7.6

Vivien and Bridgette finally signed their contracts after a decent amount of negotiation. Nothing they requested was a deal breaker for Eve, and after the sparkling shards of paper vanished, her attention turned to the upcoming fight.

“Without both of you fighting, what will the Arena do for the last two spots?” Eve questioned.

“Contingency part of the agreement will allow the Arena to pull two non-humanoid creatures to replace us. I read up on it beforehand.” Bridgette said, with an adorable smirk.

Vivien nodded and said, “While I don’t mean to disparage Beasts, Monsters, or Demons, they aren’t really at the same level as sapient fighters. Those among the non-humanoid who are at the same level would be worth so much that the risk of fielding them against you would never cover the cost of deployment.”

Eve nodded at the monetary logic involved.

To the Arena, her fights were a cold calculation of profit. As the soft chime she was now familiar with rang through the room, Eve floated a few inches off the ground before heading up the ramp. The evening light was starting to creep into existence as the sun dipped lower than the Arena walls above painting the sand in the beginning of evening shadows. Moving without haste, Eve studied her plate armored opponent as she floated to stand over the raised stone dais in the sands. He resembled nothing so much as an old Dark Ages knight. The slits in his visor were small, and would take a precise thrust to enter. Strangely enough, he only had a single longsword and no shield.

Savage Survival Mind easily allowed Eve to ignore the crowd’s shocked babbling at her costume.

As she appeared in the center of the stone dais, the anti-magic field exuding from her opponent snapped on. The short drop to the ground didn’t affect Eve at all courtesy of Grace V. Looking out at the sand between them, she gave a sigh. Only the insane or the deluded enjoyed fighting in sand. She was neither.

Withdrawing the Jian from the sheath she held the sword loosely in her right hand as the empty sheathe rippled into dust. Tilting the weapon into low guard Eve walked casually towards her opponent as if she was taking a late Sunday stroll. She could practically feel the man’s eyes staring at her tits, which were held up from gravity on full display by Thirst’s full body wrappings.

Men. Eve thought with a mental eye roll. Skintight leather and a fake gravity defying magic bra melts their mind better than acid.

Granted there were men that wouldn’t be affected, but she was rather certain her Charm and Grace V could at least get her their number. Not that she had any plans on getting pregnant, Thomas’s tales of what happened to female powerhouses in history were enough to dissuade her.

Passive effects in the plate, a few rings, nothing that carries the right mana structure to save him. Eve thought closing the final meters to her enemy. Her sword flashed into a straight lunge and the dance was on.

Savage Survival Mind used her Jian and Thirst like a puppet twisting her into impossible dodges and striking through hair-thin gaps in the knight’s defense. Eve’s sword left afterimages it was moving so fast, and she could smell the fear as the enemy realized the anti-magic field was useless. Her motions were mechanical, but precise like clockwork as Grace V turned the entire fight into a ballet of death. The knight attempted to chop, and parry but it was useless, striking Eve was like attempting to fight the wind. Her body contorted as if a fighter’s center of gravity was a mere suggestion instead of ironclad doctrine.

In the world of martial combat, speed rules. Eve thought. Time to get paid.

The Jian blurred like falling rain and in a mere five more exchanges, a penetrating thrust slipped into the weakened armor straight through the knight’s heart. Her enemy gave a soft sight as his body collapsed into a motionless corpse that dropped off Eve’s weapon.

An observant person would be able to see that every single strike from the start of the fight to the end had been on the exact same part of the armor. Every attack was a result that Savage Survival Mind had calculated to perfection. Eve felt that the anti-magic field actually made winning easier.

Perhaps I should look into creating a talisman with the same effect? Eve thought.

It was a brutal display of power, and Eve let the blood drip from her blade as she turned her back to the fallen foe to drive the point home. Once outside of view, she flicked the bloody sword against the ramp walls to remove the red smear before sheathing her blade in a newly created paper sheath. Anti-magic fields were a gimmick, a powerful one true, but barring a genius fighter that could adapt on the fly it wasn’t going to stop her. Even then, such a genius would need to have the speed and stamina to outlast her.

The fight had been so brief, Eve felt she barely needed to consume any food upon arriving in the waiting room. That didn’t stop Vivien or Bridgette from taking full advantage of the clause that required her to feed her servants. In order to silence their begging eyes, she pulled another table of dishes from her inventory. Without mercy, Eve secured her second helping of chocolate cake after providing more portions for her guests before asking, “Are the other two going to be that easy?”

Vivien nodded, “This is a minor Arena, not the Serpent Empire’s capital. If you had come a few years back, there was a blind genius swordsman with a leeching stamina build and an alchemist kid talented at explosives that would have given you a good run. The current Fifth, Fourth, and Third Champions now are just lecherous idiots that depend too much on the A.M. field and not enough on actual skill. I’d be willing to put money that you have capped physical stats, and you move with all the unconscious grace that most Masterclass types have.”

“Elemental fighters are easy to raise, but the A.M. field counters them hard. Don’t expect everyone to be a monster like you, Boss.” Bridgette said eyeing the chocolate cake with greedy eyes. Eve glared and the smaller woman took an apple pie with a mournful expression.

“Masterclass?” Eve asked taking a bite of her chocolate cake.

