Gosport aimed his blade at me. The air in the room had changed. He was serious about this duel. For the first time during our confrontation, I felt the true weight that accompanied facing an insurmountable threat.
“Arm yourself,” ordered the duke. He wasn’t one to stoop to cheap tactics like attacking before I was ready.
Previously he acted as nothing more than a pompous pig, but he showed that he had honour in battle at least. That was probably true of most nobles. From what I gleaned so far, they valued their reputation. Underhanded tactics would cause them to lose their standing, so they would never resort to them.
On the other hand, insulting people was completely acceptable. Encouraged, even. They loved to gossip and talk down to others. It seemed that by putting other people down, they could elevate themselves.
“Hurry up and draw your weapon,” commanded the duke. “Enough stalling.”
What weapon? I had nothing to fight a fair battle with. I could already imagine myself losing. From my bag I pulled out a long acupuncture needle and held it in my hand. My four fingers curled around the needle, with my three centre fingers positioned over it and my pinkie curled under. My thumb was outstretched along the length of the needle. My three centre fingers gently pulled down while my thumb and pinkie pushed up. This kept the needle stable.
Gosport started moving towards me.
The surrounding nobles were confused. “Does he plan to use that tiny implement for battle?”
I watched closely as my opponent charged. He kept his sword held above his right shoulder, so I predicted a downward diagonal swing. The sword swipe came and I lifted my needle to deflect the blow and slightly change its trajectory. I knew I didn’t have the physical strength to block the attack, but by holding my needle at a certain angle, I could shift its momentum away from me.
The duke was immediately startled that the course of his blow had changed. In battle, he would have faced off against weapons and shields of equal or greater size than his own. The feeling of having a small tool inflict a small force on his weapon to alter its path was new to him. He went in for a horizontal swing next, which I also was able to predict. I was surprised by my capability to detect my opponent’s moves in the middle of battle.
At times I felt like I was lucky to have one good thought in a day. Now, I was able to think multiple of them within the seconds before an attack. I could only attribute that to my points in Mind.
I deflected another blow with my needle. Just the deflection was not enough to save me, so I contorted my body to avoid the sword. Another swing came and I could see its trajectory. I held up my needle in defence.
The crowd found my technique to be impressive. “Amazing,” said an onlooker. “I’ve never seen someone use needles to fight!”
As I tried to parry the third attack, the sword shattered my needle.
“Now I see why.” The amazed onlooker suddenly became very disappointed.
Gosport loomed over me as if to say, ‘Now what?’ Had he been toying with me? How infuriating. My only chance at success was stabbing a needle into his neck, but there was no possibility of that happening. His Body level was higher than mine, so he was probably faster, unless he had a Title that slowed him down. With his greater speed, strength, and battle experience, I could not imagine ever stabbing his neck. Plus, I was way too short to reach it anyway!
The duke struck my head with the pommel of his sword.
[-49 HP]
“Ow!” That hurt really badly. I felt like my skull had split open. Blood started running down my face. The pain had me staggering. Gosport had just dealt more than half my health in damage. Another hit like that and I’d be dead! I looked up at his merciless face and immediately bolted away.
I ran into the crowd.
“Hey!” Gosport shouted. “Where are you going? You can’t leave the ring!”
I bobbed my head out of the audience. “Why not?” Then I pulled my head back in and started shuffling through the mob.
“It’s against the rules! Get back here and face me.”
While using the nobles as meat shields, I said, “I don’t remember you mentioning anything like that. Are you going to start making up rules to help you win? That’s quite shameful for a level 40 like yourself. To think you’d need to stoop so low to win against me.”
I could tell that bruised his ego after hearing a groan of dissatisfaction. “Fine. I’ll come to you!” Gosport started pushing through the crowd to get to me. This was where he was at a significant disadvantage. With my small and nimble body, I could easily dart through the nobles, whereas he was man-sized and carrying a sword. He struggled to sift through the people huddled together.
The nobles were displeased by my actions. “It’s just cowardice.”
“I expected more integrity from a Hero.”
“And this is after the duke was merciful enough to offer a handicap.”
I swam through the crowd until I found myself in a good position to make my attack. The duke was unaware of my location. I was directly across from him in the ring of nobles. Two acupuncture darts were in my hand.
These darts had failed me before, but I wondered if maybe I had failed them too. Initially, I threw the dart with a great velocity, and it struggled to home in on its target. That may have been my error. The darts were capable of homing, but they could not overpower the force of my throw. If I were to hurl one softly in the air, it would be easier for it to change direction, since it would have a smaller momentum to overcome. That was my hypothesis anyway.
I locked eyes onto Gosport like a tiger within tall grass, except I was a human within tall humans. I lobbed the dart at my enemy, such that the peak of the arc would be above Gosport’s head. While that dart followed its course, I threw another dart directly at Gosport. This way, he would focus on deflecting the quick dart, while being oblivious to the one overhead.
