Chapter 17: Midnight Tussle

I wasn't too far behind Aviada in entering the forest, but while she decided to stand as a part of the house, I had sneaked around the perimeter, sneaking through the ward rather easily. It wasn't a weak ward, but the fact that it was mostly geared to contain monsters made my work much easier.

After a pause where I removed my servant disguise and changed into my hooded cloak, I dashed towards the opening where we promised to meet, killing occasional dire rabbits and foxes with a swing of my sword. Melee fighting might not be as effective as magic in killing strong monsters, but it was much more efficient when targeting the weaker ones. Also, it allowed me to maximize my melee skill.

[+2 Melee]

Thanks to my quick pace, I stepped into the opening soon after Aviada, but as I stepped in, I couldn't help but do a double-take. The subtle, but extremely effective change in her attire had caught me surprised. She was still wearing the cloak she had been when she left her room, but it was unclasped, revealing what she had been wearing underneath.

As the last night, she chose to wear a simple shirt rather than armor, but the shirt didn't have the same cut. It was tighter, still easy to move in but enough to add a hint of sexiness, something that was further enhanced by the small dip in the chest area. It wasn't a particularly deep cleavage, but with her chest size, it hadn't had to be to look sexy. And the fact that she was carrying her bloodied sword with an obvious mastery just enhanced the impression.

"How are you this fine evening, my noble savior," I said, going with a classical noble opening, but with just enough derision to indicate it was a joke.

"Rather well, mysterious warrior," she said, the subtle pressure on the word of mysterious hinting that, unlike last night, she expected some explanation.

I gave a mock bow, which made her chuckle. Then, when I started walking towards her, suddenly, I felt several triggers in my proximity ward, in the familiar presence of rabbits. The same motion I pulled my sword, I killed the closest one. Another swing killed one more.

The reason for the sudden assault would have been obvious even if I couldn't feel the presence of the lure spell. But more interesting, now that I was near her, I could feel that it wasn't her that cast it, but the sword, making it even more precious than my initial assumption.

A glance at her showed that she was busy watching me even as she killed her share of monsters. What she was expecting to see was obvious, so I decided to give it rather than pointlessly extending the situation. With a wave of my hand, I created ten different arcana bolts, each flying towards the target without missing, and killing them. An impressive-looking spell that required great magical expertise. Unfortunately, it didn't do much damage, even struggling with class one creatures with stronger damage. On the plus side, it was cheap.

[-5 Mana]

"Impressive," she said even as I stopped feeling the effects of the lure spell. "It's rare to see a mage that decides to learn the way of the sword, and even rarer to find one that could wield it half-decent, which makes you a curiosity," she continued as she closed in.

I might have taken insult to her arrogant way of talking, but the hint of interest underneath her tone went a long way to soothe my pride. "I aim to please," I said with another exaggerated bow, but she continued watching me without a hint of humor. "Let's just say that for reasons too long to explain, I had to fake being an Abnormal since I was a child. A drawback to it that I lacked the resources to guide my development, and being a master of both blade and magic seemed too attractive. When I finally managed to arrange to come to Silver Tower, it was too late to turn back, so I leaned in my unique situation further."

"Does it work," she asked curiously.

"That's a loaded question. The utility it gives is certainly useful, but it comes with a rather big trade-off in maximum power. But all around, it works well for my lonesome road."

"I understand," she said with a nod, which didn't surprise me. After all, I had constructed the story based on the information I was able to gather this morning. The story was structured in a way that would get her sympathies, showing both self-sufficiency and courage while plagued by the kind of structural problems she experienced in her life. Even better, it true enough to sustain any examination she could bring to bear.

For a moment, the silence stretched, then she said. "It must be disappointing, unable to live up to your promise," she said. "Even with such a specialization, you were able to kill a shadow wolf alone. I can't imagine how strong you would have been otherwise."

"I find it's for to best not to focus too much on what might have happened if the dice of fate rolled differently. I am here, and I'm strong enough to defend myself and mine. The only annoyance is the role I had to take as a stupid library worker, but I'm used to it, at least. Also, I can't say that I was able to kill a shadow wolf by myself. Your help was decisive."

"Nonsense," she said, waving the compliment away. "I have seen the state of it when I arrived. It was just a matter of time before you killed it. And more importantly, you managed to avoid its ambush in the darkness, alone, at a time that you have no reason to expect such a danger. I doubt that there is a handful of the students that would manage such a feat in the school. I don't doubt that there are even some teachers that would have fallen to it."

I just nodded in appreciation. What she said was correct, though it was more about the match-up between my skill set and the strength of the monster. I certainly wouldn't expect to survive against a more well-rounded monster in that caliber - not yet at least. "But that still leaves the question about who was responsible for its presence."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's already unlikely for a shadow wolf to sneak through the wards around the school unless it was tempted by something." She glanced towards her sword, but I cut her off. "No, the lure your sword has is not loud enough to be felt outside of the wards. But if I wasn't closer, using magic, I have no doubt you would be its target," I added, subtly reminding her that my presence saved her life, as some hidden appreciation wouldn't hurt.

