Nastin was having an absolutely wonderful day.

His team hadn’t had the easiest time adjusting to the new game. They knew that their previous game just wasn’t that popular anymore, so they were hoping to come into this one and make a splash, but not having any skills or end-game equipment made it annoying to catch up again.

They had spent the last few days farming around Lum and completing quests so his entire team was slowly getting restless and bored. He knew he would need to let them vent somehow but the game was still new and the skilled players hadn’t yet revealed themselves to the world. There were rumors of a professional scene opening up and they knew from their connections that this was almost definitely true, but that wouldn’t be for a while.

So when some stranger named Attracting came to him and told him that there was another professional gaming team in the area he had jumped at the opportunity to find them. They had quickly asked around and found out there was a team of players that constantly fought in the forest sometimes whose names matched the ones they’d been given. Every eye witness account told them that these players were skilled. It had only taken a couple of days for them to come back into the city.

He had gone immediately to challenge them to a duel. The reason was actually very simple; his team was slacking off. They had just entered a new game and the relative ease of life as they grinded and got used to the mechanics of the game had led to everyone coasting and relaxing. He’d be surprised if they could bring out half of their strength right now. Even so, they had still managed to get themselves powerful classes based on their raw skills but there was no fire in their hearts to get better. They hadn’t met a powerful obstacle yet.

He’d hoped this other professional team could help beat his own team back into shape.

Then he’d found out that they weren’t actually professionals. But he’d still challenged them to a duel because they’d seemed strong. He had volunteered to fight first without knowledge of his opponent’s moves but also without his opponent knowing his moves.

Then he got his ass absolutely whooped. He was still reeling from the fact that it had happened when his team’s wizard was killed a minute later by a tank she should have countered in every area.

It made him smile with joy.

This was exactly what they had come here for. Regardless of whether or not they were winning or losing, he could tell that the opponents this time were actually a full level above them. Somehow this team had gone under the radar despite his grand information network. His team had to shape up if they wanted to win.

He also enjoyed a good challenge so having stronger opponents was a major plus in his books.

Then his archer stepped forward to fight theirs and he grinned. His team had a fire lit under them. They wanted to fight these mysterious opponents to their heart's content.

It was strange, Attracting had also mentioned that the player ‘Third’ most likely wouldn’t be there. Apparently he and Archy couldn’t stand each other and so wouldn’t stay on the same team for long. Yet there he was, standing proud and a little bored. But Nastin wasn’t going to comment on a good thing. He was happy there was another strong opponent to fight.

The enemy team’s archer stepped forward and Nastin appraised him. This person was one of two named by the player ‘Attracting’ as being the best at dueling on the team. The archer definitely looked the part. He had utter confidence in his gaze and his lack of hesitation seemed to strike a chord in Nastin’s heart.

“No.”

Nastin was startled as the archer turned quiet and a chubby girl in robes walked up to his team.

“I want to fight.”

‘Seven.’ The name was unfamiliar.

Nastin wasn’t too sure about this person. He had asked Attracting for further information on this person. When Attracting had said that she was merely ‘tagging along’ with the ‘professional team’ Nastin honestly hadn’t believed him for a second. But when he pushed further for information on her, he only got a single response.

‘Unskilled and useless. Probably not even going to be with them if she was kicked out.’ Was Attracting’s reply.

Nastin wasn’t so sure. He didn’t think that a team this skilled would allow such a weak player to drag them down. But she had remained quiet throughout and he’d mostly forgotten about her in the last few minutes as he focused on her teammates.

Now she had stepped in.

‘Surely he won’t allow this opportunity to go.’ Nastin was sure that this archer wouldn’t budge.

Their entire team looked raring to battle but only the archer had glared at all of them. He was clearly the kind of person that wouldn’t back down when he found something he wanted to do. Nastin was sure he was a stubborn guy.

“No.” Archy shot Seven down and Nastin could see the girl wanted to object.

‘Just as I thought.’ Nastin almost nodded but decided not to make any moves that could be seen as bad mannered.

“I mean- It wouldn’t be fair.” Archy turned to Nastin and stared at his team, finally pointing out the team’s warrior, Chasey, “You… and you” He pointed at Chasey and the archer, Grenda, “You two fight.”

“What?” Nastin couldn’t help but let the word slip out of his mouth, “Ahem,” he coughed, “It would be a little unfair if we sent two of our members to fight a single opponent.”

He hadn’t expected the archer to not only agree to the girl’s demand but then add the condition that she fight two opponents. Nastin thought Archy might actually be trying to force his magi teammate to let him fight instead by imposing these harsh conditions.

