Facing Davy Jones

When everyone heard Kirou's words, they were shocked. So shocked, in fact, that all sounds in the immediate area instantly vanished. Along with this, they all had incredulous looks on their faces while staring at Kirou. On one hand, there was the leader of this crazy hunting squad of the Phantom Thieves Guild challenging a random player. While on the other, the player challenged was asking about whether it would be a one on one or a group battle. It was completely understandable why these random players would be shocked.

While members of the Dutchman squad had various types of angry faces at the moment, Davy Jones himself wore a deep frown while contemplating. Although he wasn't confident in taking on Kirou in a one on one fight, especially if that vague feeling he got earlier was anything to go by, he definitely couldn't allow a group battle. Winning a group battle of twenty versus four, although it would preserve his squad's prestige, wouldn't be much of a glorious win. As for losing, Davy Jones didn't even want to think about the ridicule he would face if such a scenario took place, no matter how unlikely it was to happen, especially in front of all these witnesses.

Thinking it over quickly, Davy Jones would rather fight and lose honorably in a one on one fight as opposed to making it a group fight. Besides, it wasn't a guarantee that he would lose the one on one fight, so why was he feeling insecure? Making up his mind, Davy Jones spoke in an even tone as he faced Kirou, "There's no need to make this bigger than it needs to be. Let's leave our groups out of it and just settle this mano e mano."

Kirou raised an eyebrow at Davy Jones' response before speaking up, "Sure, I've got no problems with this. Before we begin, though, let's set some ground rules."

Davy Jones also looked at Kirou with a raised eyebrow before speaking, "What kind of rules are we talking about here?"

At this point, Kirou sent him a telepathic call. While he didn't really care about the prestige of any of the guilds in Immortal Era, even he had to acknowledge the headache that would follow the fight that was about to take place. He'd rather give Davy Jones and the Phantom Thieves Guild some face right now as opposed to facing any annoying situations later on. Upon receiving the call, Davy Jones accepted it and heard Kirou's voice.

[Player Kirou: First and foremost, let's talk about how we should act after the fight. If I win, you and your men have to back off today.]

[Player Davy Jones: And if you lose?]

[Player Kirou: If I lose, there isn't really much stopping you from chasing them down and killing them the moment they step foot outside of the safe area provided by villages and cities, now is there? But since I want to make this a fair duel, I'll throw in a rare weapon into the mix.] As Kirou said this over the telepathic call, he released a shrug towards Davy Jones while sending over the details of one of the many rare weapons Kirou has on his person at all times.

Following Kirou's words and seeing the details of the weapon he was sent, Davy Jones sank into contemplation. Although he was very tempted by the sight of that weapon, along with the fact that he would be able to obtain a rare weapon, that didn't stop him from noticing Kirou's confidence and lack of care about said rare weapon.

A person capable of offering such an item as a wager without batting an eye is either a retard or someone who's got the skill to back it up. Looking at Kirou's casual expression along with that strange feeling that he is currently feeling from Kirou's direction, Davy Jones automatically ignored the former option and concluded that it was the latter.

As for the rest of the people present, they could neither hear the conversation between the two men nor could they see the item Kirou was willing to put up as a wager. Otherwise, they might have lost their marbles at Kirou's craziness. That didn't stop them from gossiping about what the two might be saying though.

Reya, Navi, and Mistaken had relaxed expressions on their faces while this was going on. They had a firm belief that in a one on one fight with Kirou at this stage in the game, there shouldn't be any player capable of defeating him unless they were, at least, ten levels higher than him. And considering the highest level on the player leaderboards at the moment for their region was just level 32, they had nothing to worry about.

As for the Dutchman Squad, they were looking at Kirou with fire in their eyes. If looks could kill, it was possible that Kirou would have already been reduced to ash after being chopped to pieces slowly over a long period of time. After a minute of contemplation, Davy Jones finally made his decision.

[Player Davy Jones: I'll accept those terms.]

[Player Kirou: Splendid. To make sure that neither of us can go back on our words, let's make this an official contract with the system as the witness. Naturally, it's not that I don't trust you, but one can never be too sure in these times, after all.]

Davy Jones' cursed underneath his breath as that was a genuine possibility that had passed through his mind during his contemplation but it seems that Kirou had seen through him. With that possibility now thoroughly gone, Davy Jones grit his teeth before signing the contract that Kirou had quickly drawn up with the help of the system. With both sides agreeing, a flash of lightning passed through the skies, signifying that the system had accepted the contract.

This attracted the attention of the crowd surrounding them. While not everyone was aware of the significance of the flash of lightning, there were a few that knew and shared that info with their friends, which resulted in everyone finding out about it pretty quickly. As this was going on, both Kirou and Davy Jones had ended their telepathic call after going over a few more details that didn't need to be included in the contract.

With the casual smile still on his face, Kirou asked, "With all that official business out of the way, where would you like to do this; here at the village entrance or in a forest clearing?"

