Chapter 49: The King of the Dwarves
"What is it?" I turned to look at the running figure of Rigurd, the Goblin King looking rather panicked. Shuna was pouting a little as she looked between me and Rigurd, her attitude with relation to the disruption being as expected. My onw expression must have been rather emotive in relation to my usual one as Rigurd gulped, coming to stop in front of the desk.
"There are Pegasus in the air, coming towards us..."
'Gazel, you certainly chose a time to come and interrupt didn't you...?'
Sighing, i stood up and stretched, the act causing me to groan a little. Apparently this morning's activities were very new to my body. Rigurd seemed perplexed by my lax attitude whilst Shuna seemed a little concerned.
"Well, let's go greet the Dwarf King shall we?" They both stood in silence for a second as I walked towards the door, Shuna snapping out quicker than Rigurd and following after me. Rigurd took a little longer and ran up behind us as I walked out into the hall. To be honest It was going to be interesting to see this man by myself, Rimuru should have been the one to confront him and he should be the one doing what I am but here we are...
I was going to slap that old bastard around the face when he got back, leaving like he did was immature and very lacklustre. My presence allowed him to do it, but still, it was totally childish. He could have just let Shizu bring her students here and we could train them here...
'Hold on, that's a good idea...' My mind churned on the idea as I briskly walked towards the outskirts of the town, the area where Gazel had set down being somewhat calm and remote. The appearance of his forces and of course himself spread some confusion and panic in people but it was being dealt with by Benimaru and Shion, the both of them starting to fully expand out into their positions. Recently the Kijin had decided to stay here for the foreseeable future, mainly due to the connections they had created and me, apparently.
They respected me and wished to allow Shuna and I to stay together. It definitely didn't have anything to do with Hakuro gaining a new disciple, me, and a bunch of trainees, Gobta and his merry band. Benimaru himself had even been training his kin in the military, bringing some of them up as officers and future generals. He was a free spirit and ultimately I couldn't see him settling down with one person.
I reached the area where Gazel had set down, Benimaru, Shion, Hakuro, Gobta, Rigurd, Shuna and Kaijin all gathering behind me as I stepped out. Gazel was as resplendent as they showed in the anime, even more so. He was adorned in bright silver plate mail with small patches of chainmail adorning the gaps in-between segments of armour. His face seemed crafted of steely will and muscle as his angular jaw only served to accentuate his masculine figure beyond its already intimidating form.
"You are not the slime I was informed about..." His words were rather husky and masculine, his attitude perfectly showing the position he served his people within.
"And neither are you the beautiful woman I was about to cuddle with, but here we are." His eyes locked onto mine, neither of us flinching or backing away. In fact, his stare began to bring back some of my old emotions from my past life. This was the same situation that I had gotten into in my last life, staring into the eyes of a very logical and cold-hearted individual.
He noticed my expression turning arctic, his hand lightly swinging down to his right side, where his sword was sheathed. I noticed this and was jolted out of my memories by Shuna's hand that now rested on my shoulder. She shot a smile at me, her countenance supportive. I tapped her hand softly and sent a small air kiss at her, turning back to Gazel.
"I apologise, sometimes I have issues with forgetting my past... I am Silviana Solaris, the Vice-leader of the Tempest Jura Federation." As soon as I finished Treyni appeared, the dryad causing a stir amongst Gazel's soldiers as one of his generals exclaimed aloud.
"Her words are true." Gazel gazed at her for a few seconds before turning back to me, a small smile adorning his bearded face.
"Good... I heard that there was a large conflict and the killing of the Orc Lord, I am not disappointed. Then I shall judge your character at this time, when this Rimuru appears I shall do the same to him. Prepare yourself." I closed my eyes and stepped forwards, Benimaru throwing his Katana at me and my arm extending outwards to grasp it despite my eyes being closed. Then, with a resolute mind I opened my eyes, drawing my Katana.
"There is one thing I know about the origin of this weapon King Gazel." He looked at me in curiosity, Hakuro and Benimaru also gazing on in interest at what I was saying. Stepping forwards, nodding towards Treyni, I cracked my neck slightly.