When the lofted dart had reached its height, the moment of truth came. If it kept going, then the homing effect would have been too weak. If it changed directions and began to drop towards his neck, I would have won.
“Watch out, Duke!” a noblewoman shouted out.
Gosport swiftly moved his sword to parry the quick dart. As he did, I witnessed the other dart alter its trajectory. It began falling down towards the pressure point on his neck, and he was completely unaware. The homing effect was working.
“You’re hiding among the people and using them as shields to launch your sneak attacks,” said Gosport. “How uncouth.” He snapped his fingers and vanished into a plume of smoke.
The dart landed where he was. It would have been a direct hit. I would have won.
“So, this is where you’ve been hiding,” said a voice from behind me. I turned to see the duke standing with an irritated expression.
My mouth went agape. “How did you get there?”
“It is a Skill of mine called Oh My Wham Mow. It allows me to teleport behind the last person I dealt damage to. I acquired it only yesterday.”
“Lucky you…” I said while a nervous smile twitched on my face.
“Now let me show you something better: Slow.” Gosport created a small ball of yellowish light in his hand and flicked it at me. I kind of felt like he was flicking a bogey at me.
“Dodge it, Yarm!” Newmill shouted. “It’s a debuff!”
I could not dodge in time.
[Status Effect: Slowed]
I immediately felt my body struggle to move. I didn’t need to be an expert in skill science to figure out what was happening. My movement had been slowed to a snail’s pace. I couldn’t do anything.
Gosport closed his eyes and shook his head. “I expected more from you Hero. You were summoned by His Holiness the King to save this realm, yet you show no such potential. It’s pathetic that you—”
When Gosport opened his eyes, I was nowhere to be seen. I had immediately used my Cleanse skill to get rid of the Slowed effect and then I ran away. I was hidden in the crowd once more. I crawled between the legs of noblemen and noblewomen while avoiding Gosport’s searching eyes.
I was praying he did not have enough mana to cast his teleportation skill again.
“This blasted 10-minute cooldown is aggravating,” the duke exclaimed.
I didn’t have time to consider whatever that meant. On all fours, I moved across the room and then spotted a locked glass cabinet holding some glowing vials. They had to be filled with magical liquid, I thought. I crawled under tables full of food and made my way over to the cabinet to pick it.
I was hoping that one of these potions would give me the strength I needed to win.
With the Soundless Pick, the duke would not be able to hear me lockpicking and thus would not locate me for some time.
“The boy is over here!” shouted a nobleman.
“You snitch!” I shouted back. I hurried with my picking.
Gosport was on the other end of the room. He rushed over without consideration of others. He bumped into people and knocked them to the ground. It was embarrassing for him that the duel had gone on for so long, and it was infuriating that the battle was less like a duel and more like a game of cat and mouse.
The duke roughly barged into more people until he finally reached the end of the crowd. His eyes were bloodshot and his breathing was heavy. He initiated a sprint in my direction, but a foot jutted out from his side and caused him to fall. It was Frome. She had tripped him.
“Oops. Forgive me, Duke. You did not give me enough time to move out of the way.” Frome smirked down at the fallen duke.
While Gosport got up, I had already broken into the cabinet. I drank the very first potion I saw. It was pink and tasted slightly sweet.
[Status Effect: Aroused]
I felt a stirring in my loins. That wasn’t good. Gosport had gotten up and began a mad dash for me. I quickly drank another potion. It was milky white and tasted like cashews.
[Status Effect: Invisibility]
This was it! I had finally hit a jackpot. I tiptoed away from the cabinet. I looked down at my body and even my clothes were invisible.
Gosport looked at the empty potion vials in shock. He took a deep breath and then screamed at the top of his lungs, “Do you have any idea how much these potions cost, boy? Who do you think you are?” He started swinging his blade around at the air, hoping he might accidentally hit me. “You’ll pay for this!” He shouted every swear word he could think of.
Some of the other nobles expressed quiet disapproval of his profanity.
“Hey, Newmill,” I whispered.
Newmill jumped from fright. “What? Are you nearby, Yarm?” he replied.
“Yes. I’m invisible.” And I was also aroused but I didn’t want to waste my cleanse to clear myself of it before the battle was over.
“What are you doing, Yarm? This is crazy.”
“Yeah, I know. That Gosport fellow seems pretty angry.”
“Yarm, just walk out and never come back, ok? I’ll try to smooth things out in here.”
I patted the prince on the back. “I couldn’t possibly cause all this trouble and then push it all onto you. Plus, I can win.”
“You can?” asked Penrin.
“When did you get here?” I asked.
Penrin ignored my question. “How are you going to beat him?”
“With a little help from you, it’ll be easy.”
For the next few minutes, the enraged Gosport destroyed tables, chairs, and other furniture. He slid his arm across the prepared banquet and shoved plates of food to the ground. When he finally had his fill of mindless destruction, he walked back into the centre of the ring. “Did he run away?” he said while breathing heavily.
