In an instant the Nether witch and the trainee pounced on each other, and with a swift motion the Weapon Master gift allowed Mikel to instantly swing his spear to attempt to stab at Victoria.
She was quick though, and unfazed, she simply did a heel turn into a kick to his face, and the impact threw Mikel off to leave a crate on the virtual wall.
Victoria fixed her posture and stared and the smoke from the hubris, and squinted her eyes that started glowing blue. She instantly sensed a burst of mana - perhaps a sphere - that was gathering at a point, and then-
Pew!
A burst was shot to her, which she avoided by arching her back like it was nothing, and with her back almost parallel to the ground she saw that black sphere leave a crack at the wall.
"Nether essence. You're making weapons out of Nether Essence."
"I don't know how, but I'm doing it."
A touch of confidence could be seen from Mikel, and immediately he let out his hands.
In an instant Victoria sensed another burst of mana from her backside and swiftly kicked the air, spinning mid air into a perfect stance to dodge the recall. The black ball - or a blob - was back in the right hand of Mikel.
[Polymorph - Whip]
As Mikel squeezed the blob and it splatted into the shape of the whip, he threw it out to wrap it on the neck of Victoria.
"Remember our first fight?" Mikel remarked, a cheeky smile about him.
"Spikes and all? Go ahead."
The consent was there, and the man didn't hesitate.
[Polymorph - Spike Chain]
The whip instantly moulded, solidified into the texture of a metal chain, and made the sound of a deadly pop as the spikes stood up from the surface and dug right into the neck of Victoria.
Cough.
Blood dripped from the mouth of the pride of the Evergreen family, and yet, there was a smile, the widened eyes enduring through that senseless pain. Redness of the blood was soaking into her pearly white teeth and the paradox of her beauty and the ugliness of the wound caused a sudden jolt of hesitation.
"Maybe I'm being too-"
Bam! Suddenly a loud noise and a pounding pain on Mikel's right cheek as he was hit by the shin of the Nether Witch. The spiked chain loosened up and the Nether essence lost its shape, and just like that-
"What just happened?"
Victoria was sitting on top of Mikel's stomach, her right hand on his neck.
"you lost…is what happened."
"But-"
"No buts. Why did you hesitate?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You hesitated there. Should have tightened the chain and severed my neck to try to go for a win. Why didn't you do that?"
"Because it's just…"
The phrase 'because I don't want to harm a woman' almost came out of Mikel's mouth but he wisely held it in and gulped in instead. It was a silly thing to say in a duel, and even sillier to say to someone like Victoria.
But unfortunately, despite Mikel's efforts to hide it, the Witch always knew.
"I'll teach you something very important." She opened her mouth to say.
"There is no old or young, man or a woman, tall and short in a duel. There are no rules to follow, nor there are 'codes', contrary to the popular belief."
The grip tightened and suddenly Mikel was running out of breath feeling pressure in his neck and thus his head as the bloodflow was being limited.
"You get into a duel, whether it be against the creatures in the Wild Zones or the hunters inside the domes, you have to show them to not look down upon you."
"I, surrender-"
"No, no no no. You still don't get it."
Mikel was gasping for air and starting to struggle through the words. Victoria looked down on that with cold eyes as she was not finished with her lecture.
"There is no surrendering either. When you pick up a weapon, you only drop it when you're down."
And just like that, a crack was heard. Mikel has died, and the simulation is over.
"Huff. Huff."
No actual physical harm was done to him, but his mentality took a hit. Everything happened so fast for him and it hurt especially because he felt like he was on the cusp of winning, with all the limitations and handicaps that Victoria put on herself.
Of course, unbeknownst to Mikel, she was still far out of his depth, and she deliberately slowed down her speed in order for him to get a hit in as she wanted to analyse the newfound powers, but she kept quiet about that part.
'It was more advantageous for his learning curve if he thinks he has a chance.' Is what she said inside as she sipped on the tea that was still piping hot due to the maid knowing her enough to be on time with the delivery.
"You've improved I suppose, chin up darling."
"I didn't expect to win, it's just…"
"You didn't expect to lose like that?"
"Y-yeah. Yeah I guess it's that. I didn't expect to lose in that way."
"It is what it is. You've got to learn to take those."
"...I suppose."
Visibly disheartened, Mikel barely took even a sip off his portion of the tea.
'What a troublesome creature' the witch thought, frustrated by her experiment flopping down after the loss.
"Your polymorphism," Victoria changed the subject. "It uses Nether Essence, correct?"
"Yes. Yes it does. I don't know why but…It looks like when I kill Nether Creatures I can use their essence."
Victoria remembered the first ever encounter in the bar, where she got to see Mikel's status page.
'His last name is still a mystery.' She thought to herself. 'I wonder where he comes from.'
"So logically speaking, if we kill more Nether Creatures you'd get stronger, correct?"
"M-maybe? I'm not sure."
"There is only one way to know."
"Can't we rest for a bit? I'm just sort of, um, tired you know?"
"...What else is there to do?"
"Movies?"
"No. They're the biggest waste of time. Why would I be interested in the life of people that don't even exist?"
"...Well that's one way to look at it I guess. So no books?"
"You only ought to read enough to learn the language or pick up facts to help yourself become a better, more educated hunter."
"...Music?"
"I don't mind orchestral ones."
"Wow. You must be fun at parties."
"Shame if I am, because I don't go to them."
"Wait. Let me try something."
Suddenly, Mikel stood up from the table and gathered his hands, palms touching each other in a praying sign. He closed his eyes to focus his manaflow.
"What are you doing?"
"Shh."
Victoria for the first time in their meeting, has been silenced by Mikel, as the aura of mana flowed about him and she could see him utilising everything that he had learned from her thus far.
[Polymorph.]
The Nether essence came out of his back, and as he widened his hands it formed a sphere with violet sparks coming out of its opaque black core. Mikel breathed in and out, then opened his eyes, his eyes shining purple as he commanded:
[Polymorph - Acoustic Guitar]
An acoustic guitar forms from the sphere, the pressure of formation sending air to all directions, Victoria's blonde hair waving due to it.
"...What are you doing?" She said.
"I formed an acoustic guitar using my powers." He answered.
"....Why?" She asked again, completely baffled.
"Because listen to this."
With that, Mikel started to play the tunes in a fingerstyle, one of the songs composed from a now ancient being in the name of Mozart.
"...Is this also your weapon master gift applying?"
"Nah, I'm just good at playing the guitar."
"I hate this song by the way."
"Oh." Mikel immediately stops. "I thought you said you like orchestral music."
"I don't like it per se, just listen to it. Even if I did, this one just doesn't hit me."
"Ah." Just like that, Mikel froze up.
A sudden awkward silence befell on them, and surprisingly, it was broken by Victoria's chuckle, the one that Mikel never heard before, and one that made even her maid surprised.
"Young mistress..?" The maid muttered.
But a chuckle kept building up, and it turned into a laugh. After what felt like a good 5 minutes, still without much composure, she turned to Mikel and said:
"Claire de Lune. I don't mind listening to that one."
With a smile, Mikel fixed his fingerings and took a deep breath. The sun was shining, the tea was still warm, the maid put down the pot and decided to leave the room, looking back at two of them with a smile before closing the door.
Claire de lune was being played, the strings echoing its tunes.
Both had their eyes closed, but they still saw each other in the sound.