"Once it is drawn, blood must be spilled, whether it is but a slice of my finger or the head of my enemy blood must be drawn. It was believed by the creators of the Katana that it would insult your own honour and the Spirit that resided within your blade if you did not spill blood across it." Gazel's face hardened at my words as I simply laid the blade across my hands.
"I do not wish to kill or maim in this fight, so I suggest a more civilised manner of 'judgement'. Who ever is first to draw even a drop of blood shall win. I believe with this we will both have enough time to judge each other's character." Benimaru and Hakuro were surprised with the knowledge I had with regards to the blade, it was new to them, I could see this as they were avidly paying attention.
Gazel nodded his head and looked at Treyni, the Dryad woman extending her hands out and a green aura billowing out. "I shall preside over the match." Her words were calm and embracing, mine and Gazel's sword being brandished and readied. The tension was bubbling furiously on the surface of the match, our eyes looking at one another with a hardness rarely seen by normal people. My body was coiled tightly in preparation for instant movement and fast paced combat.
I hadn't been this serious since I had killed my first person in my past life. The reason I was taking this seriously was to show that we had strength but also that we were a righteous ally. If i could cement that idea into his mind then it would further the bonds between our countries. In the anime the relationship between the nations were mainly those of interests, Gazel did take a shine to Rimuru eventually but it took a while.
My breath hitched as my lungs tightened, my mind focussing directly on Gazel's sword hand and the movements of his feet.
*SHnnnnG*
Within a second sword met sword, blade scraping along blade. My speed was close to his, my full speed held back for now in case I needed to escape his blows. He slashed downwards towards me, using a more open style in the hopes to bait me in closer. Ignoring his obvious trap I pivoted to the side, stepping around and slashing sideways towards the exposed skin behind his knees.
he spun in a moment, he armour blocking blow and deflecting the force back into my hands as he swung diagonally up to the left, the longsword whistling through the air. Thrusting myself backwards at half the speed of sound I quickly switched my footing to account for my balance and struck out with a foot, attempting to knock him off of his current stance. Unfortunately he was aware of the possibility of my move and had already backed off, his blade once again slashing upwards towards my shoulder.
My heart pulsed in adrenaline as my reflexes and speed upped to the maximum, my Superb Agility kicking in and flexing itself to the top. I quickly slipped away from the sword in but a moment as I was suddenly at the other end of the field. He noticed me but my speed was excessive for his current self. I ran towards him, the very sound all but vanishing as I was now achieving speeds quicker than it. My figure blurred and my sword left a trail of air behind it as I quickly leapt and jumped across the battlefield in spurts.
Gazel wasn't giving up however as he soon began to rely on his enormously fast sword technique. It was threat even to Rimuru and he had blocked it out of pure power and reflex, the Great Sage also most likely aiding him.
'I am not kill you, but I will have that drop of blood, king...'
Kaijin was sweating at the side of the battlefield as he saw two people he respected and saw as friends seriously fighting one another, at least in his view. This needed to be done despite his worries.
I drew on my new Unique Skill and pulled on the lightning Magicules in the area, pulling them around me and into my body with my cultivation technique. As if I had thrown a oil on a burning fire my speed rocketed to new heights as I achieved three time the speed of sound. My sword was now leaving a massive cone of pressurised air in its wake as the front of the Katana was sparking minutely with the sheer weight of gravity and velocity.
A second had passed and we were both ready for our moves. We both grunted in exertion as a flash of yellow-gold emerged from his sword, magic mixing with pure physical prowess to achieve something that two of my Unique Skills had only just achieved moments before. At the same time my lightning Magicules flared and pulsed into the blade of my weapon, the clouds above us echoing in thunderous applause as rain specifically began to amass around the small field. A blue glow then generated from the edge of my blade and I watched as a line of lightning shot out into the yellow light, striking it and disrupting it.
In less than a second I had gracefully landed on both of my feet, the Katan extended out in my right hand, small traces of blood dripping from the very highest zenith of the blade's point.
