Vol. 2 Chapter 6: A Lesson About Ranks

As a protest to what she deemed as the 'stupidity' of hotheads, Lady Yanari opted to avoid watching the fight. She sent Lady Menea in her stead as the arbiter for the duel. The elf assistant was also the right choice, for she had witnessed human duels from the 1890s to early 1900s. Thus, she knew the rules of proper duels; not just the 'duels' prominent in a lot of Japanese light novels and mangas I read.

"This duel will be stopped once blood has been drawn, or one side concedes defeat before that," she explained to us, taking care that we understood everything by casting a spell that automatically translated her words into our native tongues. "If I stopped the fight, then you will obey. Otherwise, I will do what is necessary to avoid deaths and maiming attacks."

Our nods signaled to the elf lady that we understood her conditions. Then, after she stepped back, we took our positions; carefully walking there as we both didn't want the other side 'sneaking' up on us. The technician activated the magic spell that enclosed the area with an air bubble, so that the audience's shouts and jeers wouldn't be heard.

A perfect condition to stay alert at all times...

"Yuuki, is it?" Steve began, deliberately leaving the customary 'Mister' as a show of contempt. "I really am surprised; you actually a—buoh!"

One quick foot to his face sent the mage hurtling on the wall behind them, much to Tenda's shock.

"Lesson number one, when you are in the middle of a fight," my guard stance was up, and I gestured for the remaining foe to 'come at me.' "This isn't anime; first to strike wins!"

'Blood' had been 'drawn' from Steve, as he was already injured, so he was automatically out. I was not to attack him, nor he was allowed to attack me. Just to make sure, Lady Menea had a magic spell wrap his body so he couldn't move. Meanwhile, Tenda was provoked, and he attacked me head-on with a spell.

But this is where my close combat physical attacks excel...

Magic spells take time to cast. The more powerful the magic, the longer the chant needed to activate it. Coincidentally, Tenda's arrogance made him chant a long spell after surrounding himself with a barrier. Of course, as a 'thinking enemy,' I wouldn't wait for him to finish his spell, so I counter-attacked, distracting the mage with a feint kick that was not really designed to break his 'shield.' When Tenda winced, his concentration suffered and weakened the barrier; thus, it became easy for me to crush it with my successive punches.

"!!!"

When the magic shield broke, I sent a downward kick crashing onto his skull.

"First round ends!" Lady Menea declared.

-----

Before the duel, we actually agreed to a three-round duel, though those two initially wanted a single-round combat. Of course, I disagreed. Not because I was not confident defeating them, but it was all part of my plans. Number one step to defeating your enemy was to play by their rules, which meant I had to show I was afraid of them. I proposed a five-round fight, though Lady Menea compromised at three. For our weapons, it was a 'free-for-all' rule without lethal implements. That meant actual guns and bladed weapons were forbidden.

So, we resorted to clubs and other blunt instruments. But here was where my step number two entered. As a martial arts practitioner, I could fight with my fists and legs alone. However, we were still taught to use weapons that played to our advantage; after all, in real battles, your enemy wouldn't be as chivalrous as you want them to be. Still, I insisted on fighting without a weapon. This was to send a message to those spoiled brats who depended on their system-granted privileges and arrogance.

This is real life. Online game rules don't apply, no matter how much the Adventurers' Agency implemented a rank system for adventurers to incentivize their learned skills.

"Raging whirl—gueh!"

"Tenda! You bast—urk!"

Two quick jabs to their chest, then followed by a 'stab' to their throat, immediately sucked the air out of the adventurers' lungs. As they crawled, struggling to breathe, I kicked their wands to ensure they were completely helpless.

"Second round ends!" came Lady Menea's call.

At that moment, my eyes happened to look at the audience. Though the air bubble was still up, I could see that they were completely silent by the brutality of our fight. No one moved; many had their mouth gaping wide, and some had a terrified look on their faces. It was as if they stared at 'Death' himself...a far cry from the rowdy, noisy, and swooning crowd earlier.

After the end of the second round, we were given a two-minute break before the third and final round. Honestly, it was supposed to end at round two, but the adventurers seemed not to learn their lessons, insisting we go all the way to three rounds, hoping they would score against me.

Dudes, I'm also a platinum rank masquerading as a green band. I just like challenging the system from the lowest up to the highest, like in online games! What's more, I belonged to the only adventurer party that cleared six of the infamous Seven Most Dangerous Dungeons of the World!

