Duel

A sea breeze blew by, Roy, standing at the gate of the courtyard, felt a chill on his back, realizing that it was already soaked with sweat.

A small head silently peeked out from behind the courtyard wall, which was covered with moss and Dark Cat Vine. Moira looked out from behind the wall and, seeing that there was no one else on the street except Roy, breathed a sigh of relief. She placed her sweaty short sword on the wall and whispered to Roy outside the wall, "Has that person left?"

The sound was as soft as a cat's...

Her bright eyes looked back and forth across the street.

"Let's go!"

After Roy finished speaking, he looked towards the street corner again before pushing open the door and walking into the courtyard.

Moira leaned her arms over the wall between the two yards and asked Roy, who had just entered the yard:

"He's here to investigate... Jefferson's death?"

The elven girl was thoughtful and her eyes sparkled.

"That's what he said. I think it's just a simple death investigation, maybe he was sent directly from the Dark Temple."

The two spoke through the wall. Moira stood under the grape trellis, wearing a light gauze dress and holding a short sword.

Recently, her martial arts skills and swordsmanship have improved by leaps and bounds, and she often carries a short sword with her, even though she doesn't even have the courage to kill a chicken...

"If you hadn't been there, he might have beaten me up, or even grabbed me by the collar, pinned me against the wall, and said some threatening things. I know he's capable of that," Roy said, looking at the short sword in Moira's hand and thanking her.

Roy touched the pocket under his belt, where a stack of Kole made him chuckle. It's so easy to make money off newbies; they don't even haggle over the price for information...

Moira patted her chest, somewhat reproachfully saying, "And you said... you almost scared me to death just now..."

Roy walked into the house, and his voice came from inside:

"No, if he dares to openly come out to investigate, there's no reason for him to kill people indiscriminately. At most, he might just beat me up if he doesn't like me."

Moira followed suit, scaling the wall, grabbing the eaves with one hand, and with a gentle swing, leaped up, sitting on the terrace railing and saying, "So that's why you insist on practicing Elven Martial Arts, is that it?"

Roy came up the stairs, carrying a heavy Chain Mail in his arms. It would be quite troublesome for him to put it on himself.

Moira helped him pull up the heavy sleeve so he could put his arm inside.

Roy glanced at Moira and answered frankly:

"That's part of the reason, and besides, there's nothing wrong with improving your health."

Moira looked at the short sword in her hand and asked, "Today, I'll attack and you'll defend?"

"Yeah, if we don't hurry, we might get beaten half to death in the arena..."

Speaking of this, Roy couldn't help but sigh, feeling no confidence in victory whatsoever.

"Can the duel be canceled?" Moira asked worriedly.

Roy shook his head. "If I want to walk with my head held high at the Elf Academy in the future, I can't..."

The most beautiful scenery in the Elf City is at dusk.

Sunset, colorful clouds, harbor, beach.

A city hidden among hillsides and forests...

Moira, clutching an unsheathed short sword, had stabbed Roy in vital areas countless times. Although she was wearing Chain Mail, the difference between chainmail and Plate Armor was that being stabbed by a sharp weapon would still hurt.

At night, the Upper District and Lower District offer two completely different views of Castleton City.

Ms. Belinda returned to Brown Street by carriage with more bad news: the art exhibition might be postponed until next month.

Because Master Claire Latin's illness has not improved, the most important work in this art exhibition has been delayed in completion.

Ms. Belinda curled up on the wicker chair on the terrace, looking at the starry night sky, and said with some melancholy, "My biggest worry is that my teacher's illness is still not cured, and this art exhibition may eventually be canceled. We have been preparing for this art exhibition for a long time."

Ms. Belinda referred to Claire Latin as 'teacher'.

In fact, she was not a student of Master Claire Latin, but merely Master Claire Latin assistant.

There were more than twenty assistants like Ms. Belinda around Master Claire Latin.

When Master Claire Latin are creating, they usually stand aside and hand them tools, towels, or tea.

Occasionally, I would also help Master Claire Latin by doing fine-tuning on the edges and corners of certain artworks.

For this exhibition in Castleton, Master Claire Latin agreed to allow Ms. Belinda and seventeen other assistants to display one of their best works at the exhibition.

This is why Ms. Belinda went to such lengths to prepare for this art exhibition by Master Claire Latin.

Therefore, Ms. Belinda now more concerned about the health of Master Claire Latin than anyone else. If the master were to be laid to rest in the Summit Graveyard at this time, all of Ms. Belinda's efforts over the past few months would be in vain.

Roy sat at the table, listening quietly as Ms. Belinda complained about work.

At times like these, she needs a quiet listener.

The only thing that made her a little disappointed was that Roy, who used to cling to her when he was little, now just wanted to stretch out and lie on another wicker chair.

