Nicklaus got to the underground arena and it was packing. Everyone wore a mask for the place was illegal. Nicklaus never saw people cheer so much so that they can see someone being beaten to death. Nicklaus looked down at the arena and saw a large man beating a woman to death. The woman was pretty resilient but the man was thrice her size and one realm higher. The crowd were cheering for her death which the large man was obliged to give her. Nicklaus just shook his head and went to sign over.
"Name?" the woman behind the desk asked him.
"Merlin," Nicklaus answered. She just wrote it down.
"You just said you are here for a death battle and your bet is your life against seventy thousand Kribs?" Ashe asked him and he nodded. "Your funeral. You can go on in next. We will give you a mask and a weapon for free." Nicklaus noddedthen went to the armour's desk. He saw a battle axe which he took immediately then put on a mask. Just then, the woman was carried out by four workers. They just threw her out of the place and went back to their job.
"That will be you, only you will be a corpse," the woman said with a dark chuckle. Nicklaus looked ahead and saw one of the workers signalling him. He followed him to the stage where the minigiant was waiting. Minigiant for giants here tend to be twenty metres to thirty metres long. This guy was already three metres.
"A new challenger by the name Merlin takes the stage. Unlike the others, this is a death battle and only one of them gets out of there in one piece. Please take your bids as the fighters prepare to fight," the announcer said. Nicklaus nodded at this.
First, he turned off his crazy zenkai so that he can enjoy this battle without it getting him all pumped. He then looked at the minigiant who was cracking his knuckles impatiently and just chuckled at him. He broke the handle of the axe in half then gripped it by the base of it's blade. The blade was huge so it covered his knuckles well.
"That's an unusual way of welding a war axe," someone commented.
"I bet he is just trying to show he is badass,"
"Freaking poser. Blood Hound will break him in half,"
Suddenly, everybody started chanting, urging Blood Hound to break Nicklaus in half. Nicklaus looked around then back at the large doofus who was enjoying the attention a little to much. After a minute of all that, the bell was rung and the battle was on.
Doofus gripped Nicklaus by his neck and threw him across the stage but the little man landed on his feet coolly. Doofus was a little suspicious of how he can do that while he was a Qi Master, the force he threw him was not little but the crowds' screaming made him ignore it and continued his attacks. This time, he started throwing punches at him.
Nicklaus dodged the first four punches just at the nick of time before blocking the fifth with his axe using the flat part. Doofus felt pain from hitting the iron and he backed away. Nicklaus waited for him, making Doofus angry. He sent a punch towards Nicklaus which he blocked using his knee, hitting his foot. Doofus cried out in pain and hopped away from Nicklaus. This time, he was not given time.
Nicklaus attacked him with the axe which was now been used as an oversized dagger. The first slashes were towards Doofus's neck which he dodged by rolling on the ground. Nicklaus then kicked Doofus at the back of the knee making him kneel and then was thrown into the air as Nicklaus hit him with the flat part of the axe. Doofus shook of the pain and was about to get up when Nicklaus brought the axe into his back. A pained scream sprung from his mouth as Nicklaus nonchalantly removed the axe making blood spurt out from the wound likba fountain.
Doofus got up, enraged like a bull. Someone slid a long sword to his feet which he picked up and charged at Nicklaus. Nicklaus just scoffed and started blocking the slashes easily. Suddenly, he hit Doofus with the handle right on his balls making Doofus double down in pain. The axe slid down his arm and he gripped it like a real axe now. He swang hard and Doofus was now without a head.
There was silence in the whole place as they watched Doofus's body crumple as blood streamed out of the headless body. Nicklaus dropped the axe and got out of the stage. He completed the job, time to get paid. He had regulated his physical abilities so that he could not one punch the guy with only his strength or tire him out with his immense stamina. The woman he was talking to earlier was now looking at him with now found respect and a coin sack was now on the table.
"You can handle yourself well, I agree. Well, here's your money and you are always welcome here," she said seductively. Nicklaus just nodded and took the money. When he was out of the place, he removed the mask and smiled. He just got money out of a fight he was sure he was gonna win. He shook the coin sack a bit and was overjoyed to hear the money in them. He was about to walk away when he saw the woman fighting Doofus when he walked into the place still unconscious. He wanted to leave her there but his morals were not so much corrupted so he went to her and carried her on his back.
"She better have money," he said and went towards a hotel. The owner saw the two and a smile creased his face.