“Oh.” Seven seemed unsure as well

She glanced at TidalWave and saw him nod, “It wouldn’t be fair to have only their archer.”

Seven returned the nod, “Okay.”

Nastin’s entire team was extremely confused as they watched the strange exchange. They had all seen her look at TidalWave and the extremely strong warrior had actually agreed with his archer. Nastin tried to size up the girl but she seemed extremely ordinary. Definitely not someone with the same demeanour and confidence of the players around her.

“Is that okay with you guys?” Seven turned to Nastin’s team hesitantly.

“It’s really insulting.” Chaser said bluntly, “But sure if you’re okay with getting your ass kicked.”

Nastin smacked the cocky warrior’s head. Sometimes the only thing he regretted in his team was the fact that Chaser couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Grenda nodded as well, “Sounds interesting, let’s do this magi.”

Nastin nodded. As expected of his team, they were actually taking this extremely seriously. He recalled the class that Seven had, ‘Nimble Mage’, he sent private messages to his teammates that they should expect the girl to be good at close quarters and long range combat. He eyed her positioning and weapons as she stood and tried to figure out what kind of player she was.

He wasn’t going to take any chances given how the other team had reacted.

For some reason, not one of them had objected to this girl taking the archer’s place in the battle line. He couldn’t care less what Attracting said, he personally was convinced that this girl was as strong as the other players. If not, then it would simply be a shame. He wouldn’t underestimate her first and regret it later. He would treat her as someone capable of taking on two of his team members.

The player’s teleported into the arena and Nastin watched the enemy closely.

He hoped that he would get to see a good show.

****

[Duel will start in 5… 4… 3...]

‘I screwed up.’ Seven was having some serious pre-duel jitters.

Thankfully the Dark Horse team had set the range to the highest. The two opposing teams would practically be starting on opposite sides of the map.

-Don’t be so nervous.- Archy sent her a message.

-Ignore the buffoon's terrible attempt to calm you,- Third sent a message almost at the exact same time, -these two are good but they are not on par with TidalWave and Archy.-

‘He’s right.’ Seven considered their words.

There was no way there two were as skilled as her teammates.

[Start the duel.]

The two opposing players blazed into action. Despite the warrior’s casual attitude towards her, she could see he was taking this extremely seriously. The arena hadn’t been given any environment adjustments during the fights. It was simply an open field from which she could rain fire.

“Okay.” Seven breathed deeply.

Then she moved her head to the side and dodged the first arrow as it flew towards her. She hadn’t seen it until it appeared a few meters away from her.

“Woah.” If she hadn’t been quick she would have been hit.

It was quickly followed by a second arrow that seemed to materialise out of thin air. She shifted her body to the side as the arrow barely grazed by her arm.

‘She’s not that good at aiming.’ Seven analysed her opponent as she finally began to move away from the warrior that was charging towards her.

Of course, that was relative to Archy. The other player had still managed to aim at her precisely despite being so far away.

She fired a couple of magic blasts towards the archer and saw her opponent dodge them. She was too far away to send an undodgeable attack at her opponent. Another arrow appeared in front of her and she dodged it.

‘She has invisible arrows.’

Seven had figured out the archer’s range, precision, and special powers. She could work with this.

She turned towards the charging warrior. She had been waiting for him to get near enough that she could hit him easily but also far enough that she could run away from his attacks safely.

“Magic blast.”

She sent stream after stream of magic attacks against the warrior. Chaser smiled as he skirted around the attacks. he was skilled enough to use the time between her cooldowns to approach her swiftly. Seven shifted her aim towards his torso as he drew closer and fired three shots, one in the middle and two others on either side. It was a trick she’d learned from Archy. If he dodged the first attack he would get hit by the others. There was even a chance of him being hit by two attacks if he accidentally moved too slow.

The warrior dodged the first blast but was hit by the one on his left.

‘Not bad.’ Seven jumped back again as an arrow passed by her.

She had fought against Archy hundreds of times. His ability to shoot cover fire to try and kill her was far above the archer she was fighting now. She felt like she didn’t even have to look as she could tell the most likely spots that the arrows would fly towards. Of course, she didn’t want to test that theory or else she’d end up a porcupine.

The warrior moved closer but was clearly more cautious now that he had been hit. Seven decided to let him get in closer. She didn’t know his abilities but she was sure he would probably have some similar skills to TidalWave or even Roxxy. She planned to let him get close and then hit him with a series of magic blasts.

‘Within five or six moves he’ll either be down or I’ll be dead.’ She thought to herself.

“Got you now.” Chaser said calmly as he reached her.

He was confident that as a warrior he would destroy the magi in close combat. He lifted his sword and struck at her.

“Stone shift.”

