Book 2: Chapter 27

Creed sat on his leather chair which creaked like a rotting floor board. He was scanning a thick book for the information requested of him.

“Hurry up old man,” a haughty man grew irked at Creed’s slow hands and careful eyes.

“Patience young man. The information you are asking for is very specific.” Creed responded in a flat tone, neither angry nor scared and continued at his own pace.

A while later Creed found and gave the man the information he wanted; then, without even a word of thanks, the man left Creed.

Sighing, Creed stood to stretch his back and thought back to Mahoj. Creed hadn’t known the boy for long but he sure did miss him. It had been almost two year now since Mahoj had left with the promise of coming back the next day.

When Mahoj didn’t show up the following day, Creed found it strange and after a week of waiting he went around asking for Mahoj. Creed was concerned some ill fortune may have befallen the young man, however, it didn’t take long before Creed found that there was no one named Mahoj on the Ravenous Serpents’ registry. This shocked Creed and he did some more asking around and slowly pieced together a puzzle that no one saw. Mahoj was the infamous Cyil that had butchered rank 3 warriors like chickens and brought about a great headache for Jughog.

Creed laughed at Cyil’s boldness and never told anyone the secret he had uncovered. Creed simply hoped Cyil was somewhere safe.

Looking about the lonely library, Creed sighed once more and moved to tidy up the library before closing it for the day.

Standing out on the busy streets, Creed looked at the warm sun then suddenly remembered. “Ah, today is the finals of the annual mercenary tournament. I guess I should go watch and see if the Immortal Refugees take first again this year.”

Lumbering over towards the noisy colosseum, Creed smiled as he observed the bountiful energy chirping around him. “This is a nice change. I should come out more often,” Creed said to himself.

When Creed got to the entrance, he showed the ticketer his emblem and was quickly admitted into the colosseum without being charged.

Creed was then escorted to one of the top booths that were reserved for VIP guests only. When Creed saw what was happening he said, “just take me to an empty seat among the crowd.”

The guide was puzzled, but didn’t dare disobey and quickly changed directions.

Creed was brought to sit among the enormous and rowdy crowd, but his seat was still near the front, providing a clear view of the special, elevated stage.

Right when Creed sat down an announcer shouted through a magic tool designed to amplify voices.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Today, we have the finals of the regional annual mercenary tournament! The respective winners from each age division will move on to the compete in the Rovaria kingdom tournament! Not only that, but as you all know, the Rovaria king has declared that this will be the last annual mercenary tournament for the time being. That being the case, his majesty has graciously offered a special opportunity for the each of the winners from the kingdom level tournament! This is a chance that cannot be missed so I truly hope each contender will fight to their utmost limit. Hold nothing back! And without further ado, let’s start off with the 16 and under age group.”

The announcer paused and let the crowd’s wildness surge to the skies, before continuing:

“Coming from the Immortal Refugees, ever since her appearance, she has won this regional tournament twice. She has even won the kingdom level tournament and was only finally brought down in the empire level tournament! But what has another year of training brought her?! Can anyone stop her?! No one knows. But hopefully we will have a chance to witness her strength again today! At the age of 16, with a warrior ranking of 5, I give you Selia of Immortal Refugees!”

As the announcer finished his words, a slender figure dashed onto the stage, doing a flip before graciously landing on the undisturbed ground. No one could see the hidden face of this figure, but they could tell by the shape of her body that she was female. Despite not knowing how Selia looked like almost every male had a crush on her, because of her tremendous strength. No one has managed to last 10 seconds in the ring with her and everyone was convincingly defeated. This was enough to show how strong she was.

Roars of madness created pandemonium through the colosseum and it wasn’t until the announcer spoke again that people somewhat quieted down.

“It seems miss Selia has many supporters, but I urge everyone not to count out our dark horse this year! Coming from Lone Wolf mercenary group, this young man is truly a lone wolf. He has carved out a place in the finals for himself in a domineering fashion. Through using brute force alone he has taken out troves of opponents. Even his name is domineering and I am sure everyone remembers this name from their childhood. At the age of 15, with an estimated warrior ranking of 4, I give you the Nefarious Saint of Lone Wolf!”

