Chapter 187

Valtirok, who initially rejected the young Runcandel, and the others who hadn't fought Jin, came to a consensus. 

'I wasn't anticipating this…'

The time had been too short. He arrived at the end of December last year, which meant that had been in Lafrarosa for only five months. 

Initially, he thought that getting acknowledged by all of the beastmen would be a grand challenge since not all of them had nice personalities like Garmund, Boras, Rinpa, or Beliz. 

Therefore, he planned to come back to Lafrarosa another time. Either way, he felt that mastering Shadow Blade would require one or two more visits.

'I feel like this is too easy.'

The others, however, thought differently.

They found out about Jin helping Boras gain a deeper understanding of Shadow Blade's first technique, receiving Boras's molar, and ending Rinpa's silence training.

Just from that, all of the other Legends thought of Jin as a 'funny peculiar fellow'. Their opinion continued to get better as they watched him in the battles with Shaku. They saw a talented young man with undeniable tenacity.

Constantly repeating days of defeat and loss of limbs wasn't an easy feat. Jin often shook these events off, remembering days from his past life.

'Well, I guess there's nothing bad about that. I'm missing out on cutting off Shaku's leg, though.'

The Legends concluded their vote, and the other warriors shouted in agreement.

However, it didn't look like they were agreeing just because of the authority. It wasn't because they had to side with the majority either. No such hierarchy existed amongst the beastmen. There was no punishment nor compelling reason to be dependent on others. Every member was independent. 

Even if there were any disagreements, no one would bat an eye.

The Battle Goddess requested 'unanimous consensus' because of this.

As the final member, Shaku raised his voice.

"I have cut Jin's limbs 49 times. However, now that he is our Brethren, there will be no such harm."

"What in the world…? Don't I even get a chance for revenge?"

"A disrespectful one indeed. The Kings of Light do not calculate vengeance. Just remember this, Brother Jin."

Shaku smiled and walked away. The Battle Goddess nodded.

"Since everyone agrees upon the verdict, Jin Runcandel is now one of us. Proceeding with Tantel's proposal. Brethren, select your order to fight Jin."

Immediately, the Twelve Fighting Legends began to argue on the order.

'Let me go first,' 'You should go first,' were exchanged as if they were children standing in line. 

"I brought him here first, so I should be first! Don't you think so?"

"Nope. Tantel brought him first, and you clashed swords once. So, you should go last."

"My Brethren, we should just decide through Rock-Paper-Scissors."

It was also like this when they were deciding who should bathe Jin. It felt like a crowd of dogs barking at each other.

'They're a funny bunch.'

Jin felt nothing after being accepted by them. They never really interacted with Jin, nor made an important connection with him in the first place.

The Seventh Legend, Beliz, approached him.

"Even though we never hung out or shared blood, even though we look different or have different objectives…"

Jin looked up at Beliz.

"Once you become a Brethren, they will continue to treat you like they used to. That is the way of our tribe."

"How is that possible, Beliz?"

"If the tribe understood that five thousand years ago, we would've killed much less of your kind."

He felt like he was being struck on the head. 

The Illustrious Legends were not idiots, but just a tribe that Jin couldn't understand.

"If you think about it, there's nothing weird, my brother. We know that you became one of us after you absorbed our blood, and none of us think it's weird at all. Technically speaking, your existence in this realm basically made your merging with our tribe inevitable."

"It's strange. So you're saying that I feel a new connection with the others since I received some measly formal declaration? I feel very indifferent about that."

"When the river mixes with the sea, what happens? Does the seawater reject and segregate from the river water?"

"I thought you were a strong energetic woman at first, but now you speak like a philosopher. I'm impressed, Beliz."

The arguments stopped.

The 64 warriors divided up and played in a tournament style, and surprisingly, Shaku came in first.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to not be here?"

"I thought you returned to your lodging. You're going to fight him again?"

All kinds of disapproval sprouted from the crowd, but they couldn't argue against the winner of the ultimate decider known as Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Receiving all kinds of complaints, Shaku walked up to Jin. 

