“You think I’m the strongest thief? What are you on about?” I had to ask. I couldn’t understand what Suiz was saying. He must have mistaken me for someone else.
“C’mon now,” he said. “What are you acting all cool for this late in the game?”
“I’m not acting cool. I really don’t amount to much as a thief. I’m certainly not a worthy opponent for you—”
“You’re not much of a thief? If that’s true, then the other thieves of the world are nothing at all.” Suiz looked up at the dark ceiling as he spoke. “Note Athlon of the Arrivers... Thieves are inherently lacking in firepower, and that should become painfully obvious the further you get in the dungeon. Yet in spite of that, you’re the only one at the forefront of dungeon exploration. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s—” Sure, I’d reached the end floors of the Dungeon of Puriff as a member of Arrivers, but that wasn’t because I was strong. I left all the monsters to the other members, and my only effective attack was leftover magic that Erin let me borrow and store as Spell Shots. “I haven’t gotten where I am on my own strength.”
“What? You’ve gotta be kidding me. You were stranded on floor 20 with a lone mage and managed to drag both of you back alive. That’s a whole legend now, you know?”
It was? The ordeal Erin and I had gone through on floor 20 wasn’t anything as impressive as it sounded. In truth, we’d gotten caught in a teleportation trap and were warped to an unknown floor, where we’d only managed to survive by luck. One wrong move could’ve gotten us killed, and if it weren’t for Erin, we wouldn’t have been able to defeat a single monster.
“Sounds like you’ve done your research on me,” I said. “But I think you’re overestimating me.”
“Aren’t you the one underestimating yourself? Just so you know, I didn’t have to do any research—your reputation precedes you. You may not be a household name to the general population, but you’re a celebrity among thieves.”
“I’m a celebrity...?”
“That’s right. It’s rare enough for thieves to be involved in the dungeon scene, but you rose to fame overnight after the Seventh Sage Selection. It’s a renowned event that people gather from countries away to come see. Security there has to be absurdly strict. Yet you stole the MVP, the next Seventh Sage, in front of everyone. There’s no way people wouldn’t notice a thief of that caliber.”
Back when I’d whisked Erin away from the Seventh Sage Selection, I was so focused on the matter at hand that I hadn’t really given a thought to anything else. Looking back on it now, it was a reckless move that I probably wouldn’t be able to repeat.
“But you’re more famous than I am, Suiz. I heard you’re one of the top five thieves—”
“I doubt that. Sure, I’ve heard the same rumors, but my record doesn’t hold a candle to yours. My infiltration of Filon and subjugation of the evil spirit Grushar are nothing compared to your feats in the dungeon. You’re definitely a bigger deal.”
I’m a bigger deal than Suiz? Is this a joke? My confusion must have been written all over my face.
“Maybe you’re not aware of it, but that’s how folks regard you—the monster thief who’s hit the top without any combat skills. Who could pass up the opportunity to fight a guy like you?”
Had stories about me taken a life of their own? I was sure the other Arrivers would all say the same thing—that I definitely wasn’t a strong adventurer.
“Sorry to let you down, but you’re in for a disappointment if you insist on fighting me,” I said.
“Really? You haven’t disappointed me so far. You kept up with my speed in the square earlier, didn’t you? You could even follow my moves with your eyes, yeah?”
Suiz had the wrong idea about me, and apparently no interest in correcting it. But I didn’t have time to play along with this little game of his. I needed to save Neme as soon as possible.
“Fine, I understand you want to fight. I’ll take you on, but not here and not now. Once I save Neme—”
“C’mon now, don’t be so cold. You expect me to be satisfied with a mock battle with nothing on the line? That isn’t interesting at all. But a do-or-die situation with the fate of a friend on the line... Don’t you think this is when you’d fight the hardest?”
“You’re crazy...”
I risked my life in the dungeon on the regular, so I didn’t have a whole lot of room to criticize his policies, but I just couldn’t get my head around Suiz. Seeking out the interesting was one thing—there’s nothing wrong with living your life by your own rules—but it’s messed up to drag other people into that.
“Crazy, huh? I’ll take that as a compliment.” Suiz replied with a shameless laugh.