"It is my victory." As if to flaunt my win the clouds above parted and the thunder boomed out one final time before the atmospheric anomalies disappeared and returned to the picturesque, if a bit cold, weather of winter. Gazel laughed out loud, his cheek showing a minor cut, as thin as a paper cut.
"Impressive! No one had matched me and outright shown me that they could surpass me in bladed combat. Only my master could achieve such a feat, I applaud you for your work!" Many of the knights under his service clapped whilst bowing, the art of combat apparently being very sacred to them as Knights and servants to the king. I took the claps with grace bowing to my opponent before politely wiping the blood onto my dress and sheathing the blade. Then, after I had finished I took the Katana respectfully over to Benimaru.
"I appreciate you lending me your honour and support in this fight. I hope I have satisfied your honour." He was slightly taken back by the tone I used and the gestures but he still nodded and smiled.
"There is no need for this Silviana-sama, you are my sister-in-law and also a superb warrior. It is my honour that one such as yourself could wield it." At this I smiled, nodding and turning back to Gazel, his eyes showing deep respect. Of course all of this was a show put on display for him so that he would infer that I treat my subordinates well. You could call me conniving or Machiavellian but it was just common situational manipulation.
"I am sorry for that minor delay. Now, since I have won the contest I would like to know if our two nations could possibly become friends, or dare I say, allies...?" Hakuro stepped out from behind the countless people in the crowd, his experienced gaze and confident body language showing how little he cared about atmosphere.
"Kozō, don't make our lives difficult." Gazel instantly turned his gaze over to the old Kijin Sword Master, his expression faltering and turning completely excited. He was very much reminiscent of a person seeing their idol in person, from my past life.
"Sage! Ah, I did not know that you were here and that she was taught by you!" He turned to look at me and nodded, his attitude towards me becoming more akin to an elder disciple meeting a junior disciple. I cringed at the Wuxia-like master apprentice thing but I held back any physical signs as I grinned at Hakuro.
"How did I do old man?" His right eye cocked up and his aura grew a little oppressive and dangerous, as if promising a punishment for the 'old man' part of my sentence.
"Don't get arrogant whippersnapper, i can still crush you in an instant. You were sloppy, used too many moves, over thought you opponents moves and held back despite the threat he could have posed. You need more polishing so don't be all cocky, got it?" With every word I felt Rimuru's image of the Kijin being Mafia-like was becoming more and more like reality. 'They even treat family very importantly... Ehhh, forget about it...!' I resisted laughing out loud at my own joke.
"E-eh, mmm..." From there I was left out of the conversation for a while, Treyni declaring me the winner and from there joining the others on our side of the pseudo-meeting. Hakuro spoke a little with Gazel, his words being unflattering and unwavering as he also pointed out the issues in Gazel's technique. Benimaru grinning whilst also wincing every time he heard Hakuro correct something, it seemed he was too used to it happening to him.
"So, Gazel, friends? Allies?" I grasped his attention for a few moments, his eyes scanning me up and down as if applying some value metrics to me and those behind me. I didn't like such a gaze, reminded me too much of my past life, but he eventually closed his eyes.
"Let us start with a non-aggression pact and then some trade. I have heard that you have begun construction of roads, focus on the ones leading to my nation, we will immediately start trading." I smiled and nodded, extending my hand for a handshake and receiving one moments later. Hakuro grinned and took a step back, not wanting to interfere between the two government level people.
"I will focus more of our labours towards that goal. When could we meet for the nonaggression pact?"
"We just did, I declare I will not attack you in future, you?"
"Ah, I will not attack you either. I believe this will stay as such unless one party breaks the treaty?" He smiled and that gave me all the answers I needed. Yes, this was the first step and I had succeeded. Now, all that there was before a well deserved two month break, hopefully, was Charybdis and 'Fabio', i mean Phobio.
'Be prepared you little shit! I am going to find someway of chaining you down and sapping all of the sweet sweet stats and magicules from you!'
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