To spar with Leo, PinkLotus requested a sword from Leo’s groundsman, Elandor, who quickly procured one for her.
Although the sword wasn’t to her liking—since its weight balance felt odd in her hands— with no other alternatives available on the Arc Ship, she was forced to make do with it.
She swung it a few times, attempting to get more accustomed to the weapon’s feel, but compared to her extraordinary weapon in-game, this common steel sword did not nearly feel as well balanced or forged.
Meanwhile, Leo began doing jumping jacks to warm up his muscles again, which had cooled down after he had to abandon his training session midway.
Internally, he felt brimming with confidence in his ability to win this spar, as he genuinely believed that he was the best fighter around, however, this was a grave mistake on his part.
PinkLotus was the second most formidable fighter in the rankers event after him and that was before she reached the realm of a master.
Now that she was a master fighter herself, the gap between herself and Leo was much smaller than what Leo believed it to be, as although the whole gaming world regarded him as an unparalleled talent, he wasn’t actually as far ahead of others as he thought himself to be.update Ƀy Ɲoʋeʟ1st.cοm
“Ready when you are, Ma’am” Leo said, as he cracked his neck and pointed his dagger towards PinkLotus, who took her own sweet time to get ready before pointing her sword towards Leo.
One of you shall win when you incapacitate your opponent or make them surrender” Luke declared, as he took up the role of the match referee.
Both Leo and PinkLotus agreed to this condition and gave Luke a tacit nod signaling the same.
With a short twenty-five meter gap between their starting positions, both Leo and PinkLotus felt poised to clash, and waited eagerly for Luke to give the starting signal.
“Begin–” Luke said eventually, as the second he uttered those words, PinkLotus unleashed a powerful sword slash towards Leo, who dodged it purely out of instinct.
*Swoosh*
The ground of the VIP manor cleaved in a clean cut, tracing the path that PinkLotus’s sword slash had taken, as both Leo and Luke felt stunned by the raw power of PinkLotus’s opening strike.
*Swoosh*
*Swoosh*
*Swoosh*
Before Leo could recover or take his first step toward attacking PinkLotus, she unleashed a relentless barrage of sword slashes, each strike forcing Leo to dodge frantically, knowing that any one of them, if connected, could easily end his life.
‘Why is she so fast?’ Leo wondered, as he felt his heart rate rise frantically.
The speed with which PinkLotus moved and swung her blade was almost next to impossible for Leo to follow, as if he were a fraction slower to judge the path of her attack, Leo had no doubt in his mind that his body would split evenly into two parts.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck…. This is not a game, this is the real fucking world, take it easy…. I won’t respawn if you kill me’ Leo thought, as he made a long face full of panic.
Unfortunately, with him no longer having his Virex Corps Mask on in the real world, his expression was now open for everyone to read, including his opponent, who felt immense satisfaction in seeing him so vulnerable.
‘That’s it…. He will definitely take me seriously now’ PinkLotus thought, as she considered Leo’s slightly frightened expression as a sign that he was ready to take this spar more seriously now, versus its real interpretation that he was terrified of dying.
Internally, he was only a small slip-up away from screaming like a baby and begging for his life, however, somehow, his ego as ‘TheBoss’ would not let him behave in such an undignified way, as he suppressed his squeals and began fully focusing on the fight at hand.
[Vanish]
Leo chose to use Vanish, outright disappearing from PinkLotus’s line of sight, as he believed that if his opponent failed to find him, she would become unable to hit him, however, he was wrong.
PinkLotus had already studied his moveset before requesting this spar and had anticipated him to make this move before the fight ever began.
Hence, the second Leo used [Vanish] she responded by using the move [Sword Tempest] as she covered the entire courtyard in a storm of blades.
*Shing*
*Shing*
*Shing*
Metal sparks flew, as after being forced to defend against the swirling storm of blades that left no room for him to hide, Leo exposed his location to PinkLotus and was forced to re-emerge for once.
*Shua*
*Shua*
Immediately after re-emerging, Leo threw two daggers towards her, trying to control the tempo of this fight for the first time, however, PinkLotus defended using the move [Absolute Barrier] and blocked the two daggers with ease.
“Is that all you’ve got? I haven’t even moved from my starting spot yet…” PinkLotus taunted, as she felt incredibly thrilled to finally have such a spar.
And although she admonished Leo on the surface, internally she was extremely happy to face off against an opponent that could bring out the best in her, and was hence grinning from ear to ear.
“Is that all I’ve got? Woman, are you kidding me?
Do you see a single scratch on my handsome face?
I’m just allowing you to get your moves in so that you…. And more so than you, my brother, doesn’t feel disheartened after you lose.
Because if not for me showing you mercy, you’d be dead ten times over by now” Leo said, as although he was terrified of PinkLotus by now, somehow ‘Fake it till you make it’ had become a part of his core personality.
Unless forced, he was never going to admit that he had troubles in this fight, and would play it cool till the very end.
“Hmph… very well then, let’s see how long you can stay this arrogant.
Just for this comment, I’m scratching your face next” PinkLotus declared boldly as she pointed her sword towards Leo with pride evident in her eyes.
“Ha… 3 moves, I’ll end this fight within three moves now. Give you a glimpse of my true power” Leo declared in return as he pointed his dagger right back at her.
———-
/// A/N – This bonus chapter is sponsored by patron Art6733.
Thanks to his rampant gifting on the book, I’ve decided that the entire next week will be a bonus week. With us getting a 4 chapter mass release daily, for next Monday through Saturday, for a total of 24 chapters.
This is chapter 1 of 4 for today, let’s go! ///