Vespeta Dome

Day 4 before moving to Iqualius city…

Chrysos looked at the dead body of the jaguar and contemplated something.

"Should I add this to my strength?" Chrysos is already as strong as three boars, a bear, and a viper. Adding in a Provectis ranked creature in the mix is a different story.

His muscular structure is that of a humanoid Steel Rhino. It has limited tolerance for strength, and if Chrysos crossed this limit, his muscles would crumble under their own strength.

This isn't something that he wants to see.

Chrysos tested the strength tolerance of his body and he could see that it can handle a bit of the jaguar.

So if he wants to incorporate the jaguar's strength into his body, he has to absorb a small portion of it in order not to overload his muscles and tendons.

As for why Chrysos didn't bother turning his muscular formation into that of the jaguar, there were more cons than benefits.

First of all, the "Steel Rage" ability will be replaced with the jaguar's ability to turn itself invisible. Not only is this ineffective for Chrysos' fighting style, he is benefiting more from an augmentation type ability like "Steel Rage" rather than a stealth ability.

After a lot of contemplating, Chrysos decided to make a muscle potion for it.

It was the same procedure but this time, Chrysos added Heartrose petals to subdue the effects of the jaguar's dominant genes in order not to overload his body too much.

He did the necessary steps and brewed the potion. He sat on a chair, chugged the entire bottle, drank hypertraining fluid and went to sleep.

…

Meiros saw Chrysos sleeping soundly on the chair. He knew that Chrysos was going to be sleeping for a long time, so he didn't bother him at all. And last night, Chrysos almost fainted after running too much and exhausting his energy.

Not only that, Meiros saw how disgustingly wounded Chrysos' throat was after being forced to drink too much potions just to keep running. He was the one who brewed healing potions to treat his wounds.

After remembering what happened last night left a deep impression on Meiros. As he left the room, he exhaled and mumbled.

"Safnan Istigua."

Two words that meant absolute gratitude to their most trusted mentors, guardians, teachers, or parents.

…

…

An hour later…

Chrysos slowly opened his eyes and felt refreshed. He stood up from his seat and examined himself.

He threw out a casual punch and noticed that he was even faster than before. Knowing that he needs to test his abilities more, Chrysos backflips and catches himself in his arms.

He did some push-ups in a handstand and he didn't even get tired after getting to a hundred push-ups. Chrysos slowly bent his body until his feet touched the floor.

He stood up and after a long and painful fight last night, he decided that he and Meiros deserve a little treat.

"Meiros, want to go and have fun outside?" Chrysos grabbed his mask on the table and put it on.

Meiros replied with an unsure tone. "Master, isn't that kind of… dangerous?"

Chrysos waved his hand at him. "Pssh.. with me there, you're not getting caught. And we're just going to play and treat ourselves for a little bit. I think we deserved that after a painful quest last night."

Meiros went out of his room and scratched his head. "Fine I guess…"

"Great." Chrysos cleaned his alchemy tools up and said, "Get dressed and we'll go watch the fights in the Vespeta Dome."

"Master, to view the fights in that arena costs 30 gold for each person." Meiros reminded Chrysos.

Chrysos pointed his finger at Meiros as he grabbed a bundle of gold coins. "Oh I know.. now let's go, we're going to miss the fights."

Meiros shook his head helplessly and tagged along.

..

The moment the door closed, Vaf peeked his head out of his stable and when he saw that there was no one left in the house, he bit the lock on his stable and used his tongue to open the door.

Creak…

When he got out, he saw Jifel who had already got out faster than him.

Vaf stomped his feet after being defeated once again as Jifel revealed a look of triumph.

…

Chrysos and Meiros went to Firoatal street to watch the fights in the Vespeta Dome.

The Vespeta Dome was founded by Vespeta Ninila. A rich woman who became rich by being a normal merchant at first, but she decided to make an arena where people could fight against each other and it also gives the spectators a chance to bet for which fighter they think will win.

