If Jace had invested one Soul Point less in his AGL, then he would have gone blind.
He weaved Heather's blade, just inches away from carving out his eyes.
Heather dragged his sigil sword back into another attack, refusing the taste of bitter defeat, and swung high above.
Jace gritted his teeth and positioned his silver sword for a block through the obvious attack.
Their blades clashed, starting another round of unstoppable determination.
'It's…heavier? What did he do? He wasn't this strong before.'
Jace directed their contest of strength away, coiling his arm and quickly retaliated.
[Skill Activate: Wide Slash]
Heather sharpened his eyes, moving his sigil sword before and taking the full blow of the Skill. Instead of stumbling into the ground, he only drifted a couple feet away, flourishing his sword and posture.
The two Climbers clashed their swords again, moving with unnatural speed and ferocity.
Nearby townspeople started to crowd over the fence, spectating the clattering fight. What was said to be a friendly duel became something more personal. It was a battle of pride, title, and insecurity.
Jace admitted Heather was the better fighter. Heather was properly trained, being fed with a golden spoon and had this path to a Climber laid like a royal carpet since birth.
Heather had real technique and skills using a sword. He knew far greater practices than swinging the steel through the air against imaginary enemies.
No matter how much Jace could claw through his weakness, he was always going to falter behind the reality of truth.
He was never going to be favored by the Tower or Soul.
Jace tried to catch his breath between Heather's onslaught of swings, one after another, feeling his own defense withering down. He couldn't deflect any of Heather's attacks anymore, there was just simply too much weight behind them.
Every clash sent a painful shock through his arms, hammering down into his already draining fatigue. It was only his six Soul Points in AGL that was keeping him afloat.
As sweat flung from his deep auburn hair, Jace felt like the fight was no longer in his control. He wasn't facing the same Heather from the beginning.
'He wasn't like this before! Did this bastard have some Relic?! Some Blessing or Curse that he told nobody about?!'
Heather continued, leaving no more room of thought for his opponent. It didn't matter if any of them were at the verge of death. As long as their HP didn't reach zero, they wouldn't dissolve into the Void.
Jace dragged his silver sword by a sliver, misdirecting Heather's attacks, and dashed to the side. He needed time to recover.
But Heather lunged, seemingly unaffected by the brief moment, and thrusted his sigil sword.
'He's faster—'
The sigil sword sliced Jace's cheek, seeping the lower of his face in warm blood.
If it wasn't for his quick instinct, then his jaw would have been dangling.
Jace grimaced through the pain and forced his arm to move, swinging his silver sword in a wide arc.
Heather leapt back, offended like such an pissant attack could ever land on him.
They paced in another round of silent exchange as snow crunched beneath their boots. But for Heather, it was melting from the traces of his steps.
'It's a Skill. He's been using a Skill to empower his Soul. I guess you despise me that much, don't you, Heather?'
Around Heather were tendrils of vapor, spiraling from his body like he was ready to burst into flames. For his eyes, they were burning in an inferno of defying confidence.
Then he shot forward, turning into a frightening blur.
Jace couldn't react in time. His Soul wasn't equipped to handle anything that was beyond inhuman. He panicked, resorting to his own impulse.
[Skill Activate: Wide Slash]
If their swords would collide, at least he could be saved from the unpredictable attack.
But Heather caught his arm before the Skill activated, searing a sense of authority.
Jace looked down, feeling the cold edge of the sigil sword pressing against his abdomen.
One second was all it could take for his guts to spill across the snowy grass. He heaved a tired sigh, admitting defeat.
"Alright, you win—"
Heather shoved him to the ground before he could finish his breath.
Jace landed on his back, indifferent to the child-like tantrum. The worst thing he could do was fan the flames.
Heather exhaled, just as the steam around his body extinguished. Though, his face was far from content. As he glanced at the crowding spectators, they immediately darted away from his gaze.
"What Level are you?"
Jace steadily sat up, wiping off the snow from his elbows.
"I'm not telling you my Soul."
"Then you're off from my squad."
