8 The Duel
My fist inched closer to him, as I smiled. This was my victory.
Suddenly, Pulli smiled and right my fist came into contact with his face. In that instant, his face jerked to the right but as he returned to position it was clear that the punch had no effect on him. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, and opened them as he exhaled, almost in a tauntive manner, disregarding my efforts to put him down.
His eyes shot at me as his brows closed in. He berated in a passive aggressive voice:
"Do not compare me to Ovis, dear human."
Pulli then retreated his arm and punched me in the face the same way I did. Instead, I go flying back crashing against the wall of the arena. I crash onto the floor and struggle to breathe as I try to pull myself together. The impact damn-near gave me a concussion, but I was still in fighting condition. As I lifted myself, grabbing onto the wall, I felt the indentation of the wall from my unexpected beatdown.
"Well, this is new," I said with a raspy voice as I spit blood onto the floor of the arena. I then thought to myself, wondering how the hell any of this made sense.
Currently my strength is 267, this punch was enough to completely beat Ovis and a 400 mana punch was enough to fully knock over a terra dragon, and that was when I was just level 12. Yet Pulli was able to fully tank a 100 mana punch with the added strength of 267. Avem was right, I can't underestimate him.
I slowly got up even more into a standing position, and looked at Pulli from the other end of the arena as he stood there like a statue, smiling at me.
"This might be harder than I thought it would be," I thought to myself as I nervously chuckled.
I needed to look at his stats, I needed to understand exactly who I was up against.
[Eyes of True Sight]
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Level 273
Race: Harpy
Elements: Wind & Light
Mana:50,500
Stamina: 200
Strength: 160
Intelligence: 250
Charisma: 160
Defence: 300
Agility: 260
Magic Power: 275
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His stats mystified me. Without Perfect Being there would be no chance of winning without using a high amount of mana on mana punch. It made more sense to me to see how my punch did nothing to him.
400 mana might not even be enough.
His stamina being really high as well told me another thing: I had to end this fight fast, or I won't last.
Acting cocky again I said "Not bad runt, but that was just the beginning of this fight, you sure you want to tank my next punch the same way."
...
Annoyed by his silence I ran towards him once again without any intention of pulling my next punch.
[Mana punch, 600 mana]
A darker blue mana surrounded my fist as I swung my next punch, this time Pulli dodged to the side, almost phasing at impossible speeds,and my fist connected with the air. I was instantly pushed back by the recoil of the punch as a stronger vortex was created, blowing the feathers of the Harpies on the stands. I land on my butt as the audience laughs at my embarrassing showing of skill. The once impressed Queen's gaze befell upon me, turning into one of disappointment.
"Dammit," I whisper to myself as I punch the ground next to me. I slowly get up and take a deep breath, calming myself down. I need to play this using my head not my supposed strength, I am smarter than this guy.
Since he dodged the last punch he knows that he can't get hit by it, which means I need to find a way to get a direct hit. Though he dodges quite fast, his dodges are simple.
"I have an idea," I said to myself as my once dissipated smile returned.
I run towards him again and charge a 600 power mana punch, exactly as before.
"Do you not learn human? This will not work no matter how hard you try." Pulli said with utmost confidence.
The dark blue mana surrounds my hand once again and I go for a swing though I slow the swing down this time. Pulli dodges to the left assuming I will punch, but I pivot my entire body aiming where he landed and let out the punch.
Not expecting this, Pulli opens his eyes and puts his hands in front of him hoping to catch the impact of the punch. I punch right through his hands making contact with his chest.
Pulli is instantly pushed back as I break the thin armour he was wearing, he is then pushed even further back due to the wind created by the punch's recoil and knocked to the floor.
My fist luckily wasn't bruised, most likely due to my stats increase, but I was knocked back by the punches recoil, but kept my footing assuring I won the trade, ready to unleash a new barrage of punches, should Pulli wish to continue.
The queen looks at me again impressed with my display of skill and adaptability, leaning over, implying her increased interest in me.
The audience looks at me stunned by the power of my punch, how could a human without using magic harm Pulli? They thought to themselves. The whispers and murmurs continued as Pulli spoke.
*cough cough*
"That is what I am talking about, human," he said to me as he stood up after getting knocked over. "Maybe it was not wise to underestimate you the same way you did with me."
"What level are you, human?" Pulli asks in curiosity as he fixes his posture.
"Only level 62," I said with confidence and slight confusion as I knew he was higher level than me, but questioned why it was important for him to know.
He raised a brow in amusement, expressing nearly disbelief at the words I had just spoken. "Well this is a surprise, now there is no way I can lose to you."
In that instant, Pulli's demeanor changed, he was going to take this duel seriously. He then started silently chanting to himself.
I put myself in a ready position to counter whatever he was going to throw at me, being excited at the same time wondering what he was going to do and what magic he was going to use.
*Chanting in Harpanian*
"Heed the words of power and listen to my command, using the light magic I own and the knowledge known of the stringless weapon, I pull out, Stringless bow."
As Pulli finished his chant a magic circle appeared to his left, he reached in pulling out what seemed to be a bow, but a bow with no strings. He then conjures an arrow made from light and lines it up against the middle of the bow.
As he slowly pulls the arrow back he starts a new chant.
"Heed the words of power and listen to my command, using the wing magic I own and the knowledge known of the vortex, I conjure thee to speed up my arrow, Wind spiral."
A spiral of wind is suddenly formed behind the light arrow. Pulli finally finishes pulling back his arrow and seems ready to fire. The small spiral of wind created has grown and starts blowing his surroundings and hair out of control.
"Are you ready, human? This time it is my turn to show you my own power," he yells at me due to the strong winds drowning out his voice.
Pulli then lets go of the fully charged arrow and it comes flying at me at terrifying speeds being boosted by the strange wind magic he used on the arrow.
I jumped to the side as I watched the blinding arrow fly by me, blowing my hair and clothes all over the place it crashed into the wall of the arena causing a massive explosion. I try running away from the explosion I trip as I see the blinding light get closer to me.
"Well fuck," I said to myself knowing this was most definitely going to hurt like hell.
