Dante’s Immortality - Chapter 95

“I really don’t think that this is a good idea.”

Dante waved Leah off. “I’m sure it will be fine.” He reached into his pockets with a smile and pulled the sack of Melisandre's leftover gold coins from his storage. “No matter what happens, when I fight Eric, use all of the coins to bet on me.”

Leah and Candice had followed him to the Combatant’s Hall. He didn’t tell them what he was doing, but now that he was registering to fight, his objective was pretty obvious.

“I think that you might be underestimating the severity of the situation.” Candice was trying to seem nonchalant, but there was obvious concern in her eyes.

“If he’s confident, just let him go.”

Dante’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you even here?”

Arron shrugged. “There’s not much else to do.”

Ignoring Arron, Dante reached forward and grabbed his registration badge from the receptionist. The number on it was 7332, and apparently, it was used as identification so people could easily place bets on him.

The receptionist pointed toward the stairs that led to the stages below. “Just wear this badge and step onto a stage when you want to fight. It’s recommended you wait a few minutes after stepping on a stage before starting, as it will give the audience more time to place bets and increase the amount you will earn should you win.”

Dante nodded in thanks, waved goodbye to Leah and Candice, then walked toward the arena floor. Leah and Candice couldn’t follow since they weren’t registered, and Arron couldn’t either since he was banned.

As he stepped onto the ground floor, he immediately became aware of the fact that Eric had not yet arrived, despite leaving first. It was likely that Eric was off with Elizabeth somewhere.

That was fine though, it would only make things easier.

Despite being somewhat angry, his decision to fight Eric in the Combatant’s Hall wasn’t a rash one. It was actually an excellent opportunity. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of odds he would get, and as someone who holds such an important position, Eric’s fights should be the focal point of the crowd’s attention.

The potential fallout was a possible issue, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Unless he killed or crippled Eric, which he had no intention of doing, the mere act of showing his guild ring would get him out of any precarious situation.

No, he wasn’t going to kill him, he had come to embarrass Eric, and he would do that thoroughly.

But first, he needed to build up a reputation.

Dante eyed the combatant’s currently fighting. All of the stages - aside from the center stage - had two fighters on them. Most of them weren’t fighting, but waiting for the betting to finish so that they could earn more. Around the perimeter of the ground floor were around one hundred combatants that were leisurely chatting with each other or waiting for a turn. Only a few of them were tense, they were the fighters that fought in the Combatant’s Hall so that they could earn a living. The rest came from different mercenary groups, and the atmosphere around them was far more relaxed. It was as though they just came to kill time before doing something more important later that day.

The stage he chose didn’t really matter, so he set his sights on the one directly in front of him. Two people were already fighting, both of them seemed to be relatively evenly matched. They were also both using swords, but despite the similarities, the two had polar opposite fighting styles.

The lankier of the two was dashing around his burly opponent, using absurd speed to try and break through his burly opponent’s guard. There were several times when he almost succeeded in doing so, should have done so actually, but his opponent repeatedly activated a skill at the last moment.

The skill was similar to one he had seen before, it was an invisible slash that extended from where a sword was swung. It wasn’t the exact same as the one he had previously seen though, and nowhere near as powerful.

The mana that shot out from the sword wasn’t in a fine line that could cut through an enemy, but a wide slash with a large area of effect. When the widespread mana hit the opponent, it merely blasted him backward. In normal circumstances the skill would be mediocre at best, but in the Combatant’s Hall it might be one of the best.

It only took another thirty seconds before the lankier fighter slowed drastically, likely from using all of his mana on some speed boosting skill. His burly opponent took advantage of the moment, and one sword slash blasted the lanky fighter off the stage.

As soon as the lankier fighter was knocked off the stage a new fighter with a bow took his place. The two of them then waited for the betting, which also allowed the burly combatant to restore his mana.

After a few minutes the two combatants nodded to each other, indicating their intention to start the fight.

The archer acted first, drawing back his bow and immediately firing two arrows in rapid succession before leaping to the side and launching a third arrow. It was obvious that he had watched the previous fight carefully, because the third arrow barely dodged the mana that came from his opponent’s sword slash.

Dante couldn’t help but be surprised by the archer’s accuracy. He would have been able to do the same, but he could see the mana from coming from the burly combatant’s skill. Without that ability, replicating such a feat would have been difficult.

