Chapter 154

UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse - 1:23 PM

The first thing Kayla did was gesture in Jeff’s direction. He watched her with concern in her eyes as she visibly paled, but didn’t seem outwardly injured. I waited patiently as he stepped beside her and put a hand on her shoulder as he whispered.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it wasn’t hard to guess. How were you feeling, how much did it hurt, Jeff still didn’t like this skill, and more. It made me glad that we had an arena to test it out first instead of him getting worried in the middle of battle when she used it. Sometimes he doted too much, though I understood that it was the core of the man’s essence.

However, it started going on for too long. I set the end of my Vague Spear on the floor and activated my Tyrant’s Will, sparing Kayla from its effect. Jeff immediately turned, pushing his wife behind him protectively when my aura crashed into him. His movements were fast, and I could already see the buff working.

“You know I don’t like to be rude,” I said, my tone conflicting with the dread he was clearly feeling. “But Kayla’s fine. We are here for a duel, and I'm not planning on making it easy for you.”

“Yeah, I get you, Anthony,” he quietly replied, his rapier still held in front of him. Shaking his body as if trying to remove the effects of Tyrant’s Will, he walked back to his starting position, lowered his goggles over his eyes, and took his stance. “Ready when you are.”

I didn’t stop my aura, choosing to let it pressure him. This was going to be an experience.

Without shifting, I activated Crash Test and wheeled forward on my Heelies. Jeff’s eyes widened in surprise as I sped towards him, but he was ready for me to approach. I had almost made it to him when he dashed to the side. It was nearly as fast as I was moving, and it seemed like he used Explosive Thrust to dodge.

Jeff wasn’t done, though. I stopped where he had been and turned to face him, raising my spear, when he changed direction. It was a jerky, unnatural move that was obviously more than it seemed. Explosive Thrust only had one movement component to it, which meant that this wasn’t that. Or perhaps it was a synthesized version of it.

One last charge had Jeff coming straight for me, rapier extended straight for my heart. Gripping my spear in both hands, I reacted quickly enough to knock Killer Queen off course enough that it slid cleanly between my arm and side. The Queen’s Knight’s arm went with it, and I pinned it to my side before pivoting down to one knee.

He went flying to the ground, and I let him go after adjusting my spear in a way that would prevent him from slashing me. His rapier slid against the wooden haft, and Jeff rolled back up into a standing position and taking his stance again. Weapon held high and his weight on his back foot, he lunged at me, this time with his own power.

My Vague Spear met his Killer Queen and he immediately slid his blade against the haft. I attempted to knock it out of the way, though he negated that with a twist of his wrist. The rapier continued to slide against  my weapon, aiming for my fingers.

Between the four debuffs he could inflict with any casual strike, a single cut could cause me to lose a hand for the duration of the fight. I let go of the Vague Spear and Pushed it. The weapon flew into his chest, piercing it and catching him off guard. Still, he didn’t flinch at the pain, even though at half capacity it would still hurt plenty.

Instead, he continued lunging, the tip of his blade heading straight for my heart. I twisted, grimacing as he sliced my chest, and backed up to get some distance. I could feel my Dexterity and Constitution draining from both Honey Clot and Skin of Papyrus working in tandem, and the pain quickly became numb thanks to the poisons from both Killer Queen and the Stinging Yellow Jacket.

As I regained my footing, I looked up to see that he had two pieces of bacon in his mouth. Jeff pulled the Vague Spear from his chest and started chewing the food as quickly as he could. I couldn’t help it, the sight of it made me chuckle despite the pain.

Though, that mood didn’t last long as he tossed the Vague Spear behind me. It would be harder to retrieve since I couldn’t see it, and there he wouldn’t have to worry about me using it to attack from behind. Jeff’s body glowed silver, and I noticed Kayla shine gold. I knew he activated For The Queen.

It was an ability of the Queen’s Knight that gave him a boost in all of his stats based on the damage Kayla had received. At 50% hit points, he would get an increase based on his class specific Gallantry stat. I wasn’t sure how much that was now, but it was at least higher than 20, and it was probably even bigger than I imagined with the Noble Sacrifice buff. The boost would get higher the less health she had.

Without waiting to see if his chest wound would be completely healed by the two pieces of Pocket Bacon, Jeff went back on the offensive. I retrieved My Golden Bowling Ball from my inventory to block his quick strikes. He was faster than me now that he had been buffed, and I did my best to follow his blade with my eyes.

It was easy at first, as he continued to aim for my heart. It was one of the fastest ways to end the fight, but I knew the man in front of me and his choice in weapon. The rapier might have been an elegant sword, but it was brutally optimized for killing. I made sure he didn’t have any chances to cut my arm as I started backpedaling.

[[Notice]]

Buff

You are under the effect of an enemy’s Noble Sacrifice. All stats have been increased by 20%.

I blinked and glanced at Kayla out of the corner of my eye. She seemed even paler than before and had trouble standing, but she had an insufferably smug smile on her face. Before I could question or even capitalize on the buff, another screen popped up before me.

