After that boss fight, the next few days were uneventful. I spend most of those days cutting up the octoshark and putting it into void bags loaded with enchanted freeze magic stones. Once done, I send people through the portals to take some of the meat back to the fortress. I took the first three satchel fulls back to the fortress myself. Some of the pirates helping with cooking noticed it. The old pirate captain spoke up.
“WHAT THE DEATH GOD!? YOU DEFEATED THE SHARKTOPUS! I can't believe it! That shark destroyed the other two ships we were traveling with!”
...I guess it was named sharktopus. I spoke up.
“Yea, I was testing out some of my attacks against it. It almost tipped over a few of our ships, so I didn't hold back against it.”
He looked beyond shocked. I lie to him because a single person being that strong will make them less likely they'll revolt against me. It is the same premise as the kobolds. Most of them as well as a few of the pirates I take pieces of the octo… Sharktopus to feed it to them, I tell them I defeated it by myself.
A few of the pirates have acted up. They were tied outside. The three who attempted to escape or hurt someone started crying out in fear once they see me. I just simply cut the first two's throats. I then called all the other pirates outside to watch what I'm about to do to this last one. The first two tried to run. This last one attempted to kill someone. He deserves what I'm about to do to him.
It takes around thirty minutes to get everyone outside. The enchanters have been working around the clock to make slave collars. Forty still don't have them. They're tied together with spider silk around their hands. I speak once the crowd of people stops coming out of the fortress.
“I brought you all outside to see what will happen if you try to fight against my troops. Remember, the first two died quickly because they didn't try to fight. Only run, I won't go too hard against you for that. You will still die… BUT THIS ASSHOLE TRIED TO KILL SOMEONE!”
I changed into my dragon form. Using the same attack I used against the sharktopus. I pull a vial out inside my mouth and break it. Then pull out multiple scrolls. Finally unleashing my dragons breath against this person. BOOM! A giant fireball forms in front of me. The ground is scorched barren. The only thing left was the smoldering corpse of the pirate and the now on fire pole he was tied to. The attack was so big it burned all the features off of his face. He did not die instantly.
Pirate level 5 to 10
Pirate skill gained Plunder- Attack an enemy with the attempt to disarm them and take weapons and armor from them
Thief skill upgraded Mug--> Stealing strikes- All melee attacks have the passive chance to steal gold, items, weapons and armor from the enemy
Some of the pirates have started crying in fear. Even a few of my troops look worried by my attack. I speak again.
“THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO TRY TO KILL MY MEN! MY FAMILY!… This show of force is over. Just don't try anything like this person and I won't have to kill you. Once I finish wiping out the pirates, you can earn your freedom by serving in the army against the north country.”
...As easy as I make it sound. It is still going to take a long time to fight against the pirates. They almost outnumber our army ten to one. The single ship I captured, is only a very small fraction of the army. From now on, we can sink each pirate ship we see without needing to worry. If I get more troops, it might be better to capture a few more ships. It just takes a very long time to make those satchel bombs.
I head back to the ships. It won't be much longer before we make it to Greed's island. I doubt that they found the treasure he hid there. He buried it deep enough to not be found from treasure finding. It is a passive feeling that happens near treasure. Especially treasure that doesn't belong to you. The boat we captured had a hidden treasure room that made me excited as a got close to it.
After a few more days of traveling, we make it to the island… It is occupied though. Scouting reveals that they are lizard men. They aren't hostile but they might attack us because they are territorial. I don't know much of their language, this could go poorly because of that. Our ships all group together. My generals all jump towards the black turtles. We have a meeting to form a strategy.
“Does anyone speak their language? I only know parts of it.”
Shikki spoke up.
“I know some, kobolds get along well with lizard men. We sometimes form groups together with them since they compliment our small stature and mage classes.”
Shikki has been trying to do everything possible to please me. He scolds the other kobolds that act up against my other troops. I haven't had to kill a kobold yet, it has come close though. Word of my attack against the sharktopus should get back to them. Making them less likely to ever betray me. Undying loyalty in troops might be helpful.
The few generals head to shore to talk with the lizard men. It goes similar to the other meetings with new troops I gained for my army. Shikki had to translate for us. Then the question came. Shikki instead of translating got mad.
I already knew what the question was without understanding their language. “Why are you serving a child?” I calm him, we could easily beat them with our army, that wouldn't solve anything. Having lizard men on our side would increase the size of our army again. I ask Shikki.
“What do we have to do, for them to follow me?”
“It isn't going to be easy master… You have to pass four challenge against them. Each being very difficult, I've never heard of anyone passing all four. The few times we've made peace with them in the past was with their leadership not ours.”
“What are the rules, do I have to do each challenge or can I select a champion.”
“Y-yes master. I don't understand why you wouldn't do it yourself though. No one could be stronger than you so it would only be putting weaker people in your place. If you do, people you have to pick different people for each challenge. So you either do them all yourself or a pick a single challenger for each challenge.”
