Chapter 34: A display of strength/ earning her interest

"Five…" Arthur began to count with a silent murmur, his previously rapid breaths coming to a sudden slow.

"Four" 'He's stronger than me,'

"Three…." 'I only have one shot,'

"Two…" 'If I mess this up now, I'll never be able to earn Sephra's intrigue.'

The sound of raging footsteps erupted from behind Arthur. His feet trembled against the waves of vibrations that assaulted his body with relentless fury.

"One…" 'I still can't believe Sephra didn't have any security on the higher floors,'

Arthur suddenly crouched his body, practically plastering itself against the carpeted floor underneath. His gaze solely focused on the illusory blue screen that shimmered before him. The contents of which contained only one word.

{Behind}

"Now…" Arthur calmly muttered.

*BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!* The plain wood door suddenly flew off its hinges, its speed through the air comparable to that of a speeding bullet before it cascaded to the ground behind Arthur with an awful crash. Splinters flew off in every direction, many of which implanted themself in Arthur's all but exposed leg. A searing pain wracked the boy's body, yet he paid it no heed.

Vienna and Sephra snapped out of their heated debate. Their gazes turned towards the now open entrance, in which stood a figure, the hulking body of a man draped in gaudy clothes stained with a thick line of red. His face was crimson with rage, and his eyes bulged in their sockets under the man's unparalleled ferocity as they hastily scanned the room, looking, searching for one person, one boy. Windswept brown hair danced atop his balding head, seemingly propelled by the man's honed rage…Vienna knew this man. He was the knight that had hit on her earlier, Roland Tybalt, 'Why is he here? I thought I dealt with him earlier?' Vienna half-heartedly questioned, not really caring for the man's presence. He was weaker than her, his existence posed no threat, and it was with such realisation that Vienna's mind became frantic. She didn't understand the man's previous plight. She couldn't relate to the rage, the sorrow that was streaming through his broken mind, but Arthur, Arthur did, he understood how the man was feeling in that critical moment, and he took advantage of it, Vienna thought Roland would take his sentence without so much as a fight but Arthur, he knew he wouldn't go down so quickly especially not after the boy gave him that passing taunt.

Arthur had incited Roland's rage. He had created a personal vendetta between him and the head knight. In Roland's drunken mind, Arthur was the sole reason behind his fall from grace. If he hadn't been there, maybe he would have managed to get with Vienna. Yes, it was all Arthur's fault, he was the sole reason for everything wrong that had happened today, and it was with such thoughts that desperation began to propel Roland's broken mind. If he was going to go down, he'd at least take the brat that took everything away from him with him. It was this desperation that Vienna failed to comprehend, and it was this desperation that Arthur manipulated. Arthur had to die.

Vienna could see it in Roland's clouded eyes, that urge to kill. She had witnessed it an uncountable number of times throughout her relatively short life, and it was this urge that she caught onto. But who? Who was he here to attack? It certainly wasn't her, Vienna could tell. He wouldn't be searching the room if such sentiment were true. In fact, hadn't his gaze already passed over both her, Sephra and Luna countless times in the millisecond it had been since he opened the door? It was only then that Vienna realised it, just who the man was out for, the only person weaker than him that existed in the current space. "Arthur," Vienna mumbled with unabashed fear, her emerald eyes momentarily quaking in their sockets before they hastily moved to her right, to the place where Arthur should have stood in serene silence, for a second, just for a split second, Vienna would have liked to believe that Arthur remained by her side, his beautiful smile or trembling figure standing resolute beside her. However, that belief was instantly crushed the moment her trembling gaze caught sight of the void of empty space that filled the area he should have occupied. Arthur was gone, gone, gone, gone. Where was he? Where was he? Where was he? Vienna's mind replayed the same question on seemingly endless repeat, her terrified gaze rapidly darting around the room in search of her beloved child. She needed to find him. She needed to find Arthur before he d-

