Inside the gambling arena, many fighters and bettors were talking to each other. The fighters were covered in sweat and left most of their clothes back home to show off their muscles. After all, the fighters couldn't bet on themselves, but they gained a portion of the winnings if they succeeded in beating their opponent.
The bettors, on the other hand, were scouting for potential victors and strong men capable of filling their pockets just a bit more. The room and arena were placed underground, meant to cool the place down, not that it stopped the sweat from permeating through the room, stinking up the entire place.
Of course, certain bettors were here exactly for that reason, although those were mostly female, looking for a potential spouse. On Sabaoth, power determined all, even your marriage chances. It was also the reason why women were willing to fight in the arena to show of their strength.
It was one of the few places where mages were allowed to participate as long as they didn't use magic and hadn't reached Rank 2, which were most mages.
Akraptor sat in the stands, watching as two burly men fought their heart out, beating each other almost to death. Yet instead of concern for their safety, all they received were cheers and applause, encouraging them go even harder, even from their own partners.
Having made a small bet on one of the fighters, Akraptor hoped for something to happen. He hadn't made all that much yet, even losing quite a few coins and even a magic crystal. Frankly, his night didn't go that great despite his luck always being abundant, it was silent this night.
"Ah, there's the little puppy!", planting his behind right next to him, a large demon had a full smile as he watched the fight happen.
"Hey Osaragi, how have you been?"
"Bored, can't do anything lately. There's barely any request to fight or guard someone, that's why I'm here. I didn't think I'd see you here though, you still look weak. You haven't been training have ya?"
Akraptor wanted to scoff, there was no reason for him to train, nobody to protect or court. What would he even do with his powers? Gain some respect from his father? Bring back glory to his bloodline? No, without magic it was all just a hopeless dream. Not that it meant he would blatantly give away his failings.
"I have been, it's just that it takes a long time to recover. My muscles ache."
"Hah! What a petty excuse," grabbing his arm, he squeezed it once, "you haven't been training. Don't lie to me, puppy."
Throwing him back in the seat, he shook his head, "You need power, without it, you're just a potential innocent victim in a nearby battle."
"Is that why you trained yourself so much?"
"I train because I have to. I'm not going to let myself get killed by some bullshit mage, I refuse."
Akraptor understood from where he came, but without magic, it was all useless. "Well, I've my bet on the guy on the left, think he'll win?"
Shifting the conversation to something else entirely, Osaragi couldn't care less, it was something Akraptor picked up on after spending some time with him. He was a lot more focused on the moment, less the overall conversation.
"Nah, fucker has a fracture in his knee and I can tell his left eye is blurry. Without proper coordination and the speed to back up his dodges, he's just a punching bag."
As Osaragi said, the opponent suddenly got in close and performed a barrage of punches, instantly driving the man to the ground. Cheers erupted as the fight was declared over.
"Tch, there goes 25 gold coins."
"Why bet on such a weak bastard?"
"To me he looks strong," this was Akraptor's way of betting. He didn't understand the first thing about martial arts or fighting in general. The only thing he could make any assumptions off were the looks and confidence of a fighter, which there was plenty to go around with.
Osaragi laughed in response before putting him to the test, "Cause your eyes are terrible, here, the next fight is already being prepared, from those two, who do you think will win?"
The new fighters in the arena were both female. Each had more muscle than Akraptor, something he felt ashamed about, but tried to ignore. Using only their fists, it was hard to say which one would even win. Often, it was techniques and internal strength that brought victory home.
"The one on the right, she has a lot of scars, must mean she's been in a lot of life and death scenario's. She most likely has the highest power."
"Hahaha! You're just ogling the pretty girls aren't ya?!", patting him heavily on the back, Akraptor felt a bit ashamed to have Osaragi see through it right away. Luckily, the blush on his face wasn't visible due to his already red skin.
