Gacha Leveling

The week passed by fast for Matthew. Between returning to classes and preparing for his fight, he barely saw the time pass by.

Then the day of the duel came.

Kaoru and her party arrived at school early.

They were invited in by Professor Claude who was still serving as the Dean. He showed them the school grounds and introduced them to some of the Professors who were on campus.

Kaoru was her regular self the whole time. Composed, polite and with a gentle voice.

Miroslav was nervous, looking around suspiciously as if they were going to be ambushed there.

Charles and Raphael were placid and enjoying the tour.

They all ate at the refectory. All but Miroslav who tried to dissuade them from doing so.

"They’re going to poison you." He tried to warn Kaoru.

Kaoru just ignored him and ate her fill.

Faralynn chose a scenic place for the duel. One of the various flower gardens in the school, overlooked by a white gazebo. She also thought about timing. Just near sunset, when the light would favor a beautiful background for the duel.

Her reasoning was simple. Events like that should be remembered as epics in old tales. Things that bards want to sing about for generations to come.

A lot of students were there circling the cobble atrium that was chosen for the duel.

Professor Lydia and Professor Geovana were there, with a few other professors.

Karynn, Kazan’s daughter, was there as well with her father who was going to serve as the adjudicator in that duel. His duties were to make sure both parties acted with honor as well as to stop the duel before someone got seriously hurt.

Matthew was sitting down on a marble bench while Faralynn tightened his armor around him.

Sarah, Mia, Erin, Tina and Helen were also near him, all a bit apprehensive about the bout.

Kaoru approached Matthew and extended her hand to shake his.

"Let’s have fun." She smiled at him, doing her best to control her facial expression.

Matthew shook her hand.

"Where’s your fairy?" Charles asked after also greeting him. "Sorry, but I forgot her name."

"She’s somewhere around here." Matthew said, looking around trying to find Ffyr. "She’s called Ffyr." He added.

"My familiars were in awe when they saw her. It’s the first Fae familiar I’ve seen myself." Charles laughed.

"Ffyr is... Difficult. But she’s a good friend." Matthew smiled.

"She won’t be fighting?" Kaoru asked.

"No. I wanted to fight you one on one." Matthew said.

"Bummer. I was looking forward to fighting you at full power." Kaoru pouted.

"It’s a duel to first blood. I don’t think it would be fair to fight with her." He explained.

"Nonesense!" Kaoru exclaimed. "Come at me with all you have." Her composed mask was slipping again. "But I understand you wanting to fight one on one. It’s way more exciting, isn’t it?" She smiled widely at him.

"It is." Matthew chuckled. All his anxiety vanished with that talk. It was as if they were just going to play a game together and not try to stab each other.

"Won’t you be wearing armor?" Erin asked Kaoru when she got an opportunity.

"No need." Kaoru said, removing her white silk haori and showing her tattoos. "These are magical. They create a mana armor around me." She explained tapping on the dragon spiraling along her left arm going up towards her torso and coming down behind the bandages that covered her breasts and left her toned body at view for anyone to see.

"You won’t complain then if you lose." Tina was a bit acidic.

"Not at all." Kaoru smiled at Tina. "Where’s the katana?" She asked.

"Here." Vanessa said, arriving just then at the school with Orpheu’s sword in her arms rolled in a thick cloth and Eric just behind her.

"Great." Kaoru smiled. "I’ll do some warm ups. Just call me when you’re ready."

Kaoru and her party went to the other side of the Atrium. She kept her torso bare while Raphael carried her haori, her kimono jacket, for her.

She drew her two katana and started to do some practiced movements with a movement precision so tight that made even those who didn’t understand martial arts in awe at the beauty of it.

"You’re ready, Matt?" Vanessa asked him.

"Yeah." Matthew said, getting up.

"Alright. I’ll let Kazan know." Faralynn gave him a fast kiss and walked towards the warrior.

Matthew drew his swords. Aym’s blade in his left and Belial’s blade on his right.

"Remember. Just because you have Unholy Mana you are at an advantage." Tina warned him. "She has the Heart of the Sword skill. Her stats increase with the quality of the weapons she carries. You don’t know how much stronger than what her level shows. Much like your boost with Unholy Mana."

"I know. Thanks Tina." Matthew said.

He thanked the others as well for being there and walked slowly at the center of the atrium where Kaoru was already waiting for him.

"This is a duel to the first blood. You’re not here to kill each other." Kazan said to them. "That said. Don’t let your guard down or you will die." He was stern. "When I give the command to fight, fight with your lives on the line. But when I order you to stop, you will stop or I’ll stop you." He warned them. "Understood?"

"Yes." Matthew and Kaoru said in unison.

"You may start." He said, resting his hand on his blade that was hanging on his waist, ready to intervene at any time.

Kaoru bowed at Matthew respectfully and he copied her.

She then raised her katanas positioning herself to battle.

Matthew did the same.

For a second, they just looked at each other. They were studying their opponent’s defenses. Annalizing and thinking about the best ways to fight.

Then Kaoru chuckled.

"Did you do something? I felt something."

"I did." Matthew chuckled as well. "I tried to use an Entice spell on you."

"Entice? You’re a dancer?" Kaoru asked, taking a small step to the side, forcing Matthew to side step himself.

"Among other things. My unique skill is a bit odd." He answered being cautious.

"I’m sorry, but you won’t win this with a weak spell like that. I have Spell Resistance at rank S." She smiled at him.

"I see. I thought it wasn’t going to work, but I had to try." Matthew smiled back.

Then her eyes suddenly got sharp. A quick glance revealed her intention. An attack on his right shoulder.

She gave a quick stab that Matthew defended with Belial’s sword. She was faster than him. And stronger. Even with miasma circling around him.

"Good one." She praised him, taking a step back.

"Yes." Matthew accepted the praise.

Then he was the one who tried an attack. A slash at her side with Aym’s dagger.

Kaoru defended easily with one sword and counterattacked with a stab with her other sword.

Matthew parried it with his dark sword. He had a bit more trouble than her, having to compensate for her superior agility with his Sixth Sense skill.

The duel, which had started slow and with friendly banter, was now fierce and dangerous. The blades met in the air with loud noises and both of them moved around with quick steps going forward and back, to the right and to the left.

Kaoru tried to trip him at some point, but Matthew used a gust of wind magic to lift himself up in the air and come down with the same spell, descending with a vertical strike of both his sword.

The samurai rolled on the floor to avoid the attack that was wet with a black smudge. The miasma and the black water burned her skin, making it rot slowly.

Matthew used his newly acquired Project Mana to cover the ground with Unholy Water and the air with miasma. A small damage that would not cause much harm, but in the long run, would help him win the fight. Or so he thought.

Visibility was low because of the dark cloud covering the atrium and many of the people watching started to complain they couldn’t see anything.

Karynn made sure the miasma wouldn’t advance over the public, but did nothing to interfere with the match.

Kaoru realized that Matthew started to play the long game with his Unholy spells and became more offensive.

She threw a barrage of attacks, forcing him to retreat a couple of steps, ceding terrain.

Matthew noted that her skill set was limited. Her build should be similar to Eric’s. Focused on melee combat and with little attention to MP and Magic stats. This made her powerful when fighting in close range, but vulnerable if Matthew fought from afar.

He decided to keep his distance and throw unholy fireballs at his opponent.

After seeing him change tactics, Miroslav started to bite his nails. He was now nervous she would lose.