“By the veils of Nassandra,” Glakassa exclaimed. “What manner of devil are you to possess this much strength?”
“I am a human, nothing more. And I have no need of anything else.”
“Then I am but a worm, and the greatest prodigies of the Multiverse, nothing more than rats, scurrying beneath the feet of monsters. Had I known there was someone like you present, I would have waited for another day to challenge the Tower.”
Sam had no idea what to say to something like that, so he simply shrugged.
“Though, I have to say, it is refreshing. My entire life has been one of regimented rules and requirements, my entire being crafted to be a true powerhouse of my sect. Until now, I had thought with my entire being that it was working. To anyone but the scions of the Great Factions, or the children of the gods, I would be an apex talent. Then you appeared.”
Sam stood there, not sure what else to do when his mere existence was creating an existential crisis within another person. She kept talking, but it started to blend together. It would have been rude to attack while Glakassa was in this state, not to mention the fact that his Dao, which was built in the concept of Justice, wouldn’t like it. Justice was a close brother to Honor, and while Sam was not a follower of the latter path, he was influenced by it.
“Are you even listening?” Glakassa snapped, watching as Sam seemed to stare past her.
“I am,” Sam replied. “You were starting to repeat yourself though.”
“Oh.”
“What the hell is this? Fight already!” The voice of the Overlord drifted down from the stands. “Show that alien worm who’s the strongest here!”
“Are you-“
“Related to him? Unfortunately. He used to be a lot worse though.”
“Well, I could have guessed as much. I was going to ask what exactly that relation is,” Glakassa replied.
Sam narrowed his eyes. “Are you really trying to have a conversation about my lineage while in the middle of a fight? We were trying to kill one another a few moments ago.” he tilted his head. “Well, not quite. You know what I mean.”
“It has been a while since I could speak to another as a peer, rather than as a lesser, or a superior. Besides, I already know the outcome of this battle. I can tell you’ve been holding back on me. Your strongest skill is beyond the scope of my upgraded analysis skill to detect, which means that it must either be Primal rank, or perhaps even above that.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Do you want to see it?” Sam said, before realizing what he had said. “Shit! I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I could tell,” Glakassa said, though a faint blush had already crept over her cheeks. There was a groan from the stands as the Overlord witnessed this new development. Both of them ignored it.
Sam was starting to feel a strange, almost electric tension in the air that went beyond simple battle fever. There was something about this aloof, jaded alien princess that made him want... Well, he didn’t really know what. A few seconds later, he realized that he had been staring at her, and even worse, she had been staring back.
“Are...” She began. “Are we still going to fight?” She almost seemed confused.
“Only if you want to.” Sam’s entire being and E Rank potency went towards ensuring that he delivered that line smoothly. Otherwise, he would have laughed at himself.
“Perhaps we can talk for a bit. I rarely get to learn about the universes near the Rim. My tutors consider it to be beneath my notice.”
Sam smiled, and began to speak, his enhanced mind allowing him to dredge up all of those dry historical details that had passed through his mind in school, and at the time, out the other side. For some strange reason, he hardly found them dry at all now. From the rise of mankind out of the jungle, to the greatest developments of his planet, he told it all. It was a bit odd to speak of humanity, while he knew that his race was not unique in the Multiverse, but he ignored it for the sake of his tale.
Hours passed, but to him, stuck in this strange state, it felt like minutes. Had his Dao not been so advanced, he would have suspected some form of mental manipulation. He knew the truth though, even if he had never felt like this before. There was something between him and this woman who he had never seen before in his life. Something powerful.
When he finally stopped talking, Glakassa smiled. “I never had the chance to appreciate the nuance of the smaller worlds before. If a simple planet in a newly initialized universe can contain such a depth of history, then how many worlds have I glossed over in my pursuit of knowledge, condemned as below my notice? Thank you for taking the time to enlighten me.”
“The pleasure was all mine.”
“Then I suppose there is no need to continue this farce. I can see your ally practically foaming at the mouth up there. I surrender.”
Glakassa was whisked out of the tournament, and Sam felt a strange sense of loss. He would be seeing her again, but this was a feeling that went beyond rational thought.
A few seconds later, the Overlord stood before him, an ugly look on his face.
“What in God’s name was that little display?” He asked, anger on his face. “She is one of the people who raked our planet over the coals in search of profit!”
“She was not among them. Do you really want to tar the whole Multiverse with such a narrow brush? I guarantee you that there were humans among the invaders. They may not have been from Earth, but they are the same as us.”
“Still, I don’t like the way she wormed her way into your sentiments.”
“Is this because you don’t want me having any sort of relationship with an alien?” Sam asked. “Is that it? I thought you weren’t my father anymore.”
“I’m not, but I will not allow an ally of mine to be corrupted.”
“Whatever,” Sam replied, shaking his head. “You don’t control my life. If I find someone I like being with, it hardly matters if they are from Earth, or not.”