“So, you have normal Class Tiers, right? But let’s say you have someone who studies the sword their entire life, they build their entire Skill, Spell, Trait, and so forth around the sword. They have weird hang ups, like never letting their sword out of sight, or keeping it outside and not in a spatial bag, you get the type I’m describing right?” Vivien asked grabbing a piece of pork katsu as she loaded her plate with meats.

“Yes, I’ve seen people like that in my old line of work.” Eve nodded her mind remembering some of the more eccentric special operators she had worked with back on Earth. “It was usually knives for the ones I know, but the similarities are there.”

“Right, so, those types are considered Masterclass. Their every word, gesture, motion, and so forth conjures the image of a sword. They have a grace about them, a way of moving that is unconscious like breathing. You have the same motions. I can’t really place the weapon though, strangely enough. It’s like you are moving with absolute precision, a dance or a dreamlike grace? Something along those lines.” Vivien said, her fork paused slightly to her mouth, “Not to mention your eyes. Silver eyes like a grey specter. You have that stare that screams for the lesser beings to get out of the way. I’ve seen it on some of the more high class noble fighters.”

“No sweat either.” Bridgette said before gobbling a mouthful of her apple pie.

“Ah! I didn’t even think of that!” Vivien said before devouring another piece of pork katsu, “You don’t sweat at all. That’s a dead giveaway that you likely have a superior Race, too.”

Eve took another bite of her chocolate cake before asking, “Will this be a problem?”

“Nope. Your hot stuff make no mistake, but unless you plan on making a career in the Arena it won’t be an issue.” Vivien said.

“Not in the near future. I’m only here to collect Slots, kill for cash, and look good doing it.” Eve said with a smirk.

“It was the same for us when we started a decade ago. Gearing up properly is difficult. A few bad loans, a few losses, and the next thing you know the Arena is selling your debt to the highest bidder.” Vivien said with a grimace.

“Slimes.” Bridgette said her face ugly.

“Indeed, dear. There are always men who think buying a female fighter means they are somehow entitled to sleep with them as well, idiots.” Vivien said, chewing savagely on a sausage after the comment.

“Do you have a copy of the contract for this fight?” Vivien asked, pausing in her eating.

“Sure, here.” Eve replied creating a parchment roll that appeared by Vivien’s plate.

Setting her fork and knife down, Vivien took a quick scan through the document before saying, “Looks pretty ironclad. I thought they might try the substitution trick, but nothing in here allows for it. Looks like Charles and Mick are screwed, so sad.”

Bridgette said, “Boss, hero.”

Eve raised one eyebrow in question.

“Ah, Charles is a chainmail wearing half-plate sword and shield user. Bridgette had a super hard time with him since he’s a turtle type. He kept making short jokes the whole time fighting too trying to throw her off balance.” Vivien said as the contract scroll vaporized when she threw it back to Eve. Picking up her knife and fork again to continue eating Vivien said, “Mick uses leather, and he goes for a sneaky rogue build. I’m not sure how, but he’s able to use stealthy attacks in the A.M. field. Also favors debilitating poisons, when the opponent is female, of course.”

“Joy.” Eve said while her eyes gained a dead tint. “Should I repay their kindness?”

Vivien took another piece of katsu and dipped it in sauce before saying, “Please your worshipfulness, your humble servants would be ever so grateful for a demonstration of titanic might!”

Eve pointed her fork at Vivien and said, “Sarcasm privileges have been revoked for you wench.”

Bridgette seemed to ignore them both, her mind trapped between a yogurt-cereal concoction or lemon chiffon cake.

“On a more serious note, does any of that sound like something you can’t handle?” Vivien said finishing her assorted meat and moving to a rice omelet.

They just sound like prey. Eve thought before saying, “No.”

Eve finished her chocolate cake before creating another bath and taking a soak. As floating paper gadgets handled her bathing experience, Eve perused the Class Skill Spell List. The colloquially known Dragon’s Path became ever clearer as her stream of consciousness sorted possibilities for the future. Eve dumped her Free Stats from the fight into the Dragon’s Bank crystal card and looked at options to use her sixteen million Slot windfall.

After most of the hour between fights was used up, she finally decided to upgrade her Bibliotheca Mind and Body rather than get any new Skill, Spell, or Traits. At six million apiece, the Slots from her last fight were only able to get Rank IV for both.

Deciding to save the remaining four million Slots for a later, Eve exited the bath to dry and cloth herself in Thirst once more. Grabbing her Jianthat had been floating along with her discarded gloves and boots, Eve armored up once more.

“How do I look?” Eve said, striking a pose again.

“I’d buy a night.” Vivien said looking up from a book she had pulled from somewhere.

“Worth three chocolate cakes.” Bridgette said solemnly.

“Definitely buying some decent male companionship. Neither of you two appreciate me enough.” Eve said as the chime sounded once more.

“Good luck, Boss!” Vivien said, her attention once more on the book as the remaining food on the table started to be consumed.

Bridgette was out cold on the table drooling, so Eve didn’t get any encouragement from that corner.

That’s it. I’m buying, no, freeing some male slaves after these last two rounds. I need people who understand how to stroke my delicate ego. Eve thought as she headed back up the Arena ramp to fight