Everyone in the room stiffened at Vearus's words. No expected Prince Vearus to actually be so brazen as to challenge Jax'in. Especially after witnessing the terrifying strength he had displayed against Vearus.
"Excuse me?" Jax'in questioned in disbelief.
"I. Challenge. You." Vearus punctuated with a growl.
"Perfect idea!" King Ysna bellowed.
Jax'in and Vearus looked at King Ysna in surprise as he strode over to the two.
"Nothing is able to put two peoples differences aside like a good fight!"
The Nekarian King was literally oozing excitement. It had been nearly a hundred years since a challenge had been issued in the city. And there was no doubt in his mind that it would be a fight worth watching.
"What are the stakes being wagered?" Instructor Kubo questioned as he drew near.
"Stakes?" Jax'in wondered
"Ah yes, what will the stakes be?"
"The stakes should be one order that the other must obey." Vearus replied maliciously
"Agreed."
No one was more shocked than Vera at Jax'ins acceptance to the terms. It took Instructor Kubo clapping his hands together to bring everyone back.
"The duel shall be held tomorrow, at noon. Remember to bring any weapons or armor that you want to use in the fight." King Ysna explained.
"Use this time to prepare," Instructor Kubo eyed Jax'in "No outside help is allowed during the Rite of Combat."
Jax'in merely nodded his head in acknowledgment and turned to walk out of the Dining Hall. Vera glared at her brother and quickly took Jax'ins hand and followed him out into the hallway, ignoring the shocked gasps and glares from her siblings as she left in the middle of supper.
Instructor Kubo waited until the pair had left before turning towards Prince Vearus. He wore a cold smile on his face as he spoke, drawing shivers from all those present.
"Crown Prince Vearus, I feel it only prudent to inform you that you will lose this duel tomorrow."
"Instructor Kubo, you can't possibly know that..."
"When have I ever been wrong about someone's strength?" came Kubo's cold response.
"He's just a cowardly..."
"Jax'in slew over three dozen human cavalrymen." Kubo interrupted.
"So..."
"Without a scratch on him."
Vearus paled slightly at this revelation. He stared at the door with only a single thought on his mind.
'What kind of monster have I just challenged.'
The moment Jax'in and Vera returned to her room he went over to his tattered chainmail and started inspecting it.
"I'll go get you some new armor." came Vera's worried voice.
"No, this chainmail is all I need to face your brother."
"Sigh... at least let me tell you about my brothers skills, please?"
Jax'in looked into Vera's pleading eyes and couldn't help but nod his head. Her smile at his nod was breathtaking.
"Vearus is a body cultivator, his Spirit pool is much denser than yours,"
"He's been training in the three strongest body methods since before he came of age."
"How old is your brother?" Jax'in asked
"He's one hundred and thirty-six, he's strong but very straightforward."
"What do the three body methods that he cultivates do?" Jax'in questioned as he took out his longsword.
"Well, there's the Spirit Truesource Method that cultivates one's spirit through meditation,"
"Then there's the Lion Pact Method and Mountainous Body Method. "
"They help increase a person's Strength and Constitution respectively, I don't know by how much though...and the instructors have all said that he's hit at least one of the bottle necks for his cultivation but hasn't been able to breakthrough yet."
Her face become downcast as she said this, and Jax'in simply lifted her chin and smiled at her.
"It's ok, do you know of any other skills or methods he has?"
"Well, he's considered to be a Master with a Saber by most of the Royal Instructors..."
"..."
"..."
"Oh! He's got a skill that he calls Mirror Image!" she exclaimed snapping her fingers.
"I've never seen him use it, but Father says that he can replicate any of his opponents skills with it."
That kind of skill is what worried Jax'in, he only had one skill. But there was one thing that he absolutely need to know.
"Can he use it to copy magic?"
"..."
"I'm not sure..."
Jax'in had feared that was the answer. His confidence in winning this fight was waning fast.
"..."
"Do you think we could try using our Soulbinding so I could learn one of my spells?" Vera suddenly asked.
"We could always try and find out." Jax'in shrugged.
Jax'in continued looking over his Longsword, when a prompt he hadn't seen before popped up.
