Chapter Nineteen
Rosen Blessing
We waited until the sun went down so that we could spar outside without worrying about Jeanne’s skin.
“Master,” Lupa said. “I want to spar with Master, too.”
“We can fight after this first test,” I replied.
“Mm. Okay.” Lupa went to join Rosie after that.
As for the location of our duel, we went just outside the city so we could fight in an open field without worrying too much about bystanders. I also didn’t feel like attracting a bunch of attention to us.
“Are you ready?” Jeanne asked me, her hand waiting to draw her rapier.
“I am,” I answered, drawing my sickle.
“Do we have any rules?”
“This doesn’t need to be a full-length match, but let’s say whoever goes below 50% first loses.” Thanks to our gap in levels, that meant I should easily win. My weapon dealt more damage and I had more than twice the health of her.
But I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case.
Just like when I saw Lupa fight in the dungeon… even though she was only level one, she fought with the skill and grace of someone far more experienced than a rookie. To be fair, so did I. Rosie was the only one who appropriately fought for someone her level.
“Count us down, Rosie,” I said.
Rosie nodded and started. “Three… two… one… go! Be careful!”
I didn’t plan on taking it easy on Jeanne even though I had the advantage. For my test, I needed to do my absolute best, so I prepared to—
The tip of Jeanne’s rapier pressed against my neck. “Do you wish to surrender?”
Again, she moved fast enough that my eyes couldn’t even track her. My gear and level meant I had superior stats to her in every way. Even so, I couldn’t track her movements at all.
I swung my sickle toward her rapier to knock it away, but she disappeared before I could reach it.
Then I felt her rapier press against the side of my neck.
“I suspect I know the purpose of this trial,” Jeanne said.
“Hey, Jeanne, you agreed to turn me into a vampire, right?” I asked.
“That I did.”
“Then since I’m officially getting to become a Vampire, give me one moment.”
It was okay to min-max a little for now. I could balance my stats out later. More importantly, min-maxing in the moment would help my test more.
I dumped all of my available points into dexterity. It was the main damage-dealing stat for Vampires’ martial skills.
[Dexterity: 0 -> 42]
[A new skill has been acquired for investing 20 points into Dexterity.]
[A new skill has been acquired for investing 40 points into Dexterity.]
//Energy Surge
//Type: Martial (General | Active)
//Stat: Dexterity
//Cooldown: 120 seconds
//Instantly restore your energy, resetting the cooldowns of all Martial skills.
//Focus Speed
//Type: Martial (General | Active | Scaling)
//Stat: Dexterity
//Cooldown: 90 seconds
//Focus your energy into your limbs for 38.5% greater movement and attack speed for the next 12 seconds.
Dexterity was the attribute associated with speed and agility, as the new skills made obvious, so I figured that it would help me.
If the world worked like a game, that was.
Rather than say anything, I turned as quickly as I could to counterattack, but Jeanne was gone before I could even face her. And, once again, I couldn’t even see her move.
I was also pretty sure that, even though I moved as quickly as I could, I was still just as fast as before.
“Did you confirm it yet?” Jeanne asked from behind me, teasingly tapping the length of her blade against the top of my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Stats are useful for unlocking requirements and boosting the effects of skills tied to them, but… they’re worthless when it comes to true, physical ability.
That’s why both you and Lupa are such better fighters than me despite being lower levels.
” I raised my free hand and looked at it.
“Even if I have the skills of basically every boss in the game memorized, I was working under the assumption that I would get stronger and faster the more I leveled up. At my current ability… I’ll be too slow to stay safe.
I’ve had a feeling that’s how it worked, but it’s good to hard confirm it now. ”
“Do not feel discouraged over this. Many adventurers have perished for not realizing this and assuming that their numbers were all that mattered.”
“Right. It’s a little shameful still to ask this, but can you limit your speed to mine?”
“Very well.” Jeanne jumped back away from me and readied herself again. The next time she charged at me, I could actually track her movements and readied my sickle to parry her.
But I thought she was aiming for my neck again. Every aspect of her body language screamed that at me. She was going for my neck.
Instead, I felt the tip of her blade press against my thigh.
“… you must be disappointed,” I said.
“Why would I be disappointed?” Jeanne asked, withdrawing her rapier.
“Because I said all that about helping you kill your—that bastard, but now you’re seeing just how weak I am.”
