I took a stance I had once mimicked from a movie back when I was a kid—the kind of posture that looked braver than I truly felt inside. The audience had expectations of me now. The system had already stamped a reputation onto my name, and for reasons I couldn't explain, I felt a crushing need to live up to it.
Just as I clung to that posture of false courage, Liora lunged.
Her spear blurred through the air, its steel tip streaking toward my throat like a lightning strike. Instinct screamed at me to duck, but my body lagged, too slow to obey—
> [Auto-Assist Activated.]
[Skill Triggered: Reflex Surge Lv.1.]
My knees buckled. My head snapped back just in time. The spear's tip hissed past, grazing through my hair instead of skewering my skull.
The crowd erupted—gasps sharp as blades, cheers breaking like waves, and a few groans of disappointment that the duel wasn't already over. Their voices mixed into a storm, pressing down on me from every direction.
I could have sworn I cut him. So How did he—
Liora's eyes lit up with something feral. "Not bad."
Without delay , she spun her spear in a vicious arc, this time slashing low. My legs jerked back before my mind caught up, the weapon's tip shrieking against stone where my ankles had been. Sparks burst across the courtyard floor.
My chest heaved. I was alive. Somehow, impossibly, I was still here.
And then the system chimed again:
> [New Temporary Title Earned: "Underdog."
Effect: +10% speed, +10% resilience when fighting stronger opponents.
Duration: Permanent skill.]
Well. Thank you, system. I take back at least five percent of the insults I've thrown your way.
---
We circled each other like predators sizing one another up. Liora's smile sharpened into something wolfish as her attacks grew faster and sharper. Each strike tested me, and every time, I escaped—sometimes by instinct, sometimes because the system nudged me at just the right moment.
At one point, I ducked under her swing, my fist lashing out without conscious thought. My knuckles slammed into her side with a solid thud, enough to make her grunt and stumble back a step.
"He did it again," she hissed through clenched teeth.
The crowd roared their approval, the sound shaking my bones.
> [Achievement Unlocked: "First Strike Against a Prodigy."
Reward: +2 Reputation, +1 Hidden Stat: Courage.]
I blinked. A hidden stat? Just how many secrets was this system hiding?
Liora steadied herself, narrowed her eyes, and then laughed—bright, fierce, exhilarated. "I see it now. Your victory against Kaela wasn't a farce after all."
Her spear became a whirlwind, striking faster, heavier. Every blow shuddered up my arms when I blocked or deflected, and when I barely dodged, the air itself seemed to split. My breath rasped. My knuckles ached. But I remained standing.
Not yet beaten.
---
From her throne, the princess leaned forward, chin resting on her knuckles. Her gaze tracked every movement, not with worry, but with something darker, hungrier.
"Look at him," she murmured, her voice low enough for only Kaela beside her to hear. "The way he moves when cornered… like prey learning to bite."
Kaela's arms folded across her chest, her brow furrowed. Her clipped tone betrayed irritation. "He couldn't fight like this against me a day ago. Something's off. Liora should have finished him already."
"And yet he survives," the princess purred, her lips curving into a wicked smile. "Every second he endures against Liora, he belongs more to me."
Kaela's jaw clenched. She said nothing.
Sparring, she called it? I wouldn't.
---
Back in the courtyard, my lungs burned, every inhale scraping like fire. Sweat trickled down my temple, stinging my eyes.
> [Stamina Low: 43%.]
Liora smirked, her spear spinning in a blur. "Running out of steam already?"
Could she see the system notifications? No… unlikely. When I fought Kaela, the alerts had appeared too, but she never reacted as though they were visible. This was mine alone.
I clenched my fists. "Not in the slightest." Not when the entire kingdom was watching. Not when the princess's gaze seared into me like flame.
Then the system pulsed again:
> [New Skill Available: Counterstrike Lv.1.
Condition: Trigger when dodging a thrust within 0.5 seconds.
Risk: 20% chance of self-injury if mistimed.
Do you wish to learn? Y/N.]
"Yes," I hissed.
The skill locked into place.
Liora lunged, her spear thrusting straight for my chest. My body moved before my thoughts could catch up. I twisted aside—
And my fist lashed out, slamming into her wrist with a sharp crack. Her grip faltered, the spear spinning upward into the air.
The courtyard erupted in chaos—cheers, gasps, shouts, all merging into thunder.
Liora's eyes widened. Surprise flared into exhilaration. She caught the spear mid-air with her free hand and grinned.
He keeps dodging at the last second. How?
"Oh, you're going to be fun."
> [Audience Perception Shift: Carl is no longer seen as weak prey.
Reputation Gain: +10.]
---
The princess rose, her hands clapping slowly, elegantly. The sound silenced the crowd almost instantly.
"My, my…" Her smile gleamed with satisfaction, but her gaze burned hotter, locking onto me as if she meant to consume me. "It seems my little darling isn't so helpless after all."
Her words dripped with honey, but every noble in the courtyard heard the steel beneath: I claimed him first. He is mine.
Kaela's frown deepened. She muttered something under her breath too low for anyone but the princess to hear.
The princess only smiled wider.
---
Back in the circle, Liora spun her spear again, her eyes blazing.
"Now you've done it," she said, her voice sparking with challenge. "I was going easy. Not anymore."
Her stance sharpened, lethal. Even the air seemed to tremble around her. The courtyard fell into a hush, as though the world itself anticipated the storm about to break.
The system chimed in, its tone like a funeral bell:
> [Warning: Liora is taking you seriously now.
Survival Odds: 32%.
Recommendation: Improvise. Pray. Or both.]
My throat went dry. The crowd's cheers dimmed to a distant echo. All I could hear was my heartbeat, hammering louder than any war drum.
And then she lunged.