Lee Long took a few steps and stopped.
The older student made a gesture with his hand; he put his open palm forward and calmly said the conditions,
"No weapons. No magic. No support."
Lee nodded his head.
"Here we go!"
The older student exhaled a command and simultaneously launched a leaping attack. Lee's body reacted on the instincts that the trauma and pain of classes with young stormtroopers had drummed into him.
Dodge and throw sideways!
It was sharp and fast. Experienced soldiers with the pain of loss had learned the cardinal rule of hand-to-hand combat "don't hold a static stance! Move all the time, move fast. If you dodge magic or weapon strike, find an opportunity to attack a new opponent in a new place.
Lee's throw was unconventional; he ducked to his left side and forward. This allowed him to deliver a counterattacking blow with his left hand.
"Bang!"
He felt a pain in his fist. The older student turned out to be an excellent fighter with excellent body training. An unpleasant discovery was this guy's fighting style. He applied the jump again and managed to land a quick leg kick.
"Boom!"
Shock! Lee Long received a punch that disrupted his balance. The boy fell to the floor. He regrouped his body and pushed back toward his opponent with his hands.
He suddenly and realized that he was bound to lose. This older guy had the skills of a special-assignment fighter. These guys didn't wear a lot of armor like stormtroopers. Saboteurs were lighter! Mass mattered. Skill and momentum to strike are important. But mass also plays a part. Mass increases damage. This older student was capable of jumping like a nimble grasshopper! He is larger, so he is vulnerable and easy to catch. But he is capable of withstanding any damage from a young student.
Lee Long chose to dodge and counterattack. Taking strong blows on the block was a disadvantage. They had different weight classes.
The opponents moved at high speed. The taller figure made acrobatic moves and constantly attacked. The short opponent seemed to be a slow-moving pole who deftly avoided dangerous punches and constantly moved around in Zone 2. Other students split up and gave space to these opponents. Some even interrupted their bout and watched.
Lee Long found his composure. He had no fear of losing. He had an overwhelming reserve of stamina! His health was 200 points. His opponent's health reserve was four times less. Lee let himself be shaved, but not chopped!
"Boo-boom!"
The tall mage delivered another sprawling two-handed jump kick. A quick and nimble soft block knocked his opponent's hands to the side. Lee again didn't take all the damage; they exchanged minor damage.
At this point, Lee held back. He could have produced a good attack and inflicted heavy damage on his opponent in a successful counterattack. A kick to the knee! Kick to the foot as he landed! Great options for a great counterattack. But that was wrong, though academically correct. No need to bring out all of your abilities. The junior class doesn't compete with the senior class. You don't have to upset the balance.
Lee Long made a maneuver and shifted to a new position. He was ready for more attacks.
But the tall mage stopped. The opponents looked intently into his eyes.
"Ugh, the eyes got big and angry. It makes me want to poke my fingers in such eyes! A rabid dog does not remember evil for a long time. But it's not a dog, it's a sentient one. It seems to me that I have made myself a new enemy. A real enemy! It was a foolish thing to do!"
Lee Long's thoughts were interrupted by the calm voice of the tall mage,
"We are finished."
"We're done," Lee Long agreed with his opponent.
They even made a classic bow of respect to their opponent. Then they each stepped back to the edge of the zone. Several healers applied their skills to the fighters. One was a novice healer. He even allowed himself to touch Lee Long's shoulder.
The duelist thanked this short healer. The mood was ruined. He had lost the duel! He had sustained a great deal of damage. He had been too active on his first day in the Arena. Winning 28 duels brought him a lot of experience. But the little duelist forgot about humility and modesty.
He nodded to the healer and applied the Appraisal skill,
[Mithun Kapoor
Race, Earthman
Type, The Mage.]
And immediately Lee saw an additional alert from the system,
[Attention! Congratulations. Your Appraisal skill has reached a new level!]
"Evil system! Evil life! Now I can see the type of object I'm watching. So? It gives me nothing. I have to check my information. Status!" Lee muttered. A glance at the status didn't make him feel any better.
[Lee Long
Race, Earthman
Type, Duelist. The Mage.
Level, 10. 60500/72100
Strength, 5
Dexterity, 5
Intelligence, 11
Endurance, 20
Health, 200/200
Mana, 0/110
Skill, Appraisal 2 level. Duelist Balance 1 level. Water Magic 1 level. Healing 1 level. Ice Arrow 1 level.
