Though crossbows could be used, it isn't much effective without ranger skills in a PvP. Ward failed to block the first shot as he didn't expect it, but the second one he easily blocked with his shield. He knew he could do block as many arrows as possible, but even the blocks would make him lose a small bit of HP and every bit was important in a PvP match like this.
He couldn't let Balthazar continue like this and he began to move away to evade from the shots. He concentrated more on improving his strength and vitality not his agility. So, he couldn't completely evade an arrow if the player firing them was too close and had to resort blocking it. This was a common thing among tanks, and he wouldn't care about it usually, but with his new opponent, he really didn't want to lose any HP.
He quickly realized that his opponent could always stay at enough distance for him to tire him down with arrows and the best option for him is close quarters combat. He initially maintained a distance as he was concerned that Balthazar might gain first advantage by use of his invulnerability skill. In the arena, the skills would usually be reseted after each match. This, he was sure that Dormant Blade would have the invulnerability skill.
Right now, it felt like he was going to get the first advantage anyways and it would be best to start a close combat so that he would also be able to deal some damage. So, he began to run towards Balthazar while blocking any arrows that came towards him. In a few seconds, he was within two metres distance of Balthazar, when Balthazar also equipped back his axe.
Balthazar equipped the axe as he ran to meet Ward. Ward started the fight with swinging his shield, followed by the sword, in quick succession. Both of those had a larger size than Balthazar's axe and that gave him a longer range. So, Balthazar had to side-step and evade. Balthazar kept doing the same for a few seconds.
As he saw that Balthazar's range was shorter, he got more confident and aggressive. This was exactly the thing that Balthazar was hoping to see. He wanted to fight a close combat intensive fight to show the use of an axe and buckler.
He started hacking at the shield with his axe and countered any sword attacks with his shield. Usually anytime a shield was used to block or deflect an attack, the attack would still deal the blocking player a little damage unless a shield counter is done. But with the horned buckler, he needed to make a proper deflect and with a flick of his wrist, Balthazar could have the horns of the buckler land a strike on his opponent sword arm. Thus, each block of his would cause more damage to his opponent unless the opponent had practiced sword play and had the conscience and skill to retract his sword arm in time.
Due to this style of his, Balthazar was able to deal damage in both blocks and attacks with his axe causing Ward to suffer almost double damage compared to him. Ward also noticed it soon and was seriously thinking about his options as he started to retreat. He went back a few metres back before he stopped.
"What happened? I thought that we could have a good fight with both of us having a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other," said Balthazar mockingly as stood still and waved his axe and shield.
"Don't be so shameless. That thing is both a weapon and a shield," said Ward looking at the horned buckler in his opponent's hand.
"So, you think this is a disadvantage?" asked Balthazar waving his shield. "Okay! For you, I am willing to forego the shield," said Balthazar as he put it back in his bag and pulled out another axe in his left hand.
"This ok?" asked Balthazar waving the second axe.
"Another Black Iron weapon? Don't regret it when you lose," said Ward as he rushed back at him in anger. He was confident that his damage rate would get higher compared to Balthazar now that Balthazar didn't have a shield as he had higher strength.
"This is going to be fun," said Balthazar as he rushed at Ward. He understood why Ward would be glad that he put away his shield, but he still would have an advantage. He held both the axes just below the axe head. Holding an axe at that position would enable him to use the axes to block and even grab the opponent's hand between the axe head and his hand.
This time, he moved towards the left hand of Ward on which the big shield was equipped. It was quite apparent to the spectators and even Ward. Ward also stepped to his left and tried to bash Dormant Blade with it. But Balthazar who hoping for this side stepped avoid the shield, blocked the swing of the sword with an axe head and immediately jumped back right in front of Ward such that there was hardly in inch of space between their head.
Ward tried to pull back but noticed that his shield hand was clasped between the head of the axe and Dormant Blade's hand. Balthazar rotated the axe and held it upside down and tilted his wrist so that Wards wrist would be held between his wrist and the axe.
