"Hehe! My lucky streak continues."
As she approached the nearest drop that she had found by accident, Katalina rejoiced. When their competitors walked inside the grand array activated by Gladius in the colosseum, they appeared in the ruined city at random places away from each other.
Katalina was no exception to the rule either. But the place she had found herself in was an old inn. When she explored the premises, she found a fresh scroll sitting on a giant desk that didn't seem to be part of the ruined setting.
The scroll was blank. But it projected the location of the chest drop when Katalina imbued her mana into it. This was how she was able to locate the drop despite the restricted mana sense that only allowed her to sense a bit further than her eyesight's range.
Katalina Haidern was a young Ace ranker that looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had off-blonde hair that was a bit longer than her shoulder line. Her ruby red eyes would be the centre of attraction if someone got close to her.
She wore a tight crop top that highlighted her ample bosom. Her denim pants were worn below her navel, exposing her shapely belly in the open.
The stature of 5.9ft made Katalina a relatively tall woman. Her long legs, wide hips, and slim but well-defined waist added to her feminine charms.
Katalina was wielding a rapier in her right hand as she ran towards the drop using her wind-element movement spell. She figured that other rankers would be busy finding their way outside of the city. Not everybody was able to be lucky like her and land in the same place where the drop location's clue was. So she decided to make full use of the situation and get her hands on the drop before things got messy.
Just when she thought that there was nobody in the vicinity, her limited mana sense picked up on a ranker's presence. The ranker was heading towards the same location as her.
'How… how is this possible? Are there multiple clues in the city that point towards the same chest? Damn it.'
Katalina realized that she spoke about her lucky streak way too early. She concluded that the tournament's organizers would have planted multiple clues that point towards the same drops, making the rankers aware of each other's possessions. This was so that they would have designs on the rankers who got them, creating temptation for confrontation.
Katalina's deductions were indeed correct. But it wasn't this way in her case. Her opponent was not dependent on the drop's clues.
*****************
"I suggest you back off, pretty lady. Today, I'm not fucking around."
Tuan addressed Katalina when they met each other near the same drop site. There wasn't anything visible to the naked eye. But both knew that there was a spatial array that contained a treasure of significance. Katalina didn't know what it was. But Tuan did, thanks to Alephee.
"Hehehehe! Don't think you are entitled to have your way with the ladies just because your wife betrayed you. I'm sorry for your situation. And I'll not judge.
But I'd consider you to be a dense man if you think your words alone would make me back off from getting what's rightfully mine. I came here first, you know."
Katalina said with a bright smile on her face while clenching her weapon's hilt. She brought up Tuan's wife so that he would get affected by the topic and show her a chink in his armour. Something she could use to overwhelm him.
No ranker would want to fight with another ranker this early in the game. That's because there was no gain to be had doing that. Nobody had even earned a dime of Titus points yet. Only a few people were bold enough to leave the city straight away and start their hunt. Most of the competitors were busy carefully planning their strategies while paying close attention to their surroundings.
And yet there was someone like Tuan Aag who seemed eager to attack Katalina. She would have suggested a split of rewards. But something about her opponent's gaze told her he wasn't interested in a settlement.
In response to Katalina's remark, Tuan didn't give any verbal response. He just gave a simple smile that bordered on being psychopathic. The next thing she knew, a meteor-like object was heading in her direction at breakneck speed.
"This bloody cash…"
Katalina didn't get to complete her sentence. That's because the meteor-like object that was Tuan himself was already upon her. The first thought in her head after seeing Tuan approach her was to change her position.
Too bad, Tuan had already taken countermeasures for it by raining down fireballs in every direction. The rain of fireballs was dense and there was hardly any safe passage for her amidst it.
The fireballs themselves were not that scary. But she had an inkling that by the time she dealt with those fireballs or dodged them, Tuan would be able to tackle her just fine. In that case, she would have lost the advantage of creating a strong defence around herself.
'This bastard. How is he able to execute spells in such a way?'
Katalina cursed Tuan in her head as she held her ground and raised her rapier in front of her in defence. She had another brief thought just before Tuan made contact with her.
'I have seen this cuck bastard's battles. Although his usage of Fire Wings was indeed creative, he wasn't this fierce. His mastery over the way of the elements has increased by that much in such a short span?'
Katalina braced herself and waited for the point of impact.
"Haaaaaah!"
Boom!
Katalina screamed in a loud voice just before Tuan's attack made contact with her. In addition to bolstering her defensive spell, it also boosted her courage.
For some reason, Katalina felt pressured by Tuan's attack-first-ask-questions-later attitude even though she hadn't fought him before.
Katalina also cursed Tuan's wife because she thought he was being so aggressive against women because of her.