Available Characteristics point, 0
Available skill point, 0]
Lee moved like a slow and clumsy zombie. He crouched against the wall and began to analyze.
The little duelist thought that Appraisal is a great skill. But it requires attention. He's like a pesky fly. The skill requires no mana, but it does require attention. Level 1 gave the name and race. Level 2 gives type. Level 3 gives the object's level of development. This is already great! It is possible to more accurately predict the enemy's attributes and power reserves. The attributes themselves will only be revealed at the 4th level. Perhaps at level 4, the attribute Strength data will be revealed. Then level 10 Appraisal will reveal opponent's skills in the finale. The theory looks logical. The active intelligence work is soothing. You can't reduce everything to duels! Life is not limited by desire to conduct duels.
"As an observer, as a spy, I now see crucial information! It gives me new opportunities,! whispered Lee. "The state of my mana supply makes me sad. When I changed my intelligence from 20 to 11 it killed my entire mana supply! I need to meditate. Perhaps I can combine meditation and Appraisal development. There are so many students in this room. Greetings, my test mice. Bring development to your daddy," the boy whispered with a smile.
Unfortunately, meditation did not allow for any disruption in one's flow and distraction in the application of other skills. Meditation turned out not to be a skill. It was an immersion in a strange state of tranquility. In this state, the sentient did not lose sensitivity, he could think and observe his surroundings. Maria had long ago introduced little Lee to meditation. The woman tried for a long time to help the boy and unlock his magic. She was an air mage. She often used Speeding on the little scamp. But the introduction of other people's magical energy into him did not resonate. Maria forced him to meditate. But it was a complete failure! Lee did not understand or feel the magical magical energy that permeates the entire galaxy. To him, these exercises were unpleasant torture and mockery. "Sit still and you will see a little dragon! You might see a flying unicorn!" Who would believe such tales? There are no dragons or unicorns in the colony. The boy stopped his pathetic efforts very quickly.
But with the acquisition of magic, Lee Long felt the energy. It was like the wind. It was like an invisible movement of air. It was like the daylight of the stars. You don't see starlight during the day, but it's there!
Lee had already checked and was very happy with his discoveries. 3 intelligence was a kind of initial threshold for the growth of mana recovery. When he had 10 intelligence he regenerated mana three times faster!
Calm as the Buddha-like boy analyzed his mistakes.
Stupid Lee Long. He has enough opponents in the Arena. He needs to restore 20 mana and apply the Balance skill. Intelligence and Endurance require the highest value. Combat attributes may not be boosted.
Up to the new level 11600 experience points. That's 116 fights. That's 4 days in the arena. Excellent data for quiet training. The arena is good. Not as good as the colony stormtrooper gym. But in the arena, you can get good hand-to-hand combat experience and see some very interesting techniques.
The level will give a point for allocation to attributes. And don't steal the life force from the students.
"707 credits cost a civilian teleporter to the capital. I have 11200 credits in my account. 175 credits pension. 650 credits hospital salary. I can visit Ferin," decided Lee and proceeded to make plans. "I can look for bad people and punish them for their bad deeds. No magic, just the strength, and speed of my fist. In the capital, I can meet sentient races of all races. Defeating a new race is 1000 experience points. Done. Four days of training, an arena with a set of experiences. Reach a new level and visit the capital. I must think about security. Small stature doesn't draw attention. But the face must be hidden. I have an old hunter suit from the cat tribe. Star is a furry greedhead. Ferin is very careful with their belongings. The hood hides my face. The camouflage face paint will complete the disguise. It's a good plan. I'll have almost a day to find my targets.
I can talk to the guardians. Hannah certainly has the right to spend a weekend in the capital at a friend's house. The white-haired sassy girl! She's always looking out for me. Hannah is a very considerate and suspicious girl. I can understand her. She's the daughter of the head of the colony. She's learning to master all the information. She's already playing the game of managing the colony of Europe 9. I act as her important subordinate. The healer is an important figure. There are 550,000 people in the colony. Of all the mages, there are 4630 healers. That's one healer for every 110 people! And that is considered the norm for the colony. Lee Long, you're a lucky man. Don't lose your head and act in cold blood. Today you failed Operation First Visit to the Arena. You drew extra attention to yourself. Now you must leave this place unnoticed. Home is a normal place to meditate and put your status in order. But how I long to get to the capital and meet all sorts of bad people! I want to go on this hunt. I love hunting. I love trophies even more!" Lee finished reflecting on his first steps on the dueling path. He had a lot of work ahead of him.