There was one spot left in Party 1.
There were two applicants.
The numbers weren't even right for a draft.
It was time to either promote another decent candidate or, if there was no particular talent available, resort to a paid draw. But Amkena didn't seem to have any intention of doing so. She remained logged in, watching us.
'How clumsy.'
She seemed to have learned a little, but her handling of the situation was still inexperienced.
Across Party 1 and Party 2, there were three empty spots in total. There were two reinforcements available, and both wanted to join Party 1. It was a perfect situation for conflict to arise.
I sighed and looked back and forth between the two.
Velkist and Nerissa faced each other with cold expressions. A hint of hostility towards each other could be seen in the two who were once companions.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked.
"There's one spot. Only one of you can join. Are you asking me to choose one? If you heard the explanation, you should know we usually draw lots to assign parties."
"That method relies too much on luck. I believe a more effective method is needed."
"And by 'effective method,' you mean leaving the choice to me?"
Nerissa nodded.
Velkist didn't say anything either. It was tacit agreement.
I looked at Edyth and asked.
"What do you think?"
"I..." Edyth's expression twisted.
Her eyes held a complex mix of emotions. Touching her hand to her forehead as if her head hurt, Edyth continued.
"You decide, Han. I don't want to force someone who doesn't want to be here."
"But we're short on people. The party won't function properly."
Edyth just sighed silently.
I sized up the two again.
I hadn't fought alongside them, but from a few sparring sessions and observing their status windows, I had an estimate of their individual specs.
In terms of pure combat power, Velkist had the edge. In terms of overall sense and versatility, Nerissa was superior.
Both possessed exceptional talent, rare among low-rank Heroes. They were outstanding talents, well-rounded in mind, body, and technique—the whole package. The kind you might find once in a hundred.
However, there were no guarantees. A Hero's true worth is revealed in actual combat.
"Wouldn't drawing lots be better? It seems like there will be complaints no matter who you pick. Do you already have someone in mind?" Iolka whispered beside me.
"Well..."
I rested my chin on my hand.
'If it weren't for their damn attitudes, choosing would be easy.'
Neither seemed to have an ordinary personality.
They are strong-willed. They tend to look down on those weaker than themselves.
The type that's hard to integrate into teamwork. Conversely, one could say they've adapted well to the law of survival of the fittest.
'I'll give them what they want.'
I leaned back deeply into my chair.
"You don't like leaving it to luck. You don't like leaving it in someone else's hands either. Does that mean you want to get in based on your own abilities?"
"Exactly."
"Yes."
The two answered simultaneously.
I pointed to the iron cage of the training arena.
"Then fight."
Their expressions hardened.
"How am I supposed to choose when I don't know your abilities? The two of you, fight it out. Show me everything you've got."
"What do you mean?"
"Since you like efficiency, I'll change the method. See the training arena behind you? Healing doesn't work in there. Fight until one of you falls. I'll make the decision after that."
The training ground grew noisy.
Edyth approached and said, "Isn't this a bit extreme?"
"And the two of them raising hell demanding to join Party 1 isn't extreme?"
They were the ones who didn't want to do this quietly.
If they wanted a method that wasn't based on luck, I would simply give it to them.
A selection match.
It was a rule often used by Masters who ran their waiting rooms aggressively.
The draft rule had already broken down due to the discrepancy in numbers.
To bridge the power gap between the two parties, a high-rank Hero should have been assigned to Party 2, but Amkena wasn't summoning anyone. I had no choice but to make the best decision possible under the circumstances.
"If you're leaving the decision to me, don't complain whatever the outcome. If you agree, I'll make the selection based on ability and need, just as you wished."
The disposition of these two is different from Jenna, Aaron, and Iolka.
They have a strong tendency to see other Heroes as competitors rather than comrades, generally revering the strong and despising the weak. As long as they don't just cause trouble like Maned Wolves, I have no intention of rejecting that type.
In the first place, this world has ranks among Heroes, and a system called Synthesis exists. These two are merely optimized for this world. Depending on how they're handled, they could become excellent assets.
