Ch-11 Choosing A Weapon

30 Minutes Ago

While Jasper was busy in the 'Historians Map Shop' Jennifer called an unknown number. After ringing for some seconds the person at the receiver picks up the call.

"I am in Vestalis right now."

"I see, but I already knew that because I am aware all important events and details in Vestalis and you visiting Vestalis is one of the most important events. "

"I am sorry if I increased your workload with my complain."

"NO, no that's fine. Anyway that bastard of a president deserves some hardships. If only I could interfere in Vestalis matters then he would be behind bars."

"So, listen I am planning to meet you this time."

"That's a little surprising but I guess you were informed of your mission."

"What mission are you talking about? I was never informed of any ."

" You say you were never informed then why were you coming to meet me?"

"Well that's because I have new cadet for admission who needs to go through the trials ."

"So let me get all the facts straight, you were coming to meet me because you were suddenly given in charge of a cadet?"

"Yes, what else were you expecting?"

"Well, I thought that I had at last made you fall for my charms ,you know."

"Ha, ha ha dream on it will definitely take centuries for something like that to happen. Do you know your age to have the gal to talk like a youngster??! What were you telling about a mission?"

" I will tell you the details when we meet and I should also immediately prepare for a trial taker."

"Ok"

Jennifer abruptly cuts the call when Jasper exits the historian Map shop.

The person who had been on the call with Jennifer on the other hand sat on a chair in an unknown place with a creepy grin on his face expressing his joy for what was to come.

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Inside the combat room

Jasper had just been given an ultimatum to have a duel with the masked person on the condition to last for five minutes if he wanted to see his sister again.

Jasper thought it to be an ultimatum because he understood that the only other option was the death of his and his sister. Jasper did not want this outcome to come true and although there was a very high chance that the masked person was lying he would rather cling to the small hope than lose all of it.

Right now Jaspers biggest worry was about how to win the duel but knowing that his opponent might very well be a master in wielding magic while he had no idea very discouraging.

As if sensing his worries the masked man chose to speak at this moment," We are going to have a duel so naturally there are also going to be spectators and so both the sides should at least be closely matched to each other otherwise the duel would be considered boring by the spectators. To make it interesting I have been banned from using magic for the first four minutes of the battle. "

The masked person abstained from informing Jasper about him being banned from killing him. He did not tell this fact to Jasper because it might give him some courage and welcome unpredictable variables in the battle. The masked person knew from experience to avoid unpredictable variables.

The fear of death was an attack of its own and the majority would be cautious of it and stop from using all their strength. There was also the possibility that the threat of death could be the conduit for Jasper to release his latent strength but the masked person was willing to believe for the first scenario to take place.

"Now let us begin"

Just when the masked person started charging at Jasper he was questioned by him," Don't I get to choose any weapons?"

This question made the masked person immediately halt in its tracks and after deliberation of a few seconds added without any change in his mannerism or voice. This showed that it wasn't easily embarrassed," Yes, of course you can choose a weapon but remember that you can only choose 1 weapon and the first weapon you draw from the wall would be considered as taken and you will not be given any other chances of changing the weapon. In case the weapon breaks in battle then it is your own loss and the battle will continue without any chances of picking another weapon. Also you will only get 5 minutes to choose your weapon."

"So I can only choose 1 weapon for the whole duration of the duel."

"Yes"

"That too unfair. I thought this battle was supposed to be fair."

"I can make it fair by killing you. How about that?"

Jasper was terrified by the masked persons words as he reaches the wall where all the weapons were placed and hears a clicking noise above him. He immediately turns his head upward and is surprised to find a clock set with a timer of 5 minutes which was decreasing second by second. After overcoming his surprise and fear Jasper turns his head down and starts looking for a weapon he would be using in his duel with the masked man.

Jasper was relieved to get these 5 minutes before the duel since he had still not been completely able to get away from the shock of his current situation. Everything that occurred after separating from Jennifer were too exaggerated without giving him any time to breathe or at least collect his thoughts. He used the first minute to organize his thought and then started looking for a weapon.

According to Jaspers estimation there were about 30 weapons hooked on the wall. Weapons on the the wall of different varieties like one-handed sword, sabers, halberds, axe, spear, dual-handed short sword, daggers and Jasper even suspected that he had seen a rod or as tick made of wood which looked quite similar to the staff he had once seen in a movie. He immediately associated the stick for a mage's staff.

Jasper then used his next three minutes on contemplating the use of different weapons inside a closed room where there duel was going to take place. Although he did not have extensive knowledge about any weapons as he had been more interested fighting with bare hands luckily his master had taught him the basics of weapon handling and usage.

From what Jasper could remember ,a sword and saber with medium reach would allow him to make continuous strikes and cuts on his opponent with its swiftness and strength. Dual-handed weapons on the other hand would require him to fight in close combat with the opponent and would depend on his speed, strength, stamina and all the other factors. This fighting style was definitely what he was used to but Jasper had to also consider the fact that his opponent was going to be superior to him in all these aspects. Then there was the shield which would be used to deflect and block the attacks and the mage's staff which probably required mana to work. So, the staff was out of the picture.

Jasper was trying his best to concentrate at the important matter in his hand but still he would occasionally think and start worrying about his sister and because of this some of his precious seconds were wasted on ridding himself from this thought.

After his contemplation for four minutes Jasper finally decides the type of weapon he would choose and starts looking for a weapon. Jasper had decided that he would choose a shield for this duel because the most deciding factor for his win to last for five minutes.

As long as he was able to last for five minutes it would be considered his win. He understood that to survive he had to use his strength wisely otherwise his stamina would run out before five minutes and to counter such a situation he came up with the solution to use a shield to deflect the opponents blows which would consume much less stamina than wielding any other weapon.

There were only three shield on the wall and just by touching and partially lifting the weapon Jasper was able to tell that their weights had clear distinction accordingly as light, medium and heavy.

The light shield was in cool blue color with a few odd designs on it, the medium weighted shield on the other hand was painted in a dark green color and also had some odd designs but unlike the light weighted shield it seemed to have gone through a lot of wear and tear.

The heavy weighted shield was painted in black color and had the most wear and tear out of the three of them which would suggest that it was the most frequently used shield.

After coming to this conclusion Jasper immediately picked the cool blue color light shield. Jasper's reasoning behind this pick was that a light shield would not hinder his mobility allowing him to dodge many of his opponents attacks and the other reason was that he was not that well versed in shield techniques so the lightest shield would be the easiest for him to control.

Surprisingly, after Jasper took out the light shield from the wall a pair of gauntlets feel from the shield.