Duel (2)

With 5 seconds left to strike his enemy, Drake rushed behind Franklin and took the time to imbue his sword with a greenish liquid from the vial of Ghost Poison he had purchased from the Witch Roxanne.

[Ghost Poison (8mL) – Grade 2 alchemy good.

Main component: Ghost Soul.

Expected effects: Upon contact with an individual's blood, the ghost poison will spread throughout his body and paralyse it. The duration is based on the target's constitution and the amount of ghost poison used.

Damage: 3-5 degrees of damage every 10 seconds, depending on the target's constitution.]

At this point, Wind Bindings would only be effective for 2 to 3 seconds. Drake then proceeded a flurry of thrusts and slashes. Each one of these attacks were aimed at the small the cut he had inflicted with his enhanced Arclight chop. Although these attacks were regular, they were still backed by 6.8 points of strength, which was superior to peak knights.

[Beep! 8 degrees of damage dealt to the target! 0.7 mL of Ghost Poison has reached target's blood system]

[Beep! 6 degrees of damage dealt to the target! 0.4 mL of Ghost Poison has reached target's blood system]

[Beep! 7 degrees of damage dealt to the target! 0.2 mL of Ghost Poison has reached target's blood system]

…

Although these attacks would have been deadly to any normal human being, Franklin had around 8 points of constitution, making him as tough as a magical beast. Drake's thrusts couldn't even pierce his muscles deep enough to allow his sword to reach his heart.

However, the duel was more or less won at this point. As the Wind Bindings stopped having effect, Drake retreated over ten meters away, curious as to how Franklin would react upon feeling the unfamiliar Ghost poison in his system.

Surprisingly, his veins turned green, and although he stood up, it seemed like he was on the verge of falling to the ground, lifeless. After waiting for a few seconds, Franklin realized that he was poisoned

However, Ghost Poison wasn't your average poison. It was a Grade 2 Poison, a small treasure that cost him 10 magic crystals. Even a body refinement would suffer from it.

Feeling that his strength was vanishing from his body, Franklin tried to speak out and concede the fight, but another wave of pain pushed him to the ground. He collapsed and lost consciousness.

The golden-robed acolyte took a second look at Drake, who had somehow won against Franklin.

'Wasn't he a newcomer?', she thought.

However, it didn't matter.

Because: "DRAKE MOONLIGHT HAS WON!"

From a distance, the peak rank 1 Prio acolyte who had been in cohort with Franklin knelt in despair. His investments and most trustworthy subordinate vanished…Despite using cheap tricks such as advancing the duel and using the [Stone Skin] spell before the fight actually began, Franklin was defeated.

No, he wasn't just defeated. He had been crushed. Although Drake's left arm was injured, it was only a light injury. Franklin, however, was on the brink of death because of the poison ravaging his body. Originally, Drake purchased the Ghost Poison as a trump card. It would have been useful against magical beasts and enemy acolytes alike.

However, after putting some thoughts into it, Drake considered Franklin to be a threat. He didn't know a lot about him, but since the latter had gone to the extent of threatening his family, he became a threat. In a way, the ghost poison was a way for him to utterly cripple Franklin while respecting the arena's rules.

There was no killing, but if he wanted to stay alive, he would have to pay over twenty magic crystals for the antidote or healing spells strong enough to neutralize the poison. Even if he somehow recovered from the poison, his body was already greatly weakened and each second that passed was millions of his cells dying.

His constitution and strength attributes were decreasing at a fast rate at this point.

Even if he recovered, Franklin would regress from a strong rank 1 acolyte to an average acolyte with a body of a peak knight at best. It would take years to return to his condition before the duel.

By this time, Drake would have risen to much higher heights.

From a distance, Drake was muttering: "Prio…you are next on my list"

These were simple words, yet they were prophesizing an impeding doom on the Prio Family.

After receiving first-aid wound treatment from the arena free of charge since he was the winner, the golden-robed acolyte approached him with a small transparent box made of transparent crystal: "Greetings, Drake. Oh, I am quite rude, I didn't introduce myself. I am Marianne Deville, arena master and granddaughter of Magus Jackal Deville, Array Master and owner of the Thunder Tower."

'Mm, having the backing of a Magus indeed affects one's strength. Since I received an enormous gift from Magus Kayle just for being talented, it is no wonder that a family member would receive enough resources to reach rank 3 at a young age', Drake appraised while looking at this woman in her early thirties.

"Greetings, Miss Deville. I guess this was the prize of my bet with Franklin?", Drake asked

"Indeed. The Piece of Jatu Meteorite was deposited by one of Franklin's acquaintances…Anyway, this is quite the treasure you got your hands onto."

"Indeed, such high-quality body refinement material isn't something I can find on regular markets. Even if I did, I wouldn't have enough magic crystals to afford one. I must say that this bet was quite a harvest", Drake admitted.

He knew that this rank 3 acolyte had taken interest in him, and it was a good opportunity to get closer to her. Such opportunity rarely presented themselves.

