Chapter 4

As soon as the gunshot fired, Eiji and Yazoyo started to fight. Eiji went straight into a defensive pose. His legs pressed against his stomach and chest, while his swords covered himself in a criss-cross fashion. Yazayo, however, went into offense. He shot straight for Eiji. His right dagger ended up hitting the middle point of Eiji's criss-cross. The force of the attack sent Eiji flying backward.

Eiji slammed into the railing that bordered off the viewers from the battle area. Eiji coughed out blood as he was shot forward after hitting the railing.

"Eiji!" I yelled out from the other side of the arena. It looked painful. Eiji didn't look up after I called his name. Instead, he was looking down at the ground, panting.

I jumped out from the viewers' seats onto the battleground. I then ran over to Eiji. "Eiji, are you alright?"

"Did...you get...the sub...class?" Eiji painfully asked.

"The healing?" I asked.

"Yes. I'll heal you." I agreed.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Someone yelled out from the crowd.

"What?" I turned my head.

"You can't heal that person. This is a duel after all."

"..." I knew I couldn't argue. The person wasn't wrong. I just didn't like seeing Eiji get hurt.

Suddenly, Eiji laid his hand on my left shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Haruta. I got to do this on my own. I promise. I'll protect you and the tavern girl. Wait for me."

As always, Eiji smiled at me. Even though he was in pain, he continued to smile. He then stood up and continued to fight.

Eiji used some sort of wind attack. He swung his swords once in a criss-cross fashion again then made a wind-cut. This cut Yazoyo's chest and made an "x" mark.

However, this attack only stopped Yazoyo for a few seconds before he was on his feet again. "Hehe...Is that all you've got?" Yazoyo scoffed.

Eiji limped his way closer to Yazoyo. "Nope. I've got more where that came from."

Deep down, after hearing Eiji say that, I hoped that he wasn't just bluffing. Maybe Eiji will actually win. Maybe he will become stronger after this. I hope he won't lose everything as a guild leader.

Eiji took the first move this time. He grabbed both of his swords and jumped into the air. He was ready to slash Yazoyo...

That was until Yazoyo disappeared from Eiji's sight. "What the..." Eiji landed.

Eiji looked around for Yazoyo. However, he was gone. Eiji continued to look around then found him. Yazoyo wasn't heading for Eiji. Instead, Yazoyo was heading for the tavern girl.

Somehow, it felt as if time around us stopped. Yazoyo was heading slowly towards the girl. None of us could do anything. Eiji was in shock. The girl was in shock. Even the whole audience was in shock.

I couldn't snap out of it. I knew that girl was as good as dead.

Or so I thought. Suddenly, blood spilled out onto the floor. However, the girl was fine. It wasn't her blood. It wasn't Yazoyo's. It was Eiji's.

Eiji somehow responded quickly, saving the girl. For some reason, my chest started to hurt. The blood looked all too real. It was slowly staining Eiji's clothing and dripping onto the floor. Eiji's face was stale. He wasn't blinking at all. I couldn't grasp reality at that moment. I couldn't grasp that Eiji had just been stabbed.

My hands started to shake before I was able to speak. My throat hurt. Eiji was going to respawn...right? Why does this death look too real? It doesn't look like how you would die in a game.

"Eiji..." I muttered. I was finally able to spit out some words. "Eiji!" I yelled out.

Eiji then turned his head towards me and gave me a pitiful expression. He then fell to the floor lifeless. His body didn't disappear at all.

"Why isn't he respawning?"