To a person obsessed with data like William, the quote from the Art of War by Sun Tzu immediately sprung to mind when thinking about the upcoming trial. "Know your enemy and thyself, in a hundred battles you will never be defeated". To maximise his chances of surviving ten minutes, William knew he would need to leverage every advantage possible, every trick in the book. This trial was never fair to begin with, neither Borin or for a matter of fact, Julia, wanted William to succeed, as this was a critical mission that they must succeed. William, a novice at best in their minds, had no discernible skills that would improve the success of this mission, his chances of surviving being minimal and at worst being dead weight and dragging the rest of the team down. It was already a miracle that Borin didn’t outright reject William’s request to join. But William saw this as an opportunity, one that he would do his best to grab with both hands.

  He spent the remaining hours before the test observing Yegun, studying his movements, analysing his fighting style, searching for patterns, for weaknesses, for any advantage he could exploit. He watched him spar with other adventurers, his eyes tracking every feint, every parry, every strike, his mind processing the information, calculating angles, speeds, reaction times.

  Yegun had noticed William watching him spar long ago, but didn’t think much of it. When Borin requested Yegun to assist with a trial against a F-ranked William, it caused him to scratch his head a bit in confusion. A f-rank vs a b-rank is a huge insurmountable skill gap, basically the equivalent of an adult fighting a baby. Yegun looked closely at Borin to see if it was a joke, but Borin’s face betrayed no emotions. This strange turn of events, also piqued Yegun’s interest in William, if only just a little.

  William’s assessment of Yegun was, as Borin had described, a formidable opponent. His attacks were fast and constant, averaging one strike every fifteen seconds. His footwork was impeccable, his movements fluid and graceful, his balance seemingly unshakable. He favoured a short sword, a weapon that allowed for quick, agile strikes, for rapid changes in direction, for a relentless barrage of attacks. His preferred attack pattern was a series of rapid thrusts aimed at the torso and limbs, designed to inflict cumulative damage, to wear down his opponent's defences, to create openings for a finishing blow. He rarely used wide, sweeping slashes, preferring the precision and speed of direct thrusts. His defence was equally impressive, his reflexes honed to a razor's edge, his parries quick and efficient, his dodges unpredictable and elusive. His final ace was using magic to imbue himself with speed for up to two minutes, enabling a burst of speed to push his attack speed to one strike every ten seconds, while also improving his defences.

  But William, with his analytical mind and his newfound access to EMMA, saw more than just speed and skill. He saw patterns, subtle but consistent tendencies in Yegun's movements, micro-expressions that betrayed his intentions, slight shifts in his balance that preceded his attacks. He saw that Yegun had a slight preference for attacking from the right, that he tended to lower his guard for a fraction of a second after a successful parry, that he had a habit of blinking rapidly just before initiating a feint. These were tiny details, almost imperceptible to the untrained eye, but to William, they were data points, valuable pieces of information that could be used to predict, to anticipate, to counter Yegun's attacks.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He also, using EMMA, estimated Yegun's statistics, creating a mental profile of his opponent, a quantitative assessment of his strengths and weaknesses.

  Yegun Fastblade

  Class: Swift Swordsman

  Strength: 35

  Agility: 65

  Magical Power: 30

  Vitality: 70

  Mana: 200

  Skills: Swordsmanship - Expert, Speed Enhancement (Minor)

  The numbers confirmed his observations. Yegun was fast, agile, and skilled, but he wasn't exceptionally strong, and his magical abilities were limited. His vitality was high, indicating good stamina, but his mana reserves were relatively low, suggesting that he relied primarily on his physical skills, rather than on magical enhancements.

  William knew he couldn't match Yegun's speed or skill. He wouldn't be able to win a straight fight, to trade blows, to engage in a prolonged exchange of attacks. His only chance was to use his intellect, his analytical abilities, his newfound access to data, to level the playing field, to turn Yegun's strengths against him. He would have to be defensive, to be patient, to wait for his opportunity, to exploit the tiny weaknesses he'd identified, to survive, not to win.

  He spent the rest of the day practicing, not the flashy, offensive manoeuvres of a seasoned warrior, but the basic, fundamental techniques of defence. He practiced parrying, dodging, blocking, focusing on conserving his energy, on minimizing his exposure, on creating a wall of steel that Yegun's attacks couldn't penetrate. He visualized Yegun's movements, anticipating his strikes, reacting instinctively, training his body to respond without conscious thought. He used EMMA to monitor his own movements, to identify flaws in his technique, to optimize his posture, to refine his reflexes.

  As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the training yard, William felt a sense of quiet determination. He was as prepared as he could be, given the limited time and his own inexperience. He knew the odds were stacked against him. He knew he was likely to fail. But he also knew that he would give it his all, that he would fight with every ounce of his strength, with every fibre of his being. He would prove his worth, not just to Borin, not just to Julia, but to himself.

  He took a deep breath, the cool evening air filling his lungs. He gripped his sword, the familiar weight a small comfort in the face of the impending challenge. He glanced towards the entrance of the training yard, the enormity of the task at hand finally bearing upon him.

  The ten minutes were about to begin.