"Why is that Dwarf still following us?" I glared at the supposed 'Champion'.

To match our pace he was almost running, and we were forced to slow down to avoid drawing attention.

"No idea," answered Phoenix, "But I start to think that tying him us wasn't such a bad idea."

With the mist of shadows the dwarf used back then, there should be no evidence of our fight, but the mist itself could be considered as an attack, so there wasn't much of surprise when someone called for the guards. As none of us wanted to deal with them, we quickly left the area while trying to not draw any attention.

"I have already told that my name is Michael..." started to speak our 'companion'.

"And I already told you that I don't care." I cut him short. "Why do you follow us?"

"I just want you to reconsider my proposal, if we work together..."

"If this is again about manipulating matches of the tournament, I am not interested." I then looked at Phoenix.

"Maybe it's..." he then saw my gaze and quickly shook his head. "Neither am I."

"But we could make a lot of money, just think about it..." still insisted the dwarf.

"Money is not an issue to us... not anymore," I replied and continued to walk. I could finally see the Inn Phoenix was staying at, though it was still a distance away.

"I am sure that you earn a lot," continued the dwarf, "but we are talking about a large sum, and practically without any effort."

I sighed and then extended my hand with the palm facing up. "What do you see?"

"An empty hand... which would look so much better with a pile of coins... what the?!" he stopped talking and looked with wide eyes as little by little a large diamond started forming above my palm.

When I finished, the diamond was the size of an egg in the shape of a perfect sphere. If I put more effort and time could make it even bigger, but it already served the purpose as it is.

Eyes of the dwarf were completely glued to my hand.

"Do you still think I need your..." 

"With this, we could rival even merchants from Asari," he interrupted me with a sudden outburst.

"We?" I looked at him bewildered.

"Yes. I just need a bit of time to make connections with the right people and we could take over the market. I know just the...." he started to speak with enthusiasm.

"I am sorry," I quickly cut him off. "But that doesn't interest me either. The whole point was to show you that I have no problems with money." not to forget that now I receive a hefty sum for simply being a master of the dungeon.

"Are you sure he is a Champion?" Phoenix looked at me with a smile.

I have to admit, I was wondering the same thing, but with truth serum, I used on him...

"Of course I am!" shouted the dwarf, "What?! Do you think that just because I am a Champion I work for charity? Everyone needs money! And since that is the case why not to strive to get as much as possible..." 

"Well, my answer is still the same..." I started to speak but then paused for a moment, "Actually, there is something you might be able to help me with. I want you to rent a workshop here in the capital using your name."

"A workshop?"

"Yes, a big one, with a spacious yard. It can be... actually, it would be better if it was close to the edge. That restriction on using teleportation is very annoying so the less we have to walk outside, the better..."

"Hmm, if it's at the edge of the city I might be able to help you..." Michael started to stroke his beard.

"...and I need it ready by tomorrow."

"Impossible!" he shouted immediately, "You realize that we are in the capital, right? With the tournament around the corner, everything is already booked or rented one way or another. I could get it in a week or two, but by tomorrow..."

"Make it happen and you will get one more as payment." I tossed diamond I just created.

"Two! No, three!" he quickly shouted, but when noticed by gaze darkening, quickly added, "Oh, cmon, you make them out of thin air for fuck's sake."

"Fine," I agreed eventually, though it was mostly to get rid of him. "I will give you two more, just make sure it's ready by the evening." 

"Deal!" grinned the dwarf and then quickly walked away before I changed my mind.

Save for Phoenix and me there should be no one in this world who can create them artificially and diamonds this size cost a fortune. While there might be a few alchemists capable of transmutation, they would need to know the structure of diamond. In theory, it's possible to learn it by analyzing diamond with the same transmutation, but one would need a very good memory. Even then, to create one without making mistakes would be next to impossible. Not without an enhanced mind.

"He was probably a merchant in his previous life," I said while looking at the place the dwarf was just a moment ago.

"Or a thief," Phoenix added.

When we finally reached the Inn, I looked at Phoenix while licking my lips. I swear, if anyone tries to interrupt my 'meal', I will break all their bones.

Luckily no one did and the night was... very busy.

*

I woke when felt someone outside approaching and quickly raised from the bed.

When I looked at Phoenix he was up as well, I placed my finger on the lips and he nodded his head. Clothes quickly appeared on his body and he sneaked close to the window.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

I quietly approached the window as well but made a slight detour. The moment my feet touched clothes lying on the floor, they sprung into action and coiled around me.

Their shape changed, readjusted, at places even completely reformed like the day I made them. It took only a moment and I was fully dressed.

I suppressed a chuckle when a memory of Phoenix expression surfaced in my mind... It's not that easy to strip me now... These clothes were alive, and as result, it was impossible to put them inside pocket dimension. Oh, and when I say alive, I mean they are more like a plant. It would be 'disturbing' if they had thought of their own.

I created a tiny shard with my metal manipulation and used it as a mirror to look outside through the reflection.

"Hmm, only our 'friends'," I said after a while.

