How About You?

How much of an advantage was +4 Constitution?

Slim Monkey had originally hoped to rely on his lean build and good stamina, but now he was completely outmatched in both speed and endurance, chased down and beaten by Charles.

The little fatty attacked while taunting him. His strength and explosive power were already a tier above Slim Monkey's. Though his agility was inevitably somewhat lower, they were both apprentices, so there could not be any qualitative gap between them. His Constitution boost gave him abundant stamina—he could even go at it with those half-elf ladies' slim waists for twenty minutes straight. Let alone now, when he was fired up?

One fought while the other fled, and the scene was bound to look ugly. Du Pont took the lead in jeering.

"You dare pick a fight but don't dare fight? Are you even a man?"

"Exactly. What kind of skill is running away the whole time? You might as well admit defeat and crawl back early. What's the point of embarrassing yourself here?"

"If the School of Evocation is full of trash like this, what are you still shouting about? Go home and be someone's grandson already!"

The crowd's booing darkened Conner's face, and then a female voice sent him a message that made his limbs turn cold. "What is wrong with you, Conner? You can't even handle something this minor, and now you've dragged the whole School of Evocation into being mocked by a bunch of mud players. Do you have any shame?"

"I'll handle it right away, Senior," Conner hurriedly replied. Then he messaged Mount, "Stop running! The president is angry. Men of the School of Evocation can be beaten standing up, but we don't have cowards who only know how to run!"

Slim Monkey received Conner's message and gritted his teeth in anger.

Easy for you to say. You're not the one getting hit!

Still, the president's name made him obediently turn around and attack.

Conner had naturally not become the Apprentice Association's vice president in his third year purely because he was outstanding enough. The key to his rise had been the favor of that president, who had already mastered third-circle spells in her fourth year but had chosen to continue her studies.

Mount turned around and counterattacked. Both of them had Mage Armor, so getting struck by a staff did not hurt too badly. Their attacks had no real form to them and relied entirely on instinct, but how could he compare to Charles, who was bolstered by Bear's Endurance?

After several exchanges, Charles spotted an opening and raised his staff in a sweeping strike. Mount lifted his own staff to block, but the difference in strength made his legs tremble. Before he could catch his breath, a kick sent him flying.

Having already wasted much of his strength blocking, Slim Monkey could no longer hold on. He lost his balance and crashed to the ground. He struggled to get up, only to be kicked several more times. Seeing the staff swing toward him, he hurriedly shouted, "I surrender!"

Charles pretended not to hear him and was just about to play dirty when yellow light flared over Mount's body. Charles brought his staff down, but Mount did not react at all. Realizing the instructor had intervened, he gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, man. I'm not really good at fighting. Couldn't hold back."

Mount cursed under his breath and, amid the jeers, refused treatment before running straight toward the dormitories. The instructor ignored him and said coldly, "The monsters in a dungeon will not let defeated people escape so easily. If you students do not wish to end up in such a sorry state, you should train and study harder."

After that admonition, he looked at the Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer who stood six feet two and likely weighed three hundred pounds. "Now it's your turn."

As Pete stepped forward, Charles swallowed hard.

Charles was only a little shorter than Du Pont, but he was still outstanding among his peers at five feet four. Yet before Pete, he looked like a child—not even as tall as the other man's shoulder.

He had not felt much when they were far apart, but at a distance of thirty yards, he felt as though Pete were a small mountain, and he could not help muttering inwardly.

Did Du Pont really have any chance of winning?

Pete paid no attention to that. He cast only two simple spells, yet they made Charles's scalp tingle.

Mage Armor for protection, and Expeditious Retreat for speed.

Pete likewise did not know enhancement spells like Cat's Agility. As a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer, he knew fewer spells than an ordinary mage. He had come to the Mage Academy only to improve his thinking and learn how to tap into the power of his bloodline.

Unlike mages, whose internal competition centered on Intelligence, a sorcerer's primary attribute was Charisma, with Agility and Constitution secondary. But the fact that Pete was still in his third year at nineteen made it obvious that his Intelligence was somewhat lacking. Judging by his spherical body, his Agility could not be very high either. But his Strength and Constitution were definitely extraordinary.

A three-hundred-pound body would make walking difficult for an ordinary person, but Pete clearly was not ordinary. Bolstered by Expeditious Retreat, his movement speed increased, and he even seemed somewhat light on his feet. The staff in his hand was a foot longer than an ordinary person's. Standing on the stage, he no longer looked simple and honest. Instead, he resembled a fat crocodile, his eyes glinting viciously.

