"A bout for life?!"
All the Demon Hunters present were startled by Ye Qi's suggestion since they understood what it implied, a bout for life was a match with both parties betting their lives!
Some of the Demon Hunters began to study this rookie who suddenly appeared at Tarlin State with a closer eye. However, most of them just wanted a good show, only the merchant had a moment of worry flashed across his face, but he did not say anything.
As Ye Qi had said before, this was between him and Tarn. Therefore, even though the merchant was worried, he had no choice but had faith in Ye Qi. If Old Walter really stepped out to halt the match, even if it was out of good intentions, the merchant had a feeling this might ruin his relationship with the young Demon Hunter—After all, the second most important thing in the Demon Hunter line of work, after one's capability was reputation.
Ye Qi had named his terms, and if Old Walter intervened, it would have ruined the young Demon Hunter's reputation, therefore, no matter how unwilling the merchant was, he had to stay his hand and let Ye Qi handle this on his own! No one understood the unwritten rules among the Demon Hunters better than he did—if he really intervened, Ye Qi's career among the Demon Hunters could be considered over. He would be treated as a joke.
"A bout for life?! A rookie like yourself, wants to challenge me for a bout for life?" Tarn cackled. Without the merchant's threat looming over him, he rewarded Ye Qi with a cruel grin, "As you wish, rookie!"
Ye Qi opposite Tarn looked visibly shocked. The crowd thought this was sign of him being afraid, and those hunters whose views of Ye Qi improved earlier once more looked down on the young Demon Hunter. They turned their mouth down at him. Tarn even raised his thumb and mock-slit it across his throat.
Ye Qi, who had been planning this all along, of course was not suddenly afraid. He was shocked because as Tarn agreed to the match, he heard a system audio in his mind.
"D- Quest: Fight over the Vampire Wings. Defeat Tarn in a Bout for Life."
What happened? Other than accepting official missions from quest givers, system quests could be activated at random times as well?
Ye Qi who had not had this experience before wanted to explore it more, however, the mocking laughs and Tarn's annoying face before him reminded the young Demon Hunter that it was not the time. Thus, he turned to head towards an area that was suddenly emptied out in the middle of the bar—while a bout was traditionally hashed out inside an arena, a Bout for Life normally occurred organically and there wouldn't be time to actually build an arena, an empty space would suffice.
"Rookie, I will let you understand what the true meaning of a Demon Hunter is! Do not worry, I will ensure that you have a painless death!" Tarn followed behind Ye Qi and taunted arrogantly.
Then again, Tarn did have the right to be arrogant. Even though he was not an Expert Demon Hunter, he had already made quite a name for himself among the ranks of Registered Demon Hunters, or else he wouldn't have been valued by the Dirk Family. In contrast, even though Ye Qi had trained years under John, he had only joined the ranks two months ago and his track record had been nothing impressive. Therefore, Tarn was confident he would win, in fact not only Tarn, basically the whole crowd thought that, this was noticeable from the betting ring that was constructed instantly in the bar, the odds was one to fifty. If not for the fact the merchant who bet on Ye Qi as a vote of confidence, the odds would be probably be worse for Ye Qi.
"Start!"
As the merchant announced the beginning of the match, Tarn pulled out the Dog-legged Sword from his waist and charged at Ye Qi. He went directly for the young Demon Hunter's head.
The Dog-legged Sword swished through the air and even though the roomful of Demon Hunters was not practically fond of Tarn's personality, they were duly impressed by the masterful way he handled his sword. They cheered for him. The merchant who acted as the referee could not help but turn his head away—from his constant interaction with Ye Qi, he knew the young Demon Hunter's standard. He admitted that Ye Qi had limitless potential but he definitely wouldn't be able to survive that blow! Thinking about his old friend and the favour he had asked of him when he left Ye Qi with him, Old Walter sighed with shame and soon that shame turned into hatred towards Tarn and the Dirk Family.
"You've asked for this yourself, Tarn! The Dirk Family!"
While the evil merchant was plotting the family's downfall, he felt a heatwave coming from behind him. Old Walter who had been in many fights despite his appearance, instinctively jumped several steps back.
The moment he did so, he could not help but turn to look at the heat source, and he was shocked beyond words—a conical flame radiating layers of heatwave was rushing out from Ye Qi's palms!
This is… Fire Control?!
The stunned merchant had forgotten to evade and just looked at the flames coming out of Ye Qi's hands in utter disbelief. The other party reacting the same way was the Demon Hunters in the room. Tarn? The blockhead probably didn't even see it coming when Ye Qi cast his Burning Hands spell. He was seared alive and the dust and charred corpse was everything that remained of the unfortunate Demon Hunter.
The fiery waves lasted for another five seconds before they dissipated, and when it did, Ye Qi could not help but sigh in relief. Even though he was glad to find out the exact power of Burning Hands, it had taken quite a toll on him as well.
Since Draconeer was a hidden profession, his spells did not come from textbooks or mentors. This had its own pros and cons—Compared to Mages who needed to rely on daily meditation to memorize their arcane arts, incantations and signs, Draconeer who was self-taught was more battle-ready. However, instead of consuming mana like the Mages, Draconeer's spell-casting exhausted their vitality or health. It would be fine for low level spells but the real challenge came when casting high level spells, where the demands on the Draconeer's physique would be greatly heightened.
Ye Qi had 14 points in physique. According to the system, this meant that Ye Qi could cast 8 level 0 spells and 4 level 1 spell. In other words, casting 4 Burning Hands would probably cost the young Demon Hunter's life. Furthermore, unbeknownst to anyone, before going onto the arena, Ye Qi had already silently casted the Mage's Armour on himself, therefore, Ye Qi who seemed to have a landslide victory actually had exhausted half of his life in this one match. In fact, standing upright in itself made Ye Qi feel rather drained.
However, these were details known to Ye Qi only. The people around him, the merchant included was still in shock from the Burning Hands spell. After a long time, a voice suddenly exploded.
"An Apostle! He's an Apostle!"