City of Desire-Chapter 631: The Blood II

I could see the pain in the older man's eyes. It is far greater than mine.

I don't want it to happen. It will affect the city and me tremendously. There are only two ways out: one is to advance to the throne, and the second is to become a pawn of the legacy.

Both are massive challenges.

I have no control over advancement, but I requested the emperor to make it a pawn of one of the throne legacies we had in the empire, but he rejected the request.

The thing is, Vanis Tavern is a common legacy. Its size is average, and it does not have any special skills.

Most importantly, its emotion scale is small. Making emotion essence output average.

Still, I can't let it die. I have to do something, and there is only one thing I can do: find a throne to make it a pawn.

I was trying before, but now I will try hard.

…

Barb Utsa

"It's time," I said as I looked at the clock, took a couple of sips of twilight amber, and closed my eyes for a minute, enjoying the buzz.

When I opened my eyes, I got up from the chair and walked out. Tara was waiting for me. I didn't invite Gloria and Rexy; they didn't need to be there.

They are not aware of the actual mission. If there is a fallout, I want to save them as much as possible.

'How confident are you?' asked Tara. 'A little,' I replied. I would have been able to say it with confidence if I had a clear idea of his strength.

Unfortunately, I do not. The last public duel he had was decades ago when he was young.

He rarely duels. It is said the master practices a few times a month and duels with the prince whenever he comes to Legacy.

The information states that he is not above Lv. 30, but I don't know what level his Duellist Class is or whether it has merged with his primary class.

His main class, that is, connected to the legacy, is powerful. It is at the level of the Lord.

So, if he is closer to Lv. 30 like me, I will be at a significant disadvantage. My main class might give me the advantages of powerful attributes, but it could not compared to his primary class.

I also don't know what level his Dueller Class is; I hope it is not over Lv. 20.

There is another disadvantage. I will be fighting with handicaps; I will not be able to breathe fire. We didn't talk about it, but I will not be breathing fire unless he uses spells, which he could not.

I have one advantage that he didn't: battle experience. I fought with my life on the line, which refined my combat style.

So, even if I only held a sword for barely a year. My real battle experience would help against someone who only fought the safe duels.

Duels can be dangerous, but his were not.

He was his parents' only child, the heir to the legacy. He was protected from the moment he was born; he had royal guards as protection, and he still has them.

Soon, I reached the villa. It is small compared to a palatial manor in the city.

The guards let us in and led us to the back, where there was beautiful sparring ground by the cliff overlooking the turquoise sea.

Aardwyn and Rylan are there, as is his mother, a beautiful woman with long raven hair. Three other people and four guards, all of them above Lv. 30, are also present.

"Lord Aardwyn," we greeted with a bow, and the man smiled, to my surprise. Unlike yesterday, he seemed excited for the spar when there was a reluctance.

"Miss Utsa, Miss Tara," he replied.

"It's a beautiful practice place you have, my lord," I praised, and the man smiled. "It is," he replied, looking at the turquoise sea.

A few seconds later, he turned to me with his face serious.

"Shall we?" he asked. I nodded.

He picked up a practice dueling rapier from the weapons rack while I picked the sword and the shield. They are excellently made and are better than any practice weapon I have held in my hand.

We went to the sparring circle. It is made of blue tiles, which are enchanted with force absorption and other enchantments.

As we took our places on either side, the bald guard appeared in the middle of us. He was incredibly fast; I have only seen a few people move as fast as him.

"It is standard spar. It will last for half an hour or till one party gives up," stated the bald man. Both of us nodded at that.

"Begin," he said, and immediately, Aardwyn came at me, and he was fast, and his speed skill was unlike anything I had seen before.

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He moved like he was gliding on water. His movements are smooth, flexible, and fast, which isn't surprising since they are a skill from its main class.

Each skill has a feeling, but it doesn't give the sense of the combat class. It also didn't give a feeling of Lv. 30 and above, which relieved me.

I wanted to move at him but didn't. Instead, I activated the Stance.

He appeared in front of me and swung his sword forward. He is fast, with a clean strike enhanced by the skills he had activated.

I was relieved when I felt his combat skills; his Duellist Class is below level 20. Same as me with my Warrior Class.

