Zean charged forward and then thrust his sword.
Clang!
Crew parried the attack with his shield and then swung his mace.
[Power Leg].
Baaang!
Zean blocked the mace with a skill and then used the moment to jump a few meters away while doing a backflip.
"Your reaction time improved. I got worried a bit when I didn't see you for almost 3 months," he said with a smile.
"I told you I will win this month's Ranking Match," Crew replied.
Although he and Zean were both the same age, 18 years old, and they also joined the Temple of Priests at 15 years old, he only had 2 Magic Art Affinities -- Light and Poison -- while Zean had 3 Magic Art Affinities -- Light, Fire and Soul.
When it came to their Physical Force, they were always equal. But when it came to their Magic Force, in order for Crew to catch up to Zean, he had to spend more time training.
So what Crew did in order to catch up to Zean in terms of Magic Force, for almost 3 months, he did nothing but train.
When it came to his [Light Mastery], he used all of his mana and Mana Potions in training it to the point Mana Potions no longer had any effect on him and he would have to wait at least 2 months before the potency of Mana Potions would start to recover before it would affect his body once again.
Meanwhile, for his [Poison Mastery], he drank and bathed in different kinds of poison where not only did he almost die from some of them, specifically the ones he ingested, but to the point his body developed a natural resistance against the poisons he took. Furthermore, he also hired Adventurers and Mercenaries to cast Poison Magic spells on him and also provided Mana Potions for them.
Naturally, in doing this, he spent a fortune. However, he was a White Cloak Priest and his family, the Straggler family, was one of the established Priest families in the Luxen Kingdom so spending coins wasn't an issue.
The smile on Zean's face vanished.
"Don't think you're the only one who has been training hard."
Vooom!
He charged again and then activated a skill.
[Explosive Sword].
Booom!
Crew blocked the attack with his shield and was pushed away a couple of inches away.
[Power Leg].
Wooom!
Zean bent his legs a bit and then used the momentum of the [Power Leg] on his right foot to jump higher.
Thud!
He landed behind Crew.
[Explosive mace].
Booom!
Crew spun as he activated a skill. Although Zean managed to block it with his sword, some parts of his clothes were torn to shreds.
[Flash - Rune].
Bliiing!
Zean activated a spell and the Runes on his sword produced a blinding light.
[Cure].
As the green light enveloped Crew's body and cured his blindness, Zean already pulled his sword back.
Chaaak!
Zean thrust the blade of his sword into Crew's neck and it stuck out.
Thud.
Chud.
[Greater Heal].
Crew let go of his mace and grabbed the blade of Zean's sword as a yellow light enveloped his body.
"Not… yet…!" he said and coughed out blood.
[Poison Bomb].
Zean noticed the green-colored water-like ball forming on Crew's hand and for a moment, he thought about what to do. He could use [Explosive Sword] but two things would happen:
The first one, he wouldn't have enough mana for the next fight because he had also been chugging Mana Potions non-stop for the last couple of days in preparation for the Ranking Match that a Mana Potion now, regardless of its grade, could only heal 20% of his mana pool.
And the second one, he could be disqualified for using excessive force that's tilting towards the rule of True Death.
Although it wasn't against the rules to kill your opponent because Priests have [Resurrection], the spell needs at least 50% of the target's body in order to work. Less than that, the spell would never work.
In the end, Zean let go of his sword and then quickly distanced himself from Crew.
Woooh!
Psssh!
Crew threw the [Poison Bomb] away towards Zean but missed and it exploded into a green mist.
Thud!
Sliii...
Clang!
This time around, Crew dropped his shield before carefully pulling out the sword on his throat and then throwing it away.
[Greater Heal].
Spit!
The moment the wound on his neck healed, he quickly spat out a mouthful of blood that was clogging down in his throat.
[Soul Bomb].
Woooh!
Boo-oooo…!
A white-colored water-like ball was thrown at him and it exploded into a white mist.
Chud!
Before he could recover, Zean already jumped on his back with another [Soul Bomb] spell forming on his hand.
Boo-oooo…!
Thud!
White mist exploded as Zean locked his arm around Crew's neck and his legs around his torso, choking him from behind, as they both fell to the ground.
[Poison Strike].
Psssh!
As the green mist exploded on them, they both immediately cast another spell.
[Cure].
A green light enveloped Crew's body.
[Cure].
Zean, on the other hand, deactivated [Soul Strike] first and then a green light enveloped his body as well.
[Soul Bomb].
And then cast another [Soul Bomb] as he continued choking Crew.
Boo-oooo…!
"Let's see who's going to run out of mana first…!"
[Power Fist].
Crew threw a skill on Zean's face.
Paa-riiip!
The skin on Zean's face was all peeled off, some of the muscles were torn, the bones on his right cheek were broken, and he lost his eyesight on his right eye.
[Soul Bomb].
Boo-ooo…!
[Heal].
Zean absorbed Crew's mana once again and then healed himself as he continued choking him.
Crew got up and then bent his legs slightly.
[Power Leg].
Wooom!
He used the skill's momentum to jump higher and then tried to position himself in mid-air where he would land on Zean.
THUD!
However, Zean already anticipated it and immediately tried to counter it. In the end, they both landed on their left side with Zean continuing to choke Crew.
"Give up…!" Zean said as he tightened the choke-hold.
"NEVER…!!!" Crew replied as he tried to claw Zean's arms and face.
A few seconds later, Crew finally stopped struggling.
Isaac rushed over to them.
"End of fight!"
Zean unwrapped his arms and legs around Crew and pushed his body to the side before rolling to the opposite direction.
[Resurrection].
A blue light enveloped Crew's body and he opened his eyes.
Isaac and Zean were standing over him and they both offered their hands.
"That was a great fight, brother! I doubt anyone could top that off!" Zean said and smiled.
Isaac nodded.
"The both of you did well."
Crew reached out for their hands and they pulled him up.
After that, Isaac stood between them and grabbed their wrists before raising Zean's wrist.
"The winner of the first fight for the preliminary round, Brother Zean!"
The crowd cheered that some were even crying.
Isaac let go of Zean and Crew's wrists and then turned to them.
"The both of you did very well, so stand proud. Now hug it out. Remember, by the end of the day, we're all Brothers and Sisters."
Pat, pat.
Zean and Crew hugged and then patted each other's back.
"Great fight, brother! You really cornered me!"
"You too…!"
***
7:53 p.m.
Somewhere in Luxen City.
Vooom!
A Knight was running in a blur as he traversed the streets of the city. He didn't stop running until he arrived at his destination.
There were also other Knights sent out to other locations.
And although there was a rule that people weren't allowed to move beyond Iron-Grade or even travel on rooftops, as someone who was part of the city's Enforcer Units, he was allowed to do it under special circumstances.
He finally arrived at his destination.
In front of him was the main gate of the Temple of Priests' private compound. He rushed over to the side near the guard house.
"ANYONE HERE?! THERE'S AN EMERGENCY!"
A Priest stuck his head out of the window.
It was Leo, one of the White Cloak Priests in charge of guarding the Main Gate at night.
"Hold on for a moment," he said before stepping out of the guard house and heading over to the Knight.
The Knight saluted.
"What happened?" Leo asked.
"The Royal Palace is currently being attacked by a group of demon-kins and demon-worshippers."
A frown appeared on Leo's face.
"A Wave?"
"No, but it is being led by the former Supreme Captain!"
The frown on Leo's face grew deeper.
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…
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There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain a lot of spoilers or dispel a lot of mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 220-224 are posted there.
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