"You look pretty happy," I said to Vulcan as soon as I got close enough to him. The sun still hadn’t risen, but I could feel that the night was close to ending. The torchlight made the mercenary leader look even more like a combat-addicted maniac.

"Yeah, maybe I am. It’s been a while since I’ve had a fight with someone from outside my group. I only do some training to keep my senses from being dulled by time," he told me while cracking his neck.

I sighed deeply, preparing my body for the battle that was about to happen. In my mind, I went over everything I could remember about Vulcan and his firepower.

"By the way, boy, is Jasmine okay?" he asked me. He made a point of using her fake name in public, even though the crowd couldn’t hear us from that distance.

"Yes, she’s fine. Crying like a baby because she lost, but she’s fine."

"That’s good. I’m relieved. She was pretty unsure about how she would act once she found out Diane was nearby. And when she came here, she chose the worst possible way."

"Why didn’t you stop her? Why did you let her make that proposal?"

"I’m not her father, and she’s an adult woman. She has to learn to understand herself on her own. Only then will she be able to grow."

"We finally agree on something," I said in a joking tone. "Diane isn’t much for opening up either, and when a situation she doesn’t know how to deal with appears, she gets startled. What a troublesome woman."

"Tell me about it."

"But that’s exactly what I love about her. Despite being kind of emotionless on the outside, she really does care about others. She’s a great girl. She just needs to open up every now and then."

"Really?" he said with a playful smile. "Maybe I should have made the proposal to turn her into my slave."

"You won’t have the nerve to say something like that after I beat you."

"We’ll see about that, boy. Don’t forget I’ve never lost a fight."

"Well, there’s a first time for everything," I said, looking down at my sword for a moment.

In my sheath was the new weapon granted to me by Freya. I didn’t feel hesitant about using my blade against him. I mean, look at those stats.

[

Name: Richard Forster

Class: Valkyrie Tamer

Level: 32

Valkyries: 6/6

Health: 360 points

Mana: 175 points

Strength: 48 points

Defense: 20 points

Magic: 40 points

Agility: 30 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

[

Name: Vulcan

Class: Mage

Level: 55

Health: 600 points

Mana: 450 points

Strength: 55 points

Defense: 40 points

Magic: 75 points

Agility: 30 points

]

There was a clear difference between our strength, and some of my skills needed a sword to activate. Not to mention that my future and my Valkyries’ future were at stake here. I wasn’t going to restrict myself because of some kind of warrior’s pride. If I was going to fight him, I would use everything I had.

"Well then, let’s get to our fight, Richard," Vulcan said as he threw his cloak to the ground. "I don’t believe you’ll be able to beat me, but please don’t be intimidated by me. At least try to keep me entertained."

Falco, the Swordsman who served Vulcan, was our judge. He was a silent man, so much so that I didn’t remember hearing his voice at any point that dawn. Until he gave the signal for our fight to begin.

"Get ready... Begin!"

With my foot kicking up the dirt beneath his feet, I dashed towards Vulcan. He might have had above-average physical aptitude for a Mage, but he was still a Mage. I couldn’t let myself be intimidated by him. I had to attack him courageously.

Freya’s new sword was an excellent weapon. I had swung it before to test how it felt, but in the heat of battle, the difference between it and a normal sword stood out even more. Despite being hard and sharp, it was light and easy to handle. I didn’t understand how I could be so compatible with this sword, which felt more like an extension of my body.

In a span of time as short as the blink of an eye, I considerably reduced the distance between the mercenary leader and me, to the point where he was now within range of my sword.

I swung my sword, cutting through the night air with its black blade. Vulcan didn’t have a weapon or a shield, but I knew that this attack alone wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

"Dragon Skin!" he called out his skill shortly before my sword touched his skin. My sword recoiled from the impact, while flames seemed to flare angrily around where I had attacked.

When the flames calmed down, Vulcan’s arms, which had been taken over by fire, were covered in red scales, like those of a reptile, and his body gave off a heat that was truly unpleasant to be near.

Tanya wasn’t the only one who had an overpowered skill. Vulcan had a skill that worked both as a shield and as a sword. While his skin acted as a shield, he still emitted a nauseating heat. It was as if I were standing in front of a furnace at maximum temperature. If I stayed close for too long, my HP would decrease little by little.

"Now it’s my turn!" Vulcan came towards me, both arms positioned like a pugilist.

Thanks to my Agility, I managed to dodge his right jab, and with a feint, I did the same with his left jab. I couldn’t afford to take one of those punches to the face. The scales covered him from his arms all the way to his fingers, making his hands look like gauntlets.

Just as his defense had increased, a single blow could easily break through a concrete wall. Being knocked unconscious by a few punches like that was a possibility I had to avoid.

It might have seemed like my sword had been neutralized, since getting close to him was so suffocating, but there was still a reason to use my sword against him. There was a weakness in that skill I could take advantage of. A gap in the armor.

"Water Prison!" The palm of my hand shone with a light blue glow, and obeying my command, droplets of water quickly gathered in large quantities, trying to form a bubble around Vulcan.

"Ssshhhhhhhhhhh!" Water Prison didn’t work because the intense heat of Dragon Skin made the water turn into vapor almost instantly.

"Hoy, hoy!" Vulcan said, his voice excited by the frenzy of combat. "Is that all you can do?"

Despite his mockery, I had accomplished my objectives. First, I needed to lower his body temperature so I could get close without taking damage. Second, the vapor rising from him reduced his field of vision, opening a gap for me to attack him.

As I swung my sword again towards his chest, I called out my skill, "Drain Sword!"

Vulcan crossed his arms to form an X, protecting the part of his body where scales hadn’t formed. Only his arms were covered in red scales, and the sound of my sword hitting him made it seem like I was striking metal. But that was fine.

Dragon Skin was a skill that increased his defense while causing damage with the fire element. But I couldn’t forget that Vulcan was still a Mage. It might fool someone into thinking it was a skill for a Monk, but the amount of mana needed to maintain it was something specific to Mages.

This power that Vulcan was so proud of, and that had certainly earned him several victories, had a flaw. Just as it dealt constant damage to his enemy, Dragon Skin continuously consumed his mana until the skill was ended, or until his mana ran out.

Which was perfect for me. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

[

Mission: Duel

The Leader of the Ghosts of the Road has challenged you to a duel. You and your Valkyrie have to win by achieving one of the conditions below in each fight:

1 - Make him run out of mana.

2 - Make him step outside the ring.

3 - Make him lose consciousness.

Rewards: 5-level boost + 20 Status Points for you and Diane.

]

Since one of the conditions for my victory was making him run out of mana, I could use my Drain Sword against him. That way, he would always have less mana than me. It seemed like a perfect plan, but—

"Ho, I get it." My opponent wasn’t so stupid that he wouldn’t have noticed. "You’re a pretty clever man."

The scales then disappeared from his body, as if they had dissipated into smoke. Almost at the same instant, Vulcan approached me, his fist preparing to throw a downward punch at me.

"Dragon Skin!" His fist exploded in flames, covering itself with scales as hard as metal.

"Ugh!" I barely managed to avoid the attack. If I hadn’t, my head probably would have been fused with the hole that had formed in the dirt ground.

With a distorted smile on his face, Vulcan said, almost in ecstasy, "This is going to be an interesting battle, boy."