1,000,000 Karma: My Reward Is a Quiet Life-Chapter 86: Quandary
"Hellooooo? Mister Soul!"
"Ah–?"
It felt as though he’d suddenly been pulled out of a dream, blinking a few times as he found himself face-to-face with the rather nosy Concierge. A moment was needed to adjust, completely unaware of where he was, or what was happening.
He looked around, ignoring the inn manager entirely. It was a familiar interior; the marble walls, a bar along with a dining area–
’The waiting room? But, wasn’t I just...?’ He considered, thinking to himself.
There was nobody else in the room beside himself and the Concierge. A subtle hum filled his ears as the silence lingered, egging it to be broken–
"Mister Soul, your name has been called! The audience is waiting!" The orange-haired manager said hurriedly.
"My name?" Noah repeated in confusion.
"Yes, did you not hear it?" The Concierge clarified. "This is the Grand Finals! Your opponent is already out there waiting. Don’t leave the crowd in suspense for too long now!"
A fog settled in his brain, obscuring any memories from the moment prior. Everything was hazy, blurred like a long dream he’d just woken from.
He slowly nodded, hearing the impatient crowd separated by only a few walls, "Right...Yeah, the Grand Finals...Who did I beat in the semi-finals, again?"
"What? You didn’t beat anybody," the Concierge answered.
"I didn’t? Then–"
"Lamore and Ogatrina were unfortunately unable to fight, so you automatically passed to the Grand Finals," the manager explained.
–
Walking out of the tunnel, he was immediately immersed into a crowd rowdier than any other. The stage was set, with golden curtains hanging from the ceiling of the arena, and trumpets playing from the stands.
Across the arena, he saw his opponent–
"IT’S TIIIIIME! THE GRAND FINALS OF THE CLASH OF STARS IS HERE! A NEW CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED TODAY! WILL IT BE THE DARK HORSE THAT DEFEATED THE PREVIOUS CHAMPION, SYLVAN?! OR WILL IT BE THE ROOKIE THAT HAS TAKEN THE STAGE BY STORM, NOAH!"
From the short time he knew the swordswoman, he became familiar with the fact she loved a good fight, almost seemed to live for it, yet–she had a conflicted look on her face. In much the same fashion as him, Sylvan seemed perplexed.
Noah called out while the crowd was busy cheering, addressing his chosen opponent, "Hey, is your memory all messed up too?"
"Urgh, yeah," Sylvan admitted with a huff. "What the hell happened?"
"That’s what I’m trying to figure out, too," Noah shared, scratching his head.
The confusion on Sylvan’s face was replaced by a smirk, "Whatever it is, it’s gonna have to wait, rook. There’s a championship on the line here, and I ain’t planning on handing it over."
A part of him was happy to see she was the same as ever, flipping his axe in his hand as if accepting the invitation, "I’m not planning on it, either."
In the crowd, the distinct cheers of his friends were loud and clear, filling him with a certain sense of comfort.
"You’ve got this, Noah!" Astrid cheered.
"I’m gonna be able to say I’m the friend of a Champion!" Otto declared fervently.
Redrum chimed in, "Claim victory, my friend!"
"I’ve got a thousand gold on Noah...uuugh...I’m gonna be sick if he loses..." Rain muttered, biting onto her own wallet.
–
"THESE TWO WILL BE COMPETING NOT JUST FOR THE TEN-THOUSAND GOLD PRIZE, THE HONOR OF BEING A STAR CHAMPION, BUT ALSO...THE MAGICAL ARTIFACT, ZENO!" The announcer shouted.
’Magical artifact?’ Noah heard.
While he was oblivious to its importance, the volume of the crowd sure made it sound like quite the hefty prize.
"THE STAGE IS SET, BOTH FIGHTERS ARE ITCHING TO CLAIM THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH! WHO WILL WIN...? LET THEIR STRENGTH DECIDE–BEGIN!"
Accompanying the signal of the announcer, the trumpets blared through the arena, stoking the fire of the spectators further.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he felt at one-hundred perception, no, even better than that. As he flexed his muscles, letting them warm up, a well of strength flooded through his body.
’I’m not sure what happened, but I must’ve leveled up, in some way...I’ve got questions, but I can’t let my mind wander–not against an opponent of her caliber,’ he thought.
There was no surprise by the opening move chosen by the swordswoman–
Sylvan brought her claymore up, lathering it in black electricity before swinging it, unleashing the bolts across the battlegrounds. He expected the tri-fold bolts, raising a set of stone walls in front of him to intercept their path.