Charles turned to look at Du Pont one last time and saw only his confident expression and heard one sentence.

"Just test him out and lead him around for a couple laps. If it doesn't work, surrender immediately. Don't worry about winning or losing. I've got everything covered."

With those words, the pressure on Charles plummeted. He gave Pete the finger. "Fat bastard, you're this obese and still working as someone's free thug? If you drop dead from a heart attack here, your mother will be heartbroken."

Pete flew into a rage at those words and charged forward before the instructor could give the order.

Charles had been prepared as well. The moment Pete gave chase, he ran. But to his surprise, Pete might have looked fat, yet his explosive power was astonishing. He was tall with long legs, and though he looked clumsy while running, the distance between them steadily closed. Charles cursed inwardly and sprinted harder, but even when it felt like his lungs were about to burst, it did no good.

Seeing Pete about to reach him, Charles spun and hurled his staff at him. But to his surprise, that full-force blow did not injure Pete at all. It only slowed him for an instant. The giant monster howled and raised his staff, his terrifying momentum making it seem as though he intended to smash Charles's head open with one blow.

With less than five yards between them, Charles yelled, "I surrender! I surrender!" and rushed into the crowd. But Pete could not quite stop himself. Amid cries of alarm, he barreled into the crowd like a tank.

At that critical moment, countless webs suddenly appeared beneath Pete's feet. Their powerful stickiness made him fall face-first three yards short of the crowd.

The webs were quite elastic, and with Mage Armor protecting him, Pete was not injured much. He struggled to his feet, glared viciously at Charles, and muttered something in Draconic.

With a wave of the instructor's hand, the webs vanished. He looked at Du Pont. "Your turn."

Du Pont nodded, stretched his body a little, and cast Expeditious Retreat on himself as well.

The instructor silently nodded when he saw Du Pont's choice. If one held no advantage in strength or endurance, then lacking an advantage in speed as well meant being completely outclassed. He looked at Du Pont as he prepared. "Your Mage Armor?"

"No need. This is enough." Du Pont shook his head, drawing a wave of astonished exclamations from the surrounding apprentices.

"Is this idiot brain-damaged? Mage Armor may not provide much protection, but it can still raise your defense to the level of chain mail. Without it, what is he going to use to fight Pete? Is he planning to run circles until he exhausts that fatty to death too?"

"That is a strategy, but combat class isn't a lap-running contest. If he is really willing to embarrass himself like that, how is it any different from losing?"

"Exactly. Besides, Pete can just stay where he is and wait. If Du Pont doesn't attack, at most it will be a draw. What makes him think he can win? His thick skin?"

"I think this guy probably doesn't have enough spell slots. Someone said Du Pont hasn't reached level three yet, so he has at most three first-circle spell slots. After casting Expeditious Retreat, he has only two left. Add Mage Armor and he would have only one remaining. Without second-circle spells, he really wouldn't have many cards left if he wants to win. This is probably the best strategy."

Conner's face was cold as he told the people beside him, "If Du Pont runs once the fight starts, boo him hard. Let's see how he can still show his face around here."

The surrounding apprentices all nodded. Conner looked at Annie and sent her a message. "If Du Pont keeps running, remember to get your classmates to cheer for him. Make sure he can't get off the stage."

Annie's expression turned somewhat ugly after hearing that. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it? If he keeps running, does that make your Architecture Department look good?" Conner sneered. "Mount is mediocre in the School of Evocation, yet he fought your class's top student back and forth. What future do you have hanging around with these mud players? Do you still want to join the Apprentice Association?"

Annie remained silent for a long time. Conner waited patiently before raising the stakes. "Don't have any fantasies about friendship between apprentices. After graduation, won't you all head to different construction sites? Once you leave here, you may never meet again for the rest of your lives. Even if you can't transfer classes with me, I've taught you plenty of spellcasting tricks. Learn Fireball, and adventure teams will want you. Or do you really want to work on construction sites with a bunch of ordinary people?"

After a long silence, Annie quietly replied, "I understand."

His scheme having succeeded, a smile appeared on Conner's face. But just as he imagined how he could make that country girl more obedient, he heard shocked cries erupt above.

Huh? Was Du Pont really that stupid? Even this provocation didn't work, and he charged in directly?

But when he looked toward the stage, he saw only Pete lying on the ground, his fate unknown.

"W-What?"

One minute earlier.

When Pete saw that Du Pont had also cast Expeditious Retreat, he immediately sensed trouble and launched a fierce attack as soon as the instructor gave the order.

