Episode 8: Spooky Duel

"Commoner! I think fate must be playing a trick on me."

"..."

Right now, I didn't want to talk at all. People around me were dueling each other. The person I was going to fight was this indifferent that noble girl in front of me. She had carelessly worn her black academy uniform and hadn't even bothered to put on her tie. With her distinctive red-white hair, pink eyes and a huge smile, she was looking at me.

She had chosen a rapier as her weapon. It had an ornate hilt and a pointed tip. I felt as if I had switched weapons with Viola. I normally thought someone like her should be using an axe. Especially since her strength was much better than mine, and although she was faster than me in agility, the difference in that category wasn't enormous. The rapier was particularly ideal for an aesthetic fight, and I didn't think the noble in front of me valued aesthetics very much.

"What's wrong? Did you swallow your tongue, commoner? Or are you thinking of begging me?"

And her way of speaking... It was very amateur. If it were someone else, they would say she was bullying me but the noble girl wasn't a bully. She was just trying to act like one.

It was as if she was putting on a shell.

I tightened my grip on my axe. As I slowly approached her, Viola extended her sword forward and took on a classic duelist stance. Since her class was Fallen Duelist, she must be a skilled fighter in one-on-one combat. I wanted to use magic for the first time but using magic was forbidden in this fight. Since she didn't seem eager to attack me, I made the first move and swung my axe down quickly.

She dodged my move but didn't counterattack. Just as I had guessed, she didn't want to attack me. She simply didn't feel like it. Just as I knew her stats, she knew mine. Her goal was to tire me out and finish me off quickly. If it had been someone else, they would have continued to attack but I didn't press on and thought about what to do next.

We both knew each other's stats but we didn't know our sub-stats. It wasn't possible for her to be better than me in every aspect. At the very least, we should have been equal in one area, and I needed to make my move from that area.

"My my. How weak are these attacks."

She was trying to provoke me but I wasn't going to fall for this simple trick. Still, as part of my plan, I swung my axe once more. She quickly stepped back to avoid my swing. I knew very well what approach I needed to take to defeat this girl.

Intelligence and magic.

These were the areas where we were equal. Since using magic was prohibited for both of us, the only option left was to rely on intelligence stats. It was obvious she wasn't smart but she didn't seem to act like an idiot either.

So I was better than her when it came to knowledge sub-stat.

I gripped my axe with both hands to swing it more fiercely. I didn't forget to jump to give it even more power. I swung my axe from top to bottom but the only thing it got stuck in was the grains of sand. She had easily dodged to the side and at that moment, I found myself in a vulnerable position.

"What a shame."

She had said that, but it seemed she hadn't even noticed my smirk. Even if she noticed, it was too late. I quickly grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in her face. It was quite a cliché tactic, but it had worked. The grains of sand hit the noble girl in her eyes and nose. Her vision was temporarily impaired, and she had to cough as the sand filled her nostrils. At that moment, I seized my axe on the ground and launched a new swing attack to the side.

For the first time in the entire fight, Viola did not dodge and she barely deflected my axe with her sword. She seemed to be gritting her teeth and wasn't smiling. After deflecting, she tried to take a few steps back without losing a single moment. Her movements were quite mechanical. She must have learned to move like that as part of her training but it was very easy to predict her actions. As she retreated, I swung my axe again and the noble girl managed to deflect it once more. I thought to myself, 'How does she know where I'm going to attack?'

This time, I closed the distance significantly. She might be faster than me but she was walking backward. If I put in enough effort, I could catch up to her—and I did. I reached out with my free hand to grab her neck and I was successful. The moment she realized I had her neck in my grip, she stopped moving. For now, what I needed to do was hold her in place until she said she was surrendering.

But I had forgotten that the person in front of me was a noble who didn't act like one.

Suddenly, I felt a pain in my groin and my grip weakened. Viola had made a bold move with her succeeded. As I held my groin, she clutched her neck and started coughing. It seemed that some of her vision had returned and the way she looked at me had completely changed.

There was no sparkle in her eyes and no smile on her face. Her shoulders seemed to slump. The glimmer of the rapier in her hand had faded. It was as if she had shed her shell. She didn't look strong at all. She resembled a rotten tree that could fall over easily.

She looked like she had lost.

At that moment, one should have been certain of winning but I felt like I was going to lose.

There is no one more terrifying than those who have nothing to lose.

"Shit! Shi..."

Before I could even find a chance to defend myself, she had appeared right in front of me. For the first time in the entire fight, she was going to attack.

And this would be her last attack.

She didn't even bother to use her sword. She threw an uppercut aimed at my chin with her left fist. I couldn't dodge that attack and took the hit. It felt as if my jaw had broken. My axe slipped from my hand, and I fell face-first to the ground. Normally, I should have fallen on my back, but the force of the blow had caused me to roll halfway over. I didn't know how I was still conscious but I raised my hand and hit the ground three times to signal my surrender. I had lost. In fact, I hadn't even thought I had a chance of winning. This was due to Viola's reluctance to attack and her assumption that I wouldn't push her. The moment she got a little serious, all paths were going to lead to defeat. After thinking about Viola's strange demeanor for a few seconds, I tried to get back up. My jaw was still throbbing, and my head was spinning. I knelt down on my knees and looked around, noticing that everyone was staring at me. I didn't understand why they were looking. Then, a gentle voice reached my ear.

"Are you okay? Um... I'm sorry... I attacked because I didn't know what to do against you and suddenly during activity my class... So..."

So the reason for her strange state was her class. She had used one of her class's abilities and the mindset she entered while using it strangely seemed to align with her class name. She was not in that mindset now. She had extended her hand to help me up and looked worried. For some reason, she didn't appear annoying to me for the first time. I took her outstretched hand and got to my feet, still holding my jaw.

"It's no big deal. In fact, you helped me realize just how weak I am. Your uppercut was really good! It felt like a gorilla hit me."

I had wanted to compliment her, but I realized my failure in that regard with a kick to my foot.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Of course it hurts. How dare you call a lady like me a 'gorilla,' commoner?"

She claimed to be a lady but her attitude was anything but ladylike.

"Besides, I normally fight using two rapiers."

And she seemed to be mastering the art of bullying by using me. Her last sentence felt like a dagger to my heart, and for a moment, I forgot the pain in my jaw.

"Um... Everyone is looking at us. Let's not keep those who haven't fought waiting."

After saying that, we went to the section of the arena designated for the spectators. Normally, we should have gone to our own groups but Viola wasn't leaving my side just yet. Thinking there was nothing to be done, I went over to Stefan, Iris, and Ela. Iris looked neutral. Ela was looking at me strangely, while Stefan was giving me a knowing look.

"Aaa... What happened?"

I didn't want Viola to hear me ask him what was going on. Stefan said nothing. Instead, he just winked at me. I understood what he was thinking, but I didn't say anything. I was currently looking at the center of the arena and noticed an interesting battle taking place.