Chapter - 28

30 minutes after the first duel

"Awww... This is so boring. What a bunch of weaklings!" muttered Gavin Brutus, the rank 4.

"What do you mean? They are pretty good for someone their age," replied Novalie, the rank 6.

"Huh? All I can see is that none of them has broken through the mortal realm," replied Gavin.

"Stop making a fuss just because you broke through. No one here is older than 15, and even if they can awaken before the age of 18, they will be counted as geniuses," said Holmes, the rank 2.

An average person may awaken their personal abilities from the moment of their birth. But to naturally awaken as an F-Rank, it might take a normal person from 15 to 28 years. So when someone awakens at an early age without using any external methods, they are counted as a prodigy.

"Guys? All they are doing is repetitively throwing their abilities at one another. Why are they fighting like that?" asked Damian.

As soon as he finished asking, a youngster in the ring started bombing another youngster with a lava bomb. The other youngster tried to block them for a few moments before being completely surrounded by them. The bombs exploded even with the slightest contact, making his skin and flesh burn. And he also became exhausted from running and blocking. It was like a one-sided beating. In the end, he could only give up.

"Damn, he completely washed him out. Or should I say roasted him out? That was overpowered," said Gavin.

'But that's not the right way to fight', thought Damian.

At that moment, Damian's gaze locked onto a figure entering the ring—a familiar face that elicited a reaction of recognition.

"Oh! It's him," Damian exclaimed, drawing the attention of the group toward the newcomer who had captured his interest.

The boy possessed an imposing presence, with dirty blonde hair framing a tall, muscular frame. A sword hung unsheathed at his waist, hinting at his prowess in combat. His facial expression remained inscrutable, his features set in a stoic mask that concealed his emotions. Yet, there was an undeniable aura of intensity about him, marking him as someone not to be trifled with.

"Someone you know?" Diana inquired, her curiosity piqued by Damian's reaction.

"Yeah. He's a friend of mine," Damian replied, his tone tinged with a mixture of admiration and caution.

With all eyes now fixed on the newcomer, curiosity hung thick in the air as the group pondered the identity of the person who could be the friend of rank 1 .

***

'Holy Moly. What the hell am I watching? The kids in the ring are just throwing projectiles like fireworks in the new year.'

Until now, I have fought many. And I was really glad they were not able to use their abilities. But looking at how kids with offensive abilities are dominating those without one, I am now having second thoughts about it. Some kids without offensive or good defensive abilities are surrendering before the battle begins. I am also considering surrendering, but there is this quest.

-----------[ Blue System - Quest Path ]-----------

[Main Quest]

[Quest Name: Warriors don't back down.

Description: How can a warrior surrender before the battle even begins? Be a true warrior, pick up your sword, and fight!

Reward: A random skill card depending on the opponent's specialty.

Failure: A permanent weakness cross-reacting to the opponent's speciality. ]

After a long time the main quest triggered again. But I don't know why the penalty is so bad. Does it want me to not give up the fight?

Suddenly, my watch buzzed. The fight in the ring just finished with smoke everywhere. The big screen displays my rank for the next duel.

{ A-1: 2854, B-1: 2897 }

I walked towards the ring with a double-edged sword hanging from my waist. This is the weapon I chose. Obviously, the previous owner of this body used a rank 3 sword art, and I also have memories of different types of swordsmanships.

While climbing the stairs to the fighting ring, I saw another person climbing on from the other side. It was a girl with long, wine-red hair. She is so beautiful that I noticed how most of the crowd's attention went to her instead of me.

"A swordman! Huh! Finally. My rank turned out to be so low because of my weak body. Now I can finally shine," said the girl. Excitement was showing all over her face.

'Hmm? Inspection.'

[A low-level 'Inspection' talisman is being used.]

[Name: Charlotte Isabelle]

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Affinity: Charm (High : 89)

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Stamina: 6

Intelligence: 32

Charm: 113

Mana Capacity : 790/790 

Ability: 5-Tailed Fox Transformation (S Rank)

Skills: None.]

[5-Tailed Fox Transformation (S Rank)]

Current Rank: F Rank

Ability Details: Can enter a Five-Tailed Fox Transformation that greatly increases the effect of any charm abilities. Slightly increase the physical potency and greatly increase the mental potency.]

'Holy shit! It's the charm type. Plus, what a powerful ability! She was definitely born to be charming. Not only does she have a big Mana Capacity ,she also has a special stat called charm. Which alone is over 100!?'

Special stats are some extra stats outside the regular strength, agility, stamina, and intelligence stats. Everyone has these four stats. But some people get more stats that make them stronger than their peers.

[ Don't worry, host. The system has got your back.]

[Main Mission Complete]

[You did not surrender and decided to fight.]

[ Your opponent is a specialist in charm arts. She has a high affinity for charm, has high stats in charm, and also has ability related to it.]

[You will receive a random skill to fight her charm.]

[Looking for the perfect skill to offset her charm.]

The protection barrier of the ring lit up, and the countdown to ten began. And now I realised why the main mission was so weird. The system didn't want me to win , it just didn't want me to go down without a fight. That's why the high penalty.

"Hey you. You should be really grateful. I don't use it on just anyone. But I am making an exception for you today." said the girl.

"Well, I would be rather grateful if you didn't use whatever this "it" at all." I unsheathed the sword I previously took out from the weapon storage.

"You are not going to harm an armless girl, are you?" She pointed out that she was not holding any weapons.

"Did you already start your mind games? The countdown is still on." 

"Oh! So you figured out I am a mind type."

Three seconds..Two.....One.

As soon as the countdown was over, the girl made some weird gestures with her hand. It didn't even take one second, and I felt like the world was spinning.

I felt like I was losing focus.

I tried to balance my body.

"Oh! You can still stand after that?" The girl exclaimed, "Anyone below F rank would have fallen by now. You have a strong mind. I give you that."

I was getting used to the mental attack. I regained my footing. That was definitely an attack to make me lose consciousness. But thanks to my soul being slightly stronger, I was able to hold on.

I looked at the girl; she was smiling awkwardly. It's been almost 30 seconds since the countdown finished, and neither of us has moved from our spot. The problem with spells is that restrict the caster's movement. So the girl could not come and attack me when I was weakened.

The girl snapped her fingers and said, "Dance!"

Suddenly, my body started making weird movements on its own. No, it started dancing.