It just requires a different approach than usual.
"So that's how you're playing it," Velkist said with a wry smile.
"Well, I understand. You want us to fight it out? Fine by me. It's been a while since I had a good fight."
Velkist opened the cage door and entered the training arena.
There was no hesitation in his steps. Velkist touched his scabbard.
"Does it matter if I kill her?"
"Do as you please."
"I'll do as I please too." Nerissa bounded up the steps in a single leap.
Her movements were agile, comparable to Jenna's. Once inside the arena, Nerissa took out an opaque glass vial from her robes and spread the liquid inside onto the blades of her rapier and dagger.
Velkist's expression stiffened.
"This woman is crazy."
"Didn't you say 'do as you please'?" Nerissa retorted coldly.
'Poison.'
Nerissa possessed skills related to poison in her status window.
It was an ability she had since arriving here. The materials happened to be available in the Daily Dungeon, and she had gathered them to craft it. Judging by the recipe, it was a potent paralysis poison that caused full-body convulsions immediately upon contact.
"I've used it often against monsters," [Nerissa likely muttered], "This is the first time against a person."
"You won't get the chance to use it, though," [Velkist likely retorted].
The two started preparing for battle on opposite sides of the arena, exchanging barbs.
Watching this, Jenna shook her head. "The atmosphere is incredibly hostile. Is someone really going to get killed here?"
"It's possible."
It's not unheard of for Heroes to die in spars or duels.
It was one of the main causes of incidents treated as 'sudden death' among Heroes. Each Master handled it differently: judging it a crime and using the victor for Synthesis, treating it as self-defense, or, of course, ruling differently case by case.
If one of them killed the other after the match was decided, I had no intention of accepting it. There are lines that shouldn't be crossed.
'Though I've done something like that before, haven't I?' I chuckled softly.
It's not like I didn't have a precedent.
I was prepared to allow for unavoidable accidents.
Though I didn't know how Amkena would see it.
['Velkist (★★)' challenges 'Nerissa (★★)' to a duel!]
['Nerissa (★★)' challenges 'Velkist (★★)' to a duel!]
[Both parties agree to the duel.]
A message announcing the duel appeared.
[Mutually Agreed Duel!]
[Do you consent?]
[Yes (Selected) / No]
Amkena pressed 'Yes' without hesitation.
It seemed she had realized a party selection match was taking place.
She was undoubtedly watching with great interest, probably eating popcorn. Unlike with Avant and me, there wasn't even the condition of Synthesis hanging over this.
Shing.
The sound of a sword being drawn echoed.
"Just say the word. I'll start right away."
A cold aura radiated from Velkist's entire body.
It was the effect of Killing Intent, an active skill. It had the effect of lowering the fighting spirit of opponents with weaker mental fortitude.
Nerissa remained unfazed and gripped her rapier.
Nerissa also possessed the excellent passive skill, Composure.
When the two aimed their weapons at each other, I said,
"Begin."
Before the word was even out, Velkist charged in.
Explosive speed, using the recoil from lowering his stance. His swift sword flashed white light. Nerissa deflected the blade with the dagger in her left hand, then calmly thrust her rapier. Her targets were the poorly defended arms and legs – an effective attack method considering the properties of the poison.
Velkist didn't defend.
He focused solely on evasion, never stopping the sword strikes from his right hand. Nerissa, too, simultaneously attacked and defended with her rapier and dagger.
Sparks flew as their swords clashed. Longsword and rapier crossed and danced in a dizzying exchange. Usher's mouth fell open.
"That guy... he's different from when he fought me!"
"He was hiding his true strength," Edyth sighed once more.
Their main weapons were a one-handed sword and dual blades. Their weapon skill level was 4, the same as Usher's. But their combat sense was different.
Velkist and Nerissa moved rapidly across the training ground, less than 10 meters in radius, continuing their offense and defense. The metallic clang of sword against sword rang out incessantly.
