Now, that that's out of the way, let's keep go... Uh? Seems I spent too much time doing nothing. The talking part's already over. Aki just blocked a great sword with a steel spear. You didn't lose much, that's the first exchange really. Well, now going for his PoV. Or one a little less me.
*****
(I just love mind magic, you can accelerate your thoughts so much that the flimsy nonsense passing through my mind all the time doesn't get me killed.
Stab, stab, block, swirl, go for the knee with the shaft, he didn't fall, butt of the spear to the head it is. Roll away.)
"Is that all you've got, you milk drinking faggot? Do you prefer milk from your daddy or your mommy? I can call them for you, I'm sure they'd be very happy in hearing about their senseless child." Said the person with a level 8 taunting skill, still on a perfectly tidy dresss, before defending three consecutive slashes, each more powerful than the last.
On the fourth strike though, Aki vanished with a smirk and the sword got pulled down by an invisible, getting stuck on the earth.
*Thunk*
From fifteen meters away, Aki shoved his spear on his shadow and the tip appeared to stab the man with half plate from before. A strike so strong, he was lifted from the ground and stayed there. With the spear shoved into his Anus.
"Should've used full plate~." He said with a coquetish tone before teleporting behind a guy who just tried shooting him, one of five mind you, got him by the throat and started shooting magic at the others while using the only one he'd been able to detect as a shield.
No, it was not a tipo, he has no idea where the other four shots came from and is just shooting at random waiting for someone to shoot him in return.
"Argh!" "My legs!" "MY BEEEAAAAAAARRRRDDDDDD! HAAAAAAA..." *Thunk*
With one dwarf maimed by a void blade, one crushed by a falling boulder, one running around in fire and the last one having been hit an ice spike, the guy Aki was holding didn't live long either.
"That was surprisingly easy" He muttered and started running towards the pseudo-core in his wife's possession, finding her lazily laid over a big stone door that stood pressing the offending snake to the ground.
"Did you have fun with your massacre? I could hear something about beards." Asked the ogress.
"It was too easy. The human alone was level seventy, but I didn't even get to turn my spear into a glaive, use more than the basic elemental augmentations, soul arts, nothing good! He had all the resistances too, so why did he act like an amateur who never fought against space, mind and shadow magic?!" Asked the blueballed maniac while looking at the lizard full of bruises as if reprimending him for bringing home milk that spoiled the day after.
"Never *coughs blood* at once, or alone. Can't, breathe..." He hastly said.
"Really? I've seen at least four demons lower leveled that would be harder to kill. While I was touring the city that is. Dear, get up please, the gentle man is going to show us around our new property and sign a contract with me. Isn't he" Said Aki while getting closer and shifting his face so it would rot and bleed until there was only an open skeletal jaw with rows and rows of pearly white shark teeth and a black face with deep crimson sclera starring into his soul.
Could the little pest do anything but repetitively nod his head? Friends, that would be too much to ask.
*****
"Tomorrow both me and Tsu will be busy with the tournament, so it'd be better to pass the meeting for after the three days of it or simply have a diner and chat at the end of the first day since I won't have any pressing mater at the time." Said Aki before sipping his cup of black death, not a potion, just extra strong coffee without any sugar, in his new office.
"Understood boss. Should I say something expecific I should say to the other heads?" Asked the silver haired man in front of him while nothing thins down.
"Most certainly. Tell the blue cat that if he doesn't start treating women better, a very pissed level 100 will want to level his torture skill on his people and that I will personally plant a cactus in his ass, send one to him so he knows what it is, the biggest you can find, and give him as a gift to a driad, who will keep him living for as long as he can produce her nutrients. Use those exact words and tell him to only read the letter in private."
"Noted."
"Tell the dwarven matron that I respect her code of honor and efforts to turn the city into a better place. As a present, give her this copper/steel alloy shield I forged and inscribed myself." He said and summoned a shield of about 1,35 meters in the format of a triangle slightly curving to the inside with a golden-ish rim full of runes and polished gray interior. "The enchantment and infusion of mana should make the shield better than one made purely of steel and about 80-70% as conductive as normal copper. It's also very light, so with its size it should be a good for someone with her fighting stile."
"I can already see how she is going to use it. *sigh*"
"As for the merchant, I want to have an informal dinner to discuss business with him after the tournament."
"Done. I shaw personally deliver the letters than. Before I forget, the madam has been sparing with all the guards since this morning and it seems one idiot tried flirting with her, should I deal with him myself?" Asked the silvery ophidian.
"Nah, if nothing happened to him than he didn't do anything too bad. She's one hell of an attractive woman, so I can't exactly fault the guy, or gal, for something like that when I couldn't even give her a ring yet. Do warn the staff that if they bother her too much I will personally attend to them for a whole week before letting then join a new task force of undead. Everythings up to her though." Said Aki while quickly changing from an understanding expression, to one full of teeth and death, back to his normal expressionlessness while sipping his coffee. "Since my wife seems occupied I will personally go and dispose of the rats I find near our territory. Increase the patrols in the surrounding areas with the minor gangs and tell the men to take possession of any bases where I pass through and properly care for any merchandise inside. Make sure they remember the new adittions to the rules." Said Aki before vanishing while leaving behind only an empty cup of coffee and the cold sweat of his assistant as proof of his presence in the room.
