Now, I know this was a reckless plan. Far too reckless considering I had my life on the line if something went wrong, especially against a person as strong as Slavos. It would mean certain death if I wasn’t careful. Keyword ‘I’.

Slavos was very much a person that knew how to hold back. He was, after all, once known as the greatest Knight-Scholar of the Dominique Library. Holding back his strength while still suppressing opponents was something he was known to do, even in the game and in the lore.

So, if there was anyone I wanted to test my strength with, it was Slavos. He presented things I needed to evaluate my strength to the strength of the new world. One, he was considered one of the strongest people in the continent and would give me an accurate take of my standing. Two, he was considerate and powerful enough to stop himself from committing a death blow.

Still, accidents happened in fighting, even if it was a spar so I had one more item in my repertoire. It was a legendary amulet that was very popular among raiding parties if only for the fact that it could 'resurrect' against certain death once in a week. Many raiding parties had one or two of these amulets on their vital members, like an Occultist or a Guardian.

Watching Nis use the Mexxiah Crown gave me enough of a ‘reason’ to try it. If unique item like the Mexxiah Crown worked, then I might as well try with the rest of my items. Still, there was no guarantee that every item would work.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I had already lost my life once anyway, and it was a fulfilling life, so I had no qualms jumping into the maw of a dragon if it meant one more foot to stand on in Adonis.

Upon hearing my proposal, Slavos was slightly taken aback, his mouth was ajar and I could feel his chilly breath even this far away from him. It took a moment to process what I asked of him.

“Are you quite certain of this, Sir Sed? Not to belittle your strength, but I am an adamantium adventurer. I have confidence that I can hold back my abilities, but there is still reasonable risk to consider.”

I smiled. He really was Slavos Darsin.

I took out my adamantium badge and showed it to him.

“No worries there, Sir Slavos. I am also of equivalent rank. Truth be told, I only wanted to spar with someone of equal standing as I had not fought in a long time. I wanted to stimulate my battle sense with someone that could fight me on a reasonable level.”

“To think that you would also be an adamantium, and one so young at that.” He murmured and scratched at his temple with his long claws. “I find it commendable that you wish to return to the fold. So be it! We shall fight in the lodge’s yard.”

There was a guttural laugh from him and he stood up from his seat. He stood a good 3 heads taller than me. He brandished his sword from the table and placed it on his shoulder. “We must appropriate the place from them, let us meet with a guilder.” He said and moved his hulking frame.

It was a smooth exchange when we talked to it with Madriel. He said it was a great idea, and that he could easily reschedule the training exercises for another day, saying that our spar would be a great learning experience for new adventurers.

One thing I did not consider was that he also advertised it to the rest of the adventurers loitering in the guild house.

We stepped foot into the ‘yard’ of the guild house. We call it a yard, but in actuality, it was more of a gladiatorial arena. It was accessed on the ground floor to the far end from the entrance of the guild. It was one level lower to accommodate for people to watch, and was made to make sure that no stray attacks would attack the audience from below.

Normally, this place would have dozens of adventurers learning the ropes, usually newbies that have just joined. In the game, it was populated with NPCs, but it wasn’t rare to find a player among them, wanting to learn how to properly fight.

Now though, instead of the deserted bleaches, it was now actually packed to the brim of lazy bums eager to see a fight between two adamantiums.

I wanted to keep it a private matter, but Madriel seems to have thought otherwise. Oh well, Slavos doesn’t seem to mind, so I pushed the thoughts aside as well.

We were lead to the center of the arena by the guilders and they started to ‘welcome’ us to the adoring crowd.

I could hear the murmurs as they looked at me. I guess it was to be expected, they didn’t think someone as young as I would be an adamantium. Little did they know, I was actually an old man with 200+ years in his belt. Well, that my past life.

I already have many of my items equipped before I dropped to the arena, so I was already in tip-top shape. My equipment was my usual loadout, the white long coat Forevermore, the Enduring Soul amulet, the Fairy’s Grasp gloves, the Soles of the Soul, a cape of Windfall, and 2 simple agility booster rings. They were all items that increase my agility sufficiently. I also had on my hand my trusty spear, the Spear of Immersed.

Slavos, on the other hand, didn’t seem to need much. He only had a mantle made of chainmail on his hips and cloth pants adorned with steel knee guards. On his right shoulder was a large pauldron held in place by leather belts across his chest. His monocle was tightly fitted to his right horn, and his hunk iron of a sword was resting on his shoulder.

We looked at each other and we both knew it was time. No need for words.