18 Duel

Five minutes prior to Leo's lecture, the only level two players in the Abyss would meet for the very first time. Such a meeting would later prove to be the stuff legends were born from.

Black Howler hadn't intended to meet Ath3na. Indeed, he did his very best to act inconspicuous at the back of the gathering in the square during the event's announcement. But afterward, when he saw the growing crowd around Ath3na, he couldn't help but want to see what all the hype was about.

Sure, she was the first player to evolve and reach level two, but that was only because she was first to play the game. It didn't make her better than him. At least, that was the thought running through his head at the time he walked over to her.

"If it was a contest, I'd win," he said confidently to himself.

Black Howler squeezed into the encirclement of players who all stepped aside to let him pass once they noticed who he was. The glaringly bright gamer tag above his head easily gave him away.

It was about that time when Ath3na, who'd been fielding inquiries to party up, turned her head to the side and noticed his arrival. Her eyes lit up after she read his tag, and she walked over to him with her arm outstretched in a handshake.

"Hi! I've heard about you," Ath3na said in the perkiest voice she could manage. "Congrats on evolving second!"

Ath3na didn't mean to sound like a cheerleader but she was very glad Black Howler had appeared and taken the attention away from her. It gave her time to breathe. Also, a thought had popped into her head at the sight of him. Recruiting another level two for the event would increase her party's chances of success.

However, instead of accepting her hand and shaking it, Black Howler's own hands balled into fists.

Ath3na felt his animosity hit her like an invisible wave, and her brow furrowed as she wondered what she'd said wrong to him.

She was right on the mark, of course, although she didn't know that. Black Howler had heard her greeting, but as he was feeling increasingly competitive toward her, the only word that got through to him was 'second'.

But even with this misunderstanding, things still might not have escalated if the onlookers hadn't egged them.

"Oo~~oh," they said in mocking tones.

Embarrassed, Ath3na dropped her hand, but she didn't step away from Black Howler. For despite his attitude, she was determined to recruit him because she knew their possible team-up would create a lot of buzz for her next video.

Only, before Ath3na could ask him to party up, Black Howler asked his question first, "Have you checked out the new [SOCIAL] feature yet?"

Ath3na looked puzzled by his question, and she certainly didn't like how rude he sounded.

"I've only just browsed it… I haven't tinkered around with it yet," she answered guardedly.

Black Howler smirked. While she was busy acting like a big shot and entertaining her fans, he'd done his due diligence and thoroughly inspected the new feature. With this knowledge, he realized there was something in [SOCIAL] that could help settle the question burning a hole in his mind — which of them was better.

He swiped open his menu, tapped on [SOCIAL], and then picked the option at the bottom of the list, [DUEL].

A new window appeared over his menu.

[PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR OPPONENT BY CALLING THEIR NAME OR POINTING A FINGER AT THEM.]

Black Howler pointed his right index finger at Ath3na.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking irritated now.

A window appeared before her.

[YOU HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED TO A DUEL BY BLACK HOWLER. DO YOU ACCEPT?] [YES/NO]

Her eyes widened in surprise just before she tilted her head so she could look at him and ask, "Are you serious?"

Black Howler's smirk got even wider. "Wouldn't you want to know which one of us is the best?"

The onlookers who'd heard the exchange but couldn't see the notification boxes between the two players could only look on in confusion.

"I think this is premature," Ath3na countered. "The game's only been around for two weeks… there's no way we could know that answer now."

"That's an excuse the loser would say," Black Howler taunted.

"Oo~~oh," the crowd said, finally understanding what was about to go down.

Ath3na frowned as more murmurs started up around them.

"Why are you so eager to challenge me?" she asked.

"I'm a competitor, and you're the only one I can compete with right now…" Black Howler crossed his arms over his chest. "So, do you accept?"

Ath3na's frown deepened. She knew very little about him and his fighting ability. Moreover, she didn't want to lose in front of all these viewers, especially not during a milestone like the first-ever duel of the Abyss. It was too risky.

"I —"

Ath3na suddenly stopped herself from declining because she realized Black Howler's challenge presented her with an interesting opportunity. This was the first duel. Win or lose, a video made from this milestone was bound to get a ton of views, but only if she could get the devs to release the video to her.

