Chapter 23: Black Market (3)

Author's Note: Please bookmark, favorite, follow, and rate if you can.

It gives me motivation for more chapters a day.

Thanks!

The spectators, who had thought the fight was over, quickly began cheering when they saw that the previously downed fighter wasn't dead, and instead had some spunk in him as he yelled inaudible words at the towering barbarian.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Kanaan, angered that the pathetic fighter he thought he'd eliminated was back on his feet, grabbed his large club before charging at Hollow at a breakneck speed.

He didn't know or care how Hollow was still standing upright while glaring at him, but this time, he would eliminate him for good after being repeatedly disrespected.

With incredible speed and power, the giant club flew at Hollow's head in a lateral move that was sure to decapitate him.

However-

SWISH-

Instead of the solid impact that Kanaan was expecting, the club only passed through empty air, while the force of the swing caused him to rotate unstably.

And at the precise moment that Kanaan's back was turned to Hollow-

SLICE!

With a whiplike movement of the hand holding the sword, Hollow, who had previously ducked to dodge Kanaan's attack, slashed at the back of Kanaan's neck before retreating.

There was a second's delay, then Kanaan's long, wild hair fell to the ground, exposing a bleeding horizontal cut across his neck, while the tip of Hollow's wooden sword crumbled into dust.

The spectators, seeing Kanaan bleeding for the first time ever with an ugly haircut, began cheering even louder as the announcement rang out.

- First Blood Drawn!

When he felt the breeze and sting across the back of his neck, Kanaan immediately retreated as fear flashed across his face.

Touching the back of his neck with his hand, he saw it covered in blood and roared in anger.

It was the first time in ages that he had even been hit, much less injured to the point of bleeding, yet here he was, bleeding from a cut caused by a puny wooden sword.

Considering how he reinforced his body with mana, it shouldn't have been possible!

And to make matters worse, his precious hair, which, according to tradition, should only be cut upon his defeat or death, had been sliced off and now lay on the ground.

Gripping his hefty club even tighter, Kanaan glared at Hollow, who was cracking his neck and stretching his sword arm in a lazy motion as if what he had done wasn't a big deal.

As Hollow pushed back his hair and met Kanaan's eyes, he spoke to Kanaan slowly, and as Kanaan read his lips, when he understood that Hollow was offering him the same disrespectful deal he had muttered when the fight started, 'surrender now if you want to fight another day', his blood began boiling, and he began to see red.

How dare a pathetic shrimp like this look down on him just because he had gotten a lucky strike while his back was turned!

He would show him this time!

As Kanaan focused on Hollow, who was walking forward slowly while swinging the much shorter wooden sword, he squatted down, gathering strength in his thighs before lunging forward at an impressive speed.

Once again, he swung his giant tree-like club with all of his strength towards Hollow's torso. Unfortunately-

Hollow ducked and stepped to the side, letting the club pass over his head, and Kanaan move past him.

Having anticipated that Hollow would duck like before, Kanaan forcibly killed his impressive momentum by digging his gigantic feet into the sand while sending a fist to smash down on Hollow.

But then, right before his thick and heavy fist collided with Hollow's much smaller head-

Slice Slice Slice-

Hollow's sword arm moved so fast that all that could be seen was a blurry gray after image, and a second later.

PLOP!

Kanaan's meaty hand, which was still clenched into a fist, fell to the sandy ground.

And as the spectators saw the previously untouchable giant bellowing in pain while waving around his stump of an arm that was pouring blood, they went crazy.

ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!

It was a complete upset!

**********

"Whooooo, let's go, Hollow! Make me some money! 100 to 1 odds, baby! We're rich!" as Caellum clapped and cheered while watching Hollow forced Kanaan, the ignorant barbarian, to give up his dreams of becoming a world-class juggler, he noticed that Red, who was standing beside him, was no longer smiling.

In fact, the man's body was so still he didn't even look like he was breathing, and Caellum could swear that the temperature around them was getting hotter.

Looking down the metal railing being clutched by Red, Caellum noticed that it had melted around his clenched fists.

'…..eh?'

'I beg your pardon?'

'What the heck is going on? You're a mage?'

'A fire one? Scary!'

'No wonder you were talking about burning people and volcanoes and whatnot!'

Suddenly glad that he had the foresight to cover his entire body without an inch of skin being visible, so that he wasn't recognizable, Caellum turned on his most compassionate voice as he subtly moved away from Red.

'His body was much softer than a metal railing, and he had no plans to become human barbecue, so let's calm this crazy person down first.'

"Ahem. Apologies for my outburst. Is everything okay, Red?"

"I'll be taking my leave now as I need to deal with this situation. Please excuse me." Red forced out through gritted teeth before turning away.

"Of course. I understand that business calls. It was quite a pleasure to meet you, but just in case we don't see each other later, I hope that there will be no issues collecting the entirety of my winnings, correct? I have confidence that the integrity of the organizers will be maintained, yes?" Caellum asked before Red could leave.

Even if Red was an angry fire mage, or the fighting ring organizers were having a bad night had nothing to do with him.