At that, Penrin interlocked her fingers to give me a leg up. I put my foot into her hands, and she flung me into the air. I jumped onto Gosport’s back. For a moment he struggled against the new sensation, though not for long. I stuck my needle into the pressure point on his neck.
Gosport’s body dropped like a rock. After my attack, I became visible again. At the centre of several dozen nobles, I had defeated the level 40 Duke.
Everyone began speaking to each other. “Did he win?”
“What kind of underhanded victory was that?”
“He might have played dirty, but he still won.”
“What’s even more impressive is that he seems to have defeated the duke without inflicting a single point of damage to his HP. It’s unheard of.”
“That’s true! What kind of unorthodox fighting style is that?”
I raised my fist up in a victory pose.
“Aren’t you celebrating too early?” the duke’s voice said. I looked down to see his body oozing black fog. He got up from the floor and stared at me.
The man looked even more frightening than before. It was as if he was possessed by a dark force. He had none of the anger that he displayed earlier.
“It’s impressive that you’ve driven me to this state, Hero. I can only enter this mode when I am rendered unconscious in battle. I burn through my remaining MP to stay awake and keep fighting. This title is called Foggy Waker.”
Sure enough, I saw the MP bar above his head decreasing.
“Now, I’ll finish you with my ultimate Skill!”
“Wait! I give up,” I said.
“What?”
“I give up. I lose. I surrender. It’s a forfeit from me. You win the duel.”
Gosport stood there, dumbfounded.
“What are we even fighting about anyway? Let’s call a truce!”
“You’re the one who asked for a duel!” Gosport said. “You have no reason to fight? Then why did you ask for the damn duel in the first place? All of this could have been avoided.”
I couldn’t respond by telling him that the System made me do it. “I’m sorry. It was a spur of the moment decision.”
Gosport looked around at the ruined furniture and empty potion vials. He let out a large sigh. Then he exclaimed, “Servants, take me to my room, once I collapse.”
The nobles all applauded and congratulated the duke on his victory. After running out of mana points, Gosport fell to the ground and was taken away.
Newmill came over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “You know, I’ve been thinking of a thousand different ways to scold you, but I just can’t. It really feels good seeing Gosport humbled after everything he said about me and the others. Thanks for that.” He gave me a friendly shoulder squeeze.
I gave him a thumbs up.
“By the way,” he said while pointing down at my trousers, “you seem really excited.”
“Oh, my bad.” I cleansed my arousal and returned to normal.
The servants began ushering the guests out. Now that the duke was out cold, the party was effectively over. Plus, all the food was on the floor.
I asked Newmill to meet me at the base for Heroes tomorrow. I showed Newmill the location on his map and he told me he’d be there.
Joining the crowd of people leaving, I made my way to the carriage that had driven me here. “Frome and Penrin are already inside,” said the carriage driver. “Get on, filth.”
He was as friendly as ever. I opened the door and entered the luxurious carriage. Before I had a chance to take a seat, Frome brought me in for a comfy hug. “Well done, my little hero.”
“Mother! He completely ruined the soiree. Why are you praising him?” asked Penrin.
“If he hadn’t hopped in when he did, I would’ve been the one who ruined the soiree.” Frome giggled. She pulled out her magical soothing handkerchief and used it to heal up my head.
With Frome tending to my wounds, the carriage ride back to the estate was quite pleasant. When we arrived Penrin asked, “May I speak to Yarm alone in the carriage, Mother?”
Frome winked at Penrin. “Of course, dear.”
Frome closed the carriage door and left me alone with Penrin. “Is something the matter?” I asked.
Penrin stayed quiet and glared at me.
“I really should be going home, you know? It’s quite late.” This girl had a gaze that could freeze molten lava.
“Why did you do it?”
“The duel? It was just a whim,” I responded.
“No. At school, why did you try to protect me from Loftus? Why did you intervene when Gosport made fun of me? Why did you free over a hundred slaves?”
Were all those questions a package deal? I suppose they did all have the same answer. The hard part would be explaining it.
“Do you think you’ll be rewarded or something?”
I shook my head. “John Bunyan said, you have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” I wondered if the girl could understand that sentiment. “It’s a philosophy that I didn’t understand at your age. As a child, I thought that if I lived for others, I’d have no time to live for myself. I was a fool to think the two were mutually incompatible. You see, there’s no moment a person feels more alive than when helping someone else.”
Penrin’s icy stare warmed somewhat.
“You have suffered a great deal at a young age, Penrin. I feel compelled to alleviate that pain.” I stretched my hand out to her. “Would you like to do the same for others? Do you want to join me?”
Penrin gripped her dress. With a conflicted expression, she thought over my words for a long time before finally answering. “I’m not sure if I want to do the same yet.” She took my hand and shook it. “But I would like to join you, if I may.”
I saw Penrin genuinely smile at me for the first time.
[Lockpicker Quest Completed: Unlock the door to someone’s heart.]
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