Davy Jones took a quick look around before shaking his head as he spoke, "No need for traveling. Let's just take care of this right here and now."

Shrugging at the response he was given, Kirou spoke up, "Sure thing."

Following his words, Kirou used the system menu to send Davy Jones a duel request. Davy Jones immediately accepted it as both sides moved a few feet away from each other, prompting the crowd of onlookers and party members to back off. As they did, a transparent barrier formed around the duo, giving them a battle area of roughly thirty meters.

On his side, Davy Jones held his large Warhammer in his hands as he waited for the duel countdown to reach zero. As for Kirou, he still maintained a casual expression as he retrieved a large Warhammer from his inventory as well. It was the details for this hammer that Kirou had sent to Davy Jones earlier.

Weapon Name: Berserker's Fury Warhammer

Weapon Level: 20

Weapon Type: Rare

Weapon Requirement: Traits(Hammer Mastery/Master-At-Arms), 110 Strength

Weapon Attack: 90-110

+85 Attack (This doubles when Berserker is at 30% health or lower)

+5% Fury regeneration per 3 seconds (while in combat)

+3% Health Recover per second (outside of combat)

Weapon Description: A weapon designed by the player <Kirou>. This weapon was designed to take advantage of a Berserker's strengths and give the user a much better chance when in prolonged combat. Because it was made with inferior materials, this was the result.

This was a prototype Warhammer that Kirou had developed on his own to make use of his various hammer skills. After realizing the strength requirement was beyond him at the time, he threw it in his inventory without a second glance, only now remembering it after so long. He gave the hammer a few practice swings while waiting for the duel timer to reach zero as well, all while retaining his casual expression.

(Duels usually take on two forms in Immortal Era; Sparring and Deathmatch. In a sparring duel, the match is decided when one manages to get the opponent's HP down to 10%, where the system would forcefully end the match, granting the other person the victory. This format is usually done by persons willing to compare moves or are within the confines of the safe zone of a village/town/city. As for deathmatch, it is just as the name suggests, a fight to the death. This format can only be utilized outside of all safe zones and is usually meant to settle grudges between players. Also, during duels, all stats are capped at 20% of their respective values for the duration of the duel with a barrier to prevent unwanted disturbances.)

With Kirou and the gang at the entrance to SC Pier City, they were naturally within the confines of the safe zone so they could only make use of the Sparring format. That being said, neither Kirou nor Davy Jones had a problem with this as players of their skill level would still be able to decide the outcome of the fight well in advance against a normal person. With that in mind, a fight like this should inspiring many in the crowd.

As soon as the countdown hit zero, both sides immediately rushed at the other. In less than a few seconds, both were already before the other, exchanging blow after blow with their Warhammers. This went on for a few moments before both back off for a moment, only to immediately resume a fraction of a second later, aiming for each other's respective heads.

Neither side managed to land a solid hit on the other, but that didn't mean that both attacks had missed. While Kirou had narrowly dodged Davy Jones' Warhammer by a hair's breadth, the same could not be said for Davy Jones as Kirou's Warhammer brushed past his shoulder. The reason behind this stems from the fact that unlike Davy Jones' that was focused on Kirou's head during his attack, Kirou had anticipated such an action and preemptively dodged it while also aiming for the side of Davy Jones' head which he could switch to the shoulder in case Davy Jones had dodged as well.

Immediately after the exchange, both sides took some distance away from the other. While Kirou still maintained his casual expression from earlier, Davy Jones was now looking at him with narrowed eyes. That exchange earlier had confirmed his suspicions about Kirou's strength being above his in solo combat. That being said, he wasn't about to give up just like that.

While the exchange had come to a slight pause, the crowd around them was admittedly astounded. The fact that Davy Jones was the leader of the Dutchman Squad and a prominent member of the Phantom Thieves Guild spoke volumes of his strength but this was the first time the crowd had seen him in action. That said, the crowd never expected that the strange Lycan that had challenged him to the duel would be equally as great in combat. In fact, going by the previous exchange, it seems that the Lycan player might be slightly better than Davy Jones in their eyes.

Looking at Kirou for a few seconds, Davy Jones steadied his breathing and took a stance before speaking in a serious voice, "Now that we've had our warmup, why don't we take this fight a bit more serious, player Kirou."

Seeing the change in Davy Jones' temperament prompted Kirou to drop his signature casual smile and adopt a slightly more serious expression. He too got into a stance with the Warhammer's head on the ground as he faced Davy Jones and spoke, "You are correct. We should stop with our warmup here and just finish this properly."

Like that, both sides stopped speaking and stared at the other, waiting for an opening to strike. The surrounding crowd saw this and all sound disappeared from the area as they stared at the duo in anticipation. Both side's teams kept quiet and had a serious expression on their respective faces.

This stalemate went on for another minute before a random sound went off in the crowd. Without even glancing at the source, both reacted immediately and launched their respective attacks instantly while the crowd turned to face the source of the sound. By the time the crowd turned back to the duo, the duel was already done.