What they needed to do was honor the payout and not try to renege at the last moment.

Emotions were one thing, but money was money.

And Caellum needed to get his money. Since he had just happened to meet a higher-up, he would press him now so he wouldn't have to argue foolishly later.

In response, Red turned to look at Caellum, and for a second, the air around him felt oppressively hot and heavy, as if it were trying to push him to his knees and burn him to a crisp.

'Scary!'

It was a sensation that he had never felt before, and Caellum felt his muscles twitching uncontrollably and his heartbeat start racing.

He felt as if he were on the cusp of burning up.

'Was this the effect of mana? Aura?'

'How annoying.'

Gripping the metal rail behind him and leaning heavily on it, so he would not fall from his shaking legs, Caellum took a deep breath, filling his diaphragm with air so his shakiness wouldn't be noticed before forcing out a single word.

"Well?"

'Are you going to give me my money?'

As soon as Caellum spoke, he immediately snapped his mouth shut because his teeth were about to start chattering.

'This feeling of pressure right now is really scary!'

'How long do I have to deal with it for?'

Truly, Caellum wanted to cry as it took all of his strength to stop his whole body from shaking from the pressure and fear.

As he stood there, his head began throbbing, he felt something pop in his nose before liquid began dripping down into his mouth, and when he licked it, he realized that it was blood.

'Fuck!'

Just as he thought he might really collapse like a little chicken, Red nodded his head, and immediately, the pressure stopped as if it never existed.

"Of course not. I'll have it handled."

Caellum nodded politely before carefully turning to face the pit while leaning his whole body on the railing so he didn't collapse from the sudden release.

'Aish, that was really dangerous, and this body is really too weak. I need to start the process of strengthening it a bit and get some defensive magic items as soon as possible. Which means, I need money immediately.'

Feeling a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as if he were being watched, Caellum continued acting nonchalant, while wishing he had a private room so he could wipe away the disgusting blood entering his mouth.

And after several seconds, when the prickly feeling disappeared, Caellum let out a shaky breath and pulled his cloak tighter.

He decided not to check if Red was still behind him or if someone else was glaring at him.

After all, the man was a mage!

A mage!

What if that crazy person was still there and took it as a challenge and decided to use that strange pressure against him again, or even worse, touch him with those hands that had melted the metal railing as if it were nothing?

No. Thank. You.

It seemed that this night was really over.

Once he got his money, it was time to leave.

Expeditiously.

Mind made up, Caellum refocused on the fight that was wrapping up below him.

Or should he say the one-sided slaughter of a wounded animal instead of a fight?

Kanaan was roaring like an injured wild beast, trying to smash Hollow with the large wooden club with one hand as he held his bleeding wrist to his chest.

And Hollow?

No matter how fast or how hard Kanaan swung his large wooden club, Hollow seemed to be just a step faster as he easily sidestepped, jumped over, or ducked under the wild, unfocused swings.

Additionally, the wooden sword with its broken tip whipped forward faster than the eye could see, and each time it struck Kanaan, it left a slice wound on his body while continually getting shorter as bits of the top turned to dust.

Left shoulder, right shoulder, both knees, elbow, wrist, ankles, and torso.

Slowly and methodically, Kanaan was being carved up like a cow on the butcher's table while the crowd cheered at the crazy upset.

By the time guards dressed in black rushed into the pit, some quickly surrounded Hollow while others collected Kanaan and rushed him into the tunnels, while the spectators booed. Caellum had three main thoughts.

Firstly, he really regretted not paying attention to his subordinates as they talked about this damn story. He truly felt like he didn't have enough information. He didn't recognize Red, and after hearing Hollow curse in Italian, it was clear that he wasn't originally from this world, but he didn't recognize him either. Especially with that generic appearance and name.

Secondly, whatever nonsense Red was talking about, Kanaan's ignorant offspring being strong or whatever, could be immediately ignored. He needed to find a way to meet and recruit this Hollow guy by any means necessary. Kanaan was clearly no ordinary fighter. His strength and speed were something that defied the norms, and based on Red's confidence in him, Caellum had to assume he had some type of hidden upper hand.

Yet Hollow had easily dealt with him after taking a few hits.

Hollow was clearly stronger than he originally appeared, and the fact that he was using a wooden sword to deal this much damage to an opponent that the fighting pit organizers had so much faith in was amazing.

Caellum also wanted to know if it was a special ability of Hollows that let him do so much damage with a simple item, or if he was using mana, or something else. Especially because the wooden sword tip kept turning to dust each time it struck Kanaan.

And thirdly-

Taking a glance at the 1:100 odds listed on his betting sheet, Caellum wanted to burst out laughing.

He was going to be rich!

Filthy fucking rich.

'Thank you, Mr. Hollow, Sir. You're too kind.'

'This money? I appreciate it and will use it well to pay your hiring salary and bonus.'

'And my good Qasmiran friend Ghani? Rejoice. More investment money has just arrived. '

'Isn't that great?'

'Isn't life good?'

Despite his throbbing headache, aching limbs, and bloody nose, this was the best day of Caellum's life since he entered this body.