"You need to look at more than just their bodies, it's their eyes. Sure she looks like she has a lot of battle experience, but look at the other one. There's no hesitation, no feeling of inferiority, no fear. It's a wolf against a hunter. If you want to bet on the wolf, go ahead, but as far as I know, it's always the hunter that brings back trophies."
"Then I'll bet 50 coins on her."
"Wise choice."
Trying to chase the loss he had from the previous gamble, he hoped to get it all back in a single swoop. The reason he followed Osaragi's advice without any hesitation, placing a bet in a heartbeat, was because in this arena of fighters, Akraptor was certain he was the strongest.
He always fought once in the arena when he visited, and never lost once. Despite not being a mage, he held power capable of beating Rank 1 mages. Of course, if magic were to come into play, he would lose, but that was besides the point.
And as predicted, the huntress won in the end, giving a dopamine rush to Akraptor while Osaragi smiled at the prospects of getting to fight one of them. A few battles passed as Osaragi tried to teach Akraptor how to discern someone's combat power using smaller details, but the student didn't seem to have the talent to understand, while the teacher clearly never taught anyone before.
"I think it's time for me to stretch a bit. You better bet on me dammit."
Leaving Akraptor to his devices, he used all the winnings he had to place them on Osaragi. The man rarely fought, but when he did so, he always won. There were even rumors going around of him beating a Rank 1 mage using only his strength, all the people going against him were just trying to prove their own powers by standing up to him for as long as they could.
Entering the arena, he was faced with a demon a head taller than him. Both were monstrous men, towering over others. Looking at their physiques, Akraptor couldn't tell who would win. He had already bet on his friend, he just wanted to practice his skills again. Staring at the opponent's eyes, he tried to figure what was behind it.
The opponent's eyes were fierce, Akraptor tried his absolute best to figure out what was behind them. There was a hint of intimidation, perhaps fear and a burning desire to fight, the toothy grin said as much.
Osaragi on the other hand held a strange hunger in his eyes, a lust for a good fight.
When the bell rung, the fighters instantly rushed towards each other. Osaragi had a large grin on his face as he smoothly dodged the attacks his opponent threw out.
Osaragi never had to try to defeat his opponents, he easily outclassed them, but that didn't mean he couldn't train himself. Fighting with his strengthened body or magic would be too unfair, so he gave himself a handicap. Not that anyone would know of his powers of course.
He had to last at least 5 minutes dodging the opponents attack using his sight and hearing, foregoing his willpower. He would ignore the posture and stance of the opponent, focusing purely on the moment an attack was launched to detect the fist or foot, and dodging it, not deflecting, for that would give him too much leeway. Trying to improve his coordination, he trained his instinct to react faster and faster.
After five minutes had passed, the smile on Osaragi's face became muted, as the joy started to wane. The attacks became too predictable, closing his eyes, he tried to use just the sound of his opponents body to pinpoint which muscles would move, but then a fist always landed on his face, not that he was pushed back.
He just slowly opened his eyes and stared his opponent down. "Protect your vitals."
A simple command, yet the opponent felt the bloodlust surge around him, he froze in place as Osaragi landed a fist straight in his stomach, making him collapse to the ground. Osaragi obviously held back, or there would be a clear hole where his fist landed. Through the entire fight, not a single bit of mana was used, making the inspectors of the fight note it down as a difference in build and talent.
Were it not for his daily training of concentrating his mana inside his body and the disguise artifact he received from Lord Alastor, he would've long been discovered. The disguises were fantastic, they did limit the power you could use, but it also hid all your mana and aura as best as it could. The only issue was that the form the disguise took on was limited to one version. So Lucas had to take multiple of the same artifacts around with him to change his looks.
Returning to the stands after a single fight, he sat down completely relaxed. "Ah, it's good to blow off some steam every once in a while, you should do the same."
"You call that blowing off steam? You punched him once. You still gave me some winnings, though, so you won't hear me complaining," Akraptor was happy enough to know his coffers were a bit more filled than before.
