Disclaimer : I own nothing.
Chapter 3 : Spars, ceremonies and backroom schemes.
- Shin –
I did realize that I might have messed up increasing my strength so suddenly, but I have a quest on the line. I would have cared if my relationship with the only support I have in the underworld was not at risk if I failed this quest.
I follow Sairaorg to the training grounds behind the castle. Seriously, this place is unnecessarily large. They should keep golf carts in the castle to travel from one place to another. Then again, they are Devils and they can just teleport.
Soon enough a group of people can be seen training around the grounds. I am suddenly hit by an uncontrollable urge to jump at the two blonde girls in the group. Shit. Devils are beautiful but these two are on another level.
Running touki through my body to slowly calm myself down I realize just how much trouble this lustful perk can be. If I have to fight against a beautiful girl I could very well be screwed by just standing in front of her. I need to find a way to control this. It is too much of a liability if it keeps acting like this.
Sairaorg introduces me to his peerage, but it just enters through one ear and passes out the other while I am trying to resist taking these two girls to bed with me. It's lucky for me that Touki manipulation and martial arts proficiency gives one a greater control over their body and thus I can keep my face straight.
It is soon decided that I will be fighting his queen Kuisha Abaddon first and then his rook, the Bune guy.
Observing the two gives me a rough idea about what I am about to face.
Kuisha Abaddon
Queen of Sairaorg Bael's Peerage
Level – 55
Rank – Veteran
Race – Devil
HP – 9,780
SP – 9,780
MP – 18,500
STR – 62
END – 57
DEX – 59
INT – 97
WIS – 93
CHA – 98
LCK – 132
Thoughts about you – Intrigue
Affection – +2
She is a Level 55 Veteran, so around Level 110. But with my Genius perk I have the stats of a level 200, and even then she still has about double my MP and 4 times my HP. The Devils race bonus is really amazing.
"The fight will continue until either side loses consciousness or concedes the match." Sairaorg declares, establishing himself as the referee of the match.
"Start"
At the call of start, she unfolds her wings and shoots up into the sky. Okay I completely forgot about that. Devils can fly. I am fucked. The field is mostly empty with only grass patches, so there are no shadows that I can manipulate. I don't have many ranged attacks from Martial Artist and Thief. So that only leaves my Fire God Slayer Magic. I won't risk the PoD. Maybe if I can use it at the right time, I can use it as an element of surprise and take the match. In the meanwhile I will use my Sacred Gear.
I don't get much time to think as she launches a barrage of elemental magic towards me. I can use this if I force her to attack me with fire. It's to my detriment that she seems to favor ice over fire. But the ice shards are easily dodged so it is actually to my advantage. I use my normal dexterity to dodge any attacks sent my way while she destroys the training grounds with her attacks. More destroyed and uneven ground means more shadows for me to work with.
The other peerage members are looking at me with uninterested gazes, thinking I have no opportunity to win this match. Pitiful fools. I continue with my dodging, preparing the field to my advantage. By the time she realizes the mess she is creating for herself, it will be too late for her.
- Sairaorg –
Sairaorg watches as Shin keeps on dodging the attacks of Kuisha. His queen is smart and uses everything she has to her advantage, as evident by her use of her wings to go out of his range. Shin is a human and this is a major disadvantage for him. She also knows that he uses Martial Arts and her flying limits his options. For him this might seem unfair but he has seen a lot more that can be called unfair… his own life after all hasn't exactly been fair either. In the Rating Games, opponents will use any weakness they find and no one will blame them.
However as he watches Shin dodging the attacks, a sinking feeling starts forming in his stomach. Why isn't he retaliating? He uses magic so of course he can attack back with it, though Kuisha has countermeasures for that already. His Queen thinks several steps ahead in her fights. It is the reason she manages his peerage.
Shin finally stops in the middle of the now destroyed training grounds, and Sairaorg then realizes who has guiding this game all along as he sees the smile on Shin's face. He would recognize that look anywhere. Those are the eyes of a predator who is done toying with its prey and is about to go for the kill. And his fears are confirmed when Shin…..disappears.
- Kuisha –
When the new guy finally stopped in the middle of the destroyed training ground, she thought that he had given up. But then he disappeared? How? She hadn't seen any magic circles at all. Human magicians use magic circles and calculation based magic. Sairaorg told her that he was a magician who uses Martial Arts. She thought that he was one of those Jack of All Trades kind of people. Trying to dip his fingers in all the jars at once, which never leads to anything good. And she was proven correct. He was completely unable to retaliate to any of her attacks.
So what changed? Did he get tired of dodging and decide to finally run away? She is broken from her thoughts when she hears her bishop Coriana's voice cry out in alarm. She turns around just in time to dodge what seem like balls of darkness.
Dark magic. It is considered something rare even among the Devils as only Lucifer himself could use it. It is the counter to the light element of the Angels and Fallen Angels. She dodges them and the balls of darkness suddenly explode beside her, the blast strong enough to send her flying back a few feet in the air.
She looks up right in time to see a barrage of dark needles raining down on her. They were small but the sheer number of them was intimidating and she would rather not check the damage with her own body.
She uses her Clan Trait Hole to absorb the Dark Needles and launch them back at Shin. This makes her defense almost unbreakable in a magic battle against opponents of similar level.
As expected, he is surrounded by the holes before they start to rain his own attack back on him. And then he….smiles? The very next instant he disappears again and she is rained upon by a hail of the same dark balls from before. She tries to use her Hole ability to return the attack but before they can be absorbed they explode in a chain, throwing her onto the ground.
In an attempt to defend herself, she creates a wall of fire around her to stop him from closing in. The only elements that can resist Darkness are Light and Fire. Devils cannot use Light but Fire is fair game.
