The Probe During the Duel

When the signal for the duel was given, the surrounding crowd did not erupt with the usual enthusiasm; there were only a few shouts.

Moreover, most of these shouts came from the lord and his men on the high platform. After shouting a few times and realizing that they were the ones shouting, they all awkwardly lowered their voices.

Compared to the knightly orders that frequently engaged in duels, the church's believers and Mercenary were not particularly fond of this recreational sport.

For Mercenary, the best form of entertainment is often drinking strong liquor and then gambling with dice in a tavern—a more enjoyable and exciting activity than any other form of entertainment.

As for the church members, they are usually good at eating, drinking, and having fun, but they have never experienced the kind of entertainment of watching two people fight.

Given the tense situation on the ground, it's clear that neither group was there for entertainment; they were there to observe their opponents.

However, the lord and his men did not seem to have changed their usual mindset and still viewed the competition with an attitude of entertainment.

Fran was also a little curious as to why it was so quiet around her. She looked around but couldn't figure out what was going on. However, judging from the expressions on the faces of the onlookers, she knew that these people probably weren't going to come and cheer her on.

She turned her gaze forward, and saw that the Church Warrior was also looking at her, but he seemed much more nervous than she had expected.

The Church Warrior seemed unaccustomed to the sight of so many people watching the duel; his hand gripping the sword trembled slightly.

Fran put aside all her random thoughts and began to carefully observe the movements of the Church Warrior.

Judging from the way the opponent gripped their weapon and prepared to attack, they seemed no different from a normal melee Profession.

They all assumed their stances for offense and defense, and observed the opponent's position and distance.

Five seconds after the duel signal was given, neither of them immediately launched an attack. In contrast, the spectators held their breath, not wanting to miss a single move.

Fran was carefully observing the actions of the Church Warrior, Church Warrior was fighting based on his experience from previous battles.

In his 'experience,' one should not blindly close the distance when facing the Alliance Battle Mage.

Although people on the mainland know that mages are very weak in close combat, according to the experience of Church Warrior, this is a misconception.

Although mages are relatively weak in close combat when it comes to actual fighting, mages themselves are also aware of this.

They would purchase all sorts of magical equipment or learn all sorts of spells to deal with close combat.

Even among the Battle Mage encountered by the Church Warrior, many had specifically learned powerful melee skills, just waiting for you to come forward and attack.

Therefore, the Church Warrior Battle Mage not attack rashly. Although not attacking would mean losing the initiative, he always believed that flexibility was the greatest advantage other Profession had against mages.

Seeing that her opponent made no move, Fran knew that she hadn't observed anything through this method, so she moved forward and launched an attack.

In order to uphold the reputation of her Sword Chant School, she deliberately used Sword Dance before launching her attack.

A strange rhythm began to emerge from Fran's sword, and her Mental Power began to shine on the longsword. Now, this sword could be said to be an extension of Fran's body.

"It's coming." The Church Warrior's pupils contracted slightly as he raised his greatsword to meet Fran's attack.

He wasn't surprised that Fran had used Sword Dance, because just because Fran could use Sword Dance didn't mean Fran was a member of the Sword Chant School.

In the Spirit Realm, it is quite normal to obtain some low-level spells from various School of the Alliance.

Even the Alliance itself was very dissatisfied that these low-level spells could be obtained through exploration in the Spirit Realm.

Fortunately, the spells granted by the Spirit Realm are highly unpredictable, rarely offering spells exclusive to School; most are just useless, low-quality spells.

Nevertheless, many sorcerers are still dedicated to researching why the Spirit Realm can grant these spells, some of which they have never seen before.

The perspective shifts back to the duel scene. Fran's vertical slash didn't use any fancy Combat Technique or spells; it struck the raised greatsword directly.

Fran's physical strength, even without any enhancements, still surpassed that of an ordinary First Order Profession. Her slash was powerful and heavy, and her opponent had to crouch down to catch the attack while bracing his greatsword.

"Such great strength, is it some kind of special magic?" Although Fran displayed great physical strength, the Church Warrior did not immediately assume that she was a melee Profession posing as a mage.

Instead, he thought it might be some kind of body-enhancing spell he had never seen before.

Because he knew better than anyone that a First Order Profession could hardly improve their base stats through normal means other than using spells.

Therefore, he came to believe that this powerful force was a kind of magic.

After blocking the attack, Fran pressed her advantage, turning her sword and using a longsword to unleash the suppressive force of a greatsword.

Each strike of her longsword unleashed terrifying power, slamming violently against the greatswords used by the Church Warrior for parrying.

After blocking several relatively easy attacks, the Church Warrior only felt a dull pain in his wrist.

"I can't afford to confront her head-on anymore." This thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly retreated, increasing the distance between himself and Fran.

Seeing this, Fran did not immediately give chase. Instead, she stopped where she was and pointed her sword at the other person.

"A perfectly normal Profession, with basic attributes similar to a First Order knight; I just don't know how Arts he is."

She didn't participate in this competition to win; she came to investigate the characteristics of Profession who advance within this religious system.

If she wanted to defeat her opponent, she would have used Sunflame the moment the match began.

For her, Sunflame Arts is incredibly useful; it's her best Combat Technique right now, even better than Sword Dance and Elven Swordsmanship.

Furthermore, the Sunflame stat is incredibly high, even allowing it to gain an advantage in direct combat against Second Order Profession User.

The moment the Church Warrior retreated, their breathing changed; Fran could tell that they were using Breathing Technique.

"Even for Profession in the church, are Breathing Technique required for advancement?"

Fran raised an eyebrow. Among the Profession she had met, most were required to have a certain level of mastery of Breathing Technique; this was a basic requirement for most Profession.

It seems that even believers in Deity are not exempt from promotion.