Chapter 418 - 418: Papers please
The green scaled Kobold looked at him like he was insane, although only a little bit, as did those who had overheard his request. They just couldn't understand why he was asking for folding paper, or why it was now that he asked for it.
Nonetheless, after looking at him like he had just swallowed a marble whole, the Kobold nodded slightly and scampered off down the corridor in the direction they had come from.
Corvus nodded to himself, standing up straight and continuing on with their group march, completely uncaring of the strange looks he was receiving. However those who were staring quickly grew bored and moved on to new things, and a few minutes after that they eventually arrived at their new destination.
It was a compact area, with the fighting arena having been carved into the floor, so the audience could watch from above. The seats at the back were raised higher so that no matter where you sat, you would get a perfect view of the bloodshed within the pit fighting arena.
It wasn't exactly glamorous, but it would suit their purposes very well.
Corvus even noticed that the walls of the pit arena had intricate carvings across their surface. Hundreds of thousands of runes, written almost like someone had carved out a wonderful story or poem dedicated to everyone that fought in this arena.
From where he stood, he could make out mostly defensive enchantments. Barriers to keep the audience safe from any stray attacks as well as some kind of self repairing feature most likely to keep the arena in a usable condition.
It was honestly a wonderful array of enchantments that he was tempted to steal... I mean, take valuable inspiration from. But to do that he would have to study it closer and with more time, perhaps that could be arranged afterwards.
They quickly drew lots, having every one of the volunteering combatants assigned a number, and soon came up with a roster. However, before the first fights could be started, they stumbled across another issue.
"What are we going to do for a prize?" The American Xander asked, clearly confident one of his men would win.
"Bragging rights simply aren't enough, we have that already as the greatest country. We need something better, like a nice shiny trophy I can put on my shelf."
The other's grumbled under their breath, muttering in discontent at the American's arrogant comment. But they did offer a few suggestions. Resources was common, as was food or tamed beasts.
A few had even made the offer of women as the prize, which while such an offer appealed to a certain few it completely disgusted a few more and held no interest to the rest.
Eventually, after Astra was finished death staring at the miserable man who made such a suggestion, Corvus spoke up.
"How about the winner earns themselves a Requital?"
"Well to do that we would need to kill them, and you already made your big speech about that. Or are you going to be shilling out from your collection? Because if that's the case, how can we be sure you'd even give something good and not some mortal trash you got from your first kill?"
The American quickly shot down the idea, but Corvus simply chuckled softly.
"None of the above actually, I was suggesting that the winner would receive a custom made Requital. Not just the type of Requital they would want, such as armour or a weapon. But something that is enchanted to suit them."
The entire room turned deathly silent as all eyes turned to Corvus. No one dared to speak, as if they were scared that the wrong words would undo what he had just said and make him change his mind.
For almost a minute, it was so quiet that you could hear a paper clip drop. In fact, he actually did hear it drop, as the little Kobold returning with his paper fumbled and dropped the clip holding them together.
The gently tinging of it hitting against the stone echoed throughout the room and seemed to stir the other leaders from their stupor. The Russian Captain narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"You can do that? Just... make the Requitals that the system gives us?"
Corvus tilted his head as if he was curious, before letting out a hearty laugh.
"Me? No, I can't. But I have been putting a lot of effort into crafters, that is the whole purpose of my home tournament after all. But I have some very capable individuals, one of which can create Requitals.
I thought for sure that you would have some too. No?"
The Captain narrowed his eyes more and grumbled softly, while the Chinese leader let out a low chuckle. Xander the American had a little less success in hiding his irritation, but just like all the others they agreed to this condition as the reward.
Not just because they would be stupid to miss such a valuable opportunity, but they also had to make sure such a claim was actually true. Because if it was... It meant much more than any amount of power that one man could hold.
The first fighters headed into the arena and the groups separated so they could watch in peace. It was only once they were seated that the little Kobold brought over his paper, which he took with a grateful nod towards the adorable creature.
Humming softly to himself, he began to casually fold and crease the paper. He could feel the curious and wary stares from all of the others as he did so, but he didn't care about them.
It was a risky prize to offer, but it was worth it. If he could start some trading opportunities, then they would be able to grow at an increased rate as well as have better access to rare resources.
Plus it would give them more opportunities to root out the traitors. The goal of this meeting wasn't just to warn them against the outsiders, but to unify them together against these enemies. Even if it meant carrying out a culling in the process...
Besides, Corvus was certain that his promises would be easily fulfilled. Even if Seth was nothing more than a poor, one armed copy of the superior original - aka himself, Seth still should have had plenty of time to figure out the secrets of the Requital and how to make one.
He had the utmost confidence in his pitiful little clone.
***
Within the safety and privacy of his workshop, Seth slammed his head against the table over and over again, leaving a perfect mold of his face in the metal that simply got deeper with every slam.
"Why. Won't. It. Work. Why. Won't. It. Work."
With one last slam, Seth let out a long low groan before pulling his head out from the dent. The surface of the table shuddered and shifted like liquid, as millions of the ships nano-machines got to work repairing the damage and making the table flat again.
He didn't even have to order them, they just knew to do it this time. It had become a common occurrence as of late.
With his head in his hand, Seth stared at the weapon laying on the half dented table. His eyes were completely bloodshot, making them look even more strange as it was silver blood on black sclera.
It had been days since he had last slept, and he had been working meticulously on his Requital project, yet nothing he could do was working. At this rate, he was never going to be able to make one.