His opponent was a big man who knew how to fight.

He hadn’t seen him fight directly. These were things people around him had told him. The self-defense commander had told him.

As the Village Chief’s child, Boil was well-fed and well-raised. Moreover, he had learned Swordsmanship, so he had no rivals among his peers. There were even rumors that he had gotten into a fight with a mercenary a few years ago and killed him.

He suddenly got scared, wondering if Boil could control mana like Bruno. If so, he could never win.

A duel meant fighting face-to-face. This was very disadvantageous for the protagonist, who was a Mage.

He even wondered if Amelin was cuter than he thought. No matter how few women there were in the village, a duel was not something you could do with a clear mind. It was a contest between men willing to die in the Capital City.

Anyway, he had to decide.

Whether to accept the opponent’s Duel request.

The thoughts of Emissary Amelin didn’t matter.

Many treated women as objects. Their intentions were not considered very important.

The winner would take the woman, and the loser would lose her.

He couldn’t lose.

It wasn’t because he wanted to spend the first night with Amelin. In fact, he did have feelings. But there was another reason besides that.

Firstly, if he backed down after coming all this way, it would be worse than not having come at all. Besides, Amelin had a lot of miscellaneous knowledge. There were times when Rael could use her help.

The Duel didn’t proceed immediately. The condition was that it would be in ten days.

He wondered why such a condition was attached.

The opponent seemed to want to attract people’s attention. Already, rumors were circulating that the Village Chief’s son would Duel a young Mage.

Even if the people of This Place Village didn’t think much of Mages, he was still a Mage after all. Many people thought highly of them.

He sensed a base ulterior motive: to gain the title of having defeated a Mage and also take the woman.

He might have thought that giving him ten days wouldn’t change anything anyway. Boil’s expression when he challenged the Protagonist to a Duel clearly showed that he looked down on him.

Rael wasn’t angry that his opponent looked down on the Protagonist. On the contrary, it was a good thing. If his opponent was careless, the Protagonist just had to use that to his advantage and win. If he won, he could make his opponent regret it.

He intended to make him pay dearly for looking down on him as just a child.

What Rael had to do was prepare for the Duel during the ten-day period.

As things stood, it was ambiguous.

Boil hadn’t exactly come unprepared. He was wearing Chainmail, which Knights would spend their own money to acquire, though it wasn’t heavy Armor.

Rael had never seen Chainmail in this Village before.

According to the Vigilante Commander, it was a type of Armor made by weaving rings crafted from thinly drawn iron. It was said that tens of thousands of iron rings had to be woven, indicating an enormous amount of labor involved.

As such, most slashing attacks with ordinary blades wouldn’t work. There were rumors that it was weak against piercing attacks, but he couldn’t be complacent.

It was said that well-made Chainmail could even stop Arrows. Even if not, it would be dangerous if his opponent put a steel plate over his chest in preparation for the Protagonist’s Magic.

He had to prepare for the possibility that his opponent might withstand the Water Ball.

Most importantly, he might not have time to use Magic once the Duel began.

In the worst-case scenario, his opponent might push him physically, leading to a brawl without any time to react.

The Protagonist’s physique and strength would never allow him to defeat his opponent. Rael couldn’t even beat an ordinary adult, let alone Boil.

Even if he minimized the size of the Water Ball, he had to practice so he could use it quickly.

Even now, if he overexerted himself, he could create and fire the first one or two shots almost instantly, close to silent casting.

But after that, it took him almost a minute to use a Water Ball. It was a repercussion of forcing himself.

He needed to further reduce the spell casting time without experiencing such repercussions.

Rael didn’t just train to cast spells quickly. He also did additional training for contingencies.

One of them was shieldmanship.

Even holding a staff with one hand could be effective. While Rael tried to cast Water Ball quickly, he also learned techniques to handle a shield so he could fend off an attacking opponent if necessary.

“I’ll teach you.”

Fortunately, Hansen offered to teach him. He was entirely on Rael’s side. Rael was known as a herbalist and had integrated into the village. The closer he was to such a protagonist, the more it benefited him.

However, even so, what needed to be addressed had to be done immediately.

“Don’t I have to pay to learn this too?”

People valued even minor skills more than their lives.

Even though handling a shield seemed easy, one had to pay to learn it. But Hansen said nonchalantly,

“It doesn’t matter. I learned it in the army when I was conscripted once.”

Hansen added that he was constantly beaten by the officer who trained him. Seeing him rub his nose, it seemed he was recalling that time.

Anyway, he was teaching him a skill. He learned it seriously.

Hansen assumed a one-on-one situation. He handed the protagonist a shield and said,

They both held shields.

“Stance is important. Even if there’s a significant difference in weight class, you can endure if you properly absorb the impact. But since you’re still young, you’ll have to master it completely.”

“Are there any tricks?”

“Imagine your feet are perfectly touching the ground. It’s better to deflect the opponent’s attack rather than thinking of blocking it directly.”

