' interesting '
This was the first word that came to mind as Xander stepped into the coliseum. A dense aura of slaughter, death, and bloodlust permeated the entire reception hall. Men in all sorts of battle gear could be seen walking about while radiating intense killing intent. Obviously, these people were no strangers to combat or murder.
Already, Xander could feel his blood boil and an urge to battle was slowly encroaching on his mind. Had it been an ordinary person, they would have long since lost their sanity and gone on a killing spree. But for people like Xander - heinous villains who have had their fair share of bloodbaths and grown to relish in them - there was only comfort and nostalgia to be felt.
Slightly overwhelmed, he closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts while taking a deep breath. Killing intent- cold, pure and sharp like no other - slowly emerged from his body. His eyes opened once more, full of serenity, and his figure seemed more relaxed. With, light yet firm steps, he quickly headed towards one of the booths in the hall.
" Hello sir, how may I help you ? ", a middle-aged woman asked respectfully as he approached her booth.
She had noticed him the moment he stepped into the hall and could tell that the devil masked man was an expert. The feeling only got more intense with every step he made. Now that he was in front of her, it seemed as though she had seen her death. She felt like she would die no matter what move she made.
Despite these feelings, the woman wasn't flustered and maintained her professionalism as she attended to the man. People such as him were highly valued by the higher-ups and were to be treated with utmost courtesy, so she might as well focus on that.
Meanwhile, Xander just nodded at her, then asked in a low voice, " I want to take on the limit breaker challenge. Will that be possible? "
He wasn't surprised by the receptionist's composure despite him radiating such killing intent. As a receptionist of Battle King Paradise, she definitely had her fair share of encounters with experts of his caliber. Not to mention the owner of the coliseum was a manslayer in his own right, with strength and killing intent so great pretty much everyone was wary of him. Why would she fear him when she had such a figure behind her? Or to be more precise, who would dare to intimidate her?
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the receptionist's reaction to his request as she looked at him stunned. This caused Xander to frown.
" Is there a problem? "
The limit breaker challenge was his main objective for coming here. All business establishments require unique products or services in order to attract customers. And in the case of Battle King Paradise, it was the reward system for all duels, tournaments, and various events rankings of the establishment. This was how the coliseum managed to attract at least 10% of the habitants of the underworld - an equivalent of seven hundred and twenty thousand people - regularly to participate in duels.
The limit breaker challenge just happened to be one of the more lucrative events on the reward system with a prize so simple yet no one would be able to stop themselves from drooling over it - three requests from Battle King Paradise, free of charge. As long as it doesn't cross the bottom line of the coliseum or infringe upon the jurisdiction of the other overlords, your request is as good as done.
With the three requests, Xander planned to request the materials he needs as well as the privacy of his whereabouts. With the importance the coliseum placed on the three requests, he was sure that they wouldn't go back on their word. A feasible plan given the current situation. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten one thing...
" A pathetic thing like you? Why don't look at yourself in a mirror and see if you're worthy "
Xander was stunned upon hearing the comment. He turned to his right and looked on as a man approached the booth. About five foot ten, burly with black hair and brown eyes, he walked over with a sneer on his face and disdain in his eyes as he looked at Xander.
"Heh, kid go back home and suck some more on your mother's tits. You're ten years too early if you can take on the limit breaker challenge with that skin bag you call a body "
Xander was speechless and slightly amused. He looked back at the receptionist's stunned face and seemed to have understood something.
As an event with such a high reward, naturally, the difficulty would have to be equivalent if not more. In the case of the limit breaker challenge, it was a nightmare.
Consisting of ten rounds, the first nine would consist of opponents at the peak of the same combat realm as you. In Xander's case, as he has yet to awaken his arcane heart and can only be considered an ordinary person, he would have to defeat nine of the strongest ordinary individuals of Battle King Paradise with each next opponent being stronger than the last. Then on the tenth round, he would have to defeat a true awakened.
Now the name awakened may not seem like much but these people have truly left ordinary people behind and stepped into a whole new realm of combat power. Although not impervious, their bodies could provide some resistance against the penetration of swords and spears. Their stamina, strength, agility, endurance, ...all of them were more than double that of ordinary people. And these were only the statistics in the initial phase. All bodily statistics would continue to increase as they progressed further as an awakened.
And yet these were the opponents he was going to face. No, they were the opponents he needed to kill. Only one could be left alive in a limit breaker challenge. Thus he could only emerge victorious or forfeit his life.
Looking at it this way, most people would assume he was throwing his life away. After all, not to mention having a physique at the peak of ordinary people, he was even weaker than regular adults. How was he supposed to put up a fight?
Nevertheless...
Xander smiled and looked back at the man.
"Thanks for the advice but I'm afraid I'll have to take the challenge "
It was impossible for him to give up on the reward for the limit breaker challenge. Not to mention, he wasn't without confidence in defeating his opponents.
Currently, Xander's body might be trash, but his combat techniques had long reached a realm far beyond the limits of his physique. And besides...
He subconsciously licked his lips and a strange glint flickered in his eyes as he felt his homicidal tendencies flaring up. Ever since he reincarnated, this urge had been building up. And now, confronted with the fact that he would have to slaughter ten opponents with strength far superior to his, he couldn't help but feel excited.
The burly man sensed the change in Xander as he felt the killing intent around him grow denser, and his face sank. He thought Xander was infuriated by his comment.
How dare he though? A weakling like him actually dared to have other thoughts. He should be grateful he didn't directly throw him out of the Coliseum.
Further infuriated as he realized this he began walking towards the devil masked man, fully intent on teaching him a lesson and making him know his place. But then...
"Sir Blay, you know it's against the policy of Battle King Paradise to interrupt an interaction between a customer and the staff. Now if you please, I would like for you to leave for another booth otherwise I will be forced to call the guards"
The burly man immediately froze. Turning to the middle-aged woman, he saw her turn towards Xander with an apologetic look on her face, not even bothering to explain give him an explanation.
"I apologize for the interruption, sir. It is indeed possible to apply for the challenge. If it's not a problem for you, I'll gladly show you the way "
"Sure "
Xander calmly nodded but the gaze with which he looked at the receptionist held more depth now. This woman wasn't as simple as she seemed. Then he looked back at the burly man with a slight smile.
"Guess I'll see you around then"
"Hmph"
The burly man snorted, not bothering to speak a word. In his opinion, the devil masked man was just throwing his life away. Why haggle with a dead man?
Seeing this, the receptionist only shook her head slightly and began leading Xander away. Nevertheless, she felt the burly man named Blay was quite ignorant and foolish. But she felt wary of Xander even more.
This was because the moment when Blay showed hostility towards Xander, what she saw was no longer just a burly man but... a walking corpse.