The burly fighter wasn’t easily defeated though, after slashing at the first two arrows he dropped to the floor to avoid the third, then slashed again at the fourth and fifth. Unlike the first fight, the burly fighter didn’t allow the fight to drag on. Instead, he continuously slashed at his opponent, eventually knocking him off the stage.

Before anyone else could act, Dante confidentially stepped onto the stage. The burly fighter looked at him warily, studying him as though trying to find a weakness.

Ignoring him, Dante looked up at the viewing booths, easily finding the one he had been in the day before. He smiled when he saw Leah and Candice’s anxious expressions, as well as Arron’s indifference. They were the only ones in the booth today, Elizabeth and Eric were somewhere else apparently.

A few minutes after he stepped on the stage, the burly fighter nodded, indicating that he was ready. Dante returned the nod, then channeled the world essence in his feet as he dashed forward. He was really hoping this wasn’t going to hurt.

As expected, his opponent slashed toward him with his sword as soon as the fight started. The attack was a probing one, meant to feel him out, but Dante still grit his teeth and prepared himself for the impact.

The mana from the skill slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him as he flew off the stage like a ragdoll and skidded to a stop several feet away.

Other than a few curses from those who had taken a chance on him, the others in the audience completely ignored him after he lost the fight, their attention now preoccupied with the other fights taking place.

Dante groaned as he picked himself off of the floor and prodded at his chest. Nothing was broken, but it felt like a few ribs had come close to cracking. Building a reputation wasn’t going to be as fun as he thought.

A cursory glance at the viewing booths allowed him to see that both Leah and Candice were far more worried, Leah in particular, she was leaning over the rail as if to look and make sure he was still okay. Beside them, Arron looked indifferent, yet slightly disappointed.

Acting like nothing was amiss, Dante confidently walked back over to the side as he looked for a new opponent. There were a few standouts that had maintained their position since he had stepped down to the main floor, and he walked closer to their stages to watch.

Like that, he spent almost an hour challenging combatants at every opportunity. He was pushed, bashed, flung, and thrown off of the stage dozens of times, not winning a single fight.

Not only was it exhausting to make it look like he was trying his hardest to win, but it was also quite painful.

The only ‘skill’ he used was the footwork that the spectral attunement gave him. He had chosen carefully, as it would be the only skill he would use when Eric finally showed up. Using other skills would make the upcoming fight far easier, but he didn’t want anyone to think that he was holding back. That would defeat the entire purpose of getting the shit knocked out of him so he could embarrass Eric later.

He did achieve his aim though. His reputation grew rapidly. Every time he stepped on a stage several members of the audience groaned, and more than one opponent tried to maliciously hurt him so that he would stop challenging them.

It was hard to imagine how many people were betting against him now. Even if the rates were shockingly low, in the eyes of the audience he was guaranteed to lose.

Dante let out a sigh as he identified his next target. The only combatant that was waiting for challengers was a real bastard. In fact, it was someone he had already fought. He was the only person to challenge the mage and walk away without a serious injury, and both times it had been a close call.

Just as he began to walk over, Dante heard a loud commotion coming from the entrance to the ground floor. He looked over with more than just a small amount of hope, and was thrilled to see the sight of Eric joking around with four of the friends he had been with earlier.

Finally, this torture was over.

As soon as Eric stepped onto the ground floor, his eyes scanned over the other combatants, finally coming to a rest when they found Dante. He sneered. “People will say what they will, but none would dare to call you a coward.”

Apparently, Eric had been watching all of his fights. Dante scratched the back of his head in embarrassed modesty. “Thank you for the complement. I always try my best.”

Eric snorted disdainfully. “That wasn’t a compliment, you moron. Even I was embarrassed to be briefly associated with you.” Eric ignored him and walked to the only stage that had a vacant spot as though their conversation was finished.

The stage he stepped onto was the one with the mage that always severely injured his opponents. As soon as the mage saw Eric, he looked more than a little uncertain. In fact, he looked terrified. The mage addressed Eric politely. “My apologies, but I have already participated longer than I intended. I wish you luck.” Without even waiting for a reply, the mage rushed off the stage and walked to the ground floor’s exit.

Through the entire process, Eric didn’t bat an eyelash. He handled everything like it was to be expected. Eric stood on the stage with his arms crossed confidently over his delicate frame, face tilted upward at the viewing booths as a self-satisfied smile spread across his face.

Following Eric’s gaze, Dante saw Elizabeth standing in a viewing booth with almost a dozen others. She didn’t look like she was having a great time.

Eric then looked down at the other combatants demeaningly. “Who’s first?”