Well, the four semi finalists have been decided, for real this time. After my easy win, that Felinoid guy defeated his opponent with relative ease as well, and then Aura won her match without any trouble either, killing her opponent within about half a minute.
As for the fourth match, that was the only one won by one of the four who wormed their way into the tournament, an archer who uses Barrier Magic.
I'll be fighting the cat guy in about ten minutes or so, and if and when I beat him, I'll have reached the final, leaving my just one step away from achieving my goal in this tournament.
It was currently the break before the semi final round, and the four remaining contestants had been kept separate each in their own private rooms.
Not sure why, it doesn't really make a difference now after we've all spent the previous rounds in that large waiting room, but I'm not complaining, I like being alone.
Well, mostly alone, anyway...
"Why don't you just one-shot the remaining two matches with a gun? Just go for a headshot as soon as the fights begin and nab an easy win, shithead," Suggested Arkiela, landing on the top of my head and leaning down over my forehead to meet my gaze.
"It won't be that simple, bitch. My opponents will be prepared for that since they've already seen me use a gun, so it won't be easy to hit them with just one shot. And besides, that cat guy has earned a pass, I won't kill him. Same with Aura if I face her in the final. The Felinoid's Trap Magic is fascinating, it could be worthwhile forming an association with him, I bet his Magic would come in real handy on Quests and stuff," I replied with a shrug, as I swatted her off my head.
"Huh, that's pretty surprising, coming from you," She responded with a perplexed expression, hovering in front of my face.
"No, not really. I had plenty of associations and connections with others in the underworld in my previous life, remember? From info brokers to black market weapon dealers, and of course, clients. The more connections I make, the more money I stand to potentially make in the long run. So if I come across someone who would be a good potential connection to make, it'd be a waste to kill them if I can avoid doing so, it's as simple as that," I pointed out objectively.
"I guess that makes sense. Well, it looks like you probably won't be acquiring any more EXP in this tournament, you aren't going to kill that cat guy, and if your opponent in the final will almost definitely be that Aura girl, and you don't plan on killing her either," Surmised Arkiela in response.
"Mhm, yeah, I'd prefer not to kill her. She's made a good impression with me, plus she's pretty talented, skilled and powerful. Since we got off to a friendly start, I have no reason or desire to kill her."
"You know, I never can figure out how your mind works in this regard. I mean, you didn't lift a finger to help any of the people who were nice to you in the orphanage, you just watched them die, remember?" She reminded me.
"Please, there's a big difference between not helping a person and not killing them. There was nothing to be gained by helping them, the chances of them adequately repaying me for saving their lives was minimal at best. I held no grudge against them, so unless that changed, I would never have killed any of them...but that doesn't mean I was obliged to help them," I defended myself with a frown.
"Hey, no need to get all pissy, shithead. All I was saying is that you won't be getting any more EXP in the tournament since you aren't going to kill anyone. I mean, don't you need an absolute mountain of EXP to reach Level 3 of your Item Box?
You haven't gained any EXP after reaching Level 2, since you didn't kill your previous opponent either. Well, I do get why you didn't, that guy's gonna be absolutely traumatized by this and haunted by it for the rest of his life," She chuckled in amusement.
"Yup. It required 100 EXP to reach Level 2, and after I leveled up, my EXP is back at 0. To reach Level 3, I'll need a further 200 EXP...it took eight years to reach half that amount, so I get why you're bringing it up. But that said, if I successfully become an Adventurer, I should get more frequent opportunities to gain EXP. Not to mention that I was trying to keep a low profile over the past eight years and wasn't as actively killing people as I'd have liked to," I pointed out.
"You'll probably need to start killing Monsters too, there are far more Monster hunting Quests than there are human bounty Quests. I don't understand your apprehension towards killing animals, especially in comparison to your complete indifference towards human death. I mean, sure, you killed some birds and stuff over the last few years, but those were solely for food."
"Well, yeah, animals are just objectively better than people. I have plenty of reasons to hate people, but that's not the case with animals. When people are attacked by animals, it's usually their own fault," I replied without hesitation.
"Come to think of it, you got a cat shortly after you became a mercenary, I remember thinking how bizarre it was how devastated you were when that creature died. I'll admit, I did consider doing something to it to see how that would affect you, but I decided against it. The longer you had it, the more emotionally attached you'd get and the more it'd hurt you when it died. So I instead left it alone and let it die of old age. That was the only time you cried after becoming a merc," She recalled with a laugh, before I snatched her out of the air.
