Cost of Winning

The crowd was shocked when I raised my fist instead of drawing my sword. In this battle, my sword was only insurance, since one thing bothered me. Xander used brass knuckles when he fought. If he were to hit my sword at the right angle, it would completely shatter it. I would be a fool if I ignored his strength level and physique. Instead, I planned to test out my Build Up skill.

"You should use your sword, little man!" Xander mocked me. "You can't beat me at my own game!"

The crowd laughed at his remark. Even the announcer chimed in.

"What is Smarus doing? He not only refuses to use his sword, but he also plans to fight with his bare fists! What an idiot!"

I began jumping in place while throwing punches in the air. I was able to feel the energy build up inside of me.

"Let's make a deal then," I smiled.

"Okay, what are you proposing?" He crossed his arms.

"If I win in one hit, you will spend the rest of your life serving me," I offered.

"Ha! So what am I getting when I win!?" He scoffed at me.

"I will serve you," I spoke calmly.

The crowd gasped as I offered such a high reward to him. Xander's eyes widened and his arms dropped to the side. To him, it must have seemed like a deal from heaven.

"W-what kind of deal is THAAAT?" The announcer shouted. "Why would Smarus risk everything in one punch? Will Xander accept the deal?"

"A Dragonborne… at my feet?" Xander mumbled to himself.

Tension rose in the coliseum as Xander stood there in shock. I patiently waited for him since I was only getting stronger with every passing second. He finally snapped out of his shock and shook his head.

"I accept your deal! I can't wait to have a Dragonborne to serve me!" He laughed to himself.

"In that case," I stopped bouncing and raised my fist. "Announcer if you will."

These were high stakes, but diamonds are made under pressure. I faintly heard a familiar voice.

"Wait, something is odd about Smarus… Wait! Smarus, how can you…" Arlo began his thought, but he was interrupted.

"AAANND FIIIGGHHT!"

The crowd roared as Xander and I dashed towards each other. Xander didn't have any distinctive form. Meanwhile, I kept my head low and bobbed my head back and forth. I casted haste and precision.

"Take this!" Xander screamed as he threw a right hook.

I ducked under his arm and moved to the left. He was still much taller than me, so I didn't have the angle I would have wanted that would allow me to punch his face. Xander quickly recovered and began a volley of attacks.

Thankfully, my agility was far superior to his, so I dodged and weaved every single one of his attacks. The height difference was the biggest issue, and I didn't want to run the risk of jumping to attack. In the air, I would be a vulnerable target.

"Stop dodging!" Xander was getting angry.

"And risk being touched by an ape? No thanks," I provoked him.

This only fueled his anger. Xander threw another right hook, but wider than usual. His footing was awkward, and his weight wasn't distributed properly. Before he could complete his swing, I swept his leading foot forward, causing him to stumble. He caught himself, but this brought his head down to my level for a brief moment.

"Good night," I threw a straight.

BAM!

Pain shot up my arm as I felt a solid impact on his jawline. I built up so much kinetic energy that it backfired. The skin on my right hand almost completely burnt off, and my shoulder was dislocated. I screamed in pain. The impact of the punch caused a lot of dirt and smoke to shoot up.

Once I regained my composure, I noticed that Xander was on his knees. His mount was wide open and his eyes were rolled behind his head. He blacked out due to the impact… but he looked unfazed otherwise. I took a peak at his skills with Odin's Eye and smiled to myself.

"Lesser Heal" I partially healed myself.

I walked over to him and grabbed his face with my right hand.

"Steal."

Ding! New skill acquired! Shock Absorption!

The dust slowly cleared up, so I backed away from Xander. The audience was shocked once they saw how our battle unfolded.

"He… He really did it! He took down that giant in one punch!" The announcer declared the winner. "Smarus Dragonborne surprised us again!"

The crowd roared. It was a mixture of boos and cheers, but it only showed how shallow they truly were. I sighed as I put my hands in my pockets, but my right hand stung. The majority of my skin was still gone. What a pain. As I walked back to my room, Arlo called me out from the stands.