“I know your story, and I would not judge you even if I did not. I also know that skill alone will not help me defeat him. Levels and equipment are just as necessary as physical ability. At lower levels, yes, physical ability can compensate for a lack of gear and levels, but both are necessary to defeat the truly strong.”
“It’s aggravating to realize just how weak I still am, but… at the same time, it’s exciting. Getting to grow with the system was predictable—I knew how it would go. Now, I’ve got an entire system parallel to it that’s brand new to me. Will you help me train?”
“Gladly.”
“Master,” Lupa called out.
“Yeah,” I said back, “I know. We can have our—”
“Can I fight her?”
That kind of felt like a little slap to my face. Lupa wanted to fight me, but now she wanted to fight Jeanne instead after seeing that match… if it could even be called one. It was less of a sparring match and more of Jeanne absolutely putting me in my place.
But on the other hand, I really wanted to see them fight.
“Go for it,” I said. “I don’t want to see either of you hold back.”
Jeanne smiled and looked eager to go while Lupa looked as expressionless as ever. Even her ears and tail were totally still. I had to assume that it had to do with her bestial nature. She recognized a serious threat in front of her and was fully concentrating on how to win—how to survive.
I got out of their way and joined Rosie. I also asked her, “Who do you think will win?”
“Umm…” Rosie looked back and forth between Jeanne and Lupa. “I… have no idea. Lupa is really strong, but Jeanne… is crazy fast.”
“Same, I’ve got no idea. Want to count them down?”
“Okay.” She cleared her throat. “Three! Two! One! Go!”
Lupa drew her daggers while Jeanne drew her rapier. In the next moment, Jeanne was directly in front of Lupa after closing the distance in less than a literal blink of an eye, but Lupa blocked the blow by intercepting the tip of the rapier using her daggers crossed over each other.
“I’m going to be real with you, Rosie,” I said. “I’m already insanely hyped.”
Rosie was practically bouncing at that point. “Same!”
While Rosie and I acted like a couple of fangirls off to the side, Jeanne and Lupa showed us just how fast they could go as their dance began in proper.
Jeanne was faster when it came to closing the distance and repositioning herself, but Lupa’s reaction speed was greater.
It reminded me of those videos I saw of cats hunting snakes.
No matter how fast the snakes moved, the cats dodged or countered every single bite.
Except, in this case, the wolf girl was the cat and the vampire was the snake.
But there was a problem.
Lupa might have been able to avoid taking any hits, but she was constantly on the defensive without any real opportunity to strike back.
It looked like it might become a battle of endurance. Who was going to run out of steam first? The attacker of the defender?
Then it turned out I was wrong.
The roles switched.
Jeanne appeared behind Lupa for an attack, but Lupa—rather than block or parry it—ducked down the instant Jeanne appeared.
Lupa predicted exactly what Jeanne was going to try.
While Jeanne was already committed to an attack that would never land, Lupa swept Jeanne’s legs out from under her, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall.
Lupa was already swinging her dagger down where she expected Jeanne to fall, but the latter parried just in time to protect herself before rolling away and jumping back up onto her feet.
That parry also knocked Lupa’s left dagger away.
But Lupa didn’t stop her offensive.
Even though Jeanne got back up, it was Lupa pursuing her now with her own incredible speed. Speed that might not have been faster than Jeanne’s, but speed that still applied deadly pressure.
There was also the fact that while Jeanne only fought with her rapier, Lupa was happy to fight with her whole body.
Lupa thrust her right dagger forward. Jeanne dodged, but she dodged right where Lupa had a hand ready to grab Jeanne by the hair to toss her to the ground again.
I thought the battle was over when I watched Lupa slam her heel into Jeanne’s abdomen to keep her on the ground beneath her. Instead, Lupa sighed and sheathed her daggers. “I lose.”
“Huh? What?” Rosie asked. “But—”
Lupa took her foot off Jeanne’s stomach and offered her a hand. Jeanne accepted it with a smile.
“You were an excellent opponent,” Jeanne said.
“Mm. Not as good as you,” Lupa replied. “I have to try harder.”
I was as confused as Rosie was. “What happened?” I asked. “How’d you lose?”
Lupa came over to us with Jeanne and pointed at three different spots on her neck.
The marks were almost invisible with how subtle they were… but they were definitely there. Cuts from Jeanne’s rapier.
“It was frustrating,” Lupa said. “She kept holding back.”
“My apologies,” Jeanne said. “I did not want the fight to end despite being told not to hold back.”
Even though the fight looked pretty evenly matched, it turned out to be Jeanne’s overwhelming victory still.