After his chase with Charles, he had spent quite a while calming his breathing. Du Pont looked far more nimble, and he did not want another chase.

He had to end this quickly.

But what Pete had not expected was that Du Pont did not choose to run. Instead, he raised his staff and met him head-on.

The discovery delighted Pete beyond measure. He swung his staff in a horizontal sweep, only to shatter a transparent Shield Spell. The staff, slowed by the buffer, no longer carried any impact. Du Pont seized that opening, raised his staff, and viciously swung it at Pete's waist and abdomen.

Pete had not cared at first. For a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer with Natural Defense, thick skin and tough flesh were not insults. He could completely take that blow head-on, then knock his opponent unconscious with a single strike.

But to his surprise, that blow hurt so badly that he failed to draw breath and staggered several steps backward. In his daze, he seemed to see the magical glow around Du Pont suddenly vanish, but those bloodthirsty eyes made his whole body shudder.

Du Pont, however, showed no mercy. The two were already at close range, and he slammed the handle of his staff into Pete's cloth shoe. The terrible pain in Pete's toes made his massive body stagger.

Having yet to touch his opponent even once, Pete let out a chilling howl of frustration and pain. He swung his staff, trying to smash this hateful bastard to death, but before it could fall, Du Pont had already freed both hands, grabbed his robe, and leaped into the air, driving his knee precisely between Pete's legs.

No man could withstand such pain. Countless watching apprentices felt a chill between their own legs. Pete screamed and dropped to his knees, but Du Pont still did not stop. He grabbed his own staff, which had not yet fallen, stepped back and dodged the Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer's final counterattack, then delivered a flying kick that knocked Pete flat. He stepped on Pete's back, looped the staff across his throat, and pulled with both hands.

"Say it yourself. Surrender."

Suffocation brought the shadow of death. Pete grabbed Du Pont's staff with both hands, trying to pull it away, but to his horror, the strength he had always been proud of could not move the staff even a fraction. Instead, he found it even harder to breathe. Yet the savage bloodline within his body refused to let him surrender, and he could only struggle in anger and futility.

Several dozen seconds later, Pete's struggles gradually weakened. Only when his arms fell limp did Du Pont release the staff and take a breath.

The instructor gave him a deep look, but only shook his head and announced,

"The victor, Du Pont."

The area was silent. Hearing the result, Conner stared blankly at Pete, who had already passed out in the arena, then at Du Pont, who was still catching his breath. His scalp went numb.

I-I was still arranging things outside the match. How was this duel already over?

How did this end even faster than Mount and Charles's fight?

Thinking of what he stood to lose, Conner could not help shivering. He looked at Bran, who had also yet to recover, and grabbed his sleeve. "What happened? How could Pete lose in close combat? Did that brat break the rules and use Charm Person or Sleep?"

"No. He only cast a Shield Spell." Bran's face was grim. "Like the instructor, he used the opening created by the shield to launch a counterattack, then went in and fought hand-to-hand like some monk. Pete only had time to strike back once before getting kicked in the balls, then he was choked unconscious."

"What?" Conner's face was full of disbelief. He heard the instructor announce Du Pont as the victor and watched that bastard, wearing a mocking smile at him, step forward to collect all the wagers. His blood rushed to his head, and he squeezed through the crowd to shout, "Impossible! There's definitely something fishy going on!"

Bran covered his face at those words. The instructor's previously amused expression instantly turned cold as he looked at Conner. "What? Are you saying that, in front of all these people, I would protect this student over such a trivial matter?"

"Huh? That's not what I meant." Conner immediately realized he had done something stupid, but he had lost far too much today. He tried hard to make his argument sound reasonable. "Pete has nineteen Strength and eighteen Constitution. If he worked a little harder, his Strength alone could even become superhuman. Even if he isn't very bright, he's still a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer with dragon-blood tough skin and first-circle spells. How could he lose to this brat?"

Before the instructor could speak, Du Pont sneered. "Having strength and knowing how to fight are the same thing? By your logic, wouldn't the Iron Golem, with thirty-five Strength, be invincible across the continent? Would Faerûn still be living under the rule of dragons?"

"That's sophistry!" Conner trembled with rage, but Du Pont merely clenched his fists. "Fine. You're not convinced, right? Then I don't mind sparring with you to decide ownership of everything. We can put on a friendly match for everyone that's worth savoring."

The fifth edition's monster attribute cap of thirty was set for rules simplification. Monster attributes here use third edition values.

Gaining superhuman attributes after exceeding twenty is a classic D&D webnovel setting. It oddly fits with fifth edition rules as well, so the altered setting will continue to be used.