"Smarus! That was Build Up, wasn't it?" He looked at me furiously.

"Yeah."

"How? Why do you have it?"

I could tell that if I didn't give him something, he wasn't going to budge. I sighed as I thought of some excuse.

"My class allows me to learn any skill," I shrugged.

"What kind of bullshit class do you have then!?" Arlo yelled at me.

I continued walking as he yelled. I didn't want to reveal too much, but at the same time, I knew there was only an amount of time before he found out. I walked to the nurse's office… well the temporary one.

Since students will be fighting each other for the next few days, the Board of Education used one of the rooms in the coliseum as a substitute nurse's office. I knocked on the door.

"Come in~" A feminine voice called.

I opened the door and saw the nurse sitting at her desk. In simple words, she was beautiful. She was wearing makeup, but not too much for it to look fake. She wore a lab coat and dress pants. Her long, purple-tinted hair was in a ponytail. I had to force myself to focus.

"How may I help you, young man?" She smiled at me.

"The skin of my hand almost completely burned off," I showed her my hand.

"Oh my! Quickly, come take a seat," She pointed to the chair in front of the desk.

She got up to look for the medication and equipment that she needed. As I took a seat, I took this chance to peek at her stats.

Name: Lizbeth Armstrong

Age: 39

Strength: 2

Intelligence: 6

Agility: 3

Charisma: 7

Magic: 5.5

Class: Healer

Mana: 2000/2000

She seemed suitable for her class, but why was her charisma so high? She must have been blessed by god… or I guess Miss Hana. She came back and pulled a chair in front of me.

"I'm Lizbeth Armstrong, and I'll be acting as the nurse for this tournament. May I see your hand please?" She smiled at me.

"I am Smarus Dragonborne. It's nice to meet you," I extended my arm out to her.

Her expression grew a bit more serious as she looked at my hand. Her eyes began to glow green as she began to treat my hand. I could tell that she was completely focused, so I decided not to say anything. When I saw her left hand, I noticed that she was wearing a ring. She must have seen this since she spoke.

"Do you have somebody you love, young man?" Her voice had a hint of teasing in it.

"No," I immediately responded.

"A shame. I have a husband who's very dear to me," Despite saying this, she looked sad.

"I feel like there is a 'but' coming up," I commented.

"No, there's not. Smarus was it? When it comes to finding a significant other… Love is fragile, so do be careful with it," She sighed.

"If you are implying that I would break my vows, then you are very mistaken, Mrs. Armstrong," I coldly stated. "I would never dare harm a loved one like that."

The green glow from her eyes was being slowly overtaken by the purple glow from my own. I expected her to be angry, but instead, she only looked down in sorrow. I must have struck a nerve. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"But I understand. I will be careful when considering my future wife. Please forgive my sudden outburst," I bowed my head.

"No, no, it's ok. You didn't do anything wrong," Her voice was breaking. "You're all bandaged up. Just be a bit more… careful."

She tried to smile at me, but she was on the verge of tears. I stood up and bowed before walking to the door.

"Thank you for your help."

"Y-you're welcome," She began to cry as I closed the door.

I was still heated by what she said, but I was able to tell that she was speaking from experience. I didn't want to stick my nose where it didn't belong, but I was curious as to what exactly happened in her marriage. I applaud her for staying married.

Since I was on the topic of marriage, I wondered who I would marry. In this world, it wasn't out of the ordinary for nobles to marry while they were still teenagers. I was technically at the right age. If you were strong, like Aurora and Myra, you had more of a say in who you married. That could be why they were never engaged before… What a pain.

If I had to chose… I dunno. There was a logical side of me that would prefer someone smart and calm like Aurora, but there was the lazy college student side of me that wanted someone fun like Lily. Wait, neither of those would do. I sighed.

Maybe I'll just marry a noble or something. I guessed having multiple wives was also an option… That seemed like more work than just having one. What a pain. One step at a time. I needed to make it into the academy first before I could think about getting married.