Ascending the tower with my SSS class

Uriel had analyzed the fight with all his attention. His conclusion?

He was screwed.

There was already a difference in level and stats right from the start. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to see Miguel’s skill; Miguel might have even used it without him noticing. There was no way for him to know.

But at least he had some information. The most dangerous thing, without a doubt, was the spear that pierced through everything; it made any kind of defense useless. However, if he could manage to get close enough, he might have a chance.

The sword would be a problem; however, Uriel had a secret weapon. His skill would allow him to fight, at least a little.

Still, victory was absolutely impossible. It wasn’t defeatism—it was a fact. But that fact only held true in a fight to the death; if this was a duel under Uriel’s conditions, things could change.

Althea approached Uriel and gave him a mocking smile.

"Good luck, champ. You’re going to need it. But hey, joining as an initiate isn’t so bad—I guess it might even be fun."

She patted his shoulder and left.

It felt a bit unpleasant to Uriel; honestly, by this point he had grown more used to kind people than those who were openly hostile toward him.

"Alright, Uriel, how about a fight? If you perform well, you can join easily, right?"

Uriel looked at Miguel; he seemed a bit smug after his easy victory. He had probably never lost, right? Uriel felt a growing urge to wipe that unshakable smile off his face.

"If I perform well? That’s a bit arbitrary. How about we change the rules a little?"

"Oh? But I’m supposed to be the one testing you, right?"

Miguel said that, but Uriel could tell he was actually quite interested in what he was about to propose.

"How about this? One hit—just one hit—and you’ll let me join."

Miguel looked at him in surprise. At first, he had planned to simply hit him a bit and, as long as he wasn’t a complete disaster or didn’t give up, let him join without trouble. But suddenly, Uriel was challenging him like this, right after defeating Althea. He was underestimating him—and with a whole level of difference, no less.

"Damn it, Uriel... and here I was trying to make things easy for you."

Miguel shrugged at the situation.

"Fine. If you manage to land a single hit on me, I’ll accept you. What do the others think?"

"Well, looks like we won’t have our new member for quite a while, huh, Gabriel?"

"I don’t think it’s a bad thing to learn a bit of humility."

Neither of them believed in him in the slightest.

"Well, this is still a bit unfair, Uriel. How about I don’t use my spear? That would be more fair, right?"

No. Uriel wanted him to use the spear. If he didn’t, his plan would fail.

"How about you take off that armor? It’s a bit unfair that I’m going in without one while you’re protected head to toe, right? Oh, and... can someone lend me a shield?"

Gabriel summoned a shield the size of half a body and tossed it to Uriel.

"Here, it’s yours. You can break it if you want... well, actually, that’s inevitable."

Despite the lack of confidence, this was undeniably a gift from Gabriel, so Uriel appreciated it.

Miguel made his armor disappear.

Both of them took their positions in the arena.

"Are you ready, Uriel?"

However, before he could finish, Uriel was already running toward him.

"What the hell?"

Althea couldn’t help but exclaim, astonished by the situation. Even she, as a warrior, had waited patiently for Miguel to make a mistake; yet this guy named Uriel simply charged forward.

"Smart."

Gabriel assessed him well; it was a logical move against an enemy with a spear. However, that enemy also had a sword. Still, he wanted to see what Uriel would do.

Miguel was surprised, but only for an instant before advancing as well. His spear was ready to pierce through Uriel’s shield.

He positioned himself to the right—Uriel’s blind side. Uriel had anticipated this; he never expected his opponent to be easy. But now, at least, he knew where the attack would come from.

Uriel had already memorized the dimensions of the spear. Even without seeing, he could deduce several things.

One of them was that this wasn’t a fight to the death; it was a fight to break his will, so Miguel would go for his shield.

Uriel let Miguel make his move. The spear thrust forward fiercely; without a doubt, if it had been aimed at his body, Uriel would have died without being able to do much—or perhaps he could have endured one or two hits.

What mattered was what came next.

Uriel pulled the shield away from his body, and the spear passed through it; however, the moment Miguel tried to pull it back, Uriel brought the shield closer to himself, preventing Miguel from fully recovering his spear for a brief moment.

Now everything depended on whether Miguel chose to abandon it or hold on to it.

Uriel felt a strong pull.

Miguel had made his decision—he chose to keep the spear. Pride, perhaps; it didn’t matter.

Instead of resisting, Uriel knew he would lose in a contest of strength, so he simply let physics do its job.

Miguel had pulled harder than expected, and his arm was dragged completely backward.

His expression filled with surprise and a hint of distress as he realized the trap laid for him; but it didn’t matter. All he had to do now was deflect the attack with his sword... the attack... where was it coming from?

Miguel desperately watched Uriel’s movements; however, he found that the large shield blocked any wrist or arm motion Uriel might have been making.

A single realization hit him: he no longer knew where Uriel’s attack would come from. But it didn’t matter; once the mace emerged from behind the shield, he would regain control of the situation.

But the mace never came. Instead, suddenly, Uriel’s shield opened. There it was—now the mace would come from beneath it; he just had to position his sword correctly.

However, suddenly, Miguel felt a wave of pain across his face. A sharp, sudden pain—his nose burned, but it wasn’t serious.

Miguel opened his eyes in shock.

He had been struck by the edge of Uriel’s shield. He had lost.

"THAT CAN’T BE!"

Althea’s furious shout was the only thing heard, as Uriel smiled at a stunned Miguel.

"I win."