12 New Duelist Skill

Concern for his own safety cooled his thirst for adventure. Lee Long decided to devote all his energy to conquering level 20. He devoted the whole day to dueling in the Arena. At the beginning of the day, he spent all his mana on applying the Healing skill. Then it was time for hand-to-hand combat. With his strength he dealt enough damage to win in a dozen good strikes. With his skill he could finish a fight in half a minute. Choose a new opponent and a new fight.

30 endurance points allowed him to endure pain and damage. The boy rarely used the extra healing on himself.

The new level required even more experience. That was fine. Lee Long quietly accepted this level dialing system. In any game, initial levels are gained quickly and easily. The logic of any game is based on luring the player into the network of the Game. The player must become attached to the game. The player has to love the game. In the beginning, the beginner enjoys the growth of his abilities.

400 fights a day. This was the limit at which the duelist stopped. Level 16 he gained in one day. Level 17 and 18 took three days. Two days it took him to reach level 19. Three days to reach level 20.

3,614 fights between level 15 and 20. Nine days of constant sparring. Already on the third day of his practice he had a group of fans. Lee Long would start a fight and students would gather around him. Many wanted to test their skill level. Many saw that sparring would provide useful experience. Losing didn't bother the students. It didn't take long to regain their vigor and excellent health. Lee Long did not stand out among the students. He did not speak superfluous words. He displayed a humble and dignified demeanor. He resembled a robotic android in the exercise room. The elementary course in hand"to"hand combat consisted of simple punches. But the execution of these punches and techniques was the foundation for the fighter. Working on the basics required precision and accuracy from the novice. There were an enormous number of robots in the galaxy. Most of the mechanical helpers were created with the help of technomagic. Simple robots worked on a mechanical and cybernetic basis. Androids immediately won the sympathy of humans. The humanity of these mechanisms became useful in various cases. The android sparring partner became a must"have attribute of gyms.

For a couple of days at the beginning of this cycle, Lee was experiencing mental pressure. He was annoyed by the repetition and monotony. Perhaps his heightened intelligence helped him cope. It is a rare teenager capable of doing monotonous work with full dedication.

The reward for reaching level 20 exceeded all expectations! Lee Long got the message and left the competition area. He crouched against the wall and excitedly studied his new opportunity. It was a new super gift from the system!

[Attention! You get level 20! You gain 1 free characteristic point. You gain the Duelist Trophy skill. Unlocked a set of free characteristics.]

Lee Long unlocked status and upgraded his intelligence. Mana is always insufficient for mage development.

[Lee Long

Race, Earthman

Type, Duelist. Mage.

Level, 20. 537500/671800

Strength, 4

Dexterity, 4

Intelligence, 30

Endurance, 30

Health, 300/300

Mana, 280/300

Skill, Appraisal 3 level. Duelist Balance 1 level. Duelist Trophy 1 level. Water Magic 1 level. Healing 4 level. Ice Arrow 1 level. Short Blade 2 level.

Available Characteristics point, 0

Available skill point, 0]

The new skill was a wonderful acquisition.

The Duelist Trophy allowed for the possibility of acquiring an additional trophy in case of victory. An opponent's skill could be an additional trophy! This immediately caught the boy's attention. It was something impossible and opened a lot of ways of development.

The first skill level gave a 10% chance of an additional trophy. Each activation required 20 mana.

"20 mana to activate! This is a rip"off! I need to develop my Healing. There was a change at level 3. Healing now requires 2 mana per activation, but restores 3 health points. 30 Intelligence allows to restore 10 mana points per hour. Two hours and a new collection of additional trophies is possible. Gotta check this skill out! How does it work? And what do I want it to do? Earth Mage Shield. I want opponents who know how to use the Shield on themselves. This is a magic combat zone. Unfortunately, everyone here hides their talents. I don't want to waste my time with stupid experiments. Over a thousand fights to level 21! Thank you, but I've had enough!"

Lee Long left the Arena and the academy building. He ran to the Legion training grounds. He had already had to do duels with guys who used rank magic.

The rank 1 earth magic spell "Shield" was an interesting support spell. The Shield reduced the damage from attacks made with increased speed. Physics interacted with magic in a strange way. It didn't matter the quality of the attack. An arrow. A Bullet. A missile. A laser beam. A magical attack. All of these methods of attack exceeded 50 meters per second.

Humans got the basic research information on magic from Ferin.

