Chapter 84 – Fight at the guild.

“Did you hear?”

“No what is it?”

“Armand is going to test some kind of a newbie.”

“Armand? Didn’t he break that last guy’s legs?”

“The same, we should go check it out. I heard his opponent is quite an eccentric.”

Two men were chatting outside the adventurer guild building. They soon moved around it towards the training field in the back. As they arrived they could see a small crowd of people already there.

“What are the odds?”

“Five to one in Armand’s favor. We are also betting on how long the new meat will last in the ring.”

People were placing bets on how long the man in red armor would last against the hired guild instructor. The man was an active adventurer who liked performing these sorts of tests for one reason or another. Other adventurers were just here to see a show as everyone liked to see newbies getting brought down a peg by more experienced seniors.

“You weren’t lying when you said he was an eccentric… What’s with that color? and are those runic symbols?”

The two men that had come late looked at the man in the red suit of armor. To them, he looked like a son from some kind of rich merchant. Normally no one could afford a full suit of runic armor, they could even see mana stones peeking out which showed them that it was a more expensive version.

This new silver rank candidate was in the middle of picking out his training weapons. He wasn’t allowed to use swords that had a blade for safety reasons. Though even without a sharp edge, someone at tier 2 could easily kill someone with a direct hit from a blunt weapon. The ones performing the test were aware of this. They would be compensated for the danger and any healing potions were on the house.

Armand that was this instructor was on the other side. The two were in a fenced round ring of sorts with a lot of space to maneuver. People could see him put on two metallic-looking gauntlets and a cute looking lady was helping him strap them in. It didn’t seem like the man was perturbed by his opponent that was clad in full body armor, his face was relaxed and filled with smiles.

“Will it really be that easy? That guy shouldn’t be that weak.”

“Are you stupid did you see what they are wearing? Armand clearly has the advantage here, those gauntlets will dent that armor in no time.”
One of the men was quite sure that the guild instructor had it in the bag. From this guy’s perspective, the man in red armor was clearly some kind of shield warrior, a tank in gaming terms. His armor would be good against weapons with blades but weak against blunt force. His opponent Armand was a Pugilist, someone that specialized in close combat with his fists.

When those gauntlets landed on the red armor it wouldn’t matter how hard it was, the blows would get through to the internal organs. There was also the agility aspect, the man in the bulky armor would have trouble contending with his opponent’s speed.

“I bet this fight will be quite boring… either he goes down with a few hits or keeps defending with that shield… but that training shield won’t last that long…”

Tier 2 fighters reached past the human limits, with enough punches a shield made from iron or steel would give out.

“Yeah yeah, quiet I think it’s starting…”

The man in the crimson armor went with a shield and a sword. The sword was blunt and would count more as a blunt weapon than a real blade. The only thing that made it better than a mace was its lower weight, it was more of a finesse weapon.

The crowd cheered as the fun was finally beginning, even more after they saw the beautiful sun elf receptionist lady there. She would be the one that gave the signal to start the battle as well as be the witness.

“Everyone ready?”

The man in red armor nodded and his opponent just shrugged while getting in a lazy fighting stance. He was clearly not taking this training match too seriously.

The signal for them to begin was given and people could hear Armand chuckling. He stood there and beckoned his opponent to attack.

“How about I give you four free hits? Think that would be fair, don’t you all think?”

The people that were looking in started laughing as they knew that this man liked to play around with his foes. This was clearly a tactic used to agitate an opponent and make him do sloppy decisions. With what looked to be a heavy shield warrior against him, Armand would find it easy to evade any of his sluggish attacks.

“Well, what are you waiting for newbie? Attack me, or are you scared?”

The man in red didn’t seem to be taking the bait at first but after some more taunts, it looked to have worked. He took a step forward with his shield in front and sword to the side. The people around expected some kind of blind rage-filled charge and they got something similar.

That crimson armor started glowing in green color. This glow was mostly coming from the embedded green mana stones. Anyone that was able to sense mana opened up their eyes wide at this phenomenon. This was just the beginning as their curious faces quickly turned to ones of bewilderment.

The man took off in a sprint but in reality, it looked more like he was flying forward. The speed at which he was going was not something a tier 2 beginner should be able to produce. Armand barely reacted by dodging to the side, his expression was similar to everyone else here as he felt something graze his cheek.

A long streak in the ground was formed as the man in the armor zoomed by. It looked as if this person had trouble containing his own speed. The greenish glow that the red armor produced faded away and the silver rank candidate turned to Armand that rubbed his cheek. Even from here, everyone could see that he was bleeding, they weren’t sure how but it didn’t look like this would be such an easy fight for this instructor.

People started moving closer as now everyone was interested in what this person had to offer. Was it some kind of special class or was this armor responsible for this sudden speed boost, only time would tell.

Soon the bout resumed as the armored man glowed green again and charged forward. This time around he was even faster, Armand was unable to keep his word and defended himself against the practice blade with his metal gauntlets.

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A quick exchange of sword against fists took place. Sparks started flying but it didn’t seem like anyone was giving an inch. The clash ended after the Pugilist landed a hard hit on the armored man’s shield. The impact caused him to slide back and a small dent appeared on the slab of metal that the armored warrior was holding.

This tradeoff was followed by a pause. It seemed like the two fighters were about equal but the man in the red armor didn’t take any hits. He managed to slip in a couple of sword strikes here and there while also skillfully defending himself with his shield.

The crowd that was looking at this was quite astonished. What was supposed to be a quick little training exercise that should have already ended in Armand’s favor was still in full swing. It even looked like the fresh tier 2 adventurer was winning as his agility was above this trained pugilist.

“Did he lie about his level or something? Are we getting scammed?”

The people that bet against the warrior in red were now worried. This could have been some scam that pitted someone that was above Armand in levels and in experience.