Gilaahan. Late afternoon.
A remote forest region outside the city of Dafur.
There was a relatively open space in the forest, which was soon going to turn into a battlefield for the two rankers.
A gray-haired young woman and a white-haired man were seen standing in front of each other. A safe distance was observed between them. However, this distance was not much for the two Awakened rankers.
This young woman's leather armor fit her curvy figure snugly, giving her a very attractive visual appeal. She had a prominent bust and shapely legs that made her feminine and strong at the same time. She wore both pairs of arm and shoulder guards, serving as her defensive equipment. She also wore a simple and sophisticated pendant that had a pink runic stone serving as its ornament.
The man in front of this young woman looked to be in his mid-20s, a bit older than the girl's age. Unlike the gray-haired girl, he also had an air of maturity around him.
This man had natural blue highlights in his white hair, giving him a peculiar look. He had icy blue eyes and very attractive facial features.
This man was seen donning a typical ranker's outfit from Earth. He wore chainmail armor inside his white shirt. He wore a leather jacket over his shirt. The ensemble was complete with rugged black pants made from a Rank -2 mana beast. As a result, his black pants had some sort of scale on them.
This man was also seen wearing arm guards for his defensive artifact. He had a complete armor set available to him which he could summon at any time. However, he preferred to keep himself focused on his agility for his spar with the young woman. He had a feeling she was pretty fast in her moves.
"Hehe. I guess I have to thank you for finally accepting my offer, Eren."
The girl in Gilaahan spoke thick Russian, indicating her origins as an Earth dweller. Her language was also free of blemishes, just like her clear skin. She then looked at Eren with a dissatisfied yet playful expression before continuing.
"But… I see that you are underestimating me by not equipping yourself with your complete Bear armor set. I will not be easy on you to protect your male ego, you know."
Sofiya smiled at Eren before warning him. She was excited. This was the first time in a long while that she would be fighting with someone like her– someone who was Hexer and battlemage both. So of course, she was highly motivated to spar with Eren.
The gear Sofiya was wearing was also Hex gear. Unlike Eren, she did not have a complete set. So she could only equip herself with whatever she had.
Owning complete Hex gear was the dream for most low-level Hexers. It was not only a matter of time and resources. The Hex gear itself was already very rare, to begin with. Only a few craftsmen and artifact inventors could make and repair it. So it was no wonder that Sofiya wanted to see Eren, with his full Hex gear on, in action.
Sofiya knew that Eren had a complete School of Bear Hex gear set. By this point, she had learned everything she could about the fabled Last Spider. So she provoked Eren to use his entire arsenal against her.
Eren smiled lightly before replying to her in street-smart Russian.
"Haah! Sofiya, I have already staked my Bear armor on this spar. You can have all of it for yourself if you win.
But that doesn't mean I have to wear it to fight you. That wasn't in our agreement. Plus, I don't think I'll have to go that far when the fight is against you. I don't need to use big boys' toys to fight a kid."
Sofiya got annoyed by Eren's provocation, causing her to show her dissatisfaction by sticking her tongue out. She also got stunned by Eren's Russian, which would usually be used by hooligans from where she originated. She wondered how someone like Eren could speak her language in this way without ever being there. If she hadn't run a background check on Eren herself, she would have considered him to be from the same part of Earth as her.
***
The truth was, Eren knew that Sofiya was not to be taken lightly. The girl had a crazy hunger for battle. Plus, one could never be too careful with Hexers who were known to defy the norm with their intent-driven magic.
However, Eren also knew that girls like Sofiya wouldn't listen to sophisticated talks. They needed to be completely dominated without room for doubt if he wanted her to listen to him. Thus, he decided to boast in front of her.
That's why Eren accepted Sofiya's proposal to put his Bear armor set on the line for the spar. The lady battlemage wasn't willing to fight with Eren for pure battle joy alone. She also wanted to claim his complete armor set and modify it for her needs.
In exchange, Sofiya would join Eren's mercenary unit if she was lost in the spar. Eren didn't insist on her leaving the Stardust guild behind. After all, he hadn't left the guild in the first place.
Eren saw the potential hidden inside Sofiya Ivanova even without having to fight with her. He could use a ranker like her in his yet-to-be-named mercenary group. Therefore, he did not waste the opportunity to recruit her.
Frankly speaking, Eren needed this spar with Sofiya as much as she did. To mentally calm him down.
His mind was restless because he was yet to find the loot for which he had sacrificed so much. He needed to find Lagartha and Ariadne first before he initiated his mercenary unit plan.
Eren knew that Lagartha and Ariadne wouldn't betray him. But he was worried about their safety as well as the safety of the loot he had handed to them. After all, if there were so many people who were after the Last Spider, there was a chance somebody could chase after the loot that he might have run away with and find Lagartha and Ariadne's involvement by accident.
Of course, Eren had a few ways of finding Lagartha and Ariadne. He could always count on the master-slave connection he shared with Lagartha to guide him. He couldn't use that connection to pinpoint her location accurately. But he could make some rough estimates based on them.
If Eren's guess was correct, they both had left the Shaikai kingdom and settled elsewhere. This was fortunate for all three of them since it meant that they had escaped the authorities of the Shaikai kingdom safely. The only problem was that it made his job to find them even harder.
***
Eren sighed and shook his head to get rid of his worries. He knew there was nothing he could do. Observing how her silky hair was blown by the mild winds, he had to say that Sofiya was a stunning beauty.
In the next moment, Eren's mind was cleared of remaining distractions and he summoned his Awakened rank axes. He clenched them tightly before activating the runic patterns etched over them.
Seeing this, Sofiya got excited as well. She summoned her falchion in her hand as well before swinging it around her.
A spar between two Hexers– two battlemages– was about to unfold.
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