The Guard narrowed her eyes and nodded, crossing her arms. Sayuri removed her cloak, showing her body made of bamboo to the human guard. Theo looked between the two of them, hoping she would let them pass peacefully. The woman, in plate armor, with short red hair, took out a vial of grey liquid and presented it to Sayuri. “You need to drink this, sir. It will prove that you’re a human.”
Theo could see his friend’s eye slightly move to the shapeshifter, as if asking for assistance.
He sent a thought to her, “That’s a truth serum, another Guard wanted me to use it. I think it can bypass Soul masking.”
Sayuri sighed deeply, resting her one arm on the pommel of her katana, “Means we have to kill her.”
Prometheus nodded.
There are tons of witnesses, we can’t just blaze through, we need to be stealthy.
Then, he came up with a plan. Flexing his new skill, all of his cells responded at once, transforming into black smoke. Theo’s figure exploded outwards, engulfing the surrounding area with his body. Sayuri looked around, surprised, before drawing her sword towards the Guard’s neck in a flash of speed, applying [Enhancement]. The woman caught the blade with her hand, and she stumbled backward, gritting her teeth. The tier difference was too large to be compensated by just sword mastery.
Before she could retaliate, Prometheus shifted part of his body to return solid, taking the shape of a humanoid made of magma behind the Guard. He still kept the rest of his body as black smoke to mask their actions. From behind the woman, he threw a punch with [Enhancement], melting through her armor, and creating a basketball-wide hole in her torso. Theo absorbed her body, and signaled Sayuri to keep moving on ahead. The two monsters put their disguises back on, confidently moving into the city.
Gasps of surprise and fear could be heard behind them, which they ignored.
“Was there truly no other way?” Said Sayuri.
“You tell me. She was going to blow up our cover!”
“Couldn’t we have moved past her?”
Theo thought about it for a moment, and nodded.
“Maybe, yeah. But it’s passed now, and why do you even care that much about it, anyway?”
Sayuri hummed, looking at the ground, “She looked terrified for her life. I would bet she wasn’t older than twenty. I do not enjoy slaying enemies outside the battlefield.”
Theo turned back, walking backward while looking at her, “What’s even the difference? They’re all enemies in my eyes.”
Sayuri’s eyes locked on Theo’s face, “There is no honor in killing civilians. She was barely armed, and she died of a sneaky attack. I feel no satisfaction from such an event.”
Prometheus shrugged, turning forward, “Either way, we need to find the arena. It’s only a matter of time until they find it was us.”
Walking through the smaller city, Theo focused on how everything seemed to be made of steel. The walls outside, houses, and even the roads were all made of steel, interestingly enough. Both the walls and houses were smaller and humbler than what Golden Lake had. Do they have so much metal to waste it on these things?
His curiosity took over, so Theo walked up to a bored-looking man holding a jar of honey in his right hand, asking, “Excuse me, sir, I’m a tourist here, can I ask a question about your beautiful city?”
The man’s eyes widened at Theo’s sudden appearance, and he replied, “Okay…sure.”
“Why is everything made out of metal?” Theo asked.
The man recoiled at Theo’s mechanical voice, but still answered, “Well, our major is the best Iron Technician in the Kingdom, so he uses his talents to build as many houses are necessary.”
Prometheus nodded, waving at the man as he thanked him, joining Sayuri, who was looking at him with crossed arms. Prometheus raised his hands as if to ask, ‘what’? And continued on their journey. Every person he saw on the streets had a deep frown on their face, with bags under their eyes and bloodshot eyes. Another world entirely from the people of Golden Lake.
Asking around, they found out where the arena was, which fortunately wasn’t easy to miss due to its massive, spherical shape. It was at the dead center of the city, and apparently, it was the city’s main source of income. Massive lines of people were formed on the base of the shiny steel ball, but there was a much smaller line for the contestants. Prometheus felt like joining the tournament legitimately, as that was the best way to meet the individual he had come to this city to kill. That is, if the Administrator hadn’t lied. A space-type ability would be perfect for rescuing Arthur. It might even allow me to get inside the Emperor’s pocket dimension.
Sayuri walked on to the spectators’ line, and Theo threw her a bunch of coins he had gotten from the Guard, in case she needed to pay. Prometheus went to the other line, which had less than a dozen people waiting on it. At the end of it, behind the desk indented inside the building, a smiling woman began distributing sheets of paper to everyone present, explaining how they needed to complete the documents to join. It’s mostly asking stuff like name, weapons, and tier. I’ll just lie and put tier-six. I don’t want to go up against weaklings.
Prometheus and the others submitted the papers and the woman clapped her hands, saying, “Very well, everyone, get inside the changing rooms and…do whatever you need to do! Rules are simple: Everything apart from killing your opponents is allowed!”
Most of the other contestants were tier-five and above, most of them possessing some kinds of weapons. They all entered the changing rooms, where some warriors began putting on their armor or cleaning their weapons. Theo didn’t need to do anything so he just sat down on a bench, waiting for the start of the tournament. It was duel-style, so everyone would be assigned an opponent to fight with.
