《Emperor (皇帝)》Chapter 7
Advertisement
Most of the spectators in the arena seemed to have anticipated the speed and ferocity packed behind the fists of the two contenders, however, Ernesto was laughing his ass off, while Christopher was trying to fully concentrate in an attempt to see their moves even the slightest.
Eventually, as the two of them were exchanging blows, Daniil managed to find a weakness in his opponent's defense and hit him with his might flat in the chest, throwing him a couple of dozen feet away, followed by him spitting out a handful of blood.
One punch. Just with one punch, flat into the chest, one gained the ultimate advantage over the other. This was the display of true might of Soulguards, which made both Christopher and Ernesto even more so excited.
Druvly, the man that has been hit, instantly regained his senses, and with a smirk on his face, he clasped his fists together and closed his eyes completely. Daniil exclaimed at that moment: "Shit.", and started gaining distance away from his opponent, but was ultimately too late. He suddenly hit an invisible force with his back, and after punching it, again and again, he did not seem to be able to break it.
Druvly calmly opened his eyes and smiled, while increasing the tension in his clasped fists. As he did so, Daniil began sweating, and used all of his remaining might to try and break free from this invisible barrier, but, eventually, he completely lost control over his body and dropped on the ground, unconscious.
"WOAHHHH!" - the crowd went into an uproar, very pleased by the display of Druvly.
The referee appeared in the middle of the arena again and yelled out: "The winner is - Lord Druvly! A great display of spiritual skills! Our next contenders - Arakas from the Ghat-Dalmeri and Klaus from Talatan!"
Advertisement
The referee, carrying the unconscious body of Daniil, alongside with Druvly, disappeared in the shadows of one of the gates, and replacing them in the arena were another two contenders, one human, Klaus, and a very strange-looking furred-like creature, almost resembling a humanoid tiger, burly, fast and with sharp claws and fangs, Arakas. Their speed was also unimaginable, but eventually, using his martial skills, Arakas knocked his opponent out.
And through the next ten rounds, Christopher was mostly focused on studying the arena and the remaining contenders around him, trying to guess his opponent. But, after the 10th round, the referee exclaimed: "Our next contenders - Yannis from the Kingdom of Urukhial and Ernesto from the Netherlands!"
"Well, it looks like it's my turn." - Ernesto quickly swallowed his pill, stood up and jumped down into the arena.
"Good luck, Nesto." - Christopher really wished to see him win.
His opponent was a young human, maybe in his early twenties, but well-built, revealing his chest. As the referee waved his hand, suddenly, both of them disappeared in Christopher's eyes yet again, and a moment later appeared next to each other, throwing out punches at each other.
"Woah, so that's what this thing can do..." - he looked at his blue pill.
The fight went on for over a minute, until Ernesto took a heavy punch into his chest, leaving a trail of blood as he flew dozens of feet away. But, as he was about to fall on his back, he spun his body and instantly appeared next to his opponent, that was already cheering himself from victory. Throwing out a sneak attack punch into the chin, Ernesto instantly knocked out Yannis. The crowd went into an uproar, but not as much as on the first fight.
Looking almost deathly-pale, but still with a smile on his face, Ernesto raised his fist into the air as he looked at Christopher, and quickly left with the referee back inside.
Advertisement
"Our next contenders - Christopher from Dalaran and Dazel from Thardrock!"
His blood started boiling, as he quickly took the pill, and felt that everything around him seemed to have slowed down, his muscles around his entire body tensed up, and the control he felt over himself was on the highest point ever in his life. He jumped down into the arena and inspected his opponent.
Trardrock was a smaller man, but with a very wide and built figure, large beard on his face alongside with a bit of recent Ale dripping down his chin. While he was smaller than Christopher, he had a much better build and a very confident posture. However, as the referee exclaimed: "Commence!", Christopher, for the first time, clearly saw the movement of his opponent. While it was quick, he could read and anticipate his attack, as he was trying to flank under him to throw an uppercut. However, with the power that the pill gave him, Christopher tensed his feet, and with immense speed, incomparable even to the dwarf, flew out and instantly appeared behind him and threw out an elbow punch to his head. The dwarf did not anticipate such speed and ferociousness from his opponent and was caught off-guard, instantly dropping unconscious from one punch.
"WOOOOAH!' - the crowd gasped in admiration and surprise, and started talking amongst each other.
"He's from Dalaran? Have you heard about that place?"
"No, I've been around all over the continent. He definitely must have come from a faraway place."
"I really want to know what kind of place must train such young yet skilled Soulguards. Brilliant."
While Christopher was cheering on the inside and was walking with the referee towards the inside of the arena, he clearly felt his heart beating extremely fast, and he cold-sweated all over across his body, feeling uneasy.
As he came inside the building once more, there was Ernesto, with a bright smile, waiting for him.
"Well, how does it feel to win?" - Ernesto clasped him by his shoulder.
"Incredible. Never would have I thought this would help this much. I am in your debt, bro."
"Hah, well, you'll repay me later. But you need to hold yourself for a while, the side effects of this are even worse than I thought they would be. We still have some fights to go through."
"Yeah, I can tell. I'll just rest until the next fight."
With that, both of them found themselves sitting and resting on one of the nearby benches, from where they could see the rest of the fights. With the pills in effect, they both could see the moves behind most of the contenders, apart from a few. The man from the 'Bai Clan', that Christopher saw arguing back in the lobby room, was so fast that even he could not see his movements. He really had hoped not to be the one fighting him next, as his opponent was knocked out instantly.
