Book 3: Chapter 13: Scratch and Judgement
'My bones are repairing themselves faster and faster and I'm being flung around with noticeably less force now, so I'd reckon I've earned Force Magic Resistance and it's at least intermediate, maybe advanced. I just can't find an opening to attack him though,' Lone thought as he used Ungrounded to bound through the air towards the prince once again.
This time, however, something changed. A frown crossed the massive man's expression and his head darted to look at the V.I.P. booth. Lone didn't have the time to think why he was doing this, he could only take advantage of this distraction to finally land a hit.
Extending his steamforged sword spear with its steam edge and recently flattened tip, Lone activated several skill effects at once. "Pierce! Woodsman! Full Charge!"
Lone's weapon doubled in size and lost 20% of its weight. Full Charge only activated because his two severed fingers were covered in fortress shields, meaning his body was technically being shielded, resulting in his speed maxing out, almost making it look like he had teleported right into the face of Prince Keining.
Finally, just as his swordspear's head was about to connect with the prince's chest, Lone invoked one of his active skills, "Sundering Might!"
The loss of 95% of his SP meant nothing since he was regenerating the resource so quickly thanks to his little finger exploit.
With this skill combined with the four times increased power from Swordspear Mastery's Pierce, his attack's strength was quadrupled again. Lone hoped the bonuses were multiplications and not additive.
Prince Keining whipped his head around to focus on Lone again and immediately saw he didn't have the time to dodge. Instead, he activated some sort of skill or perhaps he just manipulated raw force magic. Either way, a light blue barrier appeared at the point of contact between Lone's weapon and the prince's chest.
An explosion erupted between the two of them when the flattened tip of the spear end of Lone's new swordspear tried to burst through the torso of the X-ranker.
Lone willed his blood clone fortress shields to press up against his back to prevent him from being blasted back as he gripped the handle of his swordspear even tighter and unintentionally invoked Wide Taunt while yelling.
Suddenly, he heard a voice talking to him in his head. 'You're going to lose this exchange. Use my Primal skill to bypass that little shield of his.'
Lone didn't have the time to think about why Darkness would care about this spar or why it would offer him some advice but he took it nonetheless. His desire to injure such a powerful being without having to rely on Mental Destruction, Tail Spear, or Nothing Vortex, pushed him forward.
"You!" To everyone else, Lone's shout just seemed like a grunt of frustration to the crowd and even to Prince Keining himself.
You was perhaps his most oddly named skill after all. It did, however, let him enter any shadow, dream, nightmare, barrier, or obscured illusion, with ease.
He didn't know this effect extended to his held weapon but for once he didn't care about mistrusting Darkness and he was ecstatic to see the shock spread over the prince's face as his magical barrier of force magic acted as if it didn't even exist.
Lone's steamforged swordspear burst right through the force magic like butter and slammed into the ruler's chest, sending him rocketing off of his feet and into the other side of the arena just as Lone had done dozens of times today already.
Although the arena was silent thanks to the various sound mages that isolated the noise for Lone and Prince Keining, he could see the crowd jumping out of their seats and going wild like there was no tomorrow.
It was exhilarating. Even if Prince Keining lost his temper and seriously tried to kill Lone for suffering such an attack from a lowly C-ranker, it was all worth it in Lone's mind. 'This feels amazing...'
'And.... there we go,' Darkness commented, a smile no doubt on its lips.
It was speaking in reference to Lone's shift from C-rank to B-rank at that moment. Of course, he was ecstatic to have received enlightenment at this moment but it also gave him chills. If he had to land a solid attack born of only his normal skills and one Primal skill to go from C to B-rank, what would he have to do to become an A-ranker?
Prince Keining disappeared and reappeared right in front of Lone. The two stared at each for a moment. Lone didn't fail to notice the slightest of scratches on the prince's skin under his torn shirt.
The ruler of the city slowly smiled and nodded his head before he placed a palm on Lone's shoulder. "Well done! I truly did underestimate you and I apologise for that! Good people of Golden Pass City, Lone Immortus has proven his strength!"
He patted Lone's shoulder twice then turned to face the stands. "Not even a single one of my children can successfully injure me but this C-ranker, now B-ranker, did just that! Be inspired by his creativity! Be inspired by his courage to face me! Be inspired by his hunger for strength! Be strong!"
The sound mages dropped the audio isolation and Lone's body rocked from the crowd chanting the two words 'be strong' like it would actually grant them power.
Prince Keining kept the smile on his face and he turned back to Lone and said, "The mages have dispelled their magic on us, Our words are our own. Follow me. Your human companion murdered an X-ranked associate of mine during our fight."
Lone immediately contacted Sophie telepathically. 'Are you okay? What happened? Is Breena okay?'
'A man made unwarranted and unwanted advances on us. We warned him not to and punished him for ignoring said warnings. We are fine. Good job, by the way. You did very well and we now have access to our Void Walking skill thanks to our ascension to B-rank,' Sophie answered plainly and with a slight hint of excitement in her tone. 'And the leech is just fine. I ensured she was protected during the altercation.'
Lone walked side-by-side with the prince and said, "With all due respect, Lord Keining, regardless of her reason, I will support her. I did not show all of my deadly tricks during our fight, and I killed an SS-ranker when I was but an E-ranker."
"You need not threaten me. I witnessed the whole thing. Your companion's surprising strength and ability to follow through on a promise are what distracted me long enough for your attack to land. Thank you, also, for addressing me properly," the prince replied.