[[Notice]]

Buff

You are no longer under the effect of an enemy’s Noble Sacrifice. All stats have been returned to normal.

Jeff’s strikes suddenly became much heavier and much faster as his wife dropped down to 10% hit points, the lowest she could go using Noble Sacrifice. He let a thrust pass over My Golden Bowling Ball, seemingly overextending, but his free hand grabbed my hoodie.

In an instant I was sailing through the air. Unlike the last time he had thrown me using the Handwraps of Powerful Throws, I landed on my back hard enough to crack the wooden court. Even though the wind was knocked out of me, I didn’t have the luxury of time. I Pushed my shoes, sliding out of the way as Jeff’s rapier headed straight for my eye.

It sliced my scalp instead, and I Lifted myself back to my feet. Luckily, my Thick Skull passive was able to bring the damage down to a manageable amount, though I was worried about the honey and blood running down my face from the cut. I activated Swarm Call, and wasps started emerging from the circlet I wore.

I quickly turned around to see the silver glow disappear from around Jeff’s body, but that wasn’t helpful as he reactivated For The Queen. If it were maxed out then he could use it 4 times in a day. It would last longer now that Kayla’s hit points were almost bottomed out.

The wasps honestly weren’t much of a threat to him, but he wasn’t taking any chances. His rapier flashed back and forth with almost casual flicks of the wrist. It was clear to me that his Dexterity stat dwarfed mine at this point, and his Strength and Constitution likely weren’t anywhere close. Some wasps made it through, but they did what I needed them to do: buy me some time.

“By the power of Enigma Hemingway!” I announced loudly.

The phrase activated Ostwriter’s Plot Armor, and I was quickly dressed like a medieval knight in paper mache. It only boosted my stats by 1 each, but the extra protection worked with Sturdy Shell to reduce my damage further. While that was happening, I Pulled my Vague Spear back to me and snapped it in half.

The end with the spearhead was shorter on purpose, and I molded the longer end into another spear. This wasn’t the first time I’ve fought an enemy with stats much higher than my own, and it was exactly what I had been aiming for. Lifting the two pieces of the Vague Spear, I started Orbiting them around the court, careful not to strike Kayla.

Pulling Kedjen’s Khopesh from my inventory, I lunged at Jeff. He swatted away the last wasp and swung his rapier to parry, but one of the Vague Spears came at him from the side. The Queen’s Knight backed away to avoid it, but I Pushed it to get it back on track, and he was forced to swipe at it with his blade.

I took another step inward and jabbed him with My Golden Bowling Ball. Despite his backpedaling, he was solid, and I couldn’t knock him off balance even as he had to take an awkward stance to knock my flying weapon away. The second half struck him in the back, causing him to grit his teeth to suppress a scream of pain, and I lashed out with the khopesh.

Jeff ducked back, weaving out of the way to find his footing again. It didn’t take him more than a step to get back on track, and he lunged at me. Instead of his usual target, he aimed Killer Queen my throat. He had been conditioning me to protect my heart, but I already knew how wily he was on the battlefield and was ready for the change.

Still, I was wary of his sword despite seeing through his tricks. I knew that he would power through Ostwriter’s Plot Armor if I let him have his way, so I activated both Shield and Force Field in front of his blade.

The latter began shimmering immediately, but something strange happened. Even though I saw him attack, his blade and hand were pulled back as if he hadn’t just lunged at me. A split second later, the same thrust came, blowing through my Force Field and putting a hefty dent in my Shield. This was his Twin Thrust skill, which essentially let him perform the same attack twice.

I tried to back up only to figure out that I couldn’t. It felt like a weight was keeping me in place close to him, and I recognized the feeling from the other skill he had picked up from the Pharaoh’s tomb: Anchored Foe. With this, I wouldn’t be able to get distance and let my Warmind abilities do the work.

Laughing from the predicament he had placed me in, I tossed My Golden Bowling Ball underhanded at him and Pushed. It went up in flames as I activated the Iron Anchor’s blessing, dealing extra fire damage equal to my Dexterity.

Dodging to the side and letting the bowling ball pass him, Jeff lunged for me, and I parried with the Khopesh though I didn’t keep my eyes on him. I Spun the piece of the Vague Spear still inside him, causing him to actually scream in pain, before ripping it out. The two sides started Orbiting us again.

The Queen’s Knight became more wary of them than he had before, and he reached for his pocket for more bacon. I lunged forward with the Khopesh and activated Cheetah Sprint, doubling my movement speed for an entire minute. He dropped one of the slices, and I let one of my spears drop to Pull it directly into my open mouth.

“You bastard!” he yelled indignantly, taking offense to me snatching his bacon.

I barely chewed before swallowing down the perfectly crisp strip and healing for 5% of my hit points. There was no time to waste with the timer ticking, and Jeff was barely able to stick the last two pieces in his mouth before I was on him.

With my speed doubled, I was faster than him again, though only barely. While he was a skilled combatant who had obviously honed his craft, I started pushing him back despite having a worse weapon for dueling.

