I did expect that something like this might happen, after all, he has no reason to take me especially since first I'd need to grow up and train before I'd even start to be useful to him. Such an investment in me without checking my ability first would have been pure stupidity - at least right now. That said, was it really necessary to ask me to fight against a full-grown male, with a gorilla physique and awakened eyes.
I suppressed the urge to sigh at this situation as I watched Egghead looking back and forth between me and the Ashen King, clearly stumped by the ridiculousness of this situation, and quite understandably so.
The masked man slowly walked back to the couch before flicking a finger. Suddenly all the furniture within the room disappeared, as the room began to morph, almost expanding... No it was expanding.
I couldn't help but widen my eyes as the entire setting of the room changed, no longer even remotely resembling what it was earlier. Instead, the room was now morphed into a training hall. The floors padded with mana and shock-proof padding while the walls were now a bright white screen giving it a highly modernistic look. The headless body remained alongside its head but it had been moved to a corner during the change. But the part that was truly amazing was that the room had definitely grown twice its original size, now with a platform where both me and the Egghead stood while that horrific Jester sat in the same couch from a distance that would guarantee a good view.
Most likely noticing my surprise, the Ashen king spoke.
"It's a Spatial Room, it alters itself to my will."
I cleared my expression as I nodded quietly to him.
I already knew what this room was when I saw it changing, what had surprised me was that, Spatial rooms aren't released to the public so that anyone who had cash could buy it. In fact, it was an exclusive item sold only towards powerful figures, from high-ranking nobles to highly valued Military leaders. But for him to have it, did he steal it from someone like that? And if so, how hasn't he been killed yet?
Just who was he?
I shot a curious glance at him before focusing on the task at hand, after all, this was not going to be an easy fight. The Egghead still seemed reluctant to accept the situation that right now he is being asked to fight a child in a duel as he seemed hesitant while massaging his bald head.
The masked man clicked his fingers revealing multiple weapons of all varieties to choose from, of course all of them were wooden, non-lethal ones.
"You both will have to choose a weapon now and you may use that weapon in whatever way you deem fit to defeat your opponent."
His voice remained ever so cold as he spoke, his gaze still locked on me, not even acknowledging the other's existence.
"...Of course, however there is obviously a huge power disparity between the two of you, so to make things even, there will be a rule instituted. The girl may use whatever she can to defeat her opponent even resorting to use her own teeth... but he is forbidden from using his awakened ability at all so to make things fair."
He observed me, trying to see if I would produce even the slightest reaction at his words, but I remained with a cold expression.
Fair, my ass.
It wouldn't matter whether he used his awakened ability or not simply because, he could destroy me with a single hit. But that doesn't mean it's a hopeless case, in fact there's a very simple solution here, and he's waiting to see if I would get that.
I hid a knowing smile behind my blank expression as I looked through the weapons offered. Finally coming across a wooden rapier, I paused on it, desperate to fight once more with that weapon. I always had a connection with the weapon as I fought with it for years, taking the lives of both demons and humans, it was as though I were fated to wield that weapon. Hell, I probably was, considering what this world was.
I sighed before moving on. As much as I'd like to have taken it, I knew it was too much for my current body to wield. Whether I liked to admit it or not, right now my body was extremely weak. Wielding a weapon like that would make me lose balance just from swinging it once. I continued to look through multiple weapons, from simple longswords to compound bows to even a few short-range pistols. After a careful contemplation of which weapon I should choose, I finally chose a simple stiletto. It was small and easy to wield effectively even when in a small body like mine.
Then, I looked over at my opponent, and I barely contained my reaction.
He stood there, with an enormous axe resting against the ground. The Axe itself was literally the size of my body. Wooden or not, one hit from that and I'd lose the ability to walk at the very least.
I shook my head in self-deprecation, while wondering how this pitiful sight must look to the observer. I looked over to the masked figure and nodded before getting into position, ready to fight at his signal. The Egghead still seemed conflicted about his actions but got ready, lifting his axe behind his neck.
The Ashen King stared with an aura of indifference before raising his hand up straight, and throwing it down in a signal to start.
The Gorilla dashed forward, aiming to end this quickly, as he struck down at the ground where my feet stood, at least where they were.
I rolled over to the side before he struck, barely avoiding the hit. As obvious as this was, this was my main advantage in this duel, his mighty size left him much lacking in speed. So I'm still faster than him just barely.
I quickly lunged at him from the side, gripping the blade tightly in my hands. Just as I was about to close in, the axe wrenched itself out of the ground and swung sideways at my head.
I quickly weakened my knees, allowing me to kneel down, avoiding the axe from grazing my face by a hair's width before shifting my weight to my left hand to push me to the side as I rolled over once more, this time creating some distance between us.