While the shapeshifter was looking around the room, noticing how only three people of the dozens were women, a short and hunched-over man with a spiky mustache approached him, sitting right next to him.
“You new here?” The man asked, his voice quite high for an adult. Theo nodded.
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“I like that armor, did you make it yourself?”, continued the mustache man again. Theo replied with a nod.
“Well, can I assume that you’re in the tournament to win the main prize?”
Am I? I guess the prize for me is the ability I’m looking for, so technically I am.
Theo nodded.
“Perfect. Now, I don’t want to come off as rude, or condescending, but…most warriors here are tier five and above. I’m really not sure if this is the right place for you. But..” The man smiled, and opened his coat sideways, revealing the interior with many small bottles and vials, “I might have something here that could help you bridge that gap. For just one measly soladite…” The man took out a green pill the size of a penny, “You can get this Influence-boosting artifact. It lasts for eight hours, which is enough for the whole duration of the tournament. What do you think? You look sharp, I’m sure you’ll realize how much of a steal this is!”
Prometheus analyzed the pill and held his hand out to try it.
The man shook his head, “There’s no free trial for such a fantastic product, I’m afraid. You’ll have to buy it to see its true effects. What do you think?”
Theo flashed his hand forward and took the pill out of the man’s hand, analyzing it between his fingers.
“W-what?” the seller was looking at his own empty hand with wide eyes.
“This is just water,” Prometheus said, after analyzing its internal composition with his Influence. The pill had an external coating made of bone, while the inside was plain water. He recognized its molecular composition, thus proving it was fake.
“W-what are you talking about?” The man said while snickering nervously and looking around.
“This has water in it, nothing else,” he replied louder this time, afraid the man had bad hearing.
Another contestant approached Theo with a furrowed brow, “Did you just say that the pill is a scam?” Theo nodded. The large warrior, with a sword slung on his back and long black hair, grabbed the scam artist by the collar and shouted, “You dare try to sell me a fake?!”
“Wait, please, there must have been a misun-“ The warrior threw the seller out of the entrance door, making him fly through the hallway and crash in the distance. He then wiped his face and extended his hand out to Prometheus, who shook it, “Thanks for letting me know, I’ll go and get my money back.”
Another hour passed uneventfully before he heard an announcer’s voice deep inside the arena, “Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to the daily Iron Tournament! Today we have twenty-two contestants, and we’ll see if any of them will be able to defeat the legendary Iron Champion! Are you all excited?!”
He then heard shouts of excitement from what he thought was the crowd.
“I am too, I can’t wait to see some bones break and blood spill! As usual, we’ll start with the preliminaries! All of the contestants, please move into the arena, where each fighting area will have your number on it!”
Prometheus, in his Golden Warrior form, got up from the bench and followed the other contestants into the arena. Surprisingly, the inside was much larger than the outside, like the Priests’ base underground. Thousands and thousands of spectators adorned the seats of the metallic structure, most of them standing up to observe the incoming action better.
Prometheus had the number eleven, so he moved to the area that had his glowing number floating on top of it. Another man walked into the area. A topless spear-wielder with a teddy bear slung on his shoulder. Prometheus saw that he was up against a tier five, so he didn’t worry at all. He had easily beaten tier-sixes in the past.
“Is everyone ready?” Shouted the announcer, trying to put as much excitement in his voice. The crowd shouted in return, raising their arms in anticipation.
“Start!”
At once, all of the twenty-two warriors separated in duels launched at their enemies. Prometheus kept his eyes on the spear, which his opponent had aimed at his torso. He’s taking a defensive approach.
The spear wielder was circling Prometheus, gauging his reaction, staying on the ready to attack. The shapeshifter stayed still, observing his opponent. I don’t want to expose my skills, as the ability user that I’m looking for might be watching. I need to win this purely through physical strength. Prometheus took out the Multi-weapon, the red metallic cube, willing it to become a short mace. The massive weight would have made it difficult to work with large weapons.
“Ooh, seems like contestant number eleven has a personal pocket dimension! What other surprises does he have under the sleeve?” Exclaimed the announcer.
Theo’s opponent furrowed his brows, snarling slightly, before chuckling and telling Theo, “Are ya scared? Where are your balls, did a monster eat them?”
Balls? What is he even talking about?
“Testicles, Theo. That’s what he’s talking about.” Said his Soul.
That doesn’t make any sense! Why would he worry so much about testicles?
“Beats me. Just beat his ass already.”
“I want to see what he’s going to do with that teddy bear though, unless it’s just for show or emotional support.”
The spear flew forward, and by some technique or skill, it elongated much farther than it should have, hitting Theo’s neck spot on. It bounced off effortlessly, unable to penetrate past Theo’s synthetic material he used for the armor. His opponent furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue, performing the same attack multiple times, throughout many spots on Theo’s body. Theo didn’t react, letting his opponent see how much weaker he was.
“Freak. What the fuck are ya made of?!” His opponent shouted.
“Silicon Carbide,” Theo replied, making his opponent furrow his brows even more.
He clicked his tongue, and removed the teddy bear from his shoulder, anticipation rising in Theo’s mind. Here we go!