The spectators couldn't see any of this. They only saw Balthazar jumping in front of Ward for some reason and Ward who had higher strength could easily push, knock him down with the shield. It was considered a stupid move from their perspective.
Ward was the only one who realized that things weren't that simple. In fact, he was a bit afraid as he tried to pull his hand out and realized that it wasn't to his advantage at all. First, he couldn't pull out his hand from the hold which implied that Dormant Blade had higher strength than him. Second, he was too close to Balthazar and he remembered the manner in which Dormant Blade kept Walt subdued in the first fight.
He swung his sword at Dormant Blade's head desperately. He knew that he had to act fast and strong to break away even though he was aware of the fact that Dormant Blade could block it with his axe. Luckily, Dormant Blade wasn't looking at his sword arm and directed the axe in his free hand towards the shield arm.
"You didn't forget my invulnerability skill did you?" whispered Dormant Blade as he struck the wrist of his shield hand. That was a strong blow both at physical and mental level. With the activation of void state, the sword simply deflected off Dormant Blade's body even though Ward put all his strength behind the attack.
With shield hand of his opponent crippled, Balthazar released his hold on it and aimed for Ward's neck with one hand while the other went for the sword arm effectively crippling them both. He also kicked at one of Ward's legs causing him to stumble and fall. Dormant blade didn't miss the chance and followed up with attacking his legs and then hacked at his opponent till he won the fight.
"You see, that guy is quite adept and has strong skills. Ward wasn't cautious without reason," said Walt to Epoch.
"Hmm, I agree. I still don't understand a few things that happened, but even I learnt a few things. Moreover, he seemed to be very well practiced with axes and had a strong advantage at this stage, but we need to see if he can maintain at higher levels," said Epoch nodding his head as he replayed the video. "You know who he is?" he asked looking at Walt. Epoch understood that with that level of skill, the player would be a strong asset if he managed poach him.
"No. He was brought here by Slaine. He also seems to be a member of Crimson Realm," said Walt pointing at Slaine who was seated in the spectator arena.
"You know that guy?" asked Epock looking at Slaine.
Slaine was now in a fix. He was definitely not in the guild. Else, the members would have been able to check the name. The only exception was if the guild leader hid it. So, he quickly sent a message to Rudra while came up with a lie.
"He is just a honorary member. A friend of Shadow Tyrant," said Slaine looking at the screens. That was the best that he could come up at such a short notice and it would give flexibility to Balthazar. As the fight was done, he could now contact Balthazar and asked him to come out before he got into more trouble. It was not just Epoch and his peers but also Brick and other members of Crimson Realm that were currently interested in Dormant Blade and it was best if Balthazar himself could come as he would be able to give the best explanation that would best suit his convenience.
Looking at Slaine's message, Balthazar also came out albeit a bit reluctantly. He didn't get to show off the advantages of the axe much, except for the moment where he trapped Ward, but almost all players spectating would have noticed the used of the horned buckler.
"At least completed one of my aims and no noticeable difference between pod and headgear for now. I can show off my axe skills properly another time," thought Balthazar as he exited the arena. With him exiting the arena all the spectators were pushed out at once. The spectator area would disappear if the arena itself was cleared of all members.
The exited player immediately surrounded Balthazar at the arena. He had gathered quite a few fans during the past three fights. The Axe Man's name also became a popular one in the forums and the last fight where he used only Axes to defeat Golden Ward made it much more so.
"Why don't you wait a few more minutes? I heard you wanted to fight me," said Epoch coming before Balthazar.
"I never said that. In fact, I didn't want to fight you, but your fans refused to let me go and pissed me off. Else, I wouldn't have wasted my time with them," said Balthazar moving away from him.
If he could attack in the colosseum, Epoch and his team would have definitely done so. But the system had kept a number of guards at the place. The colosseum offered battles between the players in a safe environment. Yet, a number of players would have conflicts due to their loss even if they didn't lose any experience. So, the system had put strict guards at the place and the perpetrators in case of any attacks would be thrown into city jail. This was learned the hard way by some players early during the day.
