Chapter 118 - Ch. 118 The Duel Turned Into A Duet
Arnold groaned in frustration because he couldn't speak Japanese and didn't know how to take back this duel. Fortunately, after Nick got five scores because Arnold couldn't cut Nick's song, the prodigy boy changed to another song that used common language.
At that moment, Arnold immediately prepared to take over while thinking of a suitable song to cut Nick. Alas, again, Nick stopped singing and playing his guitar with his expert fingers.
The cheers of the audience, especially the women, still did not decrease. Their enthusiasm was getting more passionate as if today was a grand solo concert from the prodigy boy.
The next second, Nick suddenly pulled both hands from his guitar, causing the mediator to mute their music and declare Arnold to get the point because Nick had let go of his guitar.
Arnold was about to put a mocking smile at Nick, but when he saw Nick glance at him with a disdainful look, Arnold froze.
"The provisional score is 9-9." announced the mediator made Arnold gritted his teeth as the realization hit him.
Nicholas Larson is toying with him!
"Oh, what luck. I caught up with your score quickly. Aren't I a genius?" provoked Nick in a happy merry voice, followed by the cheers from the crowd.
"You're just lucky, kid!" hissed Arnold while walking towards Nick with an intimidating aura, but Nick didn't move nor avoid him.
"Yeah. I'm sooo lucky to be a genius," smirked Nick causing nothing but further mortification for Arnold Miller.
"Miller will play the next song." announced the mediator made Nick frown at the mediator. Shouldn't he the one who plays the next? Nevertheless, Nick stayed still.
Arnold tried hard to think of the most challenging song he'd ever played.
He wasn't going to let Nick dominate this duel and humiliate him in front of these people. He was the lead singer and guitarist in his band. The group has often appeared in various campus events both inside and outside.
Arnold and his friends have been chosen to be the M university music team representatives since a year ago, and until now, no one has managed to match the ability of his music team.
He was sure no one could match his expertise on this entire campus. Arnold won't let the freshman boy take over his music team.
As soon as he thought of a song he thought was difficult, Arnold immediately played it without hesitation.
To be honest, Arnold didn't master the song he was playing. The guitar technique and chords of this song were extraordinarily unusual and filled with diminished chords and minus augments.
He had to concentrate on his fingers to not miss at the same time; he also had to sing while looking at the audience. It was risky, but he was willing to take it.
On the other side, Nick looked at the five left fingers of Arnold with sparkling eyes. He thought Arnold's skills were far below his, so he relaxed and underestimated the senior. But who would have guessed that arrogant guy can actually play the most complicated chords of all time.
Moreover, Arnold's tremolo-picking and finger slide technique seemed like a very experienced person. It was no wonder why Arnold Miller felt arrogant to think he was the most remarkable person on campus.
Even Nick himself doubted that anyone could beat Arnold Miller in this duel.
Arnold's guitar playing and singing abilities were top-notch, but the senior's ability was nothing compared to Nicky of the Adams.
Just when the mediator was about to give Arnold a point because Nick hadn't cut it, Nicholas did a dive bombs technique on his guitar and immediately sang one of his songs in the Adams.
"We rock, and you know it!" Nick sang it in high-hype, and his energy transferred to the audience.
"We rock, and you know it!" It was no surprise that the audience was very familiar with this song because it came from The Adams' first album.
"Yeah, we rock, and you know it!"
"Yeah, we rock, and you know it!" imitated the audience with immense enthusiasm, leaving Arnold gasped.
Every time Nick played the guitar and gave off his charismatic voice, the crowd's cheers grew crazier and deafening. But when it was Arnold's turn to play, the audience was never as excited as when they welcomed Nick's performance.
How did Nick captivate the audience so easily?
He didn't have time to think about this and immediately looked for a song that started with the word 'it.' When he found suitable music to cut Nick's song, the prodigy boy instead stopped singing and once again demonstrated his skills.
This time Nick went all out and did legato followed by tapping harmonics using his ten fingers without letting go of his pick. The young man even nodded his head, enjoying the music he played, and lowered his body to his knees with one leg facing the audience, making the female audience went crazy.
The atmosphere was getting livelier when Nick briefly interacted with the audience.
"Are you ready for some more?"
"YES!!"
"It's for you ladies," stated the flirty boy while winking at the young girls.
"NICK!!!" cheers the crowd, and they no longer care about the duel.
Their duel situation inexplicably turned into Nick's solo concert, and the audience didn't mind this change at all.
Nick didn't care about the look of fury and anger that came from Arnold. The senior guy tried to protest at the mediator, but the mediator shook his head as if he enjoyed the music Nick played.
In other words, Arnold had lost badly without continuing this duel. Arnold glanced at the scoring screen he got. From the start of this duel until now, his score stuck at nine. On the other hand... Nick's score had already reached fifteen.
Will… he lose?
But looking at Nick's technical playing skills… he couldn't help but admit that he had lost.
"Hey."
Arnold frowned when he felt Nick was calling him.
"It's your turn."
Ha?
Nick showed some variations of finger tapping chords that were pretty easy to imitate. As if his body had a mind of its own, his fingers moved along with Nick's play.
As Arnold played his guitar, Nick stopped playing. Only when Arnold finished playing his part did Nick return to playing. As a result, they played a melodic duet that seemed to communicate with each other regardless of their duel.
The crowd's cheers never went out even though Arnold joined the duet with the prodigy boy.
The music battle today was indescribable on another whole level.