BXBX NOVEL Chapter 31 Duel
[Trait - Truesight]
[Effect] See through anything. Lies, perception, and any other trick
[Activation] Constant
[Trait - Perfect Fighter]
[Effect] Reflexes are raised greatly, and your body moves instinctively to defend against attacks and counter them.
[Activation]Enter Combat
[Trait - Golden Body]
[Effect] Your body grows much harder, but also heavier, although it retains its flexibility. Skin will take on a slight golden tint.
[Activation] Constant
Alright, Eisen changed his mind. This definitely seems to be worth it. When fighting against someone, God’s Bane will definitely give someone a great advantage. Higher Perception, Fighting Ability, and Defense. If someone truly needed that, 50 Gold may even be a low amount.
Morrom stared at Eisen and smiled excitedly. "And? Did it work? Did you break through?!" He yelled and Eisen smiled back, nodding slowly. "Yes. I’ve broken through the Alchemy Skill, and my Limitbreaker Title is at four now."
"And?! It gives you a bonus of four to every stat, right? Oh, and what did the description say?" Morrom asked curiously, and even Bree couldn’t help herself and leaned in to listen closely.
"Haha, don’t worry, I’ll tell you two all that I can. Yes, it gives me a bonus of four to every stat. And the description says ’By Breaking the limits of four of your skills, you showed the gods you stand by their side’."
"’You stand by their side’, huh? Can’t wait to see what’s next! Should we move onto Enchanting right away?!" Morrom asked excitedly, already beginning to clear the table of all the tools that were laying on it.
But before he could even prepare the items needed for enchanting, Eisen stopped him. After all, it was getting quite late, and Eisen had the Duel tomorrow.
"Sorry, I can’t today. How about tomorrow afternoon? That should work, right?" Eisen suggested, and Morrom looked sad for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah, that’s fine. Just come whenever you want. Enchanting itself doesn’t take that much time anyway."
"Haha, got it. Well, I think we should go for the day, then. Do you want to join us for Dinner?" Eisen asked and winked at Bree, showing her that it’s time to go soon and that she should get her backpack ready.
"Hm? Oh, yeah! Sure! But before that, the God’s Bane..." Morrom said, and Eisen immediately nodded.
"Right, sorry. Here it is. Seems like it didn’t turn out as a normal one would have." Eisen explained and handed Morrom the potion.
"Oh, I expected that! Even if you break through a skill, usually the item has lesser effects than it would have naturally of that rank. But anyway, that’s not what I meant. I wanted to pay you. After all, you’re the one that made it and spent about three hours doing it. I want to split the profits in half if that’s fine to you? So for now, you and I would both get 15 Gold. If the potion sells for any more than that, I’ll give you half of that as well."
"Wow, yeah! Thanks for that! I was looking for a way to make money anyway!" Eisen laughed and agreed, after which Morrom walked behind a shelf and came back out with 15 small, golden coins.
"Here you go then!" He smiled and continued inspecting the potion.
After that, Eisen, Morrom, and Bree slowly made their way out of the workshop, and Eisen decided to Appraise some of the items laying around until he read one rather... unusual item name.
He walked up to the metal ring and turned to Morrom.
"Hey, this thing over here... is this really a-"
"It’s not what it looks like! I never owned one! These things are created with enchantments, so I wanted to figure out what kind of enchantment it was, that’s the only thing that happened! But while I was fiddling around with it, I accidentally broke it. It was a low quality one, apparently, this would never have happened with a higher quality one. It makes sense, I bought it for not even a gold coin. Usually, these go for at least ten times that." Morrom explained and grabbed the metal ring, making sure that neither Eisen nor Bree would misunderstand, and because he really didn’t seem like that kind of guy, both of them believed him.
"I get it, don’t worry. But I’ve got to ask, does it look any different now than when it still worked?" Eisen asked, trying to think of a nice little trick for tomorrow.
"Nope, not in the slightest. You usually don’t see enchantments like that, and since I didn’t break the object itself, it looks nearly identical to before."
Eisen grinned somewhat mischievously and grasped the metal ring tightly. "Could I borrow this?"
---
It was the next day, the day of the duel with Hendrick, that a crowd found themselves at the bottom of Melroe, by the entrances to the mines.
When Eisen moved into the clearing, he was immediately greeted by a familiar face. The smug grin of Hendrick and his goons, amongst which Eisen recognized the young man that tried to break into his room at the Inn a few days prior.
There were other people which Eisen recognized, for example, the Innkeeper, Denmir, Folmirra, Jekyll, and of course Morrom, already waiting amongst the crowd.
Hendrick was wearing shiny, white armor and shield, together with a grandly decorated sword. Eisen couldn’t help but scoff at this. These were obviously nothing more than items meant to intimidate Eisen, and he could immediately tell that he was completely out of balance, as his body type didn’t fit his equipment in the slightest.
Eisen himself, though, was simply wearing his beginner clothing, and even went so far as to take off his belt and shoes, as these were the only things he needed to end the duel instantly. And even his sword was safely kept by Bree, as well as all his other items.
