Showdown

On the west side of Glen Plaza lay an open-air arena.

For the most part, it served as a place for low-level adventurers to hone their skills, but occasionally, it was used for duels—much like today.

The arena wasn’t particularly large, essentially the size of a standard sparring platform, and lacked spectator seating; nevertheless, the crowd of onlookers currently surrounding the stage was so thick that not even water could trickle through.

For these folks who usually had little in the way of entertainment, such a duel was a fantastic way to pass the time.

“Robert at 1.1! Liv at 5.0! Place your bets now!”

Beneath the stage, someone had started a gambling pool, and in an instant, a massive pile of glittering gold coins accumulated on a rickety wooden table.

Judging by the volume of wagers, the number of people betting on me was exceptionally low.

After all, one was a famous genius and the other was a fresh newcomer; if I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t bet on such an unknown variable either.

“Five thousand units on Liv to win.”

However, there is always someone in this world who loves betting on the unknown, and one such person had just appeared.

“Hey, hey! Are you crazy?”

The man running the book gasped, his jaw dropping in disbelief, but the crisp clatter of five thousand gold coins raining onto the table told him she was dead serious.

“Good luck, little beauty! I’ve staked this whole month’s profits on you!”

The bettor took her receipt and turned toward me, blowing a kiss—who else could it be but Ninina!

“Humph!”

Standing beside Ninina was none other than Yuli, the one who had gifted me that Annihilation Rising Dragon Punch earlier today.

She shot me a glare before turning her head away, her puffed-up cheeks looking unexpectedly cute.

“Good luck, Liv!”

“Do your best.”

Font and Liliye seemed a bit curious about Yuli’s attitude, but since my duel was about to start, they didn’t pry and simply offered some casual encouragement.

In their eyes, I probably didn’t have a chance; when Ninina placed her bet earlier, both of them had expressions that screamed ‘don’t just throw your money into the sea.’

I waved to them and then focused my energy on the impending battle.

“If Robert wins, he buys this spear for three gold coins; if Liv wins, she receives one hundred gold coins from Robert. Does either party have an objection?”

Adventurer duels could only occur between those of the same rank, and the referee was usually someone a rank higher or the strongest of the current tier.

This time, the referee was a Bronze-rank adventurer.

“No objections!”

“None.”

“Except for the rules against taking a life or using drugs, there are no restrictions on this duel. Since there are no issues, let the match begin!”

Shadow Spear!

I condensed a Shadow Spear; if possible, I didn’t want to expose my shadow skills in front of so many eyes.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to exert my full strength using a sword, making the chance of loss nearly one hundred percent, and the only physical spear I could use was currently lying at the referee’s feet as the trophy.

“Hmph, a Magic Spear User? No wonder you’re so confident. But you’re out of luck meeting me!”

Robert pulled a blood-red long spear from his ring.

The pattern of a red snake coiled around the shaft, and the black runes engraved on the blade of the spearhead emitted waves of heat, as if it might spit fire at any moment.

A fine spear!

His sheer momentum alone pressured me; this guy was definitely going to be a handful.

Being suppressed from the start was a bad sign.

I struck first, charging forward with a high-speed spin, the Shadow Spear tearing through the air toward Robert.

I estimated this strike wouldn’t wound him in the slightest; at best, it was a preliminary probe.

“Hmph, boring.”

Robert held his spear with one hand and parried the fierce attack with a seemingly casual sweep.

He was a Level 6 adventurer for a reason; his strength and speed were significantly higher than mine.

While I didn’t know why someone who hit Level 6 in their late teens was called a genius, this exchange at least gave me a baseline—this guy was absolutely not simple.

“My turn.”

With my move broken and my stance not yet stabilized, Robert launched his counterattack—a perfectly ordinary thrust.

Yes, an ordinary thrust—as weak and slow as a beginner’s, appearing utterly non-threatening and easy to dodge.

But my intuition told me this strike couldn’t possibly be that simple!

Leaping aside, I dodged the piercing red spear, only for something incredible to happen.

Despite having been dodged, the red spear weirdly reappeared right before my chest, lunging straight for my heart the next instant.

Clang!

Having stayed vigilant, I managed to block the lethal blow with my Shadow Spear at the critical moment, though the powerful impact forced me back several steps.

“…”

My hands felt slightly numb and cold sweat trickled down my back.

That was far too dangerous; I had barely managed to block his attack.

This guy’s style was actually Magic Spear Arts—no wonder he was called a genius at only Level 6.

With such terrifying skill, leveling up should be an easy task; he likely hadn’t rushed his levels just so he could better temper his techniques.

I hadn’t expected a small adventurer town to be such a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

“Not bad. In recent years, you’re the first who could actually take my Chaotic Magic Spear.”

A flash of surprise crossed Robert’s face, and he prepared his next offensive, looking far more serious than before.