Jace lifted his head, staring back into the kindling eyes of an insecure warrior.
"You would leave me in Hailfen because I almost bested you in a duel? Didn't you say it was your job to keep us in shape? Wasn't that what just happened?"
"You fight like a rabid animal. You have no form, no technique, and it's purely unhinged. I can see why you refuse to duel with me or Klav."
'Yeah, no wonder.'
Jace sighed again, sheathing his silver sword.
"If you want me out of your squad because of that, then I don't care. But I won't grovel at your feet and beg for myself to stay."
"I want you to tell me about your Soul."
'This bastard…isn't this borderline harassment, constantly asking someone else of their Soul?'
Jace stood from the snowy grass, meeting both of their eyes at an even level.
"Are you surprised that a loser like me could compete against you?"
Heather scoffed, and snickered in a mocking tone.
"That wasn't competing! You call that competing—"
"You didn't think a Skill was worthy enough for me. But, that first round, you lost. And you didn't hate me. You hated yourself. For all those years spent training by your elders, all those Floors spent with experience, to find out that I had managed to overcome you."
Heather's expression changed into something grim. But Jace continued with his words:
"Do you honestly think I care about your squad? Do you even know how many other Climbers I've separated with? I know the meaning of weakness, hell, I've been dragging it along with me in the Tower. If I have to ascend alone, it makes no difference to me."
"Then what if I kill you here, right now, and send you and your useless Soul into the Void. Would it make a difference?"
"You can't. You have no more mana."
Heather tried to hide it, but his eyes widened in shock. He knew Jace was right. Whatever Skill he had used, had come with its own set of consequences.
'I hate to thank you, Soul, but at least everyone else has their share of your own sense of cruelty.'
Jace swept the blood collecting at his jaw, then said back:
"Are you kicking me out or not, at least let me know in advance."
Heather's ultimatum seemed to linger with the cold air, as his eyes remained with the same gaze. Then he slowly groaned, sheathing his sigil sword, and clenched his fist.
"If it was up to me, you and your Soul could freeze to death on this Floor."
'How comforting.'
Then he hissed his teeth, almost like the next words grumbling out of his mouth were painful to utter.
"You're right, I had to use my Skill to beat you. I don't know what terrible measures you've done with your Soul, but this will be the last time you win. I swear on it."
"I believe you."
"I know you do."
Jace blinked and gave a flat nod.
Heather returned to his stern and calloused face. He walked past Jace and gave his answer:
"You'll stay."
Jace waited until the footsteps behind him grew quiet. He held out his hand, staring at the simple ring on his finger. For some reason, he felt inclined to stay in the squad.
'I can't just run off with this without her knowing, right? Surely, she'd hunt me down for the Relic.'
Then he lifted his head and absorbed the sight of treaded snow. Their fight had proved two things to Jace, no matter if he had lost or not.
Firstly, Heather possessed two Skills inside of his Soul, meaning he absolutely had to be over the Level of ten.
The Soul always rewards its Climbers with a complimentary Skill at each interval of five levels. That was why Jace was so adamant on training his (Wide Slash) the moment his Soul had given him the Skill.
Heather could shoot fire from his fingertips, coat his blade in flames, and ignite his body for an extra boost in stats.
'Isn't that three skills? Was I just completely off?'
Jace shrugged off the thought, coming with his own conclusion. There could be a possibility that one of Heather's Skills allowed him to do both. In a rare instance, some Skills had the potential to evolve into greater versions.
'Or that damned sigil sword is a Relic, who knows. Any Climber would have loved the opportunity to have everything the moment they were chosen by the Soul.'
And secondly, Jace was no longer safe in the squad. Maybe he had pushed his luck too far, digging into another Climber's pride and fragile ego.
But how could he not? After being tossed around in the Tower and ridiculed by the Soul, who was to say he couldn't reciprocate that feeling?
'I'm a joke…what did I just do?'
Jace had unintentionally made an enemy for life. Heather was always going to be stronger than him, both in prowess and in Soul. The least he could do was find out how to save himself in the end.