"Ya don't get it, boy. I need to reign myself in, what do you think would happen if I constantly gave in to what I wanted?"
'Yeah, can youimagine?', a voice in his head said.
Akraptor was about to respond before Osaragi frowned, "Oh, shut it, you don't get it."
"I guess I don't," and he didn't really want to as well. Akraptor had long given up on fighting or any kind of real competition. He didn't have any talent, the only thing he had, was luck.
And the places were luck had the most influence, weren't exactly looked up towards. Were it not for the recent boom in gambling dens and different kinds of gambling, he would've been holed up in his room like before. Now, he at least got out.
Getting something to drink, one of the contestants saw Akraptor with a smile. "Hey you! You're with that cheater, right?!"
Grabbing him by the throat, he could barely breathe. Clawing and scratching the hand that tightly constricted around his windpipe, Akraptor was starting to lose vision. The man seemed to ramble and scream at him, but all his senses were dulled. There was but a single thought repeating in his mind. The instinct for survival, the desperate roar to keep the flame burning for just a tiny bit longer.
In his blurred vision, he could see Osaragi rush to his aid, but it was already too far for him. Once the grip was loosened, he fell to the sticky cold floor, completely blacked out.
Osaragi calmly lifted his body as he paid the man a few gold coins and left the establishment with a smile.
Back in the home Lucas received from Lord Alastor, he put Akraptor in bed. Keeping on his disguise, he placed Akraptor's hand between his own. Sending in small amounts of mana through the correct pathways he tried to locate the core.
Despite his experts use of his mana, it still upset Akraptor as his body shook slightly.
'Still too much, try to lower the intensity.'
'There's no way to make it any weaker dumbass! Our magic is too powerful for some dipshit that barely got his core to even work in the first place.'
Lucas was trying his hardest to lessen the burden on Akraptor's body, but they were just too incompatible. A Rank 3 mage pouring their source of power into a low level Rank 1 mage was just asking for trouble.
Watering his mana down as much as he could, he tried to make some of it vanish through converting it to warmth, but that just resulted in his arm heating up way more than what he wished for.
'Shit! Turn it down!'
'I'm trying, give me a second!'
Cooling it down, he overdid it and almost froze the poor man's arm off. Switching back and for a few more times, Lucas finally reached the core with his mana, leaving a trial of devastation in his wake. Of course, a simple healing spell would solve most of his issues, but Lucas didn't have the time for that.
Using his willpower, he scanned the core and made sure to make plenty of notes.
'Dammit, it's not a dead core.'
Lucas had some experience with Malek and learned from Asta about dead cores, so he had some experience when it came to core manipulation. Sadly, his theories didn't hold much weight when he saw Akraptor's core.
'It's cracked, broken.'
'Fuck.'
Taking back all his mana, he healed the ruptured veins and damaged tissue without too much effort. Tucking him in, he left for his own makeshift office. Sitting down, he started to draw the core from a few different angles to make sure he got a full perspective.
Breaking his head over every single detail, Lucas had a face of death as he stared at the final result. Many thoughts were rushing through his head, none pleasant as he stared through his so-called bed. 'This is for Asta.'
Shaking himself awake, he carefully locked the door to his bedroom as he made his way to cook some things.
'I'll give you control after I've made breakfast. Can you wake him up and send him away?'
'Sure, at least I don't have to cook. I don't think I'll have to play that stupid character much longer.'
'Why?'
'That little pussy won't go back to that arena after having his pitiful life choked out of him.'
'Good point. Well, we have what we need to start experimenting. So all we need to do is find a solution and then administer it. We'll have to figure out how to kidnap him like that again.'
'No problem, we can just knock him out wherever.'
'And have him doubt us? That's not exactly what I would call a good plan.'
Debating it through with himself, he eventually arrived at a good enough idea to get him knocked out without his intervention.