Moments later, Lyra found herself standing outside in the clearing once again. His Highness and the Court-Magus was there, as were a few knights, to spectate the duel. Most knights however maintained their respective positions around the camp, guarding it from any monster attacks. In front of her, Captain James Stonard got ready, rolling his shoulder and checking the sword in his scabbard. He looked over towards Lyra, as he said:
"You sure about this? I won't hold back, as I need to properly assess your strength."
Lyra shrugged her shoulders. She was not particularly worried.
-"I'll try not to kill you." she responded, half-joking, but truth was that she was worried. She had never fought a person before. She was scared she might hit him too hard and he'd just straight up die.
The rules for the duel were simple. Magic was permitted, but you were not allowed to kill your opponent. The duel would be over when one participant was either knocked unconscious or brought down to their knees for more than three seconds. The two official witnesses would be Lady Helena and Prince Henry. Regardless, Lyra wasn't all that interested in using her spells. This was a golden opportunity to try real physical combat against an intelligent opponent, after all. Her stats were all above 1000, so she was curious to see how that would affect her on a more physical level.
However, there was one spell she was keen to try out, and that was "Mage Armor[1]". Since she had 1674 Intelligence, she'd also have 1674 armor. She did not know if that was a lot, but that's what she wanted to find out!
-"I'm all ready." she said, after casting her Mage Armor spell on herself.
The Prince looked at the Knight-Captain, who nodded in turn.
"Then, begin!" The Prince shouted, and immediately the Knight-Captain sprung into action.
He charged straight for Lyra with impressive speed for a middle-aged man. Sword drawn, he covered the distance between them in but a second, and brought his sword down in a wide arc for her. Lyra considered moving out of the way, but then reconsidered. She wanted to test her spell after all. So she remained standing, unflinching, as the sword bore down towards her. It struck her neck clean, and yet, she felt nothing. When she looked closer, there was a tiny, minuscule glow of magic around her, covering her like a translucent sheet. The sword had connected with the layer of magic, but never penetrated or reached her skin. Nor did she loose any amount of HP either.
The Knight-Captain seemed surprised by this, but he was a trained soldier, used to handling unforeseen circumstances. He pulled his sword back and launched a flurry of attacks, weaving his sword in a strange pattern, striking multiple parts of her body in rapid succession. Waist, ankle, jab at the chest, slash at the arm. But nothing worked. His sword connected to the thin sheet of magic around her, hopelessly harmless. Panting, he pulled back.
"What in tarnation is this sorcery?" he said between his breaths, eyebrows deeply furrowed.
-"Mage-Armor!" Lyra responded with happily, pleased with her new protective spell. This would be far more useful to have on herself, than the mana-barrier she had used previously.
"There is no way Mage-Armor can be that strong..." the Knight-Captain mused, but then yielded to the notion, shrugging his shoulders. "No matter, I'll break it..." he added, and raised his sword up. A strange blue glow emerged around his blade, surging with untold power. Aura, Lyra assumed. A sort of martial magic that Knights can use, rivaling the spells used by Mages, though less versatile. Knights can use Aura to coat their weapons and armor with, giving them the power to go on par with Magic-Users and monsters.
Then, the Knight-Captain charged once again, but faster this time. Lyra noticed a strange blue glow coming from his boots, and figured he was likely channeling Aura down to his legs and feet as well to increase his speed, all the while also coating his blade with Aura. No doubt, he was very skilled! However, even with Aura, his attacks proved ineffective. He struck her multiple times with the glowing blade, but even so it still had no effect.
Lyra figured that Armor worked in such a way that, if you had an armor value of 200, and were struck by an attack dealing 300 dmg, then the armor would stop 200 dmg and let 100 dmg through. Seeing Mage-Armor was based on your Intelligence stat, most mages would not have more than 100 intelligence, meaning their armor value would be a bit less than 100.
The Knight-Captain had a strength of 60 which would result in an Attack power of 60, and then 35 agility giving him an additional 7 AP. Meaning he should have an attack power of 67. Now Lyra wasn't sure how attack power then translated over into actual dmg, but she assumed there was also weapon dmg, and together with that he could probably deal quite a lot of dmg to unarmored foes around his level, if given the chance. Probably around 150-ish dmg as a regular attack without using spells and abilities. But Lyra's armor was now 1674. Meaning he would have to deal more than that amount of dmg, to be able to even hurt her. Which frankly seemed impossible, even when using aura.
And so Lyra stood unmoving, deep in thought, doing the math in her head while the Knight-Captain swung at her repeatedly with his blue-glowing sword. All the spectators, including the Prince and Court-Magus, had their mouths agape. The fact that the strongest amongst them could not even harm Lyra, even when using Aura, was simply unreal. Still, the duel was yet ongoing until either party had subdued the other. Now Lyra had tested her Mage-Armor spell, which meant it was now time to go on the offensive. Without killing her opponent, that is.
