Chapter 296

Korrath Kethys takes his word very seriously. When he said that he would train the Champions as long as he could benefit from the effect of Gate of Heaven, he fully meant it.

So, he’s currently spending time observing Vyrrak not perform the Dance of Dragons while the Dragonkin Champion fights a rather weak Minor Nightmare of Apocalypse.

They’re on the red dunes, split into groups, yet still tightly packed around Sabrina Margrave. Korrath was the one to propose that they look at how ‘stupidly weak’ the Champions are and try to come up with some solutions and help them train if they want to be anything more than trash pickers in this Primordial Dungeon.

After seeing Vyrrak barely being able to kill the thing on its own, panting, and wheezing, Korrath raises an eyebrow. “Why are you not using that Skill?”

The Skill Korrath is talking about is the Dance of Dragons, the same Skill that Vyrrak used to defeat him in one shot.

“If I release all the power of Dance of Dragons,” Vyrrak says, sighing, “it has a devastating effect. But it’s a double-edged blade. Not even my body can sustain the incredible output of energy more than once per fight.”

“Wait,” Korrath widens his eyes and the larger Dragonkin steps toward Vyrrak, pointing a clawed finger at him, “are you telling me that when you walked off the ring, you were done ?”

Vyrrak averts his gaze and Korrath, incredulous, turns toward the distant Jacob, who’s talking with Nimirea surrounded by a bubble of Primordial privacy magic.

“How many layers of lies is that human capable of?” Korrath asks.

“More than even I can understand,” Vyrrak has to admit. “He came up with the Dance of Dragons—the version I’m using—in order for me to retain my power. Not even I had fully understood what he was trying to do with such a technique. He’s… a surprising bastard to say the least.”

Korrath nods in agreement, lost in thought for a moment, and then turns toward Vyrrak.

“Do you want to make that technique your main way of attacking?” The black-scaled Dragonkin asks in a genuine tone.

“Who wouldn’t?”

“I’m asking you, weak, self-serving, father-complexed bastard,” Korrath replies.

“Yes,” Vyrrak sighs. “I wish I could have used it twice against you so I could have split your head into two. One less evil idiot running around.”

“Heh, I’ve heard that there’s a bunch of Merchants in the city, plus I’ve got a few Skill Crystal doubles on me of constitution Skills that you might need. Let’s wait for the two chiefs to stop flirting and then we’ll tell them we’re going shopping. Maybe, your boss will be able to point out a few specific Skills for you to learn. In the meanwhile, absorb this.”

Korrath waves his hand and makes a large Skill Crystal appear that makes Vyrrak’s eyes almost pop out of his head. Even after reconciling with his own father, he has gotten much money from the stingy old man. If he got any, it’s just because his mother forced King Skaernex to give his son an allowance. Plus, any more than that would have started interfering with Vyrrak’s Karma. That’s why, when he reads the Skill Crystal Korrath just gave him, his eyes are as big as saucers.

[Body of the Silent Mountain Titan (Constitution Skill, Defensive Skill - Imperium)]

“Are you messing with me?” Vyrrak asks, eyeing the Skill. Imperium Skills are not easy to find, and he knows this one.

“Heh, I was looking for a few Imperium Rank Constitution Skills and I swiped this off some rich merchant. Killed him for it.”

Vyrrak now has a disgusted face.

“He had slaves and did pretty horrible things to them on a daily basis if that makes you feel better. And not using the Skill is not really going to bring him back. Also, I have a rarer, stronger one that suits my style of defense better. This one is too… hide-y.”

“Stealthy?” Vyrrak offers the correct word to Korrath.

“Skill-ato, Skill-ato,” Korrath replies with a deadpan.

“What?”

“Real Champions inside joke.”

“You guys are not—wait, you’re actually giving this to me?”

“Yeah, take it. The bastard tricky boss of yours had us swear an Oath. This fulfills a big part of it on my part. And this Skill perfectly suits what you’re going for. But we’ll still have to go through the market and make sure there’s a few more to synergize with it. Then, you’ll be able to level them up and use them for Diamond Rank.”

“Using an Imperium Skill as the basis for Diamond Rank?” Vyrrak frowns. “What the hell? Is that even possible?”

“Nimirea had us all prepare. I’m probably going to bring mine above eighty and then have the Rank Up. I’m tired of waiting.”

Hearing all that Korrath just revealed, the nearby gold-skinned Dragonkin, Zorathul, shouts, “Korrath, will you shut the hell up?! Why don’t you tell him all our secrets?!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Their Boss already knows all of them anyway,” Korrath shrugs. “And now that I know his weak point, I can kill this idiot whenever I want. I’m not going to stress about keeping this or that secret. It’s a stupid tactic against tricky opponents. We just need to crush them.”

Zorathul Wlatherkz facepalms and goes back to talking to Kaelrik the Orphan, the swordmaster of the Champions, about sword-techniques.

“So, get familiar with the Skill and then we’ll ask your boss about going to the market and borrowing some funds from your common funds.”

“Common funds?” Vyrrak frowns. “What common funds?”

Korrath, equally confused, frowns back. “What do you mean? The Fake Champions’ common fund for these kinds of purchases?”

“Huh?” Vyrrak replies.

“You guys don’t have a common fund,” Korrath snorts. “How did we lose to you?”

“We don’t have a common fund,” Vyrrak says, realizing that the evil Dark Champions bureaucratic apparatus is clearly much superior to theirs. “You do?”

“Of course. How would you pool together money to buy expensive things when one of your Champions is struggling with money? You can’t borrow from stronger people or it messes with Karma. How are you buying Skill Crystals and artifacts otherwise?”

Vyrrak doesn’t know what to say.

It makes way too much sense what Korrath just said.

