Ringing deafened the Dragon Slayers' hearing as his vision turned to a rapid fuzz of colors. His body was sent flying to the right lead by his head. A solid left hook had struck the armorless mage causing him to land face-first into the hard rocky surface of the Great Baska Rock. Groaning in pain as he helped himself up while the abuse was hurled at him from the surrounding audience and his opponent, a burly Icebergian barely capable of putting two words of Fiorian together. A true monolith of a man said to be half-giant, to him at least that seemed true. The beefcake was close to twice his height and overall frame, consisting of nothing but muscle. “Just who was the crazy bastard that put this fight together?” He thought to himself as he rolled his shoulder blades around, flexing up his fists in front of him. The disparity between the two of them was almost a joke, but he would just have to go along with it.

Before the two would begin their spar once more, it would be important to explain just how the fair-haired mage had been thrown into the ring with a berserker who fixed all of their problems with their fists. It began with a mysterious letter that he had received while in Astera, stamped with an impression that he didn’t entirely recognize, but used a red wax, critical but not a death notice which was promising. Flicking open the yellowed envelope, Kon unflurried the documents inside. His presence was desired back in Baska with an individual needing his services to defeat a champion that was disturbing the local tournament. Amused at the thought of a light spar thinking it was some cocky upstart and missing Baska, he agreed to help the mysterious client referring to themselves as Mr. Brown, and made arrangements to travel to Baska.

278/2500

First came the change of clothes, having been spending time focusing on repairing and renovating the guild building, Kon had replaced his typical armor with something more casual, but durable. His current clothes consisted of little more than a cotton undershirt, leather jacket and a pair of jeans, perfect for the everyday handyman or in this case handywoman? Finishing off for the day and leaving the remaining work for his colleagues to complete, he ended off to his living quarters and began putting on his armor, unknowingly doing so in vain with the Baska Tournament being unaided by equipment. Bounding up his chest piece tight with his breasts being squeezed together, Kon took in a deep breath. “Oof, you have gotten big…” Chestplate secured, the accessories were slung on with the pauldrons following suit, finishing with his capelet which draped down his right side covering his golden prosthetic right arm in a dark shadow.

Full dressed and composed, needing little more than what he was carrying, Kon made his way through to Baska in a blink of an eye, travelling through the smallest keyhole and arriving at the sleepy farm town with a bang. Clearly his unexpected and sudden appearance had spooked the simple folk in the area with shouting, crying and even howling all occurring in the moment after he arrived. As was the norm for the antisocial mage, Kon quickly made his way to the tournament area avoiding all the citizens in the town who might blame him because of his strange appearance.

533/2500

The Great Baska Rock, he had been there multiple times before, having walked around and on it for months but it was always an amusing thing to see. Just one giant explained rock in the middle of a valley. This was especially so for this rock because it was not just giant, it was seemingly unbelievable with towering all the buildings in the land. Even from a distance, with people only being as big as ants, Kon could see that the tournament was in full swing. Given it was still immensely earlier in the morning, Kon took his time as the tournaments were known to go on until the evening where the truly exciting stuff began. This is where Kon would actually have any presence, with the champion being highlighted to appear second last. He had been pitted against him, but under a pseudonym, why Kon didn’t know, perhaps to avoid the champion knowing or the community, either way, he wasn’t overly concerned.

He did however still need to meet his client, whom he would unknowingly meet multiple times on his way to the rock, each and every time appearing as someone or something new. Initially, they appeared as a small child walking past licking a lollipop before pointing at the mage and blurting out. “Kon!” Having never met the child Kon continued on his way. This strange occurrence happened about three times before he was met by a giggling buffoon with wiry hair and a rugged beard. “Nice to meet you, Nice to meet you, I’m glad you got my Letter.” Confusion grew upon his face as Kon looked at his client. “This man was able to find and get a message to me?, have I become that contactable…?” Kon thought to himself, causing him to reconsider his decision to come out of hiding.