Not good, really not good!

There was a 3-level gap between us, and in terms of spear skills, he seemed to be my equal—no, perhaps even better.

The possibility of winning was almost zero.

The oncoming gusts of wind nearly sliced my smooth skin as Robert’s spear came fast and true.

For a moment, I was beaten into a state of desperate parrying; forget fighting back, a single slip-up would result in a severe injury.

“Hmph, hmph, hmph! What’s wrong? Weren’t you acting all grand just now? Dueling this young master? Hahaha! You’re just an overconfident clown!”

Robert’s attacks grew increasingly vicious, each one aimed at my vitals.

That wasn’t even the worst part; the most difficult thing to deal with was the way he mixed Magic Spear techniques into his regular attacks.

Just now, I had been careless, and a spear tip appearing out of thin air had grazed my abdomen.

I had no time to worry about the wound.

Narrowly dodging a fatal strike, I prepared to counter-attack.

Powerful moves like his usually had the flaw of a difficult recovery period once completed.

Shadow Spear!

I wouldn’t let such a perfect opportunity slip by; I condensed a second Shadow Spear in my left hand and hurled it at Robert with all my might.

The rapidly flying Shadow Spear acted like a spiraling bullet aimed straight for Robert’s heart.

To hell with the ‘no killing’ rule; the moment Robert started aiming for my heart, I marked him as a mortal enemy!

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding-ding-ding!

A familiar melody played; even without checking, I knew I had leveled up.

My killing blow didn’t actually kill Robert.

The level difference meant the absolute speed of my attack couldn’t match his evasion speed, and he managed to dodge at the very last second.

Of course, he only barely avoided it.

Robert’s left arm was sliced open by the Shadow Spear, leaving a wound deep enough to see the bone; now, we were even.

Furthermore, this strike had allowed me, who was already close to Level 4, to level up smoothly.

Though it was unexpected, it gave me the capital to turn the tables in a fight where I had been at a disadvantage.

“You… you! How dare you wound my precious body!”

Witnessing the gruesome wound on his left arm, Robert let out a hysterical roar.

Following his rage, bright red flames enveloped his entire spear, making it look like a red serpent.

Things were about to get troublesome.

Interlude 2: Worry

Liv struggled to dodge the opponent’s attacks, appearing as though a single slip would mean getting hit, yet after a dozen rounds, she hadn’t let the opponent gain much of an advantage.

“Heh, the little beauty is about to suffer.”

Just as Yuli thought Liv could hold on for a while longer, Ninina, standing nearby, spoke up with a grin.

Yuli didn’t know much about Ninina.

If she hadn’t seen her acting so familiar with Liv, Yuli wouldn’t have paid her any mind at all.

After all, among the Guild receptionists, she was the most difficult to approach; Yuli remembered that the first receptionist she had sought out upon arriving was Ninina.

And the girl who was now constantly smiling was a far cry from the cold-as-ice Ninina she had met before!

“Ah!”

A young girl screamed, and Yuli immediately snapped her gaze toward the stage.

The scene before her made her heart skip a beat.

Robert’s red spear had pierced Liv’s abdomen; although Liv had jumped back with all her strength, the tip had still struck her.

Liv, who had just been barely managing to hold her own, was suddenly on the defensive, retreating rapidly to escape the opponent’s range.

“Humph.”

‘Why am I even worried about her! People like her deserve what they get!’

Recalling the scene reconstructed through secret arts of how she was treated by the other last night, Yuli’s face flushed red, her cheeks puffing out in anger.

As soon as Liv retreated to a safe distance, she launched an immediate attack.

A spear as black as night tore through the air toward Robert—a strike as fast as lightning.

Usually, a spear thrown from such close range was impossible to dodge.

She won!

Yuli clenched her fists, her heart racing with excitement.

As if her previous anger had been fake, she was back to rooting for Liv.

However, things didn’t go as she expected.

Robert managed to dodge the lethal blow in an incredibly strained posture.

“What a shame!”

Her clenched fists relaxed, and Yuli felt a slight pang of disappointment.

“You… you! How dare you wound my precious body!”

The strike hadn’t missed completely.

Because his arm had been injured, Robert was like an erupting volcano, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Liv as if he wanted to tear her into a thousand pieces right then and there.

“Want to make a bet with me?”

In this tense moment, Ninina suddenly made a suggestion to Yuli.

“Huh?”

“I said, do you want to bet on who wins?”

“I don’t really like gambling, but I’ll bet on Liv to win!”

“Heh, then I won’t bet after all.”

“…”

Unlike Yuli, Ninina seemed certain from the very beginning that Liv would win, which Yuli found somewhat incredible.

Yuli’s belief that Liv would win was mostly because, as a captain, she didn’t want to see her teammate lose.

But as for whether there were other deeper reasons… only she herself knew.