So, hardly any players would initiate a fight at the place and even if they had more numbers, one couldn't be completely convinced of being able to kill the person before the guards arrived. If they didn't kill the player at whom they had animosity, it would be a total waste. Even in his past life, no one attacked a player due to conflicts in the arena. The only successful attacks were pre-planned ones by rival guilds or teams.
"But you did say that you could defeat me with ease, right?" asked Epoch blocking his way again.
"I need to logout. Got some place to be. Why don't I find you tomorrow? I doubt you would improve much in short time," said Balthazar as he pushed him away. He knew that Epoch or the others wouldn't dare to attack him as he had shown enough skill that they would already expect him to be able to log out safely, even if he was attacked.
"Slaine come with me," said Balthazar as he went and purchased another arena and got in along with Slaine. A couple of seconds later they both arrived, and Balthazar immediately logged out after that.
"What did he call you in for?" asked Brick.
"A bet match which he forfeited," said Slaine as he walked off towards the shop. Though it wasn't possible to exchange combat points between players in a friendly manner like coins and other resources, one could always lose them in a bet. This was used by guilds quite frequently, but it would always result in loss of at least ten points that were required to book an arena.
Balthazar had used the chance to return the armor that he had borrowed and got out of the arena looking the same way with the use of disguise skill. He had also informed Slaine to tell Hammer that he could sell his original equipment designs to the Forging Association for contribution points.
He logged out and had a lot of time till the departure. He made a call to the butler, Thaddeus to get him a few more nutrient solutions for the journey. Nutrient solutions were used mostly by the people after hard workouts or high level of physical activity. His trial could be considered as a high level of physical activity, but Balthazar still got more than the usual amount using his grandfather's name.
After that, he simply lay down and the pod and rested waiting for Richard to arrive with Robert so that they could leave the planet. As he was resting, there was quite a commotion going on somewhere else. Arthur had sent a signal to Daniel but the only acknowledgement he received were the sentence - "Tell him to contact me from Delarvaran's post"
There was no response after that. Unable to do anything else Arthur and Winston forwarded the message to Walt who also behaved in the same manner. Currently, Arthur and Winston were at the forbidden areas considering their next course of action as the head of the table of Ouroboros seemed to be mortal danger. The alarm used by Walter was meant for that situation and it was expected to choose an interim leader for the table and make necessary arrangements to handle the danger.
They had already selected Arthur as the interim leader and he had plans to lead a contingent of his men to the location. The only reason, they hadn't moved was because, Walter had explicitly informed them not to approach.
As they were in that dilemma, a man suddenly opened the door and walked in. He looked older than any of them with pale white hair that fell to his shoulders. He had pale blue eyes, a broken nose and an eye patch covering his left eye and part of a scar that extended from his upper lip into hair. Everyone got up as soon as they saw Daniel enter the room. Though he technically had no authority, he was the person that commanded the most respect among them.
"Hmm, I have kept all you waiting," said Daniel as he signalled them to sit down. He cleared his throat and looked like he was in deep thought about something. As he came closer to them, most noticed that he seemed to be in some kind of thin-combat suit. It appeared like he was already geared up for a fight.
"I will be frank with you guys, then. I have already managed to contact Walter and he seems to be in an unforeseen trouble. The kind that hadn't disturbed the alliance since its formation. Our main priority is to understand this unit and find out their intents," he continued.
"Winston, Vargrave and Arthur remain here. The rest will continue like this never happened. Anyone who lets this leak will be executed. We can't let any other forces realize this nor can we let anyone think that we are in a dire situation and Walter is missing. This includes our own men, sons and daughters. Arthur will have complete control of the table in Walter's absence," said Daniel intensely.
Everyone simply nodded and followed his instructions. There were none raising any objections or even showing any displeasure even when they were told to remain ignorant and not participate. They all had the confidence and belief in his decisions that they were willing to do as told.