My khopesh and Jeff’s Killer Queen clashed again and again as I tried to slash at him and he attempted to pierce me. His body started accumulating damage while my Shield broke and my armor started to get sliced through. The debuffs were slowing me down, but not enough.

Mentally, I was counting down in my head. With my free hand, I reached into my pocket to grab the Writhing Belt Whip. Jeff was instantly wary of it, but I didn’t have enough room to fully utilize the weapon and he knew it. What I needed was space, which was something his skill wouldn’t allow. So, I threw Kedjen’s Khopesh between his legs.

Jumping, Jeff avoided the sword fairly easily, though it wasn’t my intention to strike him. Under his feet, the sword transformed into a chariot. He landed on the lip and stumbled backwards. His hand snapped out to catch himself, but I Dropped a spear onto his arm. It scraped by, embedding itself into the chariot as he was unable to grab the edge. He fell onto his back.

The second spear landed in a way to prevent him from raising Killer Queen, and I kept it there with Drop when he tried to move it. Lifting the Writhing Belt Whip high into the air, I brought it down with all the power I could muster. The tip cracked against his face as most of it struck his body, and teeth began growing out to bite him. Jeff screamed as a bloody line appeared from his eye to his hip.

“I concede!” he yelled, throwing his arm up.

“Good night, Jezebel.” I said, and the torn manuscript that made up my armor returned to my inventory. Taking a breath, I began coiling the whip and stepped back. I finally let Tyrant’s Will drop, and Jeff immediately relaxed.

[[Duel!]]

Congratulations! You have won the duel against Players [Jeffry Mills & Kayla Mills].

Your record is currently 1-0-0.

I watched as the damage Jeff incurred was quickly reversed to how he was before the duel, and offered him a hand. He accepted it, though he was looking at Kayla instead of me. I turned to face her, and she gave us both a nod. She looked a lot healthier now that her hit points weren't so low from Noble Sacrifice.

“You're definitely one scary dude, Jeff,” I said with a chuckle as I started grabbing my gear.

“I don’t know how you can say that with a straight face,” he replied with a sigh. “Did you have to use the whip at the end?”

I shrugged, but didn't answer. He had acknowledged me when I said I wasn't going to make it easy.

“But, I suppose I should be glad that I at least forced you to pull out as much as you did. Did you know Spot Weakness doesn't work on you?”

“Yeah, but that’s just a difference in experience,” I told him honestly. “No one’s matching me when it comes to combat, and you know that.”

“Yeah,” he admitted before taking his wife’s hand when she approached. “How were you?”

“Not great, but it’s not terrible,” she answered. “It felt like I was being drained of blood. I felt a little tipsy there at the end, but it wasn’t painful. I think that, if I’m going to use this, then 50% is going to be the limit.”

“Good thinking, using me to bring yourself down for Jeff’s ability,” I praised. “I wasn’t expecting that. It was good thinking.”

“Yeah, well, I figured it’d be a nice surprise for you,” she offered with a shrug and a smile.

“I just wish I could have pushed him into his final form, but it wasn’t a bad showing, I don’t think,” Jeff said, pulling Kayla into a hug.

“Maybe next time, hon,” she soothed, wrapping her arms around him.

“Yo, that was wild!” a man yelled, and I turned to see a group of people coming in through the doors outside. “Hey, are you taking on challengers right now? Any of you, I mean.”

The group was decently sized, and a few of them were excited and ready to rumble. I shook my head, however. “No, sorry. It’s my day off and these four have places to go,” I responded.

“These four?” he asked, confused, as he glanced at the only other two in the room.

“Yeah, the two I just fought, their dog, and our super scary friend,” I answered, gesturing for Jamie to join us.

Corwin ran at Jeff when I waved, and he nearly slammed into the man, jumping up onto his hind legs. The Queen’s Knight laughed and pushed him back down, kneeling to pet the Evolution Hound. “Good boy, staying by Jamie,” he praised, causing the dog’s tail to wag even harder.

Jamie took a little more time getting to her feet, but she joined us well. “I assume you won’t have any work for us after we hit our next objective. Would that be right?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yep.”

Crossing her arms, she turned to the group. “Then I’ll be back tonight, and ready to take on all challengers. Though,” she paused, glancing back at Jeff. “You want first dibs? Without your wife, of course. I don’t want to deal with whatever that was.”

Jeff looked from Jamie to me, seemingly confused by the offer, before he grinned and looked back. “Sure thing, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Then I guess we’re coming, too. Aren’t we, Corwin?” Kayla asked, grabbing the dog’s attention. He left Jeff for his wife.

Jamie looked back at the group. “Most of us will be back tonight, then. I look forward to dueling anyone who thinks they have what it takes,” she said firmly. Without waiting for anyone to say more, she turned on her heel and started heading towards the exit. “Come on. Let’s get moving.”

With a sloppy salute, Jeff left me behind, and his wife and dog soon followed. I stretched as I finally put my Vague Stick back together.

“Who are you guys?” the man asked, ignoring the whispers of the people behind him.

“We’re the guild with over 200 guild points,” I said, smirking as I began walking away. “We’re Sol Ligatus, and we’re going to save this whole damn city.”