"I heard that Magus Kayle provided you with a scholarship. It was a wise choice to sign the contract. Grade 5 talent yet walking the path of body refinement with promising results…I must say I am impressed. However, I came to warn you. Do you know why there are so few body refinement acolytes in Helios?"

Drake pondered, and Felicia definitely had this talk with him many times.

"Knowledge, inheritances and materials found in Helios are more suited to elemental acolytes, I suppose. Furthermore, it is usually better to focus on a single path instead of strengthening both the mind and the body."

"You are right, but at the same time, you fail to see a crucial detail: While body refinements are strong and benefit from a fast growth rate in low levels, it also has limits. Why do you think the Porfield Kingdom is actually submitting to Helios' authority despite possessing so many knights and Grand knights? Grand Knights have limited potential. Once they reach this realm, they cannot grow any further. Even the Sentinel Head, Sillius has more or less reached the limits of what a Grand Knight can achieve."

Drake nodded. Body refinement acolytes would benefit from the inheritances from knights, but after reaching the Grand Knight realm, he would lack methods to continue to grow his bodily strength and physique.

"I didn't come here to mock your choices, Drake. I am sure you have considered this before, and you surely exceeded my expectations by defeating Franklin. More importantly, you learned such a strong spell in just 3 months…You indeed live up to the reputation of grade 5 talents."

"Your arguments are very logical, and I appreciate your advices. However, focusing solely on magic seems like a waste. I…happen to have eidetic memory", Drake lied.

There was no way he would reveal the extent of his biochip's abilities. However, eidetic memory was a good way to explain his unnaturally growth rate concerning studies. Furthermore, it was bound to increase Marianne Deville's evaluation of his person.

"Once I read something, it will forever remain in my memories. I have memorized every single wind-elemental theory in the first floor of the library already. If you want to test me, just ask me a question."

"Oh? What about Higgs' Studies on Sky Eagles?"

"To summarize, he found out that sky eagles could use wind elemental particles to further increase their flying manoeuvrability and speed. He then postulated the premise that humans could use the cores of Sky eagles in order to further increase their mastery of wind spells. And he succeeded by creating a Wind Sorcerer Array using 192 Sky Eagle Cores"

"Impressive! You even know about the number of Sky Eagle Cores he used. Unfortunately, all crafts related to magic are located in the second floor. I bet you would make a fine array master, though you lack the patience to become one…If what you say is true, then…How many books have you memorized from the library? It should be great to memorize books after reading them once, right?"

"Unfortunately, just because I remember them doesn't mean I can comprehend them. For instance, I don't have the slightest idea of how he came up with this idea or how does he managed to use the Sky Eagle Cores to succeed in his experiments. Furthermore, it is quite boring. If I were patient enough, I wouldn't have agreed to Franklin's duel after all", Drake answered.

The more Drake talked, the broader the smile on Marianne's face was becoming: "Mm, you look like the right one?"

Drake titled his head in incomprehension.

"I will lead an expedition to a recently discovered ruins. According to my Grandfather, it used to be the laboratory of a wandering Magus in the past. Since he cannot go there itself due to some ongoing research, he gave me authority over 50 knight-level beastman slaves and enough magic crystals to hire acolytes. I planned on hiring acolytes from the Black Magician Orders. Although they are quite disgusting and practice forbidden spells, their strength is the real deal. However, none of them have the potential to be as useful as you do. You would be able to memorize the findings of the ruins by looking at them. Even if I hand them to my grandfather, you and I will be able to share this magus-level information together!"

It was a huge offer…Earning magus-level information was certainly attractive, but it would also mean putting himself in danger.

"I am afraid I am not-", Drake tried to refuse.

He was certainly patient, but once this rank 3 acolyte earned what she wanted, if she wanted to kill him to monopolize the information, he would have no way of surviving it.

"I will provide you with two wind spells of your choice, as well as restricted knowledge in one topic. I can ask a favour from my grandfather for that purpose. How about it?"

Drake fell in a dilemma…Two wind spells suitable of his choice was equivalent to 40, perhaps even 50 magic crystals. As for restricted knowledge…it was even more valuable!

Seeing Drake frowning, Marianne added more rewards: "I know what you are thinking. It is too good to be true! She is probably not as kind as she looks like! But to be honest, I have absolutely no reason to hurt you. In fact, we will even go through a Mana Contract. This way, you will not share the magus information we earn in the ruins with anyone else, and I won't try to hurt you as long as you don't go against me. I will even add 20 magic crystals for the risks within the ruins. Well, it's not like I can force you. I live in the Guardian Tavern, room 988. If you want to accept these conditions, you know where I live."

Drake could feel her honesty. And yet, he didn't know whether he should take the offer or not. It would surely hasten his growth by a big margin, giving him funds, restricted knowledge, perhaps even a magus inheritance.

Adding to the fact that she wouldn't try to hurt him when bound by the contract…It indeed looked trustworthy. At the same time, the ruins seemed dangerous and he knew that if she broke through the Magus Realm, she would not be bound by the contract either.

'What should I do…', Drake kept muttering.