"Ooh~ He is getting serious now."
Machary whistled.
Fang Raon turned the sword into a thrusting stance, whispered "Sword Stab" under his breath, and his body moved on its own.
While his sword pierced through the air, his body moved at a speed that it shouldn’t have, and he closed the distance between him and Abigail in an instant.
’To cross the distance quickly, Fang Raon basically ’cheated’ his own body by using the skill to move quicker.’
Machary thought to himself.
There only stood the Earth Wall between Abigail and Fang Raon.
"Fireball!"
Abigail quickly reacted, and a ball of scarlet-red flames shot out from her hand.
In that moment, Fang Raon swung his sword and cut through the ball of fire, dispersing it into a cloud of smoke and embers.
He then jumped towards the top of the Earth Wall, grabbed onto the ledge, and hoisted himself up.
Slam!
Abigail slammed the grimoire shut, and the Earth Wall crumbled to dust. Fang Raon was falling fast towards the ground.
It was a short wall, but he was currently suspended in mid-air and couldn’t really do anything in that short one-second fall.
"Magic Missile!"
The grimoire opened again, and Abigail sent the "Magic Missile" hurling towards the falling Fang Raon.
"Basic Slash!"
Fang Raon cut straight through the spell, and as soon as he landed back on the ground, he lunged forward.
"Magic Armor!"
Abigail shouted, and a protective shield formed around her body. It was transparent and had a slight hue of green color to it.
Fang Raon slammed his sword against the shield, but it got deflected easily, sending him stumbling backwards.
’How many skills does she have?’
He wondered.
’It was the same with Justin. He had a lot of skills, so I guess that’s what mages have to do: just purchase as many skill scrolls as they can afford.
’It does open up the possibilities they could do in a fight, and their value also skyrockets if they have many skills in possession...’
Fang Raon thought.
It just made him want Abigail even more. She was exactly what he was looking for in a party member.
"Mana Twins!"
In that moment, she used yet another new skill, and to the shock of spectators, two clones of Abigail appeared beside her.
They looked exactly like Abigail, but they were holding a sword and shield each, as if they were Warrior class instead.
’She can create clones of herself and even give them different classes? How is she not already part of some powerful guild? I just don’t get it!’
Fang Raon wondered with a grimace.
She should be someone that guilds would be fighting over to recruit, and yet here she was, all alone.
Abigail’s clones attacked Fang Raon, but they were just level 1 clones, and thus, Fang Raon easily sliced through them.
They turned to nothing.
"...Huff."
Abigail was sweating, and it looked like her head was pounding with a headache. It was her lack of mana acting up.
It took a lot of her mana to summon a single clone, not to mention two, and they failed to harm Fang Raon even a little bit.
This was weakness of Mages.
Even at level 2, they really needed Mana Recovery potions to keep fighting for longer periods of time, and such things weren’t allowed to be used in the Combat Lounge.
If they fought outside Combat Lounge, Abigail could do much better, and would most likely win as well.
However, in here, she didn’t have enough mana to beat Fang Raon.
’...He knew this when he challenged me. He planned to just make me waste mana and wait for me to run out of mana before going on the offensive.’
Abigail thought with an exhausted look.
"You really are good, and I want you."
Fang Raon said with a smile, and at that moment, he pressed forward with an all-out attack.
With the last remaining mana, Abigail jumped backwards and fired "Fireball" spells at Fang Raon, as they cost the least mana.
Fang Raon sliced through the fireballs—the blade of the Refined Sword singing like a chorus of angels.
"Earth Wall!"
Abigail raised a wall between them to stop Fang Raon’s rush attack.
"Dodge Roll!"
In that moment, Fang Raon rolled to the side, dodging the wall, and continued his advance towards Abigail.
"Mana Twin!"
Abigail created another twin—this time it was Tank with a heavy-looking shield.
"HARD SLASH!"
Fang Raon brought his sword down, cutting through the shield, through the clone, and the tip of the blade stopped just inches from Abigail’s face.
It silenced the rowdy crowd as they witnessed in live time as their gambled money was lost in one swift motion.
"Yeah, I give up."
Abigail raised her arms in surrender, and her grimoire flew back to the book bag that was dangling from her hip.
With a smile, Fang Raon returned his sword to his inventory, and he shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh man, you’re definitely stronger than me. I would not want to fight you outside Combat Lounge, that’s for sure."
He said.
This fight was a good experience for him, as he realized what he was lacking.
While Abigail had many different kinds of skills she could use, Fang Raon was a pretty one-dimensional fighter.
He didn’t have anything exceptional except some slashing and stabbing attacks. He needed something more.
’I need to go to Skill Market and find something to buy.’
Fang Raon thought to himself.
Abigail looked at him silently and realized that he was completely in his own world right now, thinking about something.
’He doesn’t gloat like others would but is immediately thinking of ways to make himself stronger. Maybe he is a good leader to follow.’
She thought.
However, she had been kicked from many parties because they couldn’t stand her demanding nature.
’Will they also kick me out in the future?’
She wondered with a heavy heart.
They left the cage, and since they didn’t bet anything, they neither lost nor won on the match, but the gambling players did lose.
"Wohoo, I am rich!"
Machary retrieved his winnings, which got him some ugly looks from nearby players, but he didn’t care as he was grinning from ear to ear.
"You are going to split that with me, right?"
Fang Raon asked with a twitching eyebrow.
"Huh? Why the hell would I?"
Machary asked with a scoff.
"I deserve at least half because I was the one fighting, you dumbass."
"Huh?! I was the one that did the betting, and I bet my own money, not yours, so fuck you, you aren’t getting shit!"
Abigail looked at the two arguing young men and massaged her temples.
’Am I really making the correct decision here?’