FB: Chapter 78 – Professional Groveling

Winner! Standard 1v1: 970-0 Champion 1v1: 83-0 Tournament: 4-0
Please go to the center of the arena.

I had won the second Tournament of Champions. My record was immense, but still no new title. I made my way to the center of the arena and knelt before the spectating Human Emperor. I wasn’t going to make him wait since I was on his shit list.

“Silence!” the herald called out and everyone quickly quieted down.

“Foxy Blight, you are named the Tournament Champion. You may make one request of me,” the Human Emperor declared.

“Your Imperial Majesty, your servant humbly requests that you give an extension of one year for my quest to slay the Unmentionable Horror.” I was hoping this would work. I really needed the extension.

“While it is customary for me to reward the winner of this tournament with their request, I am disinclined to grant an extension. No. You were given four years to complete the quest and that is what you shall have, no more, no less. Make another request,” he declared.

“Then your humble servant requests a monetary reward of a thousand platinum so she may better fulfill the tasks given,” I said. It was a weak request, but also a safe one. There were other things I would have preferred, but they were all traps. Money was a trap as well, since it was seen as low brow and a bit insulting since the Human Emperor could provide quite a bit more. But since he had refused my first request, it would hopefully be seen as an acceptable back up since I was using the money to complete his quest.

I had asked the information brokers for the correct amount to ask of the Human Emperor. A thousand platinum was the amount the information brokers passed on. It was quite a bit, but not so much as to be excessive. It was also in line with the monetary value of the rewards the Human Emperor would give to the winner.

There were other ideas I had considered. A Guild Sanction would be one of the better things to get, but its value was beyond the scope of this tournament. Also, it would invite the Human Emperor to make even more trouble with the Fanged Fox Guild. Better to play it safe and help resolve my cash flow issues for the moment.

A large bag of platinum coins landed in the sand in front of my face. “All rise and pay homage to Emperor Catan Shadam Ixxion the Twelfth, Supreme Ruler of the Human Empire, Duke of the Imperial Capital, Protector of the Realm, and Divine Saint of the Trinity!”

I made sure to stay kneeling and looking at the ground. After a long thirty seconds, I grabbed the bag of money and put it in my inventory. At least I would have enough for consumables going forward. I had run out in this tournament. I had left it as a bracket tournament, since I didn’t want to engage in that many fights. There were too many skilled people out there now.

While I had defeated large swathes of Champions in the past, they weren’t idiots and anyone who wanted to win would create a build designed to counter me. It was better I faced them one on one instead of a brawl and to limit the number I faced. While I was good, even I would eventually make mistakes.

I had considered a gauntlet type tournament, but that had risks as well. These people weren’t idiots and fighting 63 matches in a row would be mentally exhausting. It was tempting to increase the number of Champion wins I had to get past 100, but the risk wasn’t worthwhile. Better to make sure that I won the matches I did have.

But there was still no new title, which was frustrating. After so many wins, I would have expected one by now. I had been counting on it in order to get an extra title slot. Well, the money was a nice consolation prize. Even if I wasn’t going to get anything from the betting. I was the favorite by such a large margin it was ridiculous.

It was tempting enough for me to consider throwing a match, but that would result in an investigation. A person betting on themselves to win was fine. But betting on others to win was not a good idea. Even if I used cutouts, such a large win would encourage another audit to occur and the money trail to be followed. I was already on the Human Emperor’s shit list, I did not need to dig my hole any deeper. It was deep enough already.

“Foxy Blight, do you have anything you wish to say about your most recent tournament win?” Dave from ENN asked me right as I left the arena area of the coliseum.

“I am looking forward to challenging new Champions if they dare face me. One could say it is a rite of passage. I know several people were hoping I would change up the tournament structure as well, but I think after the last Tournament Brawl, people wanted their own chance to shine and see where they are ranked,” I replied.

“And what about rumors that you are on the outs with the Human Emperor?” I didn’t want to answer that question, but I knew that I needed to.

“That is between me and the Human Emperor. But I will say that if he wanted me dead or punished, then I would be dead or punished and there would be nothing I could do. The fact that I am standing here, should be evidence enough that things remain cordial between us,” I replied and then walked away.

