasions that a small banquet would be held afterwards, she has had to comply.

Some of her officers even had asked for a chance to meet the person whom she dueled with.

Though not that happy about it, Jay agreed to take part of the dinner later on what visibly had the Marshall ease up and smile while nodding. As they still had some time until the duel started, Jay got offered some food or drinks but denied. He simply wanted some rest as that morning had been not that taxing but he still had been quite active.

In a not too small room on the same corridor he took a seat on the bed there and thought about what he was going to use in the coming fight, and what he would rather not reveal. Latter was quite a long list.

Not that much time later, two men came knocking at his door. They brought the armor for the duel with them and got tasked to help him wear it. The thin but sturdy metal plates felt new to Jay and he wasn't quite sure if he could get comfortable with those.

Either way, he had no chance to refrain from wearing it this time and so he soon got guided down through the lobby and onto the training fields by the men.

Field Marshall Whitmore had already arrived and was standing at an open area close to where he was. Next to her stood a beautiful blonde girl Jay somehow had the feeling he had seen before.

While thinking about how he could have forgotten about a beauty like her, he suddenly heard her voice and Jay finally remembered, though he back then had only gotten a glance. But the bickering voice had been present back then as well:

"...still can't believe it. You dueling with a mere adventurer is nothing but a joke, master!"

The first time he met the girl with two slender swords dangling at her hips, was the first time he met the Field Marshall as well. They had been dueling back then as well, though as training and not with this much audience. While the girl was still talking to Whitmore, latter had spotted Jay and came walking over.

Jay used this moment until the two arrived to glance around once. On the opposite side of where they would probably be fighting, he spotted the members of AI:7. It seemed not one of them had wanted to miss out on watching this fight.

Lina and Nara even waved him and some of the other agents cheered, so Jay waved them back in reply.

Whitmore asked him once again if he was ready when she arrived in front of him, but not before reprimanding her seeming to be pupil for her to shut up.

Jay still didn't dare to analyze her and only replied to the Marshall. She seemed to have ignored his "I guess not" and simply led him to the closest weapon stands.

What ever weapon Jay would have wanted, the stands seemed to hold them all. Whitmore really had kept her word and prepared every possible training weapon for him to choose. She then left him again and walked over to the other side of the area to pick her own weapons.

Not sure what to pick as he hadn't really specialized in his weapon skills, Jay was a bit hesitant.

Lina seemed to have gotten this wrong as him being afraid and hurried over to Jay. After curtly saying hello, she whispered to him that she got information from Shalina for him. With this he knew that it had been her boss that send her, but the piece of info he got really helped him calm down:

Whitmore was wearing a small pendant that limited her strength to about half her original level. It was done so he could possibly manage, though her level was still a lot higher than his own. But thanks to her taking this action, Jay no longer had to fear the duel and could try to display his skills.

Not really contempt with what he had learned, be it Whitmore limiting herself or Lina only coming as ordered, Jay went to a weapon stand where he had finally spotted the weapons he'd go with.

It was a pair of swords that he chose.

The reason for this was obviously not only his pretty good skill with those, but the fact that the blonde who tried mocking him was still throwing him glares. As she saw his choice she first looked really surprised and lifted one of her brows, but then grinned haughtily.

Jay ignored her even though he knew she had seen him look over to her. Then he stepped onto the prepared fighting ground where the Field Marshall had already been waiting.

Like Jay had expected, she was holding a similar sword to his own, if not the same. Her other arm was completely hidden behind a massive shield that looked pretty heavy.

Once the referee called them to their positions and greeted them, he explained the rules for the match.

They wouldn't need to hold back as the spectators got guarded by soldiers with tower-shields who just stepper forward as the referee mentioned them.

In the match, any martial skill was allowed as long as it was no spell or other magic. There was no time limit like Whitmore had already mentioned to Jay, and the protective gear was already getting worn. Then they got send back to their starting spots where they had to take their stances.

A second after both got ready, the match got started by the old referee. Different to what Jay had expected, his opponent didn't directly engage combat or any other action else. She simple stood there waiting for him to attack, so he decided to follow her invitation and do so.

He closed in on her, but not without care. As she showed not the slightest gap in her defense, Jay decided to probe forward and attacked with a swift and light slash from his right. Like he had expected it she easily blocked it with her big shield and directly came with a counter.

That one was pretty light as well, so Jay redirected it without much effort. But with this playtime was over as a certain button lighted up and Jay pressed in a follow up attack with (Riposte) active.

The attack from the before blocked sword came in so fast, Whitmore had to step back and narrowly dodged it. Her expression though told Jay she really hadn't expected this from him.

Once her eyes turned from wide open to narrow again and it looked like she was smiling under her helm, the Marshall hit her shield once to signal Jay she was expecting him to attack again.

Following her invitation, Jay went in again.

What followed was a series of clashes, though each and every attack got either blocked, dodged or parried. That was true for both sides, with none of the two ready to reveal more of their skills, even though Jay knew he hadn't made any progress and Whitmore was far from showing her expertise. The spectators though seemed pleased and cheered for the two duelists.

"Now cut the crap and come at me for real! Playtime is over…" W.

Her voice sounded a bit unnerved as she slightly changed her pose and yelled out.

Jay understood at that moment that he either had to reveal a bit more or would get utterly defeated. While that wouldn't be too hard on him, it surely would taint their connection later.