"And?" I inquired with an icy glare, adding as I tightened my grip around her sharply, "Of course I was heartbroken, that cat was the only living thing I loved at that point in my life. If you had played a part in killing her, then I would've killed you without hesitation right now."
"H-hey, chill out...I swear, I never did anything to your cat, I didn't harm so much as a single strand of fur. So...could you let me go now?" She responded with a nervous smile.
"Hmph...fine, but only because it's almost time for me to head to the arena," I huffed as I begrudgingly let her go and headed for the door...just two more matches to go, I'm almost there...
...
"I must say, I'm looking forward to this. Especially after that unwelcome delay," Smiled the cat guy, as we both stepped onto the arena.
"Mhm. Good luck, I suppose," I replied, giving him a quick glance over.
"Thanks, same to you. Naturally, I don't intend to lose...but I'm not so cocky that I'm going to declare my victory prematurely," He responded wryly.
"Smart, I can certainly appreciate that," I smirked, as I cracked my neck to the left.
What was his name again? It was something long, so I can't remember.
He's got a couple of crossbows strapped to his forearms, he didn't have those on during his previous matches...he's taking this fight pretty seriously. This might be tough without my guns, but I'll save them as a last resort if necessary. If I can't defeat him without killing him, then I'll have no choice but to opt to kill him...
"The first semi final will begin in five! Four!"
I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled...now that I'm so close to the finish line, I'm starting to get a bit nervous. Gotta stay calm and keep a cool head, just focus on the task ahead of me and don't get too far ahead of myself. I've got this...
"Three! Two! One! Begin!"
As the countdown ended, my opponent swiftly fired out a couple of arrows at me before rapidly racing across the arena with impressive agility as he began to reload his crossbows, his lips moving slightly and quickly...he must be chanting to set up Trap Spells all across the arena, it may be over for me if I step onto any of them.
I swiftly got low and ducked to evade the incoming arrows, before I countered by rapidly flinging a throwing knife in his direction, which he deflected by drawing out one of his blades and slashing it across, striking and knocking away my knife as I took out my grappling hook and fired it at him.
As the metal anchor shot towards him, he quickly drew out his second blade and crossed both blades in front of himself defensively, a loud clang echoing out as he blocked my attack, recoiling slightly upon impact but he managed to maintain his balance, one of his blades dented by my attack.
I withdrew the grappling hook and tossed it back into my Item Box, flinging another throwing knife in his direction as I did, which he knocked away with a swing of his left blade, before flinging his right blade, the one I'd dented, straight at me with a rapid spin, as he quickly finished reloading his crossbows.
"[Open Slot 33]," I chanted swiftly, taking out the shield I'd used a few matches ago.
I drove the bottom of the shield into the floor of the arena, the blade he flung at me crashing against the shield and getting deflected off of it, before he took aim with his crossbows and fired.
I wedged the bottom of the shield deeper into the concrete as the arrows came shooting in my direction, before hitting the shield and bouncing off harmlessly. Let's see if I can win this fight while primarily using only this shield. It can do a lot more than simply block attacks.
This shield has a viewing slot at about head height, made of reinforced, bulletproof glass, so I can still see him while standing behind the shield. But there's a few other handy features that I had installed when I custom ordered it...I then grabbed the handle of the shield and twisted it, extending out a couple of short barrels at the front of the shield.
I then took out my gas mask, putting it on before taking out another item...a tranquilizing mist grenade. I had this shield fitted with small, retractable cannons, which can fire out pressurized wind blasts, though it's only effective at mid range at most, and probably won't do too much serious damage.
I then shoved the grenade into the back of one of the barrels, reaching down and undoing a couple of latches about three-quarters of the way down the shield, allowing me to rotate the part of the shield above that spot.
I rotated it across before locking my aim onto my opponent...and pulled back sharply on the handle of the shield, the grenade shooting out of the barrel straight towards the cat guy rapidly.
"[Manual Trigger]!" He swiftly chanted as the grenade began to close in on him, my eyes widening as an intense shockwave burst out from the ground in front of him, causing the grenade to explode before it could reach him, the tranquilizing mist that burst out of it getting blown away and dispersing throughout the barrier.
Aw, man...I just wasted another grenade, and I've only got a few more of those tranquilizing mist ones left too. How disappointing. Oh, well, no point in crying over spilled milk, let's try some other options instead...
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