Defense specialization and dueling.

Brief.

Time passed. Following the Heavenly Drop, the locations of the remaining two key items were revealed through the players’ exploration.

Information circulated. Anyone who looked could easily learn about the three key items and their enemies.

It was not required to go solo. Yet the difficulty remained high. At present, only a minority of players could clear it.

“Hmm… not now. We’ll go together later, okay?”

Sally judged, from the gathered information, that tackling it alone would be too difficult.

With reliable companions nearby, there was no reason not to rely on them.

“Now, upgrading the travel permit, I suppose.”

Just as Sally was about to leave the guild, the guild door opened.

There stood a figure familiar to Sally—someone she had seen often lately.

“Ah, just about to head out?”

Frederica.

She came regularly, challenged Sally to duels, and left defeated—each cycle complete.

Sally had won every match so far, yet Frederica was beginning to land hits more often.

“Just hunting weaklings to level up my travel permit.”

“Ah… waiting around is boring. I’ll help. Let’s finish quickly—then one duel.”

“Fine. Let’s hunt then.”

“I’ve thought of several tactics.”

“Always saying that, aren’t you?”

“New tactics always fail in one strike. What else can I do? One hit is all I need.”

Frederica knew Sally’s endurance—how easily she could be brought down in one blow.

Sally could not afford to relax.

She considered how to win this time, and stepped onto the field with Frederica.

Magic is really something, after all.

While Sally cuts through each enemy one by one, Frederica rains down damage with her signature barrage.

Watching her, it feels almost wasteful that she never reaches for magic.

Sally uses magic only to erect barriers, deflecting attacks.

Her MP is limited. She has shifted her focus firmly to AGI and STR.

Sally, who once poured effort into leveling up like Maple, has narrowed the gap in levels.

Sally’s current level is thirty-four.

—Wait! That’s the last one!

Sally’s attack strikes the monster and drains its HP to exactly zero.

At the same moment, Sally’s level rises by one.

She is now level thirty-five.

—Hmm… heh, heh…

—Something amusing, was there?

—Mm, well… the task is done. Shall we fight a little more?

When Sally shifted the topic, Frederica responded without delay.

They both felt the familiar sensation of transference, and a space sealed off from the outside spread before them.

The time until commencement was set. A combat-specific tension settled between the two.

As the duel began, Sally moved directly toward Frederica.

—Wait?

Sally’s advance halted.

Had Frederica launched her usual barrage attack, it would have been easy to counter. But this time, Frederica’s opening move was to erect multiple walls, blocking Sally’s path.

Walls of water and sand rose around Sally.

—[Leap]!

Nothing had actually come. Yet Sally leapt diagonally forward to her left.

A bad feeling. A vague sense of danger.

She trusted it.

She slipped past the side of the wall with swift motion.

The wind blade attack from Frederica, aimed at breaking through the wall and striking from the side, fizzled out.

Sally, with the lowest defense and HP, might have fallen from such a chaotic strike.

"Again, precognition, y'know!"

"That's not how it works, you idiot!"

Sally charged straight at Frederica. Frederica adjusted her plan instantly.

"Ah—"

It happened without warning.

The overlapping voices were coincidence.

When Frederica raised the wall again, it emerged just as Sally’s toe touched the spot—she caught her foot on it.

Sally lost balance, though she altered her path.

"【Multiple Fire Bolts】!"

Seizing the chance, the spell erupted before thought could follow.

Sally rolled aside to dodge.

The scene that followed seemed unbearably slow to Frederica.

The final fire bolt approached Sally’s shoulder as if drawn into her, then detonated.

That it had substance meant it was not a Mirage.

Frederica thought it through in an instant. She had won.

"Got it! Ahh!"

She clenched her fist in victory, curling her body as joy shook her.

The long-awaited triumph, and Frederica’s focus slipped.

By the time she realized it, Sally’s dagger was buried deep in her body.

“Ah… re?”

“Regrettable overconfidence.”

Frederica’s HP dropped to zero before she could raise a defense.

Before returning to the original field, the last thing Frederica saw was Sally’s HP bar—unchanged, not even a single millimeter less.

“Uu…? Uuu!? Why?”

“I won’t teach you my secrets. We’re enemies, after all.”

“That’s right. Yep. Next time, I’ll win. Remember that.”

Frederica waved goodbye to Sally and walked away.

……Dangerous. Dangerous. Can’t let down one’s guard, after all.

Sally spoke, her eyes fixed on her status screen, on a single point.

[Empty Shell]

Nullifies fatal damage once per day.

AGI increased by 50% for one minute.

Skill acquired under condition of no damage taken until level 35.

The existence of this skill had contributed to Sally’s diminished focus.

Previously, she had always been in a state where she could not be hit—this very certainty had sharpened her concentration.

I’ll practice evasion again. Yes. I want to save the first hit… until that moment.

She murmured to herself, then immediately turned toward a common monster to test her attack.