8 Is Killing Prohibited? (1/2)
Soon, Arima reached his destination, he slowed down and arrived at the south gate of the capital. There was n.o.body (someone who wants to go in) at the gate, only a few soldiers. Arima dismounted his horse and approached the nearest soldier.
The soldier glanced at the imposing black horse and talked to Arima ”Hum, are you a traveler or a mercenary?” He asked awkwardly
Arima thought that this soldier was fairly young and answered ”Yeah, can I pa.s.s?” He said while handing his card. The young soldier took it and was a bit surprised.
”You're an A cla.s.s? I've never heard of someone like you, even though those who are A rank are pretty famous” The man said. He wasn't sarcastic, he was just admiring ”Are you here to help?”
”Well, yeah, something like that… you seem to be fairly inexperienced in this job, I think it's the same for the others around here and there is not a lot of them” Arima looked around and said.
”Yes, is that so obvious?” The guard said with a wry smile ”All the seasoned and strong soldiers are already at the frontier of the Empire or at the castle” Saying that he handed back the card to Arima.
”I see” The latter nodded, and walked past the gate.
”Wait, what about your horse?” The young soldier exclaimed
Arima snapped his fingers and the horse separated into a mult.i.tude of black sparks before disappearing ”Then, see you”
When he was out of sight, the soldier was still looking at where the horse was standing, dumbfounded ”…It was a summoned beast?” He mumbled.
Back in the capital, Arima was casually walking on the streets. There were not many people, but it's not like there was no one around. He looked around and asked a pa.s.sant for the direction to the Wing's Nest, the Inn of Airi's sister. Of course, he didn't find someone who knew directly and asked a few more people until finding the location. In his search, he learned something. He was told about a tournament held in the capital. That gave Arima something to think about while going to the Inn.
(”First of all, when a country is in war, there is no sane ruler who would organize a tournament. So, it must have a purpose. From what I heard, the tournament was decided before the King became sick. But if it wasn't canceled, there is one explanation. War potential. The country wants to attract strong warriors”) Arima concluded.
In fact, what he said was true. The truth is that in this world, the strongest force is not the army and the soldiers, but the guild. There are strong people among the soldiers, but the strongest fighters are, without a doubt, the mercs, who live freely and dangerously. For example, normal S rank mercs are as strong as level seven upper-cla.s.s beasts. That means they are stronger than at least a thousand normal soldiers with just their physical strength.
This tournament is a way to gather strong people and to sort them. In fact, the winner will meet the royal family, be rewarded, and most likely scouted. Surely, the other partic.i.p.ants will also be proposed a reward to join the war. And the true goal of this tournament is to also find a competent leader who will lead the mercenaries.
Because the mercs are proud and because they're hired they're difficult to control. But with a strong commander to keep them in check, they will be easier to fight along with. As to why a tournament is needed, it's because this continent is small so a way to attract strong proud people would be a tournament to compare people's strength. Although there won't be any S ranks, unfortunately. The only ones strong enough to hold a t.i.tle equal to that are the king, the emperor and most likely the rulers of the alliance and the elves. And maybe some hidden talents.
”Interesting” Arima said and smirked. He decided to partic.i.p.ate, not for the prize; just for meeting the royal family ”That's a good opportunity” He said and reached the Inn he was looking for. He entered and looked around. He realized that there were not a lot of people at the tables in the hall. He walked to the reception and ringed a bell that was on it.
”Yes~!” An energetic voice came from behind. And a woman appeared from the back, she seemed to be around twenty-five years old with long black hair. She was not a fatal beauty, but she was extremely pleasant to look at, and her figure was particularly dazing.
”Are you Aria?” Arima asked
”Eh? Yes, do I know you?” She asked back, confused.
”No, your sister, Airi, told me to come to you”
”Oh, I see” She smiled and nodded in comprehension ”Then do you want to rent a room?”
”Yes, but before that, can I ask you if you know when the tournament held in this city will take place?” He wanted to know to determine the time he would stay in the capital.
”Oh, you'll partic.i.p.ate? The tournament is in five days if you want to register, it's at the coliseum” After hearing that Arima wanted to partic.i.p.ate, Aria observed him head to toe. Arima caught that.
”Thanks, I'll pay for a five-days-stay then, that's should be enough” Arima said
”Sure, it will be one gold and fifty silvers”
Arima nodded and handed over the money, Aria received it and gave him the key. But after that Arima strangely stayed there, looking at her. It was almost creepy, but n.o.body needs to comment on that.
”What is it?” She tilted her head.
”Nothing… are you a merc?” Arima said staring at her.
She visibly trembled at his words ”What makes you say that?” And asked.
”Your posture, although you're trying to hide it, I can see some habits in your footwork. Also, your hands, you can't hide their calluses, and you probably use the spear. Next is your body, I can see that it is forged for the fight when someone is used to combat, his body becomes stronger in particular regions. And finally, your aura and mana, even if you conceal it, you cannot hide it from me” Arima said, and during a moment, a blue ray of light flashed in his eyes.
In a world with magic circuits, there are three different spiritual forces. One is the aura, it's the spiritual manifestation of one's overall strength and mind, someone strong enough can make kneel his opponent just with the pressure of his aura.
The second force is the magic, more precisely, the mana pool. By looking at one's mana pool, they can determinate its size and quality. The people who have the best mana pools are the mages but there are exceptions. When you meet a close combat warrior with a great mana pool, then you can be sure that he is strong. The mana pool can be innate but can also be trained.
The last force, is, of course, killing intent. Killing intent, bloodthirst, is not innate, it's something you nurture during your life. Simply said, the more you kill, the stronger is your killing intent. And the more ruthless you are, then the faster your killing intent's density will rise.
When Arima saw Aria, he immediately realized that she was strong, he felt her spiritual strength and used his magic to pry in it.