Chapter 72: A Very Weak Foe

Sila ran past several trees. He wanted to reserve his strength so he didn’t use his full speed. During his way back, he noticed some players going toward the direction that he had fought against Dorolia. Sila wanted to avoid causing a problem so he hid himself every time he sensed players. With his current mastery of Qi Concealment, other than certain experts, no one would be able to detect him.

Sila spent more than an hour before arriving at Colossia City’s front gate. He could see Poluk leaning on the wall next to it.

“Hello, Mister Poluk,” Sila called to Poluk.

“Took you long enough. I thought you might not be able to pull it off.”

“I almost died. Dorolia was truly scarier when calm.”

“Only fifty points for you. When you were frozen, instead of using qi reinforcement to defend against its claw, you should have activated Moon Reflecting Mirror,” Poluk commented.

“I couldn’t come up with other ideas at that time, sir. Moreover, I wasn’t confident that my Moon Reflecting Mirror could reflect the dragon’s claw… By the way, were you watching?”

Poluk nodded. “Yeah, from afar. I returned here while you were regenerating your power.”

“Why didn’t you wait for me, sir?”

“Because you were too slow, of course. As for Moon Reflecting Mirror, just ask Divine. This skill is a modified version of Divine’s personal martial move. That guy will be able to give you good advice.”

“Yes, sir. What will you do next, Mister Poluk?”

“I will stay here for a while to protect Little Bow. After this, I’ll go looking for someone strong to fight. The first one would be your teacher.”

Sila took out a black card and granted Poluk access to his Mansion of Secrets. A black ticket-sized card appeared and he handed it to Poluk.

“I don’t know whether an NPC can use it, but you can try. If you can’t use it, I will go and call Bow to meet you.”

Poluk received the card and kept it inside his shirt. “I can use it normally. We NPCs used to be players. We just don’t have a system window.”

Poluk told Sila that he would go and visit Bow. Meanwhile, the battle tournament would start tomorrow so Sila needed to register his name today. Both of them agreed to meet again later.

After Sila asked for directions from a player around the gate, he went to the registration desk located in front of the battle stadium.

Colossia City had an Ancient-Greek-style atmosphere like Lockheart City, though Sila wasn’t sure whether Ancient Greece had the same architecture as this city. He just thought that it was quite neat. The floor was paved with stone and the buildings were made of layers of marble. In the center of the city, there was a Battle Colosseum which was like a symbol of this city.

The registration desk wasn't crowded as Sila had expected it to be. He went to the desk and talked to the employee. He paid 500 gold as the participation fee.

Sila was surprised at how expensive the participation fee was. He had thought that it was supposed to be cheap to attract the participators. In any case, the employee gave him a reason. If it was the daily battle tournament, the fee would be only 100,000 silver. However, the monthly battle tournament, which had a special prize for the winner, was another story. To prevent too many players to participate, the entry fee was set at an expensive price.

Once Sila left the desk, many eyes were staring at his back. He could sense them but he chose to ignore. Then, the conversation started as soon as he was gone.

“What is that guy’s name?”

“Based on his registration form, his name is Sila, sir.”

“Sila? Is he the Sila who has been constantly mentioned recently in various rumors?”

“I guess so, sir. His appearance is similar to the news. He also wears the Beginner Clothes.”

“How is the credibility of those rumors? Are they valid?”

“At first, they’re approximately 30% valid, sir. However, looking at him now, the possibility that the rumors are true should be around 80% instead.”

“However, that guy has won against Shueria, hasn’t he?”

“We have already investigated it, sir. At that time, that guy was tricky. Mister Shueria was caught off guard. Moreover, Mister Shueria didn’t die. He survived using Psychic Astral.”

“Is that so? Well, from what I saw, his qi is quite normal. It seems like those rumors are real.”

“What should we do, sir?”

“Give him a 10 to 1 odds.”

“Isn’t that too high?”

“It is. However, considering how little of his ability that has been seen and the ambiguous rumors about him spreading around, there is bound to be someone who would blindly bet on him. In that case, we will get easy money,” predicted the man.

The other man nodded. He went and told Sila’s odds to the NPC. Then, he returned and watched the next applicants.