I gasped desperately, already close to reaching my physical limit in this fight, my body was simply too weak. Seeing me that exhausted seemed to have awoken some pity in the Egghead as he stood quietly waiting for me to either make a move or give up.
I couldn't afford to hold back anything.
After a few deep breaths I calmed my breathing as I got back up, closing my eyes while doing so.
I took a few deep breaths before letting them out.
"Hoo..."
I opened my eyes, my irises now burning like liquid diamond as one thought drowned the noise in my head.
'Clairvoyance.'
Everyone's awakened ability is different in some way, while some may share the same eye color, they never have the same ability, rather in such cases, they share a specific element that their ability commands over. Then there are those with unorthodox abilities. Abilities that seem to bend more towards the supernatural rather than the magical. Of course, such people always had extremely weak abilities and so could never utilise them in battle.
I was one such person.
My ability only allowed me to see through things into what exists underneath and even then there were a lot of restrictions to it. I can't see through a large number of layers at a time and some artifacts can prevent me from seeing through certain places. That's why for so long, I was pathetic, unable to even beat a simple 9 Ranked beast.
But I never did stop trying to get stronger. I kept training till I spit up blood in the morning. Improving my combat skills and swordsmanship to cover up for the lack of destructive power of my ability. I kept challenging those that were strong and kept losing till I won against them.
I kept trying to cover up and compensate for my ability's weakness till I fought him... I never did realize that it was Raymond that made me realize. I challenged him to a duel a year before the war began. And I lost. Overwhelmingly. Complete and utter defeat.
I still remember his words.
"You are weak. All parts of you are weak. Don't blame your failures on luck. That you weren't strong enough because you were unlucky with your ability. No. You lost. Because you are fucking weak."
I never knew why but those words hurt me. More than any degrading insult that had been directed my way in life, those words and his harsh tone seemed to cut into my very soul.
After that fight, I'd cried for the first time in a long time and I couldn't pull myself out of bed because I realized it.
In the end, he was right.
After that, I stopped looking at my ability as a shortcoming of mine to compensate for but rather a source of strength. And that's when I truly started to get strong.
I silently looked at the dazed Egghead. He seemed to lose his concentration while looking at my eyes.
A battle of attrition was not in favor. My body was at its limits and my awakened ability was already starting to take a toll on my eyes. I needed to finish this in one move. Something that would end this fight in one go. I stared at his form, looking deeper, past the layers of his skin and into his very anatomy. The tensing of his muscles, the flow of blood to each region. All these actions told me a story of what his next move would be. It also showed me that impaling him with the dagger would not work, I didn't have the strength to embed it deep enough to properly cause damage. That left only one place that would cause enough damage to take him down. The one Achilles' heel I could take advantage of.
I charged forward quickly, snapping Egghead out of his dazed state as he raised his axe to strike at me. I already felt blood tearing up in my eyes, the more I used my abilities but I couldn't stop now, I watched the blood flow move towards his calves, meaning he was going to bend down low enough.
Just before he could swing the axe downwards, I threw the stiletto in my hands at his chest.
He smiled as he brought one hand away from the axe to catch the dagger hurled at him, his reflexes clearly fast enough to catch it at the meager speed I threw it at him.
I used that distraction, using my momentum to push forward even faster than he could react to right underneath him. Just before he could realize where I was, I tensed my legs putting all my strength into them while aiming for his one weak spot that was now low enough for me to reach.
With all the power I could muster, I kicked him in the crotch.
A deafening and high-pitched scream shot through the air as he fell over, foam now frothing at his mouth.
I kept myself standing, adjusting my weight to my other leg while shakily turning my head to stare at the Ashen King. I could no longer see his exact appearance, his figure showing as a blur covered in red from the blood pooling in my eyes. I mumbled under my breath, knowing he could hear me while I smiled.
"I won."
I did it.
My leg quickly lost strength as my consciousness began to fade away and the darkness embraced me.
***************
Before she fell over, I grabbed her, lifting her into my arms as I walked back, laying her on the couch. I quietly stared at her through the slits of the mask.
"My Lord? Um...what do we do here?"
I pulled my gaze away from her as I stared at the fearful servant.
"Take Baldie to the 2nd floor to be treated now so he can have some hope of having children someday... And take that trash with you."
I gestured towards the headless body in the corner. I decided to think about that issue later. Once they all left, leaving only me and her. I quietly removed my mask and stared at her.
Her chest rose quietly as I cupped her cheek in my hand. I wiped away the blood from her eyes quietly before sighing and looking away.
"Hah...You...you are dangerous." I whispered before gazing back at her peaceful expression as she slept.