A bless or a curse?

"Oh, it's OK, I just wanted her to leave him alone, you know what I mean? Not like forever, but at least stop abusing her status for getting away with everything. The man didn't deserve this," Chump pointed out with his good arm to Ephiron, standing firm in his pose with Zippy perched on top of his head, praying.

The head of the giant deity turned to Asaga, his eyes glowing intensely red. "You have heard the young sir. Asaga, princess of the flames."

In response, Asaga's body twitched a bit with the sudden reaction. "Yes, sir!"

Ercles proceeded, "You will not abuse this poor servant of the Goddess with your status anymore. I will be watching with my eyes in case you do that again."

Asaga's body curved even more, her attitude changing to that of a complete servant. "Yes, my Guardian." From her attitude and tone, even with the subtle hint of frustration, she seemed sincere.

"Very well. Now, you, the one who registered as Chump in the duel... You may state your reward."

Chump felt increasingly dumbfounded, his voice and expression indicating his confusion as he expressed himself, "I am sorry, your giantness, but... what reward? I thought this was the reward for winning the duel, sir..."

Ercles stated, "This is an event that will be recorded in the history books, the first duel under the watch of the Goddess in this new world once called 'Earth.' You may ask for a reward for yourself, young one."

Chump paused for a moment, looking at the giant, then crouched a bit, looking around. He then tilted his head in thought. "He could help with that." Then he spoke up, "Sir, may I ask you for a bit of help with a project my partner, Clem, and I are working on?"

"Of course, young one. Could you tell me about this project of yours?"

Chump's fears faded away as he explained, his eyes bright, focused on the project. "So, I am a human and can't use Remenant. We are thinking of how to imitate the body of one so I can use a spell of ours. Now we are missing three components."

Chump started enumerating with his fingers, "A battery that can contain Remenant on its own, some sort of mechanism to charge up this battery, like something that absorbs the energy, like a sponge or anything like that, I don't care what it is or how it looks. Lastly, the rune or spell we can apply to that spell." Chump continued explaining the project as quickly as possible.

The giant hummed for a bit, then spoke up once Chump had finished.

"Human... That term is familiar... But I am afraid I can't remember right now... However, may I ask... Why are you doing that when you can ask for using Remenant yourself, young human?"

Chump shook his head, trying to explain himself, feeling worried. "Oh no no, we can't have Remenant in our bodies. We could have health problems, or well... combust..."

Ercles questioned, "But you did a Duel spell on yourself... And I can see the Remenant of one of my sisters in your other hand, a Promise spell. Your body seems fine, and I don't see problems, other than what the princess did to you."

Chump was about to answer when he froze. "You are right... Clem... Did you lie to me?"

Clem stood up firmly. "No, I didn't. The Promise spell is used on normal animals in our world and they were fine, even those who don't use Remenant showed no signs of abnormality later."

But Chump replied, "But my animals have shown mutations after some time, and not using Remenant doesn't mean they may not have, right?"

Clem stood silent, and thanks to the time the human and the golem spent together, he felt that he didn't have an answer. Chump moved to Ephiron. "Could you explain the treatment to my sister and how it affected her?"

Ephiron asked calmly and politely, "May I speak, Ercles the Guardian?"

"You may, young servant." Ephiron nodded and continued, "The sister of this human was treated after noticing health problems related to her heart. We gathered the best people we could find from the Antromorfs people. But once the Remenant to heal her heart entered her body, her whole body fought against it."

Asaga tilted her head, thinking. "Interesting... Hehehe..."

Ephiron continued, "It seems that the subconscious fought against it and made her vomit it out and put pressure on the blood to her lungs."

Ephiron explained the gruesome procedure to remove the Remenant from her body and stabilize her, which took over a week, since they lacked materials and procedures, as they had never treated such beings.

Chump felt horrified hearing that, closing his eyes and praying that his sister was fine wherever she was right now.

"Interesting... I understand. The human does not want to push his luck. Very well, then, how may I serve you?"

"Can you make me able to use Remenant in my body, like changing my whole body?"