She frowned, thinking it was a crime that recording or streaming was currently not an option in the Abyss' BETA stage.

"Fine…" Ath3na also crossed her arms over her ample chest. "But if I win, you join my party for the Decapitator event."

Black Howler was momentarily taken aback by her proposition, but he eventually shrugged because he too recognized it as an opportunity.

"Sure, but if I win, I'll be party leader, and I get first pick on spoils," he countered.

Ath3na's eyes narrowed some more when she tapped on [YES].

Immediately afterward, another window appeared in front of her and Black Howler.

[A CHALLENGE HAS BEEN GIVEN AND A CHALLENGE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED.]

A second window quickly replaced the first. It had a list of dueling options, but only [FIRST BLOOD] wasn't greyed out. So both players had no choice but to select it after they'd each read its rules. The first one to draw their opponent's blood wins.

A third window popped up.

[FIRST BLOOD MATCH: [Ath3na Lv 2] VERSUS [Black Howler Lv 2]]

In a puff of white smoke, a blue ring appeared on the ground between Ath3na and Black Howler. It expanded in size to encompass them both, and like an invisible wall, it forcefully pushed the spectators aside so that a circular arena with a fifteen-foot diameter could be made for their duel.

As if they were thinking the same thing, both Ath3na and Black Howler each retreated to opposite edges of the ring.

One final window appeared in the air above the center of this dueling ring.

[DUEL BEGINS IN FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO… ONE… FIGHT!]

Black Howler immediately unleashed his [Wolf's Howl] against Ath3na who suddenly found herself unable to make a single step forward.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of her opponent who'd just pulled out the oversized katana strapped to his back. Panic flooded her chest, causing it to tremble in an unfamiliar way.

"Am I… afraid?" Ath3na asked herself just as Black Howler's long strides bridged the gap between them.

He raised his sword high with one hand, a feat that would have impressed Ath3na greatly if she wasn't feeling such irrational fear.

"Holy sh*t, you induced fear in me," she realized.

This realization caused the ability's hold on her to break like a weight was suddenly lifted from Ath3na's mind.

"Spectral Cloak!" Ath3na yelled, instantly turning her body incorporeal.

She was just in time too for the obsidian blade of Black Howler's claymore had just swung down on her head. It passed through her, and despite her ghostly form, she still felt around twenty-five percent of the pain she normally might have felt if he'd really cut her in half.

Still, it was enough pain to cause her to cry out, "F*ck!"

Luckily for Ath3na, her Spectral Cloak kept her incorporeal which meant Black Howler's attack couldn't make her bleed — at least not while her ability was active. So it was quite a surprise for Black Howler when Ath3na deactivated her ability immediately afterward.

In the split-second of uncertainty appearing on his face, Ath3na pulled out the dagger strapped to her waist, and in the next instant, sent her dagger snaking sideward toward Black Howler's outstretched right arm.

Many of the onlookers looked dumbfounded by her actions. Not only did she let go of such a useful ability, but she didn't even bother to use the spear strapped to her back, opting instead for a quick attack with her secondary weapon.

However, no one could deny that the blue ring surrounding the combatants had suddenly vanished, and a sign popped up over their heads that proved Ath3na had come out the victor.

Black Howler laughed out loud as his eyes gazed up at the notification.

[[Ath3na Lv 2] HAS DRAWN FIRST BLOOD. THE DUEL IS OVER.]

"Why'd you release your ability?" Black Howler asked sounding just a little less arrogant now.

Ath3na, who was feeling ecstatic by her quick victory didn't mind revealing the trick to him. "Spectral Cloak makes me incorporeal and lessens damage against me… but it also lowers my own attack, and since I judged that I couldn't cut you unless I was at full strength… well, you get it."

"Black Howler nodded thoughtfully. "Impressive… but it was a lucky shot. It won't happen again the next time we duel."

Ath3na raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. "You just don't know how to quit, huh?"

Then he did something neither she nor the gathered crowd saw coming. He raised his hand to her.

"Your quick thinking and my strength… we're going to win this event," he proclaimed out loud to all around them.

This had the effect of drawing everyone's ire, causing a lot of name-calling and threats to come out.

"Great… get everyone riled up, why don't you," Ath3na rolled her eyes at him. Still, she took his hand and shook it. "Alright, Black Howler… Welcome to the party."