Thus, when next the Knight-Captain swung his sword, Lyra raised her left arm, catching the man's sword-arm by his wrist. He tried to twist his arm free, yet her grip was like iron. Then, she brought her own right arm back, her palm flat, and the Knight-Captain felt fear, real fear, for the first time in quite a while. Then, she struck him. Palm flat against his breastplate. But the force was strong enough to cause a mighty boom, sending a shockwave out from the impact zone, buffeting the spectators with enough force that the Court-Magus lost her hat.
And the Knight-Captain, well, he was sent flying through the air, as if he had been struck by a moving train. He flew for eight meters until he hit a nearby tent, which he promptly tore through and vanished from sight. There were a few seconds of silence, as the dust settled, and Lyra just stood there, palm out, looking just as surprised as everyone else. Then, the shock of the moment gave way to actual realization, and some of the spectating knights rushed over towards the collapsed tent to look for their Knight-Captain.
Lyra straightened out, and looked towards the Prince and Court-Magus. "S-sorry... I didn't think he'd go flying like that..." she said, scratching the top of her head awkwardly. Moments later, the Knight-Captain was dragged out from the tent. He was unconscious, but still breathing. His entire metal breastplate however had been destroyed, bent inwards beyond recognition.
"He's alive, Your Highness, but unconscious! Probably a few broken bones too..." they called out.
"Just... get him out of the armor and into the medical tent... if you could, please..." the Prince responded, rubbing a hand along his face, now turning to look towards Lyra.
"What on Atlas are you even, Lady Lyra?" he said, looking at her with disbelief. He had suspected this strange elven girl was quite strong, but this was beyond anything he could have imagined. His most powerful soldier had been entirely powerless to do anything against her, and was taken out with a single hit. Even more, she had even appeared to have been holding back deliberately. And wasn't she supposed to be a mage!? What's up with this crazy physical strength! Everything about this just gave him a massive headache. But one thing was for certain. They had found the "Apex Predator" of this forest. So in a way... he had succeeded in the mission he was supposed to die on.
Lyra just bowed her head and smiled meekly. What could she even say in response? In the end, it was the Court-Magus who broke the silence. She had gone to pick up her wizard hat, and when she came back, she spoke to the Prince: "Well, I guess this means we can actually go home now? Seems we identified our mission objective."
"You're right..." he said, looking up towards the rapidly darkening sky above. "We'll stay here tonight, then break camp tomorrow and prepare to return to the Capital." he said loudly, his voice carrying out across the camp. At once, the camp erupted in cheers. The Knights of the 7th Knight-Order were overjoyed. Not one had ever believed they would get out of this mission alive, yet now they were told they were all going home tomorrow? They could return to their families, their lives.
Then, the Prince looked towards Lyra. "Lady Lyra, could I make a shameless request of you?" he said, his eyes shining with sincerity, but also desperation. Lyra already had a good idea of what he might ask of her. She looked his way, nodding, allowing him to continue.
"Would you come to the Capital of the Empire with us? You are the evidence of this mission's success, after all. On my word as Prince, your involvement will be kept strictly confidential if that is what you wish. And, you'll be able to explore the Empire freely once we are done, if you so desire." he said. Lady Helena furrowed her eyebrows, and leaning in to whisper to the Prince, though Lyra could still hear what was whispered.
"Are you sure that is wise? She is like a walking calamity.. what if she-" but the Prince cut her off.
"You're right, but she could also help me. She is the wild-card I've needed all this time. Someone the Empress could never have accounted for. I need her help, Helena, and I cannot afford to be picky."
The Court-Magus glanced over towards Lyra, then sighed and nodded. She said, loudly this time: "You're right, your Highness. We cannot afford to be picky."
They both turned to look towards Lyra, expecting an answer. Lyra in turn tapped a finger against her cheek, thinking deeply. She had not expected to leave her home at this point in time, but then again, she had wanted to explore the world and learn more. She wasn't too keen on getting dragged into the battle for the crown, however, but it wasn't like they could force her to do anything she didn't want to, right? That was the entire point behind her getting all this power, to ensure she never again had to do things she didn't want to. In the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She was a bit concerned about her vegetable patch, but that was a very minor worry. Why should she lock herself to one area because of some vegetables?
-"Sure, I'll come along." she said.
[1] Mage Armor: Costs 300 mana to cast. The user coats themselves in magic armor, increasing their armor value by an amount equal to their Intelligence stat for 1 hour.