As Dax made his presence known in the middle of the first prince and the kings heated discussion all eyes gathered on him, epsasually the first prince, that appeared to be a.s.sessing his abilities for a second before scoffing."A demon that can"t use magic, let alone mana? Moreover he"s disabled, did you really make the right choice farther?"
In response to the prince"s outrageous comment the air around Dax seemed to drop a few degrees as he put on a diplomats smile.
"My arm is a weapon, out of respect I voluntarily surrendered it to the guards, and don"t call me demon, I"m a qiton."
"I call you whatever I want de-"
As the crown prince continued straight up insulting Dax his smile only seemed to solidify until he reached a tipping point and interrupted the prince.
"Have I done anything to deserve this kind of ridicule? Oh right I got rid of that organization that tried to kill your sister, are you perhaps angry about your own inept.i.tude? Don"t worry I protected the Kingdom, and your sister, after you failed to do so."
That comment seemed to rub the prince the wrong way.
"You have no right to meddle in our affairs de-"
"I told you not to call me that…. So this is the so called first prince I"ve been hearing so much about? Let me give you a solid piece of advice: When insulting a qiton make sure you"re far, far away from it behind an army of first cla.s.s soldiers, that way you"ll last a few more moments before p.i.s.sing yourself as you"re choked to death with our own spine~"
"!!!"
Responding to an immense amount of killing intent the first prince instinctively took a few steps back as he grasped his sword.
"GUARDS! YOU WILL NOT THREATEN MY CHILDREN OR-"
"What your highness, you"ll brake off the alliance? As I said the first time we spoke, I will not be insulted by children. Especially not this arrogant pup that still wet behind the ears and thinks he knows how to fight after mere decades of half a.s.sed practice."
"Hoo? Half a.s.sed practice you say? Seems like this demon needs to be taught a lesson."
"You sure can yap like a puppy all day, just for that comment alone I"ll rip off all your limbs and-"
"What is going on here!?"
Just as Dax was about to call scorched earth and abandon the Kingdom, Teresa appeared, stomping towards her older brother.
"Ah Teresa~ It"s been so long, how are you-"
"What are you doing Henrik!?"
"What I"m doing? I"m-"
"You"re insulting this nation"s most beneficial ally! And farther you"re no better!"
"But I can"t allow such a low-"
"No buts!"
While Teresa continued chewing out her brother and farther Dax was slowly getting more and more impressed with her.
(She sure is interesting..)
"Are we gonna survive after all?"
"Of course Alice, even if the Kingdom became hostile I would keep you safe~"
"O-okay.."
"I"m sincerely sorry for my brother"s behavior, please forgive him."
After having finished shouting at her brother Teresa went before Dax to apologize for his bad behavior.
"I won"t forgive him."
"Eh?"
"This is an issue that won"t be fixed with words, can I borrow the colosseum?"
"For the first time you"re saying things that makes sense demon!"
Seeming oddly confident, Henrik immediately agreed to Dax"s suggestion.
"I"ll leave my suggestion for the council for another day then. When I win I expect a proper apology, or your skull, whichever comes first~"
---
Two days later the colosseum in Kingsted was filled to the brim for a very special event. Officially it was a "friends.h.i.+p" match between the Kingdom and their new ally, unofficially both parties had to swear before the archangel Solaris to not kill their opponent.
"I want to bet all this on Dax"
"Are you sure missy? The crown prince is clearly the favourite here."
"Just do it."
"Sure… 15 large gold coins on Dax"s victory, here"s your receipt."
For such a large event betting had obviously been set up, and the crown prince was the favorite with the odds 4:1, with the publicly less known qiton as the underdog. After Alice had bet most of her savings on Dax she went back to the VIP seating where Terra was waiting for the match to start with a slightly annoyed expression.
"I"m done betting now."
"Ah, sure. By the way if he loses I"m not lending you any cash."
"Hahaha There"s no way Dax is gonna lose, right?"
"There"s a chance. Dax can"t use magic, let alone mana, and the prince knows that. Moreover it"s the crown prince, he"s said to have the best swordsmans.h.i.+p in the Kingdom, and he"s a genius mage on top of that, where as Dax comes from a world that fights with guns and drones, and he can"t either one here."
"But he"s strong."
"And full of pride yeah, Dax is not gonna use his overwhelming strength to win, he"s gonna rely on technique and that"s an issue. While prince is gonna go all out Dax is limited in strength, if he gets pinned with magic it might be over quik."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, it"s pretty much fifty fifty. If Dax can close the range he"ll properly win, but if the prince can wear him down from a distance he"ll win."
"Um about that lo"
"I told you already."
"No way!!!"
"She sure is loud, that guilde of mine…"
Down under the spectator seating in a preparation room sat Dax all alone in the dark and waited for the match to start.
(92 TACTICAL PLANS PREPARED, RECOMMEND PLAN #4-)
(I don"t need it, in fact let me do this now: ICI power down until further notice.)