And the reality is that all the current Champions have been facing these kinds of issues on their own instead of together as a group.

I think that Jacob once said that coming up in some horrible conditions made them band up together properly. I’m starting to see what he meant.

Vyrrak, up to this point, had thought that the Champions were doing quite fine. They were slowly bonding together, creating real bonds that went beyond race, alliances, and politics. Even Kai and Sabrina, whose families are sworn enemies, are starting to warm up to each other.

But clearly, this is nothing compared to the degree of trust and collaboration that the Dark Champions are displaying.

Nimirea and Jacob are talking in private while the Champions and the Dark Champions, divided in groups by the proficiency of what they’re capable of doing, start practicing together. Some of them, like Kai Valemont and Sabrina Margrave, are still holding back, and the same goes for Delefagus and a few other Dark Champions. Yet, Nimirea sees clearly how the pieces are slowly falling into place right in front of her eyes.

And, when she looks back at the speaking Jacob, whose words she’s just ignored, she has just one overwhelming feeling.

“I want to put my sword through your stupid mouth.”

“So, I suspect that cluster of ruins—wait, what?” Jacob asks, stunned by the sudden outburst.

“You’re a manipulative bastard.”

“I thought we already discussed that at length. I was just called all the names in the book by your friends.”

Nimirea does not deny that those are her friends, but while her feet are a few inches deep into the red sand, she still feels the overwhelming need to punch Jacob straight in the face.

And so, she does.

Before Jacob can react, do anything, he just eats a clean punch to his mouth and nose, knocking him to the ground.

“Ow! Are you insane?! What’s that for?!” Jacob asks, looking up at her from the ground. Then, he worries that, seeing Nimirea hit him, the Champions might riot and the Dark Champions, too, will get riled up and start a fight.

But, when he looks around, everybody who’s stopped to look at them, is just nodding with satisfaction at Nimirea. On both sides.

Even Garros doesn’t look perturbed.

“Fucking hell,” Jacob swears, getting up. “What the hell was that for?”

But Nimirea’s reaction is another punch to his mouth. She still has the enhancement from her Skills and Jacob doesn’t even have his Reverse Domain active. So, he eats this one as well.

“Holy…” He mutters, licking his lip. “Are you done?”

Once again, he checks around, worried that—

“Why is Vyrrak clapping? ”

Nimirea turns and it’s actually both Vyrrak and Korrath, soon joined by everybody else.

“You finally deal with the consequences of your actions, Jacob,” Nimirea smiles. “What did you expect after what you did?”

Jacob is speechless.

“They’re collaborating . Is that what I’ve done?”

“You also tricked me. You led me to believe that the Champions were all as strong as Vyrrak. I didn’t see how Vyrrak was spent after that one hit. I was too taken by your brazen provocations to think straight!”

“I mean,” Jacob says, remaining flat on the ground in fear of getting punched again, “I was just better than you. I know it’s hard to admit, but if you really think about it, shouldn’t you be grateful for—“

No air remains in Jacob’s lungs after Nimirea kicks him so strongly that he flies to the top of the dome of Primordial Magic that encapsulates them.

As he lands back on the red sand, he dispels it, hoping to find some support from his fellow Champions.

“He’s a creep,” Sabrina says. “He probably likes it.”

The Elven Dark Champion, Vyerissa, who’s close to her, agrees, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he liked such a thing. He does look like a pervert.”

“Jacob does have a twisted heart in a way I had not expected from him,” Asterion chimes in with a sigh.

Whose side are you on?! And what twisted heart?!

“You should have seen the way he tricked and killed my own aunt,” Orrivane says, nodding along. “She was a terrible person who deserved it, but Jacob… woof, he gives me the chills sometimes.”

“Listen,” Boomgar adds, “I owe everything to the lad, but he does have a streak of acting in a weird matter. Did you know that he basically planned to get beaten up by that lass when we met her during one of the weird Trials that he goes through from time to time?”

“True,” Zibrek nods. “I was there.”

They are referring to the same Rafnov’s Trial where Jacob revealed their true talents through the Grimoire, allowing them to bloom further. And yes, part of Jacob’s plan had been being beaten to a pulp by Nimirea.

Sadly, that doesn’t help the argument that he’s not a creep.

You traitors! Jacob thinks, holding his side.

“I believe that after all he’s done, he deserves to get at least one good hit from each one of us!” Nimirea says, with the Dark Champions nodding along.

Then, even the Champions, thinking about it for a moment, feel the same.

“What?!” Jacob’s eyes are wide. “The Oaths—“

“Nothing in the Oaths is against this. This is, essentially, training. If anything, we’re just fulfilling the Oaths.”

“And what are we even training?!” Jacob shouts back.

“Your honesty,” Nimirea smiles.

“Your manners,” Sabrina nods.

“Your taste,” Delefagus cracks a knuckle with a smile.

Jacob looks across all of them, and even Vyrrak looks interested.

“You too?! What have I done to you?!”

“You talk a lot and you can be really grating, you know?”

Jacob’s mouth hangs open as if his jaw just dislocated.

You better go along with this. I doubt there’ll be a better team-building experience, you know?

Jacob hears Nimirea’s voice in his mind and suddenly a lightbulb goes off over his head.

She’s trying to bring them together by…

It is indeed a genius plan, Nimirea answers, not exactly replying to his thought since she’s still to teach him how to communicate telepathically. And, given all the times you’ve tricked me *, I suppose it’s time you ‘take one for the team.’ *

Seeing everybody slowly getting closer, Jacob thinks.

Hell no! They can team build in the Dungeon! I’m not going to let them do it on me! What the hell!?

Great , Nimirea replies. I knew you would understand .

WHAT?!