The realization that swept through the stands ignited a powder keg of an uproar that slammed against the stone walls of the arena with physical force.
The collective shock of witnessing a Tier 3 warrior get folded like laundry vanished instantly, replaced by the chaotic, deafening roar of a petty mob that had scented a technicality.
"He’s right! That’s armed robbery!" a scarred warrior shouted from the front row while pointing a finger at the blade resting on Nico’s shoulder. "He ain’t a member! The Settlement doesn’t cover him!"
"Oh, shut your trap, Goran!" an older mage countered with a scowl while crossing his arms. "Luger lost fair and square!"
"It doesn’t matter! Rules are rules!" another voice screamed from the upper decks while vibrating with the excitement of prolonged violence. "If he isn’t registered, that’s just assault! Strip the rookie!"
It was a convenient, sudden amnesia.
Ten minutes ago, when Luger was invoking the rite, not a single soul gave a damn about the paperwork because the idea of a Tier 3 veteran losing to a fresh Tier 1 rookie was laughable, no matter how talented the said rookie was.
But now that their ’faces were all slapped’ and the rookie was walking out the door, suddenly everyone was a legal scholar.
The arena dissolved into a chaotic sea of shouting faces and shaking fists.
Some were ’genuinely outraged’ by the breach of protocol while others were shaking their heads in disapproval at the shameless display of opportunism from their peers.
But the majority were simply hooting and stomping their feet, desperate to extend the show and see if the "arrogant Young Master" could survive a few hundred angry adventurers after humiliating their "Big Bro."
Nico stood frozen in the center of the storm with his eyes closed before slowly dragging a hand down his face in a groan of pure frustration.
[I calculated insults to enrage Luger just enough to nab the blade, even made sure to keep things non-lethal against an opponent far stronger than me... Hell, I even calculated the political fallout with the Proctor...]
Slapping his forehead with a wet smack, he let out a long sigh...
[But I forgot to check the Terms and Conditions... Why didn’t I think of this?]
The twitch in his left eye grew more pronounced as he listened to the cacophony of stupidity washing over him.
[I literally just turned a man’s chest into a crater,] Nico thought while staring blankly at a guy who was looking at the greatsword with drool practically dripping from his mouth. [And they think a technicality is going to stop me from doing it again?]
[Guess I gotta spell it out for them...] Nico thought while the noise washed over him.
But before he could speak, Octavia’s voice resounded through the riot with a cheeky tinge that cut through the shouting like a knife.
"You have to admit... They’re not wrong..." she said with a smile wide enough to crease the corners of her eyes.
Nico let out another long, weary sigh before extending the massive greatsword toward Nom-Nom, who had long since walked up to him, while he kept his eyes locked on the Proctor.
Nom-Nom tilted her head at the weapon before taking the heavy handle in her grip.
"Look... Olivia was it?" Nico said while keeping his hand extended backward with an open palm to receive the smaller kukri, his eyes promising to make good every syllable he spoke next. "I am walking out of here with the blades... doesn’t matter how many bodies I have to step over to do it."
Octavia’s left eyebrow developed a sharp, violent tick over her cheeky smile while the riot around them intensified to a fever pitch.
"Does he seriously think he can take us all on?"
"We have Octavia here! He’s insane!"
"I don’t care if he has a Greater Dragon... neither are walking out of here alive!"
Nom-Nom, meanwhile, looked at his extended palm with a confused tilt of her head before shifting her gaze between the two blades in her possession.
Reasoning that her master would obviously use the better weapon, she slapped the heavy handle of the greatsword back into his open hand.
Nico felt the sudden, crushing weight of the blade return to his grip and internally facepalmed despite the cold, threatening expression plastered on his face.
[Nom...] Nico projected through the Familiar Bond with a mental sigh. [I want the smaller one... the big one is yours.]
[Ohhh...] Nom-Nom replied before swiftly swapping the weapons and placing the kukri hilt-first into his palm.
Pulling the dull grey blade out of the sheath in Nom’s grip with a sharp shing
And in less than four seconds, the barrel glowed white from the mana he flooded into it, priming the remaining five shells with as much Virtual Mass as their structure could sustain.
He had no delusions that he could fold hundreds of adventurers with only five shots, but he would make sure the first five to try him wouldn’t even be identifiable by their own mother.
Sensing the shifting atmosphere, Nom-Nom prepared for battle as well.
She gripped the handle of the greatsword tighter with both hands, lowering her stance instinctively even though she didn’t have a single clue how to actually wield the massive sword.
But wasn’t going to stop her from ’hitting’ people with it.
The air in the arena turned brittle with tension, but Nico’s eyes remained trained on Octavia, whose cheeky smile was slowly widening into something far more primal.
The air vibrated with the low chant of incantations and the harsh scrape of steel leaving scabbards.
Just as the fever reached its peak and the tide of violence was just about to crash against the invisible dam of the arena floor -
"Silence."
Octavia’s soft voice somehow tore through the riot.
The noise died instantly as if severed at the throat, leaving behind a vacuum so absolute that the sound of shifting sand under Nico’s sandals seemed to thunder.
Staring into Nico’s obsidian eyes, Octavia let out a low, throaty chuckle, melting the suffocating tension as she spread her arms wide.
"Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild."
"Happy to be here..." Nico replied with a sharp half-smile before relaxing his posture and turning on his heel to walk away.
Nom-Nom stood frozen for a moment with the massive greatsword raised high.
She looked left, right, and center between Nico, the frozen mob, and Octavia before tilting her head with genuine confusion.
"So... do I kill them now?"
Octavia’s eyebrow developed another violent twitch.
"No, Nom..." Nico called out with a chuckle as he picked up the greatsword’s scabbard Luger had thrown away. "We’re done here. Let’s go..."
"Ohh-kay!" Nom-Nom instantly lowered the weapon and skipped after him.
Octavia watched the duo disappear up the stairs with green eyes taking on a predatory glint as she slowly licked her red lips.