Chapter 344: Wonder Kid

Chapter 344: Wonder Kid

Ive improved the leather, Eury said as Dallion was putting on the boot shed given him. Itll handle the flame, but nothing else will. After your fight, give me the other one and Ill fix that as well.

Thanks. Ill do that. Dallion stood up and took a few steps. The boot felt slightly snug, but that was to be expected with new leather. Eury had modified the insides so it could handle both his kaleidervisto and dartbow. Its great. How much do I owe you?

Its fine, the gorgon smiled. However, she was still wearing a blocking ring, making it impossible for Dallion to determine what emotions she had. Youll owe me one. Just dont get it ruined in your first fight.

I plan to have just one fight today, Dallion said with an air of confidence. There was no jokiness in his words, as far as he was concerned, they had moved back to being just friends.

I know. A cluster of the gorgons snakes focused on the door. More and more of the tournament challengers were coming in. Good luck. Ill be waiting for you after the fight.

Sure.

Dallion looked back down, pretending to adjust the holster boot. Eury must have gotten the hint, for she left soon after. Things were better this way, or at least thats what Dallion told himself. It had been fun while it lasted, but now he had more important things to focus on and a relationship was making that complicated.

Win the fight, level up, and figure out what the Star is planning, Dallion said to himself.

Ambitious, Nil said. And I dont even know how youll tackle the third one.

Very funny.

Dear boy, the only way to get through life is to laugh at it. Sometimes I wonder whether you planned this all out or just were very lucky.

Part of both.

Given the forces he was facing, Dallion had no chance of surviving if they went straight out. However, the attention he had gotten also served as his protection. The city Overseer was already keeping an eye on him, and since the first fight, so were Countess Priscord and the member of the imperial family. That made Dallion relatively untouchable in the short term. The moment people lost interest, it would be a whole different ball game. The trick was to gain enough power by then to be able to handle the inevitable fallout.

The opening will start in one minute, a tournament official rushed into the room. Get ready and please make a good impression out there. Good luck!

Taking a deep breath, Dallion followed the rest along the corridor and out onto the field. The stands were already packed by the time he got there. The countess was discussing something with the Lord Mayor, andinterestingly enoughthe overseer. That wasnt a good sign. From Dallions limited experience of watching new coverage back on Earth, the only time a person of importance had a chat with the head of security was when there were actual concerns.

The sound of trumpets filled the air, followed by a wave of fireworks. To his amazement, Dallion saw the fireworks write the number 2 in bright, multicolored blasts of light. This definitely was entertainment at its best.

Finishing the conversation, the Lord Mayor and the overseer left the countess' balcony, returning to their seats. About the same time, the imperial arrived, accompanied by the mage.Th.ê most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m

Dallion frowned. Hed only met the mage twice so far, but utterly disliked him. There was a certain sliminess that surrounded him, not the arrogance of the general, but something different.

The moment the fireworks display was over, all noise ended. Everyone on the field and in the stands looked at the countess. A confident smile on face, the woman clapped her hands. With that, the second day of fighting officially began. Calmly, the contestants went to their grid spaces.

Moments later, he jumped back out of Elviras vicinity, holding roughly three quarters of her right chain.

Lux, stop. Dallion dropped the chain to the ground. One down, one to go.

Returning the dagger to its place, Dallion drew the whip blade extending it with a flick of his hand. Now each of them had a ranged weapon. There was one major difference. While the mercenary didnt seem terribly afraid, the parts of the other chain were. Now that they knew that Dallion could hear them, they started shouting, explaining that they never were meant to be used on the battlefield. Apparently, while their owner had made a name for herself fighting in this fashion, she had never actually bought a weapon for the purpose. The chains were always of the common variety she took from a blacksmiths before heading out on a mission. Considering the dangers of the wilderness, that made sense, but was also quite sad. Any chain taken by her had the very real danger of ending up dead or discarded long before she reached her destination. The arena battle was no different.

I dont want to harm you, Dallion addressed the chain pieces. I just need to disarm her.

Why hurt us? A chorus of voices asked. Were just temps. Hurt the daggers! They are linked to her.

It didnt seem there was much loyalty between Elvira and the chains. Then again, Dallion didnt expect there to be, everything considered.

All I need is a chance to break the connection. I promise Ill mend you once the fight is over.

Crackling blade, Elivra said. Cute. Theres a lot more of them in the wilderness. She started spinning the other chain.

Bandits? Dallion asked, raising his armadil shield.

Creatures. The way she said it suggested that she went through a lot of chains on her missions. Youre different. You dont have any bloodlust. Also, on the field, no one can die. She threw the chain at him.

It wasnt difficult to avoid a flying chain. Dallion, however, knew better than to try. For her to make something as obvious meant she had something else in store. Taking the full brunt of the attack with his shield, Dallion lashed out at her with his whip blade. That proved to be a mistake. Bending back, Elvira let the line of metal segments pass above her, then similar to Dallion, grabbed it with her right hand. The remnants of the first chain kept her hand safe as she held on, while her left drew a dagger from her belt and struck Dallions whip blade.

A resounding clang filled the air, the same that Dallion had heard hundreds of times whenever Nox tried to sharpen his claws in his domain. There was no way Dallion could have seen that comingthe opponent of this fight had a dagger similar to his own.

Didnt you say that there were no such weapons? Dallion asked.

Its because there arent, Nil replied. You put a living crackling pet, which is almost an oxymoron in itself, in an indestructible training dagger that was crafted thousands of years ago. What Elvira has is a nail of a real-world creature with crackling abilities that she stuck to a hilt.

Looking at it, Dallion saw that the echo was correct. The dagger that his opponent was holding was very different from his own. The blade wasnt made of metal, but of some other material that Dallion hadnt seen. Also, it had its own guardian that wasnt a familiar.

Splitting into three instances, Dallion tugged the whip blade back. Seeing that she couldnt harm it in any way, Elvira released it, then straightened back up.

The fragments snapped back into place. Nox dagger versus crackling blade. This was going to be a tense fight and while Dallions whip blade was immune to the effects, Dallions harpsisword and armadil shield werent. And just to raise the stakes, Elvira drew a second crackling dagger.

I guess you can find all sorts of things in the wilderness, Gen said.

Cautiously, Dallion took off the shield strapped to his left hand and dropped it to the ground. This was one thing he didnt want to risk.