The unfair duel instigated by the rich girl was about to begin. Both of us were in the opposite ends of the arena with our familiars. Not only that I was outnumbered, my opponent had an overwhelming advantage in terms of equipment.

“The duel is between Lavinia Von Freugg and Mest, both rank F tamers.” Miss Mathi, who volunteered as a witness announced. “Battle type is all versus all. If Lavinia wins, she’ll get the quest Mest accepted. If Mest wins, he’ll get five silvers.”

I was not aware that she was a Von Freugg until Miss Mathi said it. I was sure that it was the name of one of the prominent noble houses in Gehorsam. That explains why she was loaded.

 “Winning condition is when your opponent’s team surrenders or is rendered unable to fight. Are the participants ready?” Miss Mathi raised her right hand.

“Yes!” both of us responded.

“Let the duel begin!” Miss Mathi sliced her hand through the air downwards, signalling the start of the match.

“Attack and make this quick!” Lavinia commanded as she pointed at me.

Her familiars ran towards us with their weapons ready. The Dogkin had a huge broadsword in hand and was wearing a lighter armor compared to his companion. On the other hand, the Lizardkin had a one handed axe and a round shield equipped.

“Ovis, fight the lizard, I’ll take care of the dog.”

“Y-yes, master!” She moved forward despite her visibly shaking hands.

Her fear was absolutely reasonable since we were technically up against opponents twice our size. I just hoped that fear would not get in the way.

I also ran to meet with the opponent. The dog greeted me with an overhead slash which I dodged by moving side wards. I was about to go in forward to attack when he used his sword to sweep horizontally.

Unable to dodge the attack in time, I used my sword with my other hand supporting the blade to block it. I was unscathed but the sheer force knocked me back.

I quickly checked at Ovis and she was just enduring the lizard’s continuous attacks with her shield. I figured that the best tactic was for me to somehow beat the dog then assist her after.

“You don’t have the time to worry about others!” The familiar in front of me shouted as he attacked.

I dodged it by ducking then I countered with my sword. Unable to accurately strike the opening of his defences, my sword clashed with his hard armor.

“Damn!”

“Nice try kid.” The dog uttered before he showered me a chain of attacks.

He continuously slashed left and right. His attacks were not that fast which allowed me to dodge them but I could tell that every swing contained a lot of power. I was able to block one earlier but more of that might be bad for my arms and shoulders.

“You won’t win by just dodging kid!” The Dogkin said as he resumed his attacks.

“You won’t win by not hitting me either.” I smirked.

“Why you?”

The dog guy lost his composure and went for a jumping overhead slash. I pretended that I was going to block it then I dodged at the last second. Without losing a moment, I thrust my sword on the opening of his armor, piercing the right side of his stomach.

“Argh,” he grunted.

I quickly pulled out my sword and created some distance between us. The Dogkin fell to his knees. He pierced his sword to the ground to serve as a support to keep his body upright.

“You’re going to let that weak plebeian beat you? Get up!” Lavinia’s voice echoed from afar.

She was horrible to say something rude when her familiar was clearly bleeding. The Dogkin did not respond and just struggled to stand up.

“Awooooooo!” He let out a loud howl then raised his weapon.

Before I knew it, he was already on front of me with his eyes void of light. He held his sword with a single hand then quickly swung it against me. Being surprised by the drastic change in speed, all I could do was use my sword to block.

The impact from our weapons clashing caused a noticeable amount of strain to my arms. He then followed with another slash which I was able to dodge by stepping back.

He continued the chaotic mess of slashes against me. It took me my all just to barely dodge all of it. I did not know how long I would be able to keep it up. His attacks were faster and were even more powerful. I wondered if he was just going easy on me a while ago or was it the effect of him being wounded.

I did not even have the time to check on how Ovis was doing. I hesitated if I should I call it a match. Seeing how it was turning out, what was waiting for us was merely defeat.

I was almost about to raise my hand when I saw a red glow coming from Lavinia, She looked like she was casting magic but it was taking her quite a time.

“Ovis, dodge!” I shouted as I quickly ran towards the edge of the arena.

The dog heard my shout. He also stopped his attacks momentarily and looked at his master. After seeing her, he also ran away.

“Turn my enemies to ashes, Infernal Flame!” Lavinia shouted.

 A pillar of flames appeared at the center of the arena. I was able to dodge it on time but I could certainly feel the heat from the position I was in.

“Ovis, are you alright?”

“Y-yes master!”

I looked at the opponents and they were also unscathed. She was either reckless or crazy. She could have burned her familiars as well. Her mindless move caused everyone to disperse which gave an opening for us.

“Ovis, follow me closely, we’ll run ahead!” I commanded before I started running towards Lavinia.

“M-master?” Ovis was dumbfounded for a second but then proceeded to run behind me.

“Tsk, just finish them already!” Lavinia shouted.

The Dogkin and Lizardkin ran to meet us. They blocked our path towards their master.