A lazy figure calmly walked to the stage, opting to climb the stairs rather than jumping up onto the platform like Selia. Despite this entrance, not a single person complained because this was just how the Nefarious Saint always entered. Also, not a person dared to look down on the Nefarious Saint anymore. At first, his ridiculous title made everyone laugh and offer up a load of mockery, but his first match stunned everyone. He had simply walked up to his opponent and that opponent had pissed his pants.

No one knew how he had done it, but they were convinced the Nefarious Saint had cheated. It was only after the head referee, who also happened to be the mayor, confirmed that no magic was involved did the crowd finally accept the results.

The Nefarious Saint’s reputation grew even more when he defeated a member from Immortal Refugees. This time, the Nefarious Saint used odd boxing skills, mixed with unorthodox techniques, to achieve a flawless victory. After that victory, many people, especially Ravenous Serpents members, who had been unhappy with the Immortal Refugee’s dominance became fans of the Nefarious Saint.

So, it was without saying that the Nefarious Saint, though not as popular as Selia, also received a thunderous cheer.

When the Nefarious Saint finally took his place across from Selia, he smiled behind his mask.

“I’d like to see what you look like miss Selia,” he said so that only she could hear.

Selia raised an eyebrow then responded with a hmph and beckoned him forward with one outstretched hand.

The Nefarious Saint laughed and looked at the referee who looked at the announcer.

The announcer frowned, still wanting to build up the suspense and momentum, but promptly said, “now then. Everyone, let’s witness this fight of a lifetime! It is a battle between two masked figures! It is a battle for a chance to advance to the kingdom round! I hope everyone has placed their bets in the auction house because the victor is still unknown! Match Start!”

As soon as the announcer declared the match start, Selia’s figure slightly blurred and she appeared right next to the unassuming Nefarious Saint. As she prepared to attack, Selia felt a strange, invisible force coming from the Nefarious Saint. It was almost like she was facing a high ranking magical beast. Selia was slightly shocked by the phenomenon, but quickly regained her composure.

Throwing out a kick to the head, Selia held nothing back, planning to finish the fight as quickly as possible.

“No effect to your mind?” Laughing while leaning back, the Nefarious Saint easily dodged the kick and even managed to say, “good kick!”

Selia was irked by this comment and began a barrage of attacks which where all easily dodged by the Nefarious Saint.

“Impossible!” Selia momentarily retreated to rethink her plan. “No wonder junior apprentice brother lost. This man is strong!”

Breathing in a deep breath and holding it, Selia charged at the Nefarious Saint once more. This time, she moved so fast that an after image of her was still standing on the other side of the stage.

The Nefarious Saint frowned at this drastic explosion of speed and marveled, “she must have used a technique to increase her speed by more than at least three times before.”

Before he could say anymore, a punch blazed straight to his throat.

“Is this girl trying to kill me?! Such brutality.” The Nefarious Saint was confident in his defensive abilities, but he couldn’t easily reveal it here, otherwise he may arouse suspicion. Not able to dodge the attack, the Nefarious Saint moved to catch the Selia’s punch.

He grabbed the fist with a claw like grip, then with his other hand grabbed Selia’s forearm. This move effectively neutralized the attack, but the Nefarious Saint was not done, and using her own momentum, flung Selia away out of the ring.

Selia cursed, because if she landed outside of the ring/stage, it would be counted as a loss. She flipped a few times in the air and completed a twirl before landing on the edge of the stage, inches away from losing. “Very good,” she said between her teeth and realized that she had failed the task her father had given her.

“10 seconds for regionals, 3 minute for kingdom, and win the empire round...This year, how could I have already failed in this puny regional tournament.” Selia felt anger welling up inside of her. This anger was for her own self, but a majority of it was directed towards the Nefarious Saint. Glaring at the Nefarious Saint, she finally breathed out the breath she had held in for so long.

As she did so, her face became wane and beads of sweat dripped down her flawless skin. Of course, no one could see this because of the cloth draped around Selia’s head. No one saw, except for one person--the Nefarious Saint.

The Nefarious Saint held a shocked expression behind his mask. “That’s the only repercussion for allowing her speed to quadruple and strength to triple? What saintly spell is this!?”

