Man, she's really giving me the stink eye.
I glanced at my opponent as I stepped onto the arena, the crowd continuing to boo me as a barrier formed around the arena.
Now, to begin with, let's run a quick Appraisal:
Personal Details:
Name: Kelsey Jaise
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 108 KG
Hunter Details:
Type: Combatant
Class: Tank
Attribute: Earth
Spells: N/A
Skills: Taunt, Stomp, Double Stomp, Triple Stomp, Quadruple Stomp, Quintuple Stomp, Earth Stomp, Double Earth Stomp...
Stats:
HP: 656
MP: 200
Strength: 660
Agility: 494
Vitality: 652
Perception: 474
Power Level: 522,700
Potential: 617,400
Wow, she's got a pretty large number of Skills, including the highest level passives for her Class. She's got Elemental Immunity, Status Effect Immunity and Super Heavy Weapon-Wielding Affinity.
Almost all Tanks possess a version of the Heavy Weapon-Wielding Affinity, and hers is the strongest possible version of that Skill.
She had thick, curly black hair that was cut fairly short and pushed back with a maroon headband, her eyes were a deep, maroonish brown, and she had a dark complexion.
She was pretty tall and had a strong, muscular build, her biceps were pretty hefty. Her Strength stat, mine's only two thirds of what hers is, definitely want to avoid a contest of strength.
She was wearing silver armor, which covered her entire torso. She had silver gauntlets that went up to her elbows, boots with a silver-plated coating that went past her knees, and black, leather-armored shorts.
Only her biceps and head were unprotected, the rest of her body was pretty thoroughly protected.
She was holding a large warhammer in her right hand, with a big, heavy shield strapped to her left forearm.
"Hi, there, nice to m-...," I began politely.
"You need to surrender and withdraw from the competition before you get hurt, boy. I'm not particularly keen on fighting someone three whole ranks below me, so just concede," She stated bluntly.
"Appreciate the concern, but I'm going to have to pass. And rank aside, I'm no pushover, so I'd advise you not to underestimate me," I replied with a smile, as I began stretching.
It's only fair that I at least give her a warning. If she doesn't believe me, that's on her.
"Very well, then. Maybe a humbling experience here today will help you grow into a better man in the future," She sighed, as she swung her hammer across, a gust of wind bursting out from the force of her swing.
"Looks like we're all set to begin, here's the countdown!" Exclaimed the announcer, as a holographic '10' appeared by the ceiling of the barrier surrounding the arena.
As it ticked down, the crowd began counting down in excitement, the stadium buzzing with anticipation...
"Seven!"
"Six!"
"Five!"
"Four!"
"THREE!!!"
"TWO!!!"
"ONE!!!"
The instant the countdown ended, Kelsey jammed her shield into the floor of the arena, spinning her hammer around a couple of times in her hand as she stepped forward with a tilt of her head, cracking her neck.
She then locked onto me, bending her knees slightly before barreling forward, her boots thudding against the floor firmly as she charged in towards me, drawing her right arm back and raising her hammer as she began to close in on me.
Here we go...
As she swung the large warhammer across at my head, her eyes widened as I swiftly ducked under the swing of the weapon, a burst of wind erupting above my head before I zipped forward to her right, chanting as I slapped my left hand against her right bicep...
"
A sharp scream of pain rang out, followed by a loud, thudding clang, as she dropped her weapon as I shot past her, spinning around and drawing out my sword as I stopped a few meters behind her.
The crowd had gone quiet, stunned into silence as they stared on in disbelief. This is exactly what I was hoping for...damn, this feels good!
Kelsey shakily turned around and met my gaze, her right arm trembling as her bicep spasmed all over, presumably her forearm and shoulder too, though I couldn't see those areas thanks to her heavily armored gauntlets.
That Mana Pulse was at about half-strength, I still kinda feel bad about this unfair advantage, so I held back a bit.
But now that she knows I'm stronger than she would've assumed, I have no reason to pull any more punches.
"Wh-What just...? What...what did you do?" She frowned shakily, beads of sweat trickling down her face as her arm continued to tremble.
"I did warn you not to underestimate me," I responded, before I swung my blade across and shot towards her.
She quickly stepped back and reached for her warhammer as I rapidly closed the gap, before I chanted the instant she took hold of the handle...
"
Her eyes widened as her weapon suddenly disappeared, reappearing in my left hand as I-...damn, that's heavy!
A loud thud rang out as I let go of the warhammer immediately, dropping it onto the floor before the weight could throw me off-balance, my center of gravity slightly shifted.
I paused for a split-second to realign my center of gravity, before continuing to race towards her, lunging forward as I closed in.
She grimaced before swinging her left fist towards the side of my head, which I swiftly ducked under before driving my blade towards her throat, a shallow cut appearing across the left side of her neck as she quickly tilted her body across to the right, grimacing as the edge of my blade grazed her skin.
She gritted her teeth as trickles of blood ran down from the cut, lifting her right foot up before chanting as she began to drive it down...
"[Earth Stomp]!"
An intense shockwave burst out as she slammed her foot against the floor of the arena, deep cracks spreading out from the point of impact.
I stumbled slightly as I struggled to keep my balance, before twisting my body across as she unfurled a furious thrust of her right fist towards my head, the side of her fist brushing the tip of my nose before I swiftly sprang back several paces and got some distance.
Hm, she can still generate that much force from her right arm, even after being hit with Mana Pulse?
Still, that attempted punch definitely moved slower than the rest of her movements, so the damage from Mana Pulse is definitely affecting her.
In the position we were in, it wouldn't have been easy to hit me with her left fist, so it was her only option.
My Agility-focused build definitely gives me an advantage over her and her Strength and Vitality-focused build, but like Charlotte warned me, that doesn't mean I can afford to underestimate her.
If she lands so much as a single clean hit against me, I'm dead...