Of course, everyone was surprised to see Eisen so underprepared, but Hendrick began to laugh. "Oh? Do you mean to give up before the duel even began?"
In response, Eisen shook his head and scratched his beard with a gentle smile on his face. "On the contrary, young man, I’m not planning any such thing."
Hendrick looked over behind Eisen and saw Bree standing there, holding some of Eisen’s best items in her hands, her huge backpack on her back, and a metal ring around her neck. "I see, so it was like that, huh?" He bore his teeth, and Eisen laughed in response.
"I don’t know what you may mean."
"Oh, don’t play senile with me, old man. But anyway, should we make this Duel more interesting?" Hendrick suggested, and Eisen continued to smile gently.
"And how would you want to do that?" He asked, and Hendrick grinned.
"Let’s bet something, alright? You’re a craftsman, aren’t you? My men observed how you made actually quite amazing items."
"Haha, yes, I noticed. But what has that to do with the duel?"
"I want them. I want all of your belongings. Every. Single. Bit. Every piece of dust that you own, will be mine of you lose this duel. Ask for whatever you want from me, I won’t lose anyway." Hendrick yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear, causing everyone quite the shock, especially Eisen’s Skill Teachers. But Eisen himself couldn’t help but hide his delight. This couldn’t have worked out better for him.
"Hmm... Alright. I’ll give you everything I currently own, don’t worry. But in return, if you lose... I want you to strip naked and run around town while making chicken noises, yelling at every person you see, telling them that you’re a weak little boy." Eisen laughed, and Hendrick’s face immediately turned a deep, dark red as some people from the surrounding crowd began to laugh.
"Y-You! Fine! If I lose, I’ll do that! But I won’t anyways!"
[Quest Updated - Hendrick’s Duel]
[Description] After defending a Fey-Kin from Hendrick, he felt offended and requested a duel. You don’t know what’s to gain or to lose from this.
[Reward] Hendrick will run around town naked and embarrass himself, making chicken noises and yelling at passers-by.
[Failure]You have to give Hendrick all of your current belongings
"Now, you useless Lord, come over here and let us start this Duel! I want to teach an old man a lesson!" Hendrick yelled and looked to the side as the crowd slowly split up.
And Eisen couldn’t help but be surprised as an annoyed and obviously drunk Belrim walked up, followed by a few armored men. "Eh? What’d ya call me, ya bastard? Be careful, ya ’ear? Or else I’ll let the - *hic* - guild demote ya for disrespectin’ yer clients!" Belrim stumbled along, and stood in front of Eisen, looking at him suspiciously.
"What’re ya doin’ ’ere, Eisen? I thought ya were supposed ta beat up that sonofabitch Hendrick!"
Eisen quietly laughed and placed a hand on the drunk dwarf’s shoulder. "Yep, that’s happening here. As you should remember, a few seconds ago you were talking to Hendrick. Also, if you don’t mind, let’s talk about you hiding the fact you’re the Lord later, alright?"
Belrim looked up at Eisen and his eyes widened, "Wait, I’m still the fuckin’ Lord?! I thought that was a fuckin’ dream! Or was it a dream that I lost the job after sleepin’ with some of those other lords’ wives...?"
One of the guarded men behind Belrim walked up and leaned forward, clearing his throat before beginning to whisper. "I’m sorry, M’Lord, but that’s still under discussion. The Lords complained to the Duke. He asked you to come to his Domain, do you not remember?"
"Eh? Ah, right! I remember now! Those three babes were definitely quite feisty, and neither of them liked ta share, hahaha!" Belrim laughed loudly and grabbed his stomach, as Hendrick just became even angrier at being ignored.
"Oi, Belrim! Just get to it, already! Are you going to be the Witness or not?!" He yelled out, and Belrim turned around and scoffed.
"Fine, fine, don’t get yer knickers - *hic* - in a twist! Are both of ya ready?" Belrim asked annoyedly and stepped in between Eisen and Hendrick, holding up his left hand.
"Yes! I’ll kill you, old man!" Hendrick grinned angrily and Eisen nodded with a simple smile. "Yes, Belrim, I’m ready too."
Belrim looked from Hendrick to Eisen and back, then dropped his hand. "Start!"
The Duel started and Hendrick took the first step forward holding his sword forward without even trying to get defensive. "So? What did you expect would happen here today? You will die here, old man. A Duel between to people, except specifically mentioned by the witness, will only end if one person dies, or gives up. Your precious items and your little toy over there will be mine. All mine. And you can’t do a thing about it."
Eisen on the other hand simply kept standing and stared at Hendrick with a smile. He cleared his throat, as he needed to speak loudly now so that everyone heard him. After all, he was about to say the three words, and the only three words, that would immediately change the course of the Duel.
Three words, that, if muttered, would cause Hendrick to be unable to do him any harm anymore. Three words that he never would have expected.
"I give up."