Time seemed to stop in the anxious mother's mind as her gaze finally stopped upon the crouched figure of the boy she so warmly called a lover. Some say that the worst moments in life are heralded by small observation, and such a sentiment couldn't have wrung more true in the devastated mind of Vienna. She saw it all. Her mind lingered on every minute detail concerning the boy. His legs were plastered, positively caked with shards of thick debris. The beige wood now appeared crimson painted with Arthur's fruitlessly spilt blood. His thin, almost transparent white shirt billowed against the explosive gust of wind that quickly shook the room following the door's sudden absence, while plastered upon his mesmerising face appeared not an expression of fright nor absolute horror but a cocky grin of self-assured victory. Vienna didn't know what scared her more, Arthur's cocky attitude or the contrasting expression that lined the man's drunken face. His eyes trained upon Arthur's seemingly beaten body with a look of undeniable madness. His lips remained open as saliva dripped from his agape mouth like a broken faucet wetting Arthur's almost see-through shirt to such a degree that it became fully transparent. His aura of nobility was gone, replaced only by the swirling sense of dread that forewarned of misfortune. The scene was almost picturesque in a sense, like Saturn devouring his son or David vs Goliath with the way it filled everyone with such a unanimous sense of horror.

Vienna's body began to move, and so to did both Arthur and Rolands. From a flattened position, Arthur forced his body up, going from a hunched crawl to a kneel, his splintered legs remaining flat against the ground. He couldn't move them. He couldn't even feel them. His numbed mind prevented that. They were useless to Arthur now, serving as nothing more than dead weight. The sound of his beating heart echoed in the boy's thumping brain as he raised a bloodied hand to his attacker, who mirrored the boy's actions with a clenched fist.

The following few seconds felt like an eternity to all present. Sephra and Luna watched with absolute horror as Roland's giant fist effortlessly sailed through the air, efficiently bypassing Arthur's raised hand to continue its journey to his slightly better-than-average face. The effect of such a collision was an assured death. Roland was stronger than Arthur. He was a trained knight, while in the mind of Luna and Sephra, Arthur was little more than some child Vienna decided to pick up off the street, they didn't know his power, and it didn't matter, no matter what if that fist collided with Arthur's frail body he would die. However, even after seeing the fist gently sail past his "Defence", Arthur's face did not lose its cocky grin. It was a sight that would remain in Luna and Sephra's memory until they died. They were sure of it. It was too provoking, too mesmerising to watch as Arthur's face only continued to brighten with every millimetre of ground Roland's fist snatched away. Sephra was stunned, she thought Arthur was just like any other servant, any other boy, but now she was forced to realise that he was different. After all, what type of servant could face their imminent death with such a blinding smile if not only him?

However, Vienna moved, unlike Luna and Sephra, who simply watched the scene with mesmerised eyes. Mana began to gather around her outstretched palms in the form of a hurricane of green wind that began to rapidly shrink and compress, quickly morphing from its original shape into the form of two rapidly spinning discs. She was going to kill him. Vienna was ready…but her attack wasn't.

She was already too late when she sent the discs coursing through the air.

She had been a second too slow.

Despair took hold of the young mother's mind as she was forced into the position of a spectator to her beloved's demise.

Vienna couldn't watch. Her stomach couldn't handle the thought. It churned and groaned with every centimetre lost to the man's horrible fist, Arthur, her Arthur was going to die. That's what she believed. No, that was a fact. Arthur couldn't win. His opponent was so much stronger than him. However, what happened next quickly shut the whining woman up.

Arthur's outstretched hand began to glow in a mesmerising blue light. The light of his water magic. From the centre of Arthur's outstretched palm expanded, a jet of water so potent, so strong, so fast that it instantly outpaced the velocity of Roland's giant fist. Arthur watched with unparalleled manic glee as Roland's bloodshot eyes began to shrink, honing in on the ferocious jet of water with a look of absolute despair. His face began to contort, bracing for the inevitable impact while grief once again took hold of the defeated man's mind. He was going to lose…again, this brat, this devil had bested him not once but twice. He had walked over Roland's pride, tearing it asunder before urinating on the remains. He-he hated him so much! Roland's mind boiled with absolute fury at his impending demise before finally, it happened.

