— Adel —
"Not bad at all."
Sitting in Erik's office, I sipped the wine that had been stored there.
I didn't consider myself much of a drinker, at least not anymore. In the past, I had lived through a period where I couldn't move on without drinking, but as I grew stronger, the effect of alcohol faded, and so did the desire to drink.
Now, I only drank once in a while, simply for the taste.
Not that I could even get drunk with Poison Resistance...
While I was lost in my thoughts, the office doors opened, and Erik and Alfred came in, glancing both at me and the bottles on the desk.
"...You made yourself at home, didn't you?" Erik said, clearly displeased.
I just shrugged. We were supposed to meet that day, and I had no intention of waiting around for nothing.
"It's not my fault you took so long," I said, motioning for them to sit. "Besides, I already prepared glasses for you as well."
Both of them sat down, resigned, and we drank in silence. I waited for them to start talking.
"Things went just as you predicted," Erik said, finishing his glass and filling another.
"No unexpected problems, then?"
"None. Actually, I'd say it went even better than expected." The excitement in his voice made it clear that things had gone really well.
"What do you mean by better?"
"At first, you hoped Paul's strange behavior would make the other two suspicious, but Paul turned out to be far more unstable than we thought and even attacked Anthony," Alfred explained the details.
As I listened, I started thinking. At first, I believed the artifact's effects would be limited, given Paul's grade, but it seemed I was wrong. The first possibility was that his Mind stat was lower than expected. The second was that the artifact was stronger.
In either case, the situation worked in our favor.
"What did you think about Anthony and Jasmine?"
"They still don't trust us, but at the same time, they have a bad feeling about Paul. Plus, after the story I told them and what will keep happening in the next few days, it wouldn't be strange if their worries grew so much they came to us."
Seeing Erik's confidence, I nodded in agreement. "Good."
Now that I was a Grade 2, I could fight the other leaders, but it would only be a waste of time and an unnecessary risk. We also needed to make sure an open conflict broke out, so that the factions would weaken each other.
"Just to be sure... You're not planning to kill innocent people, are you?" Erik asked.
To influence people even more, the next step in the plan was to continue targeting specific individuals while also making some ordinary people disappear, spreading rumors that the Explorers were behind it. But as I had said before, it was only an act. I wouldn't go around killing people pointlessly when I could simply kidnap them.
"I know it might not look like it, but I'm not the kind of person who would go around killing people for no reason."
The way the two of them looked at me in silence, with clear doubt in their eyes, made me really wonder what kind of person they thought I was... well, I couldn't deny I had done a few things that might raise suspicion.
"I guess you'll move tonight," Erik asked.
"Exactly. Have you already prepared the place for the future... guests?"
"When you put it like that, it sounds strange," Erik said awkwardly.
"Would you prefer I say the people we'll kidnap and blame on another faction, linking them to a heretic ritual?"
"Alright, I get it. Happy now?"
I nodded, satisfied.
"You..." Alfred interrupted, staring at me wide-eyed. "Did you advance in rank?"
Hearing that, Erik also opened his eyes wide, while I raised an eyebrow. The old man's senses were sharper than I expected.
It was true I hadn't gone out of my way to suppress my presence, but it was still surprising.
In any case, I now had a better idea of their strength. Erik seemed to be at the peak of early Grade 2, while Alfred was at the peak of mid-Grade 2.
"In just over a year, you became Rank 2?!" Erik asked, shocked.
If I had been completely honest with them and told them that, in fact, it had taken me about five months to go from a normal person to Grade 2, they would never have believed me. So why correct them?
Anyway, from their perspective, reaching Grade 2 in that range of time might have seemed impressive, but compared to real monsters, it was nothing. Take the Hero, for example. In just six months, he too had become Rank 2, and without my same advantage.
"Adel, I want to fight you."
At Erik's proposal, I gave him a look, already expecting this, while Alfred's expression seemed complicated.
"You want something like last time?" I asked.
"Last time, I admit anger got the better of me. Now I want a simple duel to compare our skills." Erik said honestly, though the fire in his eyes was impossible to hide.
For someone with his pride, living with the thought that a younger person might be stronger couldn't have been pleasant. That's why I imagined he wanted so badly to test himself against me. He needed to be sure I wasn't that strong, or at least, that he could catch up.
Unfortunately for him, I wouldn't give him that satisfaction, forcing him to live with the thought that surpassing me was impossible.
"Alright."
"...Really?" he asked, surprised. "I thought you'd demand something in return."
"There's still some time before I start working, so a little warm-up won't hurt. That's all."
I could see my words annoyed him, but Erik still tried not to show it.
"Then follow me, there's a perfect place."
****
We walked for several minutes, moving away from the base and reaching a secluded clearing.
"Rules?" I asked, as I took my position on the other side.
"It's just a simple duel, so don't overdo it. Understood?" Even though Alfred was speaking to both of us, I could see his eyes fixed on me.
I rolled my eyes, but nodded, and Erik did the same.
Erik and I faced each other from opposite sides of the field, weapons ready.
"If I said part of me just wants to beat the crap out of you, would you be offended?" Erik suddenly asked with a half-smile.
"I'd answer that this part of you has a good reason to feel that way, but at the same time, it has zero survival instinct," I replied calmly.
"We'll see."
Erik charged first, and I had to admit his speed wasn't bad. He quickly reached me, swinging his blade in a horizontal slash aimed at my side.
Seeing the strike, I lifted my halberd with a smooth rotation, and the metal clashed, sparks flying. Erik was pushed back, and from that clash, we both realized I had the advantage in strength.
Erik didn't waste time. With a roar, he attacked again, faster than before. I stepped half a pace back, letting his blade slice through the air just in front of my chest, then thrust the tip of my halberd at his exposed shoulder. Only a quick twist of his torso saved him from a direct hit, but I still cut his shoulder lightly.
"Tsk!" He clicked his tongue, tightening his grip on the hilt.
Our duel picked up pace. His sword struck with speed, while my halberd drew wide arcs, slicing through the air with a menacing whistle. None of his blows came close, and every direct clash ended with my victory.
He struck again with a slash I deflected along the length of the halberd, throwing him off balance, then followed up with a spinning kick he barely blocked, still getting pushed back.
To be fair, Erik wasn't bad, and it was clear he had put a lot of effort into his training. But his style was simple, and the difference in experience between me and him was enormous.
From the beginning, he never had a chance of winning.
Since it was only a duel, skills were forbidden, and because I wanted to give him some face, I had stayed relatively passive. But now it was time to get a bit more serious.
I advanced with two quick thrusts, forcing him back. The tip of my halberd clashed with his sword for the first strike, but for the second, he had to dodge to the side to avoid having his leg impaled.
From that position, I swung the halberd upward in a diagonal strike. He reacted with a desperate blow and managed to block it, but the impact pushed him back, letting me follow up with a kick to his stomach.
Erik bent forward, clutching his belly, but endured. With a grimace of pain, he planted his foot on the ground and rushed at me again, furious.
I let him come, and when he got close enough, my halberd whistled in a low, wide arc. At the last instant, he avoided it by jumping, and his sword came down like lightning.
I could already see him picturing his victory, but there's an important rule in combat: never jump unless you can move in mid-air, especially against someone with a longer weapon.
I raised the other end of the shaft and thrust at Erik's throat, hitting it cleanly.
He collapsed heavily, clutching his neck in pain and coughing violently, marking my victory.
"Duel over. Winner: Adel!"