“Magic blast.”

She dodged as he swiped at her and fired back.

‘Now he’ll destroy the magic blast with his sword and counterattack.’

-32

She noted with surprise that he hadn’t done anything and the attack had hit him directly.

‘Now he'll most likely go quicker or become invincible.’

“Stone shift.”

“Magic blast.”

The warrior turned his sword up sharply to follow her movements and as she dodged his second attack she fired again. Then he collapsed onto the ground, dead.

“Stone shift.”

“Magic blast.”

Seven’s eyes widened in surprise as she instinctively dodged again and retaliated. Her magic blast hit thin air. She hadn’t expected the warrior to die so soon. TidalWave usually blocked the first few waves of her attacks. He either went into a high-speed mode to dodge the attack or would block it with his sword.

Even Archy had a skill that let him move quicker if she tried to aim for him.

Seven dodged another arrow that appeared in front of her and turned to face the archer across the field. The opponent was suddenly looking a lot less confident now that the warrior had been so easily disposed of.

‘Now, how do I deal with you.’ Seven watched her last opponent warily.

She had confidence in her dodging skills when it came to normal arrows, but these were invisible. The question she had trouble with was whether they were invisible up to a certain range or within a certain distance away from her.

If it was the first then if she tried to get closer then she would be fighting against invisible arrows. If it was the second then each arrow would become visible but she would have less and less time to dodge as she got closer.

‘No use overthinking it and freezing up now.’

Seven dashed towards the archer. She was still a fair distance but she fired magic blast after magic blast to force the archer to focus on dodging. Even from this far distance her opponent was finding all of the attacks difficult to ignore. If the archer stood still against a single one it would hit her.

‘You’re a lot bigger than a leaf.’ Seven fondly recalled the words Archy had said to her during their first meeting.

They made sense to her now.

-25

‘Damn.’

Seven hadn’t seen the arrow but she could feel it hitting her chest. It looked like all the arrows were invisible up until a certain distance.

“Stone shift.”

Seven played it safe and ran back until she got to a distance that the invisibility wore off the arrows. She would just have to find another way to get close to the archer.

She circled the playing field, making sure to keep a distance from the archer. She stopped firing magic blasts and instead focused all of her concentration on the area in front of the archer. The archer watched her cautiously but the focus point that would allow Seven to change the direction of her magic blasts was invisible to everyone except her. She fired a magic blast towards the archer. The archer preemptively moved to the side.

It was just like the time in the magi guild test.

-32

The magic blast suddenly changed directions and smacked directly into the archer’s body.

‘She probably can’t take another hit. Maybe two at most.’ Seven smiled as she saw panic appear in the archer’s eyes.

Even Archy had been hit the first time she tried this move on him.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t skilled enough yet to use her focus points to shift the enemy’s arrows into another direction. Let alone normal arrows, if she tried to guess where the invisible arrows were to summon a focus point then she would probably end up dead within seconds.

The archer began to move erratically from side to side, and forward and backward. She wasn’t sure how she’d been hit but she knew that Seven was doing something fishy. Instead of trying to corner the archer with her focus points Seven decided to try and get closer. It would be much harder to hit the enemy with the same attack twice.

Seven dodged more arrows as they appeared in the air. She carefully observed the archer moving frantically as she rained magic blasts down on her. She saw the archer take a split second to fire another arrow as she dodged and Seven smiled.

‘I got it.’

She had been going about this fight the wrong way.

She had been attempting to predict where the arrows would be shot, but that would only allow her to dodge by luck. But every time the archer attacked she would have to aim her bow. The arrow itself would go in a straight line from there. Even if it was harder to predict from her current distance, Seven could see the bow and the attack's trajectory if she got closer. Seven felt it was a safe bet. After all, if the opponent could change the direction of her attacks she’d had plenty of opportunities to do so.

‘Here goes nothing.’

Seven let out a couple more magic blasts towards her opponent as she moved in for the kill. The archer dodged them both and took her time to aim at Seven’s approaching figure. Then she fired.

‘There.’

Seven could see in her mind where the shot was going to go. She couldn’t see the arrow at all but at the last second she sidestepped and heard the familiar sound of an arrow hitting the ground.

‘Success!’ She celebrated internally but kept her eyes focused on the enemy’s bow.

Two more arrows were fired after the first one but Seven dodged both of them. She had already made it to the mid-way point between the two. She fired magic blasts into the air and forced the archer to focus completely on dodging. Seven was close enough now that each blast was aimed almost to hit straight into the chest of her opponent.

If the archer stopped to fire an arrow she would be hit.

“Darkness.”

A dark shroud enveloped the area of a few feet on top of the archer.