"AHH, two lovebirds graced my hotel, huh. I have a room just for you so enjoy," he said and gave Nicklaus the key without even listening to him. Nicklaus wanted to leave the woman in a room and when she woke up she could pay for herself but this peverted man just saddled him the bill. No way he was gonna pay for a room and not sleep in it. He went to the room after paying and was amazed. The place was gorgeous and the bed had flowers on it. He put the woman on the comfortable sofa looking chair and he slept on the bed.
"This just right," he said and immediately fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, the woman finally woke up. Once she got past the pain on her body, she looked around and wondered where she was. Once she saw the bed, she immediately knew she was in a hotel and in one of those live rooms where couples take to have intimate relationships. She blushed as she thought of that then horrified when she thought she might have been raped. But she just felt fine down there so she looked at the man with her. That's when it hit her.
"This bastard put an injured woman on the bloody chair while he enjoys the bed! Bastard," she raged and wanted to hit Nicklaus awkae but just refrained. She went back to sleep on her grouchy chair, cursing Nicklaus under her breath.
Nicklaus woke up feeling much much better. The soft bed made the resident beds feel like cardboards. His body felt immaculate. He remembered he had someone else with him so he looked at the woman. She was still in pain but she was fast asleep. He just sighed pitifull before going out. He came back with ointments. He roughly woke her up causing a swear to escape her mouth as she looked at him venomously.
"Remove your clothes, I'm gonna run some ointments on your surface wounds and bruises," he told her. She did not even think twice and just did as he said. Nicklaus was surprised at her frankness but just shrugged.
He first applied it on her neck which Doofus had bruised a lot with his macho nieck gripping and flings. She winded in pain as he applied.
"Why did you want to fight such a brute when he could kill you?" he asked her.
"My family needs that money. My brother joined the military but was killed during a patrol. Now I am the only one left who can tend for my old parents," she answered without holding back.
"How old are you?"
"I am eighteen. I have make up on that makes me looks older,"
"Did you know you were courting death while you are just in Qi Gathering while you are fighting against a Qi Master? He would pinch you to death,"
"I knew but we desparately need money. My mother is sick and father is not looking well either,"
"You would have died in the street if I had not decided to help you, or worse," Nicklaus reprimanded her as he rubbed a little harder making her wimp in pain. He turned to a bruise on her back.
"Well, that money was supposed to be handed over to the the Gayne family. We have not paid our due for half an year. They threatened to throw us out of their territory. We have nowhere to go," she sobbed. Nicklaus was touched by her story. Her brother died and now she was being forced to take care of her ageing parents and had to shoulder every responsibilities thrown to her. He looked at her tear stained face then made a decision.
"Don't cry. I can probably ask a guy who owes me a favour to help you out. He is a very strong Earth Rank expert so he has a pretty powerful say. As for your expenses, for today I will give you five thousand Kribs. That should be enough for two years. Then you are going to head over to Dragon Gazing Sky. Tell them that I, Nicklaus, sent you to see sister Rin. She is a kindhearted girl and if you tell her your story, she will offer as much help as she can. Only, don't tell her about the Gayne family, okay?"
"Your kindness is well received, Nicklaus. If you ever need anything in the future then I will do my best to help you," she said. Nicklaus just nodded at her. He then gave her the five thousand Kribs after applying ointment on all her bruises and wounds and sent her off fully dressed. He himself went out to search for a good outfit. He stole one he found fitting for the role he was gonna play. It was a golden armour, not like the Forest Guards. This armour looked like it had been made to look like scales. It also had a red cape behind and the helmet looked like a miniature dragon head.
To make him seem even more ruthless, he temporarily crippled the storekeeper and walked out wearing the armour, a beautiful Battle-axe strapped under the cape. The Battle-axe had runes on it that made it bound to the person who inscribes it withtheir blood, could freeze enemies and will return to its owner's hand once thrown if the owner wills it to. It was love at first sight.
People made way for the intimidating golden armoured man walking in the streets and some even gazed at him with admiration. The day was hot but due to his high rank and freakish body, he did not feel as if he was been baked in the metallic armour at all. He asked a vendor where the Gayne family homestead was and the person did with a bribe of one Krib.
Nicklaus found the place soon. At the gate, the guards wanted to stop him but he just threw them away with one hand as if they weighed nothing. From there, other guards tried to do the same but the same thing happened to them. Nicklaus continued on until he reached the Main house. There, he found four old men and a middle aged one waiting.
"Who are you? How dare you just sprawl into our compound and act as if you are the boss here?" one of the old men shouted at him. Suddenly, the old man was cut in hal. The others in there were scared off their minds. A Battle-axe imbedded at the wall behind the halved corpse then flew into the waiting hand of Nicklaus.