*BOOOOMMM* Arthur's torrent of water collided squarely with the balding man's outstretched chin, the reverberation of which echoed across the now silent room not with a sound but with the booming realisation of Arthur's strength.

Roland's body spiralled across the desolate locale, narrowly avoiding a fatal injury from Vienna's sudden attack but still losing an arm in the process before he firmly collided with the cold stone steps that awaited him across from the small plateau. A horrific crunch rattled in Arthur's delighted ears, one that wracked his body with a euphoric sense of undisguised pleasure, he didn't know what he broke, but Roland's horrified wails of pain informed him that it was likely something essential. Perhaps it was his remaining arm, a leg, or maybe, just maybe, the force of Arthur's blast along with the sudden fall broke his neck.

Silence filled the room in the wake of Arthur's explosive attack while the boy remained stationary, not out of choice but out of necessity. His brain had finally decided to stop pumping the adrenaline the boy oh so craved, leaving him in a precarious position. Absolute pain wracked his body with the smallest of movements while his muscles passively constricted around the large chunks of wood that filled his leg, giving him an unnecessary amount of detail concerning their individual shapes and sharpness.

Sweat gathered across the boy's dainty forehead, plastering the stray lock of hair to his head while the reality of what he had just accomplished replayed in his mind on repeat, he had just attacked a knight, he had made an example out of a neighbouring territories head knight and won through the use of a rather underhanded tactic, Vienna and the rest may not have realised it but Roland despite being in despair fueled fury had actually held back against the young child, he had used little more than the power of a beginner knight in their brief clash probably not something the man chose to do but rather a subconscious action his brain took out of necessity, it had probably been ingrained in his head to not completely destroy the enemies of his city so as to correctly prosecute the stray criminal, a trait Arthur had luckily managed to take advantage of along with the fact that Roland had actually slowed his fist out of some sick sadistic type of glee to turn the tables on the knight in the brief moment for impact when his defences were at their weakest to land his devastating blow.

He could have died. At any given moment, Roland could have increased the velocity of his punch. He could have used more power…but he didn't. Not once throughout the entire clash did Arthur even think he was in the littlest bit of danger. No, Arthur felt in control. His emotions didn't battle inside of him like they did against Charlotte's attackers, with some urging him to flee and some desiring him to fight; instead, they all seemed to scream out in unanimous hatred of the man filling Arthur with a strange sense of confidence despite the otherwise harrowing scenario. 'And now I wait,' Arthur anxiously commented. He had set up this whole scenario to intimidate this casino's imaginary owner. He had no clue if his performance here would translate into the interest he desired of the elfish tyrant.

Sephra's gaze lingered upon the back of the kneeling child while her face stretched into a naturally beautiful smile. She had found it, someone, that actually caught her interest. A monster, this boy, Arthur, he was a true monster. His strength, his mannerisms, everything about him was so unique and interesting that the half-elf couldn't help but be enthralled.

Everything about Arthur was just too attractive, from how he so easily ignored both her and Luna's overwhelming beauty to his mysterious position in the Zepar household. She wanted to know more, what was his thought process behind his sudden use of magic, how did he become so strong at such a young age, was he just a natural prodigy, or was he a child gifted by the gods? There was just so much that she wanted to know. And sure enough, along with such thoughts of intrigue came the beating of her previously apathetic heart. It felt discomforting, unnatural at first. All these weird motions were something the half-elf had never experienced before. Still, as time progressed with Sephra's gaze trained upon Arthur's slowly heaving back, the odd skipped beat went from something concerning and scary to something oddly comforting and warm, her cheeks felt hot to the touch. In contrast, her mind felt strained. Sephra couldn't focus, not on herself, not on anything. The only thing her befuddled mind seemed to care about was the lone figure of the hunched boy who lay before her, soaked in blood and sweat. Yet, his face showed not an expression of anxiety or adrenaline-induced panic but the same self-assured cocky grin he had worn continuously throughout the brief encounter.