*****
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Said the host. "MY FUCKING EARS! " Said Aki from the participants brackets in an equally loud volume that got a lot of attention.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Though some guards wanted to restrain him, they immediately got orders not to do anything. As the normal guards stepped back, one in a more decorated armor got near the softly smiling Aki.
"Further interruptions will result in disclassification. Have a good day and play fair." She robotically said and went away while Aki just wordlessly waved.
As the most brave and loyal ice beauty the guard got away, she was immediately examined and found cursed. It's not really a bad curse mind you.
"It's supposed to make her more incapable of controlling her facial expressions and..." Answered the bishop by the side of the queen with confusion in her eyes.
"And?" Asked the queen in inpatience.
"It has a note written in runic. It translates to him saying that he thinks the guard captain is beautiful and it's a shame she smiles so little she got the title of icy beauty. Truly an impressive use of a very simple hex." Said the impressed clergy woman.
"I don't care if you recruit him or whatever, I just don't want the fucking perverted with such a false status sheet doing anything to ruin an event of mine." Said the queen of the city, still red because she had read his fake titles out loud. Some examples would be: Anus-breaker, Cunt butcher, Dildo master, Squat specialist, so on so forth.
Disguising your status isn't so simple as to put anything in there, you still have to follow the system's hard-line, so no one would have fishes instead of levels no matter how much they tried. That means that yes, all of those are possible titles.
Took some "convincing" the system, but with things like 'core breaker, human butcher, sword master, one inch punch specialist' and the like already existing, Aki just kept trying till he found titles with the desired effect on people that tries to read him.
By the way, just this finally gave him the Appraisal resistance skill, already level 4, and one level in his hex skill.
"These are also important for the churches, so I will be sure to see to that, of course." Assured the smiling bishop while suppressing a laughter.
After that there were no incidents and the "boring" part of the tournament began.
"This is the killing obstacle course, where only physical might and basic enhancement are permitted. The prize will go to whoever finishes it the fastest and only them. Whoever gets to the other side will receive healing, but otherwise no one is responsible for your injuries but yourself. As an optional part of the tournament you all can choose to participate or not. Volunteers step forward and strip all your magical items." explained the staff member in the participants bracket.
"I will go." Said Tsu and walked forward while Aki did a very embarrassing cheerleader act she tried very hard to ignore.
The moment she started taking her silverware out, many eyes flickered to the obviously expensive items, but most starred off to the wall when they saw that her war-axe had fallen with one blade down and was perfectly embedded into the ground until the shaft, getting a light chuckle out of Aki.
'That was reinforced stone, and she simply let it fall. How well would it cut someone down if an ogre was swinging it?' Was what the smart ones thought.
Bella ignored them and rapidly took her reinforced leather armor out and went foward in casual clothes and a serious expression.
"Participant Gaarni'tsu challenges the obstacle course. Ready, set, go!" said another staff member.
And she started running. She kept close to the ground and felt the air brush her hair past. The arrows coming out of thin air barely fired as she already passed them. If asked, Aki would explain she was using two simple enhancements to get the air around her to be more cooperative, one to make her metabolism burn more energy for a constant burst power and yet another to reinforce the ground so she could put lots more of weight into it.
Going foward the temperature started to drop and she reached an ice wall, the road continued at the top of it. Only seeing frail holds, she instead slowed down, stopped and crouched, reinforcing the ground bellow even further before jumping ten of the twenty meters and shoving her hands into the wall, making new holds for herself and rapidly climbing like that.
Normally this would have made the ice break and dropped her back down, sure, but if she reinforces the ice herself, than it is hardly a problem.
By the way, Aki would have simply changed Gravity around him for a brief moment and run through without slowing down.
Getting to the top, Tsu was immediately attacked by a big white leathered bird trying to peck at her hands. Holding herself with one hand, she tore the beak of the thing straight off and used it as a hold to push herself completely up.
The public was wild already, but the cheers mostly still came from Aki and the men he beat to submission for trying to rob her.
Trowing the bird from before down the wall, she looked up to see a flock of what seemed to be the same species and proceeded to fill her lungs with air till she gave a deafening war cry that got lots of eagle cries in answer.
It didn't take long for the alpha of the flock to come and try to attack her, but she dodged it and punched it's side.
Still dazed from the haymaker, the thing didn't resist much to being mounted, but when it felt the bloodlust coming from its back it froze. Leaning down to the side of its head, Tsu wispered: "Get me to that peak with a flag or I will kill every single member of your flock while you watch and take your eggs."
The beast instinctively knew it wasn't an empty treath, and it was more than smart enough to have learned a bit of common to understand what the heavy ogress wanted.
It skeed and started flapping its wings.
Tsu rapidly got through the chasm filled with floating islands inhabited by a myriad of monsters and got to the finishing line before petting the eagle and having it fly off. Looking at the staff member at the end of the object course, the drown was rapidly Intimidated, but remembered to announce the result.
"Com... *cough* Competitor Gaarni'tsu has finished the trial and beaten the previous record by six seconds with 9 minutes and 53 seconds!" Anounced the elf.
The drown queen couldn't help but grimace at seeing her achievement being surpassed, but she rapidly regained composure and told her assistant and personal maid to pay attention to the ogre accompanied by that depraved man even more.
Little did she know that Aki could have done the course in half the time since he has better basics in magic and can shapeshift.