How About You Try?

What advantage does +4 to Constitution give?

Slim Monkey originally thought he could rely on his slim physique and good stamina, but now, whether it was speed or stamina, he was completely at a disadvantage, directly chased and beaten by Charles.

The chubby guy taunted while attacking. His strength was inherently stronger and his explosive power was a level higher than Slim Monkey's. Although his agility was definitely a bit lower, everyone was an apprentice, so there wouldn't be a qualitative difference. The Constitution buff increased his stamina, allowing him to fight hard for twenty minutes even against those half-elf ladies with slender waists, let alone at this triumphant moment?

One person attacking, one person running away, this scene was destined to be unsightly. At this time, Du Pont took the lead in jeering.

"Dares to provoke but doesn't dare to fight, is he even a man?"

"That's right, what's the point of running all the time? Why not just admit defeat and go back earlier? What's the point of being a disgrace here?"

"The School of Evocation is full of trash like this, what are you even shouting about? Go home and be a grandson!"

The audience's boos made Conner's face look ugly, and a message from a female voice made his hands and feet even colder: "Conner, what's wrong with you? You can't even handle such a small matter, and now you've even implicated the School of Evocation to be ridiculed by a bunch of mud players. Do you have any shame?"

"I'll arrange it immediately, Senior." Conner quickly replied, and then messaged Mount: "Stop running! The president is angry. The men of our School of Evocation can be beaten down standing, there are no cowards who keep running!"

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

Easy for you to say, it's not you who's getting beaten!

However, the president's name still made him obediently turn around and launch an attack.

Conner's ability to become the vice president of the Apprentice Association in his third year was naturally not due to his excellence. The key to his rise was the favor of the president, who was already a fourth-year student and had mastered third-circle spells, but chose to continue his studies.

Mount turned around to attack. Both of them had Mage Armor, and the staff didn't hurt much when it hit them. The attack was not methodical at all, relying entirely on instinct, but how could he compare to Charles, who was buffed with Bear's Endurance?

After several rounds, Charles seized the opportunity to raise his staff and sweep horizontally. Mount raised his staff to block, but the difference in strength made his legs tremble. Before he could recover, he was kicked away.

Slim Monkey, who had already wasted a lot of strength in parrying, could no longer resist and directly lost his balance and fell to the ground. He struggled to get up, but was kicked several more times. Seeing the staff coming at him, he hurriedly shouted: "I give up!"

Charles pretended not to hear, and was about to strike a dark blow, but he only saw a yellow light flashing on Mount's body. He smashed his staff on it, but heard that the other party didn't react at all. He thought that the instructor had taken action, and showed an embarrassed smile: "Sorry, I'm not very good at fighting, I couldn't stop."

Mount cursed in a low voice, and ran to the dormitory without accepting treatment amidst the boos. The instructor ignored him and said indifferently: "The monsters in the dungeon won't let the losers escape so easily. If you don't want to end up in such a mess, you should study and practice harder."

After a word of admonishment, he looked at the Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer who was 6 feet 2 inches tall and probably weighed 300 pounds: "Now it's your turn."

Watching Pete walk up, Charles swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Charles was only slightly shorter than Du Pont, but he was also outstanding among his peers with a height of 5 feet 4 inches, but in front of the other party, he was like a child, not even as tall as the other's shoulder.

He didn't feel anything when he was far away before, but at this distance of 30 yards (one yard = 0.9 meters), he felt that the other party was like a small mountain, and couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

Does that guy Du Pont have a chance of winning?

Pete didn't care so much. He only released two simple spells, but they made Charles' scalp tingle.

Mage Armor to increase protection, and Expeditious Retreat to increase speed.

Pete also didn't know Cat's Agility or other similar buff spells. As a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer, he knew fewer spells than normal mages. He came to the mage academy to learn how to improve his thinking ability and how to tap into the power of his bloodline.

Unlike mages, whose core is intelligence, the main attribute of sorcerers is charisma, and the secondary attributes are agility and constitution. However, Pete's ability to still be studying in the third year at the age of 19 clearly showed that his intelligence was somewhat worrying. Judging from his spherical body, his agility probably wasn't too high either, but his strength and constitution were definitely extraordinary.

A 300-pound body would make it difficult for ordinary people to walk, but Pete was clearly not one of them. After being buffed with Expeditious Retreat to increase his movement speed, he even had a sense of lightness. The staff in his hand was also a foot longer than ordinary people. Standing on the stage, he no longer had that honest appearance, but instead looked like a fat crocodile with a fierce glint in his eyes.