837/2500

“And you are?” The magician asked the oddball, almost hesitant to even ask the question in the first place. His client seemed to match his confusion and replied in an almost patronizing tone. “I am Mr, Mr. Brown, I thought my letter made it clear?” A blank face fell upon Kon, barely capable of taking the man seriously. “Your first name is Mr?” With a simple nod, Kon’s concerns were only worsened, either the man was an idiot or his parents were. Who the hell would call their child Mr? Shrugging away the matter before it gnawed on him any longer, Kon began to refocus on the reason he came here in the first place. “So you want me to fight the tournament champion?” Another firm nod was all that was given in the response, no information on who they were, what they could do. “Great…” Having agreed to the proposal, his client pulled him in the direction of the tournament entrance. A well-made wooden bridge now stood between him, the tournament grounds, and his future audience. He, however, had plenty of time to relax, discuss and eat with his fellow combatants who could give him input on his opponent.

1037/2500

Entering the Tournament combatant quarters, Kon was immediately met with the stench of body sweat and blood. Things in there were definitely filled with testosterone and masochism. Coughing a few times not having spent something so offensive since the aftermath of the Demonic Incursion, Kon shouted at the combatants around him. “Do you guys not know what soap is?” Immediately the men laughed and threw beer in his face. “Kid if you’re going to be fighting here, you’ve got to play by the book, our book!” Blurted the Skinhead whose chins were more ripply than the seas. He couldn’t tell whether it was a medical condition or it was just because the man was just so overweight. He had suspected the second given the large pile of food within the man’s reach, practically oozing fats and oil.

The more he looked at the food, the more appalled he was, the food was borderline raw, with much of the meat practically tainted and flies hovering over it. In spite of the decaying state, the man happily teared into his meal before Kon could interfere. The man’s gluttony was too much for the former noble, with him needing to leave the quarters for a breather already overwhelmed with the intense smells in the building.

1249/2500

Entering the Tournament combatant quarters, Kon was immediately met with the stench of body sweat and blood. Things in there were definitely filled with testosterone and masochism. Coughing a few times not having spent something so offensive since the aftermath of the Demonic Incursion, Kon shouted at the combatants around him. “Do you guys not know what soap is?” Immediately the men laughed and threw beer in his face. “Kid if you’re going to be fighting here, you’ve got to play by the book, our book!” Blurted the Skinhead whose chins were more ripply than the seas. He couldn’t tell whether it was a medical condition or it was just because the man was just so overweight. He had suspected the second given the large pile of food within the man’s reach, practically oozing fats and oil.

The more he looked at the food, the more appalled he was, the food was borderline raw, with much of the meat practically tainted and flies hovering over it. In spite of the decaying state, the man happily teared into his meal before Kon could interfere. The man’s gluttony was too much for the former noble, with him needing to leave the quarters for a breather already overwhelmed with the intense smells in the building. His soured behaviour only caused further laughter far louder and exaggerated than before.

1470/2500

Nauseous from the lingering stench and thought of the man who was eating rotten food, Kon doubled over with his stomach churning threatening to evacuate his breakfast and more. Out of respect for the citizens around him growing in number as the tournament was ramping up, Kon departed the tournament grounds albeit briefly in the hopes to create space between him and them before he vomited all over the place. Unfortunately, he had been intercepted by a young couple who had survived a demonic incursion which Kon had stopped, they wished to give their thanks introducing themselves as Gloria and Quinn, however, he was unable to respond only nodding as they spoke to him, before rushing to a corner and falling to his knees unleashing a torrent of bile and food fragments. The smell was absolutely revolting, made worse due to his draconic senses, Gloria rushed to his aid, while Quinn looked over the incident trying to move onlookers away from the unsightly display. Unrelenting it continued for what seemed hours reducing to little more than water though something much bigger was struggling to come out.

As it drew closer up his body, going through his neck, Kon’s vision began to darken as it remained stuck, unable to breath, the woman wacked him repeatedly to little avail. Failing to draw a single breath, Kon fell unconscious, laying in a pool of his own vomit before the object left his lips, his dragon lacrima. Appearing to reject its host, the lacrima without any force began to roll away at staggering speeds before disappearing entirely. Hoping to find a medic, doctor, anyone that could help resuscitate the dragon slayer, Gloria left the scene, leaving only Quinn to guard over the mage. He would not be enough however being equally knocked out albeit with a shift blow to the head, by an unknown individual. Kon’s now limpless body, completely unprotected, gave their attacker unparalleled access to his belongings.