"WOAH! NOAH SOUL HAS COMPLETELY DEFENDED AGAINST THE CURSED LIGHTNING!"
The moment the rotting element was blocked, Noah opted to collapse the walls—SMASH.
It was done for him; the wild claymore cut right through the stone slabs.
"That announcer really gets on my nerves sometimes!" Sylvan claimed with a burning smile. "So what if you can shield yourself against my lightning?! I’ll just cut through you!"
While he ducked beneath the aimless swing, Noah could only hope she was exaggerating about the whole "cut through him" part. With the miss of the slash, the swordswoman was wide open with her abdomen left exposed–
[Burst] [B-Rank Strength Skill]
Pushing the muscles in his right leg to the limit, he shoved it right into the unarmored gut of his opponent. The force while Sylvan was still mid-air was enough to make her spit out any air in her lungs before being flung back.
’Did I overdo it?’ He questioned.
Sylvan flipped around, catching her balance as she flicked her gaze to him with a fiery grin. The notion of "overdoing it" was completely set aside.
"Haaah!" The swordswoman laughed as she stopped herself from sliding to the edge, slapping her own abdomen in glee. "Now that was a real hit! You don’t look like much, but you’ve got the strength of an ogre, dontcha?!"
A volley of lightning bolts forced him to erect stone walls, negating the assault as they approached one another.
[The Snake’s Eye] [Tintri]
He closed the distance, moving as a rain of pebbles cast down between them. Despite the speed he moved, the reflexes of the swordswoman were sharper than a merchant’s lies; he ducked beneath the claymore as it swung for his neck.
[Hyper Fist] [A-Rank Strength Skill]
Like a piston, his arm sprang his fist into Sylvan’s chin with enough force to throttle an elephant. The sound it made resembled a gunshot, causing the air to ripple against the protective barriers. It was like hitting a pitbull; Sylvan grinned past any pain and bruising, immediately retaliating.
[Minor Barrier]
–He proved himself right in protecting himself, as erratic strands of electricity lunged from the wild beast’s body. It was difficult to predict the path of the element, as it curved around, forcing him to push the shield in front of a bolt snipping at his shoulder.
’A single touch...I can’t let it touch me for a single second, it’ll be bad,’ he thought.
While that was the goal, it was put to the test while surveying the battlegrounds: elemental sharks swam in the air, encircling him.
"THAT’S SYLVAN’S SIGNATURE MAGIC... ROTTEN PARADE OF THE SEA!"
From a quick estimate as he glanced around, he found at least a dozen of the lightning predators. In their trail, decaying sparks were left as they swam with swiftness not unlike the outcry of thunder.
Sylvan shouted with her signature smile, commanding the elemental marine life with a snap of her fingers, pointing right at him, "Hate to break it to you, but this is the end of the road for ya! Second place ain’t so bad, though!"
All at once, the predators swam towards him from all sides. He sprinted to the side, flipping out of the path of the closest, though only delaying their hunt.
[Tintri] [The Snake’s Eye] [Auto-Reflex]
–Pushing his ability to react to the limit, he could feel his own brain being squeezed of its power as he maneuvered himself through the accursed parade.
"HE’S DODGING, BUT FOR HOW LONG?! WITH THIS MAGIC, SYLVAN COMPLETELY HAS NOAH ON THE BACKFOOT...! CAN HE HOLD OUT FOR LONG ENOUGH, OR WILL THIS BE THE END OF HIS ROOKIE RUN!?"
"I can’t look..." In the crowd, Astrid covered her face.
"Urgh, you gotta! Trust in him!" Otto said, biting his lip anxiously while watching.
Over lightning taking the form of a whale shark, he flipped before immediately ducking beneath the jaws of a great white that clamped above his head.
[Enhance]
He saw an opening, setting his sights on the conductor of the lightning as he placed all of his strength into his right foot, kicking forward–
A trap; he realized immediately as he set straight towards her. From both sides, the elemental predators rammed into him, biting onto his body viciously. It felt like a hundred illnesses being imbued into his body, accompanying the pain of being shocked.
["Electrocution" Proficiency Up: +1] [23/999]
["Cursed" Proficiency Up: +1] [1/99]
The severity of taking the full force of two of the accursed beasts engrained itself into his flesh: roughly sixty percent of his strength was sapped in an instant.
’I’m going...to lose?’ He thought with a flickering consciousness.
