Chapter 20: Kill [2]
Vaughn was taken aback by Garry's sudden roar, his eyes brimming with determination as he sought to test Vaughn.
"But I-"
"No buts."
"Use the dagger and kill the knight," Garry ordered.
Vaughn was a coward. Killing? He had never done it before. The incident with Lectia had been a mere accident. He was merely trying to escape the place, but she ended up dying due to the pact he had formed. However, Vaughn felt no guilt; after all, Lectia had seemed heartless and cruel to him as she went after Genie. Moreover, it was Garry who had invoked one of the conditions in the contract, leading to Lectia's demise.
Taking this as the reason, Vaughn didn't feel any guilt, or rather, he tried to escape from it. However, now Garry forced Vaughn into a position where he had no choice but to commit the act of killing.
Vaughn's right hand, which held the dagger, visibly trembled as he gulped large chunks of saliva at regular intervals. Perplexed and sweating, he found himself in a tense situation.
Garry kept his gaze fixed on the knight who continued to shout, "You bastard! How dare you!?" Clearly, the knight had not been incapacitated; he was still fit and seemingly driven insane by the messed-up situation.
Either way, Vaughn couldn't just walk in, slice the knight's throat, and walk out. He had to battle him!
Vaughn didn't immediately realize the gravity of the situation, but as he observed Garry's smirk and the knight's desperate condition, he soon understood that things could be much worse. It dawned on him that this was nothing short of a fight to the death.
"If you can kill him, I will let you go," Garry said to the knight.
"Wait, what!?" Vaughn was shaken.
Despite maintaining a calm exterior, he was completely nervous inside. Killing? It wasn't an easy task, especially for someone who had never done it before.
Garry stared at Vaughn and said, "Prove it, boy."
"Prove that you are worthy of the equipment... worthy enough for me to pay the money for you to participate in the Gladiator tournament," Garry said, his eyes momentarily glowing red - though that seemed more like an illusion.
Vaughn gulped a large chunk of saliva before responding, "Alright, if that's what you want..."
"However, if I were to kill him, I want a few gold coins and some time to spend," Vaughn added.
Garry merely smiled.
"You will get the right to participate in the tournament, and I'll be spending over 100 gold coins for that... some more gold coins won't be an issue," Garry said.
"Alright..." Vaughn started to walk closer and closer to the bars.
Garry ordered the guards present there to open the gate and let Vaughn in.
The knight walked back, standing close to the wall, as he now knew that once Vaughn entered inside, all he had to do was kill him.
It was tough... it was going to be a tough fight after all. A knight who guards a princess would by no means be weak! Especially when Vaughn peeked at the knight's stats, he instantly knew that he was at a devastating disadvantage, one that couldn't be overcome easily.
[Name: Darren]
[Age: 27] [Sex: Male]
[Race: Human] [Lv.25] [Exp: 93%]
[Current Status: Knight]
[Main Job: Knight]
Level 25? That would have been more or less a hell of challenge for a mere Lv.1 weakling like Vaughn. But when he started comparing, he thought of something.
'System, I have the memories of being super strong, however, my stats are super weak. Why is that?' Vaughn asked.
[Boy, your body has become weaker, almost at the verge of death.]
"No, that doesn't mean all the skills I had gained and all the experiences would just miraculously vanish!" Vaughn protested.
[Sigh, you win. Fine, I'll tell you...]
It was as if the system was hiding something, and now, after Vaughn took notice of it, it decided to reveal.
[First of all, if you were to use even 1 of your old skills, you would die. Your body is not in a good condition, as I mentioned. So, for safety, I have locked away your previous profile.]
[Unless you become Lv.10, I can't give access to your previous profile.]
"..."
There was no point in arguing as what the system said made some sense. It was for Vaughn's best that the system locked his other skills, considering his deteriorating body and weak stats.
But what about the level?
[If you want to ask about the level, then that's also sealed away along with your previous profile.]
Alright, he didn't even get the chance to ask.
'Hmm, I must use them for the battle...' Vaughn said to himself.
Garry stared at Vaughn again and said, "Come on boy, get in already!"
Vaughn, who was close to the bars, said, "Could you give me just 2 minutes?"
"2 minutes? What for?" Garry asked.
'I need to buy the equipment and use them! That's my only chance of survival!' Vaughn thought to himself.
"Uh... haha, meditation?" Vaughn replied, trying to come up with an excuse.
"Meditation? Is that some sort of new ritual you do before battle?" Garry asked, mocking Vaughn.
"More or less," Vaughn replied without further explanation. He walked close to the wall and sat down, closing his eyes and pretending to meditate. In reality, he was browsing through the shop's inventory.
'Alright… So…'
'I will choose this…'
'That.'
'And, hmm. This will suffice.'
Even with his eyes closed, he could see the screen and carefully selected three items, spending 200 SC quite easily.
[Balance: 800 SC]
Before 2 minutes even passed, Vaughn opened his eyes, meeting Garry's gaze as he stared right back at him.
Upon seeing Vaughn open his eyes, Garry asked, "Done?"
"Yes," Vaughn replied with a nod and stood up, looking at the knight who awaited his arrival impatiently.
The gates opened, and Vaughn finally took his first step inside, a smirk lingering on his face.
And it took no longer for Garry to announce, "May the fight commence!"