Phase
I'd heard that for elves, ears are an incredibly sensitive spot. Not in a sensory way, but emotionally. Touching them carelessly is a huge insult. Even the dark elves, who were super friendly and open with humans, seemed a bit wary about it. Elenoir kept shoving hers at me like "go ahead, touch it," but that's probably just because she's a perv.
So what about high elves? Easy to figure out from that old community post I'd seen.
These crazy fucks are losing their shit over me just touching an ear once. They've been staring at me like I'm some child molester for days now. Wtf? Is touching an ear that serious? My fault?
In the community, high elf ears were treated like a button that instantly tanks your favorability the moment you touch them. And in reality, Mercedes had made that super uncomfortable face when I nicked her ear in my attack. And right now, I straight-up severed it.
-Slash!
The ear was completely lopped off, and the blade sank into her shoulder below it. Not a critical due to her Mana Reinforcement defense, but a solid hit she couldn't ignore.
But right after landing it, Mercedes's sword shot at me like a beam of light.
-Stab!
It pierced deep into my right forearm, then near my right chest. I quickly kicked away to escape her range.
I figured she'd chase immediately, but surprisingly, she didn't. Mercedes was clutching her severed ear with one hand, grimacing hard and panting heavily. Not just that—her jaw trembled like she was grinding her teeth, and her sword grip shook with a creak.
"Y-you, y-you, y-you... human bastard..."
She was even stuttering badly.
No way this was just stamina running out now. She was pissed.
When someone's that raging, they usually go one of two ways. First: blood rushes to their head, they lose all reason and charge blindly. Perfect for me. My junk item barrage was hitting its limit anyway. Infinite inventory space, sure, but finite items inside. My Durability-full armors were all rags now. Most junk was shattered beyond recovery. And she was adapting to my Light Gathering decoys. Time for her to weaken up.
Second: rage triggers an awakening or hidden power unleash.
-Rumble!
The mana light rising from her body suddenly turned wild. Guess it's the latter. Now we're doing phase 3? Fuck me.
Mercedes, glowing in a double-layered sense, exploded with insane power.
"I'll kill you, kill you, you human scum, kill you!"
-Boom! Kwang! Kwarang!
Each sword strike cracked the ground and unleashed shockwaves. Scattered items shattered everywhere. Her speed and strength were way up, and obviously, I couldn't tank those head-on. No time to heal my wounds—new cuts kept piling up.
But no fatal blows.
"Missed? Not hitting?"
"You bastard, die!"
She was so overheated she'd lost her cool, just brute-forcing it. Power and speed up, but technique sharpness tanked hard. Like that spear noob Choi Gil-hyun—high specs mean shit with simple patterns; you're just fodder.
-Kwarang!
Of course, unlike that guy, even mindless charges from her were no joke. Comparing to stab-only Choi, she was still master-level even blind with rage.
"One ear lopped off and you're this mad? More than when I trash your prince? Hmm, doesn't that disqualify you as a knight?"
"You disgusting wretch, how dare you question a knight's qualifications with that filthy tongue!"
"Hmm, aren't you the ones who've done more disgusting shit? Is hypocrisy a high elf passive?"
So I kept scraping her nerves, taking hits on purpose. To keep her from regaining composure.
"Human scum, how dare you...!"
But she was calming down bit by bit. Meanwhile, my wounds multiplied. HP around 60%—bad, considering no direct hits got me here. A crit could chunk half my health easy.
Lucky part: her condition was visibly worsening. Penalty from forcing Mana Reinforcement higher, plus the poison I'd sprinkled via junk items.
I'd mixed Floor 6 poison potions among the tosses, spreading them around. Weak effect when scattered like that, and it hits me too. Not meant for area denial.
But my resistance skills are freakishly high for my level/specs, so no biggie.
"Huff... huff..."
Now Mercedes panted from declining condition, not just rage. Face still twisted—not fully rational yet.
"Human bastard... I won't... let you go...!"
Instinct screamed: prime time for the finisher on this elf bitch. If she cools off more, no win.
-Thud!
All-In skill amped my agility; sword and shield up, I charged head-on. She met me with gleaming eyes.
Ferocious speed, but gritted-teeth straight charge was full of openings.
"Hup!"
Perfect timing: hurled my left shield full-force. She tilted wildly dodging it. One step forward—this hits for sure.
Swinging... something stabbed my chest.
-Stab!
"What."
A milky-white blade that shouldn't reach.
"This time, you fell for it, human."
Mercedes had chucked her sword.
**
Regained cool mid-fight, faking rage? Never imagined a feint-throw here, especially from that high elf personality.
"Fuck... you... earlier you called it cowardly, bitching...!"
"Returning your words from before—nothing compared to you, right?"
"You goddamn elf cunts, your personalities..."
Her sword yanked from my staggering body. Blood poured; vision spun.
Too cocky thinking victory? Not my place to judge.
"Anything else to say? You won't beg surrender anyway."
Obviously.
-Tss...
Her Mana Reinforcement light faded. Hit limit. But vs. my heavy damage and sub-50% HP, she had margin.
Even without it, her specs topped mine.
-Shing.
Sword raised to finish half-dead me.
"Not bad for a human. Farewell."
My wrecked body had tons of ways to dodge that leisurely swing—
"What're you on about, retard."
-Slash!
Dodged easy, counter-slashed her arm. Blood fountained.
"Guh, urk... you, how, in that state..."
"State my ass, ear bitch."
Wham—kicked her solar plexus, sending her flying. Yeah, I'm hurting. Heavy bleed, dizziness, barely a healthy spot left.
But bitch, you know my combat endurance level? Normal folks couldn't move; I keep fighting.
"Guhk, kek, you, what is this power... exactly..."
She mumbled, confused by my suddenly stronger strength.
Curious, huh? Nothing special—Floor 1 clear reward passive: Indomitable. HP drops below threshold, all stats rise. Not attack/defense separate, but like Mana Reinforcement.
No need to explain, though. Why should I? You ask like you don't know? You elves pull this shit all the time.
"What else? Down to half HP."
You dump everything, go half-dead, then pull hidden power for power-up.
"Now it's phase 2."
And with that, I won the duel.