These past few days, the sky has been clear for once.

There was no fog, nor were there any rain clouds covering the sky...

Roy pushed open the door and stepped out of the yard, just as Sabrina was also coming out of her house.

Instead of wearing a long dress, she wore a Light Leather Armor set. Although the inner lining was minimized, the leather armor set would still be very hot to wear in the hot summer.

If you stand in the sun for a while, you'll be covered in sweat without even walking.

Underneath the V-neck leather armor was only a thin white corset. Roy saw this as soon as he stepped outside, and felt his blood pressure instantly spike...

Seeing Roy's embarrassed state at the door, Sabrina's face instantly turned red.

"Moira said someone intercepted you at your doorstep last night, so she asked me to look after you."

"So... you'll protect me all day?" Roy, somewhat curious.

Sabrina rolled her eyes at him and walked towards the street corner:

"It's just the way to school. After school at noon, you'll have to be careful."

"Thank you." Roy followed and quickly expressed his gratitude.

Sabrina turned her head and glanced at Roy, her beautiful, aquamarine eyes conveying a clear meaning:

'If your eyes could be more honest, I would gladly accept your thanks.'

In the following days, Roy did not see the Dark Moon Elf again.

This finally eased Roy's tense heart a little.

No one knows who said it... but the news of Roy and Klayr fighting Steve and Adams suddenly spread throughout the Beginner Martial Arts Class.

Many freshmen were very interested in the duel and vowed to go to the arena to watch it that day.

No one had high hopes for Roy and Klayr; everyone had confidence in Steve and Adams.

Even Instructor Nora quietly reminded Roy and Klayr during their practice that they could agree on the rules of the game before going on stage.

When the time comes, we must raise all restrictions to the highest level...

If needed, she can act as a referee on the field.

Clearly, Instructor Nora wanted to turn the duel in the arena into a friendly match. Klayr didn't want to be looked down upon by the Elven Nobles in the circle, so she decisively rejected Instructor Nora's offer.

In the last few days, Moira was no longer Roy's sparring partner; Roy's sparring partner was replaced by Sabrina, who was skilled with Two-Handed Sword.

Every Elf Warrior who aspires to become Sword Dancer must learn the combat techniques of Two-Handed Sword.

Neither Steve nor Adams are agile rangers, and they are both quite strong, so Sabrina's fighting style is similar to theirs.

Sabrina has been giving Roy a severe beating these past few days with a wooden sword. Every day, she would use the wooden sword to chop Roy, who was wearing chainmail, to the ground until he couldn't get up anymore.

No matter how badly he was beaten up the night before, Roy would be full of energy the next morning, and there wouldn't even be any bruises on his body...

Roy's tenacity in the face of setbacks earned Sabrina's secret admiration.

Although Roy's martial arts skills haven't improved much during this time, as long as he wears chainmail, he can at least withstand one round of Sabrina's fierce attacks.

Jasper and Abbott were also busy this week, spending their days thinking about how to make the Black Pearl more cozy.

They had absolutely no intention of sending the Black Pearl back to the sea. Instead of repairing the large hole in the bilge, they simply converted it into a door shaped like a manhole cover.

Jasper also cleaned up all the seawater in the Bottom Cabin.

Following the carpenter's advice on Brown Street, a ladder was built on the side of the ship, which meant that every time someone boarded the ship, they had to climb up the ladder to the deck... which was inconvenient no matter what.

If conditions permit in the future, we will enter the Black Pearl directly from the inside through the manhole cover in the Bottom Cabin.

However, neither of them dared to expend too much Holy Light Power to cleanse the souls on the ship.

Because the temple occasionally needs them to use ' Minor Healing ' to heal the believers, and sometimes they also need to go to the outskirts of the city to purify the souls of the dead.

These were traditionally the duties of Priest Anderson and Priest Theodore.

But now, one of them has not yet fully recovered his Holy Light Power, and the other is constantly traveling between the Upper District and the temple.

Recently, Roy has seen Priest Anderson come out of the storeroom several times, and he seems to really enjoy talking to himself in the mirror.

For some reason, the Holy Light Power within his body remained completely empty.

Priest Theodore, like Grandet, was unwilling to expend even a fraction of his Holy Light Power within the temple...

As a result, High Priest Reed had to change the twice-weekly gathering to once a week.

In just two short weeks at the Elf Academy, Princess Ophelia became the most popular History Teacher in the academy...

During every martial arts training class, Steve's smugness was practically written all over his face when he looked at Roy and Klayr.

The day of the final battle between Klayr and Roy against Steve and Adams in the arena has arrived...

No extra update tonight, taking a break. Will continue tomorrow.