She looks up to see both the most amazing and horrifying sight in front of her. The boy just walked into the wall of fire, opened his mouth and…..ate...the...fire?
What is that supposed to do? If his rising magic levels are any indication, definitely nothing good for her.
She tries to get up and put some distance between them but finds herself frozen. No matter what she does, she can't move a single muscle. He walks up to her and presses a sword created from darkness against her neck. Checkmate.
- Sairaorg –
What in the name of the Satans was that? He ATE the fire? What kind of magic does that? He turns around to see the dropped jaws of his peerage members and internally thanks the Satans that it wasn't only him who had that expression on his face. Not to mention the fact that the rise in his magic levels when he did that was felt even by him. That is most definitely not any ordinary magic. His Dark Magic was a surprise but Kuisha did not notice it. He was using Shadows as well as Darkness. He had been creating a field from the very start of the match and Kuisha was used to do all the work for him while he just guided her in the way he wanted.
He countered her Hole ability in one glance, not giving her the chance to use it again. He stopped her from getting back into the air and Sairaorg shudders to think that it was his plan to have her use fire magic when she did to use it as he saw fit. He can't help but feel his fists clench and his touki run wild. He is definitely someone who can become worthy of fighting.
- Shin –
And that's how you do it. Finally letting the smile creep onto my lips, I release Kuisha from the Shadow Bind. She looks a little embarrassed and pale. It takes me a moment to realize that it's due to my Fire God Slayer Magic increasing my Magic temporarily after eating fire. Her flames were actually pretty good. I can totally see why Natsu had such a great time eating them.
"Your flames were delicious." I blurt out accidentally. She blushes in return. My Lady Killer perk was definitely at work here or I would have just gotten slapped by her.
+10 Affection with Kuisha Abaddon (12/100) real smooth there host.
+10 Reputation with Sairaorg Bael (15/100) for showing him a good fight.
"That was a wonderful fight, Shin. Absolutely amazing. I really look forward to seeing your fight with Ladora. He is a close range fighter and it will be a great opportunity to watch your martial arts skills too." Sairaorg's booming voice interrupts my attempts to flirt with Kuisha.
Pushing the annoyance to the back of my mind, I smile back at him and give him a nod of agreement. I quickly use observe on Bune to see his stats.
Ladora Bune
Rook of Sairaorg Bael's Peerage
Level – 48
Rank – Veteran
Race – Devil
HP – 12,780
SP – 12,780
MP – 7,500
STR – 102
END – 157
DEX – 78
INT – 57
WIS – 53
CHA – 68
LCK – 62
Thoughts about you – Mild Respect, Battlelust.
Reputation – +10
Great, another battle junkie.
At least he won't play runner against me. I really hate those types of people in pvp. We take our places at the opposite side of the field and get ready for the match to begin.
"Start"
He rushes at me like an enraged bull, trying for a frontal charge. With his strength and endurance, it's not hard to guess why he would do that. Tough luck for him though, since that's a move that absolutely won't work against me. The first chance I get I use Shadow Bind on him and he halts mid-charge. His STR, even with the x2 from Veteran, is still only 204. With my INT at 500+ there is no way he could break free from it unless he has some magic artifact for resistance. And as expected, he stops in his tracks. I use Shadow Stitching to firmly hold him in place….and test out my new punching bag. Martial Arts uses SP so my MP can be used to keep him in place while I bash him into the ground. A couple of force palms and he is down on the ground, not severely hurt but damaged enough to understand the futility of the situation.
Suddenly his body changes shape to that of a Dragon. I could feel the strain on my Shadow Stitching increasing by almost double. His clan trait gives him a big boost to his power, but my 500+ INT still trumps him.
After a few more hits, Sairaorg declares me the winner of the match. Completely anticlimactic.
I turn around to see him and his peerage watching me with jaws on the floor and several levels of awe and respect in their eyes.
Quest Complete
[Prove Your Worth]
Sairaorg Bael wants to spar with you to see your skills. Show him that you are not someone to be messed with, no matter the race.
Objective: Make a lasting impression on Sairaorg Bael and his peerage.
Win at least 1 match in the spar.
Rewards: Increased Affection/Reputation with Sairaorg Bael and his peerage, ?.
Chain Quests Unlocked: A Friend in Need.
Failure: Decreased Affection/Reputation with Sairaorg Bael's peerage, Decreased reputation with Zekram Bael.
+10 Reputation with Sairaorg Bael (25/100)
+10 Reputation/Affection with Sairaorg Bael's Peerage (12/100)
+5 Reputation with Zekram Bael (25/100)
Increased proficiency of [Ki/Touki Manipulation]
[Ki/Touki Manipulation (Adept)]
(Passive)
Passively increases STR, END and DEX by 20% during fights.
(Active)
Increases STR, END and DEX by 40% when activated.
Costs : 2,000 SP per minute.
"That was….really surprising Shin. I expected the second match to be more heated. That magic of yours is really strong." Sairaorg says while strutting towards me.
"It's not without its faults though. I won't tell you what they are but not everything is as simple as it looks." True enough, the MP consumption of Shadow Stitching is insane and it wouldn't work on someone stronger than me.
"Fair enough. It was a wonderful display of skills nevertheless. I look forward to fighting you myself someday. It will be a great fight." He says with a smile and no hint of jealousy in his voice. What's up with muscle heads being so simple.
Anime Logic, Host.
True. He is like Naruto without plot armor or Guy with a sense of style.
"Let's go inside, I have kept you from breakfast for too long already." He says before he starts towards the castle. I follow him with the rest of his peerage, trying to get a hand in and flirt with Kuisha when I can.