Chapter 224 : Chapter 224
Chapter 224. Investigation During the Duel
After the signal for the duel was given, the surrounding crowd did not erupt with the usual enthusiasm. Only a sparse few shouts could be heard at the scene.
And most of those shouts came from the lord on the high platform and his subordinates. After calling out a few times and realizing that only they themselves were shouting, they awkwardly lowered their voices.
Compared with knightly groups that held duels on a regular basis, the Church’s believers and the mercenaries were both rather poor at appreciating this sort of entertainment.
For mercenaries, the best form of entertainment was usually to knock back strong liquor and then gamble with dice in a tavern. That was more joyful and exciting than any other pastime.
As for the Church’s believers, they were usually well versed in eating, drinking, and amusements of every kind, but they had never really experienced this sort of entertainment, where they simply watched two people fight.
And with the tense situation at the scene, neither of these two groups had actually come here for entertainment in the first place. They had come to observe the condition of their opponents.
Only the lord and his men seemed not to have shifted away from their usual way of thinking. They were still treating this contest as entertainment.
Fran was also a little curious about why it was so quiet around her. She glanced around without quite understanding the situation, but from the expressions on the faces of the spectators alone, she knew that these people were probably not going to cheer for her.
She turned her attention back to the front. The church knight opposite her was likewise looking at her, though he seemed far more nervous than she had expected.
The church knight did not seem accustomed to a contest being watched by so many people. Even the hand gripping his sword trembled slightly.
Fran cast aside all her stray thoughts and began to carefully observe the church knight’s movements.
Judging from the way he held his weapon and prepared to launch an attack, he was no different from a normal close-combat Professional.
He had assumed a stance ready for both attack and defense, while also observing the opponent’s position and distance.
Five seconds after the signal for the duel had been given, neither of them launched an attack at once.
In contrast, the spectators all held their breath, unwilling to miss even a single movement.
Fran was carefully observing the church knight’s actions, while the knight himself was fighting according to the experience he had accumulated in past battles.
In his “experience,” when facing a battle mage of the Alliance, one could not blindly close the distance.
Although everyone on the continent knew that mages were very weak in close combat, in the church knight’s experience, that was a misunderstanding.
While it was true that in a real fight a mage’s close-combat ability was comparatively weak, the mages themselves were equally aware of that fact.
They would purchase all kinds of magical equipment or learn all kinds of spells to deal with close combat.
Some of the battle mages the church knight had encountered had even deliberately learned powerful close-range techniques, just waiting for someone to come forward and attack them.
So the church knight did not charge in rashly. When facing battle mages, although failing to attack meant surrendering the initiative, he had always believed that flexibility was the greatest advantage other Professionals had when facing mages.
Seeing that the other side had not moved at all, Fran also realized that if she continued observing like this, she would not learn anything. So she leaned forward and launched an attack.
To uphold the name of her Sword Chant School, she deliberately used Sword Dance before she attacked.
A mysterious rhythm began to emerge from Fran’s sword. Her mental power began to reflect itself upon the blade, and at that moment, the sword could be said to be an extension of her body.
“It’s coming.” The church knight’s pupils shrank slightly as he raised the greatsword in his hands to meet Fran’s attack.
He was not surprised that Fran had used Sword Dance, because knowing Sword Dance did not prove that Fran was a member of the Sword Chant School.
Within the Spirit Realm, it was perfectly normal to obtain some low-tier spells from the various schools of the Alliance.
Even the Alliance itself was deeply dissatisfied about why these low-tier spells could be obtained through exploration in the Spirit Realm.
Fortunately, though, the spells granted by the Spirit Realm were highly uncertain. It was very rare for it to grant school-exclusive spells. Most of the time, it only provided useless trash spells.
Even so, many mages still devoted themselves to studying why the Spirit Realm could bestow such spells, while some others had never been seen there at all.
The perspective returned to the duel arena. Fran’s downward slash did not involve any flashy Combat Techniques or spells.
It came down directly onto the greatsword the church knight had raised to block.
Even without any enhancements, Fran’s physical strength still exceeded that of an ordinary First-Tier Professional.
Her slash was heavy and forceful, and the church knight had to half-crouch behind his greatsword just to receive it.
“What tremendous force. Is it some kind of special spell?” Although Fran had displayed tremendous bodily strength, the church knight did not immediately conclude that she was a close-combat Professional pretending to be a mage.
On the contrary, he believed it might be some sort of body-enhancing spell he had never seen before.
Because he knew better than most that, aside from using spells, it was very difficult for a First-Tier Professional to improve their basic attributes through normal means.
So instead, he assumed that this terrifying force was itself a spell.
After blocking that attack, Fran pressed her advantage. With a twist of her blade, she used a longsword to produce the oppressive force of a heavy sword.
Every strike from the longsword in her hand burst forth with frightening power, crashing violently against the greatsword the church knight used to defend himself.
After blocking several attacks that had been comparatively easy to withstand at first, the church knight began to feel a dull ache in his wrists.
“I can’t keep meeting her head-on.” That thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly retreated, widening the distance between them.
Fran did not immediately chase after him. Instead, she stopped where she was and pointed her sword at him.
“A perfectly normal Professional. His basic attributes are about the same as a First-Tier Knight’s. The only question is how good his skill is.”
She had never entered this match in order to win. She had come to investigate what characteristics this sort of religion-based promoted Professional possessed.
If she had actually wanted to defeat him, she would have used Sunflame the moment the duel began.
For her, Sunflame was simply too useful. It was her most effective close-combat art at present, more useful than either Sword Dance or Elven Swordsmanship.
And the numerical values of Sunflame were outrageous. It could even let her maintain the advantage in direct exchanges against a Second-Tier Professional.
The moment the church knight retreated, his breathing changed. Fran could tell at once that he had used a Breathing Method.
“So even for the Church’s Professionals, their advancement path also requires a Breathing Method?”
Fran raised an eyebrow. Among the Professionals she had seen, most of them basically required a certain degree of mastery over a Breathing Method.
That was one of the fundamental requirements of most professions.
It seemed that even the advancement of believers who worshipped gods was no exception.