Party Up

Nick looked around at all of the people standing by the quest board, both B and A rank adventurers. He was having a bit of a problem finding anyone without a party already. Everyone he has asked or seen has already been in or a two or three person party. He didn't want to split the quest reward more than two ways. After all he had two people to provide for now unless Dahlia got a job of some kind.

He realized he was probably underestimating his target by only bringing one other person but technically it would be a party of three with Azara coming, even if she was his sword. For an hour Nick watched adventurers come and go, asking those not obviously in a party if they were in one. He was starting to lose hope until he came across an older looking man. He had a large two handed axe on his back and wore thick leather armor. He was bald and had a thick medium length brown beard with some grey in it.

"Hey, are you in a party?" Nick asked, walking up to the man who seemed to be nearly half a foot taller than him.

The man turned to him with a dull and uninterested look in his eyes, as if he was annoyed that some child would strike up a conversation with him. "I'm not, I work alone. Move along, this is no place for children."

Nick sighed in frustration, pulling out his card and holding it up for him to see. "I'm just as qualified as you to be standing here. I just need a little bit of extra help for this quest I am taking."

The man looked at the card briefly before scoffing. "You are a B-rank, get someone on your level to help you. I have better things to do than tag along on some B-rank quest as a glorified babysitter."

Nick took out his quest paper. "It's an A-rank, and for your information my strength rivals A-rankers."

"Sure it does, kid. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a quest that isn't a suicide mission."

"Look." Nick said with a sigh. "You are the only person I have been able to find today who isn't in a party. This quest is important and I just need a bit of extra help with the guards around and inside the manor. You can sit back and do nothing for all I care once we get to the target and I will still give you half of the reward."

The man turned to Nick with a more serious look. "You think you can take on a A-rank bounty by yourself? Get real, kid. I will admit that you must have talent to be a B-rank at your age but you are nowhere close to being able to take on an A-rank bounty. I have trouble with some of these bounties and I am much stronger than you."

Nick was getting annoyed, the next words that came out of his mouth he said without thinking thanks to the confrontational nature of the demon blood running through his veins. "Yeah? Well why don't you prove it."

The man let out a loud and bellowing laugh that filled the guild hall before looking at Nick with a grin. "You have guts, kid, I'll give you that. Alright, I will give you a chance to prove yourself. We will go to the guild's arena and if you can beat me in a fair fist fight then I will go on this quest with you. Alright?"

Nick had to think it over for a second. Being in a fist fight meant he would have to wait a day as he heals up from his wounds before going on the quest but it would be worth it for the extra help. "Alright, that works for me. Right now?"

"Sure, let's go. We just have to check with the receptionist."

"Alright." This was a horrible idea, there is no way in hell I can beat this guy in a fist fight. He's like a mountain compared to me, I might be strong compared to the normal human on earth, but from the looks of it the humans on this planet aren't exactly normal. I may have a race and magic advantage but this dude has a clear everything else advantage. Nick sighed inaudibly as he followed the man to the reception desk.

"Hey, any opening for a quick sparring match in the arena? Bare fist, no magic or weapons." The man said to the receptionist.

"Ah, yeah, nobody is in there right now. I'll just need to see both of your cards." The receptionist said as they both put their cards on the table.

Great, no magic or weapons, the only things that could level the playing field. I guess he did say it was a fist fight. Well, if nothing else, I have to hope my demonic genes are able to fill the gap at least a little bit. I don't want to look like a complete fool after I get my ass handed to me. "Are we going to use gloves or pads of some kind or is it going to be bare-knuckle?"

"Bare knuckle of course. Fighting with gloves makes you weak, makes you think you can afford to take a punch to get a solid hit on your opponent. In sport fighting that is fine, but in life or death matches it doesn't always work out like that. You should always fight like it is for real, that helps when it hurts for real."

"Fair enough I suppose... Hey, what is your Name? Mine's Nick, I never got yours."

"Dario. Dario Griffin." Dario held out his hand for Nick to shake.

"Well, good to meet you. Regardless of our slightly hostile meeting." Nick shook his hand, Dario nodded.

"Well, Nick, I suppose it was nice to meet you as well. Now, let's get this fight done with so we can both carry on with our quests."

"Good luck to you both." The receptionist said as he handed back the two cards. Nick put his in his backpack and began to follow Dario through the guild hall. Nick knew the guild had a built in arena for stuff like this but he didn't actually know where it was.

"Never been to the arena before. This is going to be interesting." Even though Nick has never been to arena he guessed it was safe to assume that it would be behind the giant double doors that they were walking towards.

"It's nothing special, hope you don't mind people watching though. Some guys like to hang out in the arena, it is pretty rare that there aren't at least ten people hanging out in the stands."

"No, I don't mind people watching. I've actually gotten rather used to it over these past several months."