"But if it wasn't my sword, what was it?" she asked.

"That's the question," I said. "But the fact that it managed to sneak in without raising any alarm while guards were absent is definitely suspicious. Until we can find better evidence, it's better to assume that it was a conspiracy aiming one of us, and try to stick into the crowds as much as possible."

"But that's not possible," she answered. "I have my reasons, but I can't afford to slow down my leveling!"

I could feel the strength of her determination as she spoke. Luckily, I had no intention of actually dissuading her. "Well, if you're determined in that, maybe we could work together. It would be safer." I could see she was dissatisfied with it, so I quickly moved to placate her. "I have no problems with you getting the lion's share of the rabbits and other critters. I don't really need the experience from them," I added, reinforcing her impression that I had a very high level, which made any possible benefit from the rabbits even less important.

"That might actually work," she murmured, looking thoughtful. Then, a smirk spread onto her face, adding a teasing quality to her face. "Of course, I need to make sure you're good enough to keep up," she added.

Despite knowing just how ill-advised it was, I decided to answer her challenge by pulling out my sword. "To the first blood?" I asked.

"That works," she answered, but even as the answer left her lips, her sword was cutting the air with great speed. Unfortunately for her, I could see her readying for that surprise strike before she could even move, and leaned back slightly, enough to make the sword miss me in a hair's breadth.

That show of courage worked wonders in enhancing the hint of respect in her eyes. It was not without a reason. Only through the absolute confidence in my agility and perception, I was able to take that risk, because I had seen just how effective her sword had been on a class eleven monster. A mistake might cost me my life, but once again, I found such a risk was easy to take to impress such an unusual, yet impressive, specimen of femininity.

She attacked once more, but this time, I parried. She looked dissatisfied by the path I took, but that was replaced by surprise when I changed the trajectory of my sword at the last moment, and rather than meeting the edge, pushed away on the blunt side. Or more accurately, tried to push as I found out that she was a great deal stronger than me. It was around fifteen, if I were to guess.

If her smirk was any indicator, she was aware of the gulf between our strength, and had no complications to leverage that. Instead of letting her sword fly away, she kept them in contact, changing the angle to rub the edges together. I took a step back, but not before she took a huge chunk out of my sword.

Intending to spice up the fight a bit, I raised my hand, about to send a few arcane bolts to her, to see how she would react, but the sight of sudden disappointment stopped me. Clearly, she was hoping for a martial only fight. Since impressing her was much more important than winning, I used the mana I had molded for a repair spell, dragging my finger along the edge of my sword to fix the edge, and reinforcing it a bit for the good measure. Just like that, the smile was back on her face.

[-10 Mana]

"Handy," she said cheekily before rushed towards me once more, this time much faster, showing that her strength wasn't the only physical stat she had been focusing for. Her agility and speed weren't anything to scoff either, though they were not at the level of her physical strength.

Once again I pulled back. I was afraid of meeting her strength and superior technique, supported by her more than decent agility. Her better reach made the situation even worse. My enhanced melee helped, but only a little. The only thing that allowed me to put a decent resistance was my mental abilities, particularly the manipulation, tricking her with a number of feints, preventing her from fully focusing on the assault.

But even then, the duel continued only because she wasn't applying her maximum capacity. It was obvious that she was more than capable of taking the victory in a purely-physical contest. But at least, I was giving enough to make it fun for her.

A minute passed with attacks and ripostes. I could see the beginnings of boredom on her face as she got a hang of my fighting style, and I chose that moment to push her sword with a display of agility I kept hidden, and stepped inside her guard. She could have killed me easily in that position, but wounding me slightly was out of option.

My sword slashed for once before I pulled back. "Just a bit more," I said, but while saying that, a flirting smile was on my face. The reason, the large gash I had left on her shirt, revealing a delicious view of her flat stomach.

[+20 Experience]

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For a moment, her expression was blank as she gazed at me, making me afraid that I had pushed the situation too much. But even then, I kept my smile steadily, and bringing all the charm that could be sustained by fourteen charisma. Luckily, it was enough, and a blush spread on her face, followed by a flirting smile that somehow managed to look intimidating at the same time. She charged with a skill that she hadn't displayed before, and soon, I had a matching cut on my shirt.

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"Just a bit more," she said, mirroring my phrase, and from there, the game was afoot. For the next few minutes, the duel continued with a renewed sense. It took a minute for my shirt to fell in tatters, leaving my upper body, and my brand-new muscles, in the display, but it wasn't entirely one-sided. I had managed to leave chip away her shirt enough to leave the task of covering her breasts to her chest bindings, which was, from what I could see, quite tight.