It seems that my instincts kicked in when one of the spies got closer to check if we were still inside the room.

I dispersed the shard into dust and absorbed them back into my clothes.

Hmm, I should make some accessories from a metal. When I created these clothes, I had no plans to use this orichalcum as a source of metal. It was meant to be part of them all the time...

"Well," started to speak Phoenix. "I am no longer in the mood to sleep. But it's so early... I wonder what should we do."

"Oh, I think I have something in mind." I let my clothes slid to the ground and placed my hands on the bed. With a grace of a cat, I started to slowly crawl in his direction...

* 

When we entered the guild, only Jack was there at the moment. The rest were either on the way... or still in the bed.

I greeted him with Phoenix and then left to receive my new badge. Phoenix started to look at the board with requests, and after some time Jack joined him as well.

When it was finally my turn I received my badge without any problems. I looked at it from all direction and then placed into the pocket I just created by slightly altering my clothes. When I looked at Phoenix, Darson with Miriel were by his side as well.

"Good morning." I greeted them both when got closer. I could smell Tia and others nearby, but couldn't see them because of the crowd, "Found anything interesting?" 

"No, most of the requests are either to find some lost possession or a guard duty. Most of which is to escort some merchants..." answered Phoenix, "There are a few nobles that organize an 'expedition' to the dungeon, but..." 

"Expedition?" I looked at him puzzled.

"A bunch of cowards that hire 'guards' to kill monsters so they can raise their levels." joined Jack without hiding his contempt.

"They get paid for their work, so it should be hardly your business," said Darson while yawning. "If we want to keep some secrets though," his gaze traveled from me to Phoenix, "It would be for the best if we avoid inviting anyone to our party."

It was obvious he checked our status recently and meant our race. It's unfair that my Cat Beastkin(rare variant) changed into Cat Beastkin(demon), but when Phoenix used my offered insight, his race changed only from elf(rare variant) to a high elf(rare variant).

No, wait. At first, I was turned into a demon completely and only with my body manipulation changed back into Cat Beastkin... with that (demon) now as extra. Maybe it's no longer possible to get rid of that word...

"There are none for monster subjugations?" I asked while trying to change the subject.

"We are in the capital." started to speak Miriel, "With the number of soldiers assigned to patrols, requests like these probably were never even seen there."

"There are some for monster parts from the dungeon..." Phoenix started to speak again, "But with adventurers gathering from every corner for the tournament, the competition is quite fierce at the moment..."

"It's a chaos down there," joined Jack, "I think it's easier to..."

"Hey, you!" suddenly interrupted him someone from the crowd.

A group of adventurers approached us and a tall wolf beastkin, who seemed to be their leader, pointed at me with his finger. "I heard you claim to be a dragon."

"I never claimed to be a dragon." I looked at him annoyed.

"Hey, isn't that Nolan from Dragon End?" someone whispered nearby. Probably the name of the wolf.

"No?" the wolf looked surprised, "But he said that you are Red Beast. Where is that guy?" he asked one of his companions while looking behind.

When the elf pointed at the figure heading for an exit, I recognized one of the spies.

What game are they playing?

Well, considering the name of this party, I think I have an idea.

"No, my nickname is indeed Red Beast," I looked back at the wolf, "But I never claimed to be a dragon."

The moment I mentioned 'Red Beast', people around us immediately started to gossip.

"She must be that dragon from Red Beast," I heard someone whispering. "This should be interesting..."

Some were asking their colleagues about me, others looked excited, or surprised, a few even started to laugh taking my answerer as a joke.

I am more famous than I thought.

I looked at the crowd. Many of them should be from different parts of the empire but there were very few who have at least not heard my name... well, nickname.

Now that I think about it, I did kill half of the army back then. No one should be aware that it was mostly thanks to the boost of the dungeon. Speaking of which... if we also count those killed by monsters... I might have gone a bit overboard back then.

"Aha! So it's really you!" shouted the wolf. "I challenge you to a duel." 

A duel? I looked at him surprised.

I mean it was obvious he wanted to pick a fight with 'Red Beast', but... isn't he looking down on me?

If I was a real dragon, it wouldn't make sense for him to attack me all on his own. The hide of a dragon is on a par with the carcass of formida, but when we take into consideration the difference in size, and in turn the thickness of the scales... with their ability to reinforce it even further with mana there are very few things that could harm them.

Then again, not many read books these days... before my visit to the library, I was quite confident I could kill one myself.

Maybe he is very strong? I activated my analyze and...

<< STATUS >> Name:   Nolan Level:   41 Race:   Wolf Beastkin Gender:   Male Age:   46 Class:   Blackguard Subclass:   Skinner Health:   968/968 Mana:   400/400 Stamina:   986/990

 ...was not impressed.

He was just two levels above me! Sure, he won at least three sacred battles to pass the first barrier, but... A smile suddenly appeared on my face.

"I challenge you to a sacred battle."

Conditions are not met. You and your opponent are in a party.

 Ah, yes. The rules.