"So we really have to do this?" Elisa asked.
Mark nodded.
Both tightened their grips over their respective weapons.
In the middle of the dense blizzard, they stood about a dozen meters away from one another.
A dozen meters away from the midway point, an agitated Moonlit Feline was seated.
From Mark's Inventory, a thigh bone was pulled out.
He threw it in the air with a snap of his wrist, giving it plenty of spin.
When it would hit the ground, the two would start.
Mark immediately tilted his body forward, ready to launch himself forward armed with his Spear.
Elisa, on the other hand, stood tall. She reversed her grip around both her Timeworn Elven Daggers while taking small hops on the snow.
'Why is she hopping around like that? Warming up, or...?' Mark asked himself while the bone was spinning in the air.
He thought it could mess with her timing, giving him a definite advantage.
"Stay out of this." Both uttered in unison.
The Moonlit Feline who had taken a step forward immediately froze.
'If she's in the middle of a hop as it falls...' The bone quickly approached the ground. 'My victory will be assured-'
Mark clicked his tongue.
Sure enough, Elisa's feet landed on the ground a fraction of a second before the bone touched the snow-covered ground, giving her ample time to prepare her posture to approach.
Both leaped towards one another.
Despite the fact that she had been hopping around, her reaction speed had been greater than his.
Mark pulled his left arm back and, therefore, the Spear he held.
'Just like him... Just like...'
She entered his range.
'Him.'
With a thrust of his Weapon, Mark aimed to finish it right there and then.
Aiming for her arms seemed impossible. First of all because of their thin appearance. It was mostly because of how fast Mark knew she was capable of moving them.
Aiming for the legs was the same.
He could not afford to underestimate the Assassin's swiftness and dexterity.
This meant Mark felt he could only go for her upper body.
Stomach or chest.
He felt he could only go for one of the two.
Perhaps Elisa knew that. Which is why she expected it.
With a quick sidestep, she gave space for that Spear to pass by.
'Careless.' Elisa criticized mentally.
With his Weapon out of the way,
'Time to go for the kill-'
But before she could move in, the Weapon moved.
The Spear instantly grew fangs on its side, taking on the appearance of something akin to a Halberd.
"Crafty." Elisa commented as she quickly jumped back.
"Mm." Mark nodded absent-mindedly.
It wasn't how he wanted it to go.
Not even close.
It was nothing like earlier.
Despite being the one with a massive reach advantage, it was nothing like it.
'Tsk.'
"As an Assassin..."
Elisa straightened her back.
"It'd be shameful for me not to end this quickly."
"Is that what you are?
"Mm?"
"An Assassin?"
Elisa's eyes grew cold and unexpressive.
"That's..." She took a step forward. "What I stand as now."
'Mm...'
Mark stared for a bit.
'She says that but still approaches head-on.'
Indeed, taking a couple of steps away would have been enough for her to hide in the blizzard and strike from a blindspot. Elisa's Sense Stat was much higher than Mark's after all.
She lowered her body slightly.
The Assassin took another step forward.
[Your Passive Skill "Combative Eyes[D]" is activating!]
Mark winced at the message.
At his Skill's Rank.
It had dropped from [A] Rank all the way down to [D] Rank.
In truth, he wasn't too bothered by it.
The Rank might have changed, but it was still the same Skill.
Immediately upon Activation, Mark's eyes discarded everything deemed unnecessary in their field of vision.
The snow-covered ground, the blizzard around them, the falling snow.
Only the Assassin remained, with its spinning sharp Daggers.
Elisa's lips moved.
Let's do this-
Mark couldn't hear those words.
The Skill certainly had significant drawbacks, which justified its low Rank.
Elisa took a leap.
Mark braced himself.
She had lowered her body, making his target smaller.
A slight smirk was on the Monster's face.
'Really forcing my hand...'
His thrust had been dodged cleanly earlier. Which is why Mark opted for a horizontal swing instead this time.
Only three ways to go for Elisa.
He knew that well, since he had been in her position.
Jumping back was the first. Mark thought it unlikely that she would opt for it.
Only two left.
'Which...'
Above or Below the swing.
'Will it be?'
Mark's eyes narrowed.
Elisa chose to go with Below.
Since she had previously lowered her body, this forced the swing to be slightly angled downwards.
Elisa slid below the swung Spear, narrowly evading the attack while simultaneously closing the distance.
But this meant she wasn't on her feet.
And Mark's right fist, which had been kept empty, was waiting just for that.
His eyes widened however when that powerfully swung fist caught nothing but air.
Blitz-
It wasn't his first time seeing Elisa use such a move.
She was behind him, and he knew that.
Mark quickly turned around, but something blocked him.
Tap-
'Huh?' He was momentarily confused and surprised, but didn't let that keep him from moving.
With her fist against his shoulder, Elisa kept him from turning around.
Did she even have the strength to do that?
Mark didn't think so.
He pushed back against that fist, but it held more power than he had thought.
The next instant, Mark lost his footing.
The momentary loss of balance gave plenty of time for Elisa's Dagger to make its way to his throat.
But before it could pierce through, the blade stopped its approach.
"Alright. Best of five. Three and O. Let's go!" Elisa smiled widely as she made her Daggers spin and put them back into their sheathes.
Mark clicked his tongue.
"You lost. You go find us some food. Hehe!" She chuckled.
Elisa skipped on her way to the Moonlit Feline.
"Hey, hey! Were you worried about him?" She picked Krista up, and the latter affectionately licked her cheek. "Ohhh. You were worried about me too?"
Mark remained unmoving.
'Tsk.'
He raised his gaze, only to find the endless blizzard.
'My Spear is nothing like his...'
