“I’ll go.”
“I’ll go.”
Two voices, starkly different in tone and coming from two different directions, echoed throughout the room. One was filled with resolve, while the other was cold.
The former was obviously Jack’s. Seemingly filled with the will to prove himself to the others, he didn’t think twice before volunteering for the first fight of their civilization.
But the other one…
‘Eh?’ Nova exclaimed inwardly as his head snapped toward a corner of the room, where the source of the second voice stood.
There, standing as if everything was beneath him, was Slade, calmly putting away the book he had been reading.
‘I didn’t notice it before, but it seems like he’s improved a lot,’ Nova thought as he eyed him closely.
Jack, also surprised to see Slade in the room, quickly regained his composure. He stood up and said, “Slade, you can fight next, but I really want to fight this round.”
“Hmph.” Slade turned to Jack and snorted. Then his eyes landed on Erevan as he coolly asked, “Me or him?”
‘It doesn’t matter how much he improves, he’s still a prick at heart.’ Nova’s eye twitched as he turned his gaze away.
Seeing that there was no way to change Slade’s mind other than through Erevan’s words, Jack also turned toward the latter. His eyes gleaming, he firmly said, “Let me fight.”
Erevan panned his gaze across the room before focusing on Slade.
I thought he was here as a formality, but it seems he planned on fighting from the start. But why would he want to go against a weak civilization? Couldn’t he pick a better one? What a headache.
He sighed to himself.
If there was anyone in this portal who could give Erevan a headache, it was Slade. He had no way to deal with him, at least not without risking souring the relationship between their families if anything were to happen to either of them, so he could only silently endure until the latter committed a mistake.
Slade, however, also seemed to know that if he pushed things too far, Erevan wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson. Thus, he kept his temper in check, at least in his own opinion.
Erevan cleared his throat and said, “Slade, I already know the extent of your progress, so there’s no need for you to fight right now.”
Slade frowned but didn’t say anything. Wasting words wasn’t something he liked as there was no way he was going to change Erevan’s mind once it was made up, and he knew it all too well.
“Instead…” Erevan turned toward Jack and continued, “It’s been almost a year since I last saw your strength, and this fight seems like good practice. I just hope you won’t lose against such a weak civilization, as that would set us back a great deal.”
Jack’s hands clenched, and as his body shook in excitement and anticipation, he nodded heavily. “I won’t lose.”
“Mhm.” Erevan let out a sound of acknowledgment. “Go, then. You have a day to prepare.”
“Yeah, I’m going.” Jack smiled slightly and strolled out of the room, as if the wind itself were beneath his feet.
It seemed that he couldn’t wait to prove to his friends that he was back to normal and that, during the past months, he hadn’t slacked off at all. This fight, albeit against a relatively weaker civilization, was the best way to do that.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Once Jack left, and with a decision already taken, Slade, having no more business there, departed as well, leaving Erevan and Nova alone in the room.
“Why didn’t you want to fight? I thought you’d be the first to jump at this chance, but you kept quiet,” Erevan said casually as he looked at Nova, who appeared even more relaxed than he was.
Nova shrugged and slowly stood up. “Weren’t you the one who said that civilization is weak? If they’re so weak, why would I want to fight them?”
“You know…” Nova continued, a grin spreading across his face. “If you want to see me fight, why don’t we spar?”
“Oh?” Intrigued, Erevan leaned forward, taking a better look at Nova.
The room descended into silence for a handful of seconds before Erevan shook his head.
“Forget it. I might be curious, but I’m not reckless. We’re inside a portal, fighting each other isn’t beneficial at all.” Erevan stood up from the sofa and turned to leave. “See you.”
Nova watched as Erevan’s back disappeared from view and muttered to himself, “One is a prick, and the other never forgets to act mysterious. What a duo.”
Nova walked out of the room and headed toward his apartment.
“I should go back and start training too.”
/////
The day continued uneventfully.
Jack didn’t choose to train. There was only one day before the fight began, and any progress he could make in that span of time wouldn’t change anything. Winning or losing couldn’t be decided at the last moment.
It was a matter of accumulation.
Thus, when he reached his apartment, the first thing he did was sit cross legged on the floor and regulate his breathing.
While last minute training wouldn’t make a difference, calming his mind and mentally preparing for the fight certainly would.
Nova, on the other hand, immediately delved into spear practice.
It was a training that required time, and in this Lesser Orange portal, time was something he had in spades, making it the perfect opportunity to catch up to his peers in terms of weapon mastery.
With that, his figure blurred as he began repeating Spear Lunge, Spear Thrust, Spear Jab, Spear Sweep, and Spear Overhead Strike.
One after the other.
Twenty-three hours quickly went by.
Then, a notification rang in everyone’s minds, soon followed by a prompt.
[The maximum number of warriors allowed to enter has been set by Earth (Leader Civilization)]
[Each party may send a maximum of one warrior]
[Do you wish to participate?]
[Yes] [No]
[Time Remaining: 01:00:00]
Oreto silently stared at the notifications while more than a dozen warriors sat before him, holding their breath for fear of disturbing him.
They were the higher ups of Grenara.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Oreto went over the notifications multiple times, unable to believe that an unranked civilization had decided to limit the number of warriors to just one.
They’ve just entered the portal, and they already think their strongest warrior can compete against a top 100,000 civilization’s strongest? Have they gone crazy, or are they just dumb?
He wondered to himself.
Usually, a newly unranked civilization would try to send a team of their best warriors to win their first fight, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.
It was strange but less than a second later, he brushed away that feeling and his laughter rang throughout the room.
“Good, good, good,” he said aloud, making the warriors before him finally release a sigh of relief as flattering smiles replaced their worried faces.
He looked at his warriors and declared, “Today is a happy day, for soon our civilization will welcome a new vassal, and I shall personally make sure of it!”
“Long live Grenara! Long live Sir Oreto!”
“Long live Grenara! Long live Sir Oreto!”
“Long live Grenara! Long live Sir Oreto!”
Hearing his warriors praise him brought a proud smile to Oreto’s face, and he instinctively puffed his chest out.
On the other side.
A similar series of notifications rang in Erevan, Jack, Slade and Nova’s minds.
[The bet has been set by Grenara (Subordinate Civilization)]
[Each party must bet the equivalent of 630,000,000 gold coins]
[Rules will be applied if the losing party fails to pay]
[Do you wish to participate?]
[Yes] [No]
[Time Remaining: 01:00:00]
Matted with sweat and Dreadscape in hand, Nova took a moment to read everything that kept flashing in his mind, his lips curling upward.
“Figured. They must’ve seen our ranking and decided we’re easy prey, something that can be easily bankrupted and taken as a vassal.” He twirled his spear between his fingers before smoothly storing it in his Inventory.
“But they forgot something.”
With a snap of his fingers, water and fire mana intertwined, quickly cleansing and drying him off. Then, grabbing a new set of black robes, he donned them and approached the entrance.
“One should never bet so much against an opponent with no available information.”
He opened the door, and as he closed it behind him, he added, “My training speed is going to skyrocket after today.”
A chuckle left his lips as the door closed with a bang.
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