Chapter 59: Ariel the Strong
"Umbra of Chaos and Ariel the Strong to the arena!"
When James heard that name, he took up his fighting stance again and looked at the woman who had stepped into the arena.
The woman's muscles and curves were clearly visible in the clothes she wore, it was possible to see how hard she was a hard-working lady.
Her gaze was like the stab of a knife. The woman was not tall, she was almost the same height as James and did not have a large build, she was just like James, whose muscles were visible in the clothes he wore.
Considering that James already had a strange face that could be as beautiful as a woman, it was as detailed as possible that the woman standing in front of him looked like him in many structures.
"You don't seem to belong to a guild, ma'am," James said suddenly, seeming to take a moment to catch his breath a little more.
"That's right, I don't trust whoever I'm around, I've never met anyone in my life who could provide trust," the woman called Ariel replied.
With these words, James, who had consolidated his position, realised that the woman in front of him was stronger than him despite the limitation of her powers, which was a bad sign.
When Ariel realised that James had consolidated his position, she flexed her shoulders and then covered her fists with aura.
Then the duel began.
James, with Clarent covered in aura, was trying to counter Ariel's series of punches and mostly succeeded. When he failed, he tried to use his speed and avoid the attacks.
If Ariel's attacks didn't work on him, James couldn't even find a gap to attack, it was as if the woman in front of him was on the defensive in an offensive situation.
She was experienced.
"May I ask what floor you went up to, madam?" James suddenly asked.
Hearing this, Ariel stood where she was and took a few steps back and said, "It depends on why you're asking that."
James smiled when he heard this question and then said, "You haven't used everything against me."
This answer seemed to surprise the majority in the arena, most of them thought that Ariel was struggling, after all, James easily managed to avoid or counter every attack, they all thought that James was playing Ariel like prey.
"Puhaha...you're quite interesting, I didn't expect to laugh at all and to answer your question, I only made it up to the 34th floor, anything more is impossible for me at the moment," Ariel said with a very polite and smiling face. It was as if she enjoyed duelling with James.
James smiled and then said, "Then I have a proposition for both of us."
Ariel frowned and became serious when she heard this, she obviously wanted to hear what was going on but she had to be prepared for anything.
"Tell me," Ariel said suddenly.
"I know you're restricted, I mean you can't use all of your power, but I propose that you use everything you can, we'll both use everything we've got, let's make it an honourable duel."
Ariel seemed surprised by James' words, surprised that the young man in front of her could be so fearless.
"Why not," Ariel said, her smile showing that she was having fun.
"I am honoured ma'am, my name is Umbra, it is an honour to meet you," James replied.
With that, the aura around him began to change completely and became more serious. It was no different for Ariel, her whole body was covered in a lush green aura, a very relaxing sight.
James suddenly lunged forward and Ariel followed him. When Clarent hit Ariel's fist, a huge sound like a hammer hitting a sword rang out.
The entire arena floor shuddered and the two took a few steps back with smiling faces, at that moment Ariel's voice was heard:
"I've never been hit so hard in my life, and I can assure you that the idiots upstairs won't get anywhere near you!"
Ariel had been upset for a long time about the awfulness of the warriors upstairs. After all, unlike the stupid warriors, she barely used her class abilities and tried to crush everything with her own strength. This was a new experience for her, facing a real warrior.
After these words, Ariel attacked again without stopping, and the exchange of attacks began again.
"CLING!!!"
The strange metallic sound was getting louder and louder, and with each collision, merging auras were spreading around.
James felt his body being beaten with each collision as if he was getting stronger.
This duel was many times more useful to James than that stupid female vampire he had fought. Indeed, with each collision, his body was becoming more and more fit to fight.
This was thanks to Ariel, who was many times stronger and had fought more than him.
James didn't realise it, but he was having his first encounter with one of his greatest future friends. A friend to whom he could surrender his life for. A friend with whom he would constantly have disagreements, but who was inseparable at the same time.
Yet the two continued to attack each other, unaware of this.
James was using his dark step ability and Ariel was blocking James with her own ability, the image was as if the two were dancing, really a perfect image and the process was standing in front of them.
"JUST LIKE DANCING DON'T YOU THINK SO YOUNG FRIEND!!!" screamed Ariel.
The feeling of pleasure and fulfilment was evident in every inch of her face, Ariel was in a very happy state indeed.
James, who had heard this, smiled and shouted back "THANK YOU FOR TRUSTING ME ENOUGH TO GIVE ME AN HONOURABLE DUEL, DEAR LADY!!!"
Of course, Ariel wouldn't trust anyone that much, but she couldn't tell anyone the excitement and pleasure that this duel was giving her, she could fight like this for dozens of hours.
Only the gods themselves could understand how much the duo enjoyed it.