These people were the members of the Royal Armament Guild who were responsible for discerning and deciding the gambling odds of each contestant. However, they couldn’t imagine that Sila possessed Qi Concealment which was a high-tier skill. The qi aura from Sila, although it wasn’t completely hidden, only a small amount could be detected. Thus, they made a mistake when gauging his true ability.

Meanwhile, there was another man in black wuxia clothes wearing a turban and sitting on the table far away from them. This man had heard the whole conversation. He had been waiting several days just to listen to this conversation.

Despite the fifty meter distance and the fact that there were a lot of disruptive sounds between the two parties, this man was able to listen to what he wanted to hear. This ability alone indicated that he must be either qi-type or psychic-type expert.

A smile emerged on this man’s face. He put his money for the food on the table before disappearing like a shadow.

***

Sila strolled around the city looking to buy new clothes for himself. However, the prices of the items being sold in this place were too expensive. Even the price of an item that could be found in the Island of Beginning was shockingly five times more than usual here. Thus, he decided not to buy anything.

After he walked for a while, he stopped his feet in an alley.

“Please come out. I know that you are following me.”

A woman stepped out and appeared behind Sila. She was significantly shorter than Sila. Her height must be around 150 centimeters or less. Her skin was tan and she wore short-sleeved Arab clothes and pointed shoes. There was a turban on her head, on top of her pigtail. She also wore a bracelet on each of her wrists. However, her most outstanding features were her sharp eyes and the big sword on her back.

“When did you realize?”

“Since I entered the city.”

“Are you Sila?”

“Normally, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?” Sila asked back.

“Ginny,” curtly replied the woman.

Sila frowned. This name was familiar, but he was sure that he had never met this woman before.

“I need the Dorolia Sword.”

Right after she mentioned it, Sila remembered. When he obtained the Dorolia Sword, the system informed him that it was a set item. The holder of the other sword was Player Ginny. The name of her sword was supposed to be Solaria Sword.

“Do you want to steal it?” Sila asked. Despite how she wasn’t being polite, she didn’t look like a bandit at all.

“No. Are you willing to sell it?”

“Umm… I see that you’re not a talkative person. Could you please explain to me why I should sell it?”

“With it alone, you can’t even hold it. These swords need to be wielded together.”

“I don’t plan to use it from the start. I just want to know why I should sell it.”

Ginny sighed and started to explain. She told Sila that she had been trying to hunt Dorolia for a long time. She also added that Dorolia and Solaria Sword would drop only when the dragon was killed in a one-on-one battle, which was a very harsh condition. Her method to kill it was hit-and-run. She would fight it until she could no longer continue before she left. With every fight with it, she would understand it more, leading the next fight to be slightly easier.

However, not long ago, when she was about to challenge Dorolia again, she found that there was already one man in the middle of a fight against it. This man even singlehandedly drove the dragon into a corner. Afterward, instead of him killing it, he just used the Dragon Sealing Stone on Dorolia, sealing it into the stone, then left.

She didn’t know what to do. The elemental dragons were a special boss. There could only be one of each existing at one point, so if it didn’t die, another one would not spawn. It also takes years for it to respawn.

She couldn’t wait that long so she decided to follow the man. Although she couldn’t keep up with his speed, based on his direction and the monthly battle tournament being held, she was confident that the man’s destination should be Colossia City.

She arrived at Colossia and found that the man was sitting still in front of the city gate. Then, the system informed her that Player Sila had obtained Dorolia Sword. Afterward, someone came to talk with the mysterious man so she could deduce that the approaching man’s identity was Sila. Since then, she had been secretly following him.

Listening to her story, Sila nodded in understanding. It just happened that Poluk had snatched her prey from her.

“So, how much will you sell it for?” asked Ginny.

“I can give it to you for free if you just tell me your reason for wanting it.”

“Give it for free? Are you nuts?! My reason is my own. You don’t need to butt in.”

Sila could see the picture of Varee overlapping with Ginny for a brief moment. Everyone has their own problems. He was not the only one in the world who had problems to take care of.

“Then, I won’t ask anymore. The sword is yours. Take it.”

Ginny’s sharp eyes flashed with anger instead of a happy emotion. “Don’t you dare underestimate me.”