Charles finally turned his head to look at Du Pont, and only saw his confident expression and one sentence.

"Just probe him a little and run around with him a few times. If it doesn't work, just surrender directly. Don't worry about winning or losing, I'll take care of everything."

With these words, the pressure on Charles' body was greatly reduced. He gave the other party the middle finger: "Fatty, you're so fat and you're still being a free thug for others. If you get a heart attack from exhaustion and die here, your mother will be sad!"

Pete was furious when he heard this, and then rushed over without waiting for the instructor to give the order.

Charles was also prepared. Seeing the other party chasing, he immediately ran away. However, what he didn't expect was that this Pete looked fat, but his explosive power was quite amazing. He was tall and had long legs, and he seemed clumsy when running, but inadvertently, the distance between the two had narrowed. Charles cursed in his heart and ran away quickly, but even if he ran until his lungs were about to explode, it had no effect.

Seeing that he was about to get close, Charles twisted his body and smashed the staff over, but what he didn't expect was that this full-strength strike didn't cause any damage to the other party, it only slowed Pete down for a moment. This behemoth howled and raised his staff, the terrifying aura seemed like he was going to smash his head open with a stick.

Seeing that there was at most less than five yards left, Charles shouted "I surrender, I surrender" and rushed into the crowd, but Pete couldn't stop, and crashed into the crowd like a tank amidst a scream.

At this critical moment, countless spider webs suddenly appeared under Pete's feet. The strong stickiness directly caused him to fall to the ground three yards in front of the crowd.

The spider web had good elasticity, and Pete had Mage Armor on his body, so he didn't suffer any damage. He struggled to get up and glared at Charles fiercely, muttering something in Draconic in a low voice.

The instructor waved his hand and the spider web disappeared. He looked at Du Pont: "It's your turn."

Du Pont nodded and moved his body, giving himself Expeditious Retreat.

Seeing Du Pont's choice, the instructor nodded silently. If he didn't have an advantage in strength or endurance, and his speed was no longer an advantage, then he would naturally be completely behind. He looked at Du Pont who was preparing: "Your Mage Armor?"

"No need, this is fine." Du Pont shook his head, causing a burst of exclamations from the surrounding apprentices.

"Is this idiot's brain broken? Although the protection provided by Mage Armor isn't much, it can still be buffed to the level of chainmail. Without it, what is he going to use to fight Pete? Does he also want to run around and exhaust this fatty?"

"That's a strategy, but the combat class isn't a running competition. What's the difference between him being willing to be so embarrassed and losing?"

"That's right, besides, Pete can also not run and just wait there. If he doesn't take the initiative to attack, then at most it's a tie. How is he going to win? With his thick skin?"

"I think this person probably doesn't have enough spell slots. Someone just said that this Du Pont hasn't reached level 3 yet, so he has at most 3 first-circle spell slots. After buffing Expeditious Retreat, he only has two left. If he adds Mage Armor, he'll have at most one spell slot left. If he doesn't have second-circle spells, then he really doesn't have many cards to play if he wants to win. This should be the best strategy."

Conner's face was cold, and he said to the people around him: "If Du Pont runs when the fight starts, then we'll boo him hard and see what face he has to hang around here."

The surrounding apprentices nodded in unison. Conner looked at Annie and sent a message: "If Du Pont keeps running, remember to bring the people from your class to cheer him on and make him unable to step down."

Annie's face looked a little ugly after hearing this: "Isn't this a bit bad?"

"What's bad about it? If he keeps running, will it make your architecture department look good?" Conner sneered: "Mount is a mediocre person in the School of Evocation, but he fought back and forth with the top students in your class. What future do you have mixing with this group of mud players? Do you still want to join the Apprentice Association?"

Annie was silent for a long time and didn't reply. Conner waited patiently for a while and continued to raise the stakes: "Don't have any illusions about the friendship between apprentices. After graduation, you'll still go to different construction sites, right? Maybe you won't even see each other again in your life after leaving here. Even if you and I can't switch classes, I've still taught you a lot of spell techniques. If you learn Fireball, some adventure teams will want you. Or do you really want to go to the construction site and mix with a group of mortals?"

Annie was silent for a long time, then quietly replied, "Understood."

His plan succeeding, a smile appeared on Conner's face. But just as he was fantasizing about how to manipulate this country girl into being more obedient, he heard an exclamation from above.

"Ugh, is Du Pont really that brainless? He went right for it without even needing any goading?"

But when he looked at the arena, he only saw Pete lying on the ground, his condition unknown.

"W-what?"

One minute earlier.