Magical defense reduced the damage of any weapon to the same degree. Level 1 Shield reduced damage by 10%. Level 10 skill blocked 90% damage.

Hand"to"hand combat became very important in the new environment. A normal person strikes with his hand at 5 meters per second. A trained fighter achieves a speed of 10 meters per second. 15 meters per second is the speed of a true master's punch.

The Shield spell did not block such a slow attack. And this "slow" attack could do deadly damage.

Lee Long knew many high school students with earth magic. The attack spells were almost invisible to the eye. They flew very fast. The magical shield was useful against mages.

The boy approached the girl he knew,

"Hello, Jessica. May I have a sparring session?"

"I'd love to. You're early today. Tired of the crowds in the arena?"

"I just wanted to practice in the comfort of my own home. Drop the Shield on me, please."

Jessica was an earth mage, and she nodded her head familiarly. The spell didn't have much of a visual effect. No visible aura or other phenomena appeared around the person. And of course the magical protection had no effect on mobility.

The opponents bowed and began the duel. A quick exchange of blows and the girl bounced off the little fighter.

"Stop!" the girl stopped the duel.

Lee Long threw three healing spells at her.

A new message from the system demanded attention,

[You have won the duel. Reward, 100 experience points. Do you wish to apply the Duelist Trophy skill? Yes/No.]

"The skill works with my permission. It's convenient. Of course I want to apply the Duelist's Trophy. Yes!"

[Duelist's Trophy skill activation. Attempt failed.]

Lee looked at Jessica. The girl winked back at him,

"You did well. Lee. Thank you for the healing. Another duel?"

"With pleasure."

"Show me your last attack. I liked it. I need to perfect my defense and counterattack."

"Wait, Jess. There's a move. It's something my elders showed me. You're not doing it right. Watch carefully my execution."

Lee showed the girl a special move. They practiced and began new fights.

7 unsuccessful attempts! It took 7 fights for the duelist to get the main message,

[Duelist Trophy skill activation. You have the opportunity to learn the skill Shield. Would you like to learn the Shield skill? Yes/No.]

Lee Long barely kept a calm expression on his face. He was jubilant and gladly agreed to learn the new skill. Now came the most important moment.

"Jessica, can you refresh the Shield on me?"

"I'm at level 7! 70 minutes of protection. Your defense is still good. Don't make me waste my mana."

"Sorry Jess, but I wanted to practice with the fire mages. At our level, it's going to take a long time."

"Their spitting fire is no more scary to you than a tickle. Fists do more damage than your beginning skills. Okay, you did me good, thanks for the helpful sparring."

Jessica applied a defense skill to the boy. Nothing strange or unusual was evident. Lee Long breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid the Trophy would turn out to be an evil skill. He was afraid of stealing Jessica's ability! That made sense. Any ability could be gained with a magical artifact. So there was the possibility of losing the ability! If lost, Jessica would be forced to spend time perfecting the skill again from entry level.

Lee took the risk because he felt that the Trophy does not steal an opponent's talent. The Trophy allows you to learn an opponent's talent.

The risk was there. He took the risk and he won. He liked the skill. The first level spends 1 mana point. Gives 10% damage reduction for 10 minutes. Developing this skill is necessary.

"Now I need to get Speed. Good thing fire mages don't have useful support spells. I need an ocean of mana to develop all my new skills!"

***

He got the Speeding spell on his 12th attempt. He had to spend two hours meditating to have enough mana to apply the Trophy skill.

Lee Long returned home and practiced meditation in his room. He realized that he would need a full supply of mana in the capital. He had two plans of action. Both allowed him to earn credits. He could take part in competitions. Legal competitions were held daily in the capital. Winners received a cash reward. Lee Long didn't want to participate in illegal fights. The reward for a regular tournament was enough for him. He could hide his face and perform under an alias. He could bet on his victory. It was a good option to earn about 1,000 credits.

The second option to get rich quick was illegal. He had the inventory! He could have taken up contraband! Lee Long was sure that his secret ability was undetectable by ordinary means.

But engaging in contraband required connections in the world of criminals. The boy didn't want to start a career as a criminal. It was enough that he was already a murderer.

His sense of self-preservation and intuition whispered to him that his image of Shrimp had made too much noise. He has enough power to win his age group. This time he'll start by earning credits. The debt must be repaid. He has an excellent chance of winning. It's time to show fist power to the Capital Kittens!