I swept my staff out and pointed it at Roy’s face. One hand at the back, the other half way up the shaft. My usual advantage of range had been rendered moot by the length of his weapon, which left speed and maneuverability. His axe was deadly, but the huge hunk of metal would slow his blows considerably.

Added to that, the level difference wasn’t too huge. He was level twenty-five, so he had only gained the major boost from the first advancement. That meant it was still possible for me to put up a fight. As long as he didn’t cut me in half, I would have time to counter his blows… at least that’s what I hoped.

“AAAHHHHHHHHHH!” Ron yelled as he dashed towards me. His speed was faster than I had expected, but not so to the degree I couldn’t have outrun him. His axe flashed through the air as he swung it directly on top of my head. He wasn’t playing around in the slightest as he moved in for the kill in the first exchange.

Blocking would be a fools errand. My staff was strong, but I didn’t trust my strength to stop a full powered blow from above. His strength, plus the weight of his weapon, made such an option risky.

Instead, I dodged and flicked my staff into the side of his weapon. The blow wasn’t enough to stop his strike, but it did deflect the axe enough to save my arm from being cut off.

His axe sunk into the ground with ease. As he tried to pull it out, I darted forwards and thrust my staff at his head. One of the downsides of the staff was the difficulty in landing fatal blows, but a heavy strike to the head would knock even the hardiest of warriors to the floor.

Ron knew this, so he jumped back and dragged his axe through the ground behind him. My staff missed his nose by an inch as the axe leapt into the air once more. I dodged back and prepared myself for our next exchange.

“Good moves, Cub.” Ron grinned as he bounced the axe on his palm. “The next won’t be so easy to dodge, so do your best.”

The crowd had swelled as our battle took place. Several members were betting on the results, and the odds were heavily stacked against me. This ‘passive’ ability my new friend mentioned had yet to come into effect, but I was still on the lookout for it as Ron stepped towards me again.

This time, he didn’t shout or yell. His grip shifted as he held his weapon horizontally. He had learnt my strength was enough to deflect his attack, but it was clear it lacked the power to block an all out strike. It would be impossible for me to stop a blow from the side if I tried to dodge or deflect it.

Before he reached me, his arm bulged out as he swung his axe. The strike sped up noticeably as it swept toward my legs.

So I jumped over the blow.

He had obviously expected that, so he countered with a shoulder charge. Unfortunately, I had expected his counter, so I thrust my staff at his chest. At best, it would knock him to the floor. At worst, it would help create some distance between us.

But then my Strengthen buff ran out.

Why now of all times!?

Ron took a deep breath and clenched his chest as my staff flashed towards him. As my weapon crashed into his chest, it juddered as though I had attacked a brick wall. Pain flared in my arm as my body dropped back to the floor. Ron took advantage of my situation to lift his axe one more for another downward strike.

Damn it!

That must have been what she had meant by ‘passive’ ability. His body had hardened as my blow was about to land, which had nullified most of the damage. I could tell that Ron’s breathing was rough, so it was unlikely he could repeat such a move too often, but once had been enough.

“Stop!” A voice yelled out from the side. Ron’s axe juddered to a halt in mid-air before he swung around to face the newcomer. A man stepped out from the crowd, his eyes narrow as he stared at the us. I had collapsed to one knee and had my staff raised ready to attempt a block whilst Ron had frozen mid-way through his final chop.

“Sir, he agreed to a duel. Why did you stop-”

“Shut it, Ron. I already know everything.” The man glared at the bandit leader angrily. “Do you really think you can throw your weight around like this and I wouldn’t find out? Who do you think is in charge here?”

“You are, sir.” Ron lowered his axe and stepped back. “I never said-”

“I told you to shut it.” The man glared at Ron before he turned back to me. “So, you’re the new cub. Leah told me about you, apparently a few of her friends owe you their lives.”

“I guess so.” I took a deep breath and pushed myself up. “Ron wanted to duel me, but I didn’t expect someone like you to be interested in that.”

“I’m interested in everything, I just don’t have time to stop idiots from being idiots.” The man reached out towards me. “The name’s Clive, I’m the vice-commander. It’s a pleasure to meet you…?”

“I guess you can call me Cub.” I gripped the man’s hand in my own. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“So, Ron is level twenty-five and he’s a warrior. He’s planning to upgrade to an axe-based class, obviously.” Clive smiled and tightened his grip. “What about you, feel like sharing?”