“There you have it, the response from Champion Foxy Blight after her most recent tournament win.” I tuned the reporter out as I made my way to my reserved room and then called a coliseum attendant.

I had seven more Champion matches scheduled in the next ten days. I would also be able to get my regular matches up to a thousand wins as well during that time. Once I hit a thousand standard wins, I didn’t plan to do anymore regular matches. It just didn’t seem worthwhile if I didn’t get a title. I would need to arrange more Champion matches, the goal being 100 to see if that unlocked the next title. I was hoping my comment would spur people on.

Once I had the times confirmed, I left the main coliseum here in the capital and made my way to the guild office we had set up here. There was a round of applause from the small number of staff and guild members present as I entered.

“Thank you everyone. I hope to continue my winning streak,” I said and made my way to my office. Seconds after I sat down Quant Z entered. I pulled out the sack of thousand platinum and handed it over to him. I would be taking my actual winnings of a couple hundred platinum and use that for future consumables.

“You didn’t get an extension,” he said. I let out a sigh.

“That was the decision of the Human Emperor. Will this be enough?” I asked.

“Yes, since we have pulled back on the mobilization and the guild development is going smoothly. What do you think of setting up feeder guilds?” he asked me.

“No. That is against the rules of the Human Empire. Having separate support guilds to the main guild. It isn’t worth the hassle of creating enough cutouts and proxies. We can’t risk a guild penalty or any other kind of negative attention.”

“The guild will grow, and I am concerned about future mobilization orders,” he replied.

“Once we make it past this one, we will be fine. Just need to balance combat members and economic members to keep our cash flow decent. We need to focus on more immediate problems. Building that canal to flood the Black Swamp from the Mineral Springs,” I said.

“We have scouts out there already and a forward base has been constructed. Work has begun and this money will ensure it keeps moving forward. Without the time extension, we will have to speed up and there will be no margin for error,” he replied.

“Which means I need to hurry and find an alchemical product for cheap,” I said with a sigh. While the fresh water might weaken the Unmentionable Horror, it wouldn’t be enough to kill it permanently.

“Money would solve the issue,” Quant Z said, and I rolled my eyes. He had just taken a massive sack of money from me. Right now, we had no money to spare. What money we did have wasn’t enough. It was all going to guild development and the canal project.

“You say that after you just got a thousand platinum. Other guilds would kill for that much,” I muttered in complaint.

“Other guilds don’t need to mobilize, build a canal in the wilderness, and develop the guild. Even with your merchandising and video rights bringing in a large chunk of cashflow, we need more money. I can make do without the money, but I need more. Either we cut costs, tax the members more, or do something,” Quant Z said.

The problem was the player economy just wasn’t big enough. That was the challenge of being the biggest and first guild in Exponential, having a big enough player base to draw money from. “How much?” I asked.

“For peace of mind and to speed things up, another 4,000 platinum,” Quant Z said. I closed my eyes at that number. What did he think? That platinum coins grew on trees. “It is needed for the high-end construction materials for the canal. We can make do with worse building materials, but there are risks like material decay. And protecting the canal from monsters using consumables. Work can happen quickly, but we need to create a canal from the Mineral Springs to the Black Swamp and then expanding the Black River that leads to the Infinite Ocean.”

“Make do with what you have. I wouldn’t count on any more money from my end,” I replied.

“Can’t you do another tournament or something?” Quant Z asked. I shook my head at that question. He might be a genius in guild organization and construction, but he didn’t understand high level combat.

“The other Champions are preparing for me. This tournament wasn’t that bad, but if I had to face a large number of Champions, then I would have a high risk of losing. Those percentages add up over each match. Even if it is only a tenth of percentage that I could lose each time, those percentages stack up. It is like gambling, eventually another outcome will occur. Losing would be disastrous, since I would lose my higher ranked Champion title. We just have to make do with the merchandise sales we have for now and our current budget.”

Quant Z frowned at my explanation. “What about using some cut outs for something,” he suggested. I shook my head.

“We can’t risk it. I guarantee the Human Emperor has people watching our every move just waiting for us to mess up. I know you think you are smarter, but don’t. Consider that an official guild order. We have to remain within the boundaries of the law,” I said heavily. I didn’t like it either, but we just couldn’t risk any more trouble. I was trying to dig us out of the hole we were in, not dig us deeper.