Lone shrugged. "You've proved you're stronger than me. I'd have to rely on powers I don't consider my own to kill you, so yeah, you're a lord to me for now."
"'For now' he says. Your hunger for strength might even surpass my own. Be silent by my side as I deal with the aftermath. You injured me. You are as good as family now since it was done in a friendly environment. I will clean up this mess as thanks for showing me something truly inspiring," the prince stated, leaving no room for argument.
Lone was curious to see how the massive man would 'clean up' the mess, as he had claimed. Physical power and political power were two very different things.
Lone also had two other things on his mind. 'I can't fuckin' believe Sophie killed an X-ranker before me. What a fuckin' waste of potential stats!'
"Lord Keining."
"Your Royal Highness."
"Father..."
Lone listened as dozens of the V.I.P. guests greeted the ruler of this land with only a few tossing respectful looks Lone's way. They were all far too busy worrying over Sophie who was standing in the corner, along with the prince's presence, to congratulate Lone for his astounding performance in the spar.
He did, however, notice two people of interest. One was Yulia. She was staring intently at his girlfriend and it could clearly be seen that she wanted to question Sophie on the barriers she had encapsulated the X-ranker in before murdering him.
The other person was a stocky disabled man whose aura reeked of power. Lone could instinctually tell the man was a higher X-ranker and he had a battle-starved look in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on Lone. On the topic of auras, Prince Keining's belonged to that of a higher XX-ranker, meaning he was likely very close to becoming an XXX-ranker.
'That is the guildmaster Soph told you about yesterday,' Sophie explained, clearly seeing that Lone was meeting the wild-looking man's gaze.
'That makes sense, I guess. I did just leave a scratch on an XX-ranker, so if he likes good fights, I'd be a pretty fitting candidate,' Lone thought.
Suddenly, Prince Keining clapped his hands, stopping all of the people who were greeting him and trying to fill him in on what had happened in the V.I.P. area prior to his arrival.
"The offended party is C-ran-" The prince squinted his eyes, a suspicious look on his face for all of a single moment before it passed. "B-ranked Sofia Vladimirovich, the romantic partner of Lone Immortus here and a silver plate adventurer. The offending party was low X-ranker Olberic Chase, Guildmaster of the noble district's Continental Alchemical Association and a dark steel plate adventurer."
'Ah, fuck. The C.A.A. that Yulia mentioned? Well, this is hardly the right foot to start on if I wanna worm my way into that organisation eventually... Not that I don't support Sophie's brutality, but...' Lone sighed mentally.
"Olberic clearly saw Sofia's immense beauty and made a romantic pass. He was rejected and warned he would suffer a loss should he continue as she had made it known she is involved with Lone. Olberic ignored this warning and died as a result after not only continuing but also insulting my young friend here. Sofia was both in the right, was clearly stronger, and is also of a higher standing in The Adventurer's Guild. She will not be punished for this and I have deemed her actions entirely lawful. Guildmaster Brux, I trust you concur?" Prince Keining asked, looking at the man whose entire right leg was wooden and held together with a freeform magic of some sort.
The guildmaster nodded. "Personally, Lord Keining, I agree with your assessment. I will need to gather the other guildmasters of Golden Pass City to discuss this since it is a case of an adventurer killing another adventurer, but that'll just be a formality given both your and my statements on it."
"That is perfectly reasonable. Now, good people, go about the rest of your day. Lone, Sofia, come with me. I'd love to chat with you both privately at the palace," the prince requested but everyone present knew it was more of an order than an offer.
"Can Breena come too?" Lone asked casually. 'He resolved that easily enough. A city where strength matters most, but justice isn't overlooked either... I like this place more and more.'
The prince looked at him and said, "The weak foxkin child? If she is your companion, then she is welcome too."
"Cool. Yulia! Kevin! You guys come as well. I can see the questions pouring out of you Yulia, and I owe you my thanks Kevin," Lone said, addressing two of the numerous powerful individuals present who could call Prince Keining their father.
Many baulked at Lone extending the prince's invitation without permission when he had just been allowed to involve a lowly F-ranker in a private meeting with their ruler and the city's strongest resident.
They saw it as him taking advantage of the prince's kindness and favour but the prince didn't contradict Lone nor stop him, so the onlookers were left to watch as Prince Keining, Lone, Sophie, Breena, a happy-looking Yulia, and an uncomfortable-looking Kevin, left the V.I.P. area.
Just as they had exited the arena, Lone stopped in his tracks and said, "Right... Hey, Lord Keining. Mind inviting Andrew too? I wanna rub it in his face that I injured you and hopefully he'll learn from it since he was so confused about why I would want to fight you. Being proved wrong and then advised on it could enlighten him. The sooner the better. While the iron's still hot and all of that shit."
Princeling Kevin's expression sunk as he muttered, "Speaking so casually to father..."
Yulia was surprised too but she didn't voice it.
Prince Keining, meanwhile, simply nodded. "That is wise. It is done. I've used some force magic to let him know to meet us in the palace as soon as possible. Now then... we're out of the arena but I do not wish to walk back to my home. Do not be alarmed or try to resist my magic as I will be using it to shorten the journey through the city."
"How-"
Lone was cut off when he, Sophie, Breena, the two children of Prince Keining's, and, of course, the man himself, rocketed into the air with a light blue sheen covering their bodies.
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