“Ovis, use glow!” I instructed while running.

“Thy light be by my side, Glow!” I heard Ovis’ chant then light filled the area.

It was a little brighter than the last time. That must mean her practice had an effect. The overwhelmingly dazzling light blinded the opponents. Having the enemies robbed of their eyesight by a moment, I was able to pass through her familiars.

As I reached my opponent, I pointed the tip of my sword at her neck.

 “What?” Lavinia got startled by the sight of the blade in front of her just after she opened her eyes.

“You should surrender now.”

“There is no way that I lost against you, I won’t accept it!” She shouted like a child having tantrums.

“Would you rather have my blade take your life?” I asked with a serious glare.

“I-I…” She clenched her fist before her next words came from her mouth. “I give up.”

After hearing what I wanted to hear, I sheathed my sword and gave out a sigh of relief.

“The winner of the duel, Mest!” Miss Mathi announced.

The crowd gave out a loud cheer. That was when I noticed that the number of spectators increased from the time the battle started.

Lavinia fell to her knees out of her frustration. I went to Ovis to check up on her since I was unsure how her battle with the Lizardkin went.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yes, I’m fine master.”

She said she was fine but it was clear enough that she was all battered up. She was also breathing heavily which might be because she was still not accustomed to using magic.

Her left arm was full of bruises and her shield was thrashed. Aside from that, I did not see any injuries elsewhere. That must mean that she was able to block all the attacks and what caused the damage was the impact to her shield.

“Good job.” I patted her in the head. “Can you use magic to heal yourself?”

“I-I’ll try.” Ovis closed her eyes. “Remove thy pain and restore one’s flesh, Recover.”

A soft light enveloped her but her bruises did not disappear. Her spell did not work yet she came gasping for air. She ran out of magic before the spell took effect. Ovis then closed her eyes again to meditate.

“I see, you’re not ready yet.” I mumbled.

“H-here, my end of the deal.” Lavinia who was behind me hesitatingly extended her hand.

I opened my palm and she gave me the five silvers she promised. With that taken into account, I would not have to worry about money for a while.

“Thanks.” I said with a smile.

“You won it. I don’t need your gratitude.”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t need your apology either! Are you trying to insult me?” she shouted.

“S-sorry.” I scratched the back of my head.

“Argh! What’s with your attitude!” her voice got even higher than before.

I looked at the freshly obtained money in my hand with such glee. I would never have thought that I would have valuable fighting experience as well as easy money so suddenly.

Five silvers was a lot for an F rank tamer like me who could only accept quests with twenty coppers as reward. I would even need around five or more quests just to earn a single silver.

 “You dare ignore me? Listen to me when I’m talking!”

“Oh yeah, what are you saying again?”

“Nothing! Next time, I’ll beat you fair and square!” She declared before she walked away and her familiars followed.

“Hey, wait! Is your familiar alright? Is his wound not that deep?” I worriedly asked.

“He’s my familiar. He’s none of your business.”

“But…”

They made their way outside as she completely ignored me.

“Congratulations Mest! That was an amazing and unconventional battle!” Miss Mathi clapped her hands.

“Unconventional? How?”

“It is rare for tamers to fight in the front lines with their familiars. Usually, they just stay back and support them with magic!”

“I can’t use magic so I certainly can’t do that.” I responded.

“Oh but that does not seem to be a problem to you since you can fight so well!”

“Maybe.”

“Congratulations again and see you later!” Miss Mathi waved goodbye as she returned to the guild with the rest of the spectators.

I waited for Ovis to finish meditating before we went out of the place to do our next quest.

“So Ovis, how was your first real battle?” I asked while we were walking.

“It was…. s-scary… but…” She looked down.

“But?”

“I am glad I was able to a-assist you, M-master.” She then looked at me then smiled.

“Thanks.” I replied as I patted her head.

She was certainly weak but with time, she could be a huge asset in battle. It also seemed like she saw me in a good light. I had to keep it up so that she would be more motivated to do better.

After that tiring fight, I would have loved to directly go home so I could rest but I already accepted the quest. If I did not do the quest properly then it would be very dishonourable of me after fighting over it with that girl Lavinia.

The quest involved picking some herbs that thrived on cliffs, making them hard to be harvested. We went to the site and it was really high up. Luckily, Ovis was capable to go up the steep cliff easily thanks to her sheep legs.

We were able to quickly finish the quest before we went to a restaurant again to have a nice hearty meal. It might be more expensive but I was too hungry to walk back home without eating.

 “Hey Ovis, do you eat mutton?

“M-mutton? What’s that, Master?” She tilted her head.

“Oh nothing, just forget I said anything.”

I was glad that she did not know that mutton was the meat of a sheep. I just asked out of curiosity. I just wondered if it would be considered as cannibalism if Ovis ate some mutton. After thinking about it, I realized that my question was rude.

Cannibalism and all aside, thinking how eventful the day made me worry as to what would happen in the following days.