1797/2500

If he had known what the attacker was after, Kon would have never come to Baska. They were here to take none other than the midas gauntlet. Something he had claimed after killing its original owner, Midas himself. But the real question was why did they want it so badly? This would be something to learn at a future date as he was truly out of it. Instead Kon would merely be manhandled as various methods were tried to remove the enhanced gauntlet. Initially all seemed to be in vain however after the use of various spells and hexes the golden glove was released from his hand. Revealed was a thin hand somehow even paler than the rest of his body mimicking porcelain in colour. In Spite of being buried within the gauntlet for well over a year, over three years in fact, the hand remained otherwise unchanged save for some muscle loss, even lacking an odor simply matching the rest of his body.

More likely would have been stolen from his body however it seemed that this was the sole objective of this thief. Both anything else could be taken, Gloria returned with a medic and security who chased off the poacher. He was resuscitated however didn’t recover until only a few hours before the fight. He was truly anxious having not fought without the gauntlet for many years now, however it had become a crutch for him more than anything. While he was furious and disheartened about the loss of the weapon, he felt a burden go away. In the past he would have always felt on his toes suspecting all those around him of wanting it. Now though Kon merely laughed and looked at his free hand. A truly surreal experience being unable to touch one’s face with their real hand in so long.

2,106/2500

Kon’s reunion with his hand would be short lived however with the client returning to him now inside the medic’s tent propped in bed and called him out to fight against the champion. Rolling out of bed with his stomach still queasy and empty, Kon rose slowly before heading to the tournament grounds. He would be the first to enter the pit with blood and gore plastering the ground. “Just what type of tournament is this?” He thought to himself as his client gave a venomous smile before Kon entered the pit. “Oh you’ll find out.” Ending with a giggle, Mr. left the scene entirely before raising to the center stage and introducing him. Already the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up straight feeling basically naked without his weapon, but the change in tone he had expected in the tournament alarmed him to no end. Unable to back out of his contract for various reasons including self-pride, he would put himself at great risk by entering the grounds.

Boos and Cheers were cried all around him, before a loud bang drowned out all noise and a powerful display of colours and light brightened up the sky announcing the tournament's champion who came into view on his right. The man’s physique was incredible, resembling nothing but a chunk of defined muscle over an impressive frame. He towered over Kon as he entered the field causing him to also shiver in anticipation. He hadn’t fought someone like this in a long time, moreover not with as many restrictions self-imposed or due to a series of unexpected events. For the most part Kon now had minimal combative abilities and would need to rely heavily on his prosthetic arm to ensure that he would be completely decimated by the monster before him.

2,415/2500

This was strongly confirmed as the bell rang signalling the fight and the blow that sent him flying was swung. While not the strongest individual at least having lost the gauntlet, he was certainly fast and that’s all he needed to be fast and precise. A few dashes up the beast's body and a blow to their temple would be all that’d be needed. Somehow labouring after the hefty swing, the champion was at his weakest, allowing Kon to literally climb on top of him as the champion struggled to sweep him off. The fearsome display was all show, with Kon bringing the giant to his knees with several repeated blows, drawing blood and cracking bone, more than enough to kill them. Drenched in blood, Kon was declared the winner, with his client disgruntled about the outcome.

As the crowd cheered for their new champion, Kon was welcomed to Mr. who also seemed to be carrying a long wooden box bound tight with red string. Clutching it tight to his chest, he muttered reluctantly. “This is meant for the champion, it’s an ancient sword that came into my possession when the champion before him was defeated. The old bastard said to give it to his successor, I couldn’t just give it to that giant; he'd use it as a toothpick if not worse.” With a sigh the man thrust the box into Kon’s arms, mysteriously causing a powerful magic circle to appear around Kon, causing his muscles to swell and overall build to tighten. Both concerned and amazed at this powerful magic, he removed the lid breaking apart the string revealing a sheathed katana. Grasping the handle with his right hand, Kon allowed the box to drop, turning it into splinters before grabbing the sword with two hands. Ignoring the debris he had created, Kon attempted to draw the blade from its sheath without success.

His failed attempts left Mr. bemused as if there were something his client didn’t tell him. “Good luck drawing that blade, I only saw the old man unsheath it once, only once.” Blank faced about the seemingly useless gift, Kon nonetheless appreciated the unexpected extra reward. Slipping the katana through the side of his belt, Kon bowed to Mr. and began his journey back to Astrea using the skeleton key buried within his jacket pocket.

[Exit]

2,783/2500