章節 17: The duel

Stephan didn't know if the goal of the knight was to beat some sense into the apprentice who had gotten an inflated ago or confidence he didn't like or if he was truly gauging his strength. However, by the smug on his face, he knew that he was looking down on him and wanted to beat him on purpose. He looked back at Mike who had his eyes watching him.

Retrieving the sword he received from Jack, he walked to the edge of the camp where the man was waiting for him. He swung it in the air a few times and opened his mouth in surprise. The sword he picked earlier from Mike was so heavy that he couldn't lift it but this one was light, of normal weight.

"How come this weapon is not heavily weighted like the one Mike used?"

"You grabbed an enchanted weapon, lad," he emphasized the last word. "They are made in a way that a stranger to it wouldn't be able to use it. The one you have is a normal sword, no enchantment involved."

By this time, the others already sensed that the man was putting on a show of dominance and he would never go over the boundaries and hurt him badly. If he were a magic-user then he was an asset and Sir Jack would take the credit for finding him. Furthermore, he didn't belong to any land. Mike looked a little bit anxious, glancing back and forth between the two opponents.

In the meantime, Stephan focused on Jack's gaze who was around 4 metres away from him. As to add to the effect of the rum, he didn't feel nervous about the fight, his mind brought back his memories of trying to copy his favourite characters fighting stances or maybe the character he used to play. There was no way a gamer wouldn't try to copy it and train it secretly. He was used to some stances and now that the weapon was lighter, it would be easy to pull it out.

Stephan didn't have much stamina so ending the fight by losing was a must. However, he also needed to put on a show for the rest and the man in front of him. He tried to will his mana to his feet to move easier but realized he wasn't high level; he was still at the first. He remembered his duelling and the footwork he used to do.

His eyes narrowed, restricting his vision to only the man in front of him then dashed forward, grabbing his sword tightly using both hands, using only one showed itself to be challenging. He decided to train his muscles once he had the chance.

His grin still present, Jack prepared to block his dashing, he was so confident and the latter was a weakness. Stephan had the experience of the lack to show it using his body. He wasn't used to that body, especially when it was rewound into its sixteen years old. He was used to a fat body that had difficulty in breathing and a hard time moving around. Being lighter suddenly didn't leave him time to adjust correctly.

He swung his sword horizontally, which was blocked by a vertical sword. As the blades clashed he whirled making his blade follow the edge of the sword to keep it away and stop the man from performing a slash. However, unfortunately, even if Jack's felt side was unprotected, he moved his sword easily and blocked the other attack. Stephan didn't reach the area he was aiming for but now his ribcage was unprotected.

The grin vanished and was replaced by a smile. Jack knew the boy was an apprentice mage. Therefore, there was no need for him to be able to use the sword, even slightly well. However, it seemed like he trained it beforehand. He decided to rise the difficulty and attempt to attack multiple times, testing his dodging and blocking skills.

Stephan swung his sword to the open ribcage doing a slash but the man pivoted on his right foot and with inhuman speed, he attempted an upward swing that the boy dodged by squatting. As soon as Stephan was down, he did a roundhouse sweep with his legs. However, even with the sudden attack that reached the desired area, the man was steady on his feet. To add to his unlucky torment, the man swung horizontally his sword.

Stephan knew his body wouldn't be able to take the hit. Getting his health down was a bad idea. Therefore, he rolled back and jumped on his feet as soon as he could making the distance wider between the two. Jack dashed as counter-attack and cut the distance between them, thrusting his sword to Stephan's chest.

The apprentice successfully blocked the blow but his body couldn't stay still. Stephan flew backwards hitting a tree with his back. As soon as he was able to stand, he raised his hands in surrender. "I give up. I give up. I give up. I cannot win against a veteran like you so I give up."

Jack stopped his sword immediately from reaching the boy and smirked. "In the plaguelands, there is no choice but to fight. No undead would let you live after you surrender but I see… That you have a brain. You need to train that body of yours to be able to do what your mind has in store."

"I am quite fine, Sir Jack. Thank you for asking! Can I have bread as a reward for entertaining you?"

Jack laughed throwing his head back. "At least, your guts come with skills. I see how you survived the plaguelands. You must have used that brain of yours to get out alive from the bad situations. Still, you are weak and I don't like the weak. In this world, if you don't become stronger, you might be eaten. You need to show your usefulness by your fighting. Don't be weak!"

Stephan who spent the whole night running understood this simple fact already. "I already understand that. How do you think I escaped a night shadow?"

"I thought you were lying," he stared at him with a stupefied face.

"No, I met with four. I had enough luck to get away from them until the morning but I used my brain. Luck alone isn't sufficient."