Daz planted the copied law sign at the centre of the cabins that housed his citizens in the outer fort. Naturally, several people saw him do this and went up to investigate.
Sandy was one of the people that came to check out what Daz had done and nodded his head while he held his chin. "The kiddo's mellowed out a bit if he's changed it this much. Maybe I should treat him to some of my 'special' tobacco tonight?"
Bobby was stood next to him and frowned. "Lunchtime's over, Sandy. Hurry up and finish building my cookhouse."
"Bah, you want a good cookhouse? Then shut yer trap and be patient. A thing like that doesn't just pop up out of the ground in a few hours. I've got to go over these blueprints from the system, get materials from the mines and buy the lumber myself. Not to mention that I've got to pass it by that kiddo, though I'm sure he won't care much so we can start working on it today, I suppose..." Sandy grumbled.
A few moments passed and Sandy sighed before clapping his hands to gather the attention of the people still looking at Daz's new sign and he said in a loud voice, "Alright, people. We get it, the lord loosened up the laws. Now, back to work! We've got refugees that need homes and a grumpy old sod that needs a personal kitchen!"
The crowd laughed and began steadily getting back to work. Bobby looked a little bit embarrassed and coughed. "It's more of a restaurant than a 'personal kitchen'..."
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Daz had chosen to not stick around for long and soon returned to the barracks after readily accepting Sandy's proposal to build a cookhouse for Bobby. It sounded like a great way to boost the morale and loyalty of his citizens, so Daz would never be against such a suggestion.
Crusher was still sat on the floor with her eyes closed right next to the barracks' training arena, and as soon as Daz approached, she stood up and stretched her body. "All done?"
"Yup, sorry for the wait," Daz replied before he began walking towards the practice area, "Shall we?" he asked.
"Sure! Ah, but don't use Rimmy at first, if you don't mind. I just wanna fight you," Crusher said as she matched Daz's pace and entered the training ring.
"What about my clone?" Daz questioned. Surely, if Rimmy was banned, then wouldn't his clone be disallowed as well?
"Hmm, tell me honestly, how easily will you be able to beat me with your clone helping you out?" Crusher was more than aware that she was stronger than Daz in a straight fight, but if he used everything at his disposal then she would be the one getting defeated, not him.
"I'm not sure," Daz shrugged his shoulders. "How about we just go at it and if it's too one-sided, I'll summon my clone. Sound fair?"
"Yeah, sounds good. Oh, right, afterwards, do you mind helping me spend my merit points? So far I've only bought these gloves, upgraded my hammer and boosted my stats. You're probably better at choosing good stuff from the shop, right?" Crusher had no shame in her voice and was perfectly happy admitting her inability to accurately decide on what she needed.
Daz nodded. "I don't mind. I've got nothing planned for today anyway."
"That's great! Well then, no time like the present," Crusher happily stated before she took a stance with her sledgehammer and patiently waited for Daz to prepare himself.
The young Reaper outstretched his hand and Hamson appeared out of thin air, mildly surprising Crusher.
"I thought the inventory system was gone? Ah, Hamson looks a bit different too... I guess you added some more skills to him? Hahaha!" Crusher wasn't all brawn and no brain.
"Something like that, well, whenever you're ready," Daz replied halfheartedly and lowered his body slightly in preparation for Crusher's first attack.
Grinning wildly, Crusher leapt across the arena and swung her hammer down with lightning-fast speed. While she hadn't invested anything into the agility stat, her raw strength afforded her some natural movement speed and she far outstripped Daz in this regard.
Thankfully for the Reaper, his dexterity, agility and ingenuity combined, allowing him to read the trajectory of Crusher's weapon, and with a slight shift in his stance, he was able to dodge the blow.
The pressure created from the hammer's head passing through the air almost blew Daz off of his feet, so he quickly used his Stun skill to lock Crusher in place and then used Flurry and Shovel Smash in quick succession before jumping away.
Sweat trickled down his brow as a smile crept up onto his face. "You're resistant to stunning? Well, there goes one of my most powerful moves for the next two minutes."
Daz's Stun skill could freeze people with no resistance to the skill for thirty seconds and the cooldown was only twenty seconds meaning that he could keep anyone in a loop of stunning as he defeated them like he had done so during the fourth attack. However, if they were resistant to it, then the effects would only last for a single second while the cooldown would jump up to two full minutes.
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Crusher grinned and licked her lips. Her wounds closed themselves up thanks to her passive regeneration stat and naturally strong body as a Titan. "Yup, though mind you, I didn't expect you to cut my lifeforce down by a tenth in a single second. This is getting interesting. Brace yourself, this next one won't miss."
Daz narrowed his eyes and changed Hamson into the large scoop shovel type he had only recently unlocked in the dungeon and held it perpendicular to his body as if to act as a shield.
Crusher once again bounded towards Daz and swung her sledgehammer downwards. It was as if time was replaying itself because there was seemingly nothing different with this attack as opposed to the prior one.