Ercles's giant head shook slightly from side to side. "I am afraid that those powers are not related to me. I can enhance the already existing parts... But I cannot create from nothing. I am sorry, little one."

"Darn..." Chump took a moment to recover. He entered deep thought, to which the giant hummed curiously. Then a spark appeared in his eyes, his voice changing to one of determination. "May I ask for two things, your graciousness?"

"I will determine if those are acceptable. Go ahead."

"First, I want some kind of rune, jewel, or anything that, when Remenant is applied to it, serves as a protective measure... like a shield for everything..."

Ercles remained silent, then his eyes flashed bright red. A meteor came crashing through the fissure and stopped in front of the human. Once the fire and smoke cleared, Chump could see a perfectly shaped diamond-like jewel. Even the human could sense the powerful aura it emitted, and not because it was steaming hot.

Ercles spoke up, his voice taking on a more serious tone than before. "I usually give my champions weapons or armor to help them in battle, since they can use magic on their own. But I modified this one to be used by you, youngling. This will protect you from harm."

"Oh, thank—" Chump was interrupted by the giant, or more accurately, he didn't wait long enough due to the slow nature of the divine being.

"However, even though this powerful spell will protect your body from harm, it will not protect your soul nor nullify the pain you feel from receiving such attacks. If you get stabbed, the diamond will protect you, but you will feel your body twist in agony."

"Do you mean... that no matter the attack, it will protect me, but I'll have to endure the pain?"

"Indeed. This jewel will shield your body but torment your mind and soul. It's a battle of wills against it. I'm afraid no spell can protect you entirely without drawbacks, but this is the closest thing I can give you. Do you accept it?"

Chump took the heaviest breath of air he could gather before carefully accepting the jewel with both hands and nodding. "Then let the pain come; I will endure anything that comes!"

Ercles chuckled, causing the world to tremble at his deep voice. His tone denoted a cheerful mood. "I like your guts, kid. I will watch your future with great interest. Now tell me, what's the second thing you wanted to ask?"

Chump let out a sigh of relief, noticing his injuries were about to speak. However, he remembered the information Ephiron had brought up earlier and said with a hint of disappointment, "Look, can I have a day or two without people chasing me around or trying to kidnap me, or just... just a break from everything, you know?"

Ercles's giant head nodded slowly, his voice resonating with great wisdom. "I do understand, young human. Very well, everyone present, you have heard the man. None shall inflict more pain or suffering upon him for the next day from this very moment. Those who break this agreement shall be smitten."

"Those are my words!"

In a flash of light that blinded Chump for a moment, everything returned to normal, as if the giant had never stood before them, as if it had just arrived after the entire duel scene.

Asaga felt frustration all around, but the whole scene served to calm her down. One of the guardians she cherished was praising her adversary, and she approached Chump, who was holding the gem in fear.

The giant woman spoke normally, with no subtle cockiness or a single hint of pride, fury in her voice. Her face displayed a serious tone as she asked, "How did you do it, Chump?"

Ephiron stepped in, followed by Thalia, trying to protect him. Asaga just stepped back, understanding the situation. To everyone's surprise, Chump responded. The whole ordeal had given him time to calm down despite his pain.

Chump signaled behind him, all with his left arm, "Behind me is "Valencia", and where you're standing right now is "Burjasot", a town attached to the city. The bridge is the frontier between the two, though it's never really clear."

"Huh…" Asaga had nothing more to remark. Her blank, surprised, and impressed mixed face said everything.

Chump softly smiled and nodded, "That's why I chose the weird condition of the one leaving the city. I just needed you to NOT think during the duel. Although I would have used a cheap tactic under the bridge, or going underground but... as you can guess, I can't do much with a broken arm."

Clem interrupted him mid-explanation, "Speaking of a broken arm, Mister Chump."

With great force, Clem took Chump's body, specifically the shoulder.

Clack! Chump shouted in pure pain, cursing Clem in reaction. "ME CAGO EN TUS MUERT— AAAA!"

The dislocated arm was back in place.