Chapter 773 (1/2)

“As I was saying,” Azriel said with a glance at Helen, “The easiest problem is the difference in skill with a spear. The unity that Skarch can display is horrifying. But there are more difficult issues.”

Randidly twisted and looked at Helen. It seemed like her face was in a state of rigor mortis. A twitch had developed in the corner of her eye.

Her fury was readily apparent. Which is why Randidly turned to Azriel with a renewed focus. He needed to assist in any way he could. After all, Helen was tied to him. Their fight was a close one. She had pushed him to the edges of himself. Mid-fight, he had only been able to succeed by strengthening his images to the point that they were Pontiff level. No matter what Azriel said, Randidly wasn’t going to take this challenge lying down.

“Beyond that, we are both familiar with Skarch’s powerful images. While we have seen no proof that she is a Pontiff, that might be due to the fact that all of her images are superimposed on her spear anyway,” Azriel reasoned. “Even now, I have no confidence facing off against her in our little image game.”

Randidly winced. That was very true. In terms of images… Skarch had trained since birth to focus on images. “But in terms of Skills-”

“It is true that Helen has powerful ones. And her new Soulskill will make her growth exponential, should she have the chance to grow.” Azriel folded her arms. “She doesn’t have time to grow, Randidly. Despite Skarch’s rather bland Skills, they have been honed to a point. They will not fail her now. I’ve sparred much against Helen to familiarize herself with the Skills, but we simply don’t have the time.”

Randidly looked up sharply. “Then maybe a Dungeon-”

“It’s forbidden by the rules,” Helen muttered. “If I have to fucking resort to cheating to win, what’s the point.”

Randidly, the Level 35, coughed awkwardly. But he said nothing. It was clear that Helen’s pride prevented her from relying on external means to grant the time she needed. Shaking his head, he looked once more over at Helen. “How much time do we have left?”

“Azriel’s fight is tomorrow, the third quarterfinals match is three days after that. Mine is three more days. A week. Only a week,” Helen's voice was bleak.

“To briefly cover the rest,” Azriel added. “Skarch has a longer range and better Skills for closing distance. She weighs more. When considering their respective fighting Styles, Skarch’s consistency likely is the ultimate winner. Skarch has better dynamic-”

Crack.

The table Helen was sitting at had a dent in it.

“It’s hopeless, I get it,” Helen hissed, her eyes narrowed to slits. “You two stay here. I don’t need to hear how I will lose anymore. I’m going to go train.”

“Wait,” Randidly said quietly. And to his surprise, she stood in the doorway. Her back was to him, but she didn’t move an inch. After clicking his teeth together a few times, Randidly finally said, “I think you are going to win, Helen.”

Crack.

Where her hand was on the doorframe, a large chunk had been snapped off. Randidly blinked in surprise. Just how strong was her grip strength…? But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Azriel looking at him and shaking her head.

Had she just followed his train of thought and bothered to inform him that in that area, too, Skarch was superior…? But Still, Helen really needed to stop trashing this place before an acolyte of the Hall noticed...

“It’s an easy thing to say,” Helen whispered.

“I mean it.” Randidly grinned at her back, so she would be able to hear the smile in his voice. “These are all of the same sorts of stats that Azriel could have given as to why I would never win against Drak in the Regional Tournament; just ignore them. There is more to fighting than just Stats and Skills.”

“The last thing is experience,” Azriel added helpfully.

Randidly glared at her and then said. “There is one more thing. And if you are weaker than Skarch, less experienced than Skarch, and have less powerful images, you are just… going to have to be better the old-fashioned way.”

Helen slowly turned it around. “Why do I get the feeling you are about to say something corny?”

“Just want it more,” Randidly said. “Just let go of who you are and become who you have to be. Become the very specific version of yourself that is better at winning than Skarch is.”

Both of the women just looked at Randidly.

“Your words are inane. If that were truly all it took, beggar could become invincible,” Azriel said dismissively. “These criteria-”

“I’m not asking a beggar to use these methods.” Randidly interrupted. “I’m asking Helen.”