So if you're asking, is this legal?

Well… yeah.

As long as no one gets severely injured or killed, they wouldn't face any repercussions after fighting in the dome.

Because of the dome's large size, at least 50 fights can be held at the same time to appease the spectator's appetite for action.

Miss Vespeta is a talented Aerialist Archer. She is also an Elitius ranked expert, so fighting her directly would be a death sentence to almost anyone in Ironmountain.

She is 62 years old and a wise merchant as well as an archer. Very few would have the idea of crossing her.

And even at her age, she still remains youthful and she exudes an aura of maturity and wisdom carved upon her by the tides of time. I know some of you would find that attractive, but I don't judge.

Anyways, as Meiros and Chrysos walked through the streets of Firoatal, Meiros noticed something peculiar.

"Master, aren't those..?" Meiros pointed to a large restaurant with a lot of people coming in and out. It's quite obvious that there's something going on inside that attracted this large wave of customers.

But that wasn't what caught Meiros' attention. What he saw was that the people coming out of the restaurant were all holding glasses filled with smoothies.

Chrysos looked at the sign of the restaurant and said, "No wonder… It's the Carver family's business."

"So they managed to recreate the recipe? That's nice." Meiros gave them a silent clap.

However, Chrysos merely shrugged. "Even if they grasped the recipe, they still don't know one important thing."

Meiros was curious about this. "And that thing is?"

Chrysos smiled and said, "Have you seen those customers? What do they all have in common?" He pointed to all of the people who looked so satisfied as they drank their smoothies.

Meiros observed them for a while but he couldn't find an answer for Chrysos' question. "Is the recipe inferior so it wouldn't sell as much?"

Shaking his head, Chrysos answered. "They don't use the biodegradable cups that I made."

Meiros was confused with this answer. "How would this affect them? From what I can see, the customers are doing just fine."

"That's because you're looking at the short term benefits. In the long term, they wouldn't have the production capacity necessary to satisfy the cups needed to consume the smoothies. And once they realize that, they will buy the cup's recipe from me as well." Chrysos laughed as he walked past the restaurant.

"Master… back when you started the smoothie business, you weren't hoping for our business to grow in the first place, right?" Meiros realized something and he couldn't help but turn around to look at Chrysos.

Chrysos nodded. "Yes, the entire thing was a trap."

Hearing Chrysos admit to it, Meiros still couldn't believe it even though he expected the answer.

Seeing Meiros' surprise, Chrysos explained even more, "Back then, I really didn't have any hope of developing our smoothie business. It was just something that I set up to attract those people with a keen sense for business. Of course, those people will see the great potential that the smoothies held, so I know that they wouldn't be stupid enough to let it go."

"I first sold an incomplete version of the recipe so that the Carver family would believe that they have the necessary materials to start the smoothie business. But when they realize that they can't, they are forced to buy the complete version of the recipe. And not only that, they might buy the cup recipe as well."

Meiros' eyes gleamed, "Master, I really didn't expect for you to think that far ahead."

With a chuckle, Chrysos said, "What's better is that if other companies see how the smoothie business is thriving, they might buy the recipe from me as well."

Meiros snapped his fingers and said, "They'll desperate look for you and buy the recipes! Master Chrysos, you are one smart individual." Meiros laughed after seeing how much Chrysos' plans would yield.

Chrysos waved his hand at Meiros and said, "Years of accumulation makes any man wise. Now since we're talking about smoothies, let's see if what they're selling is actually good." He walked towards the restaurant but the line was a bit long.

Meiros scratched his head as he calculated. "Master, it's going to take thirty minutes until we get to order."

Chrysos revealed a disappointed look in his face. "Then we're just wasting time here. Let's go."

Meiros followed behind as Chrysos left. He sighed, "Too bad the place is too crowded. We can't even get one unless we wait for half an hour."