Thinking to himself, the Nefarious Saint did not bother to pursue Selia and instead scratched his head in an effort to find the answer. It almost seemed as if he was having an imaginary conversation with an invisible partner.

Selia frowned at her opponent's response, but she knew that holding back was no longer an option. This man in front of her was at least as strong as some of the competitors from the empire level and not going all out would ensure her lost.

Selia wiped away her cockiness and punched herself on her chest, directly above her heart.

As the crowd saw Selia’s strange actions they all became worried, but in the next moment their eyes almost bulged out of sockets.

They gawked as the Nefarious Saint was suddenly up in the air. He flew--yes flew--for at least 20 feet before dropping back down. They hadn’t seen what had happened and still struggled to comprehend the last action while Selia had already launched ten more moves on the descending Nefarious Saint.

The Nefarious Saint was injured by the first attack and although he had managed to block all the following attacks, he still felt winded by the force behind each strike. “I didn’t see her at all. This speed is too fast and her strength is monstrous.”

Landing in an awkward fashion, the Nefarious Saint rubbed his stomach and swallowed the blood accumulating at the back of his throat. “Miss Selia, ladies should be gentle.”

Another fist came flying towards his head and like the others, the Nefarious Saint blocked it because dodging was not an option. The fist seem to have a penetrative effect as the force transferred pass the Nefarious Saint’s guard and into his fleshly body. His insides seem to shake as if a drum was being smashed within his body.

“Good! Now this is a fight!” For the first time since the start of the fight the Nefarious Saint’s eyes narrowed, turning serious.

Instantly, the odd feeling Selia had before magnified a hundred times. This time, it felt as if she was facing a supreme dragon in the flesh. She could not help but to lay flat on the ground to prostrate herself because kneeling was not enough. Selia felt her body weaken and her mind shake. Then, just as she was about to lose all her fighting strength, the Nefarious Saint’s eyes returned to normal and he swiped at something before quickly jumped off the stage on his own accord. A black cloth in hand, the Nefarious Saint turned to say, “my apologies miss Selia. You really are strong. I concede this fight.”

Selia breathed out a sigh of relief, not because she had won, but because the pressure she felt was gone. Then she felt that something was odd. The whole stadium had gone quiet. Even the referee had forgot to announce the results.

The Nefarious Saint chuckled while tossing the black cloth into the wind and left without a word.

Selia stared at the back of the masked man then her eyes followed the black cloth that magically floated towards her.

This was when Selia grew alarmed, her face blushing red and without a word, she disappeared from the stage and silent colosseum.

It was only after she had vanished that the first person even dared to mumble, “was that a goddess I just saw?”

Like a chain reaction, this comment roused an uproar of comments that drowned out even the announcer’s powerful voice amplifying magical tool. No one cared about the results of the fight nor about the next fight coming up, but they repeatedly discuss Selia, the immortal goddess. Those who were not her fans before were her #1 fans now. And those who were already her fans were her #1 fans even so. In fact, just as many females as there were males were strictly in love with Selia.

Thus started the stampede from the audience to find Selia. At least ⅔ of the entire audience left before the next match to search for her. Of course, the outskirts of Immortal Refugee’s headquarters was filled to the brim with admirers and fanatics. But this was just the beginning…

As for the one who instigated all of this, the Nefarious Saint was busy talking to his hand. Well, to be more precise, it was his glove.

“Nefarious Saint, I still need more practice controlling my powers, but I did find that this tournament helped me out a bit. We can move onto the next step now.”

Sure that the glove would respond, the young man waited and a response did come. “Cyil my boy, no rush no rush. The technique that girl used was quite interesting, don’t you think? It seemed like an attributeless spell of some sort. Even I am not too sure.”

“Even you don’t know?” Cyil couldn’t help but ask again.

“Yes. That’s why we need to find out! I am sure there is much more than meets the eye with that girl and the immortal Refugees from where she comes. Besides, isn’t she somewhat pretty?”

“I suppose so.” Cyil nodded, thinking about how he had been battered around like a rag doll. He had to admit that after Selia used that technique he was on the losing end. “Then let’s go take a look after retrieving it.”

The Nefarious Saint agreed. “Okay, it’s about time it saw the light of day again.”