"..."

But yeah, I won't tell them that. Sometimes, it's satisfying to see the despairing faces of these spoiled idiots underestimating and disrespecting their opponents.

"Y-You...you just caught us off-guard!" Steve insisted, trying to steady his quivering knees. "D-Don't get ahead of yourself!"

"Alright, then." I put my hands behind my back. "I won't attack you in 10 seconds. Give me your best shots, bozos."

I could tell Tenda and Steve were riled up by my 'arrogance,' and yes, it was deliberate on my part. This was step three of my plan; catch these idiots off-guard through provocations, a basic tactic in dungeon raids, really. But for non-sentient monsters, we use magic to piss them off, instead of mere words.

My foes then got into formation. It was the classic 'hammer-and-anvil' formation used by mages to defend themselves while attacking. To put it simply, one mage—the 'anvil'—would chant the offensive spell. Then, since a powerful spell took time to cast, the 'hammer'—the other mage—would cast shorter spells designed to defend the anvil and wear down their enemy through injuries and frequent movement. Once the anvil completes the powerful spell, he would release it and wipe their foes in one fell swoop.

So, these morons are not incompetent buffoons after all...

Originally, such tactic was developed during the World Wars. See, the casting time was often the killer of pure mage battalions going on offensives. To minimize deaths, they created and implemented the 'hammer-and-anvil' but with ordinaria soldiers on the 'hammer' roles. After the end of the conflict in 1945, new spells were created, focused particularly on short-chant spells. That enabled mages to defend themselves in fast, close-combat situations. As they didn't want to depend entirely on the protection the ordinaria gave them, so 'hammer-and-anvil' was adapted to all-mage battle formations.

I guess Tenda was the more powerful of the two, as he was the one chanting the longer spell. From the build-up effects, I could tell it was fire-based magic, and fire magic was the ultimate offensive spell. Many of the so-called 'area-of-effect' spells were under its mastery.

Heh, this guy is already going for the kill!

Steve was the one assigned the 'hammer' role, rushing to my spot and firing a quick succession of fire-based spells. Of course, while I did say I won't attack them for 10 seconds, I wouldn't let myself be hit for free. Compared to them, I already got lots of handicaps.

The attacking mage hurled fireballs at me, which I easily evaded. Since fire-based offensive magics were slow, he switched to earth magic, creating small stones that he threw like slingshot bullets towards me, like firing a machine gun.

I still got two seconds left before going hands-free...

Of course, it was frustrating when you were so powerful but couldn't land a single to your unarmed, non-magic enemy. Because of my quick reflexes, Steve often had to repeatedly create stones and fire those immediately before I could get away, which I did anyway. I ran around the entire simulation area, which was the size of two Olympic-sized rooms. Combining the terrain with his impatience, the entire process of creating and shooting quickly sapped his mana reserves.

"!!!"

As soon as I saw Steve's knees buckled, and my 10-second allowance expired, I resumed my attack. With one roundhouse maneuver, I hit the mage's body with three successive kicks; first to his crotch, next to his chest, and then to his face, sending a couple of teeth and blood shooting from his mouth.

But of course, will I let Tenda finish his magic spell to hit me?

"Wha—"

Even before Steve landed, which would make him 'protected' by the 'blood drawn' clause of our duel's contract, I moved to 'catch' him, then sent the mage on a spin to his other pal. Tenda was almost done with his spell, but got distracted when he saw his friend about to him. He quickly evaded, dispelling all the build-up he did. However, just before Tenda recovered...

"You think I will let you?"

"Please, no..." A punch to his gut pushed the air and saliva out of him, though I never let Tenda stand. Another knee to his face broke his nose, then followed by a roundhouse kick to his temple that shut the living daylights out of him.

"T-Third round ends!" Lady Menea declared through the intercom. Normally calm and composed, I was surprised to see her scared at what I did. But she eventually regained her wits and declared, "Mister Yuuki wins!"

I thought the air bubble was still up because there was no sound coming from the audience. But then, as I exited the simulation room, I met the medical team going in to recover the unconscious adventurers. Only then did I realize that everyone was stunned at the results of the fight.

This is what I want to 'say.' Ranks are useless on battlefields without the experience to support them.

-----

As I went to the technician's room, my teammates came to meet me halfway.

"What are you doing?" I asked Temaire; everyone's eyes were on us. "You'll be seen as our teammate, and our cover will be blown."