Chrysos sensed his dissatisfaction and said, "Soon, I'll be selling another product. And I can tell that it's going to be as good if not better than the smoothies."

"Oh? And what product would that be?" Meiros curiously asked.

"It's a secret. It'll be worth the wait though." Chrysos smiled with a deep meaning.

…

They walked towards the Vespeta Dome and the more they got close to it, the more they could feel the burning desire to fight. And unlike what people first think when introduced to an arena, the Vespeta Dome is a well decorated arena with 50 hexagon shaped arenas.

Each arena is surrounded by tons of seats where the spectators can view the fights clearly. And to fit this massive amount of people, the Vespeta Dome has underground floors as well.

Chrysos and Meiros saw a large crowd entering the arena so they decided to follow along.

The fee is 30 gold coins and it was easily paid by Chrysos.

..

When they both got inside, the interior absolutely shocked both of them. The shiny white floor and the pillars carved exquisitely to look like serpents coiling on a large tree branch was particularly amazing to look at.

The decorative plants with stems made of the mix of pink and green crystals shone beautifully against the light from the lion shaped chandeliers.

And in front of them, a Divinium illusion screen showed the fights and the information about the fighters.

Chrysos looked closely and decided to watch the fight between Triyugis and Espentoni. The screen reminded Chrysos of those large screens from earth used for advertising.

Conveniently, there's also a map leading to the arena where the fight is going to happen.

"Master, whose fight are you going to watch?" Meiros followed behind Chrysos after seeing Chrysos observe the information about the fighters.

"I don't know many people here so I just picked randomly." Chrysos turned his head to look at Meiros.

Meiros laughed. "Master, it seems like you're not that informed when it comes to famous figures here in Ironmountain."

Chrysos scratched his head. "I really don't have time before to deal with stuff like that."

Meiros pounded his chest confidently as he said, "Don't worry master, I've been a huge fan of many fighters here when I still lived in the streets. I can tell you anything about them!"

"Oh, who's Espentoni?" Chrysos knew that Meiros has near perfect memory, so he probably knew about the Vespeta Dome more than he does.

"Espentoni…" Meiros touched his chin and thought for a short while before saying, "If I remember correctly his title is the Skullbeast Summoner. He's a legendary Provectis ranked summoner with a set of powerful melee spells. Even though summoners are known to be weak and usually rely on summons, he trained his body as much as he could so that he wouldn't be helpless against direct confrontations."

"Oh, you really know a lot about them." Chrysos nodded in response. "Anyways, we're here in arena six where his fight is going to be." Chrysos saw that arena six was quite empty which means that they're quite early.

"Master, who's Espentoni's opponent?" Meiros asked.

Chrysos took a book from his bag to read before the fight began and as he flipped the first page, he answered, "It's some guy named Triyugis."

Meiros revealed a look of shock.

Noticing Meiros' shock, Chrysos had a feeling that Triyugis isn't a normal person. "Why, is that guy strong?"

"Yes but…" Meiros revealed a strange smile. "His class is unusual."

Chrysos raised an eyebrow. "What's his class?"

"A chef." Meiros watched closely to see Chrysos' reaction.

Chrysos dropped the book into his lap and asked. "Seriously?"

"I'm absolutely serious." Meiros laughed.

"Then this fight is going to be one hell of a fight." Chrysos saw how excited Meiros was and he couldn't help but remember how he used to be the same when he was still a child.

"Meiros, do you remember that gift that I wanted to give you?" Chrysos asked Meiros with a tone shrouded with mystery.

"Yes master. What about it?" Meiros tilted his head slightly.

"I'm quite confident that you'll be happy with it." Chrysos opened his book and took a pen from his bag so that he could draw something.

Chrysos gave Meiros the drawing.

Meiros examined the strange drawing. "Master, what is this thing?"

"A sniper rifle." Chrysos could already see how lethal the gun will be on Meiros' hands.