“I don't want to reveal my full power every chance I get. Having some hidden skills left to reveal in case of emergency is always the best way to go.”
“Ok, so the first challenge looks like a test of strength.”
I relay the message to my generals. Zergnar starts waving his hand like crazy when I asked for a volunteer. He goes forwards. They take us to a circular pit of sand. Inside, is the biggest lizard man I've seen yet. Lizard men are larger than humans. This is the largest lizard man. Zergnar is almost as big as him though. Only slightly smaller. It might be close. Shikki explains the challenge.
“Once they say Makki en shin danno, that means the challenge starts. Listen for those words before you do anything. If you start before then it will be a forfeit and you might get attacked if you hurt the other person.”
We wait and watch. The crowd of lizard men circling the sand pit are cheering loudly. A smaller lizard man enters into the middle. Shouting in the lizard men language. He raises his hand and says it running out of the middle.
“MAKKI EN SHIN DANNO!”
It starts. Both combatants are bare handed. Zergnar had to disrobe and he is only wearing a loin cloth. Most of the lizard men are also wearing only loin cloths. Some are completely naked though. The name of their race is also confusing, because there are lizard women as well.
Zergnar is… Too fierce. He is easily beating the lizard man I thought would be a challenge for him. Each punch lifting him off the ground. Even allowing the other combatant to get swings in against him. He easily beats him down. The lizard man is knocked out and the crowd cheers even louder than before. They all start chanting.
“GNOOLO DANNOA! GNOOLO DANNOA! GNOOLO DANNOA!”
I ask Shikki what it means.
“It roughly translates to strong gnoll fighter.”
I guess that is accurate.
“The next challenge should be the challenge of speed.”
“This is definitely my category.”
I follow the group again. I see a white sand line drawn on the beach. Two poles on either side of the white sand showing the starting line. In the distance, I can see another two poles. That must be the finish line. The crowd gets both near the start and also near the finish. Very few people aren't at either end.
“Same thing as before, wait until he says makki en shin vatta to start. You can also trip or slow down your opponent during the race.”
“Can you explain the rules further? Can I use skills and shape shift forms?”
“I'll go ask.”
Shikki disappears into the crowd then returns.
“Skills yes, shape shifting no.”
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I wait at the start until someone approaches in front of us. They didn't make me disrobe, they did take my weapons though. The person I'm racing again is a much smaller than normal lizard man. Most likely dedicated to increasing his movement speed and dexterity. The lizard man in front of us holds up a makeshift flag. He waves it while yelling.
“MAKKI EN SHIN VATTA.”
The race starts. He starts running as soon as it is said. I walk while chanting haste on myself. Using feral roar and activating sprinting as well. Finally he is about ten feet in front of me. I shield charge him. Without a shield I only hit him with Aegis, knocking him down. I use blink strike to gain another ten feet in front of him.
I don't even look behind me. I just run as fast as I can. It would have been nice to turn into a griffin to fly the distance. It would have been completely one sided at that point. I finish the race before I turn around. Turning around, I see he isn't even half the course yet. The crowd starts cheering for me.
“HUUMAN VATTAA! HUUMAN VATTAA! HUUMAN VATTAA!”
I don't ask what that means. I'm going to guess human racer is what they're chanting. It is getting late. We're offered to stay the night and Shikki urges us to agree. Lizard men would have seen us not staying as a sign of hostility. I keep trying to learn their language the entire night.
Most of the lizard men are standing close to a fire. A giant bonfire was started with us circling around it. Their is singing and dancing that night. Lots of cheerfulness from both sides. Some of the lizard women have started flirting with Zergnar. Their race is entirely about overpowering your enemies. Even with the language barrier, it seems to not matter. A few hours of them flirting and playing with each other. Zergnar finally leaves with three females.
Leon and Nargzar have pulled in a crowd. They're sparring in the circle where Zergnar fought. Only with pants on. No weapons or armor. The fight between them is far more even than Zergnar's. They are intensely acrobatic in their fighting.
Both lunging and retreating after a few attacks. One pushing the other retreating, then they switch. The fight was drawing more and more amazed expressions by the strength and speed of both combatants. Both fall over, out of breath. Their fight was a draw. The crowd starts cheering again.
They both get up and leave the circle. A lizard man enters it. He is looking directly at me. I turn around to see if he was looking at someone else. He waves me forwards to fight against him. I notice who it is though. It is the lizard man I raced earlier that day. He wants a rematch in the form of a fight.
I shouldn't do this. Shikki was also watch and he urged me to do it.
“Refusing a fight is a sign of weakness.”
I guess I have no choice. I strip down to just wearing pants. I even remove Aegis and put him on top of my clothing and gear. These fights didn't look like anyone using any skills. It was only fist fights… Am I strong enough to beat him? He is an entire head taller than me. We both engage. I cast every speed increase I can without using spells. All the buffs that don't give off an aura or visibility towards them being active. I'm so used to being weak I still think I need to rely on these tactics.
