The Bounty Hunter

Chapter 19: Letting Off Some Steam

October 6th, 2088

Terras POV

WELCOME TO THE BLOODMOON ARENA!!!!!!   ARE YOU ALL PREPARED TO SEE SOME VIOLENCE!?!?!  In response to the announcers yells, a coliseum filled with close to 30,000 people roared.  It was a panoply of various species all united in their desire to see some blood.  I could even pick out some hooded hobgoblins who likely hailed from the Savage Empire, the largest uncivilized nation composed of mainly hobgoblins that is always fighting with the Darkmoon Queendom. 

The Bloodmoon Arena is a battle stage located in Obsidia which hosts daily fights to entertain the populace at the end of the day.  It opens the minute the sun goes down and it is well-known for its copious amounts of bloodshed, hence the name Bloodmoon.  Ive said it before, but this world is not imaginative with its naming.  The setup is rather reminiscent of the Coliseum in Rome with only a few differences.  There are various magical mirrors that reflect and amplify the moonlight to light the battlefield up.  It is a large oval arena with light red grass on it that requires blood in order to grow.  It is the inspiration for the phrase watering the grass in this world that has the same meaning as the phrase feeding the fishes which is commonly used to talk about someone who was killed. 

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ALLLLLRIGHT! SINCE EVERYONE IS LOOKING SO LIVELY, LETS GET STARTED!!!  WE HAVE AN INTERESTING ONE FOR YOU TONIGHT!  A WANTED MAN WITH A BOUNTY ON HIS HEAD VERSUS A BOUNTY HUNTER!  A NEW TAKE ON THE CLASSIC CAT AND MOUSE CHASE WHERE THE MOUSE FIGHTS BACK!  The dwarf announcer points to one end where a massive iron portcullis slowly rose and a towering humanoid figure emerges.  4 stout legs, 6 long arms and 1 head all are on a huge musclebound 8-foot tall body.  Tan skin and jagged ears complement a rugged face with blue hair and eyes.  The man has a leather skirt covering his waist and each arm carries a flail. 

IN THIS CORNER, COMING IN AT 800 POUNDS, IS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE ASURA RACE!  HE CURRENTLY HAS A BOUNTY OF 6 GOLD COINS AND HAS BEEN ON THE RUN FOR THE PAST MONTH!  GIVE A BLOODMOON WELCOME TO A FAVORITE OF THE ARENA, ARC ALLARM!!!!  The crowd roared as the Asuran strode confidently into the center of the arena.  Arc Allarm is a fan favorite gladiator here at Bloodmoon who had killed the fourth son of Baron Ild in a drunken dispute at a local pleasure house. 

No one dared to take this bounty until now because the Bloodmoon Arena chose to shelter Arc as a promotional scheme.  The only chance a bounty hunter would have at him would be by challenging him to a 1 on 1 match here at the arena.  But since bounty hunters work in groups, Arc is an expert duelist and I was on vacation, he has been safe for the past month.  Unfortunately for him, I got news this afternoon that made me very stressed and so I chose this bounty in an attempt to distract myself.  The dwarven announcer allowed the crowd to quiet down a bit before continuing. 

ANNND IN THIS CORNER, IS THE BEST BOUNTY HUNTER IN THE QUEENDOM!!!  HES A LEGEND IN THE MAKING AND THATS ALL WE KNOW ABOUT THIS MYSTERY MAN APART FROM HIS NAME!  I PRESENT TO YOU THE ONE, THE ONLY, TERRA THE PEERLESS!!!!!!!  The massive portcullis in front of me rose and I walked calmly into the arena as the crowd roared in anticipation.  In one of the VIP boxes, I saw Baron Ild watching intently.  His request was to bring Arc in alive, which was nothing unusual.  Bounties on monsters are to kill while bounties on criminals are usually to capture.  There is only one exception:  if the criminal is too difficult to catch they change it to dead or alive to improve the success rate.  They rarely do that since it would cost them an opportunity to redeem a sinner.   

In this world there are no prisons:  punishments for crimes are either fines or enslavement.  Most crimes are punished by fines, which vary depending on the crime and past history.  However, if the criminal is unable to pay the fine they are enslaved instead.  Major crimes are punished immediately by enslavement.  The Cult of Chains believes that enslavement allows the undutiful and non-believers the opportunity to gain absolution so their next reincarnation will be permitted.  The ones who are able to maintain their freedom and fulfill their duties will be rewarded with a better reincarnation. 

The Baron Ilds rights state that since Arc killed his son, Arc would be enslaved to him.  I am sure that Ild doesnt give a damn about losing his good for nothing son and is instead delighted at the opportunity to acquire an Asuran slave.  Asuran slaves are highly desired by nobles due to their fighting prowess and whenever they come up at auction they go in the 10s of gold coins range.  I stopped about 30 feet away from Arc and the dwarven announcer floated up to the air courtesy of an enchanted platform.  WHO IS TRULY THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED HERE?  ITS TIME TO FIND OUT!  LETS GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! 