Daz was confused but he still altered his stance and dodged the blow. As soon as the hammer had passed Daz, alarm bells began ringing in his mind. 'She's only holding that with one hand! Where's the other han-'
He had figured it out too late. Clad in one of her S-rank gloves, Crusher's right fist came up to Daz's chin and rapidly hit him three times before launching him into the air. Daz's brain felt jumbled and he was struggling to think as he began falling to the ground. This was clearly the effect of Crusher's gloves which added a concussion to the target after landing three uppercuts.
Normally a concussion was enough to put a person out of commission for a few days or perhaps a few weeks, but Daz's constitution stat allowed him to wave off the effects after a few seconds of floating in the air.
Of course, Crusher wasn't just going to let him land peacefully. She was stood right under him and she had her weapon held in both of her arms. Just as Daz was about to land, Crusher swung her sledgehammer as hard as she could and yelled, "GRAVITAL IMPACT!"
Several runes lit up on the head of her hammer and it looked like the fight was going to be over in a few moments. Unfortunately for Crusher, Daz wasn't as helpless as he might have appeared to have been.
Several ghastly arms sprang out of Daz's back and chest and they nimbly pushed off of Crusher's sledgehammer, moving Daz's body a few meters away thanks to the force of Crusher's attack.
Most of the new limbs were broken and turned back into death energy which seeped into Daz's skin. The young Reaper got back on his feet and a massive grin was spread across his lips.
"You got me good there, Crusher," Daz complimented as he spat out a mouthful of blood and two teeth. The Titan certainly didn't hold anything back in her punches, Daz assumed.
"Likewise, Lord. I didn't know you could create arms anywhere on your body. That's so cool! Is there a limit?" Crusher wiped the sweat from her forehead and returned Daz's grin with her own.
"Not really. I can only make so many, but when they get destroyed, the energy is refunded in full, so I can use it endlessly as long as I don't use up all of my energy with other skills, though to be honest, this is my first time actually trying it out," Daz shrugged.
"Good! Good! Good! This is fun! Hahahahaha!" Crusher threw her head back and roared out a laugh. "Well, time to get serious. Let's see who can win, shall we?" Crusher licked her lips and then said in a low voice, "Titan Form."
With the sound of bones cracked and muscles tearing, Crusher's entire body stretched and grew. A single second had passed and she was now stood at a full twenty-feet tall. Even Daz, the usually stoic and passive man, was struggling to hide his anxiety upon seeing such an absurd skill.
"As much as I want to keep fighting in the ring, shall we go outside of the base? I don't want to break anything. Hahahaha!" Crusher's voice rolled out like a surging tide and rang through Daz's ears, and every other person who was nearby, felt their bodies vibrate from the sound waves alone.
Daz simply nodded and walked towards the outer gate. As soon as he had turned his back, Crusher grabbed him and jumped over the rampart which was fifty meters away in one swift motion.
'... How the fuck do I win this without using my clone or Rimmy?' Admittedly, Daz was starting to panic. He had naturally seen the details of this skill of Crusher's.
'Titan Form'. It allowed her to assume the form of a true Titan for ten minutes and it boosted all of her physical stats by a whopping ten times.
With care, Crusher let go of Daz and grabbed her sledgehammer in between two of her fingers before she said, "Enlargen."
As if by magic, it grew until it was to scale with Crusher's new body. Daz gaped and uttered, "You've got to be fucking kidding me, right?"
"Hahaha! I just spent one-hundred thousand on this skill. It lets me make anything I use bigger or smaller. I already did it to my clothes as soon as I bought it," Crusher confessed as she scratched her head in embarrassment.
"... But you literally just asked me to help you choose what to buy..." Daz was left speechless.
"Ah, I was too into the fight so I forgot," Crusher chuckled before she planted her feet in a combat stance and narrowed her eyes. "You might wanna use your clone and Rimmy, Lord. I'm not gonna hold back, so don't die on me."
"I have permission now? Rimmy, get her!" Daz shouted as he summoned his clone and charged Crusher's front, while Rimmy, who was previously watching from the portcullis, immediately rushed her rear and tackled the Titan.
While Daz had initially wanted to fight fair and square, all bets were off of the table the moment Crusher had used her Titan form and said that she was okay with Daz using his summons.
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"Hey, Sten, call me daft, but was that a giant?"
"Royal flush! It's my win!"
"Sten, are you even paying attention?"
"Of course I am, Leston! I bloody won with a royal flush! How could I not notice that? If I recall correctly, the wager was two bags of potato chips. I'd be most pleased if you kept your side of the bargain!"
"... Did you seriously not see that giant just jump over the outer wall?"
Leston looked a bit dazed as he handed over the promised bags of chips which he'd happened to win off of a citizen.
"What nonsense are you babbling about now, Leston? Have you finally lost all of your marbles? You were only twenty-nine the last time I checked. Oh God, don't tell me... you've contracted mad goblin disease?!"
"Oh, put a sock in it, Sten. Maybe I was just seeing things..."
"No doubt! Bloody giants... What's next, an army of goats? I heard there's a doctor amongst the citizens, Leston, mayhaps you might want to visit her and get a prescription lest you suddenly start seeing talking goats!"
"... You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"
"Don't be foolish... I'm your friend, so of course I'm not going to! Now... another game?"
"... Sure."