12 Toretto's fall
The security personnel lightly shoved Niklas out of the way. He quickly gazed at the lanky, red-haired man and the tatted Toretto. He said to the accountant as he gestured at Niklas and Toretto,
"Who among them is a nuisance?"
The accountant answered, "Toretto."
Toretto was popular in the pub because he frequented it.
The huge orc slowly advanced and said, "Don't tell me this lanky dude beat your ass."
"Kingdoms are known to fall to unlikely conquerors," said the accountant.
The orc guffawed. Toretto was scared, but he held his ground and stood, waiting for the orc to close the gap.
"I don't think dealing with Toretto is still necessary." Niklas spoke up, but the orc didn't stop advancing towards its target. "I have accepted to rematch."
The orc stood face-to-face with Toretto, the orc gazing down due to being taller and the human looking up. The orc's face was indifferent, while Toretto had an arrogant smirk. The two stared eyeball to eyeball for a few seconds before the orc deeply exhaled, washing his breath over Toretto's face. The orc walked away, back to the security locker room, while Toretto frantically wiped his hands over his face to clean his face, disgusted to be breathed on.
"Someone point us to a table," Niklas said with a flair of arrogance. "I guess it won't hurt me to lose a couple hundred earth kredits?"
The section erupted, with people questioning Niklas on his decision to wrestle Toretto, all of them believing that Toretto would wipe the floor with him and that he (Niklas) won the match with the help of 'Mr. Luck'.
Niklas saw the mission bar pop up in his view.
[You have successfully completed a mission!
Mission 1: Accept Toretto's challenge.
Reward: 5 evolution points!]
He pulled up his general information bar.
[NAME: Agu Niklas Vox.
AGE: 20 years old.
HEIGHT: 6'2 feet.
WEIGHT: 58 KG.
****
CLASS: Lightning-mancer.
Class level: 0.
Class evolution: 2/100
Use and perfect your proficiency in handling lightning in order to evolve.
****
RACE: Human/Demigod.
Prominent race: Human.
Level of Prominence: 10.
Next level: Demigod, level 0.
Progress towards evolution: 91/100.
Affect the world around you and obtain evolution points.
Since you are aligned with good, you have to affect the world around you with your goodness in order to obtain evolution points.
****
PHYSICAL QUALITIES;
STRENGTH: 5+10
SPEED: 5+10
AGILITY: 5+10
STAMINA: 5+10
PERCEPTION: 1+10
VITALITY: 5+5
Free stat points: 5.
(Complete missions and stand a chance to be rewarded with stat points that can be assigned to any of the qualities.)
****
MANA AFFINITY: 11>12
MANA VOLUME: 1000>1300 MP
Complete missions and stand a chance to be rewarded with stat points added directly to your mana affinity.
Mana affinity affects mana volume, negatively or positively.]
He focused on the 'Race' section. He thought,
'9 more points, and I will evolve into a demigod.'
He called off the interface.
"Go over there," said the attendant who handled Niklas' previous match as she flirtingly ran her hands down his bare chest.
Niklas heart skipped a few beats from being flirted with. He followed the attendant to an empty table and sat on the chair at one end. The attendant took up her usual place for judging. Toretto sat at the opposite end.
The attendant said, "Gentlemen, declare your stakes and place them on the table."
Other customers and challengers had their attention wrapped around the rematch.
"Two thousand earth kredits!" Toretto declared as he produced a bundle of notes from his shorts' pocket and placed them on the table.
The bar erupted in awe. Previously, Toretto only staked high to attract competition. He leaned back as he eyed Niklas with a smug smile. Niklas looked at his competitor with ridicule; unfortunately, his competitor couldn't see his face.
"One hundred earth kredits!" Niklas declared it at everyone's hearing.
A bout of laughter, mocking Niklas, filled the section. "Toretto, what did you do to get so unlucky to meet this penny-pinching dumb lucky bastard?" One of the customers asked Toretto. Toretto's smug face changed to exasperation.
"Dude, really?" Toretto said.
Niklas replied with a gentle, repeated nod.
The attendant asked, "Toretto, do you wish to review your stake?"
Toretto smiled. "No, I don't. I'm not a poor coward!" He showed his arrogance, spreading his arms as he received loud cheers in his favour.
The attendant said, "Challengers, put forth an elbow on the table and lock your hands with each other. There is no need to repeat the rules, or is there?"
The challengers had complied. Niklas replied,
"No need."
Toretto teased the attendant, saying, "The only necessity is telling me the rules to get to your heart."
The attendant eyed him degradingly as cheers roared in support of Toretto's rizz.
"Go!" The attendant gave the signal.
Niklas ended the match in the same manner as the previous match, except that this time he did not damage the table. Toretto's heartbeat slowed due to horror and disbelief. The others were stunned and silent, including the attendant.
[You have completed a milestone in your mission!
You defeated Toretto!
