Silva nodded slowly. She showed less surprise than Liam would have expected. But for Silva it was quite logical. Liam came from the lower city. Many of the poor people down there had been indirectly or directly harmed by her family.
Her uncle Owen had always been greedy and with the governor's backing there was a lot he could do. Presenting all kinds of made-up faults and using them to deny payment to contractors was just the most basic operation.
Only after the family rewarded her with shares in Colville City Military, the company headed by Owen Colville, did Silva get access to some documents which made her realize how bad the situation really was.
And the information Silva had access to was only the part Owen didn't bother hiding. Who knows how many dirty dealings were undocumented, keeping them a secret?
Eventually Silva let out a sigh, saying with a hint of sadness:
"Let's talk about it later. I promise to help you as much as I can! Do you still want to spar now?"
"Thank you. Of course. These issues can't mess with my mood. I'm curious about your skill level."
After partly revealing his troubles to Silva, Liam felt a massive relief. He smiled brightly, infecting Silva with his mood. The two fell silent for a moment before Silva moved on with a question:
"Do you need to warm up first?"
"Sure."
Liam nodded and approached the sandbag. For a few minutes only the bangs of their fists could be heard in the gym. Finally, Silva and Liam felt ready and entered the ring.
"Ok, so what are the rules?"
"Either surrender or first blood. No aiming for faces."
"Allright."
Silva and Liam promptly agreed on the rules. With their bodies most injuries which could happen during a simple spar could be healed in a few days so first blood sounded worse than it actually was.
The two friends both took a deep breath and got into position. Staring at each other they suddenly nodded, and the spar began.
Instantly a grey, murky aura covered the ring as Silva activated [Aura of the Sloth]. Liam frowned. His movements were suppressed as if walking through thick mud. Immediately a thin layer of golden light engulfed his body, caused by his ultimate skill [Holy Tempest]. He felt lighter on his feet and filled with infinite energy.
[Holy Tempest] was not enough to entirely mitigate [Aura of the Sloth] but it allowed Liam to move more freely. He dashed towards Silva, aiming a fist right at her chest.
Silva only grinned. Her answer was also a fist which was set to collide with his own.
Instantly Liam had to divert his movement, swaying to the left. He didn't dare to confront Silva's fist head-on. Since they both were third stage martial artists, the difference between them were about 115 points of STR and 100 points of INT.
In the game, where there was a damage calculation, Liam wouldn't hesitate to trade attacks. But in the real world Silva's STR gave her a major advantage.
Thus, Liam had to rely on his own advantage in AGI, making use of it to dance around Silva and deliver quick punches.
For a moment the two friends were only probing each other. Liam delivered a few jabs which Silva blocked, showing her skills honed through years of martial training.
Suddenly Liam decided to increase the pressure. With a grin he activated his new skill which he received as a reward for winning the tournament with Hotpot.
[Grip of the dark (rank 1)
Cost: 80 Mana
Effect: Conjure a dark entity which clings onto the targeted enemy. Your enemy will be afflicted by one Dark Mark every two seconds. Lasts for 14 seconds. If your enemy is afflicted with at least one Dark Mark, you can swap places with the dark entity. This ends the skill.
Cooldown: 12 seconds]
"What's that?!"
Silva was startled as a ghostly shadow suddenly appeared behind her, clinging to her back. It took all her will to suppress her instincts and not strike at the shadow, keeping her eyes on Liam. Fortunately, her friend was kind enough to offer an explanation.
"That's my newest skill."
Silva nodded but still felt a chill on her neck. She didn't know what this shadow was supposed to accomplish but for now at least it didn't seem to attack her.
Suddenly both fighters felt a light breeze around them. Silva didn't think much about it, but Liam was startled realizing that an unusually large amount of starlight energy was attracted by his console.
Thinking about it for a moment, Liam understood. In order to shield him against the void his console had used up a lot of energy. In this state it even took some time until he could enter the game again.
Yet obviously the console would still work hard to provide Liam with the energy to use his skills. Just from this, one could see how difficult it was for the console to defend against the void.
On normal days one would not even notice the console's energy expenditure, be it for using skills or to enter the game. But a shield lasting for at most three hours exhausted so much of the console's energy that it now had to increase its absorption by a large margin.
Suddenly alarm bells rang in Liam's head. He saw a fist, deceptively feminine, brimming with power, aim right for his liver. The air was stirred up. Liam knew he couldn't let this punch land.
Flustered he dodged backwards, his movements hasty and unclean. Even Silva noticed something was off. She didn't press her advantage.
"What are you doing? Don't get distracted!"
"Sorry, you're right."
Liam nodded at his sparring partner, thankful that she showed some leniency when he suddenly found himself unable to move his feet. The effect of [Aura of the Sloth] had triggered, binding him in place!
Instantly Silva made use of the opportunity, delivering a blow with a cheeky smile on her lips.
"You…"
A glint ran through Liam's eyes. For a moment he could only cross his arms in front of his chest and take the blow.
Boom!
A terrible force ran through Liam's body, shooting into the ground, causing it to tremble. Pain assaulted his legs. Liam leaned into the momentum, using the force from Silva's punch to destroy the bindings on his legs.
Silva frowned faintly as Liam's move came unexpected. At the same time, she lamented her lack of offensive skills or else she might have already taken the win.
Liam's counterattack arrived instantly. The young man conjured three golden swords which shot out towards his opponent. Almost simultaneously he disappeared from the spot.
For a moment Silva was puzzled. Liam clearly used a flash step but there were no sparks in the air and the energy movement was imperceptible. She didn't know that Liam used his new skill instead of a flash step.
However, the outcome was the same. Liam appeared behind Silva, striking towards her with a [Brutal Strike]. With attacks from the front and back Silva was under frightening pressure. No matter which side she blocked, she would have to suffer.
Yet only a smile was on Silva's face.
"Do you think you're the only one with new skills?"
Energy erupted from Silva as she activated her newest skill. Golden wings suddenly appeared. With feathers, exquisitely crafted like precious jewels, they were of an ethereal appearance. The wings appeared behind Silva and gently closed around her, offering godly protection.
"Saving Grace?!"
Liam couldn't help but exclaim in shock. Silva was really blessed, receiving this skill which was a dream of every tank. It had the effect of getting rid of all negative status effects and offered a three second immunity to damage. Additionally, the skill could be reactivated, allowign the user to fly to safety, but this came at the cost of the immunity.
Silva had a smug smile on her fair face. Ignoring the attacks coming for her she shot around and delivered a heavy blow towards Liam.
Knowing that his skills wouldn't have an effect Liam halted his actions. He ducked to the side, evading Silva's fist. A bright light erupted, blinding both combatants. Five Holy Marks triggered, causing the ring to tremble with their might. But when the light dissipated Silva stood stable as a rock.
The two friends looked at each other, their thoughts racing as they both were pondering how to create an opportunity. A moment later Liam rushed towards Silva again.
Fists were exchanged, dodged and blocked. Both showed remarkable skills. Silva was resilient and Liam nimble. Silva made sure to use her skills to block Liam's Holy Marks.
After a few minutes the two friends were both breathing heavily, taking a momentary break. Using her knees as support Silva stared at Liam's face. A smile formed on her face as she offered something.
"Tie?"
"Ok, tie."
"Great. From now on I will call myself champion as well!"
"Haha, you deserve it!"