"Eh, I don't care anymore," she replied with a shrug. "You are more important than their opinions."

A pause then followed. For some reason, the conversation between us died. Fortunately, Temaire broke the ice once again; she raised her hands, offering me hi-fives. "Yeaaah!"

Of course, still elated after my win, I obliged. "Kicked their asses, I did!"

Then, as fast as we exchanged hi-fives, her mood immediately soured. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. "Don't you dare do that again, Yuuki! Deciding for yourself to resign and duel those stupid adventurers..."

"You'll murder them, so I'm just protecting those people from you."

"They should know better; they pissed me, they'll suffer my wrath."

"See?"

"I demand a goodnight kiss later to appease my holy wrath."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

At once, the dark aura around Temaire dissipated, and she moved aside to make way for Rico, who congratulated me with a hug. She whispered, "Alice wants to say something to you."

"Oh?" My eyes turned towards our brawler, who was completely silent, standing behind our scout.

"Y-Yuuki..."

Rico suddenly let me go and pushed Alice towards me. The latter continued, "I...I don't know w-what to say...I-I've never been treated like this, you know?"

"Treated you with?"

"I-I mean...I'm happy you fought for me, but to risk your adventurer's reputation..."

"Heh, just say 'thank you,' Alice! I would do that again, you know, should someone insult any of you to my face."

"Eh?"

"You're welcome!"

The brawler was initially surprised, but then collected herself and took a deep breath. She asked, "Can I whisper something to you, Yuuki?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Alice drew near me as I turned my ear to her. However, she quickly took hold of my head, made me face her, and dropped a kiss on my lips...with her tongue, too. Camera flashes immediately activated as Temaire and Rico stood in complete shock.

-----

With that, the issue about Alice ended.

"..."

Which would be ideal at this time, but actually, it wasn't done just yet.

"You cheated!" Amidst the swoons and giggles of everyone who witnessed what Alice had done to me, the angry voices of Tenda and Steve echoed, calling out to me.

"Mister Tenda and Mister Steve," it was Lady Menea. "As an arbiter, I saw that Mister Yuuki won your duel fair and square."

"How is that fair and square?" Steve cried out. "First and second rounds, he never let us prepare!"

"Why would I let you?" I countered. "You've been too arrogant, now suffer for it!"

"My father will hear this!" Tenda warned. "We demand another duel!"

"I can't let you," the elf lady stopped him. "You are already injured; allowing this to continue will be negligence on our part."

"Haven't you learned your lessons?" Alice confronted them. "In the first place, this wouldn't happen if you only used your heads and refused to believe stupid rumors!"

By then, adventurers had gathered around to watch the desperate adventurers provoke me. The only exceptions were their team leader, Eodvig, who tried to dissuade them.

"Just accept defeat, guys!" he pleaded. "Haven't you had enough?"

"That ordinaria cheated!" Steve accused me. "How can he win with just a green rank? This is stupid! That slut certainly did something to make him win!"

"You want to take me on?" the brawler finally snapped, took out her gloves and cast a spell that strengthened her fists. Rico, Lady Menea and I had to hold her just to separate Alice from the idiots.

"You can't deny that you are a slut—"

"Hey!" Everyone's attention shifted from the desperate loser and into Temaire, who kept her silence all this time. At that moment, she pulled her wand—the rapier of House d'Anvilles—and cast a wind magic spell on it. With a flick of her finger, she caused her wind to pick up Tenda and Steve by their necks and hang them a few feet from the ground. "I'm already pissed at your stupid antics; don't make me duel you."

Perhaps overwhelmed by fear of her, the idiots ceased to struggle, staring only at my childhood friend with silent fear.

"Let me be clear, not only to you, but to everyone else in this room," Temaire's piercing glares sent cold shivers down our spines. "These are my teammates; if you have issues with them, you have to go through me. And...if you keep on slandering Klubnika, then you will face my wrath!"

-----

I really did have mixed feelings about my win.

"..."

"In a hindsight, I might've come harsh, but it was good that I beat those idiots up. After all, fake rumors suck; and I won't allow anyone to insult my fiancée!"

"..."

"Maybe it was violent of me to do that; nevertheless, at least those morons stopped."

