Quest for Hikari - Episode 12 - A champion's first loss!

[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]

Later, in the Bar, several people were sitting in several seats, one of them was simply me.

I was thinking about how to defeat Yulang without making her disheartened by me one-shotting her.

That means, I should prolong the fight to maybe five minutes maximum. I'd also hold myself back a little, just to give her a fair advantage.

And what about her "Mirage Sword"? With my Level 3 Swordsmanship skill, I could actually try to parry her attack and maybe integrate it with my Sword Arts while improving it.

"Brother Rance!"

Someone's voice got me out of my thoughts, as the Loan Soldier stood in front of me, along with several of the competitors that I have defeated behind him. Ninja Master and Count Kugutsu wasn't there, though.

"Loan Soldier.... was it... no, you're Louis Quitowack aren't you? No wonder you looked familiar, plus there's the other people whom I fought days ago. Why are you all here?" I asked, just before Pulptenks arrived with an excited expression.

"They heard that you will be fighting the champion tomorrow, so they walked here to give you some tips to fight against the champion." Pulptenks said, just as my former opponents approached me.

The first to talk was Jean, who looked dejected yet had a facial expression of acceptance. He had a bandage around his head and his torso, meaning that he was still at the state of recovery.

"Guh.... My body still feels quite sore after our battle, but because I am no longer able to defeat Yulang, I'll just settle down as the heir of the Gang- ahem, Giovanni Household. And here's an advice, after watching several battles from Yulang, she almost always uses her Mirage Slash at the start of the battle. Make sure she never uses that, understood?" Jean said, before sitting down two chairs beside me, lightly patting his bandaged chest.

And then Alexander sat down on another chair beside me.

"That's a good idea, but how would you do that?" He asked, awaiting for my answer.

"I have throwing weapons with me, a smoke bomb, and a bomb that disorients anybody blasted with it, maybe that's something good enough?" I spoke, remembering I still have some good stuff on my backpack.

The people inside went silent, looking at me with realization.

"I see! If that is what would give you advantage, then we will root for you!" Hubri spoke, just before I raised my finger up.

"That's not just it, she also has those things on her waist that allows her to fly, I could try and destroy those with my boomerangs (sluggers), too." I spoke once more, as the people around me were gaining hopes.

"To be honest, we really wanted to see who finally defeats Yulang.... even though you were challenged by her while you were just three ranks below her, that's a rare occurrence right there, partner." Jean spoke once more, before standing up.

"I'll take my leave now, I don't want them to be worried about me too much." He then left the bar with a smile.

Eventually, everyone around me began a drinking contest while I just sat down and ordered my dinner.

"Sir Rance? Can we... can we talk for a moment? Pulptenks asked, before I looked at her and nodded. The moment I did, she sighed as she sat beside me.

"You're not going stay here forever, aren't you?" She asked, looking at me with a worried expression.

"... Of course I am, though after I finish an important quest, I wouldn't leave here immediately. I'd rather stay here for a few weeks and spend some time with you and... a few girls I met before really leaving this place. Who knows, I might go back several months later." I replied, leaving her to think about it.

"I see.... Wait, you're planning to make a harem?" She suddenly became flabbergasted, leaving me to just stare at her.

"What? It's not my fault wanting to make a harem, though sometimes it's my fault if something happens to you. Just like now, you're practically worried about something." I spoke once more before finishing my sentence "... You're worried about me leaving you for somebody else, that's why I thought I should make a harem, even if we might rarely meet again."

To be honest, I have a long way in my journey, and it would be a pain to forget about my harem members.

I stood up, sighing.

"We'll meet again soon, Pulptenks. Apologies in advance for the... inconveniences I may cause you." I spoke, standing up and leaving the bar and began contemplating.

Keeping my harem members trusts on me is probably the hardest part, especially when I have one pinkie who would be with me for the duration of either our lives. There would be times where they would be forced to split up for a while, but those are common for now.

[ ~ Line • Break + PoV Switch: 3rd ~ ]

Several hundreds, if not, a few thousands of people sat in their respective seats, awaiting the battle between the reigning champion, Yulang Mirage, and Zance (or actually just Rance), someone who had registered several days ago and the same guy was quickly rising up in ranks.

"Laadieeess aandd Gentlemeen~! The day is finally here! Our terrifying newcomer, Sword Prince Zance is coming up against our reigning, undefeated champion, Mirage Sword Yulang!" The announcer shouted, before the crowds began to cheer loudly once Rance and his opponent, the champion entered the arena.