“I don’t quite understand.”

“Practice is best for anything. I’ll try pushing you with the shield once. Block it.”

Hansen charged forward, as if hiding his body behind the shield. Rael saw this and held up his shield with one arm. He tried to deflect it right before impact, but he missed the timing.

He took the impact and fell over. Perhaps because he was smaller than his opponent, he was almost sent flying.

“One more time.”

“Everyone struggles at first. Don’t be too impatient.”

“Understood.”

This time, Rael charged. He pushed his shield as if throwing his body, intending to knock his opponent away, but it only made Hansen’s upper body sway slightly.

Still, he didn’t stop practicing.

After half a day of overworking his body, what initially wouldn’t budge was now enough to make Hansen stumble. He could even occasionally deflect an attack, causing his opponent to fall.

“You’re a fast learner, aren’t you?”

Hansen whistled. It was a slight hint of praise.

“Really?”

“For a first-timer, you’re quick.”

“Will it work on Boil?”

Boil was even bigger than Hansen. To push him back with a shield, Rael would need to completely master the knack of deflecting attacks.

He wasn’t at that level yet. He had only just gotten the hang of it.

Hansen shook his head. Just as expected.

“Let’s stop here with the shield.”

“Why?”

“This is a last resort. If you’re in a situation where you have to push with a shield, you’ve pretty much already lost, my friend.”

Using a shield was for the worst-case scenario. The worst was when the opponent approached Rael closely without taking any significant damage.

At that point, the tide of battle would have essentially turned.

The best option was to deal with the opponent before they could close in.

Hansen encouraged him, saying that as long as he didn’t panic, he would win.

Still, there was always that one in a million chance.

It was a fight involving a woman, no less.

He felt he couldn’t bear it if he were unluckily pinned down by his opponent and defeated humiliatingly.

He wished there was a better method.

He remembered the necklace. Summoning a Golem would end it. But he figured it couldn’t be used in a fight. The mana consumption and the time it took were also problems.

Even if he summoned it in advance, the Golem was too strong. It could not only kill the opponent but also injure those nearby. That would be troublesome.

The best scenario was to overwhelmingly win with only Water Ball. Since that could go wrong, he thought it would be good if he could make a Golem.

If he had a Golem, it could buy him some time.

He even had the Golem’s core that he found in the Dungeon. He decided to try making one using it as a reference. It didn’t have to be a proper Golem.

He just needed to be able to create a core, even for a very basic one. From that day on, while practicing the Water Spell Ball, he also focused on the magic of creating Golems.

The spell to create a Golem was difficult. Normally, it would take a long time to do leisurely.

But time was of the essence now.

The woman’s condition was the biggest reason. Because of that, an incredible concentration, normally impossible, surged within him. It was to the point where even the Protagonist was impressed.

He thought that if this level of concentration continued for just three months, he would master all the low-level Golem Magic that the Old Man had shown him. It was a shame he didn’t even have ten days.

The fact that he already had a core to examine and just needed to reproduce it also helped speed up the process. Rael succeeded in creating a Golem in less than ten days.

Outwardly, it was no different from a Slime. It was a Slime whose only attack was a headbutt.

Although it was a Slime that couldn’t even form a proper shape, it was still a Golem.

Rael made the Golem with Hot Water. This way, even if it headbutted, the opponent would feel the pain of their flesh being cooked. That would buy the Protagonist time to cast spells.

He concentrated for five minutes, and it lasted for about an hour.

It wasn’t that great for now. But since he had made the core, all that was left was to develop it. He decided to find meaning in that.

Even a Slime would be helpful in battle right now. Thinking that the Slime would help if push came to shove, the burden of the Duel finally lessened.

Before he knew it, the day of the Duel was approaching.

He lay in the hut’s bed with Amelin. Living like this might be their last time together.

Thinking that made him sad. When people lived together, they naturally grew fond of each other. Moreover, she was a woman in the prime of her life.

It would be stranger if he didn’t develop feelings while living under the same roof.

Even with much preparation, he couldn’t shake off a trace of anxiety. His hands trembled slightly.

He let out a groan.

“What if I lose?”

“It’s okay. I believe in Rael.”

The woman held his hand tightly. He felt her warmth.

“But…”

“Are you anxious?”

“Honestly, I’m afraid that I might lose Amelin.”

If only the Protagonist’s life was at stake, he would have remained calm. But with the woman’s fate also hanging in the balance, the burden was immense.

The woman stared intently. It was the look of a predator who had made a decision.

“I’ll make sure you’re not afraid.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”

Rael couldn’t speak.

Because Amelin had kissed him.

He tried to push her away because she was so much like a Gnoll, but the woman held his arms.

He couldn’t resist.

“Stay still.”

“Ah…”

“I’ll cast a Magic spell on you.”

That was the beginning.

That night.

Rael learned what it meant to be a man.