The elderly man, who was arguing with the Bai clansman earlier, was also not simple. While one could read his movement, he possessed the same strange other-worldly ability to create an invisible force to crush his opponents, which he displayed in his fight. Eventually, after a hundred or so rounds, half of the people have been filtered away, and the next batch of fights between the current winners was about to commence.
Advertisement
- In Serial158 Chapters
Nero Zero
Monsters plagued the lands for too long. No matter if one had fangs, beak, teeth, skin, fur, or feather, or was tall, stout, or diminutive, the people suffered. Until the Gadgeteers came with a device that could allow people to fight back. Powered by one's own magical power, feeding off of monster Essence, the Arbitrium bracer turned the tables. It also changed society. Strength of one's level cap was all that mattered. The strongest were Kings and Emperors. The weak or those too poor to afford the marvelous device, destitute. And so it has been for millennia. All that mattered was one's level cap. High, low, a fate decided the moment the strange contraption came alive. Too high and you were a threat to those interested in keeping the status quo, a weed to be nipped before it could grow and take root. Too low and you were nobody, fated to be a bit more than a simple farmer. What if someone, somewhere, came up with a zero for their level cap? Unable to use Essence, unable to level up. On all of recorded history, it never happened. Until it did. In a small village of fur-less and tail-less ape-beastkin, a boy found out he was uniquely handicapped. Nero's level cap was Zero. But he'd never let that stop him from reaching his goals. ------------------------------------------------ All stories have already been told. We merely reuse elements from them. From Joseph Campbell's Monomith to Stephen King's advice, and that encyclopedia of tropes you've visited, fiction has been dissected and reassembled countless times. One will surely find elements inspired on other works here. Just like cooking from basic ingredients, the recipe and presentation is what really matter. This is a fantasy adventure, of someone that goes from a zero to a slightly bigger zero. It will have romance but no harem. Cruelty but with hope dimly shining ahead. Lightweight where it can be, heavy where it must. Thanks for reading. Cover Credits (The cover is CC-BY-NC-SA): Steampunk Spider Bracer, by Daniel Proulx. CC-BY-NC-SA Picture Frame, @anaterate, Pixabay license. Some odds and bits from here and there.
8 272 - In Serial11 Chapters
THE CHOOSEN ONE
I'm scared... I'm feared... I don't want to die But... If there is a hope I can change my life, I want to change it Strong... Until no one can defeat me I'm Steve Wimpffen I wasn't blesses by mana No matter what people say I'M NOT GIVE UP UNTIL NO ONE CAN MOCK AT ME AGAIN
8 205 - In Serial18 Chapters
To Witness the Coming Darkness
All history and myth collide, all is or was real as beings we called gods walked with us. Through this the witnesses stand vigil. Watching as our world slides toward destruction.
8 134 - In Serial9 Chapters
I don't want to marry the Emperor!
Yu Jiang handed himself over to Kan Bujian's rival group Eryu to settle the blood vengeance his brother created and was torture to death.Just as Yu Jiang thought that he can finally rest in peace and crossover, a dim bright blue light caught his attention and he stupidly walked towards it and then fell into a seemingly bottomless pit. When he became conscious again, Yu Jiang finds himself in a place completely different from Earth and a beautiful young lady loudly sobbing next to him. ....After some time, Yu Jiang realized that he had somehow stolen someone else's body (who coincidentally has the same name as him) and this body's owner seem to have been the sole supporter and brother of the sobbing young girl. With no way to exit the body and get back the original soul, Yu Jiang took pity on Yu Bai and decided then to be the best older brother that he can be and support her in anyway he can till his last breath. ....one years later:Yu Bai, "Jiang Gege, it's rumor that the Emperor is taking in concubine candidates. Bai has applied."Yu Jiang, "..." Yu Bai, "Gege, the selection ceremony will be in three days. Please help Bai. Once Bai becomes Empress, Bai promises to take good care of brother."....Thus begins Yu Jiang's undercover journey in the palace.Warning: READ TAGS!!!Has grammar errors: Please feel free to point it out. I'll correct it later if I have time.Has parts of a typical Chinese fantasy worlds mix with my own creation because I am not that familiar with Chinese fantasy worlds, so don't hate. Happy Reading :)
8 190 - In Serial7 Chapters
Passion Forged in Hell
Koala knew the evils of the world, she had endured the worst it had to offer; she didn't think it would get worse, but fate proved her wrong - the love of her life, her partner in crime, had been brutally beaten at the Reverie - then sold into slavery by the Celestial Dragons. Now, Koala must overcome her trauma if she wants to get Sabo out before it's too late.*Basically, it's my theory for what happened at the Reverie, since Oda is intent on keeping us in suspense.Disclaimer: Not mine, I do not own One Piece.
8 178 - In Serial55 Chapters
magnifique ➤ anne with an e
MAGNIFIQUE | IN WHICH MILDRED TURNER ARRIVES IN AVONLEA TO VISIT A NEW FRIEND AND THERE'S A LIFE WAITING FOR HER. MAYBE, EVEN LOVE. 'MILLIE AND BEN' SEQUEL IS PUBLISH NOW! highest rank:#1 Anneofgreengables#1 Annewithane《oc x oc》《lowercase intented》《anne with an e》| i only own the oc's and their storylines, all are credited to moira walley-beckett and anne with an e. based on anne of green gables by l.m montgomery.|
8 161

