Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

While Caleb was busy with his own worries, the audience was shocked by the announcement that Bercy had a suitor. Wild speculations fill the chat, especially. The general consensus by the time the short break ended was that it had to be Byron, the man who started flirting with Bercy in the second round.

Consequently, the chat was filled with cries of injustice such as “It should have been ME! Not him!” as well as general curses for Byron and by extension, the Boulder Guild. Especially his guild was catching some undeserved strays.

“Everyone, it is time! The quarter-finals of the Pythian Games' martial Tournament will finally begin! Are the participants ready? Then-Begin!” Umi announced the fight, one the short break was over.

Unlike previous fights, it didn't immediately devolve into a slugfest of attacks. The werewolf and the dragon knight were vigilantly watching each other. Even Bercy had dropped her trademark sneer, observing Caleb with a serious expression.

The dragon knight had left quite an impression with his battle against Dumm Ting. Even though they were clear about the fact that he used a lot of external help and stimulants, the systematic deconstruction of a horrible hulk like Dumm Ting was impressive nonetheless.

Bercy had to think twice before charging at him, who knew how many potions and scrolls he had this time? But he wasn't the only one able to do so-. the beats seemed to have lost her patience and attacked, but she didn't transform. ( Much to the dismay of her fans.)

In human form she attacked with a saber, only to be blocked by Caleb's fiery sword. Yet, neither of the two was pushed back. An indication that Caleb was not as doped this time, as during his fight with the cultivator. The audience also realized that Bercy had also started using performance-enhancing substances.

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Caleb showed about the same level of power as during the previous rounds, meaning that the untransformed Bercy on drugs, rivaled the dragon knight on drugs. The next step was obvious, Bercy Transformed to have a deciding edge in battle. But she wasn't the only one able to change shape.

While Bercy became a shapely werewolf and attacked, Caleb wore his mounts, blocking her with his lance and wyvern armor. It was a battle of transformers and steroid abuse.

...

He was crying tears of blood, but he didn't have a choice. Bercy had taken a page from his playbook, making the fight harder than it had to be. If he wanted to win, without rousing Jane's suspicion of trying to save money, he had to use some scrolls.

Once again equipped with Herculean Strength, he brutally overpowered the wild werewolf. Although she tried buffing herself up, too, but she couldn't beat the monetary power of her opponent.

Bercy was helpless against his onslaught and he won the fight within 30 seconds after he used the scroll. But there was no happiness in his soul. He had won, but at what cost? The scroll of Herculean Strength ranged between 200 and 350 Gold in the auction house.

A little depressed he returned to his private room, where Jane was already waiting for him with a benign smile. She patted his shoulder as she passed by him leaving the room.

“Good Work, well done,” she whispered into his ear before leaving. Was that all she came here for? To give her approval? He just wanted to throw himself on the sofa and wallow in self-pity, when he saw the room, and quickly forced himself to smile.

“SURPRISE!” his party from his evaluation greeted him. he had not even noticed the decorated room and the people inside. his focus had been on Jane.

“You did it, you are in the semi-finale!” Polter gave him a strong hug. The dwarf seemed genuinely happy for him. Caleb was glad, that the shadow on Polter's face was gone, ever since Caleb defeated Dumm Ting yesterday. It was hard to perceive, but he knew that his loss had still weighed on the dwarf before.

Suddenly, he didn't feel as regretful about the money he spent and the contracts he signed.

“Yeah! I am, aren't I? Let's celebrate a little for now and watch the rest of the fight,” he answered his genuine smile with one of his own and joined everyone. There was no alcohol of course, since Caleb would have to fight again soon, but there were cakes and other drinks. Everything one needed for a calmer party.

Had Jane organized all that... maybe she wasn't so bad after all?

...

With grim determination, she stepped into the arena. Her eyes focused on the scrawny man on the opposite side of the arena. It was her turn, again. She would not fail a second time! This was her last chance and she would not squander it.

Especially since she had already used one of the last remaining Silver Sparrows she was able to retrieve from her ancestor's hideout. The despair she felt after her loss against the knight, would not be in vain.

“They called you the Shadow under the Rosebushes, a snake hiding in the darkness behind dangerous beauty. I can see what they mean~” the old man cackled, jumping up and balancing on his staff.

She didn't answer. She had heard this often. What others called her, was not worth her attention. Dowloon was ready to do anything to revive her family and get revenge. No matter how underhanded it was. No matter the cost.

“Are you ready?” Umi Kaldrops asked them.

She nodded and the hidden weapons slid in her hands when she heard the familiar question. Circulating the energy in her body evenly, she crouched like a loaded spring, as her eyes focused on the shadow below the opponent's hat.

After studying his previous fights, she had a general idea of his power and speed, as well as of the strategies he had shown so far. As the announcer gave the countdown, her mind cooled down and the poison in her body roused.

Dowloon was sure that her opponent already had a way to circumvent her poison cloud, it seemed there were various ways in this system, that were able to counter her specialty, but it didn't matter in this case. She didn't rely on the poison cloud to finish him.

“Begin!”

The spring snapped and a cloud of needles and knives left her sleeves, but there were only two actually lethal throws, aiming for her opponent's head and heart. All hit, especially the lethal ones, but as expected, her opponent had already switched places with a mud double.

Meanwhile, she had used her technique, to disperse the poison and energy in her body, creating a cloud of deadly poison to cover the arena. As the poison cloud spread, so did the mud on the metal plates that covered the ground.

The feeling of the sticky sludge creeping up on her boots was disgusting, but Dowloon didn't care. She had no intention to move anyway. Instead, she closed her eyes and focused on her other senses. She didn't need to see with her eyes in this fog.

A disturbance in the fog, a small gasp, a quiet “squelsh” of the mud. A silver needle was fired from her fingers.

“Oh!”

A surprised sound, the sound of wind, and the disturbance in the fog told her that she was close, but had missed by just a little.

“Haha, that was close! But even if you hit, your poison can't harm me!” her opponent cackled joyfully. Whether her skills would work on him, she would show him. With a small smile, she started getting serious.