Misson 2: Wrestle Toretto five times and emerge victorious in all! Status: 1/5.
Info: The user brings punishment on themselves if they fail to emerge victorious in all matches.
Punishment: 200 points will be deducted from your evolution points, consequently taking you two steps lower on the evolution ladder.]
"That would be a thousand and eight hundred Earth kredits to me," Niklas said to the attendant.
The attendant corrected him, saying, "It's a thousand and nine hundred."
Niklas said, "I gave you a hundred earth kredits."
The attendant sensually rubbed Niklas' shoulder in gratitude. He made the contact brief, taking her hand off his shoulder. He said to her,
"Please, stop doing that."
"You are playing hard to get. That's my kink," said the attendant.
Niklas locked gazes with the attendant for a while. She bit and licked her lips while he held an unamused look.
"Two thousand earth kredits!" Toretto said through gritted teeth.
The attendant handed Niklas his winnings.
"Dude, you don't have to go in high," Niklas advised as he stashed away his reward in his jeans pocket.
Toretto could hear the murmurs of mockery around him, directed at him. His ego wouldn't let him reason. He thought that he must redeem his glory to receive validation once more.
"I underestimated you," Toretto said in a raised voice, stealing a glance to his left and right with the corner of his eyes. He saw that he had successfully drawn attention, making the people eager to know his next line of action.
"I have understood your game," Toretto continued. "You came here pretending to be weak, but you have displayed that you are strong and agile. That's scummy of you, and I'm sure others will agree with me."
He looked around for validation. A few more than half the total audiences agreed with Toretto.
Toretto placed his favourite right elbow on the table once more. Niklas placed his left elbow on the table. Niklas wasn't a left-hander, making him a bit surprised after he won Toretto using this arm.
Niklas withdrew his arm to take out some money from his pocket to stake. He placed 100 EKs on the table. Toretto stared at the lanky man's stake, frowning, but didn't utter a word.
"Gentlemen, are you ready?" the attendant asked after the challengers locked hands.
"Get on with it," said Niklas and Toretto.
"Go!"
Toretto reacted fast, his arm resisting Niklas' pressure. However, this wasn't a stalemate; it was a one-sided battle. Toretto's hand was a couple centimetres away from kissing the surface of the table. Toretto strained, fighting to keep going, and it was evident on his face due to the appearance of veins on his forehead and a slight reddening of his face. On Niklas' part, he wasn't putting in much effort in comparison to previous matches. The match ended eleven seconds after it started, not failing to awe its audience—the entire people in this section of the pub—and not failing to put Toretto in a state of shock and confusion.
The mission bar appeared in Niklas's view.
[You have completed a milestone in your mission!
You defeated Toretto!
Misson 2: Wrestle Toretto five times and emerge victorious in all! Status: 2/5.
Info: The user brings punishment on themselves if they fail to emerge victorious in all matches.
Punishment: 200 points will be deducted from your evolution points, consequently taking you two steps lower on the evolution ladder.]
The attendant quickly took Toretto's stake and deducted the pub tax before handing it to Niklas. This time, Niklas didn't take his stake off the table.
"100 EKs," Niklas calmly declared.
Toretto's mind was in a state of chaos, but his pride wouldn't let him back down.
"Coward!" He cursed at Niklas. "Put a higher stake if you are not scared of losing to me."
Niklas added 300 EKs to his stake. Toretto laughed deridingly at Niklas and said,
"I knew it; you are a coward. Two thousand Earth Kredits!"
Toretto produced another bundle of cash and placed it on the table. As he locked hands with Niklas, he came to a realisation:
'I have lost ten thousand Earth kredits from the sixteen thousand I came with.'
He lost concentration and didn't hear the attendant give the start signal. The next thing he saw was the attendant handing Niklas his winnings.
The mission bar popped up in Niklas' view.
[You have completed a milestone in your mission!
You defeated Toretto!
Misson 2: Wrestle Toretto five times and emerge victorious in all! Status: 3/5.
Info: The user brings punishment on themselves if they fail to emerge victorious in all matches.
Punishment: 200 points will be deducted from your evolution points, consequently taking you two steps lower on the evolution ladder.]
Toretto's heart raced in anguish. He was aghast by the realisation that he had lost four times consecutively.
Toretto mused, 'If this whimp is defeating me, it means that he dollied up himself!"
"You are a cheat!" Toretto accused Niklas, getting to his feet.
Niklas tilted his head to the left out of curiosity.
"He is a cheat! I demand a drug test!" Toretto yelled.
The attendant reminded Toretto, "Your opponent can refuse to be tested. If he doesn't agree to the test, the pub will force him to leave. But note that he will walk away with his winnings."
Niklas agreed to undergo the drug test. The attendant went to the counter to get a drug test kit from the accountant.
"This is getting interesting!" Customers and challengers were thrilled by the drama and action. They discussed and gambled on the outcome of the test. Many favoured that Niklas blood would be positive for Dolly Buff.