Dismissing those thoughts, Jay boosted his legs with mana a bit at last second and shot towards the defending woman. His massive speed boost and how fast it came seemed to really shock her, but she still managed to block Jay's attack without any problem.

That was something Jay had anticipated as well as the then following counter.

Instead of repeating the same thing like before, only with higher speed thanks to the mana boosting, Jay ducked down and hid from Whitmore's eyes in the shadow of her shield.

While his riposte bonus from deflecting her counter was still active, he circled around her and in the blink of an eye stabbed towards her neck.

Though it was a very fast attack, even using a skill as well, she again managed to dodge. It looked like it was with ease how she rolled forward and gained quite some distance in a split second.

Jay didn't follow up on her though and waited until the Field Marshal had taken position again. What followed next was a move that shocked not only his opponent but some few spectators as well. But it was no attack or the likes:

In Jay's left hand that he held up high was not only one of the swords. A small pendant on a chain hung down between his fingers while he grinned cheeky to her.

As Whitmore felt her neck with her hand and confirmed it was what she thought, she couldn't help but start laughing. Then she took her sword in hand again and readied herself. Of course she didn't go without another mocking comment:

"You little… I have to congratulate you for this display of precision. But it was a huge mistake to have snatched that from me!" W.

Jay at that time stuffed the small limiting pendant Whitmore had worn into his pants pocket. Without question it didn't stay there but ended in his inventory before he took his stance again, signaling her that he was good to go on.

Even for him, there was no longer any option to hold back much, at least no physical and sword related skills.

With even more force and way faster than before, Jay appeared close to her in a flash and unleashed a flurry of attacks. He had boosted himself to the utmost and used skills in quick succession for his attacks.

But all of those got blocked by her shield with ease, until she slightly shifted her weight and parried one of Jay's attacks. Suddenly the massive shield closed in on him so fast that it seemed impossible.

Sliding his last attack off the incoming shield and shifting his weight, Jay managed to narrowly dodge the Marshall's counter. Though he ended in a slightly bad position next to her right sword-arm and ducked down, he was glad to have been prepared for something like that.

Only due to him having the shield skills as well and knowing how a bash looked like did he endure, or the duel would have been over with this.

Like this he also knew where she had no chance to attack next, granting him at least the time to take his stance anew. This was necessary as Whitmore, for the first time in the whole duel, went on the offensive. Rushing in with another bash, then attacking skillfully with her sword and using the shield to block or hit in between, the experienced Marshall continued her onslaught.

Jay barely held out for the next few exchanges but knew he wouldn't endure much longer. It still wasn't Jay who gave up first, but his weapon though.

Following one of Whitmore's heavy attacks, his main hand sword suddenly broke as he parried while hers became totally dented. Her shield by then had countless dents as well.

While heavily panting from the endured onslaught, Jay switched his offhand weapon to his main just in time to receive the woman's next attack. He tried to parry the light slash she made but while that worked out well, he couldn't counter the attack. From the dent of her sword his blade got stuck as he tried to slide it along, resulting in him nearly loosing the grip on it.

Quick witted as he was, Jay grabbed the Marshall's shield with his empty left and hurled her around.

This action not only kept him his weapon but also got his enemy a bit off balance. Latter caught herself so fast though that Jay had a hard time stepping back as she followed him with her next attack.

This time it was her blade that broke when Jay parried her slash though. But instead of fetching another one or simply fighting barehanded what Jay had expected, Whitmore grabbed her shield with both hands, ducked behind it and charged at Jay once more with a bash.

With no chance to dodge her crazy fast charge at this distance, Jay tried to guard himself as best as he could.

Still flying though the air backwards, he saw the two parts his remaining sword had broken into hurl in different directions. Even his hands prickled a bit from the impact, but he still managed to twist himself around midair and land a few steps away from Whitmore.

"So, giving up?" W.

"Why would I?" J.

"And how do you plan on fighting me without weapons?" W.

Not even answering her question, Jay took a stance for martial arts and signaled her to come at him.

But as she held no weapon either, there was no onslaught arriving from the Marshall. Instead Jay went on the offensive once again and tried to circle around her after throwing a feint.

The result was his face twitching from the pain in his right hand as Whitmore's defense showed not a single gap and he only hit the heavy shield.

Still not believing there was not a single flaw, Jay tried another attempt and threw a feint with his left that hit the shield as well, only to follow up with his wounded right.

But it simply got dodged.

And that wasn't all.

In a split second Jay managed to activate his (Stoneskin) Spell thanks to having it on a quick-slot, only to have the Marshall's shield come crashing into him. She had activated the skill (Shield of Judgement) while she was still turning into Jay's direction as he stepped back following is own attack.

With his arms raised up, Jay intercepted the incoming shield and dampened the impact. It still hit so hard that not only his stoneskin shattered and he slid some yards backwards, even his arms went completely numb.

But other than some bruises and the missing feel of touch, nothing too serious had happened to Jay.

Lowering his arms at the same time as Field Marshall Whitmore dropped her shield, Jay looked quite downcast. It was still him who spoke first after he managed to put down his helmet.

At about the same time, Whitmore had done the same and thrown it onto the thoroughly dented and broken shield.

"...It's my loss." J.

"Loss my ass…

I'll be waiting for you in my office to give you your reward after the dinner." W.