Suiz Myran was definitely a top-tier thief. It was thanks to him that we’d learned about the eyes on us and formulated a plan to break into the enemy’s base. But him turning on us at the last moment ruined everything. I regretted asking for his help.
“We should have just rescued Neme ourselves...”
“Aww, don’t be like that. I might be siding with Fuge, but I didn’t tell him anything about your attack. He knows how to handle me, so he lets me do as I please.”
“So what?”
“It’s simple. If you defeat me, your plan will proceed without a hitch. On the other hand, if you lose, you can say goodbye to your comrade. She’s worth giving your all for, wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re sick, man...”
By dangling the slim possibility of a successful rescue in front of me, he knew I’d fight. What a cunning—and effective—ploy. There was no turning back for me now. If I let Suiz go here, he’d reveal our entire plan to Fuge, and we’d never get another chance like this to retrieve Neme. If we wanted to take her back, it had to be now. I had to defeat Suiz.
“I’m not good at this kind of thing...”
A one-on-one match with a party member’s fate on the line... The last time I’d done this was dueling the Headhunter for Jin’s life. If it hadn’t been for Riece’s help, I would’ve lost back then. The only other experience I had that came close was challenging Force to get him to join the Arrivers again. He’d accepted after I surprised him by landing a Spell Shot, but I’d ultimately lost the match.
I wasn’t especially strong. I knew that better than anyone. If I had to fight, I liked to prepare thoroughly beforehand. I could only contend with stronger opponents by devising clever countermeasures. Without that, I didn’t stand a chance against fighters like the Headhunter and Force. And yet here I was, staring down a battle out of the blue—the worst possible scenario for me.
“Finally feeling motivated?” asked Suiz. “Opportunities to face stronger opponents really decrease as your fame increases. I’m so excited, this reminds me of my younger days.”
Unfortunately, my opponent this time wasn’t overly cocky. He considered this a challenge. I didn’t get it—why was someone so much stronger than me acting like I was the threat? By any reasonable measure, I was the underdog here.
“This sucks...”
I sighed while bracing my hands in front of me. I didn’t grab my dagger—this was a stance for a fistfight. I didn’t have any choice but to throw down. No matter how low my odds were, I had to win for Neme’s sake.
“I won’t go easy on you.”
I wasn’t about to let Suiz get the drop on me. I immediately used Shadow Runner and started running.
“C’mon, you won’t even wait for the starting signal?”
Suiz in turn activated his Light Blink. The distance I’d closed between us redoubled in an instant. I had no idea what tricks he was hiding up his sleeve. But just like how my fighting style relied on Shadow Runner, Suiz probably fought around Light Blink. Light Blink could outdo Shadow Runner in straight line speed, but Shadow Runner was superior with nonlinear movement. Light Blink had to decelerate when making turns, whereas Shadow Runner had no such time loss. In other words, I had to keep moving in arcs. I darted in every direction, shifting this way and that to toy with my opponent.
“Oh, so you won’t charge straight at me? Well, I guess you wouldn’t want to go close quarters against an armed opponent,” Suiz said, drawing a dagger. He chucked it, then another.
“You can throw those too?” I asked.
“Of course. Any dagger user can do the same—but you evaded them so easily.”
“My master specialized in throwing weapons. I’m kinda used to it.”
“Then how about this?”
With that, Suiz retrieved a red dagger from his breast pocket. The ones he’d just thrown just were made of a bluish metal. This one was clearly different. Did it have some kind of magical property?
“You seem to be on guard. Get ready. It wouldn’t be any fun if you died now.”
No sooner had he said that than purple lightning roared past my ears.
What? What just happened?
I couldn’t follow it with my eyes, but if that had struck me, I would’ve been toast in one shot. It was sheer coincidence that I’d been able to avoid it.
“You evaded at the last second on reflex, huh? By channeling mana through this weapon, I can shoot magical lightning between it and an anchor point. The anchors are those daggers I threw just now.”
I glanced at one of the blue daggers stabbed into the pillar behind me. Indeed, the lightning had shot straight to it from the dagger in Suiz’s hands.
“Of course, I have multiple anchors. Watch yourself,” he warned.
“Gee, it was nice of you to explain how your artifact works,” I scoffed.
“Oh, that’s because revealing its ability makes my opponent’s strategy more interesting. Let’s play.”