I charge him. Straight forward with my attack it still catches him off guard. I catch him with an uppercut while also retreating back. He swings at me but I'm already not there. As soon as his hand swings around I push forwards again.
His attack was so powerful it rotated him backwards. I grab his arm and swing him to the ground. Within seconds I've won the fight. The circle around me was cheering even harder. The crowd wasn't as big as Leon and Nargzar's fight. It did draw attention from potential fighters though.
The next person to challenge me was the biggest lizard man. The one that Zergnar beat. His height is daunting. He's far bigger than me. I use the same tactics for this fight. Charging in and swinging than retreating out of his reach. I misjudged his arm length and his attacked clipped me. Almost knocking the wind out of me.
I have to be far more careful against him. I use my superior speed and fighting tactics to slowly weaken him. Targeting joints and weak muscles on his body slowly chopping him down like a giant tree. My fighting style is angering him. Every attack he misses makes him more and more angry. I jump above him, landing a multiple series of attacks against his head and back. Finally being in range I kick the back of his head, knocking him down and out.
He is dragged out of the circle and the lizard men continue to cheer. A few hours later and almost everyone is asleep. I stayed up and continue to speak with the lizard men. The large lizard man has finally woken up from being knocked unconscious. He approaches me yelling.
“MEKI SHREKA DANNA NATA VETA!
“I-I don't know what you're trying to say.”
“SHREKA! NATA VETA!”
He swung at me. I easily dodged it but I might be in trouble. If we are attacked while resting or sleeping. There are going to be many casualties in my men. Shit! What do I do? Should I kill him? I put back on my clothing after my previous fight, so I have my weapons. I could easily finish him off but it might start a war with the lizard men. SHIT! Either way, if I do decide to kill him. I should do it with a large, loud attack to wake up my troops.
He continues to swing at me. I'm avoiding every attack he makes towards me. I continue to dodge but it is starting to get annoying. I start throwing punches at him as well. The noise has started waking people up. Also some of the few still awake lizard men left to wake up the chief. Thankfully Shikki also woke up. He can translate. The lizard man spoke again.
“MEKI SHREKA DANNA NATA VETA!
“He's saying. It was an unfair fight and now he wants to fight a death match with you.”
I speak up. “He doesn't have a weapon though.”
“Lizard men primarily fight bare handed. There isn't much iron to make weapons for them, the most complicated weapon the make are pointed sticks.”
I did notice he had a leather stretched shield in his hand. If he wants to fight a battle to the death, I'm in agreement that we should. I don't give him a single chance to fight back. Aiming both my arms at him and fire both of my double barrel knife cannons at him. They've both been strengthened with mana canisters. He might have survived wind powered knives. He doesn't stand a chance against these ones fired out with the mana explosions from the canisters. He dies instantly.
Lizard man language learned
Class learned Barbarian passive skill gained Unending rage- rage continuously rises even without being in combat, all the way up to max
Level 1 Barbarian passive skill gained Rage empowered strikes- All melee attacks consume a portion of your rage to increase the strength of each attack
Everyone woke up from the attack. The chief came rushing over towards us. He spoke in the lizard man language.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!”
I speak up. I no longer need Shikki to translate.
“He attacked me and asked for a death match after I had beaten him earlier.”
The lizard chief looks surprised at my newly acquired language skills. He looks at the corpse of the lizard man. Falling to his knees near the corpse. He picks him up and hugs him.
“You foolish son of mine… I knew the first time someone came here who could challenge your strength that this would happen… To think, such a tiny person could beat you in a fight. What an embarrassment you've suffered in your final hours. It is against our beliefs to attack someone who has beaten a lizard man in a death match... But I can avenge my son by requesting a death match with you myself!”
The chief stands up and picks his sons shield up. He had a wooden spear as well. He is going to challenge me to a fight to redeem his son. I speak up against him.
“Think this through elder. I just beat the strongest of your village. You wouldn't stand a chance against me.”
“This doesn't make sense to me... How can a mere child beat the strongest of our people. It is incomprehensible.”
I change into dragon form. Both the shield he picked up and the wooden stick in his hands dropped. This trump card of dragon form has saved me many unnecessary fights. He falls back down onto his knees. Looking at the ground again. He speaks again.
“It makes sense now… I-I can't believe this. We have a dragon in our presence and we're treating you as a challenger. If you fought at full strength from the beginning, you could have easily subjugated us. Forcing us to fight for you.”
“That isn't my goal though. Having an army of slaves is far different than an army of comrades. I wished to gain your cooperation in the fight against the pirates.”
He was defeated without a single attack. I should have just gone into dragon form at the beginning of the fight with his son. That would have saved his life… His death was necessary to strengthen me and allow me to understand his people far better. His death will not go unused.