chapter 49

a couple hours after the event with laura and aria i was standing in the sparring Field with everyone currently in the village, which isn't surprising considering the fact that the event being held today is only seen once every generation. i have to fight the old man for the right to be the chief of the village, and he has to defend his position.

earlier i had taken my daggers out of my vault, after all I'm going to need more speed than strength in order to beat him, play against an old mans weakness. i also transform into a girl, which doesn't surprise many as it isn't rare for creatures to have that ability.

"the rules are as follows. the fight ends when one or both parties are no longer able to continue, no offensive magic allowed, no healing magic, other support magic is allowed, the winner takes the right to be the chief. is this clear to both parties?" announcer

"yes" Jackie

"yes" zain

"start." announcer

i make a dash forward, as an illusion. while casting invisibility, silent step, and speed on myself.

"like that'll distract me." zain

he slashes at me with his longsword, nicking my left arm.

"i can still smell you." zain

"let me fix that." Jackie

i will not use psychological magic in this fight, it would be disrespectful. instead i break his nose, by twisting around his still outstretched longsword with my incredibly limber body, and smashing it in with the back of my hand before blinking out of range of his longsword.

"you've gotten slow with your old age, old man. i fully intend to use it against you." jack

"thats fine, nothing done in accordance to the rules of a duel is dishonorable." zain

he sounds like he just got his nose broken, oh, wait. anyway, i dash again and zain rushes to meet me, before he gets in range i blink behind him only to get elbowed in the gut, effectively dropping me. i get up quickly by doing a move that would break a normal persons back, as well as being impossible to my male self, i move my feet over the back of my head, i fell face first, and into zain's thighs. zain jumps forward just barley out of reach by the time i get up and slash my daggers in front of me.

"impressive gymnastics, but will that be enough?" zain

"of course not, but enough talk." Jackie

the old halfling gracefully closes the distance between us before attempting to cut my head off. i duck down and attack his left hand with my dagger, slicing off three fingers. a couple strands of hair float down in front of me as i blink away. his fingers squirt blood over the blade of his sword.

the fight lasts similarly for about 30 minutes with various cuts, broken bones, missing body parts, bruises etc. the old man is starting to get tiered, weather due to blood loss from his missing left hand or his old age i don't know. a quick observe on him tells me that he is close to death, and so am i. also, WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THOSE STATS! THERE ALL IN THE THOUSANDS! AND I CAN'T EVEN SEE MY STATS! i decide to finish this before either of us die. i rush forward and blink behind him as he swipes his sword through the after image. it's a weird feeling, having something pass through your ethereal body, not unpleasant, just weird. knock his legs out from under him and pin him with my daggers at his neck.

"i guess this means the student has surpassed the teacher." zain

"and the winner is jack, Er Jackie!" announcer

he quickly corrects himself after being corrected by Johanna.

title obtained: chief

"now someone please get these guys a healer." announcer

"I'm on it" asmodeus

i am missing my nose, my right ear, 5 fingers, and my big toe. the old man is missing his left hand, his left ear, and 2 more fingers. unfortunately i can't regrow body parts yet.

i watch asmodeus use a high level healing spell on the old man, and miraculously he starts to return to normal. he then turns and uses the same spell on me, all i can remember is a second of soothing followed by indescribable pain as body parts regrow.

i help the old, tired man up and walk him to the big house. apparently he was running on adrenalin at the end, he really has gotten old.

end chapter 49

and thus ends the village arc. we will dive into the chief arc next release.