"Good. That means I don't need to worry about you choking under pressure." As Dario opened the door Nick took in the view of the giant outside arena. From the look of the stands he assumed it could seat about a thousand people. It was a dusty dirt floor arena with sandstone stands and walls.

"It is a bit bigger than I expected. Do they host events in here sometimes or something?" The inside of the arena was large enough to hold most of the guild, why need a space that big unless they planned to use it?

"Yeah, they like to make a spectacle of some of the more high-profile adventurers fighting. Though it is not often they host fights between members higher than S-rank or the arena could possibly be destroyed."

Destroyed? Jesus, what kind of fucking monsters are S-rank adventurers? "Ah, I see. Those would probably be the fights people would really pay to see." Nick sighed as he set down his backpack and took off Azara who was currently in glove form.

"Well, they would need a bigger arena to host fights like those. The guild just doesn't have that kind of money." Dario took off his armor and weapon and laid them up against the wall of the arena like Nick was doing.

"There are no arenas in the kingdom they could rent?"

"There are a couple but they are for different sports, not fighting. I've heard for as long as I've been a member of the guild that they do plan to make a bigger arena one day but that takes a lot of money."

"Fair enough. Well, we should probably get this show on the road before our spectators start to get annoyed." Nick was looking up at the stands, there were around fifteen people currently in the stands just socializing and eating. Currently the eyes of almost every one of them were sizing up the opponents as money exchanged hands. "People sure love to make bets."

"Technically private betting on fights like this is illegal, but that law is hardly enforced." Dario said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Well, I just hope nobody is betting too much on me." Nick said as he did the same.

"Losing some of that cockiness, eh? Well, don't think about backing out now, I'll lose all the respect I got for you from having the balls to challenge me." Dario smirked.

"I would probably be more confident with weapons and magic, but we did agree to a fair fist fight."

"Then, let's stop chatting and get to it." Dario quickly advanced on Nick, throwing a right jab straight at his face.

Nick barely dodged it, Dario's knuckle grazing his right cheek as he moved his head to the side and sent an uppercut towards Dario's jaw. Unlike most normal humans would be able to do on earth Dario dodged it with ease, taking a few cautious steps back. "Not bad, kid."

"You're not too bad yourself." If that punch had hit me that would have fucking hurt. I guess I have to take this a bit more seriously. "Now, shall we get serious?" Nick smirked, his irises turning red.

"Oh? This is a surprise. Not many of your type in the guild. Well, guess I should probably get serious." Dario quickly advanced on Nick once more, sending a series of three quick jab's at his face.

Nick had to quickly backpedal to keep from getting hit, luckily the most that Dario got on him was a couple of grazes. Even with his demonic boost he was still outclassed by this man. So this is a true A-rank adventurer, huh? Physically he doesn't seem too far out of my league but magically I'm sure he would crush me. He also has a lot more experience and skill than I have.

Once Nick saw an opening he sent a jab of his own towards Dario's face, it was easily countered as Dario grabbed his arm and threw Nick over his shoulder straight into the ground. Nick gritted his teeth as he hit the ground, instantly rolling to the side and back into a standing position the second his arm was let go. "You fell for that fake opening? You have a lot to learn."

"Guess so." Nick sent a quick jab towards Dario's face which he easily blocked with his forearm. He then sent another quick one towards his chest, Dario didn't block but he didn't need to. His muscle was like a solid wall that made Nick's attempt at hurting Dario futile. Damn, first hit I get and it does nothing.

Dario sent a fast roundhouse kick at Nick's head, one which Nick blocked with his forearm. It was like he was blocking a baseball bat but he didn't let that distracted him from this opening. It was an awkward position but he could at least get a light hit on Dario. He sent a quick left jab towards Dario's face, making solid contact but seemingly not having much effect. Dario backed off once again to quickly regain his composure for the next attack.

"Your punches lack power, you obviously haven't had enough training. It seems you made it to your rank by raw magic power and demonic energy rather than actual skills. That could put both you and your party in danger if you got a big head because of your rank. The gaps between power and skill grow exponentially with each rank, I have been an A-rank for ten years now and I don't stand a chance in a fist fight with any S-rank worth his salt. But that could just be my limit, I'm not exactly in my prime."

"Well, you seem to be in better shape than me. It seems I may have overestimated my skill but I am not going to give up without a fight. My pride as a man is on the line here, this is about more than getting you in my party now." Nick has accepted the fact that he can't win, but he will give it his all to try. If for no other reason than to prove to himself that he can at least make this man bleed.

Nick took a deep breath and rushed forward towards Dario, he sent a jab towards his face which was a cover for the knee headed towards his gut. Dario easily blocked the jab but failed to notice the knee, once the knee impacted him Dario let out a slight grunt before sending a hook towards Nick. The momentum magnified the force of the knee but it also put him in an awkward position as far as dodging goes. He had no choice but to take the fist to the face. This is going to hurt...