A bell rang out just like in boxing.  And at that cue, Arc started whirling all 6 of his flails menacingly as he charged at me.  He kept his rotating flails moving back and forth in front of him to guard against any missiles.  He was swinging them at such velocity that the wind was blowing up loose grass.  I simply stood there waiting for him to reach me as his four legs pounded onto the grass and he gained momentum. 

This match had a no magic tool restriction, which naturally gave a heavy advantage to the physically imposing Asuran.  Its also the reason why I evaluated his threat level as a 10 instead of an 8 when I was scouting some of his matches.  The noise level of the crowd increased as he came closer to me.  As he came within 20 feet, I unclasped my rhomphaia and stabbed it lightly into the ground in front of me.  I then drew my two ninjato and waited. 

Then a few feet before I was about to come within Arcs extended reach of 10 feet and the crowds noise reached a fevered pitch, I kicked my rhomphaia.  It awkwardly flew towards Arc before hitting the ground and rattling around right into Arcs legs.  They got tangled with the rhomphaia and he stumbled forward.  Normally that wouldnt be problematic for an Asuran, since their four legs made it easy to maintain and recover their balance, but he momentarily lost focus on the 6 flails he had been whirling in front of himself. 

His lowest left flail ended up smacking into his forward left knee, causing a sickening cracking sound.  Simultaneously, the middle right flail hit the upper right flail and the reverberation caused him to drop them.  The sudden change in the weight distribution plus a destroyed leg caused him to fall to the left and crash.  All control over his weapons disappeared and multiple blows rained on himself as he tumbled.  He finally careened to a halt right in front of me as a bloodied and bruised mess.  Without further ado, I immediately stabbed downwards with my two blades to finish the match right then and there. 

But fighting an Asuran would never be so simple and two arms quickly shot out in the path of my blades.  Blood spattered onto my overcoat as I pierced his highest right and left arms.  He wrenched those now wrecked arms with my swords still embedded in them away from me and quickly launched several fearsome punches with his other four arms.  They missed and hit empty air as I had immediately jumped back after losing my weapons.  Arc came to his feet with 3 fewer functioning limbs than before, but he still had a steady expression on his face.  An Asuran is an absolute beast in any kind of physical combat, and practically invincible in a fist fight.  And I no longer had any weapons. 

He charged towards me once more, although his pace was far slower.  His four remaining arms started unleashing a salvo of punches at me.  I dodged and parried his blows patiently while waiting for an opportunity to counter.  Arc had a far longer reach than me and more limbs with which to attack so I had to be cautious.  Blood continued flowing from his many wounds and I could feel his ferocity intensifying as he realized that he would lose if the fight was dragged out. 

He started launching a rapid fire series of feints, trying to throw me off balance when suddenly one of his four arms went full force towards my head, a definite killing blow if it landed.  Unfortunately, I already knew which arm he was going to use and I took advantage of his overextended lunge and stepped up into my own range of attack while dodging the strike. 

Of course one would use their only uninjured arm to launch an all or nothing attack, it really couldnt be much more obvious.  My flurry of punches accurately targeted his injuries, causing him to freeze momentarily due to the waves of pain.  I then jumped and stomped one foot onto his forward right knee, shattering it and causing him to topple.  As he fell I fluidly lifted up my left knee right into his face, giving him a severe concussion and ending the match.

YEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!!  The crowds roar was deafening in response to the conclusion of the match.  No one had thought that I could physically overwhelm an Asuran, which would be a reasonable assumption to make normally.  Due to the mana rich environment in this world, all of its residents have far superior physical abilities than humans back on Earth.  The mana nourishes their bodies when exercising and growing leading to a far superior physique.  I too got this benefit and could beat any Olympic athlete.  In addition, by alternating between a mana-rich and mana-starved environment I ended up further stimulating my body and have thus acquired physical abilities that are truly impressive even for this world. 

This was the reason why I could beat a somewhat weakened Asuran in a fistfight.  As Arc was led away by the Barons men in preparation for his enslavement, I was heading to a blacksmiths in order to fix my ninjatos and rhomphaia.  The ninjatos got bent after they had pierced Arcs iron-like skin and the rhomphaias blade got several cracks after it got stomped on at the beginning of the fight.  I should also take this opportunity and re-forge them into magic artifacts.  The 6 gold coins I had received from this bounty were jingling cheerfully in my purse, but now that the fight was over my mind went back to my troubles.  Who the hell would have thought that running into my target Fujioka-san could have led to such an outcome?