They were cheering for either Zance or Yulang and were also betting for either of them.

Surprisingly, the bets were completely equal and balanced. Not a single coin disrupted the balanced bets.

And just right now, Yulang and Rance stood several tens of feet away from each other, the former gaining an excited smirk as she pointed her unsheathed sword towards Rance's heart.

"None has ever defeated my Mirage Sword in a match, Rance. I grew bored defeating people in just one move, therefore.... prepare yourself!" Yulang shouted, just as Rance took out three shurikens and one of his two sluggers from his backpack.

"I won't be using my sword for now, after all.... I won't let you use your technique!" Rance replied, ready to throw his weapons at his opponent.

"Begiiiinnnn!!!!"

Rance began to throw his shurikens one by one towards Yulang, who proceeded to dodge them just before he threw his slugger towards her.

Her lower armor's sides opened and became thrusters that immediately propelled her upwards, evading the boomerang that was sent to her side.

It didn't take her long to realize that Rance was targeting her armor instead of herself, making her grin in excitement.

She dodged the boomerang that had quickly made a U-turn towards her before eventually it was caught by Rance, who put it back inside his backpack and unsheathed his sword, preparing to attack Yulang.

However, he dropped a smoke grenade down, and quickly made it explode into white smoke that covered him while Yulang charged forwards.

"Where did he go?" Yulang asked, looking around while the smoke began to slowly clear out when she stopped in her tracks, only to see a glowing red dot in front of her.

Before she knew it, her instincts immediately told her that an attack was coming, so she immediately held her sword up and blocked an attack that sent her backwards several feet away.

"... He's strong...!" She said, before beginning to parry several slashes that produced enough shockwaves to clear the smoke covering them.

Her heart was beating faster in excitement, someone was beginning to push her like no other, something she didn't even get the chance to feel in all of her fights after she became the champion!

However, now isn't the right time to enjoy the fight, her sword was beginning to get chipped, and that's really bad.

Immediately jumping backwards, she began to prepare her technique once more, noticing that Rance was not going to stand still and move sideways, trying to maybe dodge her signature move.

She knows he couldn't dodge it, but maybe he still has some tricks down his sleeve?

Yulang began to charge towards him while pointing her sword towards Rance's heart, and then he suddenly charged towards her.

"TOUUUUU!!!!" Rance shouted, as they passed through each other and stopped on their tracks a few seconds afterwards.

Rance stood still, with his sword already swung as Yulang suddenly fell down to the ground, her thrusters that allowed her swift movement on the air and limited flight cut into several pieces that fell to the ground before she did.

"... Yulang... did she...."

The crowd went silent.

Rance approached Yulang, who was in the process of getting up, her face unseen by him.

And then, she suddenly chuckled.

"Heh.... I guess I finally lost!" Yulang admitted with a smile as she looked at Rance without showing any sign of sadness or any negative emotion at all. She accepted her defeat wholeheartedly, and it was completely decided that Rance has truly won.

"Sword Prince Zance has won against Mirage Sword Yulang!!! Everyone, we have a new champion!"

The crowd screamed it's loudest, as they were given one of the best matches in the history of the Leazas Coliseum, so much so that Rance had to pick on his ear because it slightly hurt from the loudness of the crowd.

"To be honest, I think your Mirage Sword needs several improvements. You couldn't really fool me with a feint and a swift strike at the same time, truly. To put it shortly: You need more Mirages." He commented on her attack, as she nodded and accepted Rance's comment as something friendly than insulting or mocking.

The staff approached me and gave him the sheathed Ghost Buster Sword, Yulang's personal weapon, and then the proctor approached Rance.

"Sir Zance, the only thing you need now is to defend the title yourself." The proctor said, as Rance rubbed his nape.

"Defend my title? Nah, I think I'll pass, there is something very important that I need to investigate. That also means I retire, point given." Rance replied, abruptly leaving the arena with a grin.

Although Yulang wanted to catch up to him, she couldn't as she took the cut parts of her armor and left.

The crowd was very silent and disappointed, yet were already satisfied from the battle that happened recently.

Meanwhile.....

"Sir Zance, no... Rance was it? May I have a word with you?" A dark green haired girl asked as Rance stopped in his tracks, glancing at the girl.

Hmm.... Rance looked at her sceptically, before he gained a small smile.

[ ~ Chapter • End ~ ]

Commentary: After the investigation we will approach the epilogue, in which Rance goes around and begins to actually capture the hearts of certain girls he met.

Spoiler alert: it's not even over yet. Like literally, we've just began.