"Maybe you should stop putting a voice-over in my thoughts, Alice," I told her. A few days after that duel, I went outside to 'cool-off' and reflect on my actions. Well, I admit, those were really what was on my head; just that, it was quite annoying to have it broadcasted to everyone else. With Temaire admitting to others that we were her teammates, there was an interest in our identities. Lady Yanari had another trouble trying to keep the lid on our personal information from the prying media.

Also, the video of my duel spread on the internet, causing shock and disbelief among the mages, and admiration from the 'ordinaria.' Lady Menea noted that there was an increase in adventurer applications from the 'ordinaria' all over the country for two days now, and Temaire was delighted to learn online pages were being created that was dedicated to me.

"Everyone's realizing your greatness, Yuuki!" she excitedly told me. But the next day, she was in a sour mood because her number of rivals increased.

Personally, I don't care. Give it a few months, and the hype will die.

Alice laughed and tapped me on my shoulder. Then, she pulled out a box of cigarettes and was about to light up a stick when I took it off her hands.

"What—"

"You're going back to adventuring. Get healthy."

"I'm more muscular than you. And a lot of Russians consume cigarettes than you think."

"Being muscular is one thing; running away from hordes of monsters is another. The last thing we want to see is you trying to catch your breath, and we can't do anything but watch you die because you can't keep up. And I don't care if all Russians do it; I'll force you to stop."

"You really sound like my mother."

"When I was playing online games, my role is always that of a 'camp mama.'"

"Suits you," she snickered.

Then, another round of silence. We watched people pass our spot while hanging around by the convenience store near the Adventurers' Agency headquarters. The last few days had been stressful, not only for me but also the others. So, it was nice to get some moments of peace like this.

"Where have you been all these years?" I broke the ice by asking Alice. "Looks like you offended everyone with your mouth, huh?"

"After we disbanded? Well, I tried joining other parties, see?" the brawler sighed. "Got myself into more trouble, as you know now. But hey, I'm really harsh, though I did it because those guys won't take adventuring seriously. And really, I learned from you; one mistake, and it can spell death for us."

"Well, people can take your words and actions personally, even when you intend them for good."

"Yes, it's true..." There was a hint of pain in her tone as she said that. "By the way, I changed my named from Alice to Klubnika; since Temaire said my hair reminds her of strawberries."

"Yeah, you two got a lot of similarities, you know? Maybe it's why you irritate each other."

"Heh, true," Alice had a nostalgic smile. "But unlike her, I tried to be a good adventurer to my new teammates."

I said nothing. I felt like this buxom lady only want someone to listen.

"But at the same time, they hated me. They say I'm too domineering, or toxic. Whatever, lol. So, I quit."

"Sounds like a rough life, huh?"

"I'm okay with the money; my family's pretty well-off, and I saved up a lot from our previous travels and sponsorships. Just that, I have no friends other than you guys. Good thing I met Rico in China back then; otherwise, the stress would have been too much."

My eyes fell inadvertently on her arms, which had several scars from different wounds...and lacerations. Some of those I could remember; she earned it from our adventures. Others...though Alice was an imposing lady based on her appearance alone, in the end, she was still someone dependent on her friends. I touched one of her scars near the wrist, to which Alice nearly jumped in surprise.

"You added a few scars again?"

"Those are old ones."

"You can't fool me."

"How can you tell?"

"I'm your porter. I take care of my teammates; that includes looking after you guys."

"Don't make me cry." Her voice wavered, though. "You've been running to escape your adventuring teammates, but you keep endearing yourself to us. Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Sorry," was all I could say. Not that I was deliberately 'seducing' them, but I could relate to their struggles.

"Hey, Yuuki."

"Yep?"

"The Adventurers' Agency don't like us to reveal our identities, even to our teammates, right?"

"Because they claim to be impartial; look at Temaire, everyone knows her, everyone wants to be in her party."

"Yeah, I get that. But I want you to know this..."

"Oh...?"

"My real name is Kseniya Nikiforovna, from the House of Sokolov. You know that magic family, right?"

I only nodded. If I remember correctly, the House of Sokolov is a Russian noble family hailing back to its Imperial days, having survived the Bolsheviks, and masters of earth magic. They sat on the council that governed the Society of Mages since its founding in the 1700s.

"So now that you know my name, I don't want OyasumiSe7en to disband again," Alice admitted as tears fell on her cheeks. "I love hanging out with you guys, even with that rotten croissant!"

I couldn't think of any words to tell her. I just spread my arms and hugged Alice. "Welcome home!"