When Pete saw that Du Pont had also cast Expeditious Retreat, he immediately felt uneasy. After the instructor gave the order, he launched a strong attack.

After the chase with Charles, it took him a while to catch his breath. Du Pont looked much more agile, and he didn't want another chase.

He had to end this quickly.

But to Pete's surprise, Du Pont didn't choose to run. Instead, he raised his staff and charged straight at him.

This discovery overjoyed Pete. He swung his staff in a horizontal sweep, only to shatter the transparent Shield Spell. The staff, having been buffered, no longer had any impact. Du Pont seized the opportunity to raise his staff and slam it hard into his abdomen.

Pete hadn't paid much attention to it at first. For a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer with natural defenses, the term "thick-skinned" wasn't derogatory. He could easily take the hit and then knock the other guy unconscious with a single blow.

But to his surprise, the blow caused him so much pain that he staggered back several steps, gasping for air. In a daze, he seemed to see the magical glow on Du Pont's body suddenly disappear, but those bloodthirsty eyes sent a shiver down his spine.

But Du Pont showed no mercy. They were already in close combat. He directly slammed the butt of his staff into Pete's cloth shoes. The sharp pain in his toes caused the large man to stumble.

Having not landed a single hit on his opponent, Pete let out a chilling howl of frustration and pain. He waved his staff, trying to smash the annoying guy to death. But before the staff could fall, Du Pont, with his hands now free, grabbed Pete's robe and leaped up, driving his knee precisely between his legs.

No man could withstand such pain. Countless onlookers felt a chill in their own crotches. Pete screamed and knelt on the ground, but Du Pont still didn't stop. He grabbed his own staff, which hadn't fallen yet, dodged the Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer's last counterattack with a step back and a flash, and kicked Pete to the ground. He stepped on his back, used the staff to choke his neck, and exerted force 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, his strength, which he had always been so proud of, couldn't move the staff even a millimeter. Instead, he could barely breathe. But the tyrannical bloodline in his body refused to let him surrender, and he just struggled angrily and futilely.

Dozens of seconds later, Pete's struggles gradually weakened. As his arms fell, Du Pont finally released the staff and took a breath.

The instructor gave him a deep look, but just shook his head and announced, "The winner, Du Pont."

The surroundings were silent. Conner, upon hearing the news, stared blankly at Pete, who had already passed out in the arena, and then at Du Pont, who was still panting. His scalp tingled.

"W-what? I'm still arranging off-site affairs. How did this duel end so quickly?

How is this even faster than Mount and Charles's fight?"

Thinking of the losses he had suffered, Conner couldn't help but shiver. He looked at Bran, who was also still recovering, grabbed his sleeve and asked, "What's going on? How could Pete lose in close combat? Did that kid illegally use Charm Person or Sleep?"

"No, he just let a Shield Spell through." Bran's expression was solemn. "He used the opportunity provided by the shield to launch an attack, like a monk, and then went into melee. Pete was only able to retaliate once before getting kicked in the balls and then choked unconscious..."

"Ah?" Conner's face was full of disbelief. He heard the instructor announce that the winner was Du Pont, and watched as the guy who was giving him a mocking smile went forward to take all the bets. Hot blood rushed to his head, and he pushed his way to the middle and shouted, "Impossible! This is definitely a scam!"

Hearing this, Bran covered his face. The instructor's expression, which had been one of amusement, instantly turned cold. He looked at Conner and said, "What? Are you implying that I would protect this student in front of so many people for such a small amount of money?"

"Ah? That's not what I meant." Conner immediately felt like he had done something stupid, but he had lost too much today, and tried to make his words reasonable and justified. "Pete has a Strength score of 19 and a Constitution score of 18. If he worked a little harder on his Strength, he could even reach the extraordinary. Even if he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, he's still a Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer with tough dragon scales and 1st-level spells. How could he lose to this kid?"

Before the instructor could speak, Du Pont sneered, "Is having strength the same as knowing how to fight? By your logic, a Steel Golem with a Strength of 35 would be invincible across the continent, and Faerûn would still be living under dragon rule."

"That's sophistry!" Conner trembled with anger, but Du Pont just cracked his knuckles. "Alright, you're not convinced, right? Then I don't mind having a friendly spar with you to decide the ownership of everything, and give everyone a worthwhile friendship match."

5e monster attribute caps are locked at 30 as a rule simplification. Monster attributes are taken from the 3rd edition.

Exceeding 20 to obtain extraordinary attributes is a classic D&D web novel setting, but it inexplicably matches the 5th edition rules. This setting is retained.