Five minutes later, we stood outside the tent, still waiting for them to pick who I would face.
"I can’t believe the disrespect," Harold murmured in frustration, the source of which was clear. The argument was not about who would have the honor of fighting with me, but who would have the disrespect of having to fight against a Blacksmith, as if the mere idea of fighting against me would dirty them forever.
There was a silencing field around them, but that wasn’t enough to hide the obvious argument, nor its true nature.
"Calm down, Harold," I said. "Our honored guests naturally have their own concerns," I said, accompanied by a pointed glare to keep his mouth shut. The last thing I needed was for them to take offense. Then, I turned to Rosie. "What do you think," I said.
"It’s good for our gracious betters to give us this opportunity," she said. "We just have to respect their traditions and fight. Hopefully, you’ll last for more than a minute, and will be gracious in your win, especially without using mana."
"Of course. That would be disrespectful to the martial honor we hold the duel under," I replied, and she nodded, confirming I got what she was leading at.
Basically, try not to use mana unless absolutely necessary, and don’t humiliate them too much. Understandable, as we wanted them to respect us, and not get scared enough to ask for reinforcements, which they were fully capable of.
But, she was also asking me to win.
While they continued to discuss, I wondered about the weapon choice. Technically, the spear would be the best, putting my mobility advantage to the limit while I slowly destroyed their armor with decay, but I feared that it wouldn’t be treated as honorable.
Using a sword was tempting, especially since each carried one, but two things pushed me away. One, my fights with Eleanor had taught me that Skill advantage mattered a lot with the swords, so that might actually put me at a disadvantage. Also, they might take offense to me using the same weapon as them.
Hammer it was, then, which had the added benefit of reinforcing my identity as a blacksmith. Their leader seemed to warm up to that fact once I resisted his Charisma without capitulating.
Once the decision was made, one of the guards split from the rest. "I’m honored to face the honorable regent in the field of combat," he said, though every single part of his body language radiated disdain. He hated the idea, and he wasn’t trying hard to hide it. Lord Leona either didn’t notice, or didn’t care.
"The honor is mine," I replied and moved forward, pulling my hammer readily.
My weapon of choice made him hate me even more, to the point that his lips curled under his helmet, but I was more concerned with the faint sense of approval I felt from Leona, which was far better.
"Begin," Leona called, and with that, my opponent lashed forward.
He was fast, but not as fast as I had expected. Also, his attack was more direct than I expected even as his weapon was surrounded by Vitality. I used the handle of my warhammer to deflect the attack, activating Adamant Stance, which was available even without using a sword.
His attack bounced while I stayed in place. He didn’t appreciate that fact much.
He was unaware that I used the contact to get an even better analysis of his weapon, and more importantly, his skill. It was hard to distinguish the details perfectly from the impression I picked from one attack, but I was reasonably sure that it was merely Epic, and not a particularly progressed one, which was rather surprising.
Not only that, but also his stats weren’t too impressive. It depended on his level, but to my best guess, he received two Dexterity and two Strength for every level up. Eleanor when we met would have slain him easily … assuming they were equipped with the same quality. If she was actually using her equipment back then, he would have won.
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After my class upgrade, wearing the armor I currently do, he was nothing more than a nuisance.
Naturally, I didn’t show that. Instead, I used Vitality to cover the head of my hammer, and fought defensively. I still pushed my hammer skill to the limit, but the defense was not the strong suit of Hammer of Avalanche.
To his credit, he adapted well. Under the guidance of his skill, he fought in a way that limited my advantage in Strength, and turned our duel into a battle of speed and flexibility. Our Dexterity was not too far apart, and the style meant that he was the one attacking while I defended.
He had scored several attacks on me, which bounced off my armor ineffectively, not good enough to even leave a scratch.
Just like that, a minute had passed.
"Really, Jordy, you can’t take down a blacksmith —" one of the guards declared in disdain.
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Leona interrupted. "Silence, cretin! Respect the sanctity of the duel," he declared.
Not the best move, insulting his own guards with little provocation, which was made apparent by the sudden shift of attitude in guards. They suppressed it soon after, but I had a feeling that he was not well-loved.
A bad strategy even with Charisma helping him maintain control.
I watched their attitude with great interest. I had already developed a theory on Charisma fostering a weird drug-like dependency cycle. And, based on that, and the difference in attitude between the two high-ranked followers and the guards, I could see that the guards were assigned to him not too long ago. Maybe they were just there for the mission.
Interesting details that might prove useful, so I took note.
I continued to fight, more than happy to play for time. I could have revealed more of my abilities, or taunted him openly to force a mistake, but I did neither.
Time was on my side.
Unsurprisingly, before the fight had reached the three-minute mark, his attitude switched, turning more aggressive, aiming for the truly vulnerable spots I had, like my eyes and mouth. But, attacking those spots against someone wasn’t easy. A hammer might have been disadvantageous in battle, but not to such an extent.
And, every overreach, I punished with a devastating hit on his armor, targeting the strong parts like shoulders and chest, each shot ringing loudly as I slowly distorted its structure.
His armor was good, but not good enough to deal with my hammer.
Watching his armor slowly get damaged under the attacks of a mere blacksmith, he got even more aggressive in turn, until he overextended too much. And, with a slam of my hammer, I disarmed him, then pointed at him with my hammer as I stepped on his sword. "Yield," I called.
He looked at his lord first. Leona nodded. "I yield," he squeezed between his tight jaw. His fellow guards looked at him in disdain, clearly under the impression that they could have done better. It was either System-induced discrimination, or pure arrogance from a recent power-up.
Either way, it affected my opponent very much. Watching him as he picked up his sword and retreated while throwing glances at me, I was sure that I had made an enemy for life.
Too bad he didn’t even make it to my list.
"I hope my display didn’t shame my home too much, my lord," I said.
"No, watching a mere blacksmith adapt to the martial path is something to be proud of," he declared, probably not even registering his words as an insult. But, I would happily bear that insult to not deal with the ascended from the city.
"I’m glad," I said. "May I ask what are your plans while we wait for Lady Maria’s arrival. Please note that it might take a few weeks. She had departed on an important journey."
"A few weeks," he declared in distaste, and for a moment, I hoped that he would turn and leave, a diplomatic party with an opening offer of annexation was not my ideal neighbor. "We have to rely on your hospitality, then."
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However, when I looked at Rosie, I caught her barely hidden glee. It clicked. I was focusing on the threat they represented, but their reckless arrogance could easily be turned into an asset. If utilized well, they would be a perfect shield against the other diplomatic parties once we dropped the ’suggestion’ of annexation.
With the ’suggestion’ on the table, the others would be more careful to push. It was a chance to play them against each other and stay safe.
I just needed to be careful. History was filled with the tragedies of minor powers that tried to play off major powers against each other.
"Rosie, why don’t you arrange a residence that’s fitting for their dignity, one that they don’t have to deal with mere production classes," I said. "And, I trust the honor of the name of Asterion that they won’t raise their swords against any of the citizens. I’m honor-bound to defend them, after all."
While their presence could be useful, I had no intention of letting those arrogant knights mix with my people, and I had no problem baiting their immature lord with his own honor.
"Of course not. Any that tries to impugn my honor, I’ll cut down myself!" he declared.
Excellent.