Sila was startled. The other party was furious instead of happy. Everyone in the world had a different perspective. It was incorrect to judge that someone else will feel the way you anticipated them to feel. This case was the same. This was the reason why doing good deeds was more difficult than doing bad ones.

“What should we do about this, then?”

“Have a bet with me.”

“How?” Sila’s thought drifted to when he was having a bet with Varee at the restaurant. Did all the women love to bet? Then, a light bulb went off in his head. Sila had already complied to all three of Varee's requests. Why did she tell him that there was still one more left? Was he being cheated?

Ginny’s voice pulled Sila’s thought to the present time. “The battle tournament in Colossia. I will also participate. In the battle between us, the victor will get both swords.”

Sila was quick to argue, “But I don’t want your sword.”

“If you win against me, I will buy both swords back from you for double the price. Deal?”

She didn’t wait for Sila to accept or reject. She just left. Sila had no choice but to scratch his head. Although it was true that he wanted skilled opponents to compete against, the battle tournament in Colossia City had his debt at stake. He didn’t want to unnecessarily increase the risk he had to take. At the very least, if he really couldn’t avoid the fight, he thought it would be better to postpone it to a later time.

However, Sila hadn’t added Ginny in his friend list so he couldn’t contact her.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to go back to his mansion first.

After Sila appeared in his Mansion of Secret, he was shocked. The area was two times wider than before. His mansion was now a luxurious white mansion giving off the mysterious aura of the Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins.

“Welcome back, Master. All of your guests are in the dojo,” Julia greeted him.

“Hello, Julia.” Sila nodded and went to the dojo. He found that aside from Bow and Poluk, Burapha was also there.

“Hello, Big Brother Sila, have you already registered your name for the tournament?” Burapha greeted him.

“It’s done.”

“Then, pardon me. I will go and place a bet on you. I have around 230,000 gold now. Hopefully, your betting rate is high enough for us to make a great profit.”

“In that case, take this money too.” Sila handed the money he got from killing Dorolia to Burapha.

“20,000 gold? You’re quite fast at collecting money too, Big Brother.” Burapha was surprised. He invested almost 100,000 gold to reach his current capital. However, Sila seemed to gain money solely from hunting monsters.

“I just killed a dragon,” Sila told Burapha.

Burapha’s mouth was wide open. “You just killed a dragon? Another one?”

Sila nodded.

Burapha sighed. “I will go now. We should meet again one hour later at the restaurant near the registration desk to discuss our plan.”

“Ah? Why won’t we do it here?”

“The thing is, Big Sister Varee will be there too. I believe that Big Brother didn’t tell Big Sister Varee about this mansion, did you?”

After they had departed last time, Burapha had already done his research about the Chamber of Secret and found out that the main objective of this special dimension was to avoid the lover. However, that was Sila’s own problem. That was why Burapha had always feigned ignorance every time Varee asked him about the debt.

“Okay, then. See you later in one hour,” Sila said. Afterward, Burapha disappeared from this place.

Lookhin flew to perch on Sila’s shoulder. It rubbed its head against Sila’s cheek to show its affection toward its missing master.

Sila was moved by its cuteness. He was about to feed it the Snow Dragon Card before realizing something. He opened Lookhin’s status window and saw that its level had reached 1000. Hence, he fed it an Emperor Qi Pallet first.

The system sound alerted.

[Monster Dark Brown Sparrow Lookhin has achieved a certain condition. Its rank is promoted from Knight to Dark Brown Sparrowhawk, Level 1 Marquis Rank.]

Lookhin’s size was 5-6 centimeters larger than before. Its eyes were as sharp as hawk’s eyes. Then, Sila fed it the Snow Dragon Card.

Poluk, who was watching all the scenes, said to Sila, “Do you always feed that little bird the expensive items like that pellet and the dragon card?”

“Yes, sir. Should I not do it?”

“Nah, it’s cool. It is good that you don’t depend on in-game items. You will become more skilled this way.”

Sila smiled at Poluk’s compliment. He was agreeing with Poluk. No matter how great these items were, they were just in-game materials. What he needed to depend on was his own body.

Sila circulated qi while talking with Poluk and Bow until an hour had passed. Then, he teleported out of the Mansion of Secret and went to meet with Burapha.