"I just couldn't bear and hear his cliché words. So, I am here about a girl," Nicklaus said as he sheathed the battle-axe. "A friend of mine said a girl that her brother died while being a soldier has a lot of debt she has towards this family. At first, I wanted to come over and just slaughter the whole family but then I asked myself what good it could do. I decided to do the next thing in my mind. Your family is one of the small families here, right? As I respect my friend very much, I am going to be in your service for two years. In those two years, I will be your attack dog, you want a family gone then I wills do it as long as that family is not in my list of families to be protected. If you want a gang gone and you can't do it then I am your man. Anything you can't do then I am here to do it. When those two years are done, you will not bother the girl and her elderly parents or I will come for you next and your family will add to the list of those who have fell under my axe," he said. The men in the room could only nod in agreement.
The Gayne family was a small family here so the greatest expert here was a Qi Grandmaster. The family head had been stuck in that Rank for twenty years now for crossing over to the Earth Rank needed someone with a brave heart. One out of a hundred experts survive the occurence and become Earth Rank and his cowardly heart could not begin to convince him to take the gamble. Now, an expert who might be an Earth Rank or Sky Rank had decided to be in his family's workforce. He felt as if heavens had finally smiled good fortune at him.
"Thank you for your mercy, great expert. We hate to be a bother to you but there is someone who has been bothering us. His name is Syrius. He is an Earth Rank mid stage expert and he has been threatening to rape my daughter if we do not give her to him as a concubine," the middle ages man who was the family head said.
"Where is he?"
"He is at the whore house. I can send someone to come with you if you would like,"
"Just prepare to be free from him," Nicklaus told him and walked away. Once they had noticed he was out of the compound, the three old men started talking.
"Family Head, do you think it is a good idea to have him in our family?"
"Yes, other families might hear we have such an expert and decide to destroy us before we become powerful,"
"We will think of that when that time comes. For now, we needed to stay alive and he provided us a rope to pull ourselves iutjof this well. I could not say no."
Nicklaus found the whorehouse with minimum difficulty. Once in, he started asking around for Syrius's location and one of the girls answered him. He went up the stairs and found the room. From inside, he could hear the girl screaming in ecstasy and just had the mental picture of her doing perverted things with him. He quickly admonished those thoughts and got into the room by tearing the door off its hinges. He found a man on top a young girl both covered in sweat and the girl had this ectasy filled eyes as she looked at him in anger.
"Botches out of the room," Nicklaus said in his deep voice. The girl did not appreciate being called that but she just obeyed and left.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Syrius asked as he secretly reached for his sword.
"If you go near that chunk of metal I will end you brutally," Nicklaus warned him. Syrius must have had full confidence of his Stretford he jumped for his sword. Once he grabbed the hilt, he rolled on the ground and got up, ready to fight but he suddenly hit by sudden gust of sharp wind that hit him out of the second floor to the street outside almost three hundred metres from the whorehouse.
Syrius tried to get up but his body was bleeding profusely. He looked down and saw a cut wound deep he could see his cracked ribs and his stomach. Then, he saw the golden figure slowly making his way towards him, shoving anyone in his way. Syrius immediately gritted his teeth and got up, holding his stomach so that it could not spill out. With laboured steps, he started heading to the one place he thought he could be safe. Two steps in, he suddenly felt an immense heat from his legs followed by intense pain then he fell.
Syrius looked at his legs but instead found two stumps. His legs from his knees down were gone. He continued screaming in pain, completely oblivious of Nicklaus who was now beside him. He looked at Syrius apathetically before raising his battle-axe ready for the finisher when a little girl stood in front of him.
"No, you can't kill my papa!" she shouted at him. Nicklaus was stunned by this and his hesitation, a woman came in front of him too as she picked up the girl.
"Sir, please. I beg you to spare my husband. I know he can be a dick and pain in the ass but he is the only person that my daughter loves. Please, forgive him," the woman said.
"He was going to ruin another person's daughter and you want me to forgive him in account of his daughter? But since you are here, might as well," Nicklaus said then swung the axe. Everyone watched in horror as two bodies were cut in half, the woman and her daughter. Nicklaus stepped over their bodies and stepped on Syrius's back. The bastard was trying to crawl away!
"You might be the most horrible person ever. I just killed your daughter and you are busy trying to escape? Wow," Nicklaus said. Syrius tried to say something but Nicklaus cut his head in half. "I have seen this scene much enough to know no words coming out of your mouth are helpful to your case. Be a better father next time." With that, he sheathed his battle-axe then walked away. Everyone made way for him out of fear