Hurt it did, the fist impacting his face was like being hit by a freight train. The force of the punch was enough to literally spin him around a couple of times before he could regain his footing. The second he regained his footing however he took another hook to the other side of the face. This time he was a bit more ready, only spinning around once before regaining his footing. His vision was also spinning, but he was able to duck under the next hook just in time and return with a jab to the point on Dario's gut where his knee had impacted before.

Dario winced and grunted, Nick followed up with an uppercut to his jaw, though it was only a glancing blow. He didn't know if it was because he was too dizzy to get a solid hit or if Dario saw through the attack. "You got moxie, kid, I'll give you that."

"And you have fists like rocks." It hurt for Nick to speak, he assumed his jaw was probably cracked.

"Heh, looks like you won't be able to keep this up for much longer."

"I'll keep going until I'm unable to move, I'm not going to just lie down and take a defeat because I can't win."

Dario grinned in response to Nick's words. "That's the spirit!" Dario shot his fist forward at Nick's nose, he moved his head to the side as Dario's fist whizzed by, this time it seemed there was even more power behind the punch. The knuckle grazing his cheek cut it open, he could feel blood rush down his face and his neck as he took a few steps away from Dario.

"So you were still holding back?" Nick asked with a sigh.

"Yeah, but I figured you deserved more than that with your determination." Dario began to hop up and down, seemingly loosening up before his next onslaught.

Nick chuckled. Well, I'm already at 100%, but I guess I'll have to push myself above that in order to give this guy a proper match. Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes, reaching deep inside of himself to pull out every ounce of demonic energy he could find within. As he opened his eyes they were seemingly glowing a bright red. "Alright, I'm going to try my best."

"You weren't before?"

"I was at 100% before, now I'm a bit above that."

Dario chuckled. "I see. Well, don't disappoint me!" Dario started with a roundhouse kick to Nick's torso, he was able to put his forearm down to block a bit but he could feel the bone in his arm crack slightly on impact. Nick then grabbed his leg with the arm he felt crack and brought his right elbow down hard on the man's knee.

Dario let out a slight groan of pain at the attack, Nick knew he didn't cause any long lasting damage but it would be painful for Dario to put too much weight on that knee. "Smart." Dario remarked, acting like he wasn't as hurt as he really was.

"An arm for a leg, I feel like I got the better deal in that trade." In reality he felt the opposite, one more strong hit to his arm and it would break. It was a lot more likely that his arm would be hit than Dario's knee.

Nick moved forward and threw his strongest hook at Dario's face, Dario slammed his forearm into the assaulting hand's wrist and then threw a Jab directly into Nick's face, breaking his nose. "Fuck!" Nick shouted, grabbing his nose as blood poured out. Without another words he rushed forward, throwing a fake hook before throwing a hard kick directly into Dario's knee.

He could hear and feel a crack as the kick connected, Dario crying out in pain. He was still standing however, meaning it wasn't broken. Dario threw an enraged punch at Nick, he tried to dodge but it was impossible. Once the punch connected Nick's world instantly began to fade to black, it was sheer force of will that kept him conscious as he fell to the ground. "I can't move, guess this means I lost."

Dario winced, walking over to Nick with a noticeable limp. "That was a bit of a dirty trick, but I guess it is fair when facing someone who is stronger than you." Dario held out a hand for Nick, he took it and Dario helped him up.

"Is it just me or is the world spinning?" Nick asked sarcastically as his eyes played tricks on him.

"Well, I guess you aren't technically wrong about the world spinning, but I think I may have just hit you a bit too hard." Dario sighed and laughed. "If you ever become an A-rank then I will gladly go on that quest with you, as you can probably tell now if you took that quest it would be a death sentence."

"I suppose you are right... But I can't just leave this quest for the next person. This quest has some personal meaning to me, the person on this bounty is the boss of a torturer I took out during my last quest. You should see the kind of shit this man did to people, I can't just do nothing while that man gets replaced by some other psycho as this person tries to fix the deficit in their income."

Dario sighed, thinking for a moment. "I'll tell you what, I know a couple of guys. A-rankers, real nice guys who would jump at the opportunity to take that quest for you. Maybe even take you along with them. I'll introduce you if you want, though you won't get much money from the quest."

"I would appreciate it, I guess there are always a couple of ways I could get money that don't involve rushing to an early grave." Nick groaned and moved over to his equipment. "Tomorrow, though. I need to heal and get some rest."

"Alright, meet me in the mess hall at noon."

"Sure thing. Thanks for the help."

"It's no problem. I never have any problem removing one more evil person from this world, but I need to make a living so I can't make a habit of charity." Dario and Nick waved to each other as Nick went home.

I'll be better off with two A-rank warriors than one, but it feels weird knowing that I am basically just handing this job off to others because I'm too weak. Nick clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. I was stupid to think I was ready to take on an A-rank mission. I'm a B-rank for a reason, because an A-rank is too much for me to take on my own. That doesn't change no matter how badly I want this person taken care of.