"Of course I deserve another chance. You ripped my body apart 49 times. That's the first time that happened. Today I will definitely…"

Thump!

Beliz's huge hand pressed onto Jin's shoulder. The strength was immense. Jin couldn't shake her hand off.

"It will no longer be a fight between Brethren and Apprentice, but between Brethren and Brethren. Do not forget that, Jin."

"You look like you would disintegrate my shoulder bones if I don't nod."

Jin expected Beliz to be the strongest amongst the Legends.

"Injuring the opponent without using the blade is fine. The most important part is to remove all intentions of killing."

"Now that's something I'd like to hear. Then, please, take this for me."

Jin unshackled his sheath from his waist. 

"Our fiftieth fight will be hand-to-hand combat, Shaku."

"That's going to be worse, though…"

With genuine worry, Shaku shook his head, and Jin gritted his teeth. Up till now, he wanted to rip him apart, but now he couldn't.

"After Shaku, it will be Mouka, then Shul, Anote, then… You have to fight dozens, so don't tire yourself out."

After his first spar with Shaku he would fight 64 more warriors until the next morning. This would go on for today, the day after, and the next.

* * *

'Shit, that motherfucker. How dare he let me win…!!!'

Jin claimed his first victory against Shaku.

He popped a Photon Cannon in front of him and then proceeded to beat him to a pulp. However, before getting five hits in, Shaku forfeited, which prevented Jin from pounding him any further. 

Jin felt like exploding from the annoyance, but now was not the time. He had another opponent ready for him.

The more infuriating part was that the others truly went all out.

The fighting techniques were from different worlds. If they both held weapons, then Jin would've gotten less injured. After every battle, Jin chuckled and sought Kakto, the traditional cookies.

Crunch, Crunch.

His bruises quickly healed. His face had inflamed like a melon, and he had many bruises all over his body. Thankfully, no bones were broken.

'Those monsters…'

Feasting on the cookies as he lay on his bed, Jin constantly chuckled at himself. He felt refreshed as he bathed in the moonlight that seeped through the window. 

Knock, knock.

Someone was at the door.

"Jin, I'm coming in."

"How do you say you're coming in when I didn't even ask who it was?"

Tantel came in with two huge barrels of wine.

Thud!

He dropped the barrels on the ground, summoned a goblet out of nowhere, and served Jin a drink. 

"This is the same wine I drank on the first day. It tasted like shit."

"It's crystal wine. It'll taste different."

Downing the cup, Jin tasted a deeper, sweet taste. 

"Whoa…"

"It's because you earned the Heart of Light."

"But you said humans don't know the taste."

"Tell me about the outside world. I came alone since the others don't like to talk about it in public."

Now that he mentioned it, Jin realized that they never asked about the outside world. 

Who ruled the land that they once did, what happened to their civilization, what happened to the people that they fought.

They asked no questions.

"After our time stopped, we could never return to that world. This place just looks like Lafrarosa, but it's more like Purgatory."

"Doesn't that make you more curious about the outside world?"

"What's the point of wanting something you can never attain? Even though we reminisce, none of our passed Brethren are there anyway. However!"

Tantel looked around carefully. He made sure no one was around to hear something important.

"I have heard some things from the goddess herself."

"What's that?"

"Since five thousand years have passed in the real world, maybe there's something that could get us out of here."

Unfortunately, to Jin's knowledge, there was nothing that could do such a thing. Like the Fire Dimension, the world of the phoenixes, humans were not used to creating permanent links between Other Worlds. 

There weren't many researchers in that field either. After the War of the Holy Kingdom, most magic-related research groups banned the study of Other World creatures.

Additionally, magic related to Other Worlds often included dark magic. Since dark magic had been generally banned throughout history, it was the social norm to never encroach that domain.

"On that note, if it's alright. I'd like you to investigate it."

"Isn't there a way for you to escape? Tantel, you came to get me in the first place."

"That's only when the apprentice arrives at the rendezvous point near the desert. Beyond that, there's only one other way to exit, but it's pointless."

"Why?"

"The Battle Goddess will tell you."