The skinny man's face brightened up as heard this. The offer was certainly too great for anyone to ignore. If he won, he would become quite rich, but by losing he had nothing to lose. After all, he wasn't someone a lot of people looked up to as strong. Moreover, I was quite sure he had no intention of losing whatsoever from the look on his face.
"Hee hee. What's your name, boy?" He asked, with a wide despicable grin on his face.
"Jace." I said. Since, I'd already given Sherby and his goons this name, I figured I'd just roll with it.
"Ha ha ha ha." He let out a loud maniacal laughter that shook me, though just a little but I made sure not to let it show. "Good, good. You really know how to butter your seniors up, Jace. I am called Curry, and I accept your challenge."
Everyone cheered as they heard this. Challenges weren't all that common, though they weren't rare. Although, somehow, I felt as if I had experienced quite a lot of challenges these past few days. Most of these challenges though, had just been me and Father sparring.
I looked at the dark red screen that had popped up in front of my face. It had a quest.
'Does this thing only come by to give me quests and rewards?'
New quest received: Curry has accepted your challenge. Defeat him and earn your spot as an adventurer.
Reward: New skill
Pending quest: Defeat your father in a duel and prove your worth to him.
Reward: +5 skill points, New skill
'Huh, so the last quest wasn't counted as failed? That means I can still defeat him anytime I want. Plus, I get a new skill from defeating this guy. Alright, let's do this!'
Everyone cleared a space right there in the middle of the hall. I think some were afraid, I would scram if we were to move outside. Can't really blame them, they still see me as this little kid, no?
Curry stood opposite me and tapped a a wristband on his left hand. A sword immediately appeared out of thin air and he grabbed it.
'Wow, that must be a storage item.' I had heard of these items but never seen one so up close before. Might come in handy in the future.
"Alright, you know the rules. Not a deathmatch. Everything else is acceptable." Sherby had at some unknown time appeared between the both of us.
"Who made you the ref?" I asked.
"Does it matter?"
"No."
"Good. Ready?" I nodded my head at his question. He turned his head to Curry and asked the same question. "Ready, Curry?"
"Sure, let's get me rich. He he." Curry had a scary look on his face that spooked even me. He kind of looked like a villain right now.
"Begin!" Sherby shouted and immediately pulled back out of our way, almost disappearing into the circle of heads of spectators.
I moved in as soon as I heard the sound of his voice with a clenched fist, aiming to test the strength of my opponent. Apparently, he had the same thoughts. Curry moved in just as I had, fist clenched and all that.
Our punches met in midair, colliding and causing the air around to tremble slightly. It remained like this for less than a split second before I heard a cracking sound. Joy surfaced in my heart as I hrleard this sound. This was because I knew that it wasn't my bones that were broken.
In fact, I could feel that the pressure frim Curry's punch was gradually being reduced, and at an extremely fast pace too.
Suddenly, Curry's fist gave in and he was sent flying back as I gained the upper hand in that quick exchange of punches. That brawl lasted a little over three seconds before Curry was sent flying back. The once cheerful atmosphere immediately became deathly silent. Surely, itt was unexpected that a kid less than fifteen would be able to cause an adventurer to go flying back with just a single punch. Sure, he was the weaket of the adventurer's, but that didn't mean he was someone you could just mess with. This beating therefore shocked quite a good amount of people.
Curry crashed into the wall behind him and kicked up quite a bit of dust as he did so. The dust prevented everyone from seeing his state, although I could tell he was alive at the very least. His incessant coughing gave that away.
*Cough* *cough* "Nice one kid. You got me there, but that was cause I didn't want to use my sword. Now, let's see how well you fare when I do so." As he said this, I could see a silhouette of that skinny figure slowly walk out of the gathered dust with something long stretching out of his left hand.
The dust suddenly gave way as a figure zoomed out of it. It was Curry! But of course, you all knew that. Unshaken, I quickly reached for my dagger by my side and slashed back at the sword which was hacking down at me.
Both weapons met with a loud 'clang' sound. Having just tested his strength, I could tell I was far stronger than Curry. But other than that, I was also faster. All this I would use to my advantage.
I slid my dagger on the edge of his sword, causing both weapons to emit sparks. My dagger immediately went piercing for his ribs. He managed to parry the strike, but just as he was about to counter it, I swiftly pulled back. The sword met with no resistance as it cut through the air, striking at the ground.
Just when everyone was thinking I had pulled back to catch my breath, I decided to give them a surprise. As swiftly as I pulled back, I rushed in again, shocking Curry and causing him to immediately swing wildly upwards at me.
I easily dodged his strike by moving to the side before continuing my advancement as though I was just dodging something casual. I moved right past his sword and struck my dagger directly at his neck but just when it was about to hit it's target, I stopped it just short by an inch.
The air forced forward by my strike hit Curry's neck and I could literally hear him gulp after that.
"The match is over! Jace wins against Curry!" Sherby had ince again appeared inside the circle to declare the end of the match. I was victorious.