Still, it had the advantage of the powerful attributes. I could already tell that makes his skill stronger than mine.

It will be a challenge for me to get what I want from him, but I have to—the survival of my home and my family dependent on it.

I reacted immediately to its attack and moved my shield forward to defend against it.

He tried to dodge the shield, but I moved it to the path of his rapier. He might be fast, but I had fought the faster monsters; I knew how to keep myself guarded.

The sword clashed against the shield, and I felt the blow, but I bore it and attacked with my sword, Heavy Strike.

He dodged the attack back before appearing to my left and attacking again.

Once more, I moved my shield forward and defended against the attack, but he appeared behind me, attacking once again.

I turned fast and defended, and once more, he moved.

I was about to activate the Madam's Grace to defend against the attack when he stopped to my right and attacked again.

He moved fast, never staying in one place for more than a moment and not giving me a chance to attack him.

He is a duelist who fights like one—using speed and precise strikes to keep me on the defensive. I wanted to do more than just defend, to counter his attacks, but I couldn't.

Madam's Grace does not give me as much speed as his skill gives him.

He is likely at the same level in his main class as I am, but there is a difference in power between us. August Madam is a powerful class but not as powerful as the Lord Class.

I can't be hasty. I need to think about my goal, which is different from his.

I have no interest in winning the spar. I won't care if I get beaten badly. I will be fine as long as I get the things I need.

It would have been a little easier if we had fought with the actual weapons, but I could barely convince him to spar. I didn't think he would have agreed to a duel with a whore.

A minute passed and then another. I kept my defense against his relentless attacks, not letting one pass through.

I didn't want to defend or attack, but I controlled my emotions and kept defending against the attacks.

Slowly, I could see my defense was irritating him. He was making riskier and riskier moves and wanted to finish me as soon as possible.

He didn't think I would be this difficult to defeat. I am, after all, a whore while he is a lord and master of legacy, no less. Not to mention, I am sent here by the man who he will have to fight for the fate of his legacy.

So, he wants to defeat me, and every minute, he can't. This irritates him more and more until irritation gives birth to sparks of anger.

Hugo says emotions can be the greatest tool and most significant weakness in the battle. The key is to control them, not be controlled by them.

He was getting angry and irritated while I kept myself calm despite every passing minute making me worry.

"You are good, Miss Utsa," he praised, bringing a smile to his face and a skill that made me feel comfortable in his presence. "Thank you, my lord," I replied, activating the Madam's Smile.

He didn't say anything, but I felt him activating the skill. It made me so comfortable all over that I wanted to lie down and rest.

The feeling is compelling.

'Since he used such skill, I might as well use mine,' I thought and drank all the liquor I had stored in the Stored Gulps all at once. Feeling the familiar burning heat in my stomach.

As I did, I activated Lasting Buzz and Intoxicating Fragrance.

I wanted to use it earlier but feared the guard might stop the battle. However, seeing that over ten minutes had passed and he had used the skill, I could now use this.

Intoxicating Fragrance is a double-edged sword, as I need to be drunk to be able to use it.

Also, people are more resistant to it than the monsters, but I have become quite good at using it against the monsters, and in the weeks in the sea, I have solely focused on practicing this skill.

Now, I hope. I am as good at fighting drunk as I believe myself to be, or it will end pretty quickly.

I begin to get drunk fast. This is because I am using the liquor I produced through the skill Gut Liquor; I should be resistant to it, but I am not.

It affects me, and it will affect my opponent just as severely if I keep it focused on him.

"Have you gotten drunk, Miss Utsa?" the man asked, surprised. So much so that he stopped attacking; the other looked just as surprised as him.

"It's just a skill, my lord," I replied, and I could hear people muttering 'drunk whore,' 'whore will be a whore' under their breath.

Even the man didn't look pleased either, and when he attacked again, it was powerful.

Seconds passed, and I kept defending when his sword finally moved around the shield and came at me.

It was fast. If it hits me, it will be game over for me.

I am Drunk and could feel the effects of it, but that's nothing new, and so is the attack. That is why I instantly activated Madam's Grace and moved stumblingly.

To their surprise, I dodged the attack by less than an inch.