-Steel Longsword-
-Durability: 44/60
-Weight 6lbs
-Damage: Strength (Max 50) + 5 (Slash)
-Enchantments : 2 Slots
He forgotten about the enchanting part of the 'System'. Only one problem. He had no clue how to use the enchanting tab.
'System, enchanting.'
-Enchanting-
-Enchantable Items-
Silver Chainmail: 5 Slots
Steel Longsword: 2 Slots
-Available Enchantments-
-Weapon
Durability +1: 1 slot required
Reduce Weight -2.5lbs: 2 slots required
-Armor
Durability +1: 1 slot required
Defense +2: 1 slot required
Life Aura 15% reduction in Death damage: 3 slots required
Jax'in spent the next few hours pouring over the enchanting tab. At the bottom of the tab he found out that the available enchantments depended on what spells he had available.
As he read he was completely oblivious to the fact that Vera was reading it as well. What she saw was a part of the 'System' that Jax'in hadn't told her about. So she walked over to her bed and started pouting.
"Vera?"
"..."
"Vera?" Jax'in said getting closer to her.
"..."
"Ve..."
"Why don't I have that Enchanting piece of your 'System'?" she interrupted with a pout.
"Oh..."
"Oh, what?" she huffed
"I forgot about that part." Jax'in sighed
"Tell me or you sleep in there." she said pointing at a box across the room.
Jax'in almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was giving him an ultimatum! But, at the same time he had forgotten to tell her about this part of the 'System' before.
"Well, let me first say, I forgot I even had this tab." he said as she eyed him
"The enchanting tab just lets me enchant items in my possession."
"And that the enchantments I can use depends on my spells."
"..."
"C-can you enchant something now?" she tentatively asked.
"Would you like me to?"
"... Yes."
'System, enchant Steel Longsword with reduce weight' Jax'in thought
As soon as Jax'in thought the command to enchant the sword, a silver gold light wrapped around the sword. It took but a second for the light to appear and disappear from view. But in it's wake it left the two lovers blinking in surprise.
*Pting*
-User has enchanted a new item-
-Light Steel Longsword-
-Durability: 60/60
-Weight 3.5lbs
-Damage: Strength (Max 50) + 5 (Slash)
-Enchantments : 0 slots
"It repaired the sword..." Jax'in whispered.
No sooner had he whispered those words than he had grabbed his chainmail and enchanted it as well.
-User has enchanted new item-
-Reinforced Chainmail of Life-
-Defense +22
-Durability: 96/96
-Weight 2.6lbs
- +15% Death damage resistance
"Here."
Jax'in handed the items over to Vera as soon as he had finished enchanting them. Her eyes were wide in awe of the items. But when she looked up at him, she surprised him.
"Lets try using the 'System' to give you one of my Spells."
Jax'in was floored. He didn't expect her to be this passionate about helping him.
"Are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" She looked at him incredulously
"Well what if it doesn't work?"
"What if it does?"
The determination in her eyes left a warm feeling deep inside his chest. All he could do was smile and give her the answer she wanted.
"Alright, should we start now?"
Vera's smile was blinding as she rapidly nodded her head and dragged him to her bed. She quickly pushed herself onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Lets try." she said, staring at Jax'in with her pure amethyst eyes.
Jax'in closed his eyes and searched inside himself for something that felt like her. The minutes came and went, and Jax'in feared it wasn't going to be possible. He started relaxing his mind as he started to give up.
He sighed as he was about to open his eyes when he realized he could feel a warmth deep inside his mind. It felt... comforting. The closer he got the more he realized why. It was Vera.
*Pting*
-User has discovered Fragment: Vera's Soul-
-User will obtain 1 random skill or spell previously unobtained after resting-
Jax'in opened his eyes and read the prompts with a smile. He looked Vera in her eyes and slowly kissed her.
"We should get some sleep." she purred.
Hearing her words, Jax'in nodded his head and started climbing into bed. Before he could, Vera stopped him one more time before stripping her clothes off, motioning for him to do the same.
Vera was the last to get into bed, and she draped herself across Jax'ins body. Laying her head on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his breathing as they drifted off to sleep.