Rogue Villain-Chapter 203: Gold Pin Collection

After defeating Hoga, Ackster went on to fight the other islands’ champions. Now that he had one gold pin, he didn’t need to toil and take each island step by step. He could directly advance to the island’s prime arena and request a duel against their champion.

Ackster gathered gold pin after gold pin as he went from island to island, not wasting any time. The only thing he did while not fighting was travel, train his mana, or think about each fight and visualize what he could have done to end it faster without changing how much raw strength he used.

He processed each fight and opponent and compiled what he learned from them. Some fights, like the one with Hoga, were straightforward and were decided as soon as Ackster got the upper hand. Other fights, including the fight against Kari Island’s mage champion, were a little more difficult.

The Kari Island’s champion had thrown out a cloud of black fog that clung to his eyes and obscured his vision. He hadn’t anticipated something like that, and the cloud was homing. He couldn’t dodge it even with his reflexes.

While the black fog obscured Ackster’s vision, the Kari Island’s champion threw out a plethora of spells that sought to freeze his feet to the ground, bind his legs, pierce his torso, or tie down his arms. None of it was lethal, but only because the mage held back. Well, it was also because few of the spells actually hit Ackster.

Without Bo’s training that honed Ackster’s senses, including the sixth, Ackster wouldn’t have been very different from a sitting duck. He would have been a very resilient sitting duck with his skills, but a sitting duck nonetheless.

’I wonder if Darksight would have done anything.’

As he thought about the fights, Ackster couldn’t help but think about what having his skills would have changed. In most cases, however, he could only conclude that it would have led to a stomp, not a fair fight.

Ackster understood why Bo had sealed his skills. With them still active, it would have been nigh impossible to grow and actually learn as much as he had during the training and fighting with the Matar fighters.

But the training still gave him shivers when he thought about it.

Eventually, Ackster had collected gold pins from eleven of the twelve islands. The central island of Diaga was the only one that remained. It was where the trident he had come for was, and it was a place he could only get to without verifying his identity if he had eleven gold pins.

Ackster had spent some time collecting them but didn’t think it was a waste.

With the eleven gold pins stuck to his shirt, Ackster had no trouble entering the island. He even got a guide to the Diaga Arena without extra cost. Once there, Ackster only had to wait a little as the staff checked with the other islands that the pins and Ackster’s identity were valid.

As far as Ackster could tell, they just asked about his reputation, which he had done his best to make outstanding.

He also had to fight a couple of fights against the regulars who wouldn’t let him challenge the champion without going through them first. They were on the same level as Hoga and the other champions of the twelve islands. They had just chosen to remain on Diaga as challengers instead of being tied down to one island and getting burdened with responsibility.

After beating Hoga and the other islands’ champions, they were no match for Ackster, and he soon stepped into the grand ring of the Diaga Arena specifically meant for the champion’s battles.

’Huh?’

Ackster couldn’t help but be surprised as the champion entered. It wasn’t because it was a woman. It wasn’t the first woman he had fought during his string of challenges, and it wouldn’t be the last he fought during his journey.

Ackster’s surprise was partly because of the silvery blue trident on the champion’s back and the fact that it was in the champion’s possession.

’She...?’ 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

What shocked Ackster the most was that he recognized the woman. He had never seen her before in either of his lives, but Ackster could tell at first glance who it was.

’Dala Storm.’

It was one of The Hero’s companions.

A story about a hero defeating a great and evil opponent at the end of a long and arduous journey isn’t complete without a muscular, short-haired, tomboy warrior princess in the party. Dala Storm, the middle daughter of the Storm clan, rulers of Diaga Island, filled that role in the original story.

She had tried to keep her identity secret since she didn’t want her semi-royal identity to be what others saw when they looked at her. Of course, all her attempts at being perceived as nothing but a talented warrior were futile in front of The Hero. Since it wasn’t malicious and Dala was powerful, she ended up joining The Hero’s party as a secondary attacker after The Hero.

’I guess it makes sense.’

Ackster had been surprised to see her in the ring since he didn’t think she would want to take on such an endeavor full of fame. But where else in Matar would she be able to find fights to learn and grow from? And her strength in the original story was certainly more than enough to earn her the spot as a champion.

But it wasn’t without cost.

The scar down Dala’s forehead and nose was fresh enough that Ackster could guess she had gotten it while earning or defending her spot as a Champion.

"You like what you’re seein’?"

Dala’s smirk as she gripped the trident and held it upright with one hand next to her snapped Ackster out of his thoughts.

"Yes."

Ackster answered honestly.

"Why do I have a feeling you’re looking at this old thing and not me?"

Dala’s smirk disappeared as a pensive frown replaced it.

Ackster shrugged.

"Maybe because I am."

"That so?"

"..."

"Alright. If you beat me, I’ll let you take it for a spin."

Ackster suppressed a grin, half-succeeding.

"No take-backs."