“I need your assistance, master!” The opponent shouted. The teddy bear shook once, twice, and a third time. The plushie shook its head and stood on the man’s shoulder, saying, “I was having such a good time taking a nap, do you really need help against a tier four?” The teddy said. Its voice was deep and raspy, like that of someone who smoked regularly.
“Master, he’s a freak of nature! That piece of junk armor has absorbed all my hits!”
The teddy bear nodded, a small hand supporting its chin, “For this, you will owe me one week of absolute servitude. Is that clear, brat?”
“Yes, master!” The spear wielder dropped on one knee and bowed to the plush animal. What the fuck? Is that his ability?
The animal stretched its neck and extended its hand outwards, a spear of influence appearing in its hand.
“Nothing personal, kid. Let’s not prolong this unnecessarily, surrender now.”
Theo held his gaze on the teddy bear, unable to respond, “Saul, do you see what I’m seeing?”
“Yep. A stuck-up teddy bear. Just destroy it, shouldn’t be that hard.”
Prometheus nodded, lowering himself into a combat stance.
“I see. You youngsters have such a massive ego that we veterans need to shatter.” The teddy said. Before disappearing into thin air.
What?
An impact behind his head crashed Theo’s body on the ground, shattered from the impact. Theo rotated his body in a fraction of a second to see the plushie cross his arms while hovering in the air. Prometheus went for a kick, which the opponent evaded by millimeters. What the fuck is this thing? It’s stronger than a tier-six. More likely a tier-seven or eight!
Swatting with the red club was useless; The teddy bear evaded every strike by just millimeters.
“Impressive. You’re particularly strong for your tier, brat. You remind me of some companions I’ve had centuries ago.” The teddy remarked. Prometheus closed his fist, his strikes increasing in speed and power as he applied [Enhancement] on them. One of them grazed the teddy bear, taking out a strip of cloth with it.
It immediately jumped back several meters, holding its injured side. It began laughing. “You actually hit me! This is probably the first time I’ve been injured at all in the past three decades, and by a tier-four no less!” It chuckled much louder, “Come at me, brat! Let me show you some long-lost techniques!”
Prometheus noticed how the spear wielder had taken a backseat, standing on the edge of their area, looking at the fight. “Teddy can fight, damn,” His Soul said.
Teddy dropped the spear in its hand and put both of its hands on its knees, which looked absolutely adorable on the teddy bear, but the intense amount of Influence coming from it worried the shapeshifter. A small part of him told him to use a Tribulation, but his logical side told him that with Sayuri and Zilch in the surroundings, it was too dangerous of a move to do. Plus it might kill the space user.
Prometheus raised the red club, shifting it into a sword and shield combo. It could be divided into multiple weapons, thankfully. Lifting the shield, he prepared for whatever the teddy bear would do.
“Woah, we got an interesting turn of events on ring three! A teddy bear is assisting contestant number ten in his fight! I’ve never seen such an aggressive plushie!” The announcer commented.
Theo’s small opponent spoke, “Seventh Supreme Dragon Technique, [Ravenous Hydra]!”
Influence gathered on Teddy’s hands, swirling into a vortex that grew ever larger, reaching two meters in diameter. Teeth started forming, and before he knew it, an ethereal dragon made of Influence flew from the vortex, heading straight to Prometheus. Shit!
It impacted Theo’s shield with such ferocity that he was briefly reminded of the falling star, though it was nowhere near as strong, thankfully. The dragon bit down on the shield and dragged Prometheus into the air, snarling and trying its best to remove the shield made of red metal. It began flying downward, smashing Prometheus on the ground with a large Influence explosion, creating a second crater. Another two heads sprouted from the dragon’s head, joining the first one. All three heads bit down on Theo’s body and shield, managing to inflict heavy wounds on him.
“Are you going to hit back or not?” Saul said while yawning.
“Yeah, just wanted to see what the Dragon Supreme Technique was. It’s so fucking cool,” Prometheus said, after which he swung down with his sword, cutting through the three heads. They reformed soon after, so he used [Enhancement] while swinging toward their necks.
“Use some cool elements. Transform into ice!”
“No, I don’t want to reveal all my cards. I need to win with just my strength.”
Theo used an intense [Enhancement] to slash at the three dragons at once, taking the opening to close in on the teddy bear, which was looking at him with crossed arms, “Impressive! To break free of [Ravenous Hydra], you must have superb durability and Influence control. Call me impressed. What is your name?”
“Prometheus,” The shapeshifter replied while swinging at the teddy bear who kept dodging his strikes with ease.
“Prometheus…powerful name for a powerful opponent. I am Xynurath, third son of Hidurath, Dragon Emperor of the Raging realm.”
Prometheus nodded, continuing his strikes unimpeded, “I need to win this match, move aside.”
“Oh? You aren’t here for the simple joys of fighting?” The teddy asked, not a hint of exhaustion in its voice.
“Nope. Can I just win?” Theo asked.
“Naturally. That useless brat over there deserves to feel failure now and then.” The teddy bear walked over to the spear wielder and punched him in the jaw before he could react.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first winner! What an unexpected outcome!”