It was entirely possible, easy, in fact, for Eldrian to obtain approval for Diane to teleport over. Vivian might struggle, but she was on friendly terms with Pelaros and Myropsis. If she asked for their aid, it was entirely possible for things to be arranged. Which meant they could even waive the initial 100 gold cost.
Vivian had also earned quite a bit of earnings. Her aura, whatever it may be, was incredibly effective at killing the undead and cleansing areas with miasma. She would even be able to pay the advanced cost and all—should it be required.
Since Vivian had asked Eldrian for a match, and brought him out here, far away from civilization, it didn't take a genius to know her motive.
She wanted to test herself.
Coming to this conclusion, Eldrian decided to steel his heart. He might be worried about hurting Vivian, but he couldn't go easy on her. She wanted to test herself, and he had to oblige. It was the least he could do as her friend. She had done the same for him back when he had been the weaker of the two.
Even so, ground rules had to be established.
"Alright. I get it." Saying such, Eldrian took out Crystoi. "We start without magic." Eldrian did not move to create distance between them. Hardly a meter separated the two. This would put Vivian in an advantageous position.
Taking out her own sword, Nelida's Flame, Vivian nodded. She got into her stance, readied her heart, and paused... Frowning, she noticed the distance between them.
"Shall we move a bit apart?" Vivian asked, and Eldrian, quite satisfied by the fact that Vivian had paused, nodded.
Had she charged to make use of her advantage, she might have managed to win. But she wouldn't have been able to fully test herself.
"Let's." With that, the two separated further.
Not just another meter, though. Instead, they moved until ten meters separated them. Since they would start without magic, this distance wouldn't mean much. But it would give Eldrian more room to play with. After all, a spear wielder wanted distance.
Retaking her stance, Vivian slowed her breathing and calmed her heart. A fierce fire burned within her. She wanted—no, she needed to prove herself here. Not to Eldrian, not to anyone else. To herself.
"Do we exclude skills at the start?" She asked, her atmosphere unlike before. She felt like a completely different person. Almost emotionless.
"I'm not much for technique, let's include them." Despite all the battles he had lived through, Eldrian did not feel confident in his spear skills. For the most part, he relied on his stats and magic to bring him victory. If they couldn't do it, he went to his auras.
He knew a few tricks and a handful of skills. But he was not master of the spear. He couldn't compare to those who had spent years refining their skills. But that was to be expected, after all, he spent that time refining his magical skills. Everyone had the same amount of time, and Eldrian simply used his for magic instead of technique training.
"Alright." Vivian nodded.
A moment of silence stretched on. Until, finally, Vivian charged.
Her speed was certainly something to behold. A cloud of dust filled Eldrian's view, and a sword came directly for his head.
He blocked the attack easily enough. Using the reach of his spear to keep Vivian at a distance. However, her skills made this quite difficult. She moved fast, incredibly so. Her attacks landed hard, enough to send shockwaves through Eldrian's arms. And...
'She vanished?!' For a moment, Vivian's form had flickered in the dust. And then she was gone. Sheer instinct allowed Eldrian to react.
Sensing danger, he moved. Summoning magic, he blew away the dust, abandoned Crysoi, pulled out a spare weapon from his inventory to block Vivian's attack, and tried to keep his balance.
The clash sent him stumbling despite his bests attempts at keeping his balance. Vivian was quick to follow her attack, trying to make the most of this opening. Which was highlighted even more by the weapon Eldrian had pulled out. It was the massive hunk of metal he used to crush the undead with from a distance via ether manipulation. It was not something usable in a duel.
He quickly abandoned it, throwing it at Vivian, using magic to pull Crystoi to his hands, and jumping high to buy time.
Vivian didn't even flinch. She struck the hunk of metal aside, the clank of which nearly deafened her hearing. Yet, she didn't stop.
She continued her charge, swinging her sword to the side. Crystoi, which had just been about to strike her, fell to the ground. And before Eldrian could try anything else, a maw of flames came at him.
He had no way to dodge, so Eldrian had to use more magic. Though, by this point, he was fully relying on it.
Yet, he did not counter the attack. Eldrian noticed that it was too strong. This was clearly the active ability: Burst of Passion. Should Eldrian attempt to cancel the attack, the shockwave would put him into an even more disadvantageous position.
Instead, he took flight again. Moving out of the way of the maw, he turned to attack Vivian. Shockingly, she was already on him—or where he had aimed his landing. Covered in blood-red flames.
Getting within two meters would mean entering the range of her flames. Thus, Eldrian retreated again. He took flight while sending an ice attack at Vivian.
Eldrian could easily enough stall or even win the fight by relying on the flight, but that would be quite a cheap and underhanded tactic. Perhaps on another day, he would teach Vivian how to counter-flying opponents.
This match, however, was one for her to prove her strength. Honing in on one of her weaknesses and using it to render her unable to counter would be too mean.
Yet, Vivian didn't give Eldrian any breathing room. His attack had been deflected easily enough. Most of the icicles had melted before reaching her, and the few stronger ones Eldrian had hidden within their ranks had been cut in half. All while she had charged to his next landing location
At this point, Eldrian felt like an idiot. He was using flight more like wind blasts, directing his movement but not truly flying. And Vivian had immediately noticed this and done her best to pin Eldrian where he would land.
Instead of retreating again, Eldrian called Crystoi, pulled out two daggers, and aimed a spell at Vivian's blindside.
Reading him perfectly, Vivian cut through Eldrian's spells, dodged Crystoi, and deflected his half-assed dagger attacks. Still, the effort had allowed Eldrian to land and reclaim Crystoi as his main weapon and finally land.
"Is that all you've got?" Vivian asked, smirking as she did. So far, their match had gotten off to a nice start. However, she understood that Eldrian was still holding back.
Still, that didn't change the fact that he had relied on magic within the first few seconds. Vivian took pride in that. Sure, Eldrian himself would admit his lacking melee skills. But it still felt good. For far too long, Eldrian had managed to suppress her due to the gap in their stats.
Finally, she had closed that gap and reclaimed her position as the better duelist.
"Oh, I'm just getting started!" Eldrian countered. Himself smiling just as broadly as Vivian. He could still clearly remember when he was helpless against Vivian's onslaughts. It was nostalgic to find himself pressed into a corner.
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