[+180 Experience]

[Achievement: Ferocious Flirting. Flirt through a combat situation risky enough to cause death in a mistaken move. +500 Experience, +2 Strength]

A smirk boomed on my face as I felt a renewed power filled my muscles, and I started pushing her more aggressively. My strength was still far from hers, but fresh two points were enough to enhance my strategic options significantly, especially since she wasn't expecting it. When I parried her next assault, I made sure to put enough strength behind my blow to make her sword veer out of my way, leaving me free to cut into

To her credit, she recovered quickly, but not fast enough to prevent me from leaving a vertical slash on her chest bindings. I wasn't able to cut it completely, but it loosened enough for her glorious breasts to show their full potential, while also giving me a good view of her tanned breasts.

[+200 Experience]

Her surprise lasted only for a second before she assaulted with a renewed vigor, revealing that just how much she had been underplaying her ability. Her blade swung with a skill that she hadn't displayed before, and my sword flew away from my hand without the slightest resistance.

She smirked as she brought the sword to my neck, creating a very small nick, but it hurt quite a bit despite its size, another indicator of the rather impressive value of her sword. Her chest puffed with the pride of her victory, which, under other circumstances, might have annoyed me quite a bit, but since my attention was more focused on the great view created by her move, I let the situation slide. She was aware of my gaze, and quite satisfied by it.

[-5 HP]

[+150 Experience]

"That wasn't terrible," I said with a challenging smirk. "But how about a more even fight, no weapons," I added, which made her courage waver for a moment, but my speech skill wasn't only useful for the situations I could talk. A quirk of my eyebrow gave the impression of an unintentional noting of her reluctance for a challenge that she wasn't holding an overwhelming advantage.

I wasn't surprised when she pushed her sword into the ground with a renewed challenge on her face. "Let's do it," she murmured. I couldn't help but smirk as I lunged forward, feinting an assault before pulling out at the last moment. She managed to react at the last second, but with significantly less skill than what she had for the sword fight, suggesting that she had picked a more specialized combat skill rather than picking melee.

Another assault later, took a hold of her arm, but only for a moment, because I didn't want to give her an opportunity to grab me. I didn't want to convert the situation where she could bear her full strength. But while I was pulling back, I kept a hold of her shirt, which, thanks to all the cuts over it, came off with a ripping sound, leaving her chest-bindings as her only protection.

Her arms rose to her chest in reflex, but a moment later, she let them fall, choosing to lunge towards me instead of trying to secure her modesty. The adrenaline was working even better than I could have hoped for, loosening any inhibition she might feel.

[+100 Experience]

With another level so close to attain, once again, I was tempted to push my luck. During the next attack, I managed to twist after grabbing her arm, and took a position behind her, forcing her arm behind as well. A yelp escaped her mouth, but it was cut short when I pushed my shaft onto her tight ass, stripping the pretense of the situation.

[+200 Experience]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Basic Stealth, Advanced Melee, Advanced Speech]

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I quickly selected melee before shifting my attention back to the situation. She was frozen, so I decided to introduce some movement to the situation, and started the dance of my hips. "Do you surrender?" I asked.

"Never," came the answer, but she was unable to hide a rather obvious sense of desire from her tone. I could feel that a rather fun event was about to happen.

Naturally, the involvement of the conspirators chose that exact moment to come to the surface, in the form of a trickling in the proximity ward I had set up. "Duck," I called her even as I raised my hand, glowing with a bright purple as a bunch of elemental hyenas burst into the opening, ready to attack.

I sent the bolt to them, disrupting their formation even as Aviada rolled for her sword. But despite the danger, I saw the opportunity to boost my experience. I 'accidentally' hooked my finger to her already-damaged chest bindings, and her momentum did the rest, leaving her half-naked, her breasts dangling under the effect of the sudden momentum change.

[+150 Experience] 25% Penalty due to level equality!

I couldn't exactly say that I was happy learning her level, as, from the way she fought, I had been willing to bet that she was stronger, but she probably just had a higher-than-average stat distribution, supported by a bunch of over-specialized skills. At least, the angry glare she sent me was promisingly playful as she took a defensive position.

Watching the way the moonlight danced over her tanned skin was a promising idea, but unfortunately, I had more immediate concerns, such as, the pack of elemental hyenas that was ready to pounce.

—

[Level: 10 Experience: 45200 / 55000

Strength: 11 Charisma: 14

Precision: 10 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 14

Speed: 7 Intelligence: 12

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 17

HP: 380 / 500 Mana: 550 / 680 ]

SKILLS

[Advanced Subterfuge (50/50)

Advanced Arcana [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [35/50]

Advanced Melee 25/50

Basic Speech 25/25 ]

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