'Just who are you, Arthur?' Sephra absentmindedly commented, her heart skipping yet another beat upon witnessing Arthur's confident gaze that remained directly locked in front of him, staring at the broken plateau in wait for his opponent's return. A rematch that would never occur. Seconds passed in strained silence, no sounds no longer emitted from Roland's broken body, no screams, no groans, just an eerie void of nothingness. Had he fainted, or was his situation much direr than Arthur expected? Whatever happened to the foolish man mattered not to the falsely confident child who remained placid with a heart that continued to beat solely out of anxiousness. He had yet to receive the system's notification. Arthur remained in the dark as to the effect his exploits carried. Had he managed to earn Sephra's intrigue, or was his use of magic a foolish waste of resources? Did he play his trump card too soon? Such stimulants propelled the broken mind of the lone child, with every millisecond spent in silence feeling like an eternity. That was until he saw it, a sole translucent projection, something that only Arthur could see, the system's panel.

{+50 Love (Sephra Lilliel)}

{+10,000 Affection points}

{The description under (Sephra Lilliel's) Love metre has changed}

{+7 Love (Luna Adeline)}

{+1,400 Affection points}

{The description under (Luna Adeline's) Love metre has changed}

{+10 Love (Vienna Zepar)}

{+20,000 Affection points}

{Name: Sephra Lilliel

Age: 120

Sex: Female

Race: Human/Elf (Half-elf)

Rank: Adept Knight stage 2, Adept Mage stage 4

Titles: The casino tyrant, Lilliels bastard child, the banished half-elf, …(View more)

Bloodline: ???? (Unawakened)

Charm: 13/10 Beyond the boundaries of human beauty

Talent: 8/10 Enough to be considered a genius

Love: 50% (The first member of the opposite sex to ever catch her eye)

Description: The host's first completely optional woman, she doesn't play any major part in the story, nor does she seem to be a likely target for any of the transmigrators, the half-elf owner of the lucky cat casino.

Difficulty: B (The host has earned her interest, all that is required is to now keep that interest alive, and she'll be yours)}

{Name: Luna Adeline

Age: 110

Sex: Female

Race: Two-tailed fox (Originally fox beast-folk

Rank: True Mage stage 1

Titles: The pleasure queen, ruler of the night, leader of the red light district, ….(View more)

Bloodline: Nine-tailed fox (Awakened)

Charm: 14/10

Talent: 9/10

Love: 72% (She wants you )

Description: The owner of the most rambunctious brothel in the red light district and the entire area's de facto leader, she awakened her bloodline the moment she turned 100 years old and gained her second tail. Despite oozing an air of sensuality, she's actually !##$(*

Difficulty: B ( Despite the host seemingly sharing a bloodline connection with this woman, the pleasure queen won't go down so easily, you're on your own for this one)}

Name: Vienna Zepar

Age:38

Sex: Female

Race: Human

Rank: Advanced Mage Stage 2 (Average life expectancy 750 years)

Titles: Martyr, Prodigy, Beauty of the battlefield, The teasing Marquis, … (View More)

Bloodline: ???????? ????? (Unawakened, Requirements partially fulfilled )

Charm: 10/10 The pinnacle of human beauty (Are you charmed yet?)

Talent: 9/10 Prodigious by any standard

Love: 135% (Arthur~)

Description: Arthur, Arthur, Arthur

Difficulty: F (Just say the word, and she's yours}

The system chimed its sickly melody that couldn't have sounded sweeter upon the anxious peasant's ears. He had done it. Arthur's fool hearty, almost suicidal plan hadn't been in vain, and he was now reaping the rewards that his manipulative escapade had sown. Arthur's body immediately went lax while a burdensome sigh of relief escaped the boy's sealed lips. 'It worked,' Arthur inwardly commented, a sharp pain rushing through his careless mind from the sudden movements his slouched form had created, but this pain mattered not to the jubilant boy. Arthur had accomplished his goal. He had earned a sufficient amount of affection from both his targets while hopefully disqualifying himself from Vienna's abrupt decision to take him to the fifth prince's coming of age ceremony.