(THAT ACTION IS NOT RE-)
(That was not a suggestion, authorization code 044587356420, power down.)
(CONFIRMED, HANDING OVER ESSENTIAL LIFE SUPPORT FUNCTIONS TO BASE OS… COMPLETE. ICI SHUTTING DOWN, HAVE A NICE DAY..)
"Now that"s done I might as well do some light warm up…."
Getting up from his seat, Dax started doing some stretches before finally hearing someone coming to get him.
"Let"s get this over with.."
---
"Ladies and gentlemen how are you all this fine day!? My name is Phillip, I"ll be your announcer on this fantastic day where we have the fight of the year!"
Amplified by a magic tool the announcer"s voice rang out in the colosseum, rilding up the some 2000 spectators that were densely packed into the colosseum.
"Today"s fight is friendly match between the Kingdom, and our brand new ally: The Galactic Empire! But make no mistake, both parties are fighting to win!"
Taking a few seconds to wait for the excited crowd to calm down slightly, the announcer went on to introduce the expert with him in the announcers booth.
"With me I have the royal knight captain Marcus! I"ve heard you"ve had the pleasure of sparring against both our contestants today, how are their chances?"
"Thanks for having me Phillip. Honestly it"s hard to say who"ll win, the crown prince is the obvious favorite, but Dax is a master of several interesting martial arts."
"That is indeed interesting! As I said earlier you"ve spared against not only the crown prince, but also this mysterious Dax! What are your impressions of him?"
"That"s hard to say, when I tried to kill him with the help of a few other royal knights I felt like he was only playing around with us as we were defeated."
"I-is that so? Well we sure have a fight to look forward to here!? We"re only a few minutes from the start now, make sure you have plenty of snacks fokes, this is bound to be very interesting!"
Filling the time with a bit more small talk, it was finally time to announce the contestants.
"Let"s get this show on the road! First to enter the arena is someone all of you know ladies and gentlemen! Said to be the peak of not only the Kingdom but also humanity! I give you Henrik Vi Gruffydd VIII, crown prince of the Kingdom!"
Entering to the crowds cheers, the crown prince Henrik looked proud in his red full adamant.i.te plate mail armor wielding a single handed longsword.
"There he is! Look at that amor, isn"t it similar to the royal knight"s?"
"Not quite no, while the surface looks the same."
"Oh, how so?"
"Ummm… If the royal knights armor are made for defenses, his highness" armor is made for offence. The runic enhancement are not made for bolstering defence, but enhancing offence, and most importantly help the prince gather mana for spells."
"So it helps him cast spells faster, how is that possible?"
"That"s cla.s.sified."
"Is that so.. Well let"s get on with the show! Our second contestant is Dax of the qiton clan Alph4, Representative of the Galactic Empire! From a race that looks like demonkin, but made for war by an ancient and extinct race riveling the mighty angels! Not much is known about him, but I"m told he"s a born fighter! Let"s welcome him!"
Hyping up the crowd Dax appeared from his side of the colosseum, making the crowds somewhat die down.
"Did he perhaps forget his armor?"
"I don"t think that"s the case, I"ve never seen Dax in armor so I don"t think he uses any.."
Dax had walked out into the arena without any armor, in fact he was even barefooted, and only wore a pair of shorts and a plain t-s.h.i.+rt, wielding a stubby looking shortsword.
"Wait what did you say? Hold on ladies and gentlemen, we might have an expert among us."
Apparently hearing something from the VIP seating behind him the announcer disappeared shortly, repapering pus.h.i.+ng a woman to the announcers booth with him.
"Sorry for the wait people! Please repeat what you said earlier for the rest of the crowd please!"
"Umm, I said Dax doesn"t need to wear armor, and that the fact that he is in such light clothing means he"s serious."
"And how do you know that miss?"
"Because I"m Dax"s disciple, and he"s training me in qiton martial art."
"I-is that so? Please help us commentate by all means!"
"I"m not sure I shoul- o-okay then.."
As Terra noticed Dax"s smile she surrendered and sat down with the commentator and Marcus.
"Then please elaborate on your earlier comment miss!"
"Dax is from a race that doesn"t need to wear armor, his body is highly resilient, so armor would only hinder his movement."
"Is that so!? That"s highly interesting! Can you also tell us about his choice of weaponry miss!?"
"It looks like a tungsten shortsword. Normally it would be too heavy and impractical to use, but Dax has no issue with the weight, in fact the st.u.r.diness helps him not accidently break it, and my name is Terra."
"But he sure looks like he just walked off the street and just showed up huh.."
"There"s also a possibility that that is exactly what happened…. Dax being a "complete package" he doesn"t really need fancy armor or weapons."
"One thing is certain, this sure is gonna be an interesting fight! Let"s get on with the show! Both fighters ready!?"
"Ready!"
"Let"s get this over with!"
"Both fighters are ready!? 3…. 2…. 1….. Begin!"