My mind froze over at his question. This man was cunning. He had seen through my plan to keep my class private, and he had openly asked in front of this audience. If I refused his request, it would throw his face into the dirt. If I lied, it would be proven false in short order.

“Supporter, level twenty-three.” I smiled at him as I announced my class. I had two more levels to go before I got to ten, so it matched the increase to twenty-five. Clive nodded as he released my hand before he turned back to Ray.

“So, you challenged a Supporter to a one on one duel and wouldn’t allow him to use abilities? How brave of you.”

“I didn’t know he was a Supporter.” Ron mumbled as he stared at the ground. The four people who had followed him, including Bobby, had slunk back into the crowd long ago. “If he’d told me, I wouldn’t-”

“So, a new duel. Abilities allowed, that seems fair.” Clive patted my shoulder and pushed me towards Ron. “Go on, show us what you’re made of.”

“Sir, can I use my abilities too?” Ron glanced up. He seemed like a schoolchild who had been caught smoking behind the sheds by his headmaster.

“Of course.” I nodded before Clive could speak. Whilst my abilities were the initial ones provided to a Supporter, my year of practice had lead to their mastery. Their rank should make up for the difference in our skills, especially for a bandit such as him. “It’s only fair, right? Can’t have you complaining when you lose.”

Clive glanced at me before he shrugged and moved back to the edge of the arena. Ron stared at me open mouthed for several seconds before he pulled himself together. He raised his axe up once more, though this time his expression was far more serious than it had been previously.

“Strengthen. Accelerate.” I spoke the buffs clearly, which raised a ripple of murmurs from the crowd. Ron tilted his head to one side as he watched me prepare for our battle.

“Those are the basic Supporter buffs, don’t you have anything more useful?”

“That’s all I’ll need to deal with you.” I grinned and settled into a defensive stance. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Ron clamped his mouth shut as he stepped forwards. He dropped his axe down as he charged at me, as though his plan was to run right over me through sheer will. The huge axe-head was aimed directly at the centre of my chest as he built up speed.

“Enrage!”

As he got closer, he yelled out his first ability. His muscles bulged as he thrust his axe at my chest.

Blocking would still be stupid, but that’s not my only trick. This guy tried to use me, so he deserves everything he has coming to him.

As his axe closed in, I launched my plan into action. My staff lanced out and slammed into the end of his axe. I had slowed his charge a little, but his momentum was too much for me to stop entirely. Fortunately, that wasn’t the end result I had hoped for anyway.

His axe head curved outwards at the top, which gave me the perfect spot to jam my staff into. As my feet were about to leave the floor, I punched down on my staff.

“Buffed strike!”

My blow slammed into the side of my staff. The force of the strike was transmitted into his axe, which caused his weapon to slam into the floor. He had not expected such a risky move, so he didn’t react in time before my foot landed on the back of his axe.

“Buffed strike!” I yelled once more. This time the ability was used to increase the power of my kick as I buried his axe in the ground. Ron stared at his weapon stupidly as I readied my staff for phase two of the plan.

I thrust it out again, though the target wasn’t Ron directly. My staff skittered along the length of his axe as it approached his unprotected hand. Ron barely pulled his hand away before my staff carved a gouge through the place he had just been holding.

Let’s see how strong you are now.

His ability was a basic increase in strength, though there could be secondary effects I hadn’t noticed. If he had used an active ability to enhance his blow, it was possible he would have overpowered me. At that point I still would have had a few moves in reserve, like my Transmutation, but the fight would have been much more difficult.

I need to keep that hidden as long as I can, it will lose its effect if everyone knows about it beforehand.

Ron ran towards me with his arms held wide. If I had a weapon like an axe, he might have given up straight away, but it was possible his passive defenses would be able to nullify my blow again.

I wouldn’t give him the chance.

“Buffed strike.” I spoke calmly as my staff lunged towards his leg. He tried to dodge, but the speed of my blow was far too fast. He tumbled to the floor the instant my staff struck his knee, though he did try to roll towards his axe at the same time.

So I kicked it away.

Ron rolled past me and scrabbled at the area where his weapon had laid moments ago. I flipped him over with a casual kick and raised my staff above his head.

“So, do you want to quit?” I quipped as Ron stared up at me. The bandit leader clenched his fists, but it was clear he wouldn’t be able to block should I carry out my next attack.

“I give up. You win, Cub.”