Seven had lost sight of her bow.

Seven decided to dodge preemptively rather than be hit by an arrow being shot out from the darkness.

“Stone shift.”

She fired a magic blast inside hoping to hit the enemy.

“Magic blast.”

Seven only had enough mana for two stone shifts left. The rest of the mana had to be saved for magic blasts.

‘She’s not shooting.’

It appeared that the archer couldn’t see through her own dark veil.

‘Or maybe she’s waiting for me to slip up before going in for the kill.’

The shroud of darkness didn’t seem to be letting up so Seven skirted around it and waited for an opportunity. She was close enough now that even if she fired blindly there was a chance of her hitting her opponent.

But still, she waited.

-25

“Magic blast.”

“Stone shift.”

“Magic blast.”

“Stone shift.”

“Magic blast.”

Seven didn’t hesitate or flinch as the invisible arrow hit her. She fired a magic blast directly into the direction she felt the arrow had come from. Before it even hit anything she sent another two on both sides of her first one. She was using the same trick she had used against the warrior.

-32

‘Yes.’ Seven smiled.

-32

The second shot rang true as the darkness disappeared and revealed the archer’s corpse falling to the ground. Her eyes were widened in surprise. She had been pretending that she couldn’t see within her own darkness, waiting for Seven to let her guard down so that she could kill her in an instant.

Instead, the magi had retaliated to her first shot by dodging and sending three back in return. The archer’s second arrow had been quickly dodged despite Seven not being able to see it. Thanks to the delay from shooting that arrow the archer had been hit by the first magic blast and then when the archer had tried to dodge it she was instead hit by one of the other ones.

She had been completely outmaneuvered.

[Seven has won the duel against players: Grenda and Chaser]

Seven breathed a sigh of relief as she was teleported to the stand next to her team. Roxxy was the to smack her on the back in congratulations and almost sent her sprawling.

“Oh-my-god that was so damn cool,” Roxxy was positively ecstatic “You kicked their asses Seven.”

Seven grinned as she realised that she had won.

She hadn’t gotten lucky or anything. She had simply won through sheer skill.

“Good Job.” “A victory well earned.” “That was great.” TidalWave, Third and Spark Joy gave their praise at the same time.

“Looks like TidalWave and I will start having trouble real soon. That was amazing.” Archy had a wide smile as he saw the archer dejectedly return to her team, “They were good too.”

The warrior had already rejoined them after dying.

He hesitated then walked up to Seven and lowered his head, “Sorry for being so rude before.”

He walked back to his teammates and they smiled at him and the archer. They knew their teammates had fought a good fight despite losing in the end. If Seven had been any less skilled she would have died during the final ploy set out by the archer.

Nastin also walked forward and smiled at Seven, “I’m sorry as well.” He had been amazed from the beginning of the fight to the end, “It appears that Attracting does not have all the information he claims to have. You are definitely no tag along. We would be happy to fight with you any time if you feel that we’d be worthy opponents.”

“Of course.” Seven smiled at his apology.

It wasn’t his fault that he’d been told something that insulted her. He had even been incredibly nice to her from the beginning. She waved her hand as though to shrug off the entire issue and his smile widened.

“Hey, hey.” Archy interrupted their condolences, “That’s great and all. But my fight with this person got interrupted.”

He pointed to Grenda and she looked surprised.

“You still want to fight me?” She seemed to perk up.

The truth was she was feeling down about losing a two on one fight.

“You know it.” Archy lifted his bow, “Invisible arrows? That’s cool as hell.”

He was ridiculously envious of her.

“I am so god damn jealous.” He didn’t bother to hide it.

“Here.” He sent her information on his abilities, “It’s not fair if you go into the fight with a handicap because I’ve seen what you can do.”

Grenda read over his abilities and smiled. Despite his laid back attitude this enemy archer was a fair player. She noted that he didn’t really have any attacks that affected the field.

‘Actually, he can only use basic attacks.’ She realised as she scanned his abilities.

He had nothing like her ‘darkness’ skill.

“Do you want me to use only basic attacks?” She still had her pride and sense of fair play despite having just lost a fight.

She wouldn’t push what she saw as an unfair advantage just because she wanted to win.

“Heck no.” Archy outright refused her, “Use everything at your disposal.”

She nodded and they entered the arena.

The two teams took the chance to talk to each other while watching the match. The outcome of the match was still important but the Dark Horse group had decided to share their abilities and skills with everyone so that they could make every fight one that was using the best of their brains as well as their skills.

Then Seven frowned as she saw someone approaching her.

It was the warrior that she had just fought, and that had insulted her a lot during their short time knowing each other.

Chaser.