Seeing that, he attacked again, and I moved my shield forward, but he was able to move his rapier around it and came at me again.

Rip!

This time, the blade touched, but not me. It touched the sleeve of my right hand as, once more, I dodged drunkenly.

Attacks came, and I dodged each one drunkenly. People watched, shocked and stupefied, while the man got angrier.

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Seeing that, I laughed. I hadn't meant to, but it slipped out. It only made him angrier—like I was mocking him. And, in a way, I was.

After the first big battle against the monsters, I completely embraced fighting drunk.

It is dangerous and foolish, but I am good at it. I practiced it for hours, both in Nakar and on the ship, and I gained more and more control over it despite it not seeming like it.

No matter how unconventional, every combat style—even something as foolish as drunken fighting—requires practice to be perfected.

A minute passed and then another. I dodged his attack while getting more drunk. At the same time, I kept Intoxicating Fragrance locked on him.

Which is hard in this state, but I am managing it.

If it had been a monster, they would have been affected now, but this man is resisting. It isn't a surprise; he has a class as powerful as Lord Class. Also, the skill I am using is Lv. 23, while his main class is higher level and powerful.

It would have been a great surprise if it had affected him, though it had started.

I don't need him as drunk as me. I need him enough to act on his emotions further; the liquor is very good at making that happen.

Another minute passed, and I smiled to myself drunkenly. The man is fortunate; I had drank every bit of liquor I had stored in me.

If there had been some, I don't know whether I would be able to stop myself from breathing out at him.

If this had been a life-and-death battle, I would have killed him within seconds with my fire. The man is blessed with powerful attributes but couldn't use them well.

If I had, I would have ended the battle within a minute.

A few minutes passed, and slight drunkenness covered his eyes. He is now attacking me wildly, using risky moves, while I dodged drunkenly.

I even stopped putting my shield forward to defend, which seemed to make him even more angry, like I was showing off.

Another minute passed, and he attacked once more. He is getting closer than he should to attack me.

An attack came like tens of them before it, and I moved to dodge, but this time, I dodged differently.

I moved to my left, with Madam's Grace, before shooting forward drunkenly.

The man was surprised, but despite that reacted fast.

He didn't move back, instead putting a rapier forward to defend against my sword coming at him.

The weapons clashed, and I could feel slight relief in his eyes, but a moment later, his slightly drunk eyes widened when he saw the shield coming toward him.

He tried to dodge, but it was fast with the momentum of the speed skill and my newest skill of Warrior Class.

BAM!

A loud bam rang out as my shield crashed against his face hard with the power of Shield Bash.

I heard the crunching of bones, and he stumbled back while I moved forward and put my sword on his neck before laughing drunkenly despite not wanting to.

Rage burns in the man's eyes, and he raises his sword forward.

"Miss Utsa, win," the guard declared, and the man stopped. Drunk as I am, I knew it was time to sober up and activate Hair of the Dog.

Feeling that terrible headache that came with it.

At that moment, I wiped the blood from my shield with my sleeve.

A brief silence hung between us before Aardwyn turned to me. He had sobered somewhat—a skill in itself—but it did nothing to quell his anger.

"You're a damn good mercenary for a whore, Miss Utsa," he sneered.

I saw Rylan's eyes widen, along with the others.

Including Aardwyn's adviser, a royal agent who acts as an unofficial guardian.

"Thank you for the praise, my lord," I replied with a smile and bow. Making the man even angrier, he opened his mouth but closed it as his adviser appeared before him.

"I believe the spar has tired out both my lord and you, Miss Utsa. Why not take a warm bath in the bathhouse? It will wash away all your tiredness and make you feel rejuvenated," suggested the man.

"You are right, Adviser Flavius," I replied and walked away.

I barely got out of the circle when the spell's power covered me and wiped away all the sweat and grime, including the blood on my sleeve and shield.

I could feel the hidden alarm in Tara's eyes, but I smiled.

I got the blood. It had touched the beautiful gemmed bracelet I am wearing. I felt the warmness from it, which meant I succeeded in the mission.

I got the blood of the master of Tranquill Garden.

August Madam Lv. 29

Warrior Lv. 18

[Skill Gained: Feather's Grace]