"He'll call me in two or three days. By then, the Barix Province team would arrive." Varian muttered and retrieved an item from his storage ring.
A handful of crystalline powder that changed colors every second. It gave off an intoxicating smell and reminded him of herbs he'd seen in Hortus.
Whatever this was, this was a hundred times more 'herbal' than the best herb he'd seen over there.
'The Duke will take this after some poison test. He can't take too much at once or he'll find out. So, a small dose at once three times a day for three days and then…'
Varian's lips twitched as the future flashed in front of him.
Compared to him, the Duke would be able to resist the life strands sneaked into this medicine. But only resist. What if he had to fight while resisting?
"Fuck. I just wanted to ask for a treasure." Varian dipped into the large hot medical bath in his room.
The maids who wanted to 'serve' him in the bath were quite beautiful, even by his standards.
He'd have rejected them either way but the mess with Enigma caused him to yell 'I like my baths alone!'
"So embarrassing." Varian dipped his head below the water and wished to hide himself.
An Emperor acting like that…thankfully no one knew that.
After a while, Varian toured the palace complex. There were many palaces, large living quarters, the finest kitchens, treasuries, administrative buildings, representative buildings of each province in the Duchy, and training grounds.
'Huh?' Varian stopped his footsteps and looked at the large red stone building.
'Training hall.' His eyes lit up and he walked in without hesitation.
"There are times when you must fight without caring about your life! Give your best! Destroy your enemy even if you have to destroy yourself!"
A tall and burly man in a full-body metal armor instructed the soldiers with hands behind his back.
In front of him, hundreds of soldiers were all wrapped in many 'bubbles' and were fighting each other in the most brutal fashion.
Whenever they were about to kill each other, the bubble would stop them. And whenever one got too injured, the bubble would heal them.
These soldiers must be elite since they're all rank 1s.
There were also a few in more refined clothes fighting in slightly larger bubbles in the distance. They were all rank 2s.
The man in metal armor instructed the soldiers for a while and then shifted to training a bunch of men and women in the largest bubble.
Compared to the soldiers, their fights were much more powerful and if the bubble wasn't strong enough, their fight would've destroyed the entire planet. No, it wasn't just a bubble, it seemed to be a large space, something as big as a planet.
[Rank 4]
[Rank 3]
[Rank 3]
[Rank 3]
[Rank 3]
[Rank 3]
…
[Rank 3]
Varian gulped his saliva and was about to walk to the large bubble when two soldiers who just came out of a small bubble blocked him. "Who are you?"
"Doctor Constantine, a guest of the Duke," Varian replied absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on the blurry figures in the big bubble.
The soldiers noticed his gaze and chuckled. "Doctor Constantine, guests don't have permission to get in here. It's done in ignorance, so you're forgiven. Please return to your quarters."
"Is there any way around it? I like training a lot. Would like a spar or two." Varian asked.
"No. Soldiers and soldiers alone are allowed." One of the soldiers put a hand on his shoulder and tried to gently push him.
Varian didn't want to leave like this. But he didn't want to break the rules either.
So…
Varian didn't move an inch despite the soldier increasing his force and instead, laughed out loud. "I heard that Centaurus' soldiers were falling in quality every year. But not even pushing someone away? Hahahaha!"
His words echoed across the training hall and all the fightings came to an abrupt halt.
The larger soldier trying to push him, obviously a centaurian with that horn on his forehead, glared at him with eyes that were just short of spitting fire. "What the fuck did you say?"
"Oh, not only quality, but they're also falling in basic hearing. Must be hard for your leaders, eh? Just imagine, they give you orders in a critical battle and you're like 'I can't hear, can you please repeat it again.'"
A few soldiers laughed but most grew furious. Even the ones that laughed clenched their fists and glared at him.
"It looks like the guest doesn't know how to respect the host." The bulky soldier in front of him cracked his knuckles and sneered. "Care to fight a match? I'll show you what we're made of."
The soldiers all exited their bubbles and surrounded Varian, putting pressure on him to accept.
"A rank 1?" Varian shook his head. "You can't even push me away."
"You bastard!" A soldier almost punched him in the face but someone grabbed him back.
"Impulsive soldiers are the worst." Varian continued to berate them while putting on the expression of a cocky young master.
"Very well, I'll take you on." Following a calm but angry voice, the soldiers parted and a middle-aged man with two small horns on his head reached Varian.
"Raix, captain of 103rd squad. I challenge you to a fight."
All the soldiers fell silent when he spoke. Not even a whisper was audible. This man was highly respected.
Raix was a genius—someone who reached peak of rank 1 at a very young age and was deemed as a seedling who could one day touch rank 4.
Of course, none of it mattered to Varian.
"A peak rank 1. Good, not good enough."
There was an uproar in the crowd and Raix's calmness threatened to break down. But the man calmly walked into the bubble. "We'll see after a brawl. Since you're a guest, I won't be too harsh on you."
"Your kindness will be reciprocated." Varian chuckled and entered the bubble. Before the battle began, he looked at the soldiers outside who were eagerly waiting for him to get beat up and said. "I'll only use a part of my power. You're considered good if you force me to use my full power."
"Stop bullshitting." Raix clenched his fist and dashed to him in an instant.
"Truth is bitter, my friend." Varian dodged by ducking down and punched up. His fist connected straight with the jaw of Raix and the world seemed to freeze for a moment.
The next second, spitting out blood and a dozen teeth, Raix flew in a beautiful arc and crashed into the ground.
"…"
"…"
"…"
The soldiers opened their mouths in shock, utterly dumbfounded. Some opened their mouths to comment but nothing came out of their mouths.
Raix stood up on wobbly feet and tried to wipe off the blood from his mouth. But it kept flowing like a broken dam.
"Fu er hu?" He asked in a funny voice. No, it's just his broken jaw.
"Doctor Constantine. A guest." Varian replied. "But I guess I can add Jawbreaker now."
Raix kicked the floor and his body blurred. This time, he aimed a kick right at Varian's chest.
Varian swirled to the side and elbowed his back.
With the sounds of bones breaking, Raix crashed to the ground. This time, he didn't get up.
"One won't do. Half of you, come up." Varian called the couple hundred rank 1s.
Forget the roughly five hundred rank 1s here, he couldn't even beat two hundred and fifty of them. Even a peak rank 2 would have to run away facing so many rank 1s.
But that's the point.
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