Neither showed any sign of holding back.
As if intending to kill. Each pressed the other with their full strength.
For a moment, Velkist looked annoyed.
Nerissa had kicked off the side cage wall, leaped towards the ceiling, and thrust down at the crown of his head.
'Using the terrain to her advantage.' I smirked.
Nerissa was using the enclosed training arena, with its walls and ceiling, to focus attacks on areas difficult to block or evade, applying her Agile Movement skill.
"Those two haven't been here long, have they? Amazing. Their levels and skills can't be that high yet," Iolka commented, fanning herself as she watched the fight. Jenna's eyes sparkled too.
Aaron, however, watched them with a strangely detached, almost transfixed expression.
'...'
I pretended not to notice and continued speaking.
"Watch closely. You can learn something from this."
The exchange between the two continued fiercely.
Velkist was mostly the one pushing the offensive. Quickly adapting even to attacks using height differences, Velkist swung his sword widely, driving Nerissa into a corner.
The outcome was decided in an instant.
Just as Velkist cornered her and moved to finish it, Nerissa quickly threw a shuriken hidden up her sleeve.
The shuriken grazed Velkist's right arm shallowly.
['Velkist (★★)' has entered Bleeding status. HP will decrease periodically.]
It was a tiny wound, barely more than a scratch.
However, the shuriken was coated with a fast-acting paralysis poison.
['Velkist (★★)' has entered Poisoned status.]
[Effect: Paralysis! Parts of the Hero's body become incapacitated.]
"I've w—"
"You think so?"
Velkist struck Nerissa's solar plexus with the pommel of his sword. With a sound like a drumbeat, Nerissa's mouth fell open.
"...!"
A single blow.
Nerissa collapsed limply.
['Velkist (★★)' is victorious in the duel against 'Nerissa (★★)'.]
Velkist sheathed his sword and looked down at Nerissa.
"I won."
"So it seems."
"My body isn't moving right. You cowardly bitch."
Velkist spat.
He had momentarily nullified the paralysis poison with the effect of his Wildness skill, but that was the extent of it. He seemed to be gradually succumbing to the poisoned state.
It was an interesting finish.
Nerissa had intentionally let herself be cornered to bait Velkist into an opening. Her prior dual-wielding was all a feint – all just to land that one hidden shuriken.
However, Velkist trusted his 'Wildness' skill and pushed through to end it anyway.
"That woman, she's pretty clever," Jenna remarked, having grasped the flow of the battle.
I looked over the other members watching the duel.
'Were Edyth, Roderick, and Jenna the only ones who properly understood the strategic exchange?'
The rest were captivated by the duel's spectacle but failed to grasp the hidden intentions within.
"Cough, cough!" Nerissa curled up, coughing violently. Her composed features were contorted in pain.
Velkist, who had been watching her impassively, turned his gaze to me.
"As you can see, the result is clear. Do you have any complaints, senior?"
"Yes, I saw it clearly. The conclusion has been reached too."
"Then, naturally..."
"The member joining Party 1 is Nerissa."
"What?" Velkist started to move, then froze.
The paralysis poison seemed to be taking full effect. Velkist asked again, "Could you repeat that?"
"I'll say it as many times as you want. Nerissa joins Party 1."
Nerissa, still lying there, let out a choked laugh.
Velkist's expression crumpled.
"What's the reason?"
"Do you know Party 1's composition? Swordsman, Spearman, Mage, Archer. It's made up of four pure combatants. To respond broadly to variables, we need talent like Nerissa."
"...Hah."
"If you were overwhelmingly powerful enough to make me ignore the party's needs, I might have considered it, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
As I finished speaking, Nerissa gave a faint smile.
"If this woman hadn't used such cheap tricks, I would have beaten her down within five minutes."
"I acknowledge your talent, to a degree. But you are not needed in our party. That's all. Or would you like to fight me? If you can last one minute, I'll accept you without another word."
Velkist laughed hollowly.
Then, he suddenly looked towards Aaron.
"What about another member?"